In the real world.
As the black mist thickened around each person, more and more people were being ejected from the Heart Trial Road.
Those who had just been sent out looked shaken, their faces pale and filled with lingering fear. They wandered away, dazed, slowly stepping aside to make room for the others who followed.
Sun Yigao, Qin Jianghe, and the others quickly rushed forward to check on their condition.
Due to the sheer number of people, those cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level or higher used the Heavenly Net Technique, forming webs of spiritual power around themselves to check multiple people at once. Meanwhile, those still at the Qi Refinement stage had to check individuals one by one.
The members of Lingxian Sect hurried to check everyone as quickly as possible, ensuring no one was in immediate danger.
Fortunately, although most of those ejected were in a state of shock, both their bodies and minds seemed stable enough.
As the number of people on the mountain path decreased, the crowd below continued to swell.
Seeing the rapid and concentrated number of eliminations, the spectators began to suspect something was wrong. However, upon recognizing Sun Yigao and Qin Jianghe tending to the ejected participants, their serious expressions suggested they were conducting health checks. The crowd instinctively stepped back, giving the sect more room.
Even the murmurs of conversation began to fade away, replaced by an uneasy silence.
At the same time, within the control room, the console finally displayed messages to Liu Yunan:
[Alert: The dreams of the Heart Trial Road participants are being interfered with by a third party. Dream sequences have been linked, and Heart Trial difficulty levels are synchronizing.]
[Alert: A third-party interference has been detected. The Heart Trial Road has activated emergency protection mode. The trial will automatically end before participants' mental defenses are completely broken.]
[Alert: The current strength level of the Heart Trial Road is insufficient to block the third-party interference. To resolve the issue, 500,000 spirit stones must be consumed from the sect's spirit stone mine to force an upgrade. Proceed with the upgrade?]
Three consecutive messages popped up on the control panel, floating before Liu Yunan.
Reading through the notifications, Liu Yunan felt puzzled.
Why had a "third-party interference" suddenly occurred, and how could it have linked the dreams of all the participants in the Heart Trial?
Just then, Sun Yigao's first transmission arrived through a messaging talisman.
After hearing the situation on the Heart Trial Road, Liu Yunan started piecing things together.
It seemed that the source of the disturbance — the so-called "third-party interference" — was likely related to Tong Jialiang.
For some reason, Tong Jialiang's condition had spiraled out of control...
Suddenly, Liu Yunan thought back to the origin of Tong Jialiang's illness.
It all began with the Qi Stone Mine.
In a flash of realization, the pieces clicked into place.
At that moment, Sun Yigao's second message came through:
"Yunan, I've spoken to some of the people who were just ejected. They all mentioned that, in the latter half of their dreams, significant and abrupt changes occurred almost instantaneously."
"Based on the current situation, it's very likely that everyone's dreams were disrupted by Tong Jialiang's condition, causing the difficulty of the trial to spike unexpectedly."
"This was my oversight. I hadn't expected Jialiang's illness to be severe enough to affect the Heart Trial Road…"
After listening to Sun Yigao's report, Liu Yunan's suspicions were further confirmed.
Having undergone the Heart Trial many times himself, he knew just how formidable it was.
Given its strength, a mere mortal's psychological issues couldn't have possibly disrupted the trial — especially not with the difficulty levels that had been enhanced by Lin Xiao several times over.
Lin Xiao had even told him that their Heart Trial Road was so powerful that even a Nascent Soul cultivator would have to endure its tests.
Therefore, Liu Yunan concluded that this sudden anomaly must be tied to the Qi Stone Mine incident.
However, while the cause was now clear, the solution was far less obvious.
Should he halt the trial?
Looking at the options on the control panel — [Yes] and [No] — he hesitated.
If he were to stop the trial, it would cost the sect 500,000 spirit stones, depleting a significant portion of their spirit stone reserves.
Even though their spirit stone mine could recover due to the sect's spiritual veins, using such a large quantity at once would be highly damaging. Rebuilding the mine's reserves would take much longer if depleted all at once, compared to the gradual extraction and replenishment they usually practiced.
Moreover, the console indicated that the Heart Trial was already in emergency protection mode, ensuring that no participant would suffer a mental breakdown before being ejected from the trial.
But if he didn't stop the trial, who knew what other complications might arise for those still inside?
And after all, this was the Lingxian Sect's long-awaited recruitment event…
As Liu Yunan hesitated, a sudden gathering of dark clouds loomed over the entire Northern Mountain Range, casting shadows for hundreds of miles.
The clouds grew thicker and more turbulent.
As they churned, massive bolts of lightning crackled across the sky, growing louder and more frequent.
This phenomenon instantly captured everyone's attention.
Those who had just emerged from the Heart Trial Road and looked up at the sky saw a scene eerily similar to what they had experienced in their dreamscapes.
However, unlike the oppressive weight they had felt in their dreams, the dark clouds above them now seemed to carry a sense of hope — as if, once the clouds broke, a new world would emerge.
Entranced by the spectacle, no one on the ground moved. The urge to flee from an impending storm evaporated, and they stood, captivated.
The celestial disturbance didn't just affect those on the ground — it caught Liu Yunan's attention as well. Rushing out from the control room, he looked up at the flashing lightning and roaring thunder.
Like everyone else, the Lingxian Sect members stared at the sky.
For some reason, they all found themselves hoping for that lightning to strike.
Both those on the mountain and those below felt a strange, collective sense of relief.
As if by instinct, smiles spread across their faces as they gazed up at the turbulent sky, anticipation glimmering in their eyes.
Their sect master was about to emerge!