He simply continued walking. "If there is, then of course I can use it." "If not..." Qin Yu's steps didn't falter. "He continued on his path." Whoosh—Thousands upon thousands of pills simultaneously lost their luster.
The next moment, cultivation techniques and celestial scriptures filled the sky. Qin Yu walked by, and they disappeared. The Origin River descended from the heavens, its immense power capable of being absorbed into one's own body with a single thought. Qin Yu passed by the riverbank, and the river dried up.
Finally, only the ancient staircase leading straight to the summit remained. Qin Yu stopped, and this time, he gazed at it for even longer than before. Which cultivator seeking the Dao doesn't want to reach higher? From the moment they embark on the path of cultivation, there is always another realm after another, another mountain after another.
Qin Yu's journey to the Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme involved countless brushes with death, and he too ventured into perilous places in his pursuit of breakthroughs and greater strength. Therefore, he didn't deceive himself. "I want to become stronger."
Qin Yu gazed at the ancient staircase leading to the end of the sky and spoke those words frankly. The Illusionary Realm had not shattered; on the contrary, the ancient staircase shone even brighter. Because this moment's acknowledgment was genuine.
Qin Yu continued, "I also crave opportunities, I want to see higher." He looked up at the end of the ancient steps. "I have all those thoughts." "But what I want..." Qin Yu's gaze returned to his feet. "I'll go get it myself."
As soon as he finished speaking, he did not step onto the ancient steps. This path before him did not belong to him. No matter how many years he could save, no matter what realm lay at the end, as long as it could only be obtained through the "shortcut" bestowed by the Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion, there was no need for him to stay.
The ancient steps began to dissipate from the very top. Level one, level ten, level one hundred. Countless steps turned into fragments of light, disappearing from the sky all the way to Qin Yu's feet.
Finally, the entire illusionary realm became empty once more. Only the last stone platform remained, along with the Nameless ancient book on it. Rustling... The pages slowly turned, still stopping before the last page.
This item did not disappear along with the other external objects. Qin Yu returned to its presence. Compared to divine weapons, elixirs, power, or even the ability to ascend to the heavens in one step, this book truly touched upon a deeper level. Because it represented "the unknown answer."
Throughout his cultivation journey, Qin Yu has witnessed far too many things he could not comprehend: higher realms, deeper origins, unsolved Daos, and even the path ahead that he has yet to see.
The Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion compressed all these uncertainties into a single page. Turning it would reveal the answer. Qin Yu slowly raised his hand, stopping above the page. His fingertips were only inches from the last page. There was no sound in the world, and the Illusory Realm did not stop him. Qin Yu stared at the page for a long time.
He suddenly smiled and slowly lowered his hand. "So that's how it is." He finally understood why this trial categorized "seeking the Way" as greed and delusion. Seeking the Way itself is not wrong, nor is the desire to know the answer.
What truly traps cultivators is the obsession with "getting the answer" as something that must be accomplished. If they don't get the answer today, they refuse to leave; if they Bugui they want, they feel resentful; if they know it's fake, they still think, "It won't hurt to take a look." At that moment, they have already been ensnared by external things.
Qin Yu looked down at the Nameless ancient book. "I don't know today." "Then I don't know today." His voice was soft. "You'll know when you reach that point." "If you don't reach it..." Qin Yu's eyes were calm. "That's my own path."
At this moment, he didn't even ask the book in front of him to disappear. Whether it stayed or disappeared was no longer his concern. Rustling sound... The last page turned on its own. Blank. Nothing at all. Qin Yu saw that blank page, but his eyes didn't waver in the slightest.
The next instant—crack! A crack suddenly appeared in the center of the Nameless ancient book. Then, the crack spread wildly throughout the world. Crack! Crack! The white jade platform cracked, the floating platform cracked, and the sky cracked.
The last traces of all the divine weapons, elixirs, celestial books, powers, statuses, and opportunities that had ever appeared vanished simultaneously. Qin Yu stood in the center of the shattered world, making no move and using no supernatural abilities. Boom! The entire Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion completely collapsed. The first level—passed.
... Meanwhile, in another Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion, a powerful expert at the Eternal Silence Realm had been standing for a long time. Before him lay only a jade box, inside which lay an ancient Dao seal. He knew it was fake; he had known from the very first glance upon entering the illusory realm.
"Just an illusion." He had repeated this no less than ten times, and had even actually turned around and walked a long way away. But each time, he would eventually stop. Because the shape of that Dao Seal was too similar to a supreme treasure that he had been searching for for more than 100,000 years.
He had ventured into three perilous places for that item, lost several close friends, and nearly died several times. Now, the illusion presented it completely before him. Even knowing it was fake, he didn't actually reach for it.
But his feet remained rooted to the spot. Time ticked by. Finally, he turned back for one last look. That look held an overwhelming, undisguised longing. "If it were really..." The words left his mouth, but he froze. Four words were enough. Boom! The entire Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion suddenly solidified. The jade box vanished, the Dao seal disappeared, and the world rapidly plunged into darkness.
Meanwhile, Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas, the stiff body of the Eternal Silence Realm expert suddenly trembled violently. Whoosh—the black mist surrounding him began to dissipate. The cultivators nearby, still somewhat conscious, immediately showed surprise. "The mist has dissipated!" "He passed?" The Eternal Silence Realm expert abruptly opened his eyes.
At first, he thought he had succeeded, but the next moment, he found that although the black mist around him was no longer affecting him, the restraint on his body still remained. More importantly, he could no longer feel the ancient gate's pull on him.
The joy on the man's face gradually froze. He quickly realized what had happened. "I..." His lips trembled. He recalled the last words in the illusion, and his face instantly turned ashen.
"If it really is..." He was defeated. The black mist completely retreated from his body, neither killing him nor taking away his cultivation. He was still alive, still in the Thousand Mile Prison.
But the qualification to the Being As It Is Secret Realm had vanished from him. "No..." The man's eyes widened suddenly. "Give me another chance!" "I didn't take it!" "I didn't touch it at all!" "I knew it was fake! I knew it from the beginning!" No one responded.
Gu Men didn't give him a second chance. The man's face flushed red, then quickly turned pale. He tried desperately to explain, his voice growing more and more urgent, but eventually he fell silent because he knew where he had lost. He hadn't taken it, but that was all he wanted.
Not far from him, in another location, a woman whose eyes had always been closed suddenly fell silent. In the Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion where she was, the last mountain, built from endless treasures, was dissipating.
The woman simply watched, without regret or turning back. Just as the last treasure turned into specks of light, the world before her suddenly shattered with a crack! In reality, the woman's body remained imprisoned by the space, and the black mist around her did not dissipate but instead gently gathered inward.
She did not wake up; her consciousness continued to sink. After the first illusion shattered, a new and unknown world slowly unfolded deep within her consciousness. Those who pass the first level automatically enter the second trial.
In an instant, the beings within the black mist began to exhibit drastically different states. Some people's black mist dissipated, and upon opening their eyes, they were filled with confusion. Then, realizing that they had lost their eligibility, their expressions immediately darkened.
Some roared in defiance, some remained silent for a long time before finally managing a bitter smile. Some couldn't even accept that they had been defeated by such a simple thought, their faces contorted as they repeatedly said, "I clearly didn't take anything."
The victors have no chance to celebrate; they don't even return to the moment the first layer of reality shatters, their consciousness immediately carried deeper by the black mist.
... The five Lineage were located still stood silently. Their physical bodies were all imprisoned, but their consciousnesses had entered their respective Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion. Before Ju Lingyuan, there were no mountains of ordinary treasures. Everything she saw was closely connected to the path she had walked, and rare items that would drive cultivators of the same realm crazy were suspended around her.
She glanced at it quietly once before her gaze returned to the illusory realm where Chi Xiyue was. In the distance stretched a magnificent path of cultivation, filled with countless opportunities along the way, each step allowing her to progress faster and higher.
She gazed at the road for a moment, her expression showing little hesitation. Before Hua Yanyang, one after another, treasures powerful enough to shake the foundations of great clans appeared, and finally, even things symbolizing higher power and status were manifested by the Illusionary Realm.
He merely glanced up and a faint smile appeared on his lips. What Shangguan Shumu saw were countless precious heavenly books and ancient inheritances. Before Shangguan Hongyin, however, appeared a vast opportunity that could allow his cultivation to rise steadily.
Five people, five different external Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion, precisely reflected the directions in which they might crave. But for the five who had made it this far and were collectively known as the Five Great Heavenly Prodigies of the entire Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain, this hurdle was far too shallow.
They didn't even spend much time; no one reached out, and no one lingered too long for the external objects before them. Cracks soon appeared in the illusionary realms of the five individuals.
Crack—The five realms shattered one after another. The consciousness of the five people did not return to their physical bodies. The black mist continued to surge deeper into their sea of consciousness. Like Qin Yu, they had already passed the first test— the Illusory Domain of Greed and Delusion. What awaited them was the second test.