In the cemetery outside Yujing City.
Lin Xun stood silently in front of his parents’ graves for a long time while gazing at the horizon.
Then, he inhaled deeply and murmured, “False is true, yet isn’t real. From nothing to reality, then to nothingness. In the illusory reality of truth and falsehood, I am real, and that means the great dao is real.”
An ethereal and miraculous realization surged into Lin Xun’s mind.
In the heavy snow, the scenery in front of him gradually blurred into illusory and faded to nothingness.
In the primeval era, there had been a mighty figure who once became a butterfly dancing through the field of flowers in their dream. Upon waking up, they had wondered –
Such was the question of existence.
As Lin Xun crossed the ninth trial of the Great Azure Cloud Path into reincarnation and underwent more than twenty years of meditation, he explored the concept of true, false, and the authenticity of reality, thus gaining understanding of his own existence.
Cultivation was a kind of enlightenment on oneself.
Those experiences, even if they were nothing but illusions that dissipated in the end, had been lived by Lin Xun. Therefore, in that sense, they were all real!
……
Omega Secret-Realm, Great Azure Cloud Path.
Lin Xun reappeared. After a slight trance, his eyes regained their clarity. His mind was a bright and ethereal space, and his aura exuded a feeling of wisdom that was beyond this world.
“Congratulations, you have passed the final trial.”
Under the Omega Door, the mysterious woman had stood up from her meditation and was looking at Lin Xun strangely.
She had seen everything that he had experienced in his short reincarnation of over twenty years, which had only been slightly over twenty days in the Omega Secret-Realm.
And she was having a hard time calming down.
She was unable to perceive what Lin Xun had seen, felt, and realized while breaking through the trials, but the one thing she could be sure of was that he had successfully realized his true self and passed the test.
It was exactly this point that confused her.
She couldn’t help but ask, “At what point in the trial did you have your epiphany?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThis was the first time that she had taken the initiative to ask anything.
Lin Xun thought about it and gave her an honest answer, “I already knew who I was from the second I was born.”
Her gaze froze. “Then why didn’t you pass the trial right then?”
Lin Xun replied, “Because I was confused again at that time and couldn’t tell who I really was. If I was sure that I wasn’t the young master of the Lin Clan in Yujing City, then how could I be sure that I was truly a direct descendant of the Lin Clan of Mind Cleansing Peak as well?”
The mysterious woman was struck with realization. “And you wondered if your real life was also an illusion?”
Lin Xun nodded. “Yes. I never thought about this before, so I was truly confused, and even suspected that both my life and my experiences in the ‘reincarnation’ might be illusions…”
He paused a little, then laughed, “So during those years in Yujing City, I had been contemplating who I really was, and what was real and what was not. As I wondered over this, over twenty years had already passed in there.”
The mysterious woman’s eyes gleamed with a strange light as she said, “Such is called the Illusion Obstacle, which is also regarded by Buddhist cultivators as the Realize Yourself Obstacle. But do you know that only Saints can face this karmic test?”
Lin Xun was stunned. “Saints?”
The mysterious woman said, “Yes, Saints. The question confusing you was a karmic tribulation of the Saint stage called ‘knock at the heart and ask for the truth,’ and its question is directed at one’s dao mind. Nothing is more perilous than this ordeal of the truth and falsehood in the great dao. Once you fail to break through this tribulation, your entire cultivation will become illusory and dissipate into nothingness!”
Lin Xun was appalled. Only now did he realize that his confusion was a tribulation on his path to the Saint stage!
The point was…he was not yet a Saint…
Lin Xun’s expression also became a little odd as he finally understood why the mysterious woman was looking at him so strangely.
Obviously, she was also extremely incredulous about it.
“What did you finally realize?” she asked.
“That I am real,” replied Lin Xun without hesitation. His answer was short, simple, and seemingly an obvious fact. He was an existing person of flesh and blood, so of course he was real.
But the mysterious woman knew that Lin Xun had truly been enlightened and really understood it!
As far as she was concerned, there had been countless Saints who had perished at this ‘knock at the heart and ask for the truth’ karmic obstacle!
It was simply a miracle that Lin Xun, a seventh longevity King, was able to unknowingly pass it at the ninth test of the Great Azure Cloud Path.
“How do you feel you’ve changed?” she asked.
Lin Xun thought briefly before replying, “My state of mind has changed. During those twenty years, my state of mind went through endless trials questioning the reality of the illusion. Having passed them, I’ll never be troubled by similar things again.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “And, I’m no longer afraid of the challenging tribulation of fate.”
His voice was calm, but it exuded absolute confidence.
At this point, the mysterious woman had nothing more to ask. She flipped her hand.
A magnificent rain of light emerged on the Great Azure Cloud Path and eventually formed three balls of light that hovered in front of Lin Xun.
In the first light was a pair of illusory-like, black-feathered wings. Its color resembled that of eternal night, giving it an ethereal and nimble feel.
The mysterious woman’s clear and cool voice rang out, “The first treasure is the reward for passing the seventh trial – Burning Realm, and it’s called the God Burning Wings. It allows you to teleport three thousand miles, which is the same as the teleportation skill of the Saint stage…”
Lin Xun’s eyes instantly lit up, knowing that it was a divine treasure for escaping.
Even if it was only a distance of three thousand miles, it could perform a life-saving miracle in a life-or-death situation.
“The only drawback is that using this treasure when your cultivation is below the Saint stage will expend your essence and lifespan, and it may even damage your dao foundation in severe cases. So, I suggest that you refrain from using this treasure unless it’s a critical situation.”
Her warning calmed Lin Xun down, but he was still quite eager, knowing that if used correctly, this treasure could be a life-saving trump card!
“The second treasure is the reward for passing the eighth trial of Dao Breaking, named the Stellar Galaxy Guide. When you’re lost in the boundless sea of stars, caught in a natural maze, or have mistakenly entered a life-threatening predicament, you can use this treasure to deduce a path to life. However, the quality of the results depends on the user’s cultivation level.”
Hearing this, Lin Xun looked at the second ball of light.
Inside it was an ancient-looking, bronze instrument that looked like a lamp. Its surface was covered with dense and obscure runes, and in the place where the wick was supposed to be, there was a pointer in the shape of a creature that was half dragon and half snake.
This was the Stellar Galaxy Guide, an ancient treasure with a unique ability!
Lin Xun’s gaze became fervent.
The value of this treasure was absolutely incalculable. If he entered some eerie and unknown place that he couldn’t get out of, then he might be able to rely on this treasure to show him the way out.
When Lin Xun looked at the third ball of light, he was dumbfounded as it only contained a glow!
The glow was soft and sacred, giving off a mysterious vibe.
“Senior, what is the reward for the ninth trial?” asked Lin Xun curiously.
“It is a power.” The mysterious woman looked like she was in a trance. “Your natural ability hasn’t awakened yet, has it?”
Stunned, Lin Xun shook his head.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThere were countless clans in this world, each with their own natural power hidden in their bloodline.
Those who had a natural power in their bloodline had the possibility of awakening a natural ability.
For example, the Black Nightmare Sky Dog Clan’s natural ability was ‘Smell the Dao,’ and the Blue Luan Clan’s was ‘Mountain Bearer Feather.’
Or in the case of Little Silver, as a descendant of the God Devourer Insects, its natural ability was of the spirit kind, called ‘God Devourer Sword Dao.’
The human race also possessed different natural powers, such as Lin Xun’s Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer origin aeth artery.
But so far, he hadn’t awakened its corresponding natural ability yet.
In the past, he had thought the Star Annihilation Heaven Devourer grand dao to be the natural ability of the Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer.
But now, Lin Xun had already concluded that it was just a strange grand dao that could only be comprehended and controlled with the power of the Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer. Basically, it couldn’t be considered a natural ability.
“This reward is a power related to one’s natural ability?” Lin Xun’s heart stirred as he looked at the glow in the third ball of light.
The mysterious woman nodded. “Indeed. This is called the Heavenly Destiny Force, and it can trigger the natural talent in a cultivator’s origin aeth artery, thus allowing them to master a supernatural ability of their own.”
Then, she looked at Lin Xun and added, “However, I suggest you activate your ability by virtue of yourself and then use this Heavenly Destiny Force. By doing so, something miraculous may happen.”
A forced, active awakening and a passive awakening were destined to be different.
As he put away the God Burning Wings, the Stellar Galaxy Guide, and the Heavenly Destiny Force, his heart was filled with joy.
He was also caught off guard by the fact that the rewards for passing the last three trials of the Great Azure Cloud Path in a row were so generous and heaven-defying.
At this moment, he had truly arrived at the great Omega Door.
This door was lofty and infinitely tall, truly sky-reaching as one could not see its top. It looked like it was entirely made of bronze, exuding a boundless aura of a faraway age.
Standing in front of the Omega Door, Lin Xun felt like a grain of salt in the ocean. It was just too majestic, simply not something this world could have and hold!
“Do you want to try pushing it now?” asked the mysterious woman, her expression unprecedentedly solemn. “There is only one chance. If you fail to push it open now…then there will be no possibility for you to open it in the future.”
Lin Xun also became extremely serious. Standing in front of the Omega Door, he fell into silence.
Time trickled by.
The mysterious woman also remained silent as Lin Xun had to do this himself.
A long time later, Lin Xun took a deep breath, seemingly having made his decision.