Chapter 156: Bring It On, You

"My axe!" Meng Jingzhou yelled loudly in the illusion realm, wanting to go down and retrieve the axe.

The river spirit held up three axes and appeared on the surface of the river.

"Young child, you..."

Splash—

Before the river spirit could finish speaking, he saw Meng Jingzhou make a fierce dive, jumping into the river with a splash. He gurgled and spat out bubbles bigger than himself.

What was happening?

The river spirit was confused. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

The gurgling bubbles gradually lessened until they disappeared. The river surface was terrifyingly calm, only the breath emanating from the river spirit caused ripples under his feet.

"Why is there no movement? He didn't drown, did he?" The river spirit muttered. He wasn't too worried that Meng Jingzhou had actually drowned. This was an illusion realm; it couldn't drown people.

Before the river spirit could figure out what Meng Jingzhou was trying to do, another change occurred!

The ripples on the river surface became more frequent. The river spirit frowned slightly. He controlled his power very well; this shouldn't be caused by his own breath.

He reacted: "It's that boy who just jumped into the river!"

Only to see golden strands of energy mixed in the stream. Water vapor on the river surface emitted a trace of immortal intent, as if some great terror was being nurtured at the bottom of the river!

The unknown great terror made people's hearts palpitate!

Three fountains surged on the river surface, surging higher and higher, splashing pale gold water mist that filled the entire river surface, making it temporarily unclear to the river spirit exactly what was happening.

A wind blew from somewhere, scattering the pale gold water mist.

Three human figures appeared, all with Meng Jingzhou's appearance, but their momentum compared to before was so different it was not an exaggeration to say heaven and earth had been overturned.

The river spirit trembled. That was a reaction from the depths of his soul!

Ordinary person Meng Jingzhou, immortal cultivator great power Meng Jingzhou, and... immortal Meng Jingzhou!

This was the underlying rule of the illusion realm: when ordinary things fell into the river, they would appear in three grades of change: ordinary, spirit, and immortal.

"Give them to us." The three Meng Jingzhous said in the same voice, taking back the axes that belonged to them.

With the immortal Meng Jingzhou present, the river spirit had no power to resist and let him manipulate him.

Immortal Meng Jingzhou obtained the immortal tool, Kai Tian Axe. Immortal cultivator great power Meng Jingzhou obtained the spirit tool, Kai Shan Axe. Ordinary person Meng Jingzhou borrowed the tiger's might and, taking advantage of the river spirit's lack of reaction, obtained the old axe.

With the three axes in hand, the illusion realm broke, and Meng Jingzhou passed through.

Passing through the second level would cause a temporary coma. This was the human body's self-protection mechanism.

...

Everyone in Ask Dao Sect looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who had passed through the second level, and remained silent for a long time.

Were they supposed to be honest people?

Yun Zhi didn't speak. She had a premonition that if these two people were recruited into Ask Dao Sect, Ask Dao Sect would never have a peaceful day.

She hoped her premonition was wrong.

The real river spirit appeared, holding two axes, one gold and one silver, and rushed towards Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou with fierce momentum.

As the guardian spirit of Ask Dao Sect, he had never suffered such strange shame and great humiliation.

"Don't you all block me. Today I must teach these two little brats a lesson, break one of their hands and one of their feet, and then put them back together!"

The disciples of Ask Dao Sect saw the situation and quickly stopped the angry river spirit.

"Senior River Spirit, you can't chop them!"

"Senior River Spirit, please calm your anger."

"If something happens to the test takers, our reputation at Ask Dao Sect will be ruined!"

Finally, Dai Bufan stepped forward and blocked the furious river spirit.

"Senior River Spirit, rest assured. The third test was personally designed by me, Dai Bufan. It will definitely teach these two people a lesson."

Seeing Dai Bufan's solemn promise to him, the river spirit reluctantly gave up.

The third test, as the final big question, had two plans. One was proposed by Yun Zhi, which was relatively mild. One was proposed by Dai Bufan, which was somewhat cruel. Both could test the Dao heart. After everyone voted, they unanimously decided to choose Yun Zhi's plan.

Yun Zhi's plan was too mild. Even if they couldn't pass, there was no punishment. To calm the river spirit's anger, they could only choose Dai Bufan's plan.

Yun Zhi had no opinion on this either.

Letting these two little guys suffer a bit was also pretty good.

The second level screened out a large number of people. Faced with the temptation of the three axes, many people followed their inner desires and deceived the river spirit by claiming that the Kai Tian Axe and the Kai Shan Axe were what they had lost.

Those who were screened out of the illusion realm and left all complained that the second level of Ask Dao Sect was too difficult.

But not everyone complained that the second level was too difficult. For example, those who passed the second level just didn't complain.

...

"The second level was still quite simple," Man Gu said. "To be honest, it was just okay."

The crowd waiting for the third level all nodded, all saying the same thing as Man Gu.

"What? We weren't supposed to jump into the river and snatch the axes from the river spirit's hand?" Meng Jingzhou shouted. How was his method different from others?

Lu Yang rolled his eyes at Meng Jingzhou, feeling he was really stupid: "If the river spirit wasn't an illusion but real, wouldn't you just have provoked the river spirit?"

"You should be like me. You should want all of the river spirit's axes and throw them all into the river. That way, all three axes count as ours that fell in."

Meng Jingzhou suddenly realized: "You're still smarter."

The crowd silently looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who were summarizing their experience, and began to suspect that their method of passing was wrong?

Man Gu nodded slightly. He remembered his father saying that the ancient Man clan was almost exterminated precisely because they were arrogant and didn't learn any skills. As a later generation, he must overcome this shortcoming and learn from others humbly.

Man Gu felt that he had found someone to learn from.

Just as the crowd was discussing the correct way to pass, Yun Zhi, Dai Bufan, and other disciples of Ask Dao Sect appeared.

The corner of Dai Bufan's mouth held a trace of a smile. He flipped his palm, and a palm-sized mountain appeared. The mountain grew in the wind, and in just a few breaths, it grew to a height of a hundred zhang.

The crowd exclaimed in a low voice. This hand was not commonly seen among immortal cultivators.

The mountain was densely forested and lush, no different from a real mountain. One side of the mountain also had a long flight of mountain stairs leading straight to the mountain top.

"This thing is called Wen Xin Mountain. It's a strange object that I begged my elder to refine. On Wen Xin Mountain, immortals and mortals are equal. All you need to do is climb Wen Xin Mountain. The higher you climb, the firmer your heart's intent."

"Climb to fifty steps, and you can pass."

Someone raised a question: "But this way, won't Man Gu have an advantage?"

The fifteen-year-old Man Gu had the physique of a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old, taller than others by a head. Climbing the mountain indeed gave him an advantage. His stride was wide; one step was equal to two steps for others.

Dai Bufan laughed: "You don't need to worry about this question. Wen Xin Mountain will pull everyone's physical quality to the same level. Whether you are mortal or an immortal cultivator, inside my Wen Xin Mountain, you will all become mortals."

"Is there a time limit?" Someone else raised a question.

"No."

The crowd rejoiced. No time limit didn't mean they could always try? How could they worry about not being able to pass the third level?

Could it be that this third level was just for show?

"Can we use magic treasures?" They had special magic treasures granted by their clans that could be used without the need for spiritual energy. They were a great weapon.

Dai Bufan laughed with some gloating: "Yes."

If magic treasures could still be used.