Chapter 718 - 641 Ascending the Peak 50
Looking at Shuangshuang, who was conspicuous in the crowd and cleared a path wherever she went, Qin Shaofeng pondered that the time to win over Shuangshuang should be moved up and the effort increased. Such a great future ally must not be estranged.
By the end of the melee, only about thirty percent of the disciples were still standing, while the rest had fallen. Over ten thousand people had come to the Wuji Sect to apprentice and participate in the disciple selection, and now seventy percent had been eliminated. The remaining people didn’t seem as crowded.
Qin Shaofeng clapped his hands to attract the attention of the crowd and announced the rules for the second selection, "First, I want to congratulate you on passing the first round. However, our Wuji Sect does not select disciples based solely on martial power. A clear Heart Realm is also necessary. Only then can cultivation be twice as effective with half the effort in the future."
After Qin Shaofeng said this, he turned around and waved his hand, and a gigantic maze appeared out of thin air on the open ground. The entrance to the maze was shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Qin Shaofeng turned back and said, "Inside this maze is a huge Illusion Array. The Illusion Realm within the array is very complex. You will undergo various illusions’ trials when you enter. The limit is ten days. Walking out of the maze counts as passing. Those who pass can continue to participate in the next round of selection. If you don’t pass, don’t worry. The Illusion Array does not harm people. After ten days, the maze will disappear, and you will naturally exit the Illusion Realm."
After saying that, Qin Shaofeng also tossed out a cloud-like Magic Artifact, jumped on it, and flew into the air to chat with the other four people. They couldn’t see the maze test and couldn’t leave, so the five gathered to chat.
The crowd undergoing the trial on the ground had already stepped into the maze. As Shuangshuang entered, what she saw was a vast snow-covered mountain. The snow beneath her feet was piercingly cold, and the wind blowing from all directions was like a bone-scraping steel knife.
She didn’t know how this Illusion Realm was crafted; she couldn’t use Spiritual Power to ward off the cold, nor could she use it to quickly traverse. She could only step laboriously, one foot sinking and one foot shallow, through the snowy mountains.
As Shuangshuang walked, she felt the endless wind and snow. She wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but it seemed that the ice and snow here were colder than the real thing. The wind didn’t just feel cold but sliced across her skin with a knife-like sharpness, hurting intensely.
Shuangshuang couldn’t help but pull several pieces of thick winter clothing from her Storage Bracelet and draped them over herself, but it was useless. She was still extremely cold, as if the cold was emitting right from her bones.
No matter how many layers she put on, the cold was everywhere. Shuangshuang, muddled by the cold, finally remembered that this was an Illusion Realm. The cold was merely an illusion affecting her Divine Sense directly, and no amount of clothing would help; it’d only add to her burden as she walked.
Thinking this, Shuangshuang gradually put the clothes back, wearing just the simple outfit she had entered with. Surely enough, the coldness around her didn’t diminish with the addition of clothes nor increase with their removal.
Shuangshuang didn’t know how to exit this snow mountain illusion. All she could do was keep climbing over the mountains and move outward. She didn’t know how long she had been walking, but the surroundings remained a vast expanse of whiteness. Her stomach, however, began to grow hungry.
Shuangshuang took out food from her Storage Bag. Even though she had a Space Bracelet, a row of exquisite Storage Bags still hung at her waist to keep up appearances.
However, all of Shuangshuang’s good stuff was in the Space Bracelet. The Storage Bags were filled with foods she loved. At this moment, she took out a steaming bowl of Spirit Rice Porridge.
In the storage space, time is frozen; when Shuangshuang put the Spirit Rice Porridge inside, it was boiling hot. It should still be piping hot now. Yet, though it appeared to be emitting white steam, it felt cold to the touch, and each sip felt like swallowing ice, chilling her to the core!
Though she felt that her mouth was swallowing ice, Shuangshuang did not dare to gulp it down. She knew the feeling of cold was merely an illusion, and the Spirit Rice Porridge was indeed hot. If she were careless and drank it all, she would certainly get burned, while the Illusion Realm would make her think it was frostbite from eating something too cold.
Having a meal that felt like swallowing ice chunks, though it made her colder, at least filled her belly. Without being able to use Spiritual Power, being full added much-needed strength, giving Shuangshuang the energy to keep moving forward.
She continued her walk-stop pattern, eating food that felt like ice chunks when hungry. Shuangshuang didn’t dare to rest; the cold in this illusion was so convincing that if she let her guard down, she might truly fall into an endless sleep.
Though sleeping forever wouldn’t really cause death, failing the trial was certain. As a pre-selected Inner Sect Disciple of the Wuji Sect, it would be a huge embarrassment to fail even the disciple selection. Even if the Wuji Sect didn’t care, she wouldn’t have the face to stay in the Wuji Sect.
Clenching her teeth, Shuangshuang kept moving forward. She didn’t know how long she’d been walking when she finally felt warmth creeping through her body. At first, she was glad for the warmth but quickly realized something was amiss.
Still surrounded by snow mountains and showing no sign of leaving this snow mountain illusion, why did she feel warmer? Moreover, Shuangshuang felt her mind becoming somewhat sluggish.
She felt increasingly hot, so much so that she wanted to take off her clothes. She nearly did before waking up with a jolt of clarity; something was wrong. She was so frozen that her mind started acting erratically!
Shuangshuang knew that many who freeze to death are often found having stripped their clothes and with smiles on their faces, a bizarre situation.
This was exactly what Shuangshuang was experiencing, indicating that the illusion’s cold had begun affecting her mental faculties, eliciting reactions typical of those frozen to the brink of death.
If it were real, such a situation would indeed freeze Shuangshuang to death, but this was an illusion. Everything was fake. As long as her willpower held, no matter what happened to her body, she would be fine.
Determined, Shuangshuang bit down hard and refused to believe she couldn’t walk out of this small environment. She trudged forward, whether she felt hot or cold, ignoring everything else. When hungry, she took out the warm food stored in her Storage Bag and ate it voraciously, unaffected by whether it felt like swallowing ice chunks.
She didn’t know how long she had been walking when she finally saw a hint of different color ahead—a bright red! This vibrant red appeared before the snow mountains, signaling to Shuangshuang that it must be another Illusion Realm trial. Regardless of what it was, the fact that it led her away from the snow mountain illusion was all that mattered.