Chapter 596 - I Really Don’t Want to Let You Through (Part 1)

“That’s crazy...”

Six-Path Flower’s Razor Leaf shocked Mountain Soul and the Kunpeng. Mountain Soul knew full well the power of the Torch Dragon stone statue.

Once, an overconfident being from the West had provoked the Torch Dragon. Without even meeting the true Torch Dragon, they were repelled by the divine power of its statue. It was truly miraculous. That was also why it had told the Kunpeng to attack the statue without worry. Yet, it never expected that its boast would be immediately slapped down by a single petal.

However, Mountain Soul was certain that it wasn’t that the Torch Dragon Statue was weak, but that the flower Lu Ran had just summoned was far too strange. In an instant, that power gave it the illusion of meeting Lord Torch Dragon itself. This was a Divine-level power beyond the reach of ordinary gods.

As everyone was stunned, the severed tail regenerated with a golden light.

Mountain Soul, as if receiving some instruction, said, “You have passed the first trial of the Body. Honoured Kunpeng, it is your turn to attack now!”

Beside them, the Kunpeng gulped, feeling it could never unleash power like Six-Path Flower just had.

It began to worry about its own results. Comparison was inevitable, and to make matters worse, Lu Ran chose that moment to add sarcastic remarks.

“Brother Kunpeng, let’s compete. Let’s see who can deal more damage to the Torch Dragon statue in the end. How about it?” Lu Ran said with a smile.

Mountain Soul and the Torch Dragon were taken aback.

The Kunpeng's mouth twitched as it looked at Lu Ran. “

Ahh?

You jest. I’ve seen this great one’s power. How could I possibly compare? I admit defeat.”

It gave an awkward smile toward Six-Path Flower.

“Fine.”

Lu Ran didn’t push it because an invisible wave caused by the surrender had already been absorbed by him, converted into growth nourishment for Mystic Turtle.

A Superior-Legendary Kunpeng willingly admitting defeat... Mystic Turtle’s going to be stuffed!

Next, the Kunpeng also used a burst secret technique. As a famous mythical creature, it naturally had some tricks. But as the Kunpeng itself said, it hadn’t yet found the path to the Primary-Divine level. Compared to Six-Path Flower, who could break species limits and touch the threshold of the Primary Divine, there was still a significant gap.

In the end, it only made the statue sway slightly. Fortunately, Mountain Soul said it had passed the test.

“Congratulations. Both of you have passed the Body test of the three trials. Next is the trial of the Heart.”

Before Lu Ran and the Kunpeng could react, the sky seemed to darken. In that instant, both were affected by the Primary-Divine power and fell into an illusion, completely forgetting they were undergoing a test.

The test of the Heart tested the goodness and evil within one’s heart. Whether taking disciples or followers, the Torch Dragon didn’t want to take in evil individuals. So, it wove such an illusion to simulate the examinee’s nature when faced with special circumstances.

This space would distort the real timeline, creating a different storyline from reality. Moreover, this timeline would also dig up and amplify the evil thoughts in the participants’ hearts.

Of course, if there were few evil thoughts, the influence wouldn’t be too great, but if there were many, they would follow their true nature and commit terrible acts.

***

“It’s time. Time to take the Torch Dragon’s test!”

In the illusory test space, the Kunpeng’s memories were rewound to the day before setting out for the test. Besides the Kunpeng, there was also Lu Ran. In this world, though of different species, they had grown up together and were as close as brothers.

Along the way, they talked happily, traveling together to seek mentorship. However, during their flight, a divine light shone brilliantly from a certain mountain, as if a rare treasure had descended. The Kunpeng and Lu Ran looked over.

“This treasure’s quality surpasses the Divine grade! And it makes my blood boil. Absorbing it might greatly increase my power! It might even let me advance to the Divine rank!” The Kunpeng’s eyes burned with desire upon seeing the treasure.

Lu Ran, beside him, said, “What a treasure. Brother Kunpeng, finders keepers. How about we split it fifty-fifty?”

The Kunpeng’s gaze turned fierce. “Split? Natural treasures belong to the capable. If I kill you, it’s all mine. With this, I can break through to Primary Divine. I won't even need to seek mentorship anymore.”

Not wanting to share the resource and fearing Lu Ran might leak the news, it decided to kill him outright. In the end, it killed Lu Ran with one strike.

After seeing this, the Torch Dragon and Mountain Soul shook their heads.

“What choice will that human make? Wait... the illusion can’t truly affect his memory.”

***

As for Lu Ran, he should have also been affected, becoming Kunpeng’s growing partner, then facing a test of heart upon discovering the treasure. However, the Torch Dragon found that its spatial manipulation couldn’t reset Lu Ran’s identity. It seemed Lu Ran’s identity permissions were extremely high.

“Lord, what should we do?” Mountain Soul asked.

The Torch Dragon said, “Leave it. Even though we couldn’t reset his identity, at least we blurred his memory. We can still see his heart. I’ll improve the illusion for the next test.”

The timeline rewound.

As Lu Ran rode Baby Cloud toward Zhong Mountain to find the Torch Dragon, a Kunpeng flew over and asked Lu Ran. “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

The illusion began overlapping with earlier events.

Lu Ran said, “The Kunpeng, eh? I’ve heard of you. We come from a special place. It’s normal that you don’t know us.”

The Kunpeng said, “

Oh,

where are you going? This direction... could it be you are also going to seek out the Torch Dragon?”

“

Huh?

What do you mean by ‘also’? Are you going too?”

The Kunpeng said it was going to seek mentorship, then cheerfully said to Lu Ran, “Yes! What a coincidence. Seeing your strength, brother, why don’t we become sworn brothers here and go visit the Torch Dragon together? Here, this is a fine brew from my hometown.”

Just as the Kunpeng finished speaking, its body was sliced in half. Lu Ran murmured, “I was just worried about not having a gift for the Torch Dragon. Here it is. I wonder if the Torch Dragon likes grilled fish or grilled chicken.”

The Kunpeng, who had only tried to strike up a conversation, was beheaded by Lu Ran and cooked into a dish, dying with wide eyes.

On the road, a divine light shone brilliantly from a certain mountain, as if a rare treasure had descended.

“Such luck today. A prey and a treasure!” Lu Ran exclaimed.

“This guy isn’t a good person either, Lord! Before the treasure test even began, he had already killed his competitor!” Mountain Soul shouted.

These two examinees are no good.

As Mountain Soul’s words fell, outside, both the Kunpeng and Lu Ran broke free from the illusion. The memories and experiences from the illusion surfaced in their minds.

“I, I...” The Kunpeng, thinking about how it killed Lu Ran in the illusion, broke into a cold sweat.

If I really encountered that situation, would I do that?

The Kunpeng thought about it and realized it really would. However, it couldn’t beat Lu Ran anyway.

The Kunpeng looked guiltily at Lu Ran and worriedly at Mountain Soul, afraid that its actions in the illusion would cause it to fail the test.

As for Lu Ran, he fell into deep thought.

He glanced at Six-Path Flower standing beside him and asked, “Weren’t you pulled into the illusion?”

“No,” Six-Path Flower said calmly.

The Torch Dragon probably worried its power would break the trial space, so it didn’t interfere with it.

“How about you? Just now, your evil energy was almost overflowing.”

“

Huh...?

” Lu Ran’s eyes twitched.

What evil energy? What evil thoughts could I have? I just wanted to bring the Torch Dragon a gift. Is that evil? I’m being gaslit...

At this moment, Mountain Soul spoke to the sweating Kunpeng. “Honoured Kunpeng, you may leave. You still need further cultivation. When your heart and wisdom can control your desires and will, you may return to take the test again.”

As the Kunpeng was afraid Lu Ran would learn about its illusion experiences, it didn’t stay long and flew away dejectedly. “I understand. Thank you for your guidance, great one.”

After seeing this, Lu Ran felt slightly worried but thought he had no issues.

Regarding Lu Ran’s performance, under normal circumstances, the Torch Dragon wouldn’t want to pass him. “I really don’t want to pass him.”

It was because in the illusion, it sensed that the evil thoughts on Lu Ran were even greater than those on the Kunpeng.

Usually, it would choose to eliminate such beings. However, its intuition told it that it was best not to eliminate Lu Ran, as it would be beneficial for itself. Because of this feeling, the Torch Dragon chose to go against its conscience and see the next trial.

“Congratulations, you have passed the Heart test as well,” Mountain Soul said to Lu Ran.

“Passed?” Lu Ran scratched his head.

Even though he didn’t understand the passing criteria, since the other said he passed, it was good. He judged that this test probably tested filial piety and loyalty.

In the illusion, he subconsciously planned to stew Kunpeng in an iron pot and grill it on a rack to show respect to the Torch Dragon and increase favorability. This filial piety must have gained the Torch Dragon’s approval.

“As expected of me.” Lu Ran patted his own shoulder.

Mountain Soul briefed, “The final test tests your Intent. It will still be an illusion test!”

After speaking, Lu Ran was pulled into an illusion again.

“I hope this time, we get a decent result,” the Torch Dragon mumbled.

“Hey, the so-called Heart test should test the goodness and evil of the heart, right? And this one is going to test his will and thought?” Six-Path Flower ignored Lu Ran in the illusion and asked Mountain Soul.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Mountain Soul looked at this flower god who had just displayed immense power and immediately nodded. “This test focuses on the relationship between humans, society, and nature. It examines how the participant views the world.

“The content is that Blue Planet is invaded by powerful extraterrestrial life. Will the participant become a lackey of the invaders, choose to resist to the end and save their homeland, or escape reality and run away...”

Mountain Soul was curious about the result. After all, the Torch Dragon said this human should also be from outside the stars, so he probably had no sense of belonging to Blue Planet.

“

Oh.

” Six-Path Flower fell silent, having a bad premonition.