Chapter 57: Fourth Limit, Broken!
A group made up of one tier-2 Intermediate Demon and nine peak tier-1 Intermediate Demons was something no ordinary first-stage Astral Realm cultivator could deal with. Even a tier-2 Astral Realm cultivator would be helpless. But this was nothing for Xiang Shaoyun. In less than an hour, he defeated all 10 wolves, and the record of the third limit room was broken.
When Xiang Shaoyun stepped out of the limit room, the overseer came up to him and said, "You failed, huh? But you've still done well to withdraw in one piece. And you are so close to lasting one hour inside too. Just work harder next time. You only need to stay inside for an hour, and it will count as completion."
"What? Just staying an hour before withdrawing counts as a completion?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment.
"Yes, truth be told, many people have died challenging the third room. It is very lucky of you to come out alive. Don't feel discouraged over your failure. Come again when you're stronger. I believe you will succeed!" the overseer consoled Xiang Shaoyun.
"Hold on, even defeating all the wolves does not count as completion?" Xiang Shaoyun asked doubtfully.
"Of course no—” the overseer replied out of habit, but then, halfway though his sentence, he realized what Xiang Shaoyun had actually said. His voice went an octave higher as he exclaimed, “Wait, what? You defeated all the scarlet wolves?"
"You can check inside. If this doesn't count for completion, it sure will be depressing." Xiang Shaoyun shrugged helplessly.
The overseer had already charged into the room before Xiang Shaoyun finished his sentence. When he saw the wolves strewn everywhere on the ground, his heart thumped wildly.
"So does this count? If it does, I wish to challenge the next room," Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"Yes! Of course! Absolutely!" the overseer affirmed three times in a row. He then added, "There will be no justice if even this does not count for completion."
If it wasn't for the fact that he could clearly see that Xiang Shaoyun was only a first-stage Astral Realm cultivator, he would have started suspecting that Xiang Shaoyun was hiding his strength all along.
"Nice! I'll go challenge the next room, then. This room is kind of boring," Xiang Shaoyun said. Then, he went on to the fourth limit room.
Staring at Xiang Shaoyun's back, the overseer couldn't resist cursing inwardly, This kid is a freak! After a slight pause, he decided, No, this is too important. I must notify the palace master. Not only is this kid exceptionally talented, he has astonishing potential as well. In fact, it is likely that he is much scarier than Qinyin!
Thus, he ran outside and called, "Man!"
The moment he called, a figure appeared out of nowhere and answered, "Here!"
"Take my command medallion and immediately notify the palace master to come," the overseer commanded. The figure accepted the medallion before vanishing right where he stood.
Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun had arrived at the fourth limit room. He pushed the door open and entered with no hesitation. The fourth room was different from the third room. Here, there were no demonic beasts. Rather, within the room was an illusionary realm.
Within the illusionary realm, numerous hellish devils and other terrifying monsters would appear. The illusion was extremely lifelike and served primarily to assault the challengers of the room with an intense fear.
When Xiang Shaoyun stepped inside, what he saw greatly frightened him. "What the f*ck! Why are there so many scary monsters? Are they real?"
Wuuu—
Terrifying sounds rang in the air again and again, making one's hair stand on end in fear. Xiang Shaoyun also felt his hair standing up from the creepy scene he was seeing. By reflex, he drew his Golden Wolf Sword and started slashing at the monsters.
"Get away from me!" Xiang Shaoyun slashed madly.
However, the monsters were completely unaffected. Even after being slashed, they still pounced Xiang Shaoyun and bit him.
"AHHH!"
The monsters looked incredibly real. Even their bites felt real: Xiang Shaoyun bled from them, and the pain caused him to start shouting. He continued waving his sword around madly and even utilized his astral energy in an attempt to destroy all the monsters.
Unfortunately, his attacks had no effect on them whatsoever. Even after the monsters were sliced into pieces, the pieces simply joined together to form a brand new monster. These monsters were simply unkillable. In the blink of an eye, Xiang Shaoyun was completely submerged in a sea of monsters.
"Ahhhh!"
Xiang Shaoyun was feeling not only physical pain from being bitten but a pain so extreme it reached his soul. The intense pain almost caused him to lose consciousness then and there. His only sensation was that his physical body had been completely eaten by these monsters, and it was now his soul's turn to be eaten. Death had never felt so near.
"Am I going to die here?" Xiang Shaoyun questioned with the final strain of consciousness he had. Suddenly, the images of the numerous betrayals he had suffered in the past replayed in his mind, and a deep sadness surfaced in his heart, one that caused a surge of willpower to burst out of him. He yelled, "How can I die like this before reclaiming what was taken from me? F*ck off, all of you!"
He bit his tongue, causing it to bleed, helping him regain some of his consciousness. Immediately, he circulated his Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual and chanted, "To live is to worry, to worry is to suffer. Without birth, there is no death. Without darkness, there is no light. Without high, there is no low. Life comes from nothingness. Nothingness can give birth to something, and something can return to nothingness. One's mindset frames how one views the world..."
That was a Buddhist mantra, one that helped calm the mind. After repeating the mantra an unknown number of times, Xiang Shaoyun seemed to have entered a unique state of mind.
He had the sensation that he was now beyond the mundane world and could look at the mortal world and all its worries as a mere observer, seeing through the world’s appearances while all human emotion departed him. This gave him a taste of what it was like to be beyond human, beyond the mundane.
Without him realizing it, the monsters in his soul all retreated, and the pain in his physical body also vanished. The world fell into silence. Abruptly, he opened his eyes. The monsters were all still there, baring their claws and fangs at him.
"Break!" Xiang Shaoyun muttered indifferently as two rays of light shot out from his eyes. The two rays penetrated all the monsters, destroying the illusions around him.
It was also at this moment that Xiang Shaoyun understood that this was a room that tested only one's willpower. One's strength and cultivation level played no role here. Those without a strong enough willpower would be stuck here, and even if they did not die, they would end up mad. In comparison, this room was much more terrifying than the third room.
"Fourth limit room, completed. One star congregation jade will be given as a reward," an emotionless voice suddenly rang out.
Xiang Shaoyun focused and saw that a shiny, green jade pendant had appeared on the platform before him. That was his reward for completing this room’s challenge.
"I did not receive anything like this from the first three rooms, but they are giving me something like this for the fourth room? Nice!" Xiang Shaoyun muttered gleefully before picking the jade up. He weighed the jade in his hand and muttered in disappointment, "What bullshit star congregation jade is this? At most, it only qualifies as a star jade of inferior quality."