Darkness—not an ordinary night, but a living tide of ink that instantly surged forth, drowning vision, swallowing sound, and severing every sense.
The five members hadn't even had the chance to stabilize their array before an irresistible force crashed down upon them!
"Hold on tight—" Zhu Yinxi’s shout was cut off halfway.
The five of them were clearly still trying to grasp each other’s hands, but their fingertips touched nothing but empty void.
That viscous darkness seemed to turn into invisible hands, easily penetrating the defenses they had hastily set up to grasp the core of each person’s divine soul. Then—it yanked hard!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
A sensation of silent bursting exploded in all five of their seas of consciousness simultaneously!
Their worlds spun!
"Ugh—!"
"This is bad!"
"We're being separated—"
Cries of alarm and muffled groans were forcibly choked back in their throats.
Li Nanzhu didn't even have time to react before she felt the ground beneath her feet suddenly vanish!
The solid bridge surface seemed to turn into nothingness in an instant. A massive dragging force pulled from all directions, throwing her violently toward an endless abyss!
"This is bad!"
Alarm bells rang in her mind. She tried to circulate her spiritual energy to steady herself, but as soon as it left her body, it was like a drop of water in the ocean, silently dissolved and swallowed by the pure darkness.
She wanted to call out to her companions, but her voice was blocked in her throat. Even her divine sense felt as if it had fallen into a thick mire, unable to extend more than three feet from her body.
From the corner of her eye, she seemed to catch a glimpse of other figures falling nearby. Was it Zhu Yinxi? Or Jiang Yifan?
She couldn't be sure, because as soon as those figures appeared, they were completely engulfed and isolated by the even more turbulent darkness.
Outside, atop the high platform.
The prominent figures from each sect watched the water mirror. After the five from the Five Elements Dao Sect stepped into the third stage, the image was instantly shrouded in a darkness so deep it was absolute. Then, the five points of light representing their figures quickly dispersed and dimmed, finally vanishing completely into the depths of the darkness. Their brows furrowed.
"This... what is the third stage?" an elder asked in confusion. "The Heart-Probing Bridge has myriad illusions, but this pure darkness doesn't seem like an ordinary trial scene."
"And the connection between the five of them has been completely severed. Even the water mirror cannot track their specific positions or status; it can only show that they exist within the level," Bu Qingwei said as he stroked his beard, his expression grave. "In this situation, it's either the shielding of the illusion itself, or it's..."
"An inner demon tribulation." Su Muli, who had been observing in silence, suddenly let out a soft sigh, breaking the temporary quiet.
Everyone’s gaze immediately focused on the sect leader of the Shenmu Sect, who had not spoken a word since the start of the competition.
Su Muli sat upright on the high platform, his fingers unconsciously rubbing a warm, spirit-nurturing wood bead. He looked calmly at the clamor in the square below and the shifts within the water mirror.
As the sect leader of the Shenmu Sect, his state of mind had always been peaceful.
Alchemists held an aloof status, and the Shenmu Sect had been at the bottom of the Sect Competition for years, so his desire for fame and fortune had long since faded.
After all, no matter what the final result was, it wouldn't affect the standing of his Shenmu Sect.
However, when he saw the Sword Heart Sect use the divine sense shock talisman and the bridge surface of the Five Elements Dao Sect’s third stage suddenly turn the color of dark blood, with a malevolent aura almost leaking out of the water mirror, his expression finally changed.
"Does Sect Leader Su recognize this level?" Bu Qingwei asked.
Su Muli nodded slowly, his gaze falling on the darkness in the water mirror that swallowed everything. His tone carried a hint of sentiment: "This level itself is an enhanced version of the Heart-Probing Path. An ordinary Heart-Probing Path tests the Dao heart and is full of illusions, but at least the participants still have self-awareness; they can perceive themselves and interact with the illusions. But look at this pure darkness, this complete isolation and stripping away..."
He paused and continued, "This is no longer a simple Heart-Probing Path trial. It’s more like... a precursor to an inner demon tribulation, or rather, an extreme simulation of one."
"An inner demon tribulation?!" Liu Changhe exclaimed. "Isn't that a tribulation that can only be triggered when a Golden Core stage cultivator impacts the Nascent Soul stage or when a cultivator breaks through a major realm? The Heart-Probing Bridge can actually simulate such a thing? And... it's only the third stage?"
"The Heart-Probing Bridge is an ancient treasure of extraordinary mystery. It’s not surprising it can simulate the prototype of an inner demon tribulation," Su Muli explained. "But this usually only happens in extremely high-difficulty levels or when a certain hidden condition is triggered. Given the current situation..."
His gaze swept toward the Sword Heart Sect and then looked at that dark red bridge body emitting ominous fluctuations. The meaning was self-evident—it was exactly that divine sense shock talisman that had forcibly heightened and twisted the third stage, which might have originally been at the difficulty of a Heart-Probing Path, catalyzing it into a terrifying trial closer to the prototype of an inner demon tribulation!
"An inner demon tribulation..." A trace of worry flashed in Rong Lingmeng’s beautiful eyes. "That is a tribulation that even many at the peak of the Golden Core stage turn pale at the mention of! At best, one's Dao heart is damaged and cultivation regresses; at worst, the divine soul sinks and the person dies! These children from the Five Elements Dao Sect are only in the early to middle stages of the Golden Core stage, or even just in the foundation establishment stage. How can they possibly withstand it?"
"That's why I said it's a prototype or a simulation," Su Muli said. "If it were a full inner demon tribulation, they probably wouldn't have lasted the moment they entered. This darkness is likely meant to deprive them of their five senses, isolate their connections, and dissolve their self-perception. Once they are completely lost, it is equivalent to failing the inner demon tribulation. Within the Heart-Probing Bridge, that would mean being directly eliminated, and it might even cause certain damage to their divine souls in reality."
"Losing one's self..." Bu Qingwei chewed on those words, his gaze toward the water mirror full of gravity. "This is more dangerous than any tangible attack. It points directly at the original heart, testing whether the cultivator's most fundamental self-anchor is solid. External forces can hardly intervene; they have to rely entirely on themselves."
"Then Li Nanzhu..." Liu Changhe looked at Feng Yi and found that the Sect Leader of the Five Elements Dao Sect had a face as calm as water. However, the slight pursing of his lips and the barely perceptible tension deep in his eyes showed that his inner worry was no less than anyone else's.
"It depends on her," Feng Yi spoke slowly, his voice steady. "No one can substitute for another during an inner demon tribulation. If she passes it, her Dao heart will be firmer, and she might even find a blessing in disguise as her divine soul is tempered. If she doesn't... then that is her fate."
Though he said this, his hand gripping the armrest of his chair, with knuckles slightly white, betrayed the lack of peace in his heart.
On the square, although the disciples couldn't see exactly what was happening, they could guess from the suddenly grave expressions of the leaders on the high platform that the Five Elements Dao Sect was likely in big trouble.
"What exactly is going on in the third stage? Why is there no movement at all?"
"Looking at the sect leaders' faces, it seems very serious!"
"Is the Five Elements Dao Sect really going to fall at the third stage?"
"The Sword Heart Sect's divine sense shock talisman was too ruthless! This is practically a finishing blow!"
Amidst the discussions, emotions of worry, schadenfreude, curiosity, and expectation intertwined.
Rate on N.U.
