Chapter 14 : Chaotic Heart Forest (2)
“Hmmph, entering the Chaotic Heart Forest? What can that trash hope to do?”
In the outskirts of the forest, jeering conversations began again.
Another disciple voices another thought:
“In the last examination, Senior Xu made it to level five of the forest. Now that he has reached the Heaven’s Mandate stage and started getting ready to start to cultivate in the Warrior Canopy stage, his cultivation strength and willpower are much stronger than before; I predict that he could get to the seventh level.”[1]
***
The stages for cultivators are as follows, from low to high: Palace Foundation, Palace Expansion, Yun Physique, Provisional Palace, Inner Longevity, Heaven’s Mandate, Warrior Canopy, Purified Rebirth, Heaven’s Primal, and Fertility God.
Once one has reached the unbeatable stage and received the Heaven’s Will, one will be named Immortal Emperor.
There were no immortals in the world, so a person might ask, why was there an emperor for immortals? Why does this title exist? It is because there is a saying: “My fate is mine alone; not up to the heavens.”
The Heaven’s Will serves as a shackle; it encompasses and traps all living beings. Once a cultivator reaches the pinnacle, their goal is to control the Heaven’s Will so that they will finally be free from the prison.
This was why one will be called Immortal Emperor once they have obtained the Heaven’s Will. However, no one truly knows if true immortality was possible; this remained a mystery.
Each era only has one Heaven’s Will; each era can only have one person becoming an Immortal Emperor.
***
The Chaotic Heart Forest was where the Nine Saint Demon Gate judged a disciple’s innate talents, cultivation affinity, and willpower. At this place, the most important quality was one’s willpower.
It consists of fourteen levels. From an outside view, there were no drastic visual differences between it and a normal forest. However, this seemingly normal place was created by Nine Saint Virtuous Paragon.
Intruders would be shown realistic illusions. Even the ones that possessed mystic eyes could not see through the technique unless they were stronger than Nine Saint Virtuous Paragon. Otherwise, the technique would be reality for all who stepped inside.
For example, one could find himself trapped in a sea of fire. The body would feel as if it was actually entrapped; the mind would clearly feel the pain. The higher the level, the stronger the illusion would be.
Of course, you could still use cultivation techniques to mitigate the pain as well as merit laws to prevent the fire from reaching your body. The only thing was that you could not escape the forest using any distance traversing techniques.
“Idiotic little boy, hurry up and enter!”
Outside of the forest, Xu Hui smirked contemptuously towards Li Qi Ye. He believed that with his current abilities, it would be no problem to enter the eighth level.
Li Qi Ye looked at the forest, and grinned slightly. That year, the old chicken created the Chaotic Heart Forest himself; it was indeed a good location to test willpower.
“Me?”
Li Qi Ye spoke clearly:
“Traversing the Chaotic Heart Forest holds no meaning to me. If I were to enter, then you wouldn’t even have the chance to show your worth. You go first so that later on, you can’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
Li Qi Ye, again, spouted arrogant comments, making everyone else shiver in contempt. Protector Mo and Nan Huai Ren wanted to lock up his mouth forever. Would you die if you said a few less sentences!? Lying all the time…
“Idiot!”
Protector Hua proclaimed.
“You are just a piece of trash that doesn’t know what cultivational willpower is, yet still runs his mouth without shame.”
Xu Hui couldn’t believe a mere mortal was looking down on him. He frowned:
“Good, good, such strong words! I have to see how many levels you can make it through.”
“How many levels? How meaningless; going through fourteen isn’t a big deal at all.”
Li Qi Ye continued:
“That is why I’m letting you go first, so you wouldn’t be so shocked!”
“Do all people of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect lie like you without any hesitation?”
Another disciple couldn’t stand it anymore and yelled out.
Everyone knows that going through level seven of the Chaotic Heart Forest was considered a wondrous task for the younger generation. To complete level seven, one would have to have a tenacious willpower or a high level of cultivation.
Even the calm Grand Protector Yu He couldn’t help but shake his head; why was he the prime disciple of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect? Going through fourteen levels? Was it that easy? Even Yu He cannot go through the fourteen levels at his current level.
“Fourteen levels?”
Xu Hui exploded in laughter.
“If you can go through all fourteen levels, I will call you father!”
“I wouldn’t have an unfilial son like you!”
Li Qi Ye retorted.
“Good, if you are that confident with your mouth, do you dare to make a bet?”
“Bet, eh? What will we bet?”
Li Qi Ye smiled happily and asked.
“If you can penetrate all fourteen levels, I will voluntarily concede! If you can’t do it, then you have to crawl under my crotch.”[2]
This bet caused the expressions of Protector Mo and Nan Huai Ren to instantly darken. This wasn’t a test, it was a facade to shame Li Qi Ye and the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. However, they could only dejectedly shake their heads; Li Qi Ye brought this upon himself.
“Would you do the same if I make it through the fourteenth level? You will crawl under my crotch, right?”
Li Qi Ye asked.
“If you can make it through the fourteenth level, he will do it and vice versa!”
Protector Hua interjected. Due to the killing of Du Yuan Guang, Protector Hua wanted to kill Li Qi Ye with his bare hands. Since the opportunity wasn’t right, the best he could do was to shame Li Qi Ye.
Li Qi Ye looked back at Protector Hu, then formally nodded his head and said:
“Fine, if this is your betting condition, I shall accept!”
The disciples of the Nine Saint Demon Gate all yelled loudly:
“Senior Xu, destroy him; accept the bet!”
Xu Hui coldly replied:
“I’ll wait for you to crawl beneath me.”
He then turned and left towards the Chaotic Heart Forest.
“This time, the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect will lose all face; their prime disciple will have to perform such an act! Haha!”
One disciple creepily laughed.
Xu Hui took his first step into the forest; the surroundings immediately darkened. He found himself in a demonic world; it was an area spanning ten thousand miles. Demonic energy filled the air; countless skeletons and the sounds of bones colliding with each other could be heard even before the bodies began to emancipate themselves from the ground.
Xu Hui inhaled and calmed himself. He channeled his energy, and strengthened himself with his cultivation and steeled his willpower. He ignored the demons and passed through them with ease.
“First level!”
Everyone outside watched carefully without blinking an eye. Without any hindrance, Xu Hui successfully passed through the first level.
“Second level, third level…”
Xu Hui was definitely not average; his cultivation level and willpower were both excellent. His speed at breaking through the first three levels was, indeed, very swift.
At the fourth level, however, his speed began to slow down. Fierce Silver Skeleton Kings began to attack him. In the beginning, he chose to evade and parry them; but, after his hands were broken, making him cry out in pain, his body started to destroy them instead as a defense mechanism. He possessed a silver body that warded off invaders on its own. However, this took a lot of energy.
Once he reached level five, he was completely surrounded by the skeletons. He roared loudly and summoned his defensive artifact. His magical sword flew straight into the sky; its blade spewed out true energy. This form of energy consisted of the Dao of truths, and it conquered the four spheres.[3]
His Life Wheel appeared behind his head; it was a crimson red that encompasses the sky. It performed with unparalleled laws of power that destroyed everything in the surrounding area.
Cultivation techniques that allowed for one to use his Life Wheel as an offensive tool were often stronger than certain Physique forming techniques. This Life Wheel technique specialized in destruction, left behind by the Virtuous Paragon. It was not of paragon level, but it was still quite formidable nevertheless.[4]
Li Qi Ye slightly shook his head when he saw Xu Hui killing his way through level five. Chaotic Heart Forest; if your heart was chaotic, then killing only increased the uncertainty and exacerbate the illusions. Nine Saint Virtuous Paragon’s goal was to train the willpower of the students, not their physical or combat strength.
“Level seven.”
Xu Hui annihilated his way to the seventh level; this put the spectators in awe.
Even Protector Hua felt satisfied. Xu Hui was his disciple and his pride. Although Xu Hui’s aptitude could not compare to Li Shuang Yan’s and his strength was lacking against first disciple Leng Shi Zi, his progress today had pleased his master.
“Bang!”
Xu Hui had only made it to level seven, but his strength had been expended; he couldn’t handle the pressure of the Chaotic Heart Forest any longer and was promptly removed.
“Just a little bit more…”
After the forceful ejection, it took Xu Hui a moment to regain his consciousness. He couldn’t help but yell out his regret. He thought that he could have at least made it to level eight, but he had still underestimated the difficulty of the Chaotic Heart Forest.
[1] The cultivation methods are based on Chinese divination, Canopy or Cassiopeia is one of the stars
[2] This is an extremely shameful punishment. Can be found today; crawling under a table after losing in a card game
[3] Four spheres is another way of saying the surrounding area. There are different types of energy as well, he is using true energy here, and it is not an adjective in this case
[4] Physique forming techniques are another cultivation method; it specializes in strengthening the body. This is why his arms were broken multiple times because his body is not as strong. His Life Wheel makes up for it