Third layer: Dream City of Illusions.
Eerie laughter echoed around her.
All was pitch-black, not a glimmer of light to be seen.
From the outside, it looked exactly the same.
Xin Xiu chuckled softly. “Not planning to face me head-on this time?”
“I’d like to, but someone won’t let me.”
She wasn’t surprised and said quietly, “Then hold on tight.”
Xin Xiu sat on the ground, undisturbed, in perfect silence.
That silence lasted about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.
She bent her legs, the bamboo staff in her hand pressing against the ground. “Don’t hold back.”
Xin Xiu’s brow twitched. She pushed herself up with the staff and dodged a longsword striking from behind, as a figure rushed at her like lightning, fist wrapped in spiritual power.
She raised her bamboo staff, frail as it looked, it blocked the ferocious attack.
The corner of Xin Xiu’s mouth curled up. “You’ve improved quite a bit.”
She glanced sideways and saw Lin Wenxiao’s cold, stern face, a completely different person from the one she remembered.
She released her spiritual power and sent him staggering back.
Lin Wenxiao picked up the longsword from the ground, twisted his wrist, and thrust it at Xin Xiu once more.
Two figures clashed back and forth in the darkness, bamboo staff and longsword colliding, sparks flying with each strike.
A flash of red light broke the deadlock.
An attack streaked down like a shooting star.
Xin Xiu distanced herself from Lin Wenxiao and flung her bamboo staff to block it.
His assault was swift and fierce, but she reacted instantly, moving so fast only afterimages remained.
The moment the layer master let his guard down, Xin Xiu had already teleported behind him, and promptly landed a kick.
The layer master sucked in a sharp breath. “Quite the kick.”
The moment he spoke, the door to the fourth layer materialized before Xin Xiu.
From the outside, all anyone saw was Xin Xiu swinging her bamboo staff alone, as if she were amusing herself.
When they saw how easily she passed the third layer, the voices of doubt grew louder.
“Is she not even bothering to pretend anymore? Doesn’t the sect always preach fairness? Are they just going to quietly sweep this under the rug again?”
“What ‘Senior Sister’? How many people actually acknowledge her as Senior Sister?”
“Since the spots for the sect trials are already decided, why even hold this sect competition? What a waste of time. None of it is legitimate anyway.”
…
The elders who saw through the inner workings remained silent.
It wasn’t until the disciples entered the third layer.
Darkness. Solitude.
At that moment, the outside world could clearly see what was happening inside.
Who was the real one?
Lin Wenxiao didn’t dare act rashly. He released his spiritual energy and advanced in small, cautious steps, relying on the faint glow.
“Senior Sister.” No response. Lin Wenxiao called out the names of several familiar fellow disciples.
Still no answer.
He wandered aimlessly until a blinding light struck him. Unable to open his eyes fully, he squinted and slowly walked toward the source.
In an instant, the darkness vanished without a trace, replaced by a familiar scene.
Buildings had collapsed. The once-glorious sect now lay in ruins.
Voices whispered temptations from all around.
Lin Wenxiao stood frozen for a long moment. He staggered forward, and what met his eyes made his heart clench with pain.
Corpses everywhere.
Even though his reason told him it was all an illusion, he couldn’t control his emotions.
His body trembled involuntarily as he stepped over the bones of countless disciples and entered the sect.
Not a single survivor.
The bodies of the sect master, the elders, and his senior sister were scattered throughout the sect, each with a different cause of death, all horrifying beyond words.
Some couldn’t even be pieced together into a whole body.
Obsession drove Lin Wenxiao to find the true culprit.
A shadow loomed over him. He looked up, Xin Xiu stood at the very front, dead center, with a host of Linxian Sect disciples behind her, and beside her stood another version of himself.
In a daze, Lin Wenxiao found a crowd gathered behind him as well.
Except there was no Xin Xiu by his side, the formation was a perfect mirror image.
As if possessed, Lin Wenxiao took the people across from him as the culprits behind the massacre. His only thought now was to kill them all.
It wasn’t just his subconscious assumption, everyone else thought the same, all driven to slaughter the opposing side.
“Your crimes are unforgivable.” With Xin Xiu’s command, they struck first.
Identical techniques clashed, neither side gaining the upper hand.
Those who lost their reason were the first to be eliminated.
The disciples watching from outside were dazzled.
“Who’s the real one?”
Gradually, they understood why Xin Xiu had been fighting thin air, and why she’d been stuck on the second layer for so long.
It turned out the wood layer master of the second layer had analyzed the disciples’ techniques and passed them to the third layer master, forcing the disciples to fight each other.
In the end, the key to breaking through lay within oneself.
Blood seeped from the corner of Lin Wenxiao’s mouth. The pain brought back a sliver of clarity. He rapidly cycled his spiritual power and, seizing the moment, tossed out a mirror.
The mirror floated in the air.
Lin Wenxiao recited the incantation: “Dwelling beneath the moon, heart clear as a mirror; moonlight casts the shadow, entering the mind’s realm, discerning all who appear.”
“Soul-Cleansing Mirror, open.” Spiritual power poured into the mirror. It spun in the air a few times before shining its light upon the crowd.
“Old faces are not what they seem.” Lin Wenxiao twisted his wrist. “Soul-Cleansing Mirror, break ten thousand illusions.”
The Soul-Cleansing Mirror spun rapidly, radiating golden light, and the disciples gradually regained their senses.
They formed a circle, only defending against the attacks.
“Too passive. We need to think of something.”
“Damn, I never even learned this move.”
The voice came to an abrupt halt.
Looking down, several vines had bound his ankles.
Trouble!
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, Xin Xiu.
She had barely taken half a step inside when the floor master attacked her face-to-face, catching her completely off guard.
“You’re too slow.” The floor master’s tone was flat, but their movements grew increasingly vicious. “Your reactions need work.”
Xin Xiu took the punch head-on. Her gaze flickered, and her eyes turned sharp.
“Don’t you dare hold back.” The floor master smiled provocatively.
The two tacitly created distance between them.
“If you want to fight, then drop the sneak attacks.” Xin Xiu looked at the Earth Floor Master. “What do the three of you say?”
“Why would you think that? I’m not that kind of person.”
The moment the words left their mouth, two figures appeared from behind the Earth Floor Master, the Water Floor Master and the Metal Floor Master.
The Metal Floor Master let out an eerie laugh. “Finally got you.”
Last time, Xin Xiu had stormed the Tower of Ascension alone and gravely wounded them. He had been nursing that grudge ever since.
“Then let’s fight head-on.” The Metal Floor Master charged forward first. “Let fear devour you, Heart Demon, appear!”
A massive black hand descended from the sky.
Xin Xiu hurled her bamboo staff into the air and dashed forward in a single stride.
The wind howled past her ears. She ducked low to dodge an incoming fist, then seized the opportunity to sweep her leg out, striking the Metal Floor Master squarely in the shin.
“This isn’t a one-on-one, you know.” The Water Floor Master joined the fray right behind, her gentle features belying strikes that were fast, precise, and ruthless.
Despite being surrounded by the two, Xin Xiu handled herself with ease.
A soft clatter, the bamboo staff landed on the ground.
The black hand dissolved into black mist mid-descent, engulfing Xin Xiu entirely.
“Such a petty trick works once or twice at most.” She said expressionlessly, “Play it too many times and it loses its charm.”
In a single breath, the black mist dissipated into nothing.
The three were taken aback, last time, Xin Xiu had nearly fallen to that very mist.
How much time had passed since then? Her strength had already reached such a level. Truly terrifying.
In their daze, the three saw that mask again.
Familiar. All too familiar.
Even the patterns were nearly identical.
For a moment, they almost thought an old acquaintance had come calling.
But fortunately, thanks to their last encounter, they had already studied Xin Xiu thoroughly.
The key to defeating her was that mask.
The Earth Floor Master sent a telepathic message to the other two: “Set up the formation. Use the chance to rip off her mask.”
The three formed a triangle, their power converging above, while a massive blue formation materialized on the ground below. At the center of the formation was the pattern of an eye, surrounded by bizarrely shaped eyeballs.
They each chanted strange incantations as the formation slowly rose.
Xin Xiu wasn’t idle either. She pressed her hands together in a seal, spiritual energy coiling through her fingertips like a swimming dragon.
She brought her index and middle fingers together, tracing a sigil in the air.
Annihilation of heaven and earth, overturning of the cosmos.
Thunder and lightning roared, shaking the heavens and the earth.
Seeing the unfavorable turn, the Water Floor Master was the first to withdraw from the formation. “I’ll hold her off. You two hurry.”
She blinked to directly behind Xin Xiu, who was frozen in place from casting the Annihilation Thunder Seal, like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
The Water Floor Master raised her arm, condensing a blade of ice. With a sweeping gesture, the blade didn’t fly toward Xin Xiu, instead, it split into countless daggers.
She stared intently at Xin Xiu’s every move. She had to strangle the Annihilation Thunder Seal in its cradle before it could be unleashed.
Xin Xiu’s body flickered with faint, intermittent lightning. Her expression remained calm, a smile curling at the corners of her lips.
What?!
The Water Floor Master’s heart jolted.
Xin Xiu moved imperceptibly behind the Water Floor Master, and the talisman pinched between her two fingers shot forward.
A thunderous boom erupted between them.
The Water Floor Master retreated several steps, teasing, “Is this a little surprise for me?”
On the surface, she appeared utterly unruffled, but she had already sent a telepathic message to the Metal Floor Master: “Open the illusion realm.”
The world turned upside down, and the two found themselves underwater.
The Water Floor Master held a blue orb in her left hand and formed an orchid gesture with her right. As the gesture moved, the orb radiated intense light.
“Azure Sea Vortex.” The Water Floor Master spun her orchid gesture over the orb.
In response, a massive vortex appeared beneath Xin Xiu’s feet.
Xin Xiu gripped her bamboo staff and struck it hard, spiritual light burst in all directions, and the illusion shattered.
She blinked behind the Water Floor Master, a cruel glint flashing in her eyes. In a cold voice, she said, “There are countless eyes watching from outside. Don’t commit a fatal mistake.”
A surge of powerful force blasted the Water Floor Master away.
She slammed into the wall, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. She dispersed the spiritual energy in her palm and cautiously looked upward.
Xin Xiu’s words had awakened her.
Outside, there were plenty of people eyeing them hungrily.
The Water Floor Master retreated back into the formation.
Xin Xiu didn’t press the pursuit. She traced a line in the air with her hand, and talismans unfurled one by one. Infusing them with spiritual energy, she swept her index and middle fingers, sending the talismans flying in all directions.
The three spoke in unison: “Illusion Shape Formation, open!”
A triangular barrier materialized.
“Azure Sea Vortex.” The Water Floor Master said, “Rise.”
A vortex appeared beneath Xin Xiu’s feet once more, but this time, it was larger, more mysterious.
She stood perfectly still, not because she couldn’t dodge, but because she was completely bound.
And she had no intention of dodging.
“Phantom Eye Fear.” The Metal Layer Master’s handsome face began to twist, and he let out that eerie laugh once more.
A pair of eyes surrounded Xin Xiu, staring at her without blinking.
Fear welled up within her.
No one knew Xin Xiu’s true expression beneath the mask, was she afraid?
A mere illusion formation, what was there to fear?
The Azure Sea Vortex and Phantom Eye Fear held no sway over Xin Xiu because the one who truly mattered had yet to make his move.
Xin Xiu stood directly facing the Earth Layer Master.
Even without seeing Xin Xiu’s expression, the Earth Layer Master felt an overwhelming sense of pressure.
The pressure was no less than the dread Xin Xiu had exuded years ago when she had nearly fallen into demonic cultivation.
Xin Xiu waited, but the Earth Layer Master’s attack never came.
Broken?
Xin Xiu used the wooden staff as a walking cane, moving step by step, each point of contact leaving a trail of displaced air. From the airflow created by the staff’s fall, her strength was not to be underestimated.
The illusion formation was all too familiar to Xin Xiu, she headed straight for the formation’s core.
The vortex split apart, and a pair of eyes appeared above, shooting upward with lightning speed.
A faint smile curled at the corners of the three men’s lips. Their target had never been Xin Xiu.
Their target was the disciples still on the third level.
After all, they had prepared a surprise for those outside as well.
Xin Xiu was puzzled by their intentions. With a single strike of her staff, she shattered the formation’s core, and the barrier dissolved, only to find another layer of illusion formation beyond it.
To keep Xin Xiu from growing suspicious, the three launched an attack of their own.
The two flashed behind the Earth Layer Master, channeling their spiritual energy into his body.
“Earth Spirit True Form.” The Earth Layer Master summoned his true form.
A colossal rock-earth bull, its massive body composed entirely of stone, with clearly defined patterns on its two horns and crimson-red eyes.
Blue and gold intertwined spiritual energy swirled around it.
Xin Xiu’s eye twitched.
The rock-earth bull exhaled, slamming its front hooves against the ground. The earth trembled, splitting open with a massive crack.
Xin Xiu’s spiritual energy gathered beneath her feet, keeping her steady in midair.
The rock-earth bull opened its gaping maw, spewing a beam of light. Xin Xiu vanished and reappeared to dodge it; the beam struck the formation with a resounding crash.
It charged at Xin Xiu, its speed reaching its peak with the support of two Layer Masters’ spiritual energy.
But in Xin Xiu’s eyes, the rock-earth bull’s speed was no different from a snail’s.
She pointed her wooden staff at the bull, and vines sprouted from its tip, coiling around the creature. In less than a second, the vines were torn apart, and it drove its two horns toward Xin Xiu.
The rock-earth bull charged all the way to the formation’s edge, then heard a crisp snap and slowly retreated.
Its horns had snapped the wooden staff in two, and Xin Xiu was nowhere to be seen.