"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I couldn't be with you.
Having composed himself, Ye Xiruo showed no hesitation in the face of the people who appeared in the illusion. No matter who they were, he would kill them all.
Master Jingli! Brother Xiuqi! Senior Brother Zishu! Grandma! Master Hantianxun, Chiyi, and Baiqi all turned into white mist before Ye Xiruo's eyes.
When the white mist in front of her finally dissipated, the familiar Heavenly Ladder appeared before Ye Xiruo. She stood alone on the Heavenly Ladder, with endless white mist behind her, like a demonic beast that could devour her at any moment.
Before her stood a ladder that seemed to stretch to the endless sky, with people on it displaying expressions of fear, excitement, agitation, or despair. No one but themselves knew what they were going through.
Ye Xiruo's mood was still heavy at this moment. She didn't have much of an advantage in the illusion test; her speed was at most average.
What trials lie ahead? Ye Xiruo lifted her foot and continued forward without resting, fearing that time was running out.
There was no abnormal pressure, nor any illusion formed by white mist. It seemed that all she had to do was walk up these steps one by one.
As expected, after walking up a dozen or so steps, an ancient and weathered voice appeared in her mind.
"Why do you want to cultivate Taoism?"
"To survive."
"There are ways to live without practicing Taoism."
“You’re meddling too much. Why are there so many questions in this world? Now that I’ve embarked on the path of cultivation, there’s no point in dwelling on the past.”
"Alright, what is your goal in cultivating the Tao?"
"To be natural and do as one pleases, to reach a state of great freedom." This is also the state that Zhuangzi longed for.
Do you think you have the qualifications to achieve this goal?
Ye Xiruo countered, "This isn't a question of whether you can or can't, but a question of whether you want to or not. Where the heart leads, nothing is impossible."
"Congratulations on passing the assessment."
The next second, Ye Xiruo appeared on the last step of the Heavenly Ladder. There were several other people like her, who were probably all people who had successfully passed the three tests.
They're still hesitating over this last step, wondering how to get past it. It seems they've been agonizing over it for a while now.
Without a second thought, Ye Xiruo naturally stepped onto the last step and, as expected, stepped onto flat ground without any hindrance.
The others looked at each other in disbelief; it was so simple, it was hard to believe.
When Ye Xiruo's figure appeared on the huge white platform, Zishu's voice rang in her ears.
"Junior Sister, you've arrived."
"Senior Brother." It seems that Senior Brother has been here for some time.
"Congratulations! Junior Sister is the forty-sixth person to arrive here."
"What rank is Senior Brother?" That's the key question. Even if she's last, Master won't abandon her.
"ninth."
"Congratulations, Senior Brother! By the way, where is Senior Brother Yingxun?"
"I'm still waiting." Zishu's brows furrowed with anxiety.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother Yingxun will definitely pass the test smoothly."
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Sure enough, a moment later, Yingxun's familiar voice was heard. Amidst the flashing golden light, Yingxun appeared to be in eighty-sixth place. That was quite a good result.
"Haha, great! They're all within the top 100, we're sure we'll all pass."
"What's so great about it? Only the one who laughs last laughs best." The speaker was a young man with dark skin and cold eyes, dressed in a blue brocade robe.
"What's it to you? You should worry about yourself more." Ye Xiruo retorted without any politeness. What kind of person is this? Eavesdropping on others and acting so self-righteous, there's really no one else like him.
"You'd better hope you don't run into me." The young man said this and walked away.
"This is also what I wanted to say to you, and I'll return the words to you verbatim."
"Junior sister, don't take him seriously. He's ranked twelfth, and he looks at the eleven people ahead of him with murderous intent."
"snort!"
"Alright, alright, there's a platform over there. Let's go over and rest for a bit. Once they've all passed this hurdle, we'll see if the sect has any other plans."
"Okay, let's go then."
There were many irregularly shaped stones on that small platform, enough for people to sit and rest. When Ye Xiruo and the others arrived, there were already quite a few people there.
Zishu chose a secluded spot, and the three of them sat down.
"I wonder how Senior Brother Zhiyi and Hua Rong are doing?"
At this moment, Hua Rong had reached the third test, and the question remained the same: "Why do you want to cultivate Tao?"
Is this important?
"certainly."
"Of course, it's so that I can be with Zhiyi for a long, long time."
"Congratulations on passing the test."
Qingzhiyi also faced the third test: "Why do you want to cultivate Taoism?"
"In order to follow my senior brother and embark on the supreme path. My senior brother once said that when he reaches the peak, he hopes that someone can stand with him to see the scenery of the world. I hope that I will be one of those people."
"Congratulations, you have passed the test."
It turns out that the third test was the easiest. This thought crossed the minds of both Hua Rong and Qing Zhiyi after they learned that they had passed the test.
The first challenge almost made them cough up blood. If they hadn't had enough pills on them, they would have been on their way out of the plane by now.
The second illusion was silent and insidious, striking straight at the mind and catching people off guard. They almost got lost in the illusion and couldn't get out.
To my surprise, I passed the third round after answering just a few questions. This was such a pleasant surprise!
They were quickly teleported to the last step. Neither of them were the type to hesitate, so without a second thought, they stepped onto the last step.
The 328th and 402nd ranked individuals, Qing Zhiyi and Hua Rong, arrived at the platform one after the other, and were naturally pulled aside by Ye Xiruo, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Hua Rong, Senior Brother Zhi Yi, you've finally made it up."
"Yes, as expected of a top-tier sect, this assessment is really difficult."
"Look at the incense in the incense burner, it's about to go out, and the time is up very soon."
Hua Rong and Qing Zhiyi looked at it and thought: Σ(°△°|||)︴, sure enough, there was only half an hour left before the incense in the incense burner went out. At that time, all those who had not yet passed would be eliminated, and many of them would never be able to enter the Haoqi Pavilion in their lifetime.
The Haoqi Pavilion only recruits geniuses under the age of thirty; even a day over the age limit is unacceptable.
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