At the First Elder’s command, several thousand disciples marched grandly onto the altar.
The moment they entered the altar’s range, their eyes became unfocused. Clearly, they had already fallen into an illusion.
Around the square, the Sect Master of the Profound Heaven Sect, along with the various Peak Masters and Elders, watched everyone’s performance through a massive water mirror.
“Sect Master, who do you favor?”
Elder Li Changqing approached a middle-aged man and asked respectfully.
The middle-aged man wore a purple robe and had an elegant, scholarly appearance. He was none other than the current Sect Master of the Profound Heaven Sect, Dao Yan, the Perfected One.
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, gazed deeply at the images in the water mirror.
“That wandering cultivator wearing a veil, Liu Ruyan, and Lin Langtian of the Lin family. Both of them possess exceptionally resilient minds. They should be able to break through the trial very quickly.”
Sure enough, the moment Dao Yan, the Perfected One, finished speaking, an astonishing sword intent suddenly erupted from Liu Ruyan’s body on the altar.
She abruptly opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear and cold.
“A mere inner demon dares to obstruct my path to becoming an Emperor? Shatter!”
Crack!
The illusion surrounding Liu Ruyan shattered with a resounding boom.
“Twenty breaths! She only needed twenty breaths!”
The Elder in charge of timing cried out in shock.
Immediately afterward, Lin Langtian opened his eyes as well.
A disdainful sneer curled across his lips.
In his previous life, he had been the Heavenly Demon Emperor. What kind of situation had he never seen before? To him, this low-level Heart-Questioning Illusion was nothing more than a child’s game.
“Eighteen breaths!”
Lin Langtian’s result once again set a new record.
“Good! Good! Good!”
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, stroked his beard repeatedly, his eyes filled with approval.
“These two both possess the potential to become Saints!”
After that, the other prodigies from various regions gradually broke free of the illusion as well.
Some took half an incense stick’s time, while others needed a full incense stick before barely passing the test.
Of course, even more people became hopelessly trapped within the illusion. Some even cried and laughed hysterically on the altar, making complete fools of themselves before eventually being kicked out directly by the teleportation array.
Ye Wuxin awoke after more than half an incense stick’s time, his head drenched in sweat.
Ye Wuming remained trapped until the very last moment, passing the test by the narrowest of margins.
“Hm? What about Ye Wushuang, the one who triggered the phenomenon of a supreme physique? How is she doing?”
Elder Li Changqing suddenly frowned.
Within the water mirror, Ye Wushuang stood silently at the edge of the altar. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her brows were slightly furrowed, as though she had fallen into some kind of terrifying nightmare.
Within the Heart-Questioning Illusion.
Ye Wushuang discovered that she had not appeared amid a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, nor had she encountered any terrifying demons or monsters.
Instead, she found herself tied to a chair, surrounded by a circle of “evil spirits” with hideous faces.
Each of the evil spirits held various instruments of torture as they slowly advanced toward her.
Outside the illusion, on the altar, Ye Wushuang’s body began to tremble violently. Cold sweat covered her forehead, and her face was as pale as paper.
“This is bad! Miss Ye has fallen into a deep-seated inner demon!”
Elder Li Changqing was horrified.
“What could she possibly have seen to frighten her this badly?”
The First Elder also frowned deeply.
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, had a solemn expression.
“Those with supreme physiques are often accompanied by exceptionally powerful inner demons. If she cannot break through it on her own, her Dao heart will inevitably suffer damage. She may even go berserk and lose control of her cultivation.”
“Prepare to forcibly terminate her test.”
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, sighed, his voice tinged with regret.
No matter how great her talent was, if her Dao heart was unstable, all of it would ultimately amount to nothing.
On the altar, Liu Ruyan looked at Ye Wushuang’s trembling body, a trace of mockery flashing through her eyes.
“It seems Ye Wushuang’s state of mind is nothing special after all.”
Ye Wuming sneered repeatedly as well.
“Ye Wushuang, so you have your day after all!”
However, just as everyone thought Ye Wushuang was about to fail the test, a sudden change occurred.
Within the illusion.
Ye Wushuang abruptly raised her head, a mocking smile appearing on her face.
“You call this thing an inner demon?”
In an instant, her thoughts began to surge.
“Wushuang, the client isn’t satisfied with this proposal. Work overtime tonight and have the final version ready for me first thing tomorrow morning.”
A portly, balding middle-aged man walked up to her desk and slammed a thick stack of documents onto it.
“Also, you’re not getting your perfect-attendance bonus this month because you were thirty seconds late yesterday morning.”
The boss smiled hypocritically.
“Oh, and there’s a company outing this weekend. Everyone has to attend. No taking leave. The cost of the outing will be deducted from next month’s salary.”
After saying this, the boss turned around and walked away with his hands clasped behind his back, swaggering like a duck.
Ye Wushuang stared at the mountain of documents piled on her desk, then at the densely packed spreadsheets on her computer screen.
A fear and despair originating from the depths of her soul instantly engulfed her.
This was true terror!
What did the flashes of blades and shadows of swords in the cultivation world matter? What did demons and monsters matter? In the face of “996” and “007,” they were ridiculously weak, all right?!
“You…”
Ye Wushuang’s voice was low and hoarse.
“Have any of you ever experienced 996 or 007?”
The evil spirits surrounding her froze.
“Have any of you ever heard of working all year without a single day off?”
Ye Wushuang slowly rose to her feet. The ropes binding her snapped apart inch by inch.
“Have any of you ever seen an Ironman triathlon competitor who sleeps only three hours a day?”
“Have any of you ever experienced the despair of working overtime without being paid a single cent, only to have your performance bonus deducted as well?!”
Ye Wushuang’s voice grew louder and louder, exploding through the illusion like thunder.
“Have any of you ever encountered the great terror known as ‘the boss’?!”
Boom!
Accompanied by a furious roar, the terrifying power of the Nine-Phoenix Flame Phoenix Physique within Ye Wushuang erupted explosively!
“I finally managed to transmigrate, and I still have to put up with the abuse of you capitalists?!”
Ye Wushuang threw a punch, blasting one of the evil spirits beside her into ash.
“Get the hell out of here!”
Dark flames swept outward, burning all the little demons into nothingness.
On the altar.
Ye Wushuang’s tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The illusion formation patterns surrounding her could not withstand this terrifying force. They shattered apart one after another!
“Phew—”
Ye Wushuang let out a long breath, then wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“That was close. I nearly died of fright. I almost thought I’d transmigrated back again.”
The entire scene fell deathly silent.
Everyone stared at Ye Wushuang with their mouths agape.
“Th-three breaths?!”
The Elder in charge of timing rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
“From the moment she fell into the inner demon to the moment she broke through the illusion… she only needed three breaths?!”
Boom!
The entire square erupted into an uproar.
“She broke through the Heart-Questioning Illusion in three breaths? Is she even human?”
“She clearly looked like she was suffering just now. How did she suddenly break through the formation?”
“This Dao heart is simply terrifyingly firm!”
Before the water mirror, all the higher-ups of the Profound Heaven Sect sucked in a cold breath.
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, abruptly rose to his feet. An unprecedented brilliance erupted from his eyes.
“She broke through the illusion in three breaths… Such a Dao heart is simply unheard of!”
“I will take this girl as my personal disciple!”
Dao Yan, the Perfected One, declared this outright.
The several Elders exchanged glances. Although they were unwilling to give up, with the Sect Master having spoken, none of them dared to compete with him.
On the altar, Lin Langtian and Liu Ruyan’s expressions became exceedingly ugly.
The results they had been so proud of were utterly crushed before Ye Wushuang’s achievement, leaving not even the slightest trace behind.
“What kind of monster is this woman...?” Lin Langtian’s expression was strange.
