""My axe!" Meng Jingzhou shouted in the illusion, wanting to go down and retrieve his axe.
The River Spirit lifted three axes, appearing on the surface of the river.
"Young lad, you…"
Splash——
Before the River Spirit could finish, Meng Jingzhou dove headfirst, leapt into the river with a splash, blowing bubbles that were even larger than him.
What's going on?
The River Spirit was confused. This was the first time he encountered such a situation.
The bubbles gradually decreased in number until they disappeared, the river surface terrifyingly calm, with only the ripples sent out by the River Spirit's aura disturbing the stillness.
"Why is it so quiet, did he drown?" The River Spirit muttered. He wasn't too worried about Meng Jingzhou actually drowning, as this was an illusion, and people could not drown here.
Before the River Spirit could figure out what Meng Jingzhou was trying to do, a sudden change occurred again!
The ripples on the river surface became more frequent. The River Spirit furrowed his brows. He was controlling his power well, this shouldn't have been caused by his own aura.
Then he realized: "It was that kid who just jumped into the river!"
Among the river current were strands of golden aura. The mist on the river surface carried a scent of immortality, as if something terrifying was brewing beneath the river!
The unknown terror stirred the heart!
Three fountains sprung on the river surface, each jet getting taller and taller, sprinkling pale golden water mist, covering the entire river surface, causing the River Spirit to temporarily lose sight of what was happening.
An unknown wind blew away the pale golden mist.
Three silhouettes emerged, all resembling Meng Jingzhou. Yet their aura was markedly different from before, it's not an exaggeration to say it was a complete turnaround.
The River Spirit trembled, this was an instinctive reaction from the depths of his spirit!
Ordinary Meng Jingzhou, Cultivator Great Power Meng Jingzhou, and...Immortal Meng Jingzhou!
This was the fundamental rule of the illusion: when an item falls into the river, it will undergo three transformations: ordinary, spirit, and immortal.
"Hand it over." The three Meng Jingzhou spoke simultaneously, each taking an axe that belonged to them.
With the presence of Immortal Meng Jingzhou, the River Spirit was powerless and allowed himself to be manipulated.
Immortal Meng Jingzhou obtained the Immortal Artifact Open Mountain Axe, Cultivator Great Power Meng Jingzhou took the magic Open Mountain Axe, and Ordinary Meng Jingzhou, taking advantage of the River Spirit's moment of shock, obtained the worn-out axe.
With the three axes in hand, the illusion shattered, and Meng Jingzhou cleared the stage.
Those who passed the second round would fall into a temporary unconscious state, a body's self-protection mechanism.
...
The Seek Dao Sect members looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who passed the second round, and remained silent for a long time.
What happened to the promised honesty?
Yun Zhi didn't speak, she had a premonition that once these two were admitted into the Seek Dao Sect, it would never know peace again.
Hopefully, her premonition was wrong.
The actual River Spirit appeared, holding a gold and silver axe, and charged towards Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou in a threatening manner.
As the guardian spirit of the Seek Dao Sect, he had never suffered such humiliation before.
"Don't stop me, today I must teach these two bastards a lesson, break their hands and legs, then put them back together!"
Seeing the situation unfold, the disciples in the Seek Dao Sect hurriedly stopped the angered River Spirit.
"Elder River Spirit, you cannot cut them!"
"Elder River Spirit, calm down."
"If something happens to the participants, if this gets out, the reputation of our Seek Dao Sect will be ruined!"
Finally, it was Dai Bufan who stepped forward, stopping the raging River Spirit.
"Elder River Spirit, rest assured. The third test was personally designed by me, Dai Bufan. I will definitely give these two a lesson."
Satisfied by Dai Bufan's solemn assurance, River Spirit finally calmed down.
The third test was considered the grand finale and had two versions: one suggested by Yun Zhi, which was relatively mild, and another by Dai Bufan, which was somewhat cruel. Both were tests of fengxin (one's nature), and after a vote, it was unanimously decided to adopt Yun Zhi's version.
Yun Zhi's version was too mild, even if they could not pass, there would be no punishment. To quell the River Spirit's anger, they had no choice but to go with Dai Bufan's version.
For this, Yun Zhi didn't have any objections.
It was actually a good idea to let these two youngsters experience some hardship.
The second round eliminated a large number of people. Facing the temptation of the three axes, many people succumbed to their inner desires and deceived the River Spirit, claiming that the Open Mountain Axe and Open Mountain Axe were theirs.
Those eliminated departed the illusion, all complaining that the second round of the Seek Dao Sect was too difficult.
However, not everyone complained about the difficulty of the second round. For example, those who passed the second round didn't complain.
...
"The second round was quite simple." Man Gu remarked, "Just tell the truth."
Those waiting for the third round nodded, agreeing with what Man Gu said.
"Wait, we weren't supposed to jump into the river and snatch the axes from the River Spirit?" Meng Jingzhou shouted. Why was everyone else's approach different from his?
Lu Yang gave Meng Jingzhou a look of annoyance, thinking him an idiot: "If the River Spirit were not an illusion, but a real entity, wouldn't you have provoked the River Spirit?"
"You should have been like me, ask for the River Spirit's axes and throw them into the river. That way, all three axes would count as ours."
Meng Jingzhou realized: "So you were the clever one."
The crowd silently watched Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou summarize their experiences, and began to question whether their own methods of clearing the stage were wrong.
Man Gu gently nodded, remembering his father reminding him that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe almost perished due to their arrogance. As a descendant, he must overcome this drawback and be humble in learning from others.
Man Gu felt that he had found his role-models to learn from.
Just as everyone was discussing what the correct method to pass was, Yun Zhi, Dai Bufan and their fellow Seek Dao Sect disciples appeared.
Dai Bufan had a touch of a smirk on his lips. He turned his palm and a small mountain appeared. In the blink of an eye, the mountain grew to a height of a hundred feet.
The crowd exclaimed in surprise, such a display was rare even amongst cultivators.
The mountain was lush with dense forests, no different from a real mountain. There was also a long staircase on one side of the mountain that lead to the top.
"This item is called Wenxin Mountain, a unique item that I had requested the elder to make. On Wenxin Mountain, immortals are considered equal to ordinary beings. Your task is to climb Wenxin Mountain. The higher you climb, the stronger your will."
"Climb to the fiftieth step, and you can pass the round."
Someone asked: "Wouldn't this give Man Gu an advantage?"
Fifteen-year-old Man Gu had the physique of a man in his mid-twenties and was a head taller than the rest. When climbing the mountain, he indeed had an advantage, with his large strides allowing him to take two steps in a single stride.
Dai Bufan laughed: "There is nothing to worry about. Wenxin Mountain will equalize everyone's physical abilities. Regardless of whether one is an ordinary person or a cultivator, on my Wenxin Mountain, all will become ordinary people."
"Is there a time limit?" Another person asked.
"No."
The crowd rejoiced. Without a time limit, didn't it mean that they could keep trying? How could they possibly fail the third round?
Could it be that this third round was just for show?
"Can we use magic artifacts?" They had artifacts bestowed by their clans, which didn't require spiritual energy to use, making them a huge advantage.
Dai Bufan smirked with a touch of schadenfreude: "You can."
That is, if the magic artifacts could still be used.