From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 467 The Beginning of the Immortal Island Trial

The tremors on the Immortal Island continued, and I could hear the Blood Fiend Elder's rapid breathing mixed with the buzzing of the black mist crystals.

He clutched his chest and took two steps back. The greed in his right eye faded a little, but he still kept a tight grip on the key in my hand—this old man was probably weighing whether to snatch the key first or explore the secrets inside the crack.

"Go!" I gritted my teeth and grabbed Qinglian's wrist, while my other hand gripped Lingfeng's sleeve tightly.

Ling Feng's wound was still bleeding, and he staggered when I pulled him, but he turned around and shielded me to his side: "Miss Xiao, go first!" His sword blade drew a half arc at his side, forcing the Blood Fiend Elder to take another half step back.

The eerie blue light from the crack grew increasingly blinding, and I could smell the damp, earthy odor mixed with a faint scent of grass and wood—this was no ordinary crack in the ground, but rather seemed like an entrance that had deliberately split open by something.

I practically dragged Qinglian along, making her almost run. The jade hairpin in her hair dazzled me. She suddenly whispered, "He didn't catch up."

I glanced back.

The Blood Fiend Elder was staring at his blackened fingertips, while the black mist crystal at his waist trembled wildly, as if being pulled by something to crawl into the crack.

He suddenly grabbed the crystal chain, letting out a beast-like growl, but ultimately stopped in his tracks—it seemed the changes on this fairy island were more exciting to him than my key.

"Go in!" I pushed Qinglian and jumped into the crevice first.

The moss on the stone wall brushed against the back of my hand, making me shiver. When I opened my eyes again, the scene before me made me stop in my tracks.

This isn't a crevice in the ground; it's clearly another world.

The pale golden light floated in the air like mist, feeling cool on the tips of my hair, and even the chest that had been stuffy from the black mist felt relieved.

All around were rows of green cypress trees, their trunks adorned with pale silver patterns, and each leaf shimmering with a warm light, as if someone had crushed stars and scattered them on the branches.

"Look, Miss Xiao!" Qinglian's voice was filled with surprise.

She tiptoed closer to the nearest cypress tree, her fingertips hovering half an inch above the bark—the silver patterns on it actually brightened slightly with her movement, like fireflies awakened by a spring breeze. “These are Spirit-Locking Patterns,” she said, turning her head, the pearls on her earrings glistening with golden mist. “I’ve seen fragments of ancient texts in the Illusionary Realm. Ancient sects used spiritual plants to inscribe arrays, the runes corresponding to the cultivator’s spiritual root attributes…”

“Crack.”

Ling Feng's sword tip touched the ground, startling me so much that I shrank back.

He crouched slightly, his fingertips brushing against the faint light seeping from the cracks in the stone. "This pattern is very similar to the resonance array of the Starfall Platform." When he looked up, sweat dripped from his forehead onto the bluestone slab. "I stepped a little too hard just now, and the ground resonated—I suppose every step is deliberate."

I stared at the silver patterns on the tree trunk and suddenly remembered the "Records of Mountain and Sea Formations" from the Hidden Abyss Sect, which was mostly eaten away by insects.

As mentioned above, ancient trial grounds often used spiritual plants as the array's core. If an outsider were to trespass, they would be trapped in an illusion array at best, and at worst, the earth's fire would be ignited.

As for the solution... I touched the burning hot Key of Destiny, and my throat suddenly tightened—perhaps this key is not only for opening doors, but also for breaking formations.

"Step back." I pressed down on Qinglian, who was trying to move forward, and pressed the key against the cypress tree.

The heat traveled from my palm down my arm, like a fire burning in my veins.

The silver pattern suddenly exploded into a swarm of fireflies with a "buzz," crawling up my arm to my heart, and then "whoosh" up the treetop.

The branches of the cypress trees parted with a rustling sound, revealing a path bathed in golden light. Every step was shimmering with a soft glow, as if someone had embroidered a path on the ground with golden thread.

"This is... a safe path?" Ling Feng didn't even notice his sword clattering to the ground. His eyes widened. "If I had stepped half an inch off..."

"Shh." Qinglian suddenly tugged at my sleeve.

A soft rustling sound came from the bushes on my left. Just as I was about to draw my sword, several ice blades shot out with a "whoosh"—but shattered into ice crystals the moment they touched the golden light, falling to the ground with a tinkling sound.

Cold sweat streamed down my back.

It turns out that those seemingly ordinary bushes were actually traps with deadly hidden mechanisms.

I gripped the key tightly, and could clearly feel its pulse synchronized with my heartbeat—this was no training ground.

It was clearly a test of whether I could "communicate" with this fairy island.

We walked very slowly, following the golden light.

Ling Feng's wound was still bleeding, but he insisted on walking in front; Qing Lian held up a silver-patterned leaf she had picked from a tree, saying she would take it back to study; and I stared at the light at my feet, each step feeling like I was stepping on my heartbeat—this was the test that the Immortal Island gave to its inheritors, but also my opportunity.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the golden light suddenly dimmed.

A thin mist floated at the end of the path, and the clear sound of water hitting the rocks could be faintly heard, like someone plucking a jade zither in the mist.

Qinglian paused, then pointed into the mist and said, "Miss Xiao, look..."

I looked in the direction she was pointing.

A shimmering patch of water, vaguely visible in the mist, resembles someone crushing the moon and scattering it on the ground.

The wind swept by, carrying golden mist, and I heard my heartbeat suddenly quicken by half a beat—in that shimmering water, it seemed as if a white jade platform had sunk.

The fog dissipated faster than expected.

As we approached, the "crushed moon" revealed its full form—a lake thousands of feet wide, with layers of blue lotus floating on its surface. Each petal shimmered with a mother-of-pearl-like glow, as if someone had scooped up stars from the Milky Way and planted them in the water.

"Be careful." I reached out to stop Qinglian from leaning forward.

Just now, the golden mist from her hair drifted to the lake surface, half a foot away from the nearest lotus flower. Suddenly, the petals "whooshed" and curled up, revealing the white barbs underneath, which were even sharper than the tip of Ling Feng's sword.

Qinglian gasped, and the pearl on her earring fell into the lake with a "plop." The splashing water, upon touching the lotus stem, sizzled and emitted a wisp of smoke.

“This water…” Ling Feng squatted down, his fingertips just touching the lake surface before he abruptly withdrew, leaving a red mark on his fingertip, “isolating spiritual energy.”

I tried to activate the sword energy, but it felt like something was blocking my meridians. "The veins on the back of his hand, which was gripping the sword hilt tightly, bulged, and a drop of blood from his forehead dripped down his chin into the lake water, instantly turning it into a murky gray."

My heart sank.

Just now in the Immortal Forest, the warmth of the resonance between the Key of Destiny and the Spirit Locking Pattern still lingered in his palm, but now, when he pressed it against the rock by the lake, he only felt a bone-chilling cold.

The lake water was like an airtight cocoon, tightly enveloping my consciousness, preventing it from penetrating even half an inch.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The sudden laughter startled the lotus flower, causing it to tremble violently.

The Blood Demon Elder appeared on the rocks on the opposite shore of the lake at some unknown time. The black mist crystal spun wildly around his neck, cutting his face into a bloody mess.

His left eye was completely black, while his right eye shone with a manic light: "What are you dawdling for, little brat?"

"This wretched lake can't stop me!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already swooped down on the lake like a vicious eagle.

I instinctively tried to grab Ling Feng, but then I saw black mist rise from the Blood Fiend Elder's body, condensing into a semi-transparent protective shield—a Fiend Spirit Shield refined with the lives of a hundred people, which ordinary magic treasures could not break.

But as soon as his feet touched the water, the protective shield suddenly cracked open with a spiderweb-like pattern, and the lake water, as if alive, seeped into the cracks, burning sizzling marks on his legs.

"Impossible!" His roar mingled with the sound of boiling lake water. "I have an ancient magic crystal..." Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly sucked into the lake, black bubbles churning on the surface, leaving not even a scrap of clothing behind.

I stared at the churning water, my molars aching from clenching them.

This lake is no ordinary trial; it's more like a living creature that preys on those who are impatient for quick success.

The speed at which the Blood Fiend Elder's protective shield was corroded... I looked down at the Key of Destiny in my palm and suddenly remembered the Spirit Locking Patterns in the Immortal Forest that glowed with my movements—perhaps the solution to this lake is the same as the previous Resonance Array.

"Qinglian, give me the silver-patterned leaves you just collected." As I turned around, she was squatting by the lake, dipping her handkerchief in the water. Upon hearing this, she immediately took out three leaves that were still faintly shimmering from her sleeve. "The patterns on these leaves are just like the dark patterns on the bottom of the lake... Miss Xiao, look!" She pointed to the water, and I then realized that the faint patterns on the lotus stem were exactly the same as the silver patterns on the Immortal Forest Cypress.

My heartbeat suddenly quickened.

I took out the carving knife from my waist and quickly carved on the bluestone slab by the lake—following the direction of the Immortal Forest Locking Spirit Pattern, each carving was deliberately offset by half an inch, imitating the flowing trajectory of the silver pattern when it was activated by the key.

Ling Feng leaned over to help, but I grabbed his wrist: "Stand back. If we make even the slightest mistake, we'll all have to feed the lotus flowers."

As the carving knife traced the final line, a familiar burning sensation spread through my fingertips.

The Key of Destiny suddenly flew out from the sleeve, hovering above the array's eye and spinning rapidly. The silver-patterned leaf was swept into the wind, transforming into three streaks of light that plunged into the center of the lake.

The lake surface trembled violently at first, and the poisonous thorns on the lotus flowers retracted into their petals. Then, layers of light bridges rose from the bottom of the lake, each of them a translucent lotus flower with a pale gold color flowing between the petals, just like in the fairy forest.

"Let's go!" I grabbed Qinglian and stepped onto the bridge of light first.

The bridge surface felt more solid than I had imagined; with each step, I could feel the lotus flowers gently supporting me beneath my feet.

Ling Feng covered the rear, his sword always pointing behind him—although the Blood Fiend Elder had disappeared, the silence at the bottom of the lake was more unsettling than the murderous intent from before.

The bridge of light suddenly vanished as we stepped onto the last step.

The stone gate in front of them was as tall as ten people, and the bluish-gray stone walls were covered with spiral runes, each line gleaming with the same faint light as the Key of Destiny.

In the center of the stone gate was a palm-sized groove, shaped like an unopened lotus flower. As soon as I brought the key closer, I heard a soft "hum," and a pale golden light seeped out from the groove, as if welcoming a long-lost friend.

“Miss Xiao…” Qinglian’s voice trembled as she pointed above the stone gate, “Those runes… are the ancient ‘Heart-Questioning Technique’.”

Legend has it that only those with pure hearts can unlock the true transmission.

I took a deep breath and pressed the key into the groove.

The moment the stone door creaked and turned, a sharp pain suddenly shot through my palm—the Key of Destiny was no longer warm, but rather felt like a red-hot coal, rampaging through my veins.

I staggered a couple of steps and grabbed the edge of the stone door, but then I heard a muffled rumble from the ground. Something was climbing up the steps, and its aura... was just like the Taotie pattern on the bronze tripod I had seen in the museum before I traveled through time, carrying an ancient and indescribable sense of oppression.

“Miss Xiao?” Ling Feng put his hand on my shoulder. “Your face is very pale.”

I forced a smile, but the stinging pain from the key grew clearer and clearer, as if it were saying, "Go back."

But in the faint breeze coming from behind the stone gate, there was a faint fragrance of plum blossoms—exactly the same fragrance as the old plum tree in my grandmother's yard before I traveled through time.

"Go in." I wiped the blood from my palm and stepped onto the stairs first.

A loud bang came from behind me as the stone door slammed shut, and the oppressive feeling slowly crept up my spine from my ankles.