Wandao 032
Wan Xiaochuan slowly opened his eyes. The surrounding scenery had completely changed. The myriad spirit illusion within the Dragon Coiling Formation had, at some unknown point, transformed into an endless forest shrouded in violet mist.
The air was damp and cold, the dense fog surging like a tide. Xiaochuan furrowed his brows, raised his sword to guard himself, and released a trace of sword aura, dispersing the mist within three feet. All around was unnaturally silent. He extended a thread of divine sense, but it was like dropping into an abyss—there was no response at all.
"This isn't an ordinary illusion…" A chill ran through his heart. He turned his head to look—Lin Qixian and Renee were nowhere to be seen.
The next moment, a familiar voice suddenly echoed by his ear—
"Xiaochuan, help me—"
It was Renee's voice!
His expression changed, and he flew toward the direction of the voice. Navigating through the mist, every step felt fraught with danger. Each tree seemed to hide lethal intent, and the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe. After a short while, he finally saw a silhouette ahead.
"Renee!" he called out anxiously.
The woman slowly turned back. Tears glistened in her beautiful eyes, and her lips quivered—it was indeed Renee. She wore the little red jacket she usually favored, but her gaze was vacant and lifeless. Wan Xiaochuan halted his steps, a sharp alarm ringing in his heart.
"Who... are you?"
The woman's lips curved into a strange smile, though her voice remained sweet: "Didn't you say... you'd always protect me? So why did you leave me alone on that snowy mountain… to die?"
Wan Xiaochuan's body jolted, a trace of pain flashing between his brows where the thunder pattern flickered faintly.
"This is an illusion..." he muttered, yet his feet involuntarily stepped forward.
The next moment, Renee's figure blurred, and the surroundings collapsed like a dissolving painting. The scene changed in an instant—
He was back in Niupu Village. His younger self squatted on the grass, playing with bugs. His father, Wan Liqiao, stood silently in the distance watching him, while his mother, Zeng Lihui, leaned against the doorway with a familiar smile… a smile that gradually twisted.
"Xiaochuan, you're a disgrace. Can't even protect the family legacy. What right do you have to inherit the Wan clan?"
A furious voice exploded—it was Yazhen's voice.
She stood atop a high platform, clutching the Myriad Spirits Scroll, surrounded by countless clansmen shouting in unison: "Expel Wan Xiaochuan from the spiritual bloodline! Banish him from the clan registry forever!"
Wan Xiaochuan roared in defiance and tried to rush forward to explain, but found himself powerless. His dantian was hollow, his spiritual power completely gone. He collapsed to his knees. Everywhere he looked, he saw betrayal from those he trusted, cold gazes from his kin.
"Enough!" he bellowed, and wind and thunder erupted from his heart meridian.
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook. The illusion shattered, countless fragments scattering like flowing sand. He gasped for breath, cold sweat pouring from his forehead, but his gaze grew more resolute.
This was no mere illusion—it was a "Dream-Killing Illusory Array", one that delved into the sea of consciousness and awakened heart demons!
This formation projected a cultivator's deepest fears, obsessions, and regrets into tangible illusions. Without a firm Dao heart, one could easily become lost within it—or even perish!
"No wonder… This is the final trial of the sect—'Heart Tribulation.'"
He sat cross-legged in meditation, condensing the dual forces of wind and thunder into his dantian, circulating through his twelve great meridians, attempting to purge the remnants of the illusion with true qi. Within his sea of consciousness, faint thunder rumbled, as if calling him to awaken his truest self.
Yet once more, an illusion manifested.
This time, it was not another person—but himself.
A figure identical in appearance but exuding a cold and menacing aura emerged from the mist. His eyes carried killing intent, and his smirk brimmed with scorn and arrogance.
"Why did you take the path of cultivation? For revenge? For protection? Or simply because you refused to live an ordinary life?"
"No matter how powerful you become, you're still your father's abandoned son, your mother's burden, your sect's pawn, a puppet to love and sentiment..."
Wan Xiaochuan gripped his Wind-Thunder Sword tightly, his gaze icy. "You're not me."
The shadow sneered, "Wrong. I am you—the side you refuse to face. You act righteous, yet kill without hesitation. You harbor pride, yet crave acceptance and tenderness... You are a contradiction!"
Wan Xiaochuan was silent for a long time, then slowly said, "Yes, I fear loneliness, I fear loss. But I have no regrets about the path I've chosen. Precisely because I know the value of emotion, I must protect it. Precisely because I know the pain of betrayal, I will not let it happen again."
Step by step, he approached the doppelgänger. Wind and thunder sword energy coiled around him, his voice thunderous:
"You are not my heart demon—merely a shadow I've yet to overcome. Today, I shall cut you down!"
"Wind-Thunder Sword Art · Third Style—Wind Shakes, Thunder Moves · Dual Shadows Sever Emotion!"
Sword aura clashed, lightning exploded, illusion and substance shattered together. The heart demon's form shrieked as it was finally cleaved apart in the sea of consciousness.
Wan Xiaochuan's breath surged. The thunder pattern across his body brightened by another three inches, and a purer wind-thunder spiritual force poured into his muscles and bones. In his sea of consciousness, his natal sword "Wind-Thunder" trembled lightly—as if sensing an opportunity to evolve.
The violet mist dispersed. Light returned.
He now stood at the center of an ancient formation. Three others sat cross-legged nearby—Lin Qixian, pale-faced, clearly having endured his own tribulation within the illusion; and Renee, her eyes slowly opening. Seeing him awaken, she offered a weak but relieved smile.
"You're awake…"
Wan Xiaochuan nodded and looked toward the sky. Sunlight pierced through the top of the ancient array. It was the light of rebirth—shining after the illusions shattered and the heart demon was cast off.
And in the depths of his heart, he understood:
To ascend the immortal path and attain the Dao, the true enemy had never only been the outer demons—
but the obsessions and fears within.