In the fifth hall.
The first thing Zhang Yao and others saw was a simple stone tablet one foot high and three feet wide.
There are no symbols or words on the stone tablet, but an ancient and vast star map, which depicts a corner of the vast starry universe, making people feel dizzy just by looking at it.
"hiss……"
Even though he was mentally prepared, Zhang Yao still felt his eyes stinging slightly. He took a breath and looked away involuntarily.
This is not because there are any special restrictions on the stone tablet, or because the bright light is blinding, but because of an instinctive tingling sensation and a subconscious unwillingness to look.
This fifth level tests the spiritual will of the practitioner.
The mind and will are illusory, but real and can be found. It determines whether a person's heart is strong or not.
Pure mental will seems to be of little use, but if you want to reach the end of the long road to immortality, a strong and pure mind is often indispensable.
"At this level... I still have a bit of an advantage, right?"
Zhang Yao asked himself.
What determines the strength of the soul's will is age and life experience. The former is secondary and the latter is primary.
Living a long life does not necessarily mean you have experienced much; if you have experienced some things at the age of eight, you will understand them at the age of eight; if you have not experienced them at the age of eighty, you will not understand them until you die.
Give a simple example:
Two seventy-year-old men, one started as a soldier, fought bloody battles on the battlefield, fought for wealth from the dead, became a general and became a prime minister, served as an assistant and chief official in various places, and has been in officialdom for thirty years. In the end, he became the prime minister who was the leader of all officials;
The other one was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and married into a well-matched wealthy family when he was a teenager. He was fond of playing and enjoying life when he was young. Later, he inherited the title of his family and lived a smooth and happy life. In his later years, he was the founder of the country. First-class Duke.
The age and status of the two may be similar, but in terms of spiritual will, it can be said that they are completely different, no less than the difference between ordinary people and golden elixirs.
"In my life, I started as a Taoist boy, first practiced martial arts, and then became an immortal. After many ups and downs, I am not weak when it comes to my mind and will."
"Especially after experiencing Yu Wentai's memory seizure, the mind and will are more like rough iron tempered into fine steel, with a qualitative change."
Zhang Yao felt calm when he thought of this.
In his state of mind, the reason why he still feels worried about gains and losses is because the rewards in the fifth level are too amazing!
The ancient spiritual treasure is an important treasure that not even many Yuanying old monsters have. If they hadn't bumped into the Emerald Palace by chance, they, the Golden Core Stage monks, wouldn't have even dared to hope.
Nowadays, as long as you pass the fifth level, you can get an ancient spiritual treasure as a reward, which inevitably makes people worried and difficult to control themselves.
"The fifth level..."
The eyes of Patriarch Haihe, Fairy Xiaguang, Baihong Sword Fairy and others also had unconcealable fire in their eyes.
Last time, they failed at this level and failed, watching helplessly as Taoist Sansha broke through the level alone and obtained the ancient spiritual treasure.
"I don't know if I can successfully pass this time."
After the excitement, many Jindan monks inevitably felt a little uneasy in their hearts.
The difficulty of the fifth level rises sharply, but the rewards are not as good as those of the previous levels combined. No one has absolute confidence that they can pass it.
Even Ancestor Haihe, Fairy Xiaguang, Baihong Sword Fairy and others have prepared some targeted measures after experiencing the last failure, but it is hard to say whether they will work.
"Um……"
Zhang Yao glanced at the calm Taoist Sansha next to him and thought to himself:
"Probably only these three evil Taoists can still sit firmly on the Diaoyutai."
After the last failure, Patriarch Haihe and Fairy Xiaguang also discussed the reasons for his success.
The life experience of this Sansha Taoist is quite legendary. He only has the qualifications of the miscellaneous spiritual roots of the three zodiac signs, and he is a low-level casual cultivator. He has gone through ups and downs along the way, survived countless times, and only achieved the golden elixir realm after overcoming all obstacles.
He must have been prepared for the second time he came to the Jade Palace, but that was for the sixth level.
"I'll go first."
When everyone hesitated, Taoist Sansha spoke first and stepped forward directly.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on his movements, but they saw him sitting cross-legged, with a calm expression, and focused his eyes and thoughts on the star map stone tablet.
"..."
Taoist Sansha's expression became dazed and his breathing became rapid. After a few breaths, he suddenly recovered.
"call!"
He took a deep breath, with a trace of exhaustion in his eyes, and slowly stood up, crossed the stone tablet, and came to the fifth sapphire ancient door.
Everyone looked back with envy. After looking at each other for a few times, Baihong Sword Immortal stepped out:
"I come!"
I saw him walking in front of the star map stone tablet, muttering words in his mouth, mana surging around him, as if he was performing some secret technique.
"The secret method to stimulate the will?"
Zhang Yao watched this scene with interest.
Secret techniques that simply stimulate the will are extremely rare because they are useless, but secret techniques with similar effects are not rare.
If a monk at the Golden Core level wants to search for a similar secret method, it is very simple, but how effective it is is a matter of opinion.
Soon, Baihong Sword Immortal sat down cross-legged and turned his gaze and mind to the star map stone tablet.
"...Ahhhh!!"
After just two breaths, he let out a crazy and frightened cry, fell to the ground violently, and twitched several times.
"Bai Hong!"
Ancestor Yuanxu was startled and quickly went over to shake him awake.
Baihong Sword Immortal gradually recovered, but his face was still frighteningly pale, and he stood up unsteadily as if he was seriously ill.
Obviously his mana, energy, and divine soul were as strong as before, but it gave the impression that he had suffered an invisible blow and that his whole person was sick.
"This is a serious injury to the soul and will!"
When everyone saw this scene, they couldn't help but feel awe-inspiring and their actions became slow.
Seeing that everyone was still hesitant, Zhang Yao took a step forward and flicked his sleeves:
"Let me do it."
As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes immediately stared at him.
Zhang Yao sat down in front of the star map stone tablet, looked at the complex star map on the stone tablet, and at the same time put his spiritual thoughts into it.
"boom!"
In an instant, the world was spinning!
When Zhang Yao felt dizzy, he had fallen into a vast ancient starry sky.
Surrounded by stars, star wheels, and astrolabes as big as a cart, in the distance there are strange scenes of holes spinning, nebulae collapsing, and galaxies hanging upside down.
At one time:
Zhang Yao was among the stars and the universe. He felt as if his body was being kneaded here and there like dough. It was cold, hot, squashed, torn, expanded... In an instant, thousands of feelings came to his mind.
Dull pain, numbness, relief, soreness, swelling, heart-breaking pain... In one moment, there are thousands of feelings surging in the heart, almost destroying one's reason.
Zhang Yao couldn't make a sound, he could only roar and roar silently, holding on to the last bit of clarity in his heart.
This is a pure competition of wills. There are no shortcuts. The strong is strong and the weak is weak. If you are close to being shattered into pieces, you will fall into eternal hell.
In the extreme mental torture, Zhang Yao almost forgot the passage of time.
I don’t know how much time has passed:
Just when Zhang Yao almost couldn't hold on any longer, the surrounding stars suddenly shone brightly, and all the stars in the universe dispersed and turned into nothingness.
"call!"
Zhang Yao suddenly opened his eyes, took two heavy breaths, and then saw that he was still sitting in front of the stone tablet.
It's just that the star map stone tablet that made him feel particularly dazzling now is already ordinary and will have no reaction anymore.
"..."
Zhang Yao stood up in silence, feeling that the trial in just a few breaths had once again transformed his mind and will.
"The trials in the Jade Palace are probably not only for selection, but also for cultivation."
"No wonder Ancestor Haihe and the others suspected that this was once the selection place for a super sect in ancient times..."
He suddenly understood.
After Zhang Yao also arrived in front of the Ancient Jade Gate and stood side by side with Taoist Sansha, the rest of the people gained a little more confidence and stepped forward to try.
However, the result was very disappointing——
Many of the remaining seven Jindan masters had made full preparations in advance, but they still failed in the fifth level and were completely defeated.
finally:
Except for Taoist Zhang Yao and Sansha, only the young swordsman who was silent from beginning to end and carrying a sword box successfully passed the test of the star map stone tablet.
"Um?"
Zhang Yao was a little surprised. He looked at the young swordsman again and suddenly turned around and asked:
"What is the origin of this comrade?"
Taoist Sansha hesitated for a moment, then responded:
"His name is 'You Quan', he comes from the Gui Kingdom and he is a weapon cultivator."
"Weapon repairer?"
Zhang Yao understood clearly.
Weapon cultivation pays attention to the entrustment of life, the integration of human and treasure, and the use of the power of magic weapons to refine one's own magic, which has many mysteries.
In ancient times, this was once a very glorious school, and it even had a three-point posture that impacted the orthodox way of refining Qi, which shows its prosperity.
The method of refining natal magic weapons that is very popular in today's era was first pioneered by the weapon cultivator. Later, the weapon cultivator branched out into many branches, among which the sword cultivator branch is even more famous and is known as the most lethal sect among monks of the same level. .
It's just that after the great destruction of the ancient times, weapon cultivation has been in decline for many years, and now it is even rarer than soul cultivation and alchemy cultivation.
"The weapon cultivator's combat prowess is pretty good, and his heart is as strong as iron, so he shouldn't be underestimated."
Zhang Yao secretly wrote down this person, and he really took it seriously in his heart.
"Everyone."
Taoist Sansha suddenly spoke, looked at the ugly-looking Man Tiansheng, Patriarch Haihe and others in the hall, and said:
"It seems that your preparations are not enough and you can only stop here."
As soon as this statement came out:
Zhang Yao on the side sighed and said nothing more, while You Quan was expressionless and indifferent.
"Oh shit!"
Man Tiansheng was a little angry and stamped his feet anxiously, but there was nothing he could do.
It was very uncomfortable to watch the ancient spiritual treasure miss, but he was unable to resist the rules of the Jade Palace.
"Is it possible that we really want to join forces with these three evil Taoists and start a war after leaving the temple?"
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel his teeth sore.
Before coming to the shrine, he was full of confidence, but after seeing the abilities of Ancestor Qingxu, he no longer had any confidence at all.
But if he just quits and gives up this God-given opportunity, it will make him extremely unwilling.
"this……"
Ancestor Haihe was about to say something when Fairy Feiying on the side suddenly said:
"Don't worry, I have a solution."
"What?"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was extremely surprised.
"Do you have any idea?"
Ancestor Yuanxu on the side was the first to react and questioned:
"What can you do? What a shameless statement!"
"You were invited by Xiaguang, right? But you are only in the early stage of the Golden Core, and you are not the perfect Golden Core or Nascent Soul monster!"
"right!"
Baihong Sword Immortal on the side also spoke in agreement:
"Don't say it's us. I'm afraid that even if the old monster Yuanying comes, he may not be able to exploit the loopholes of the Jade Palace."
Fairy Feiying's expression remained unchanged and she said calmly:
"Of course I can't find any loopholes in the formation of the Jade Palace, but what if there is a backdoor in this palace?"
As soon as these words came out, the place suddenly became quiet.
"Um?"
Zhang Yao squinted his eyes, glanced at Fairy Feiying, and then at Fairy Xiaguang, his eyes twinkling slightly.
Taoist Sansha raised his eyebrows, while Sword Immortal Bai Hong and Ancestor Yuanxu looked at her in surprise and couldn't help but ask:
"What do you mean? You found the back door here?"
"right."
Fairy Feiying looked calm and said:
"Perhaps some of you don't know that I was born as a demon cultivator, and I have the blood of the demon clan flowing in my body."
After hearing this, Taoist Sansha and Baihong Sword Immortal didn't say anything. Man Tiansheng beside him muttered a few words but didn't say much.
Most monks are relatively ambiguous about demon cultivators, especially those who have cultivated to the realm of golden elixir. They have already made their own opinions and will not shout and kill when they come up.
After seeing that they didn't react violently, Fairy Feiying continued:
"Actually, when I entered the Emerald Palace earlier, I received an additional message."
"This message says that this is an outpost of the 'Longevity League' in ancient times, specially used to train recent elite disciples and young geniuses."
"In the Wanshou Alliance, humans and demons live together and are treated equally. However, after all, the two races are not one and they have their own thoughts. The overseer of this foreign palace is one of the top leaders in the alliance, a great demon who transforms into a god... "
Having said this, many Jindan monks immediately understood.
"You mean..."
Taoist Sansha spoke slowly:
"On the surface, the human and demon testers are treated equally here; but behind the scenes, there is a backdoor for the demon testers?"
"And you happen to have the blood of the demon clan and have been judged to be a demon clan, so you know this secret and can you still use the back door here?"
"right."
Fairy Feiying nodded and said:
"I can use the backdoor set up here in advance to take everyone to the sixth level, but there will be no reward."
"The test of the sixth level is understanding. Such mysterious and mysterious things should be simpler than testing the mind and will."
Speaking of this, her tone also brought a hint of temptation:
"Everyone should know that the rewards in this Jade Palace are more generous with each level."
"If everyone can pass the sixth level, then the loss in the fifth level is actually nothing at all..."
As soon as these words came out, Man Tiansheng, Bai Hong Sword Immortal, Ancestor Yuan Xu and others looked at each other and saw each other's intentions.
Originally, they had failed and were waiting to be expelled from the palace. Now they still have the opportunity to go to the sixth level, which is a big advantage.
"What's the price?"
Taoist Sansha suddenly spoke and stared at her:
"What price do you have to pay to use this backdoor?"
(End of chapter)
