Chapter 78: Yizhou’s Illusion (Part 6)

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Yizhou’s Illusion (Part 6)

Sui Sui watched everything unfold before him. He already knew how this part of the story was supposed to go, yet seeing it happen right in front of him still made his heart ache.

If only he had been transmigrated into Yizhou’s first life, perhaps he could have done something. Perhaps he could have stopped some of these tragedies from happening.

The helplessness in his heart was overwhelming, and with it came a deep sense of guilt. He felt guilty as a reader. How could he have simply sat there and enjoyed reading about Yizhou’s suffering, not knowing that every betrayal and every tragedy was happening to a real person in this world?

Yet that same feeling also strengthened his resolve.

He could not change the past. What had already happened to Yizhou could no longer be undone.

But the future was different.

The future had not been done yet, and as long as he was here, it could still be changed.

Sui Sui clenched his fists.

He would not let Yizhou become lonely again. No matter how the original story was supposed to unfold, he would make sure that Yizhou would have someone by his side this time.

He would change Yizhou’s fate.

But before that, he had to find a way out of this illusion.

After everything he had witnessed, Sui Sui had begun to realize that something was not quite right. This illusion did not seem like a normal illusion at all. Where was the scene showing Yizhou’s desires that he had expected to see?

Everything he had witnessed so far had simply been a replay of Yizhou’s memories.

Perhaps Sui Sui could have understood it if the illusion had shown Yizhou living a happy and peaceful life, or perhaps a world where he had successfully taken his revenge and gained everything he wanted. Either of those would have made sense as an illusion based on desire.

But none of those scenes had appeared.

The more Sui Sui thought about it, the more he felt that this was not a normal illusion.

Instead, it felt more like another thing that was mentioned in the novel...

A heart trial...

His mind worked quickly, searching through his memories for everything he knew about the novel.

Heart Trials was a common scenario in the novel.

Starting from the Golden Core stage, cultivators in this world had to pass through two trials before they could successfully break through to the next realm.

The first was the heart trial, a trial imposed by the Heavens to temper a cultivator’s mind and test their state of heart. Only after passing the heart trial could they face the second trial—the lightning tribulation, which tempered the body and completed the breakthrough.

According to the novel, If it were only the lightning tribulation, it would have practically become a piece of cake for Yizhou, as he was someone very powerful and able to withstand it. However for Yizhou, the reason why his breakthroughs were not so easy was because his real nemesis had always been the heart trials.

After all, Yizhou carried too many negative emotions and was especially prone to Qi Deviation and Heart Demons. His hatred and resentment had become deeply rooted within him, making his heart trials far more dangerous than the lightning tribulation itself.

But there was another reason why Yizhou’s heart trials were so severe.

It was because it seems the Heavenly Dao had already recognized that Yizhou possessed the potential to destroy the balance of the world. If he continued down the path of hatred and revenge, his growing power could eventually become a threat to the entire world.

However the Heavenly Dao could not simply interfere with his fate whenever it wanted.

The Heavens Dao, although it was called heaven, was still bound by its own laws of the world, it is not an almighty god but more like a systematic existence that made sure that the world stayed functioning. It cannot directly interfere with the lives of the people, because that would itself disrupt the balance of the world, potentially causing consequences even more disastrous.

So the Heavenly Dao could only influence him through means permitted by the laws of Heaven itself.

And the heart trials were one of them.

The novel had explained that for some reason, at first, the Heavenly Dao did not really intend to destroy Yizhou. Instead, it repeatedly used his heart trials to try to change him.

It wanted him to let go of his hatred, untangle the knot in his heart, and abandon his path of revenge. Thinking that If Yizhou could overcome his resentment and return to the righteous path, then perhaps the threat Yizhou posed to the world would disappear on its own.

But Yizhou was not easy to convince. No matter how many times he was tested, he never truly let go of the hatred he carried.

It became clear that Yizhou would not let go of his hatred, so the Heavenly Dao changed its approach. Instead of trying to guide him back to the righteous path, it began looking for ways to eliminate him altogether. The Heart Trials were still used, but their purpose had changed. Rather than trying to reform Yizhou, the Heavenly Dao now designed the trials to push him toward Qi Deviation and ultimately destroy him.

Qi Deviation was a serious danger to every cultivator. It occurred when a cultivator lost control of their spiritual energy, usually because their state of mind had become unstable. Once their emotions, thoughts, or Heart Demon overwhelmed them, the spiritual energy within their body could begin circulating incorrectly, damaging their meridians and even turning against their own body.

In severe cases, the cultivator could lose control of their cultivation completely, suffer permanent damage, or die on the spot.

For someone like Yizhou, whose heart was already filled with hatred and resentment, the danger was even greater. His Heart Trials repeatedly forced him to confront the deepest parts of his emotions, making him especially vulnerable to losing control.

And that was exactly what the Heavenly Dao intended.

If it could not make Yizhou abandon his hatred, then it could push him further into it until his own emotions caused him to suffer Qi Deviation.

However, as the protagonist, Yizhou would always find a way to break through the Heart Trial. The problem was that he often had to force his way out, and doing so would inevitably leave some damage behind. He could survive the trial, but he would still have to pay a price for it.

The novel had mentioned that in order to break free from a Heart Trial, Yizhou had to hurt himself. As the saying went, the only way to wake from a dream was to pinch yourself.

However, Yizhou’s method was far more extreme than that.

Since the Heavenly Dao was determined to kill him within the Heart Trial, Yizhou had to find a way to deceive it into believing that he had truly died. But fooling the Heavenly Dao was not so simple. He needed something that could take his place within the trial—a sacrifice.

However this sacrifice could only be himself.

Each time he was trapped in a Heart Trial, Yizhou would sever a portion of his own soul and use it as a substitute for his main soul. That soul would be the one to undergo the heart trial in his place.

Once that soul fragment was destroyed within the trial, the Heavenly Dao would recognize that he had already died, allowing the trial to end and his true soul to escape and awaken.

It was an effective method, but it was far from harmless. The damage done to his soul was real, and every time he used this method, he was essentially slowly destroying himself. The act of severing one’s own soul was also unimaginably painful. Over time, the repeated damage began to affect Yizhou’s sanity as well.

This was one of the reasons why the Yizhou of the future would eventually become more like a cold killing machine. He had endured too much, lost too much, and even his own soul was gradually being worn away.

It was essentially a situation where the enemy lost a thousand soldiers, while he himself lost eight hundred.

He could survive the Heart Trial, but he would still have to pay a heavy price.

In the end, it was still a lose-lose situation.

However, Sui Sui thought about it for a little longer.

If this was truly Yizhou’s Heart Trial, then perhaps he could do something about it.

—

Outside the illusion, the streets of Xuánshuāng City remained eerily quiet.

The red-robed demoness sat high above the city with her eyes closed, calmly meditating as she continued absorbing the energy gathered from the illusion.

Everything was proceeding according to her plan.

Only a few hours had passed, yet some of the weaker-willed people had already completely succumbed to their desires and died within their dreams. The Qingmei demon did not feel the slightest bit of guilt about it.

After all, at least they had died happily.

Wasn’t that better than dying in fear?

She continued absorbing the energy without the slightest concern, allowing the vast amount of spiritual energy, desires, and greed to slowly flow into her body.

However, after some time, she suddenly noticed that something felt slightly wrong with the energy she was absorbing.

There was an unfamiliar sensation mixed within it, faint enough that she could barely notice.

The demoness frowned slightly.

Could it be that some of the stronger-willed people were resisting?

She did not think much of it. After all, there were bound to be people who could resist her illusion for longer than others.

As long as they remained trapped inside, it was only a matter of time before their resistance collapsed.

The demoness remained completely unaware that something else was happening above her.

High above the clouds, the sky had begun to darken.

Faint purplish-golden lightning slowly gathered in the depths of the clouds, silently intertwining with one another.

One bolt.

Then another.

The lightning continued to accumulate, as though the heavens themselves were waiting for something.

-----

Footnotes:

Heart Demon (心魔): A manifestation of a cultivator’s inner desires, fears, obsessions, or negative emotions that can interfere with cultivation.

Heart Trial (心劫): A trial imposed by the Heavens to test a cultivator’s state of mind and whether they can overcome their inner demons.

Qi Deviation (走火入魔): A dangerous condition in which a cultivator loses control of their spiritual energy, potentially damaging their cultivation, meridians, or even causing death.