From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 475 The Trial at the Entrance to the Ruins

I stood on the city wall until the moon was almost setting in the west, until the lights in Wenchen's bamboo house went out and the charcoal brazier in the kitchen was extinguished, before I groped my way back to my lodgings in the dark.

The hot ginger tea that Atao left for me was still warm on the stove. I held the bowl and drank it all, staring at the whitening window paper. Finally, I heard the rustling sound of sweeping fallen leaves outside—it was time to get up.

"Sect Master, Immortal Venerable Wen is waiting for you at the training ground." Xiao Die brought in the salt porridge while I was fastening the last button of my shirt.

She spotted the Key of Destiny at my waist; the red string wrapped around the bronze key was newly changed last night. "Are you going on a long journey?"

“Go find some treasures that can protect everyone.” I patted her head and pushed the cold porridge towards her. “Remember to distribute the antidote pills prescribed by Pharmacist Lin to the brothers guarding the city, especially those few who always like to squat by the gutter at the city gate.”

Xiaodie nodded emphatically, the silver bells on her braids jingling softly.

I turned to leave, but she suddenly grabbed my sleeve: "Sect Master...you and Immortal Venerable Wen will return safely, won't they?"

I crouched down to be at eye level with her.

This girl only came here from the south with her mother last month. Now her mother works as a cook in the kitchen, and she always likes to follow the medicine boy to learn how to identify herbs.

At this moment, there were still traces of porridge stuck to the corners of her eyes, making her look like a frightened little sparrow.

“Yes, I will.” I wiped her face. “When I get back, I’ll teach you to recognize the patterns on the Key of Destiny—those are the secrets to breaking illusions.”

The morning mist in the training ground had not yet completely dissipated. Wen Chen stood below the command platform, his black outer robe damp with dew, and he carried a green bamboo food box in his hand.

Seeing me approach, he lifted the lid, revealing four osmanthus cakes neatly arranged inside: "Atao said you like sweets."

I took a bite, and the sweet aroma mixed with the morning mist filled my throat.

He took the bundle from my back, his fingertips brushing away the bits of grass clinging to my hair: "Elder Yun's letter said that the illusion at the entrance to the ruins specifically targets the mind. Stay close to me from now on."

“I know.” I patted the key at my waist. “This key was a great help when we broke the illusion array at Green Bamboo Mountain.”

The road to the ruins was farther than I had imagined.

After crossing the city moat bridge and heading south, passing through three wild apricot groves, and walking half a mile deeper into the dense forest, the bluestone slabs underfoot suddenly turned dark red.

Wen Chen paused, raising his hand to push aside the mountain vines—the scene before him made his breath catch in his throat.

It's more like a stone gate eroded by time than an entrance.

The two characters "Taichu" on the lintel have been eroded to the point that only half of the gold paint remains. On each side stands a stone beast, and the luminous pearls embedded in the beasts' eyes are covered with a layer of dust, but still emit a faint blue light.

On the steps stood a man dressed in a long black robe.

He held a sword behind his back, the scabbard wrapped with nine black ropes, each knot stained dark red, like bloodstains.

Hearing the noise, he slowly turned his head, and when his gaze swept over me and Wen Chen, it was like two ice-cold knives.

“Hall Master Zhao.” Wen Chen stepped forward. “Elder Yun said that today…”

"I've read Old Man Yun's letter," Hall Master Zhao interrupted him, his voice like clashing stone slabs. "But the Immortal Venerable's Ruins are not a place anyone can enter." He raised his hand and flicked his wrist, the scabbard clattering against the doorstep.

In an instant, the eyes of the stone beasts on both sides of the stone gate lit up, and the bluestone slab beneath my feet cracked with spiderweb patterns. Countless silver needles, as fine as cow hair, pierced the ground and shot towards my face.

I pulled out the Key of Destiny with a backhand.

This key was with me when I traveled through time. Its surface was covered with crooked and twisted patterns. I used to think it was just an ordinary old object, until I broke the first illusion array in Green Bamboo Mountain. Now it was burning hot against my palm. I pushed it along the patterns with my fingertips, and the key suddenly hummed. The silver needle flew past my temple and nailed into the tree trunk behind me, making a series of "plop plop" sounds.

Master Zhao's eyebrows twitched.

The second wave of attacks came even faster; this time, it was huge rocks falling from above.

I stared at the shimmering light spots in the stone shadows and suddenly remembered the underground river tributaries that Wen Chen had circled on the map last night—the trajectory of these mechanisms was somewhat similar to the possible attack routes of the demonic cultivators.

"Take three steps to the right!" Wen Chen's voice boomed in my ears.

I instinctively turned to the side, and the boulder grazed my left shoulder as it crashed down, shaking the ground.

Zhao Tangzhu's sword suddenly drew half an inch from its sheath, its cold light reflecting a golden glint in his eyes: "Interesting."

The third test is illusion.

The stone gate in front of me suddenly turned into a martial arts arena. Zhou Xianzi ran towards me with her sword in hand, her face covered in blood: "Sect Master!"

The demonic cultivators have breached the city!

Little Pillar, he...

I gripped the Key of Destiny tightly, and the patterns on the key began to heat up.

The illusion of "Fairy Zhou" ran closer and closer, but there was no shadow beneath her feet—no matter how sophisticated the illusion of the Immortal Venerable Ruins was, it could not conjure the shadow of a living being.

I closed my eyes and opened them again. The blood mist before my eyes dissipated, and Master Zhao's sword was pointed at my heart.

"I've passed two of the three trials." He sheathed his sword, the harshness in his voice softening somewhat. "The final trial is the mental barrier."

Only then did I notice that the stone door behind him had opened a crack at some point, and a faint fragrance of plum blossoms wafted out from inside—the fragrance that my mother loved most when she was alive.

Memories suddenly flooded back: on a winter night before I transmigrated, my mother would cover me with a blanket, and the corner of her sleeve would always smell of plum blossoms; when I first arrived in the world of cultivation, I was squatting in a dilapidated temple crying, and an old woman gave me a piece of plum blossom cake, which also tasted like this.

"Leave, and pretend you were never here." Master Zhao's voice softened. "Those you're protecting will die, but at least you'll live."

I gazed at the plum blossoms in the stone gate, recalling the lights on the city wall last night, Xiaodie's face stained with porridge, and the mountain of battle reports piled up in Wenchen's bamboo house.

The Key of Destiny burned a red mark in my palm. I took a step forward, and the fragrance of plum blossoms suddenly dissipated, revealing a passageway paved with blue bricks behind the stone door.

“Passed.” Master Zhao turned around and sat down on the stone stool by the door. “Go further in, and you’ll find the stone statue array.”

"Each stone statue's jade pendant has a mechanism; if you touch the wrong one..." He pointed to the deep ditch at his feet, "you'll fall in, and I won't be there to save you."

Wen Chen reached out and supported my shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through my coat.

I turned to look at him. His eyes reflected the eerie light from within the stone gate, and a slight smile played on his lips. "I remember you said you were an expert at breaking formations."

Just as we were about to lift our feet, we suddenly heard a soft "click" sound behind us.

Master Zhao suddenly looked up, and I turned my head as well—the stone beast that had been standing by the door had turned slightly at some point, and the luminous pearl in its mouth was now facing the blue bricks at our feet.

"Wait..." Hall Master Zhao's voice suddenly changed, "This stone beast... shouldn't have been moved..."

Before he finished speaking, the surrounding fog surged up with a "whoosh".

I reached out to grab Wen Chen's hand, but touched something damp and cool—the scenery in the fog began to distort, the once clear stone gate became as if it were submerged in water, and even the figure of Hall Master Zhao became a blurry black shadow.

"Xiao Yao!" Wen Chen's voice came from the left, tinged with anxiety, "Grab my wrist!"

I rushed towards the sound, my fingertips touching the jade bracelet on his wrist, an old item he always said he was "used to wearing."

There was a familiar, sweet, and metallic scent in the mist, like the smell of blood and rust—but I had never read about this scent in any records of the Immortal Venerable's Ruins.

"Let's go!" Wen Chen grabbed me and ran into the passageway, when Zhao Tangzhu shouted from behind, "Don't touch the jade tablet!"

That period...

Before I could finish speaking, the mist suddenly solidified, and everything went black before my eyes. When I opened them again, all the stone statues on both sides of the passageway had turned around.

Dark red liquid seeped from their hollow eye sockets, dripping onto the blue bricks and splashing up tiny blood flowers.

As Wen Chen pulled me forward half a step, the blue bricks beneath my feet suddenly felt as soft as wet cotton.

Once I regained my footing, the lingering smell of blood and rust disappeared, replaced by an overly sweet floral fragrance.

Looking up, the stone path from before was gone, and in front of me was a flower field stretching to the horizon—layers upon layers of petals in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, each flower blooming in full glory, yet exuding an unreal, translucent glow, like a phantom condensed by someone's spiritual power.

“Xiao Yao.” Wen Chen’s grip tightened, his other hand already resting on the jade pendant at his waist. “This isn’t a naturally formed spiritual realm.”

I followed his gaze and looked over—the pink peony three steps away from us was trembling slightly, the edges of its petals shimmering with tiny silver light, as if someone had used magic to weave a net of spiritual energy within the petals.

Further away, a blue iris, about half a person's height, suddenly bloomed, and a water droplet the size of a thumb rolled out from its stamen, landing on the ground with a "plop." What it splashed up wasn't water, but tiny specks of fluorescent light.

Welcome to the Garden of Illusions.

A female voice floated down from above. I looked up and saw the white peony at the highest point suddenly unfurl its petals, revealing a girl in a moon-white gauze dress.

A half-open epiphyllum flower adorned her hair, and gold dust clung to the corners of her eyes. Yet, upon closer inspection, her figure seemed to be immersed in water, even her lips rippled as she spoke. "Only by unraveling the secrets here can we continue our journey."

Wen Chen stepped half a step in front of me: "Are you the spirit of this illusion?"

“Ling’er.” The girl tilted her head and smiled, her fingertips lightly tapping, and the red rose closest to her suddenly curled into a bud. “Every flower and blade of grass here was nurtured by me using the remnant soul spiritual power of the Primordial Immortal Venerable.”

Should we go out?

"Just find three special flowers—Crimson Flame, Azure Blue, and Star Snow." She tilted her head and pointed east. "Crimson Flame is in the Firethorn thicket, Azure Blue is in the center of Mirror Lake, and Star Snow... is in the most dangerous place."

I touched the Key of Destiny at my waist, which was burning hot. A faint golden light seeped from the key's patterns—a reaction that only occurs when encountering spiritual objects related to space or illusion arrays. "Why are you helping us?"

Ling'er's epiphyllum suddenly wilted slightly: "The test left by the Immortal Venerable was originally intended to select a successor, but over the past hundred years, there have always been people who have tried to force their way through."

"I'm tired of guarding..." Her voice trailed off, her figure blurring. "Go quickly. Once you have three flowers, I'll send you to the next level."

Before she finished speaking, she melted into the peony petals.

As Wen Chen turned around, I saw his brows furrowed: "The remnant soul's spiritual power... if Ling'er is injured, the illusion might collapse."

“Find Crimson Flame first.” I tugged at his sleeve. “The Firethorn thicket should be in the driest part of the flower field—smell it, there’s a burnt smell to the east.”

The firethorns were more troublesome than I had imagined.

It was a bush as tall as a person, with each thorn a dark reddish hue, and when you got close, it felt like your skin was being burned.

A piece of ice crystal flew out from Wen Chen's sleeve, forming a barrier around us. I took the opportunity to crouch down and slip inside.

The thorns sizzled against the barrier. I held my breath and stared at the flower deepest in the center of the bushes. Its petals were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, and tiny flames flickered in its stamen.

"Got it!" As I retreated, clutching the Crimson Flame, the barrier suddenly cracked open, and a thorn grazed the back of my hand, instantly raising a blister.

Wen Chen swiftly grabbed me, his fingertips touching my wound. His spiritual energy was like a cool breeze, and the pain immediately subsided by more than half.

“Be careful.” He pointed to my hair, and I then realized that when I was crawling through the thorns, the red string of the Key of Destiny had caught on a thorn, and the key was slightly hot—was it a warning of danger?

The second deep blue flower is in the center of Mirror Lake.

It's called a lake, but it's actually a pond. The surface is like a mirror, reflecting the flower field but not our shadows.

Wen Chen broke off a branch and threw it in. Ripples instantly appeared on the water's surface, but what floated up in the ripples were not water patterns, but countless eyes—all of them the same kind of eerie blue as the stone beast's eye sockets.

"Don't touch the water." I pulled Wen Chen back from stepping into the water. "Ling'er said that Youlan is in the center and may need to be guided by spiritual power." I took off the Key of Destiny and gently shook it at the water's surface. Suddenly, the key shot out a golden light, piercing straight into the heart of the pool.

The water surface exploded with a "boom," and a deep blue mist rose up, enveloping water droplets. A drop of water, still clinging to a petal, landed with a "plop" in my palm, chilling me to the bone.

Finally, there's Xingxue.

Ling'er said, "The most dangerous place." I looked at the area shrouded in black mist deep in the flower field, and my heart was pounding.

Wen Chen gently tapped the back of my hand twice with his fingers—this was our agreed-upon "don't be afraid" code.

There was a low sobbing sound coming from the black fog, like someone was crying.

I had barely taken half a step when a snake made of flower petals suddenly darted out from beside my feet. When it opened its mouth, it didn't reveal sharp teeth, but tiny shards of ice.

Wen Chen drew his sword, and where the sword light passed, the snake instantly shattered into stardust.

Further in, stalagmite-like flower stems emerge from the ground, each topped with a closed white flower—Xingxue should be among them.

“The one right in the middle,” I pointed to the tallest flower stem, where the white petals were adorned with tiny starlight, “but… there’s a vortex of spiritual energy around it.”

Wen Chen suddenly grabbed me and pulled me aside. An arrow made of vines whizzed past my ear and embedded itself in the flower stem behind me. The vine arrow instantly bloomed into a blood-red datura flower.

That's when I realized that every plant in the black fog was moving, as if it were being manipulated by some kind of malice.

“I’ll distract them.” Wen Chen tucked Youlan and Chiyan into my arms. “You can take the opportunity to pluck Xingxue.”

Before he finished speaking, azure spiritual energy surged from his body, rushing into the vine thicket like a ball of fire.

I gripped the Key of Destiny tightly; it was so hot I could barely hold it. I rushed toward the vortex of spiritual energy.

The moment her fingertips touched the petals of Xingxue, the black mist suddenly surged, and a familiar, sinister voice boomed overhead: "Xiao Yao!"

Hand over the flowers!

It's ink-style!

The moment I looked up, his black iron sword was already slashing down in front of me.

I rolled on the ground clutching the three flowers. The blade grazed my shoulder, tearing the fabric and causing a burning pain.

Wen Chen's sword came at the same time, but Mo Feng dodged it by spinning around. Three poisoned silver needles flew out from his sleeve: "Immortal Wen is indeed protecting you—but do you think three broken flowers can help you obtain the Immortal's inheritance?"

dream!"

I gritted my teeth and got up. A petal of Xingxue brushed against the back of my hand and suddenly shimmered.

The light was like a thread, stringing together the heat of the crimson flames and the coolness of the deep blue, while the three flowers hummed simultaneously.

Just as Mo Feng's silver needles were about to touch me, they were deflected by the light and fell to the ground with a "clink".

"Xiao Yao!" Wen Chen's voice was urgent, "Use the flower to draw out Ling'er's spiritual power!"

I suddenly raised the three flowers above my head.

The crimson flames, the eerie blue chill, and the starlight of the snowflakes instantly intertwined into a ribbon of light that shot straight into the sky.

The black mist dissipated with a "boom," and Ling'er's figure descended from the band of light. Her ephemeral hair ornament finally bloomed in full glory: "I got it... Come with me."

Mo Feng's face distorted into a bluish-gray in the light. He glared at me fiercely and turned to run away.

Wen Chen's sword flashed in an arc, severing half of his sleeve: "Next time, it won't be so easy."

Ling'er lightly tapped her fingertip, and a crack appeared in the ground beside our feet, revealing a downward stone staircase.

Her figure began to blur again: "Beyond this step lies the Immortal Venerable's Trial Platform... Be careful, the real test has only just begun."

I gazed into the darkness below the stone steps, the spiritual energy of the three flowers in my arms still surging.

Wen Chen tidied my disheveled hair. The warmth of his palm seeped through the wound, more effective than any elixir.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice carrying a familiar calmness. “I’m here.”

A breeze suddenly swept up from below the stone steps, carrying a faint fragrance of plum blossoms—exactly the same as the one wafting from inside the stone gate.