In the painting, impoverished people stand on the vast land, working in the fields, teaching, and doing business. Yet, a raging fire engulfs them all!
Mountains and streams, boundless ocean.
Above the sky, the sun and the moon stand facing each other, one half in darkness and the other half in light.
Under that light, powerful cultivators flew through the air to resist!
In that darkness, a bizarre, winged demon attacked, wielding a spear.
A powerful atmosphere of life and death, along with the oppressive force emanating from Power of Rules, surged forth from this lifelike, enormous painting.
At the very center of this painting, where darkness and light meet, stand nine colossal gates descending from the heavens!
Each door has a giant ghost face on it!
The ghost face, biting a nail, was fierce and its expression was ferocious!
Ninefold Rashomon!
The immense Power of Space originates from here.
Upon seeing this all-encompassing painting, everyone standing before it was somewhat shaken.
Is this painting depicting the scene of the High Antiquity invasion by the Evil Demon Realm?
The entire Mortal Realm suffered a calamity; whether ordinary people or powerful sects and Aristocratic Clan, they were either destroyed or fought desperately to resist it.
Ai Xue and the taciturn man also stepped forward, and both of them showed burning eyes when they saw the painting.
Is this what the Fusheng Diagram" is all about?
Once we obtain it, the great task of the Supervisory Sacred Hall will be essentially complete!
Ai Xue couldn't resist reaching out to touch the painting and take it with her.
The taciturn man's expression changed. Just as he was about to grab Ai Xue, a black hole appeared in the painting, emanating a tremendous attraction!
When Ai Xue's outstretched hand touched this attraction, her whole body instantly contorted.
Then, they were swept into the painting!
Everyone was slightly taken aback by this scene.
Were they sucked into the painting?
Is this a test, or a trap?
However, there was no way forward in this hall.
They either retreated back to that perilous passage, or they were swept into the painting like Ai Xue.
Just as Ye Qiubai and the others were also hesitating.
The scene within the painting changed once again; after a moment of distortion, Ai Xue appeared within the painting.
Ai Xue stood on a cracked ground filled with flowing molten lava, and nine Rashomon completely blocked her path.
Upon seeing this, the taciturn man frowned slightly, but quickly recovered.
Ye Qiubai and the others did not plan to enter directly, but rather to observe the situation first.
Perhaps we can discover something.
Within the painting, Ai Xue rubbed her hand, feeling dizzy from the spatial distortion, then looked around blankly, her gaze gradually clearing and becoming serious.
Nine Rashomon, with nine demon heads on the gates staring intently at her.
It looks like an interrogation, or perhaps a sentencing!
An inexplicable pressure, like a small mountain, pressed down on Ai Xue, making her feel like she couldn't breathe.
Suddenly, the ghostly face on the Rashomon in front of Ai Xue slightly opened its mouth and said in a deep, sinister voice, "What is your purpose in coming here?"
The sound, upon reaching Ai Xue's ears, felt like nails piercing her eardrums from the mouth of that hideous demon face! It sent waves of pain through her!
This throbbing pain shot straight to the brain and reached the very soul!
It was as if it had nailed her very soul to the spot!
Ai Xue looked pained, covered her head, and opened her mouth as if to answer, "No comment!"
However, when these words were spoken...
The Rashomon in front of Ai Xue suddenly opened slowly to both sides!
Creak... creak.
Gray mist slowly seeped out from between the open door cracks.
As the crack in the door widened, the gray mist gradually filled the entire space!
To Ai Xue's horrified gaze, a ghostly face identical to the one on the Rashomon Rashomon!
The difference is that the ghostly face peeking out of the door is much larger, and it doesn't have the nail in its mouth.
"Avoiding the topic and telling no truth—since that's the case, then we must bear the first hardship."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ghost face opened its mouth wide, and its tongue transformed into a black, thorny vine that shot towards Ai Xue!
Ai Xue's expression changed drastically, and her hands were engulfed in raging flames. She then slapped the vines with her palm.
A fiery palm print burned through the space, attempting to incinerate the thorny vine completely!
Fire overcomes wood; vegetation will be burned when it encounters flames. This is a truth that everyone understands.
But when the fiery palm print slammed into the vines, and then the cage-like hand grasped it in its palm.
Ai Xue was horrified to discover.
Even with flames coiled around the vines, they couldn't burn them at all!
The vines didn't pause at all, continuing to coil around at their original speed.
Before she could react, the vines wrapped around the hand that Ai Xue had used to strike.
The fine thorns on it pierced through the snow-white skin and penetrated inside!
They are just tiny thorns, nothing to a cultivator.
But these are not ordinary fine thorns.
The moment the tiny thorns penetrated the skin, they began to grow wildly! Those dense, countless tiny thorns instantly lengthened and thickened, piercing through Ai Xue's entire arm!
Bones, blood vessels, nerves, and meridians were all pierced.
Ai Xue's expression changed drastically, and she let out a cry of pain!
This pain wasn't just superficial; it felt as if it had pierced through my very soul!
Despite the pain piercing through only one arm, Ai Xue's expression was contorted with agony, and she was in excruciating agony.
Beyond the painting.
Seeing this, everyone gradually understood what was happening.
What exactly is the challenge in this stage?
There are nine Rashomon, and each Rashomon will question the person entering the test.
If they don't answer the questions about the facts, or if they remain silent, then...
They will all be punished by Rashomon!
As for how we can tell whether the other person's answer is true?
Nobody knows.
This only shows that various methods emerged in High Antiquity times, and the methods of the Human Ancestor were even more unimaginable.
The taciturn man standing to the side trembled slightly upon seeing this scene.
If that's really the case, then things are going to get really bad...
This could have a negative impact on their Supervisory Sacred Hall.
He thought to himself.
I just hope you can handle it... Before their objective is achieved, they must safeguard their goals.
Only in this way can we greatly increase the likelihood of completing the task.
Within the painting.
There was no chance for Ai Xue to catch her breath.
The nine Rashomon moved to the left simultaneously, and the other Rashomon was now facing Ai Xue.
The demon mask on it began to ask questions again.
"The next question, if you still can't answer the truth, then you will lose your other arm."
"You, and the forces behind you, after obtaining what you wanted, were you acting for your own selfish gain or for the sake of all living beings?"
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PS: Two more chapters are still being written.