Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 223: The Illusory Forest of Inquiry: Rules

The wind at the back of Hundred Refinements Peak had stopped.

Su Ming bent down, unhurriedly pulling out the eighteen Formation Flags one by one from the rock crevices and dead corners of the wind passage.

His movements were gentle, like an old farmer tending to his crops and putting away his tools.

Although the flags were made of inferior materials, after the baptism of the Yin Evil Wind just now, a faint, cold, flowing light had appeared on their surfaces, a sign that the murderous aura had seeped into them.

"Keep them safe. Use the 'Water Refining Method' to wash out the murderous aura when you get back, they can still be used a few more times," Lin Yu's voice sounded in his mind. "If you could seal this trace of murderous aura inside the flagpoles, next time you could set up a 'Minor Yin Wind Formation'—perfect for ambushing people. Our family fortune is thin; even a needle must be made to perform like a club."

Su Ming's fingers brushed over the cold flagpoles as he stored them in his storage pouch, giving a slight nod.

The surrounding gazes still clung to him. There was shock, there was jealousy, but more than anything, there was a wary caution born of incomprehension. Zhao Yin stood at the edge of the crowd, his face ashen. Originally hoping to see Su Ming make a fool of himself, he had instead become a stepping stone for the other's rise to fame. Now, he hung his head low, his nails almost digging holes into his palms.

Zhang Lie did not give the crowd much time to dwell on it.

"The first two stages are passed. One hundred and thirteen remain."

This Formation Peak steward waved his large sleeve, a crimson spiritual light sweeping up the crowd. "Follow me."Everyone felt their feet lighten as the scenery rapidly receded behind them.

The dryness, heat, and clamor of Hundred Refinements Peak were swiftly left behind, replaced by an increasingly heavy sense of dampness and chill.

After roughly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the crimson spiritual light dissipated.

Su Ming landed steadily and looked up.

Before him was an ancient mountain forest shrouded in thick fog.

Unlike the barren Hundred Refinements Peak, here ancient trees reached for the sky, each requiring several people to encircle its trunk. Their bark was dry and cracked like dragon scales, their dense branches and leaves blotting out the sky. However, what was most eye-catching wasn't these ancient trees, but the layer of white mist permeating the forest.

The mist wasn't static; it writhed slowly like a living thing, sometimes gathering into beastly shapes, sometimes dispersing like sheer gauze. The slightest touch of divine sense upon it would sink like a clay ox into the sea, vanishing instantly in the blink of an eye.

moss-covered stone stele inscribed with three

horsetail whisk lay horizontally across his knees. If not for seeing

fiery aura and bowed respectfully to the gray-robed elder. "Questioning Heart Shishu, the outer sect assessment disciples have

eyelids trembled slightly as he slowly

the flow of spiritual energy within his Dantian laid bare. He instinctively tensed his muscles, his fingers imperceptibly moving towards a talisman hidden in his

"Hmm."

wind rustling through dry leaves. "A few

gaze swept over the crowd, then turned to the

Illusory Realm Heart

raised his hand, pointing at the forest behind him. "There

called 'Mirage Smoke'; it can isolate the five senses and divine sense. Even if two people hold hands

forest. Within three days, those who find one and walk out of the mist will be considered to have passed. Three days outside may be a lifetime, or

"Third..."

is what you most desire, or most fear, in your heart. Believe it, and it becomes real; disbelieve it, and

looked around at the crowd, his tone softening slightly. "What you will experience this time is the 'basic mode' of the Questioning Heart Forest. The three trials set are merely common principles of worldly attachments, trust and suspicion in human relations, and decisions on the path of

your

closed his eyes

deathly silence fell over

disciples who had been high-spirited and triumphant at Hundred Refinements Peak moments ago now looked at the churning

body is easy; cultivating the

but facing the deepest fears and desires within one's heart is the most

solemnly.

first. "What's there to fear! This body of mine was built through hard training! Can a mere illusion

stepped into the

No sound, no ripple.

figure touched the white mist, it was as if erased by an eraser, vanishing into

second,

disappearing instantly, as if the forest were a