Qin Yu finally glimpsed the most terrifying core of the third trial. In the center of the void ahead, a humanoid silhouette stood silently, without facial features, clothing, or any fluctuation of cultivation, pure to the point of being almost nothingness.
But Qin Yu knew perfectly well in his heart that this figure was himself, the original self who, stripped of all identities, cultivation levels, experiences, and external definitions, still stubbornly believed that "I am Qin Yu".
The figure stood in the void, his entire life, spanning countless ages and perfectly unfolding behind him. A silent, imperceptible thought suddenly permeated his consciousness, carrying no pressure yet striking directly at the very source of his Dao heart: If everything can be let go, then what about you?
Qin Yu stood silently, the endless ups and downs of the past, the joys and sorrows, the triumphs and humiliations, all floating behind the figure, vividly before his eyes. The first two illusions were merely to make him relinquish worldly desires and let go of past regrets, but this third one was completely different.
It no longer demands a particular treasure or a specific past event; it demands everything—all the memories, experiences, glory, pain, and accumulated spiritual practice of this life, everything that proves "I have lived, I have existed."
The illusion's questions became increasingly clear, pointing directly to the core of one's being: If all of this were to return to nothingness, would you truly be willing?
This time, Qin Yu stood still for a long time. Having let go of worldly desires, he was still Qin Yu; having relinquished half a lifetime of regrets, he was still Qin Yu. But this trial was forcing him to confront his most fundamental obsession—if even the self of "Qin Yu" were completely dissolved, all things would be empty, and where would the Great Dao reside?
In the void, countless silent thoughts surged forth, each one piercing the deep-seated shackles of the cultivator's heart. You have cultivated diligently for millennia, endured countless battles of life and death, traversed treacherous mountains and perilous paths—is all this journey ultimately meaningless?
You are single-mindedly striving upwards, yearning for the ultimate path, wanting to glimpse the splendor at the end of the Heavenly Dao. But if even your own self ceases to exist, who will tread the path ahead? Who will observe the Great Dao? Who will bear witness to the long journey you have traversed?
This is the true killing intent of the third illusion: there is no killing, no supernatural power, no danger; all the questions arise from the cultivator's most stubborn obsessions. People can give up wealth and treasures, worldly relationships, life and death, and calmly accept all kinds of loss.
The path of cultivation is a process of constantly strengthening oneself and consolidating one's true self. My path, my destiny, my choices, my cultivation, my life—the higher the realm, the more solid and stubborn that "self" in one's heart becomes.
This is why very few people can pass the first two trials and reach the third, and even fewer can truly break through this barrier and transcend their own attachments.
Qin Yu gazed at the pure humanoid silhouette in front of him, neither hastily denying nor deliberately forcing it. He was clear-headed; if he forced himself to develop a "selfless" mindset in order to pass the level, then the obsession with "I want to pass the level, I want to move forward" would still exist. Deliberately seeking nothingness would itself be the greatest obsession.
In an instant, the Ultimate test of the Wanyan Ancestral Land suddenly surfaced in his mind. At that time, he was almost annihilated and completely Return to Emanation origin, with only the words "I am still here" holding on desperately. In the end, however, he became the most difficult to break free from his Clinging to Knowing, which imprisoned his true self.
With this thought in mind, Qin Yu's consciousness completely calmed down. He no longer agonized over "what would happen if I disappeared," because the very question itself implicitly acknowledged that the existence of "I" must be established.
He simply looked back on his life quietly, facing all the glory, all the wounds, all the gains, and all the losses with equanimity, accepting all the past experiences along the way.
These experiences are all real paths Qin Yu has walked in his life. He neither denies nor despises them, nor will he dismiss his life's journey as meaningless or empty in the name of so-called transcendence.
After a long silence, Qin Yu slowly spoke, his voice settling steadily into the Space Silence chaos. "I have walked this path, so all of this has happened." The myriad memories suspended in the void trembled slightly, as if in resonance, as if in response.
"I still want to keep going, to see the myriad sights at the end of the road." The humanoid silhouette ahead remained still and unmoved. Qin Yu paused slightly, uttering the final state of mind he had reached after seeing through his true self. "But if one day, I have no one left to walk on—the road is still the road, the path is still the path."
Buzz--
The Silent Void, silent Space Silence was rippled for the first time. Countless fragments of Qin Yu's memories began to slowly dissipate. He neither hindered nor stopped them, neither clung to them nor let them go, allowing each passing year to rise and fall, turning into tiny specks of light. He neither deliberately remembered nor deliberately forgot; he accepted the past as it existed and calmly watched the fading of fate pass by.
With his memories fading away, so too did his cultivation, his life's glory, and his worldly identity. All the external labels attached to the name "Qin Yu" vanished. In the void, only the original humanoid silhouette remained, silently facing him, awaiting the final choice: to hold fast to his true self and preserve his identity, or to return to nothingness and transcend himself.
Qin Yu, however, broke free from this either-or constraint, his mind clear and serene, utterly undisturbed. "With me, it's possible." There was no dramatic resolve, no deliberate detachment, only the most genuine composure. "Without me, it's also possible."
"If I still live, I will continue on my journey; if I return to nothingness, I need no trace to prove that I came or that I walked."
As soon as he finished speaking, the humanoid silhouette that had been guarding its origin suddenly became transparent and slowly faded away. Qin Yu felt no joy or relief, and even his obsession with "successfully passing the level" dissipated. The human figure faded away layer by layer, until only a wisp of light remained suspended in the void. He looked ahead, neither reaching out nor trying to stop them.
The faint light was completely extinguished, heaven and earth returned to nothingness, time had no beginning or end, space had no boundaries, existence Wuhen, and consciousness was undisturbed. This world was unrelated to destruction or death, because life and death still require a vessel that "once existed," but this place encompasses all that has never existed and contains all that is to be born. It does not distinguish between the past and the future; all things Return to One, and all phenomena are empty.
No one knows how long the silence lasted; perhaps a fleeting moment, perhaps an eternity. In the depths of Space Silence, a single point of pure light suddenly arose.
Qin Yu opened his eyes and revived. He was still himself, his memories intact, his foundation in the Great Dao unbroken, and his entire life's experiences preserved. This illusion, from beginning to end, never sought to strip him of his past or his cultivation; what it truly tested was that fundamental obsession rooted deep in his heart—when everything can be emptied, and all things can be relinquished, will you still stubbornly cling to the belief that "I must exist"?
Crack—A crack that stretched across the eternal void suddenly exploded. The entire Illusionary True Self Returns to Nothingness began to crumble layer by layer. Boom—!!! The third trial was successfully passed.
The prison of reality has now been transformed. When the first layer ended, only a handful of the defeated awakened, but since the second layer of the Illusory Dream of Past Regrets began, the defeated have awakened like a tide, with their numbers skyrocketing layer by layer.
A surge of air currents churned, the black mist receded layer by layer, and one cultivator after another opened their eyes. Some were tear-streaked and grief-stricken, some were pale and disoriented, some roared out the names of their fallen comrades the moment they awoke, and some white-haired elders sat silently for a long time after opening their eyes, finally closing their eyes and bowing their heads, two lines of clear tears sliding down their weathered faces, without anger or resentment, only knowing the reason for their defeat.
Many people can let go of worldly vanities and baseless greed, but very few can face their past dreams of fulfillment, personally experience life and death again, and completely let go of their inner obsessions.
A cultivator who had stopped at the first level early on looked around at the defeated experts who were constantly awakening, and his feelings became more and more complicated. As far as the eye could see, countless well-known experts had all fallen here. The Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme, the True Annihilation Realm experts, sect elders, and aristocratic family tycoons had all been defeated and awakened, their expressions ashen.
In contrast, many younger cultivators, whose cultivation levels were far inferior to theirs, remained shrouded in dense black mist, deep in slumber, their consciousness still tempering their Dao hearts within the deep illusion.
The level of one's cultivation realm is never the measure of passing a test; the depth of one's cultivation is not the key to the trial. An elderly man gazed at the still-sleeping low-level young cultivator, speechless for a long time, before finally giving a bitter smile and suddenly understanding.
"I see." Those around turned to look at him. The old man raised his eyes and gazed at the hazy yet solemn Ancient Gate of Myriad Dharmas deep within the black mist, his words clear and distinct. "This gate has never been about selecting the strongest person in the world, but rather about selecting the most steadfast heart of the Dao."
The black mist continued to flow slowly, enveloping the vast expanse of land and sky. By this time, very few cultivators remained in the cage, still awaiting their Ultimate trial. All beings had overcome greed and delusion, and endured old regrets. Those who remained would soon face the Ultimate test of the entire secret realm trial—to relinquish worldly possessions, let go of the past, and ultimately understand themselves.