CHAPTER 106: THE TRAILS CONTINUE.

Zhao Fan, seemingly unfazed by her presence, brushed aside her attempts to engage with a casual indifference.

With his gaze fixed ahead, he moved on, step by step, inch by inch.

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she let out a low growl. Suddenly, she transformed into a large, ferocious beast. She lunged at Zhao Fan, but he dodged it easily.

Grrrrrr!!

The beast let out a roar and attacked again, but Zhao Fan was able to avoid its blows without a sweat. After a few moments, the beast disappeared into the fog, leaving Zhao Fan alone once again.

The beast was wise capable of distinguishing dust from silver.

Zhao Fan continued to walk, trying to find a way out of the fog. But no matter which direction he went, the fog never seemed to end.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, but there was nothing there.

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around, but again, there was no one there.

Hssss~ Hsssss~

The whispers in his ear grew louder and more urgent like in a horror stories. It was an illusion. Zhao Fan tried to ignore them, but they were becoming overwhelming. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.

It was strange... What kind of trial is this!?

The figure was himself, or at least, a mirror image of himself.

The fake Zhao Fan smiled, his eyes glinting with malice. "You’ll never escape this place," it said. "You’ll be trapped here forever."

Ooh!? It can be resurrected!? Quite interesting. But it makes no sense thus, Young Master Zhao didn’t respond. He knew that the figure was just an illusion, a trick of the mind.

He tried to walk past it, but it blocked his path. "You can’t leave," it hissed. "This is your new reality." Zhao Fan didn’t waste any more time and simply sliced it in two.

The fake Zhao Fan let out a scream of rage and pain, but the figure merely turned into smoke and dissolved into the air.

Suddenly, the fog began to lift, revealing a path in front of Zhao Fan. He walked opposite to it, hoping it would lead him out of the illusions.

Because trust nothing not even anything.

As he walked, the ghostly whimpering and whispers in his ear faded away, and the fog began to clear. Finally, he emerged from the fog into a bright, sunlit area.

[ Congratulations, you have passed the Trial of Illusions. ]

The mechanical voice echoed in the air once again. Zhao Fan merely blinked once keeping his face dustless free from mundane expressions yet, quite relieved that he had made it through another trial. He waited for the beam of light to transport him to the next floor.

At this point, it felt like it was merely a waste of time. He came here to learn about Dao and enlightenment but he is forced to clear some meaningless floors that had not a single useful thing needed for him.

Gold lying in a pool of poop is useless.

Woosh~

Zhao Fan ascended to the 47th floor.

The 47th floor was a place of pure darkness. Zhao Fan couldn’t see anything around him, not even his own hands. But he wasn’t afraid. He had been in worse situations before, and he always managed to come out on top.

May the grace guide and enlightenment bless.

[ The Trial of Darkness begins. ]

The voice echoed in the darkness. Suddenly, Zhao Fan heard footsteps echoing through the darkness. They were coming from all directions, getting closer and closer.

Didn’t he just complete the trial of illusion!? Could it be that the entire ascending from the previous floor is all illusions!?

"..."

Zhao Fan focused his ears, trying to pinpoint the location of the footsteps. But it was difficult. The echoes made it seem like the footsteps were coming from everywhere at once.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness and grabbed Zhao Fan’s arm. He tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong. He could feel something sharp pressing against his skin, like claws and not a human hand.

Zhao Fan quickly conjured a ball of golden spiritual energy in his free hand and hurled it at the creature attacking him.

There was a screech of pain, and the grip on his arm loosened.

Zhao Fan took advantage of the distraction to pull away and create some distance between himself and his attacker. He quickly conjured another ball of spiritual energy and threw it in the direction he thought the creature was.

The light revealed that it was some kind of demonic entity.

Kkkkiiiiii!

...

...

There was another screech, and then silence. Zhao Fan waited, listening for any sign of movement. But there was nothing.

What a strange trial. It is just a time-waster.

Luckily time flows very fast inside the domain, which means if he spends three days here, it will be one day in the real world.

But, he quickly realized that the darkness was playing tricks on his mind, making him imagine things that weren’t really there.

Maybe he is mentally exhausted and needs some rest for a moment. He sat in the darkness and focused on his breathing, trying to calm himself down.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of something in his ear again. It was soft at first, but it quickly grew louder and more urgent.

"Zhao Fan," the voice whispered. "Zhao Fan, is that you?"

Zhao Fan tried to ignore it, but the voice was persistent. "Zhao Fan, why did you leave me? Why did you abandon me?" The voice was filled with pain and betrayal.

Zhao Fan knew it was just another illusion, and even if it was real, he couldn’t care less. May the last be thrown into the Sea of Han, and may be future be built on the Path of Hua

Woosh!

He killed anything and everything that tried to take his peace and finally it was all peaceful.

[ Trial complete ]

[ True darkness breeds true peace. No peace means no true darkness ]

...

...

...

[ Welcome to the 52nd trial: Trial of regrets ]

[ generating a scene... ]

[!??? ]

[ Auto complete... ]

With that Young Master Zhao Fan arrived at the 53rd floor. His foundation was strong and his regret was none so, he instantly cleared the 52nd floor.

Floor 53 was the trial of time.

Zhao Fan stood still, his gaze unfaltering as he beheld the swirling vortex of time before him.

[ To pass the trial, you must endure the flow of time and emerge unscathed,]

The voice echoed, resounding with the weight of eternity or even time-less-ness. Zhao Fan did not flinch but he was little interested by it.

Time, as a name, was but an illusion, a mere mortal construct to measure the unfolding of events.

But what was time, truly? Was it a river that flowed inexorably forward, or a sea that stretched boundlessly in all directions? Or merely a flow of clestials objects creating the universal change and patterns.

Was it a straight line, or a circle that twisted back upon itself? Or perhaps, it was neither; it was a labyrinth, a maze without end, where past, present, and future converged into one.

Or is time merely a vessel, a existence or concrete brought to life just for the harmony of Yin and Yang!?

And in that moment of profound understanding, Zhao Fan grasped the truth.

Woosh!!!

Swish!!!

The vortex did no harm.

[ You have transcended the trial of time. Ascending to the next floor...]

The mechanical voice announced, and Zhao Fan felt himself being lifted upwards, carried by an unseen force towards the next challenge.

[ Floor 54, Trial of the five elements. ]

Woosh~

The air shimmered as Zhao Fan arrived at the Trial of the Five Elements. The arena was a swirling vortex of elemental forces, where earth, water, fire, metal, and wood coalesced and clashed in a spectacular display.

A figure emerged from the maelstrom, a being of pure elemental energy shaped like a human, yet constantly shifting between the different elements. Its eyes blazed with primordial power as it regarded Zhao Fan.

"To pass this trial, you must demonstrate mastery over all five elements," the elemental guardian declared, its voice echoing with the roar of a thousand storms.

The basic element of cultivation was wood and metal.

However Zhao Fan was confused on what might other do!? Because they haven’t brought anyone with wood spirit role which is the weakest.

Anyway, his spirit root was Yin-Yang limitless spirit root and it was of eternal grade.

He quickly displayed his elemental talent and he was promoted.

* * *

(A/n: I am sorry for not keeping my words, but since I have Chapters to fill, I will put those 8k words into 5 Chapters )