An hour of time passed in the blink of an eye. After everyone finished resting, Elder Qian that stood on the platform opened his eyes, and he glanced at the 1,000 youths that stood ramrod straight below the platform. When he saw Yang Ye, his gaze stopped for a moment before he nodded slightly, and then he said in a clear voice, “The second stage will test your wills towards the Sword Dao. Come with me!” As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the back.
All the youths hurriedly followed him when they heard this. Moreover, it wasn’t just those 1,000 youths, and even the others that were eliminated had followed along as well. Even though they’d been eliminated, they Sword Sect still allowed them to stay behind and watch.
“An Illusion Formation?” The young man with a black mole grinned as he followed along as well, and all the other disciples behind hurriedly follow him.
In next to no time, all of them arrived before an enormous camouflage colored ring of light under Elder Qian’s lead. The camouflage colored ring of light was extremely large, and it wasn’t a problem for it to accommodate a few thousands of people. All sorts of symbols flickered within the ring of light, and these symbols moved according to a certain pathway.
“So, this is an Illusion Formation!” Yang Ye spoke in a light voice as he gazed at the ring of light before him.
He’d heard of Illusion Formations in the past. Supposedly, it was set-up by a Formation Master of the Sword Sect in the past, and it even possessed numerous symbols with strange functions that were inscribed by Talisman Masters. Because of these symbols, one would enter into an illusion upon standing in the ring of light. Thus, it was called an Illusion Formation.
However, the illusion created by this Illusion Formation was different from the illusion created by the bracelets he gave Su Qingshi. Because this Illusion Formation merely tested one’s will, and the injuries one experienced within the illusion wouldn’t be carried forward into reality. On the other hand, the bracelets he gave Su Qingshi would cause one to suffer a heavy injury in reality as well!
Elder Qian turned around and looked at everyone as he said, “This formation is called an Illusion Formation. From the moment the formation is activated, those that are unable to wake up after the time for three incense sticks to burn will be eliminated. Head in right now!”
When they heard this, the 1,000 youths hurriedly entered the ring, and then they awaited the arrival of the illusion.
After he saw all of them had entered the ring, Elder Qian said in a low voice, “Remember, everything is an illusion!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his right hand, and a talisman flew into the sky above the ring. In the next moment, the symbols in the blue ring started to circulate at high speeds.
The heavens and the earth around him spun while the scene before Yang Ye’s eyes changed, and when he saw the scene that appeared before his eyes, Yang Ye’s eyes instantly turned red.
It was that familiar city, that familiar street, that familiar stone house. It was everything familiar to him. This was Southpeace City, and this stone house before him was the home that he’d known since he was young.
He was extremely familiar with all of this, and he wouldn’t even get lost while walking with his eyes closed.
Yang Ye slowly walked towards the long wooden bench before the stone house. As he gazed at it, his gaze gradually moistened. In the past, Yang Ye, his mother, and his younger sister would frequently sit here. His mother would sit at the center doing needlework while allowing him and his younger sister to massage her legs.
After a short while, his gaze moved up, and on the wall was a mural drawn with charcoal. When he saw this drawing, there was warmth in Yang Ye’s heart, and his eyes moistened further. The drawing was of a young girl with pigtails that was holding the hand of a young boy. The young girl was exactly his younger sister, Little Yao, and the young boy was naturally him. However, someone had drawn two pigtails on the young boy’s head, causing the young boy to become a young girl.
This drawing had been drawn by none other than Yang Ye himself, whereas, the pigtails on the young boy’s head was a prank that Little Yao had played.
Creak!
Right at this moment, the wooden door of the stone hour was suddenly opened, and then a young girl around the age of 15 and a woman around the age of 30 walked out from within the house.
The young girl’s hair was tied into pigtails, and she wore an extremely old yet very clean dress. She had willow leaf shaped brows, lively eyes, and a fine nose. Even though her clothes were old, they were unable to conceal her pretty appearance.
The woman was similarly wearing an old dress, yet it was extremely clean as well. The woman was around 30 years of age, had willow shaped brows, slanted eyes, an oval shaped face, and an ample and delicate figure. However, her face and hands already carried the traces of age and hardships. Especially her hands, the thick layer of calluses on her hands could be seen from extremely far away.
When the young girl saw Yang Ye, her eyes lit up, and then they turned red. She immediately ran over to Yang Ye and hugged him tightly as she said, “Big Brother, why have you only returned now? Why have you….” As she spoke, she was already choking with sobs.
Yang Ye’s hand remained stiff in midair for a long time, and his hand finally descended onto the young girl’s back when he felt the tears on his chest. After that, Yang Ye said unconsciously. “Hasn’t Big Brother returned now? Don’t cry. Little Yao’s face will puff up and become ugly if you continue crying.”
“I don’t care, I don’t care. It’s your fault for not returning for two years! It’s all your fault! I’ll cry and fill you with guilt!!” The young girl's head went closer into Yang Ye’s embrace as she sobbed and spoke.
Meanwhile, the beautiful woman walked over to Yang Ye, and then she stretched out her hand to rub his head. After that, she touched his face while revealing an affectionate expression, and she said in a gentle voice, “You must have suffered in the Sword Sect during these years. It’s good that you’re back now, I’ll go make your favorite sweet and sour pork later.”
“Mother!” Yang Ye felt like there was a lump in his throat, and his eyes moistened once more. He said, “You’ve really suffered during these years. Don’t worry, from today onwards, I won’t allow you and Little Yao to suffer any more hardships. I promise!”
“Silly child!” The woman smiled and said, “So long as you and Yao’er are fine, then mother is willing to suffer any hardships. Alright, you rare come home, so let’s not speak about all of this. Mother will go make sweet and sour pork for you. Yao’er has missed it for a very long time!”
“No. I didn’t!” Meanwhile, Little Yao raised her head and refuted.
As they gazed at Little Yao who still hard crystalline tears hanging on her face, the woman and Yang Ye instantly started smiling.
In reality, only Yang Ye alone remained within the blue ring. The others had either awakened or completely lost themselves within the illusions.
At this moment, the gazes of a few thousands of people in the surroundings had descended onto Yang Ye who stood within the ring. Some gazes carried disdain, some took pleasure in Yang Ye’s misfortune, some were curious, and so on and so forth.
Elder Qian glanced at the incense stick burner on the stone table before the ring of light. The last incense stick within the burner was already halfway to the end, and Yang Ye still hadn’t awoken, causing Elder Qian to be unable to help but clench his fists. At the same time, he was extremely bewildered in his heart. He was extremely clearly aware of Yang Ye’s will, and it was something that had been tempered since a young age. Moreover, after Yang Ye arrived at the Sword Sect, Yang Ye had fallen from heaven straight down into hell, yet Yang Ye still hadn’t given up. So, how could such will be weak?
It definitely couldn’t be considered to be weak, yet why hadn’t Yang Ye awakened? Moreover, if Yang Ye had fallen fully into the illusion, then he ought to have been eliminated. However, Yang Ye was still standing there with an extremely calm expression, and Elder Qian wondered what the reason behind this was.
It was just Elder Qian who was bewildered, even Feng Yu and Cao Huo were puzzled and bewildered because it was too illogical!
The young man with a black mole gazed at Yang Ye as he said in a low voice, “He’s slightly interesting!”
The young man with a round face nodded and said, “Indeed!”
When he heard the two of them, Liu Qingyu that stood behind them laughed coldly. Interesting? A person like this who possesses a weak will is interesting indeed.
At the same time, he felt slightly regretful that he agreed to fight Yang Ye after three months because such a piece of trash wasn’t worthy to fight him.
Without realizing it, another quarter of the incense stick had burned, and only the last quarter remained, yet Yang Ye still hadn’t awakened.
At this moment, Jiang Yuan who had closed his eyes and was resting his mind at the side had suddenly opened his eyes. He walked over to Elder Qian and cupped his fists towards Elder Qian before he said, “Elder Qian, in my opinion, this person has already sunk into the illusion, and he doesn’t have any qualification to become a disciple of the Sword Sect any longer. He should be eliminated.”
Originally, he felt slight anticipation towards Yang Ye’s results, yet he could help but be disappointed when he noticed Yang Ye was stuck within the illusion for so long. Because a person with a weak will like this didn’t have any ability to serve as contrast to him.
“Eliminate him! Directly eliminate him! On what basis does he make all of us wait?”
“Exactly, why would the Sword Sect recruit someone with such a weak will like him? To carry out odd jobs?”
“Carry out odd jobs? Could it be that you don’t know? That young man is a Labor Disciple of the Sword Sect. Supposedly, he’d been recruited as an Outer Court Disciple in the past, yet never had anyone imagined that he would actually be unable to become a Profounder after a year. In the end, he was reduced to a Labor Disciple, and he even obtained the nickname of number one piece of trash in the Sword Sect!”
“What? He’s really a Labor Disciple? Eliminate him! Eliminate Him! I don’t want to become a fellow disciple of such a person!”
“Exactly, I would be ashamed to tell anyone that I’m a disciple of the Sword Sect if I’m a fellow disciple of such a person….”
For a time, the originally quiet area had suddenly become clamorous, and it wasn’t just those youths who’d passed this stage that were calling for Yang Ye’s elimination, even the eliminated youths at the side were doing the same.
The youths that passed were calling for Yang Ye’s elimination because they were ashamed to be a disciple of the same sect as Yang Ye, whereas, those eliminated youths were mostly kicking up a fuss because they had the mentality that since they were eliminated then others should be eliminated as well.
Elder Qian glanced coldly at Jiang Yuan. If Jiang Yuan wasn’t the first to awake from the illusion and had attained the ninth rank of the Mortal Realm at the age of 16, Elder Qian would berate him without the slightest hesitation. However, when Elder Qian thought about Jiang Yuan’s natural talent, he could only suppress the rage in his heart. He didn’t spare another glance at Jiang Yuan and swept his gaze towards the others as he said, “Silence! The Sword Sect has its own rules! Since the rule was three incense sticks of time, then it’s three incense sticks of time. Just wait, and if you’re unwilling to wait, then get the fuck out!”
When they saw Elder Qian flare-up, all of them instantly didn’t dare continue speaking, and all of them went quiet. No matter what, they still didn’t possess the ability to go against an Outer Court Elder now.
Jiang Yuan was shocked in his heart as well. He knew that he’d offended this Outer Court Elder that stood before him. However, he became indifferent to it in the blink of an eye. He believed that so long as he revealed his trump card, then numerous elders would be trying to rope him in, and when he thought up to here, Jiang Yuan withdrew himself to the side while the gaze he shot at Yang Ye turned hostile.