Chapter 540: Chapter 540
Besides Black Vulture Ascendant and Du Yunsheng, there was actually a fifth person in the cave hall!
Yet Zhouyang had just scanned the entire cave hall with his vision earlier, and did not see the person now visible.
Such a bizarre situation, how could it not make him change color abruptly?
Moreover, what made his heart pound was that the person was clearly sitting there cross-legged, yet he did not sense any leakage of breath from the person; if not for seeing the person having hands and feet, and the exposed palm and wrist were fair-skinned with a fleshly gloss, he would have thought the person was a stone.
This was a situation he had never witnessed on Lu Xuanji, the Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul Great Cultivator!
After his face changed, Zhouyang quickly forced himself to calm down, his face cautiously as he saluted the black-robed person sitting cross-legged on the ground, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
A cold and indifferent voice lightly drifted from the mouth of the black-robed person.
Upon hearing this voice, all sorts of thoughts in Zhouyang’s mind vanished instantly, as he almost instinctively obeyed the voice and sat down on a stone stool.
After he sat down, he suddenly seemed to realize what happened, looking at the black-robed person with shocked eyes.
Words and Laws Follow!
Recalling his own situation just now, this thought suddenly flashed through Zhouyang’s mind, then grew uncontrollably.
The so-called "Words and Laws Follow" can be said to be both a divine technique and a realm.
It is considered a divine technique because indeed there are some very powerful divine techniques in the Cultivation Realm that can achieve the effect of "Words and Laws Follow".
It is a realm because as long as one’s cultivation reaches the Tribulation Crossing True Immortal realm or higher, comprehending Heaven and Earth Laws successfully, deliberately exerting power would indeed possess some "Words and Laws Follow" strength.
Reportedly, if one’s cultivation reaches the Unity Celestial Immortal Realm, then with one word, Heaven and Earth Laws follow; a word can make someone die, a word can make someone revive. That is the true meaning of "Words and Laws Follow"!
Regardless of which situation the black-robed person was in, it was something that would make Zhouyang and the other Golden Core Stage Cultivators both respectful and fearful. Official source ıs Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
No wonder even someone as arrogant and merciless as Black Vulture Ascendant, when Zhouyang entered the cave hall, merely glared fiercely at him without any extra motions.
Presumably, he was also afraid that his noise would provoke the black-robed person’s annoyance and bring unforeseen disaster upon himself.
Zhouyang understood these and held back the idea of transmitting a sound inquiry to Du Yunsheng, honestly sitting along quietly, patiently waiting for the next visitor.
He did not have to wait long; about a day after him, someone successfully practiced the "Void Refining God Spell" and arrived here.
At this time, he finally understood why Du Yunsheng and the others did not find his entry into the cave hall surprising.
Because those in the cave hall could clearly see others undergo the faceless humanoid monster’s test before entering, even hearing their conversation sounds.
Upon witnessing this situation, Zhouyang’s face was complex, alternating between blue and red, feeling grateful for not embarrassing himself, otherwise, it would have been a great loss of face.
Then he couldn’t help but worry for Jiang Fengxian.
If Jiang Fengxian behaved disgracefully while undergoing the faceless humanoid monster’s test, wouldn’t it be a huge loss for him?
However, that wasn’t what worried him most; what bothered him more was the outcome of failing the test.
The cultivator who underwent the test after Zhouyang failed to discover the faceless humanoid monster’s illusion and disguise, was directly swiped on the head by its claw, then became food for the faceless humanoid monster along with his entire Golden Core and Primordial Spirit, swallowed in one gulp!
One can imagine how fearful Zhouyang felt at the sight, how ghastly his face looked.
"This checkpoint is named [Be Careful of the Demon Gate]. With the help of a special illusion array, the monster can become like a heart demon, transforming into what we care about or miss in our hearts. If we can’t spot its illusion and disguise in the realm, then like failing the Heart Demon Tribulation, the Golden Core and Primordial Spirit would be devoured by it!"
As Zhouyang stared blankly at the fallen cultivator’s corpse, Du Yunsheng’s voice suddenly reached his ears, explaining the checkpoint.
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang’s heart shook, involuntarily directing his gaze at Du Yunsheng.
Facing his gaze, Du Yunsheng nodded coldly, and said:
"Indeed, the presence of this checkpoint is actually testing our mental cultivation, indirectly examining whether we have a chance for Nascent Soul Formation!"
"If mental cultivation doesn’t pass, failing to go through the [Be Careful of the Demon Gate] formed by monsters and arrays, how much success could one expect facing the real [Heart Demon Tribulation] later on?"
"Strange objects like [Holy Infant Fruit] naturally shouldn’t be wasted by some mediocrity!"
Cultivators who reached the Golden Core Stage are never mediocre!
Du Yunsheng’s saying "mediocrity" surely doesn’t hold.
Though Zhouyang must admit, what he said makes some sense and does conform to reality.
Lu Xuanji also said that those "Celestial Immortals" left behind "Holy Infant Fruit" in the Kunxu Realm to cultivate outstanding descendants with the potential to "become Immortals".
And to "become Immortals", one must first refine a pill and form an infant to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage.
To advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, the "Heart Demon Tribulation" is the biggest hurdle.
It’s reasonable for the "Celestial Immortals" to test the mental cultivation of the intruder before allowing them to obtain the "Holy Infant Fruit",
but this test is a bit too cruel!
Zhouyang frowned as he looked outside, the corpse on the ground had disappeared, its whereabouts unknown.
At this moment, the deep entrance of the cave hall seemed to Zhouyang like the gaping mouth of a man-eating beast, ready to devour any cultivator who ventured inside.
As the six-month time limit approached, over the next twenty-odd days, more people came to challenge the third pass.
Although there were many who came, few managed to successfully pass through.
It wasn’t until Zhouyang saw Jiang Fengxian’s figure appear that, including him, there were only six Golden Core Stage cultivators in the cave hall!
What Zhouyang didn’t know whether to feel happy or embarrassed about was that when Jiang Fengxian took the test, the faceless humanoid monster transformed into his likeness.
From this, it was evident that he held an extremely important place in Jiang Fengxian’s heart.
Meanwhile, watching the monster mimic him and speak those tender words with Jiang Fengxian, he felt incredibly awkward.
He had to remember that apart from himself, there were also Black Vulture Ascendant, Du Yunsheng, and five others, meaning there were six people in total including the mysterious black-robed man.
Being watched by six people while a monster impersonated him, speaking fondly with his own woman, Zhouyang felt unimaginable shame and anger.
He stared intently at the monster masquerading as him, with fire nearly blazing from his eyes.
When he saw the monster attempt to embrace Jiang Fengxian, Zhouyang suddenly stood up in anger and shouted, "How dare you!"
It was unclear whether his anger came from fear of the monster harming Jiang Fengxian, or out of a man’s possessive instincts, unwilling to let another entity, especially a monster, touch his woman!
However, what startled and delighted Zhouyang was that after his angry shout, Jiang Fengxian, whether through a tacit connection sensing his anger or discovering the monster’s anomaly like him, suddenly broke away and distanced herself, questioning the faceless humanoid monster with suspicion.
Confronted by the questioning, the faceless humanoid monster tried to defend itself, but since Jiang Fengxian was already suspicious, with her intelligence, it wouldn’t be hard for her to spot the monster’s flaws.
When she finally confirmed the monster was a fraud and prepared to act, the monster disappeared in a flash, and she then saw the real Zhouyang.
"You, this Zhouyang, can’t be a fake too, right?"
Seeing the real Zhouyang, Jiang Fengxian narrowed her eyes, looking at him with a playful yet mocking gaze.
When Zhouyang heard her words, he frantically signaled her with his eyes to look at the black-robed man.
Evidently, Jiang Fengxian, like him initially, hadn’t noticed the black-robed man’s presence.
Unfortunately, Jiang Fengxian seemed to misunderstand, thinking he was referring to someone else, she slightly nodded towards Du Yunsheng not far from him and said, "Fellow Daoist Du is also here, then this Zhouyang should be real!"
Seeing this, Zhouyang could only helplessly voice out, "Fengxian, don’t be rude, go and greet this senior!"
With his clear indication, Jiang Fengxian finally discovered there was a seventh person in the hall.
It can be imagined how colorful her expression must have been at that moment.
However, the black-robed man was in good spirits, not blaming Jiang Fengxian for this, instead lightly saying "sit", allowing Jiang Fengxian to sit on a stone bench beside Zhouyang.
He also did not reprimand or punish Zhouyang for his earlier outburst, allowing Zhouyang’s tense heart to relax.
Next, naturally, Zhouyang took on the role Du Yunsheng held previously, explaining the situation here to Jiang Fengxian.
As he expected, when Jiang Fengxian heard that everything she’d done in the illusion realm was witnessed by Zhouyang and the others, her face turned red with both shame and anger.
"So, you’ve been watching and laughing at me all along?"
She glared at Zhouyang with a dangerous tone.
Hearing this, Zhouyang quickly shook his head vigorously, "No, I was worried about you the whole time, Fengxian. You have no idea how worried I was, especially when I saw that monster’s claws extend towards you, I anxiously cried out, thankfully the senior did not hold me accountable!"
Upon hearing his words, Jiang Fengxian’s heart warmed. Though she doubted if it was true, she couldn’t help but softly hum, "Humph, your mouth is as sweet as that monster’s, no wonder I was almost fooled by it, turns out the root is with you!"
"Ahem, what I said is sincere, Fengxian, you may not trust the words of that monster, but you must trust me!"
Zhouyang awkwardly coughed twice but felt aggrieved.
In his heart, he utterly despised that faceless humanoid monster.