Chapter 5897: Burden  

Sansheng Qiutian was indicated to have the potential to become a Monstrous Saint, but he wasn’t the most talented prodigy in the Three Saints Monstrous Clan. His cultivation also didn’t reach the level others expected of him.

Chu Feng wasn’t in a good position to judge this matter.

It could be a problem with the treasure or other factors, but regardless, it was not a problem that Chu Feng could solve at the moment.

“Maybe your time hasn’t come yet. I used to be weak too, but my bloodline suddenly awakened one day, and I realized that I wasn’t any weaker than those around me,” Chu Feng said.

The only thing he could do was to encourage Sansheng Qiutian.

It was important for a cultivator to have faith in himself. It would be hard for them to achieve great things if they couldn’t even trust their own talent.

“How old were you then?” Sansheng Qiutian asked.

“Ten years old,” Chu Feng replied.

“Ah... Don’t you think it’s coming a bit too late for me?”

“Good things are worth waiting for.”

“I’ll use those words then.” Sansheng Qiutian smiled from the bottom of his heart.

He knew that Chu Feng was just consoling him, but his mood still improved. He bought into such stuff.

The group continued to advance amid chatter.

All of a sudden, the dark clouds and the sandstorm scattered. A bottomless pit appeared in front of them. The three of them had to rise into the air before to see just how huge the pit was. It was almost the size of a continent, but there was a building in the center of the pit.

It was an ancient tower.

The ancient tower only had three levels, but it was over ten thousand meters tall. Astonishingly, the tower’s entrance was located at its top.

Zi Ling, Sansheng Xingyu, and Sansheng Qiutian studied the ancient tower before turning to Chu Feng. They couldn’t find anything amiss with the ancient tower, but they wanted to check Chu Feng’s opinion first.

“Let’s enter right away.”

Chu Feng rushed toward the ancient tower’s entrance, and Zi Ling and the others quickly followed him.

As soon as they stepped into the ancient tower, terrifying pressure enveloped the four of them, binding them in place. This pressure was different from the one they had encountered from the dark lightning clouds outside. It seeped into their soul and filled them with unease and fear.

“Calm down and don’t struggle. This level is similar to a talent assessment. It’s determining whether we are qualified to venture further. If we can’t clear this trial, we’ll be teleported out of the tower, and we won’t be able to enter again,” Chu Feng said.

Sansheng Qiutian was struggling with gritted teeth when he heard Chu Feng’s words, so he shut his eyes and allowed the pressure to do whatever it wanted. That put him in greater pain, but fortunately, the pressure only lasted a moment before dissipating, returning his freedom to him.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that Chu Feng and the others had also overcome the pressure and were currently looking at him.

“Was I the slowest?” Sansheng Qiutian asked.

“Don’t worry, we weren’t much faster either. We’ll be heading to the second floor next. You need to mentally prepare yourself, for we’ll be facing an illusory formation. Everything in there is fake, so don’t hesitate to kill whoever you see. Don’t show any mercy,” Chu Feng reminded them.

“How do you know that?” Sansheng Qiutian asked.

“It’s written here.” Chu Feng gestured to a wooden tablet next to the descending staircase.

The wooden tablet did indicate that they would be facing an illusory formation on the second floor, but there were no further details aside from that. Sansheng Qiutian was perplexed as to how Chu Feng managed to gather so much information. “How do you know the details of the next test?”

“I’m guessing based on the layout of this place, but I’m confident of my deduction. Of course, if I do get it wrong, please pretend as if I didn’t say anything,” Chu Feng replied with a chuckle.

“I trust you,” Sansheng Qiutian said.

“Prepare yourself. Let’s enter once you’re ready,” Chu Feng said.

“I’m ready,” Sansheng Qiutian said.

Zi Ling and Sansheng Xingyu nodded.

“Remember, it’s fine if you fail. Don’t feel too pressured,” Chu Feng said before leading the way down the stairs.

Zi Ling, Sansheng Qiutian, and Sansheng Xingyu followed him.

As soon as they stepped into the second floor, Sansheng Qiutian found himself surrounded by Three Saints Monstrous Clansmen. Somehow, he forgot everything about what Chu Feng had said or even what he was doing earlier. He felt like this was the world he belonged in.

Due to that, he was baffled when a clansman walked over and plunged a dagger into his abdomen. He had no idea why the other party had hurt him.

His surroundings distorted, and he found himself enveloped by a surge of teleportation energy. He returned to the ancient tower’s top floor before falling weakly on his bum.

“Damn.” Sansheng Qiutian punched the ground.

It was only now, when he regained his memory, that he realized that everything that had happened earlier was an illusion.

Weng!

Another surge of teleportation energy emerged. It was Sansheng Xingyu. She also collapsed onto the ground with a look of realization.

“Xingyu, you failed too?” Sansheng Qiutian was consoled to see that.

Before Sansheng Xingyu could say a word, two more surges of teleportation energy appeared. Emerging from the teleportation energy were Chu Feng and Zi Ling, but unlike them, the two of them remained on their feet.

“The two of you failed as well?!” Sansheng Qiutian shot to his feet.

He was consoled by Sansheng Xingyu’s failure, but it didn’t bode well if Chu Feng failed too. Their goal was to breach the formation after all, and Chu Feng was their greatest backing here.

“What the...”

Sansheng Qiutian tried to stand up, only to feel a sharp pain in his abdomen. He lowered his head and saw that his abdomen was covered in blood. That was where he was stabbed in the illusory formation.

Uwa!

Sansheng Xingyu spat blood too. She had been struck by a palm on the back.

“What’s going on? What happened earlier was an illusory formation, right? Why were we still injured? Is that not just an illusion?” Sansheng Qiutian was confused.

“What you see in the formation is fake, but the injuries you sustain are real. Your injuries will worsen if you fail the trial again,“ Chu Feng said as he passed two pills to Sansheng Qiutian and Sansheng Xingyu.

“Thank you.” Sansheng Xingyu took the pill, and her injuries swiftly healed.

Sansheng Qiutian also felt the pain in his abdomen suicide. He took a close look at Chu Feng and Zi Ling and asked, “Why are the two of you fine?”

“We cleared the trial, but the four of us are a team. Your failure spells our failure too,” Chu Feng said.

“You got teleported back because we failed?” Sansheng Qiutian asked.

“That’s right.” Chu Feng nodded.

“It’s too tough. We’ll forget our memories when we enter. It’s almost like a dream. I even forgot that we were here to breach the formation. I thought that I truly lived in that illusory formation,” Sansheng Qiutian said.

“But they cleared it,” Sansheng Xingyu said,

“Oh yeah! How were the two of you unfazed?” Sansheng Qiutian asked out of curiosity.

Chu Feng and Zi Ling exchanged looks, and they immediately grasped what was going on. They actually didn’t do anything special; they knew it was an illusory formation the moment they stepped in.

“It could be that we’re better at discerning reality from illusion because we have been to more remnants,” Zi Ling said.

“But we have been through such training too,” Sansheng Qiutian said.

“Toughen up your mind. We’ll try again. Let me know when you’re ready,” Chu Feng said.

Sansheng Xingyu closed her eyes. Sansheng Qiutian followed suit. Moments later, the two of them opened their eyes at the same time.

“We’re ready.”

“Let’s go,” Chu Feng said as he descended down the steps.

Not long later, the four of them were teleported back to the top floor.

This time, when Chu Feng and Zi Ling returned, each of them quickly rushed over to Sansheng Qiutian and Sansheng Xingyu to check their conditions. Not only did the latter two fail, but their injuries were even more severe that their lives were in danger.

“What the heck is going on? I really couldn’t tell that it’s an illusory formation at all!” Sansheng Qiutian furiously slapped his own face.

Sansheng Xingyu didn’t say a word, but her pale face reflected her disappointment and self-reproach.

As prodigies, they couldn’t accept that they were burdening others here.