Chapter 487: Illusion Realm Room

"After nearly a month of arduous cultivation, my Profound Power has finally broken through to the Tier Five Third Layer."

Ye Xuan’s eyes snapped open, revealing a sharp glint.

To his even greater surprise, during this period of cultivation, both his Profound Sense and Soul Sense had advanced to the Sixth Grade, even reaching the mid-Sixth Grade level.

Profound Sense and Soul Sense are measures of an Alchemist’s and a Soul Refiner’s cultivation level and are thus extremely important. Previously, Ye Xuan’s Profound Sense and Soul Sense had been stuck at Tier Five Peak, but now, both had finally broken through.

In fact, if Ye Xuan were willing, he could simply concoct a few more Pills and absolutely double his rate of advancement.

But Pills were external aids, after all. He would avoid taking them whenever possible, choosing instead to raise his cultivation level slowly, bit by bit.

’It’s been twenty-eight days, and my cultivation has finally broken through. The inner academy assessment should be in the next day or two. Before that, I have to clear the second level of the Illusion Realm Chamber.’

There were three basic requirements to participate in the assessment to become an inner academy disciple.

First, be under twenty-five years of age.

Second, clear the second floor of the Trial Tower.

Third, clear the second level of the Illusion Realm Chamber.

Ye Xuan had already met the first two conditions. The only one left was the requirement for the Illusion Realm Chamber.

The Illusion Realm Chamber.

It was a quaint, old building on the north side of Gale Light Academy.

HUMMM!

The moment he walked in, Ye Xuan could clearly feel a subtle pressure in the hall enveloping him.

A few people were already lined up in the hall.

"Hey, isn’t that Ye Xuan?"

"Is he here to take on the Illusion Realm Chamber?"

"Interesting."

Upon seeing Ye Xuan, a ripple of surprised gasps spread through the students queuing ahead.

Without even realizing it, Ye Xuan had become a legendary figure in the outer academy of Gale Light Academy, known to one and all.

Ignoring the crowd’s chatter, Ye Xuan looked up at the stone stele in front of him.

Like the Trial Tower, the Illusion Realm Chamber had a ranking stele. The person ranked highest had already reached the seventh level.

On it, Ye Xuan also saw the names of many new students.

Evidently, while he had been in seclusion, many new students had already come to challenge the Illusion Realm Chamber.

The highest-ranked new student was Hou Fei, at the fourth level.

Besides him, Yun Aoxue and Xia Qixi were on the third level.

As for Zhang Lie and Luo Cheng, they were at the second level, along with Murong Yunxiao and the others.

What was more impressive was that Hou Fei’s performance on the fourth level was considered monstrous; almost no one who had reached the fourth level ranked higher than him.

’That Hou Fei is clearly a man of indomitable will. He never gives up until he achieves his goal and never compromises in the face of hardship. For someone like that, whose willpower is of the strongest kind, reaching the fourth level is only natural.’

’As for Yun Aoxue and the others, they’ve been through life-and-death struggles. Their willpower is naturally far stronger than that of the geniuses from the major powers of the Dream Realm Plain.’

After a short wait, it was finally Ye Xuan’s turn.

The assessment area was marked by a single door. Beyond it lay the first level of the Illusion Realm Chamber.

CREAK!

Ye Xuan gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

RUMBLE!

Beyond the door lay an unexpected sight: a vast, black sea, roaring in fury. Waves dozens of meters high crashed against the cliff walls, one after another.

Ye Xuan now stood on a cliff’s edge, gazing out at the endless black sea!

Before this vast sea, Ye Xuan was like an ant facing a divine dragon, humbled to the point of being mere dust.

A faint pressure settled over him.

BOOM!

Suddenly, the heavens raged and the sea roared as endless waves began to surge.

In the distance, a colossal wave, over a hundred meters high, suddenly took shape. It was like a primeval titan from the dawn of time, surging toward Ye Xuan with an aura that threatened to annihilate everything in its path.

A single blow from such a terrifying wave could pulverize solid metal. How could Ye Xuan’s mortal body possibly withstand it?

"Heh. You think an illusion of this caliber can fool me? Break!"

With a soft chuckle, just as the massive wave crashed down, Ye Xuan spoke, his expression as placid as an undisturbed well.

BANG!

The black sea vanished in an instant, shattering like a mirror. A pitch-black, empty, and silent room appeared before Ye Xuan.

At the far end of the room was a door.

’Looks like I’ve broken the first level’s illusion. Does that door lead to the second?’

Ye Xuan muttered to himself, opened the door, and stepped through.

HUMMM!

The moment Ye Xuan entered, a pressure far more terrifying than the last instantly descended upon him, as if a great mountain had suddenly been dropped on his shoulders.

The pressure was somewhat similar to that of the Array assessment in the first round of the Gale Light Academy’s entrance exam, and also to the pressure from the Memorial Stele. But this was far more terrifying, acting directly upon the soul, making it hard to even breathe.

A blurry scene began to form before his eyes.

A hazy grassland gradually appeared. On it, a Tier Seven Lord Level Demon Beast was roaring as it charged toward Ye Xuan.

Its cavernous, stinking maw gaped open as dark green saliva dripped down, and a nauseating stench washed over him.

"This is just child’s play."

"Break!"

With a low roar, the scene before him shattered, and the pitch-black, silent room reappeared.

Seeing the door to the third level appear on the wall before him, Ye Xuan gave a faint smile.

’An expert, in addition to talent, effort, opportunity, and external resources like Cultivation Techniques and secret manuals, must, more importantly, possess the heart of an expert.’

’A coward is fundamentally unworthy of walking the path of cultivation, for cultivation is inherently a path that defies the heavens—a struggle against heaven, earth, and man.’

’This is a dog-eat-dog world where the law of the jungle prevails. The strong dominate everything, while the weak must resign themselves to their fate.’

’But as long as one has a steadfast heart, a heart that can see through all things, a heart that presses ever forward, one can shatter all obstacles and perceive the truth of the world.’

He muttered, walking into the third room.

WHOOSH!

A gentle breeze brushed his face, carrying the clang of steel and the thunder of warhorses.

This was a bloody battlefield, and the sounds of shouts and screams were endless.

Before him was a burning city where hordes of ferocious-looking cavalrymen pillaged, murdered, and burned.

"Hahaha, this little thing’s a looker."

A group of cavalrymen were dragging a helpless young woman, committing a bestial act in full public view.

All around, flames blazed. Severed heads rolled across the ground, which was littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

"You animals! Let go of my granddaughter! Let her go!"

An old man with white hair and a white beard staggered over, trying to save his granddaughter.

"Get lost, old man."

A cavalryman sneered and swung his Ghost Head Saber, cleaving the old man in two.

Blood and viscera sprayed out.

"No, Grandfather!"

The girl let out a wretched cry, two streams of bloody tears rolling down her face.

"I’ll kill you!"

She screamed and lunged at the nearest cavalryman, leaving a scratch on his face.

"You little bitch."

The cavalryman cried out in pain. His face, illuminated by the nearby flames, looked especially monstrous. He grabbed the girl by the neck and, with a sickening CRACK, instantly snapped it.

Then, the cavalryman lifted his spear, impaled the girl’s corpse on it, and laughed heartily as her blood flowed freely.

Cruel. Bloody.

This scene caused Ye Xuan’s brow to furrow slightly.

But his heart remained completely unmoved.

It was not that he was apathetic, but that the world itself was this cruel.

"Shatter."

He whispered softly, but his voice was like the toll of a great bell, shattering the scene before him.

Then, his gaze firm, he walked into the fourth level.

A heart as cold as ice—this was a mental state Ye Xuan had achieved long ago in his past life.

In his past life, Ye Xuan could maintain absolute calm at all times—one could even call it an icy indifference. It was just like when Huangfu Xiuming had sought to become his disciple; he could have let the man kneel to death on the stone steps without being moved in the slightest.

In the cultivation of his will and state of mind, the Ye Xuan of the past life had already reached an astonishing level.

This was largely related to his status as an orphan in that life.

He had managed to grow strong relying entirely on his own efforts, with no external help whatsoever.

Thus, he was proud and aloof, like the brightest, coldest star in the night sky.

But after his fall...

Ye Xuan’s state of mind had changed greatly.

With family and friends, his attitude had become much more easygoing.

But this didn’t mean his mental cultivation had weakened; on the contrary, it had reached a state of harmony, a fusion of yin and yang.

Now, Ye Xuan’s state of mind seemed ordinary, but this ordinariness concealed a great wisdom, making it even stronger than in his past life.

The pride of his past life and the affability of this one had allowed him to finally see himself clearly, his will unified, unswayed by external things.

The Fourth Level.

BOOM!

An invisible ripple quietly entered Ye Xuan’s mind.

"Ye Xuan, your grandfather, Ye Batian, was assassinated by the Shadow Killing Sect! And they’ve captured your father!"

The scene shifted. The moment the invisible ripple invaded Ye Xuan’s mind, the Illusion Realm descended. Dongfang Yanyu was speaking to Ye Xuan, his face etched with anxiety.

"Ye Xuan, I messed up. Damn it! If I’d known the Shadow Killing Sect was so despicable, I never would have let those two go. It’s all my fault."

His uncle, Ye Zhanxiong, tore at his hair, tears streaming down his aged face.

"Patriarch Ye Zhanxiong, don’t blame yourself. Right now, we should be figuring out how to rescue Brother Zhanyun," Dongfang Yanyu reminded him.

"Right, right!"

Everyone turned to look at Ye Xuan.

"Trying to use my deepest attachments against me?" Ye Xuan looked at them all and said calmly, "Shatter."

His will was unshakable, his Profound Sense and Soul Sense immensely powerful. Though the illusion had invaded his mind in an instant, Ye Xuan knew with perfect clarity that it was all just a fabrication.

Everything before him dissipated like smoke, and Ye Xuan found himself in the room of the fourth level.

Without the slightest hesitation, he strode into the fifth level.

DING DONG!

The melodious sound of zithers and flutes filled the air, suffused with the vibrancy of spring.

It was a world made of a sea of flowers. Amid the enchanting music of a zither, a woman as beautiful as a celestial fairy sat in the center of the blossoms. A smile played on her lips, and the myriad flowers around her seemed to lose their color in her presence.

It was none other than the Yao Yue Martial Emperor!