"Ah?" Xia Feng was startled, completely dumbfounded, "Won't it definitely help me awaken?"
Lady Black Crow's gray eyes seemed to be laughing, "If you can't defeat the Spiritual Artifact incarnation, you won't be able to leave the Spiritual Artifact space. But if you win, naturally, you'll awaken 100%."
"Hiss! Why didn't you tell me earlier, you stinky crow—" his voice suddenly cut off.
"Heh~~~" The playful laugh of a mature woman had a hint of triumph.
Amidst a whirl of confusion, Xia Feng only felt her mocking voice getting farther away, "Don't worry, death in the Spiritual Artifact space means resurrection, and ten hours in here is only an hour outside. Go on, although the Spiritual Artifact incarnation test varies from person to person, I believe you won't take centuries to awaken the Spiritual Artifact. Good luck~~"
Swoosh—
A blinding light surged into his eyes then quickly faded, Xia Feng squinted his eyes open.
The world was a vast expanse of white.
Beneath his feet lay a clear water surface, less than half a finger deep, extending infinitely in all directions, with no end in sight.
Plop, plop—
Xia Feng took a few steps forward on the water, and the clear reflection twisted and dispersed with each step.
He looked around. The Spiritual Artifact space seemed boundless, eerily silent.
Lady Black Crow... the stinking crow said to defeat the Spiritual Artifact incarnation, but where is the incarnation?
"Hey, is anyone there?" he shouted.
As his words fell, the water beneath him suddenly began to ripple, and Xia Feng instinctively stepped back, only to notice that the reflection below did not move with him.
Before he could react, a two-square-meter section of the water surface flipped up 90 degrees, as if a clear water mirror had formed, standing still before Xia Feng.
Xia Feng frowned and stared at his own reflection in the mirror, each with four eyes meeting.
In the vast expanse, Xia Feng stared at himself for a full three minutes before suddenly, the person in the mirror smirked, "You're really interesting~"
Xia Feng blinked, nodding in satisfaction, "Right? I think so too."
"Mhm, not only are you interesting, but you're also quite handsome~"
"Mhm mhm mhm!" Xia Feng nodded vigorously, thumbs up, "I do have good taste!"
The person in the mirror paused, then also raised a thumb, grinning, "No wonder I'm so narcissistic~"
"Who are you calling out?" Xia Feng frowned.
"I'm calling out myself, you got a problem with that?" the person in the mirror lifted their chin arrogantly, looking deserving of a beating, "I'm such an idiot!"
"You son of a—" Xia Feng suddenly drew his sword, slashing out three ferocious blood-red waves straight at the person in the mirror, bang!!
The mirror shattered into droplets, scattering and creating ripples across the water.
"So this is me, truly lacking in martial virtue."
A cold snort came from behind, and Xia Feng turned around to see another water mirror unexpectedly standing five meters away.
"So this is me, truly lacking in martial virtue."
Another cold snort, Xia Feng turned again, and the same water mirror stood five meters away.
"So this is me, truly lacking in martial virtue."
To the right.
"Lacking in martial virtue."
To the left.
"Lacking in martial virtue."
"Lacking in martial virtue!"
"Lacking in martial virtue!!" More and more water mirrors erected in all directions, extending endlessly into the distance, with Xia Feng in the mirrors making the same deserving-of-a-beating face, repeating the same words.
"Lacking in martial virtue lacking in martial virtue lacking in—" their voices incessantly chirped, never quite in unison, ringing around Xia Feng like Tang Monk reciting a sutra, causing a twitch in the corner of Xia Feng's eye; he was completely numb.
He had never thought he could be so annoying.
Xia Feng sighed, helplessly muttering, "Fine, so I just need to kill all of you, right?"
They finally stopped their chanting, falling silent for a moment, then their voices aligned into a booming, deafening chorus, "We are you, you are us, why do you want to kill yourself?"
"You mind your business? I'll kill if I want to!" Xia Feng raised his sword again—he was tired of listening to these fools... these folks jabber.
Snap—
Suddenly stepping on the water.
Xia Feng, holding his large sword, charged toward the water mirror straight ahead.
But the mirror suddenly rippled, and the person inside also lifted their large sword, stepping forward and breaking through the mirror!
The two figures, dressed in white martial arts uniforms, shot out like arrows released from their bows,
Clang— The flash of swords crisply clashed on the water's surface, colliding for half a second before flying backward in the same posture.
As they landed simultaneously, their figures vanished.
"Where did they go?"
"Where did they go?"
"Where has it gone, where has it gone, where has it gone..."
The encircling water mirror emitted a chant-like puzzled voice, noisy and unsettled.
But within five seconds, three terrifying waves of blood split out of thin air on both sides of the battlefield, Boom, Boom, Boom! The collision's shockwave blasted the clear water surface into the sky, starting a downpour.
Two semi-transparent figures flickered in and out of visibility as they were enveloped by the rain, each standing on one water mirror with only twenty meters between them.
Xia Feng shook his sword and stepped out of the Concealment state, furrowing his brows as he looked at his counterpart on the other side.
"Now you understand," the Xia Feng on the opposite side also stepped out of invisibility, seriously said, "I am you, you are me, so even if you are the best in the world, you cannot defeat yourself."
Xia Feng's frown deepened.
That damn Black Crow said that as long as one could defeat the Spiritual Artifact incarnation, one would unlock their Spiritual Energy.
That damn Black Crow also said that the Spiritual Artifact incarnation's challenge is different for each person.
Clearly, this Spiritual Artifact challenge of his was bizarre and outrageous.
Defeat oneself?
Yes, who in the world could defeat themselves?
"So, if you understand, just give up."
"Yeah, just give up."
"Give up."
The figures in the mirror started chirping again.
"Give up?" Xia Feng rolled his eyes, "Then how do I leave this godforsaken place?"
"Leave?"
"Why would you want to leave?"
"Yeah, isn't it nice to have so many of 'you' to talk to?"
Dammit! Xia Feng couldn't help but press his forehead, indicating he didn't want to speak.
Seeing Xia Feng's silence, the figures in the mirror simultaneously showed an enlightened expression, as though they understood something.
"Got it."
"Yeah, we got it!"
As they finished speaking, Xia Feng's vision blurred, and he found the surrounding scene twisting and changing. Suddenly, he was reclining on a large bed.
He looked around: a vanity, a wardrobe, a nightstand—it looked like a married couple's bedroom.
On the big screen TV in front of him, a popular suspense drama was playing, and on the quilt covering him, there was a folding table with fruits, snacks, and soda.
Just as he was puzzled, a woman in a silk nightgown walked in from outside the door.
The woman's face was blurry, holding a basin of water beside the bed.
But as Xia Feng focused, the woman's face gradually morphed into Mu Qingtong's cold and beautiful smile. She lifted her beautiful eyes, her brows and eyes curving softly as she said, "Husband, let me wash your feet~"
Xia Feng: "..."
Seeing him a bit dazed, Mu Qingtong slightly knitted her eyebrows, worriedly said, "What's wrong, husband? Are you tired from sitting?" Saying so, she immediately climbed onto the bed behind Xia Feng, biting her lip and whispering softly, "Let me give you a massage~"
Feeling her soft, gentle kneading on his shoulders and neck, and hearing Mu Qingtong's unprecedented soft whispers in his ear, Xia Feng felt bewildered, and two words expressing his shock and confusion slipped out, "Holy shit—"
"Ah? Now?" Mu Qingtong paused, her ears reddening as she turned her face away shyly, "It's, it's not evening yet~"
"..." Xia Feng's eyes twitched slightly, about to say something.
Boom!!
On the TV screen, two buses exploded on a bridge over the river, attracting Xia Feng's attention, his spirit momentarily bewildered. Subconsciously, he grabbed a bag of chips from the table, ready to start eating while watching the show.
"Husband, you shouldn't be doing this yourself, let me do it~" Mu Qingtong grabbed the bag, picked up a chip, and brought it to Xia Feng's mouth, "Ah~~"
Distracted, Xia Feng ate the chip, then felt a bit thirsty. He was about to uncap the soda.
"Husband! How many times have I told you, you shouldn't be doing this?"
Mu Qingtong grabbed the soda, opened it, and carefully positioned the bottle to Xia Feng's mouth, "Ah~~~~"
Xia Feng opened his mouth, his pupils blurry as he watched another explosion on the bus on the TV screen. It was a suspense drama about the protagonist continuously reincarnating on a bus, trying to change the inevitable explosion.
The protagonist seemed to never be able to stop the explosion, nor escape the loop... Xia Feng, leaning against Mu Qingtong, automatically opened his mouth, focusing on the show.
He would also never be able to kill himself, nor ever leave the Spiritual Artifact space.
Perhaps, lying here like this was quite nice, everything handed to him, with warm blankets and a soft back.
Yeah, quite nice.
Quite nice...
No way!! Xia Feng jerked awake and abruptly stood up.
"Ah, husband, what are you doing—"
Xia Feng somehow produced a large sword and, with a backhand strike, beautifully decapitated the head, blood spraying across the pristine bed.
The headless body slowly toppled over.