Chapter 90: The Illusory Forest

The Illusory Forest was a primordial nightmare brought to life.

As soon as the ten thousand outer sect disciples crossed the ancient stone gates, the ambient temperature plummeted. A thick, milky-white spiritual mist rolled through the jagged, black-barked trees. It instantly swallowed their figures and cut off all line of sight.

Within moments, the quiet forest erupted into a cacophony of terror.

"Ahhhh! Blood-Eyed Phantoms! Stay back!"

"Mother... no, don’t leave me! I’ll cultivate harder, I promise!

Screams, sobs, and the sounds of desperate weapons clashing against empty air echoed through the fog. The profound illusion arrays did not summon physical beasts. Instead, they invaded the very depths of a cultivator’s Dao Heart.

They dragged out deepest fears, hidden regrets, and unresolved traumas. To pass this stage, one had to rely purely on unshakable will and profound spiritual perception. Brute force was utterly useless here.

Amidst this chaotic symphony of despair, one figure walked with the serene, unhurried pace of a mortal strolling through a royal garden.

Lin Tian’s pristine obsidian robes remained untouched by the damp mist. His hands were clasped casually behind his back. The heavy profound-iron broadsword remained securely wrapped.

A profound-tier Mind-Clouding Array, .Lin Tian analyzed internally, his breathing slow and rhythmic.

"System, maintain Insight Eye," he commanded silently.

His eyes flashed with a faint, ancient crimson light. The thick, disorienting mist before him immediately peeled away in his vision.

Instead of monsters, the Insight Eye revealed the underlying truth. A vast, glowing web of spiritual energy lines crisscrossed through the forest floor. Where these lines intersected, bright blue spiritual nodes pulsed like beating hearts. These were the array cores projecting the illusions.

Stepping on a node triggers the nightmare, Lin Tian observed, his gaze tracing the flawless path through the chaotic web. The other disciples are panicking, running blindly, and stepping on multiple nodes at once. They are trapping themselves in an endless loop of illusions.

He did not draw his weapon. He did not exert a single drop of his mighty liquid Qi. His Foundation Establishment power remained perfectly concealed beneath the Abyssal Shadow Veil.

He simply stepped forward. His foot landed exactly three inches to the left of a glowing blue node. He took another step, effortlessly gliding past a cluster of hidden spiritual triggers.

To the naked eye, it looked as though the mist was intentionally parting to make way for him.

---

High above the Illusory Forest, floating upon a massive platform of white jade, the Inner Sect observers watched the trial unfold.

A gigantic Spiritual Water Mirror, thirty feet high and fifty feet wide, dominated the center of the platform. The mirror was split into hundreds of smaller grids. It projected the real-time struggles of the disciples below.

Instructor Qing sat at the forefront of the platform. Her long, powerful legs were crossed elegantly. Her crimson martial arts uniform clung tightly to her breathtaking, athletic curves. She radiated an imposing, unapproachable aura.

As the Head Referee and Chief Martial Arts Master, her standards were notoriously harsh.

She frowned, her icy gaze sweeping over the screaming, flailing disciples in the water mirror.

"Disappointing," Instructor Qing muttered, her voice laced with cold martial authority. "So many of them boast of their physical might, yet their Dao Hearts are as fragile as crystal glass. The moment they face the demons in their own minds, they crumble."

"Do not be too harsh on them, Instructor Qing," an Inner Sect Elder chuckled from behind. "The illusions this year were personally reinforced by Elder Bai of the Array Peak. Even a seasoned disciple would struggle."

Instructor Qing did not reply. Her jaw tightened imperceptibly.

Beneath her cold, authoritative exterior, a jagged, searing agony began to claw at her meridians. It was the lethal Fire-Poison. The wound from the Demonic Flame Beast five years ago was acting up again.

The ambient spiritual fluctuations from the massive illusion array agitated the virulent poison lodged near her Dantian. It felt like a cluster of burning thorns twisting inside her lower abdomen.

She took a deep, silent breath. She forcefully circulated the pure Qi of her Divine Valkyrie Body to suppress the agony. She could not show weakness. Not here. Not in front of the other Elders.

As she forced her focus back to the Spiritual Water Mirror, her profound eyes suddenly locked onto a specific grid in the corner.

Her brow furrowed in genuine surprise.

In that grid, a tall, broad-shouldered youth dressed in obsidian robes was walking. He wasn’t running. He wasn’t brandishing his weapon. He was simply taking casual steps through the thickest part of the illusion array.

Yet, every single step he took bypassed the array’s triggers with microscopic precision. Phantoms manifested inches from his face, screaming bloody murder. The youth didn’t even blink.

His golden eyes were as calm as an ancient, undisturbed well.

"Who is that disciple?" Instructor Qing murmured, leaning forward slightly. The sheer flawlessness of his footwork intrigued her martial senses.

She extended her Divine Sense. She sent a thread of her profound spiritual perception down toward the forest, directly locking onto the youth’s figure to analyze his cultivation.

Peak of Qi Gathering? The 10th Layer? Instructor Qing analyzed, feeling the illusion projected by the Abyssal Shadow Veil. His cultivation is solid, but not extraordinary. So how is his Dao Heart so absolute? How is he reading the array’s flow?

---

Down in the forest, Lin Tian suddenly halted.

His Insight Eye caught a faint, invisible ripple descending from the sky and resting upon his shoulders. He recognized the heavy, martial pressure immediately. It was the Divine Sense of a Peak Foundation Establishment expert.

Instructor Qing is watching me, Lin Tian’s lips curled into a faint, predatory smirk.

He did not look up. Instead, he allowed a fraction of his passive aura to leak through his physical pores. He deliberately rode the connection of her Divine Sense back to its source.

[Aura Effect: ’Irresistible Yang Scent’ triggered via Spiritual Resonance.]

Up on the white jade platform, Instructor Qing suddenly gasped softly. Her eyes widened in profound shock.

The moment her Divine Sense touched the youth, a heavy, intoxicating, and scorching wave of pure Yang energy traveled up her spiritual connection. It crashed directly into her consciousness.

It was not an attack. It was a scent.

A primal, overwhelmingly masculine fragrance of pure Yang fire. It smelled like sun-baked earth, crushed pine, and undeniable, dominating power.

But what shocked Instructor Qing to her very core was not the scent itself—it was her body’s reaction to it.

The lethal Fire-Poison ravaging her meridians suddenly shrank back in absolute terror. The chaotic, demonic fire within her veins was violently suppressed by the supreme purity of the Yang Scent.

For the first time in five years, the burning agony in her lower abdomen vanished entirely. It was replaced by a sudden, intense, and deeply shameful wave of warmth.

Her Divine Valkyrie Body, instinctively craving the cure to its poison, reacted violently. A heavy flush crept up her elegant neck. Her breathing hitched, becoming shallow and rapid.

Deep within her core, an unfamiliar, desperate warmth began to pool. She shifted her muscular thighs uncomfortably against her seat.

What... what is this feeling ?Instructor Qing’s mind reeled in absolute disbelief. Her cold, unapproachable facade cracked for a split second.

She immediately severed her Divine Sense, cutting the connection.She sat back heavily in her grand chair. Her heart pounded erratically against her ribs. Her face felt feverish.

She hurriedly crossed her legs tighter, terrified that the other Elders might sense the sudden, chaotic fluctuation of her Yin energy.

She forced herself to look back at the water mirror.

The youth in the obsidian robes had already reached the edge of the Illusory Forest. While the other so-called geniuses were still trapped in the mist, weeping and battling their inner demons, this unknown junior calmly stepped through the final archway.

He was the first to clear Stage One. And he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Before stepping entirely out of the mirror’s view, the youth paused. He slightly turned his head, casting a calm, profound gaze upward. It was as if he was looking directly through the monitoring array and straight into Instructor Qing’s flushed face.

Then, he vanished into the corridor leading to Stage Two.

Instructor Qing’s breath caught in her throat. She clenched her hands into tight fists. Her perfectly manicured nails dug into her palms.

The intoxicating, heavy scent of his Yang energy still lingered in her mind. It was like an addiction taking root.

"Fetch me the roster," Instructor Qing commanded her attendant, her voice slightly huskier than usual. She pointed a trembling finger at the now-empty grid on the water mirror.

"I want the name and background of the disciple who just cleared the forest first. Immediately."

---

Meanwhile, Lin Tian stepped onto the cold stone floor of the transitional corridor.

The milky-white mist faded entirely. It was replaced by the humming, oppressive sound of thousands of overlapping offensive runes.

Ahead of him lay Stage Two: The Array Labyrinth.

Lin Tian’s golden eyes gleamed with cold calculation. The first seed had been flawlessly planted. He could feel the faint ripples of Instructor Qing’s destabilized spiritual energy lingering in the air.

The Irresistible Yang Scent had done its job perfectly. Her desperate, poisoned physique had tasted the cure. Soon, she would be unable to resist seeking the source.

But for now, the tournament demanded his attention.

"The Illusory Forest was a test of the mind," Lin Tian murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over the massive, towering stone walls of the labyrinth ahead. Blue and red arcs of lightning crackled across the barricades.

They threatened to incinerate anyone who dared to use brute force.

"Now comes the test of intellect. Let us see how these modern arrays compare to the primordial runes etched in my soul."

With a confident, unhurried stride, the Sovereign stepped into the maze. He was ready to shatter the pride of the Inner Sect’s finest Array Masters.