As Su Yang crossed the silver gate of the second trial, his breath had just begun to calm when the surroundings once again changed.
The world turned pitch black.
No wind.
No light.
No spirit energy.
Just... darkness.
Thick, suffocating, deathly.
Su Yang instinctively reached for his inner fire, but it didn't respond. His Karma Fire Body — silent. His Heavenly True Fire Art — suppressed. Even his ice element and system screen — completely gone.
He was naked in the void, no powers, no allies.
Only the faint sound of his own breathing.
"…Where am I?" he whispered.
And then he heard it — the soft dragging of chains, echoing in all directions. The air thickened with a cold, unnatural pressure. Each breath was harder than the last, like he was suffocating under invisible weight.
Then he heard a voice — one he hadn't expected.
"Why did you let us die, Su Yang?"
He turned around sharply.
There — in the black — stood Su Yan, her eyes hollow, bleeding from the mouth, the same way the original Su Yang had died in despair. Her expression was filled with sadness… and blame.
"You could've saved us," she said, stepping forward.
"No…" Su Yang whispered. "This is a lie. I didn't—"
Behind Su Yan, more shadows appeared.
Lu Ying, frozen solid, her body cracking like ice. "Why did you let me die?"
Max, limp in a pool of blood.
Jin Hao, with a sword through his back.
"You killed us, Su Yang," they all whispered. "You let us die. You were too weak."
"No!" he roared. "This is fake!"
The shadows surged toward him, and with each step, the pressure in the illusion increased. His knees buckled. His spirit trembled. Even though he knew it wasn't real, his soul felt the pain — the guilt, the pressure, the fear.
His mind screamed to escape. His instincts shouted to run.
But he couldn't.
The world had no exit.
Just the pain. The fear.
And then, a shadow that dwarfed them all emerged — the original Su Yang, standing there with broken eyes and trembling hands.
"You stole my body," the original whispered. "Now suffer as I did."
The world trembled.
The pressure increased.
Blood leaked from Su Yang's lips.
"This illusion is different," he thought, panting. "This one isn't testing temptation or sorrow. It's testing fear… guilt… and my desire to escape from it."
Suddenly, the shadows screamed and pounced on him — stabbing, clawing, whispering blame.
His body twisted in agony.
But...
Su Yang didn't scream.
He endured.
He gritted his teeth. "I know what I did."
"I know I was weak… and I stole a life not meant to be mine. I carry that burden every day."
"I didn't save the first Su Yang. But I'll make sure his pain isn't wasted. I'll protect Max. I'll protect Lu Ying. I'll protect Jin Hao. I'll earn this life!"
BOOM!
The illusion shook.
A faint glow erupted from within Su Yang — golden Karma Fire, breaking through the suppression by sheer force of will.
"I'm not afraid of you," he growled at the shadowed versions of his loved ones. "You are not them. You're my guilt — and I accept it. But I won't be ruled by it."
He stood tall in the darkness, his body glowing like a flame in the void.
And the shadows?
They vanished — like smoke in the wind.
The chains shattered.
The illusion broke.
And Su Yang dropped to one knee again, gasping. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose.
He had faced his worst fear — the loss of everything he loved — and survived it.
As the black world faded, the third golden platform appeared beneath his feet.
"3", it read.
The third trial… passed.
---
In a separate part of the array...
Sun Xiyan sat with a cold expression. He had already passed the second illusion by overpowering it with brute force. His third illusion, however, made even him sweat — trapped in a world where his cultivation never grew, where he was mocked as a cripple, and his clan threw him away like trash.
"Hmph," he scoffed, slicing through the illusion with sheer arrogance and power. "I'll never be weak."
But deep down, a part of him doubted.
Watching Su Yang's calm exit from the third array, one of the elders from the hidden chamber said, "That boy's will is tempered in fire. He's not just talent — he has a warrior's heart."
Sun Xiyan's elder, watching from afar, narrowed his eyes. "Then we'll just have to test how long that fire can burn..."
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