The gray and white space changed once again.
As Feng Xiaotian regained consciousness, his vision slowly focused. He found himself standing on a mountaintop, with a surging sea of clouds below.
A person was suspended in mid-air.
The person was surrounded by a dark red halo. The light was not dazzling, but it was very oppressive and carried an indescribable chill.
Feng Xiaotian stared at the figure for a few moments before finally recognizing it.
It's my younger brother. He's grown up now.
The younger brother's face was expressionless. His eyes looked down, cold, as if he were looking at something unimportant. It wasn't hatred, nor anger, but a kind of indifference that showed complete disregard. It was as if someone who had stood at a high place for too long had forgotten how to look down at others.
Feng Xiaotian stood there, stunned.
The younger brother he remembered wasn't like this. His brother would laugh, argue with him, and be the first to run to him after finishing something, saying, "Brother, it's done!" But the person in front of him seemed to be separated from him by something he couldn't understand.
Feng Xiaotian looked up at his younger brother in mid-air, and his throat moved.
Dark Feng Xiaotian's voice came from behind him.
"Look, your younger brother awakened later than you and began cultivating later. But now he has become a god, while you are still just a mortal."
Feng Xiaotian remained silent.
"You can't catch up," Dark Feng Xiaotian said. "Admit it, your brother doesn't need you anymore."
He paused.
"You're just... a drag on."
When the words "a drag on" were uttered, Feng Xiaotian's fingers clenched tightly.
He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, and blood seeped from between his fingers, but he didn't even feel it. He just stared at his indifferent younger brother in mid-air for a long time.
His mind was in turmoil.
His younger brother became a god, but he didn't. His younger brother stood in that position, his eyes cold as if he didn't recognize him.
He suddenly remembered his younger brother. The brother who used to laugh, who would argue with him, and who would always be the first to run to him after completing something, saying, "Brother, I did it!" But then, he didn't know when it started, his brother stopped playing around. Every day he would get up before dawn to cultivate, and still be at the training ground late at night. Feng Xiaotian asked him, "Why are you in such a hurry? Take a break." Feng Lingtian only said, "It's nothing, brother, I want to become stronger quickly."
At that time, Feng Xiaotian didn't think much of it, assuming his younger brother was just ambitious.
Looking at his younger brother with his cold eyes, he suddenly realized that his brother must have been carrying something heavy on his mind back then. Something that had been weighing on him for a long time. But he had never asked, and he had never noticed.
He suddenly felt that the tightness in his chest had changed its flavor.
My younger brother must be very tired.
He's come this far alone, with no one by his side. And where is he?
The voice of Dark Feng Xiaotian continued, but Feng Xiaotian was no longer listening. He looked at his indifferent younger brother in mid-air, his eyes stinging.
"My little brother must be very tired," he said.
Dark Feng Xiaotian was stunned. He hadn't expected Feng Xiaotian to say those words.
"Whether I catch up or not, it doesn't matter to me," Feng Xiaotian said. "My younger brother is smarter and more talented than me, I've always known that. I've never been jealous."
Feng Xiaotian paused.
"The reason I haven't given up and am still working hard to improve isn't just because I want to become stronger," he said, "But also because I know my younger brother will achieve great things in the future. I want to be someone he can rely on when he's tired and needs someone to lean on."
The younger brother, who was in mid-air, turned around.
This time, his gaze was no longer cold. His eyes held warmth, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly, as if he understood what he was saying, as if it were the tacit understanding that should naturally exist between two brothers.
Looking at that smile, Feng Xiaotian felt the tightness in his chest dissipate.
He smiled slightly.
It was very slight; the corners of her mouth lifted just a little, but there was a light in her eyes. Neither of them spoke, but they both understood what the other meant.
Dark Feng Xiaotian stood behind him, silent for a long time.
If it were him, he would want to destroy it. His younger brother had gone further and was stronger than him, so he would make sure his brother couldn't go on. He had thought about this before; even when he was just a vague shadow in Feng Xiaotian's mind, he was already there.
But the person in front of him didn't. He admitted he couldn't catch up, and then chose to stand behind his younger brother.
Dark Feng Xiaotian suddenly felt confused. Admitting you're inferior to others, and then standing behind that person—what's the point? What's the motive?
He couldn't figure it out. But he remembered it and put it together with the answer to the first game.
The image fades away, and a gray-white space reappears.
"You won the second round," Dark Feng Xiaotian said.
He paused, looking at Feng Xiaotian.
"Third game."
The gray-white space has changed for the third time.
This time there was no battlefield, no visuals. Feng Xiaotian stood alone in the empty, gray space, facing someone who looked exactly like him.
Dark Feng Xiaotian no longer tempted him. His voice became very quiet, and the words he spoke were the harshest.
You only passed the Third Trial because of Shui Bing'er.
Feng Xiaotian remained silent for a moment.
"When that force appeared, I couldn't get past it alone," he said. "I found Shui Bing'er, and she helped me suppress it, which allowed me to get through."
Dark Feng Xiaotian at him.
"But that's not a reason for me to be unworthy." Feng Xiaotian raised his head. "My ability to leverage external forces is my own skill. It doesn't mean I'm unworthy of my position."
Dark Feng Xiaotian did not move.
"Being unworthy of one's position means doing things one shouldn't have done after taking that position," Feng Xiaotian said. "It doesn't mean whether you got the position through any external forces."
Dark Feng Xiaotian's figure began to sway.
"If I truly inherit the divine position in the future," Feng Xiaotian said, "I will make the contributions I should make and shoulder the responsibilities I should shoulder. That will be what it means to be worthy of the position. If I cannot do so, then I am unworthy of the position."
Dark Feng Xiaotian remained silent for a long time.
He looked down at his hands—hands that were devoid of light.
"You're right," he said. "I didn't."
He raised his head and looked at Feng Xiaotian.
"I always thought I was better than you. I wasn't bound by responsibilities, I wasn't held back by my teammates, I could leave whenever I wanted," he said. "But now I realize that wasn't being better. It was that I had nothing."
He paused.
I am indeed not as good as you.
His figure began to dissipate. Not because he was scattered, but because he chose to dissipate. The scattered blue light did not disappear, but surged towards Feng Xiaotian and entered his chest.
Feng Xiaotian felt something extremely heavy merge into his Soul Power. It was cold, sharp, and carried a blade, mixing with the Soul Power of the Gale Twin Wolves.
He closed his eyes briefly.
He had never felt like he lacked anything before. He had Martial Soul, teammates, responsibility, and direction. He had everything he needed. But at this moment, when that dark thing merged into his Soul Power, he suddenly felt that he had only made up for half of what he "should have" before.
In the past, he always thought about "what I should do" before doing anything, rarely thinking about "what I want to do." He protected his teammates because he was the captain. He stood at the front because he should. These were all correct, but he never asked himself if any of those "shoulds" were actually "what he wanted."
The dark line moved slightly beneath the blue background.
It wasn't malice. It was something more direct: the desire to win, the desire to protect, and the desire to leave no room for compromise when necessary. These were things he had suppressed before, but now they've surfaced.
He suddenly realized that he hadn't been a complete person before. Only now, after that hidden thread had merged into him, did he truly stand up.
The grayish-white space faded away. The bluish light deep within the crack dimmed.
Feng Xiaotian opened his eyes and found himself standing at the mouth of a crevice. The ice field outside was still there, the gray-white light of the sky was still there, and a cold wind blew from afar, brushing against his face.
The Fourth Trial of the Wind God Nine Trials: The Trial of Wind. Passed.
Rewards: Wind God Affinity increased by 10%, Second Soul Ring duration increased by 500 years.
Shui Bing'er stood up from beside the ice wall and looked at him. She didn't know what had happened inside, but she could tell that he was different.
Feng Xiaotian stood at the edge of the crevice and looked down at his hand. The blue lines on his palm were still there, but a dark line had appeared underneath, hidden beneath the blue, and not noticeable unless you looked closely.
He raised his head and looked at Shui Bing'er.
"Let's go," he said.