Chapter 685  : Tear (2)

Chen Fei slowly retracted his sword, and in the next moment, the entire dream world silently cracked open, revealing the appearance of the mountain path.

With this one sword from Chen Fei, not only did he slay his opponent, but he also shattered the entire dream world.

Since he knew it was fake, Chen Fei naturally had no need to prolong the situation.

As the dream world shattered under Chen Fei’s sword, ripples spread out from under his feet, and the sense of scrutiny that had appeared halfway up the mountain reappeared in Chen Fei’s perception.

Compared to the fleeting glimpse before, this gaze lingered longer in Chen Fei’s senses at this moment.

At the foot of the mountain, there were already many martial artists who had passed the tests of the first three trials and were now climbing.

Sensing the ripples emanating from the mountaintop, their eyes couldn’t help but widen slightly.

What’s going on? Someone has already reached the top ten in the history of the Dream Shadow Cave, and they even directly broke through the test?

Many people glanced around and then at the peak. With this distance, is it still necessary to continue the trial?

Clearly, they won’t be able to catch up.

Gu Fangyu stood on the mountain path, watching the waves rippling above with a furrowed brow.

Gu Fangyu had not encountered anyone else until just now. He had thought he was the first to arrive at the trial peak. However, he hadn’t expected that the reason he couldn’t see anyone wasn’t because he was the first, but because someone else had already climbed to a position close to the peak.

Gu Fangyu, the pride of Thousand Geese City, reached the Visceral Tempering realm at the age of thirteen, broke through to the Aperture Tempering realm at seventeen, and stepped into the Combined Aperture Tempering realm at the age of twenty-five after eight years.

Although his speed couldn’t compare to the geniuses of the fertile lands in the Middle Continent, among the other sects with strong practitioners in the Mountain Sea Realm, his progress was considered very fast.

Over a hundred years had passed. Now, nearing the age of two hundred, with the Three Flowers Converging at the Crown and at the peak of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, he was just one step away from breaking through to the Mountain Sea Realm.

Considering the lifespan of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, Gu Fangyu still had plenty of time.

This time, the Dream Shadow Cave appeared near Thousand Geese City. As one of the unparalleled strong practitioners from thousands of years ago, the inheritance of Master Dream Shadow was undoubtedly one of the most top­notch.

Gu Fangyu was somewhat moved, so he came.

However, he hadn’t expected that in this trial, someone’s dream talent would reach such an astonishing level.

Gu Fangyu lowered his head and continued to climb.

Gu Fangyu was not one to easily admit defeat. Even if the other person was moving faster, the tests at the peak were not something that could be easily overcome. Perhaps when Gu Fangyu also approaches the peak, the other person might have just passed a few tests, or even be stuck at a certain level. It’s uncertain.

Gu Fangyu walked around an ancient locust tree and saw a stone stele standing ahead. Just as he was about to approach it, there was another ripple at the peak.

Gu Fangyu’s footsteps came to a sudden halt, and he instinctively looked up at the peak. That person, did they just break through another test directly?

How long has it been since the last test?

Suppressing his astonishment, Gu Fangyu took a deep breath and walked towards the stone stele.

The stele recorded a set of illusionary cultivation techniques, which were quite profound. With Gu Fangyu’s talent, after reading through it once, besides memorizing the techniques, he couldn’t immediately grasp how to begin practicing.

Gu Fangyu furrowed his brows, starting to meticulously analyze the words and sentences of the technique, while continuously experimenting with the fluctuations of his internal energy to explore possible directions.

Gu Fangyu’s talent was indeed extraordinary. After scrutinizing the technique in this manner, his train of thought in his mind expanded significantly.

A hint of a smile appeared on Gu Fangyu’s face. Though he didn’t want to admit it, the speed at which the person at the peak ascended did indeed exert immense pressure on him.

With pressure comes motivation. Gu Fangyu was not someone willing to concede easily. In the many years in Thousand Geese City, he had never admitted defeat to anyone.

Even Mountain Sea Realm practitioners could only earn Gu Fangyu’s respect.

However, Gu Fangyu respected only their precedence. In terms of talent, he didn’t believe he was much weaker. He was certain that one day, he too would step into the Mountain Sea Realm.

A mass of illusionary power condensed at Gu Fangyu’s fingertips. Just as he was about to unleash it, another wave of fluctuations erupted at the peak.

The elemental energy in Gu Fangyu’s hand instantly dissipated, leaving him dumbfounded as he stared at the peak.

He was still on his way from one trial to another, while the person above had already passed two checkpoints. Meanwhile, Gu Fangyu hadn’t even completed the trial halfway up the mountain.

Proud and arrogant as he was, Gu Fangyu wouldn’t easily give up. But at this moment, a sense of confusion flashed in his eyes.

No matter how unwilling to admit defeat, in the face of such unreasonable speed in passing the trials, anyone would find it hard to muster resistance!

Outside the cave, a group of people watched in silence as the person at the peak broke through the trials. Had anyone ever passed the trials so swiftly in thousands of years?

At the peak, Chen Fei stood still. Forces from all directions attempted to infiltrate his consciousness, but he repelled them all.

Since he shattered the first dream, such forces had been trying to penetrate his consciousness and even his soul.

This is definitely not a trial; a trial shouldn’t be like this.

At this moment, Chen Fei was certain that there was something wrong with the Dream Shadow Cave.

As Chen Fei swiftly broke through another dream, the covert gaze directed at him did not dissipate but remained fixed on him.

The owner of this gaze probably hadn’t anticipated that Chen Fei could sense their scrutiny so keenly, hence the brazenness of their gaze.

As Chen Fei broke through the third trial, the permeating power within the Dream Shadow Cave suddenly surged. If it were any other Combined Aperture Tempering realm practitioner, even at the pinnacle of Combined Aperture Tempering realm, they might be influenced by this power unknowingly. And the longer it persisted, the deeper the influence, until it became insurmountable.

“This doesn’t seem like possession,” Chen Fei pondered.

If it were possession, the power would be much more domineering. Instead, it seemed more like hindering others from continuing the trial.

With the Combined Aperture Tempering realm soul insufficient to resist this dream power, even with sufficient talent in the end, one might stop halfway to the summit.

Because at that point, it was no longer a trial but the entire Dream Shadow Cave targeting you.

Chen Fei suspected that those who remained in the top ten of the historical rankings on the mountain path probably stopped there because of this reason.

And over thousands of years, no one had successfully reached the summit. Perhaps, this was the truth.

The Dream Shadow Cave didn’t want anyone to succeed in reaching the top!

“Artifact spirit?”

A thought flashed through Chen Fei’s mind. If the scrutinizing gaze came from the artifact spirit, many things seemed to make sense.

But why wouldn’ t the artifact spirit want people to reach the top?

Chen Fei’s eyes flickered as he swiftly moved through the next trial.

All these trials were dreams, but they couldn’t affect Chen Fei, so he tore through them effortlessly.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Fei tore through the remaining seven Dream Realms, including the checkpoints left by the historical top-ranked individual.

The entire Dream Shadow Cave trembled slightly. Outside the cave, the lights that were supposed to display the progress of those ascending had vanished.

Since Chen Fei stepped into the historical top seven, those outside the cave could no longer see any updates. This left everyone outside bewildered, not understanding what had happened in the Dream Shadow Cave.

At that moment, dozens of people still inside the Dream Shadow Cave sensed a huge ripple exploding near the peak, which was very close to the final summit.

Everyone was shocked by this scene, at a loss for words. Were they all going through the same trial? They were struggling step by step below, yet how did the other party manage to approach the peak in just a few steps?

When had such a formidable figure appeared in Thousand Geese City?

Chen Fei stood on the mountain path, and faintly, he could see a palace at the peak.

An invisible force pressed down on Chen Fei, but it seemed that apart from this pressure, he didn’ t feel any other harm, perhaps restricted by some rule.

Chen Fei glanced around, then stepped forward with his right foot.

Suddenly, everything spun around him, and Chen Fei found himself in a martial arts arena.

A ripple flashed, and dozens of people appeared around the arena, surrounding Chen Fei.

A thought emerged in the minds of these people: Whoever could kill the person in front of them would be rewarded with a Soul Heartstone!

The Soul Heartstone, a rare and precious treasure, could be used to strengthen the soul!