Chapter 712: The Third Trial

"I just had a look around. It's not just that one Half-Immortal who came; there are also several unfamiliar Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators disguised as mortals mixed in with the test-takers. They seem to be working together."

"Several Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators?" Lu Yang was surprised. "Cultivators of this level dare to intrude upon the Wen Dao Sect? Are they tired of living?"

Senior Sister thought Lu Yang was worried about the sect's safety and comforted him, saying, "There's no need to worry. Our sect also has Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators, enough to handle them. With me here, life has been too peaceful, making everyone prone to complacency. It's good to give them some exercise."

"You can go back and continue organizing the tests. With me here, nothing will go wrong.""Understood."

Following Senior Sister's directive, Lu Yang returned to the bamboo forest to continue organizing the tests.

"Elder River Spirit, long time no see." Lu Yang greeted him politely; they hadn't seen each other for four months. The River Spirit snorted coldly, not wishing to acknowledge Lu Yang.

He remembered perfectly clearly what Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had done during the entrance examination three years ago.

Seeing that the River Spirit didn't welcome him, Lu Yang leaned closer to Meng Jingzhou and whispered, "How is the second test progressing?" Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. "Gu Junye's test is already over, and you're just showing up now. Could you have been any later?"

Meng Jingzhou decided that when he gets married and sends out invitations, he'll send them to everyone except Lu Yang, only sending Lu Yang an invitation the day after the wedding night!

He absolutely had to get his revenge!

"Gu Junye, the two Ancestral Masters, and that Immortal Body kid teamed up and passed the second stage of the test." Lu Yang nodded; this was expected.

"Others aren't progressing as quickly," Meng Jingzhou said. "I don't think they'll finish in less than half a day or a day."

For most people, inner demons are an extremely difficult hurdle to overcome. The inner demons encountered by Gu Junye and his three teammates only required fighting; whether they passed or not, they would quickly see the result.

Others, however, did not face inner demons that could be resolved through force. For instance, there was Zhou Xinger's inner demon, which Lu Yang was currently observing.

Zhou Xinger's mother favored sons over daughters and believed in the principle of 'husband as the guiding force.' She had originally hoped to have two boys, but her second child turned out to be a girl. Because of this, she often verbally abused Zhou Xinger, calling her 'worthless.' Over time, Zhou Xinger's personality became timid and submissive, afraid to resist.

Although Zhou Xinger later earned a significant amount of money for her family with the help of a storage ring, her status within the family did not improve.

When Zhou Xinger's mother learned that Zhou Xinger was qualified to enter the Wen Dao Sect, she scoffed even more, believing Zhou Xinger was delusional.

Zhou Xinger's relatives were also mostly cold and sarcastic towards her. After learning she had a storage ring, they even demanded it, claiming she was too young to guard valuable items.

Zhou Xinger naturally refused, and after that, her relatives' attitude towards her grew even worse.

It wasn't that Zhou Xinger hadn't resisted. She had repeatedly suggested severing ties with her family, but each time, her mother would say that they were 'flesh and blood,' citing the grace of raising her, and that blood ties could not be simply severed.

In desperation, Zhou Xinger rebelled. She went alone to the Imperial City to assassinate Emperor Xia. The assassination failed, and her entire Nine Clans were executed.

Her inner demon was broken.

Zhou Xinger woke up and stretched. "You wouldn't sever ties with me, so now you're all finally dead," she muttered.

Although she could have chosen to cultivate peacefully in the Wen Dao Sect, she always felt unsettled with her family still alive, making her cultivation uncomfortable. Now that they had all died once in the illusion, her Dao heart was finally clear.

Lu Yang: "..."

He pretended not to notice Zhou Xinger and turned to look at Zhuang Ping, who was nearby, feeling a bit gleeful. "Zhuang Ping's mother was sent to prison by Senior Brother Ji. What's his inner demon?"

"Revenge on Senior Brother Ji? Revenge on the people of the Listening Sea Sect?"

Inside the illusion.

The prison.

"Mother, I will definitely save you!" Zhuang Ping roared, veins bulging in his neck, as he looked at his mother in the cage, his emotions spiraling out of control.

"No, don't save me! I deserve what I got today!" Zhuang Ping's mother was in tears.

"Mother, I must learn powerful skills to save you! Even if I have to cleave it open with an axe, I'll rescue you!" Zhuang Ping held an axe in his hand. This was the legendary Sky-Splitting Axe, capable of sundering heaven and earth, more than enough to split open a prison cell.

"Son, don't do this! You can't contend with the imperial court!" Zhuang Ping's mother shook her head, urging her son to turn back from his misguided path and not to defy the imperial court, as it would lead to a bad end.

Zhuang Ping's lips trembled. With a clang, the axe fell to the ground. He knelt weakly, weeping bitterly. "Mother, I'll listen to you," he said.

"In summary, my mother preventing me from breaking her out of prison falls under the category of preventing others from committing major criminal activities, which should lead to a reduced sentence," Zhuang Ping calmly stated to the Ministry of Punishments official.

His mother's sentence was reduced, and Zhuang Ping's inner demon was broken. Lu Yang: "..."

More than half a day passed. Out of eight hundred people, fewer than fifty had broken their inner demons, clearly showing the difficulty of overcoming them. Those who hadn't broken their inner demons were trapped, unable to escape without external intervention. Senior Brother Dai saw that it was about time. He asked the River Spirit to act, dispersing the thick fog and water orbs to release everyone from their inner demons.