The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the vast, open field where the second stage of the recruitment test was about to begin. The air was thick with tension, and the recruits stood in neat rows, their eyes watching the elder with focused attention. Wu Tianjue remained in his place, his expression unreadable, as usual. He had passed the earlier tests without much effort, and now he awaited the next challenge.
Without a word, the elder raised his hand, and the space around them seemed to warp. The ground beneath their feet shimmered for a moment, as if reality itself was bending. A soft hum filled the air, and a faint glow spread from the center of the field, enveloping the recruits one by one. The illusion array had been set.
Wu Tianjue felt the shift instantly. His senses, honed by years of experience, could detect even the slightest anomaly in his surroundings. The air seemed heavier now, and the light itself flickered, bending in unnatural patterns. The illusion had begun.
Then, in an instant, the world around him shifted entirely.
He found himself standing on a battlefield, the ground soaked with blood and littered with the broken bodies of soldiers. The stench of death hung thick in the air, and the sounds of distant cries and clashing weapons echoed across the field. His heart beat steadily, unaffected by the chaos around him. He had seen this scene before, countless times, in the memories of his past.
The battlefield was one he knew all too well, the aftermath of a bloody war. He looked around, his expression cold, as if the bloodshed did not affect him. There, in the center of the chaos, stood two figures, locked in a confrontation.
One of them was himself.
The other man stood before him, his gaze filled with contempt, the words heavy with malice.
"You truly think you are invincible, don't you?" the man sneered, his voice dripping with scorn. "Ruthless and merciless, you have taken everything. And now, look where you are. Kneeling before me, broken and defeated. All your power, all your strength, and yet, you are nothing."
Wu Tianjue's breath caught for a moment, the old rage from his past flaring up inside him. His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, the pain of the wound in his stomach seeming to rise once more. He had been stabbed, by a familiar face, the person who had once been close to him, and he felt the darkness closing in. The blood stained his clothes, and his body trembled under the weight of the betrayal. His heart burned with fury, the memories of his past flooding back like a torrent.
"Pathetic," the other man mocked, stepping closer with a twisted smile. "You were nothing but a monster. And now, even in this place, you're nothing. You failed."
The words stung, but Wu Tianjue's mind remained sharp, even in the face of the illusion. He could feel the anger rising within him, but he held it back. This was not real.
He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and in that instant, the illusion began to crack. The world around him trembled as the battlefield began to distort. Wu Tianjue's heart was steady, and his will was ironclad. The mocking words meant nothing now. What mattered was control, control over himself and over the illusion.
Suddenly, he lunged forward with a speed that startled even himself. The pain from the wound in his stomach seemed to vanish as his focus sharpened. His movements were fluid, precise. In a flash, he drew his sword, a weapon that had been a part of him for as long as he could remember. With a single, clean strike, he severed the head of the figure before him.
The body crumpled to the ground, lifeless, and Wu Tianjue stood over it, his expression cold. But as the body fell, the world around him began to shatter, the illusion unraveling like broken glass. The battlefield, the blood, the mockery, everything faded into darkness.
Wu Tianjue stood alone in the void, his breathing steady, his expression calm. His sword was still raised, dripping with the illusionary blood of his past. For a moment, he simply stood there, his eyes focused on the nothingness around him. He could still feel the remnants of the illusion pressing against his mind, trying to pull him back into its depths, but he knew better now.
He turned his gaze to the air around him, where the faintest trace of energy still lingered. His lips curled into a faint smile.
"Too bad," he muttered, his voice low, almost to himself. "This is just an illusion."
He flexed his hand, and the illusion array flickered, its power wavering. The array had been impressive, no doubt, he had never seen one of such magnitude before. But he had lived through far worse. His will was absolute, unyielding. He was not so easily deceived.
"This place is not simple, as I guessed," he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Hmph."
The illusion collapsed entirely, and Wu Tianjue found himself back in the real world, standing before the elder and the other recruits. His expression was as calm as ever, not a hint of emotion betraying what had just transpired within his mind.