“Let’s go,” Xu Zimo said as he glanced at Hao Chen, once again stepping through the portal first.
The others had no choice but to follow and enter the portal as well.
Once inside, Xu Zimo noticed that the space around him began to split apart. He and the others were each transported to different, separate realms.
Less than a minute later, after his body stabilized, the scene before him became clear.
He stood in a small space, surrounded entirely by blood-red spiritforce. He could barely see anything around him.
Beside him appeared another stone tablet.
“Killing Intent!”
Those two words were carved on it, with a smaller line underneath:
“Three thousand years of dreams, I wish to sever all emotions.”
...
As soon as Xu Zimo crossed the stone tablet, the red energy surged like a sea and wrapped around him completely.
He felt a slight dizziness in his mind, knowing it was caused by the blood-red aura.
But this was part of the second trial and necessary to reach Bai Changfeng’s legacy, so he didn’t resist it.
He wasn’t worried anyway, Paimon was guarding him in the dark. Even if the Slaughter God himself were reborn, it wouldn’t matter.
As he drifted off to sleep inside the red mist, he felt like he entered a dream, or rather, countless layers of dreams.
In one dream, he was a swordsman devoted to the path of the blade. With a three-foot sword, he roamed the world, seeking to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
But because of his stubborn pursuit of strength, he lost the woman who always stayed by his side. Only at the end of his life, staring at his sword, did he realize he had missed too much.
In another dream, he was an ordinary man with no disasters or grand achievements. He got married, had a child, raised his son with love, and passed away peacefully.
In yet another dream, he was a talentless youth mocked by all. During his darkest days, a man appeared and took him as a disciple, teaching him martial arts, wisdom, and helping him reach the peak.
...
Xu Zimo experienced countless dream lives, each one deeply vivid and incredibly real.
They say life is like a play. These dreams didn’t feel fake, they felt like real lives he had truly lived.
Each dream left a lasting impression, burned into his memory.
When he finally woke up, although only an hour had passed in the real world, he had experienced 3,000 years of dreams.
Opening his eyes, he felt a deep sense of time lost, like the world had changed while he slept.
“What a strange experience,” Xu Zimo said with a small laugh.
Bai Changfeng truly had some impressive methods. Or maybe he had gone to great lengths to set up this legacy.
Xu Zimo realized, no one in this world is simple. This dream technique, which tempered one’s heart and resolve, was incredibly rare.
Even a supreme lineage like the True Martial Sacred Ground didn’t have a technique like this.
Just then, he heard footsteps nearby.
He looked up and saw a woman dressed in red slowly walking toward him.
“Shuangyan…” Xu Zimo called out instinctively.
But he quickly came to his senses. This was only someone from one of his dreams.
In that life, he was a swordsman, and she was his closest companion.
It had only been a dream, but the memory felt real.
Then more and more people appeared around him, figures from each of his different dream lives.
“Kill them all, and you’ll pass the second trial.”
These people had no power to fight back. They stood like lambs waiting for slaughter.
At that moment, Xu Zimo finally understood why this trial was called “Killing Intent.”
Three thousand years of dreams, I wish to sever all emotions.
...
Without emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and fear, what does it mean to be human?
But if he didn’t kill them, he couldn’t pass the second trial.
Xu Zimo sat down cross-legged and began to steady his heart, refusing to be influenced by anything around him.
This trial tested one’s inner strength, one’s Dao Heart.
If all of this was a dream, then why should he get emotionally involved? Why not just remain calm and hold onto his true self?
Life is like a dream. The wind and rain come at night. Who knows how many petals fall?
What he had done, whom he had met, it couldn’t be changed. So why dwell on it?
The Dao Heart must push forward. After the clouds clear, the sun will shine again.
At that moment, Xu Zimo felt his Dao Heart elevate by several levels.
He slowly opened his eyes, looked at the people before him, gently raised his hand, and softly said, “Be gone.”
The space began to ripple, and all the figures faded away.
Where the stone tablet had stood, another portal appeared.
Xu Zimo walked through and found himself in a massive arena.
The arena stretched endlessly. In the distance, curved structures shaped like horns encircled it.
There wasn’t a single person there. Xu Zimo was confused.
Then, a portal opened nearby, and a rogue cultivator stepped out.
“Ru’er, I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have killed you. But I had no choice!” the man cried out in pain.
“You wait for me, I’m coming to join you!”
Right after saying this, the man exploded in mid-air.
With a loud boom, the space was once again left with only Xu Zimo.
Before he could even react, several more portals opened.
More figures stepped out, including Hao Chen of the Vast Immortal Sacred Ground and Luo Shengqing, the Holy Daughter of the Grand River God Sect.
“Brother Xu, you’re faster than me again,” Hao Chen said as he walked over with a smile.
Though he was smiling, his expression looked troubled.
“Are you okay?” Xu Zimo asked.
“Brother Xu, have you ever loved someone?” Hao Chen suddenly asked.
“You entered the dream?” Xu Zimo asked.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” Hao Chen muttered, then nodded. “After this, I’ll return to the sect and enter closed-door training. I won’t come out until I’ve made a breakthrough.”
“I can’t help you with that. All I can say is, don’t get stuck in it. Try to accept what’s already happened. Accept the truth,” Xu Zimo said.
As time passed, more people began to appear in the arena.
Some came out and immediately took their own lives. The weight on everyone’s hearts was plain to see.