Chapter Twelve: Heart-Questioning Hall

“Vice Dean Ye said he would help arrange a place for me in Moonlit Tower, but I wonder how long I will have to wait...”

Chen Fan felt both hope and helplessness.

With his present strength and progress, it would probably still be difficult to break through the origin-core stage in the Vast Phenomenon Illusory Realm.

Only after his cultivation advanced further, to the perfect fourth level or the fifth, when true essence could be released beyond the body, would he be confident enough to face a sixth-level beast and prevail.

And even if he had enough true essence pills, those excellent pills suited to the true-essence stage, it would still take him three months before he could make another breakthrough.

As for whether he could enter Moonlit Tower by his own strength after reaching the fifth level, Chen Fan had no confidence at all.

After all, the first three hundred places were basically all reserved for experts of the sixth level.

At that realm, blood and qi circulated without end, and all the experts accumulated over years in the martial academy who had failed to break through to grandmaster were stuck there; their upper limit of power was terrifying.

After registering, Chen Fan did not immediately return to Starlight Tower to cultivate.

Instead, he went to the Heart-Testing Hall.

The so-called Heart-Testing Hall was also a special trial ground connected to the Vast Phenomenon Gourd, a place where one tempered the will through illusions. Good performance in this trial could also earn yuan points.

Disciples of Starlight Tower could enter once every quarter, while disciples of Moonlit Tower could enter once every month, and the opportunities could be accumulated.

...

The Heart-Testing Hall was much like entering the Vast Phenomenon Plaza to undergo the Vast Phenomenon Illusory Realm assessment.

Once inside, Chen Fan was instantly drawn into a special illusion.

Before him stood a flight of stairs stretching endlessly upward, more than a hundred steps in all, and at the summit there was only a deep, fathomless darkness.

All around, however, was a haze of white mist.

With every step forward,

all manner of illusions arose before Chen Fan.

The many temptations of the mortal world, the countless twists and turns...

At first it was fairly easy. Chen Fan was already firm of will and not easily seduced, but as he climbed higher, he increasingly felt the formidable power of the Heart-Testing Hall.

Even though he kept telling himself in his heart that he was merely passing through an illusion,

as the illusion grew more and more real, Chen Fan could not help but feel hesitation within.

His steps also slowed, and it took a long while before he could take another step.

As the saying goes, Zhuang Zhou dreamed of a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed of Zhuang Zhou.

When he reached the thirteenth level, the distinction between truth and falsehood lost its clear boundary within the Heart-Testing Hall.

Then, in a daze, Chen Fan found himself back on solid ground. The smile at the corner of his lips and the moisture in his eyes left him with a strangely disordered feeling.

His cultivation and realm had not improved at all, yet he had acquired an entirely different sense of things.

He had only climbed thirteen steps, earning less than five hundred yuan points.

It took Chen Fan a long while before he finally calmed down.

“The Heart-Testing Hall... testing the heart... truly is no simple matter...”

His will was not as formidable as he had imagined.

And the tempering of his own resolve made him even more certain of the path he had chosen.

...

While Chen Fan waited for his place in the Hall of Ten Thousand Illusions, the place he spent the most time in was still the tower building of Starlight Tower.

A pity, though. Fine as this place was, with its many cultivation chambers, for someone like Chen Fan, who relied on idle cultivation, the effect was meager.

Even if he spent all twelve hours of every day soaking in a cultivation chamber, it would still not equal one percent of his idle gains.

Still, Starlight Tower had special apparatus for testing strength, as well as training tools, which allowed Chen Fan to adapt more quickly to the increase in his own power and cultivation.

And while Chen Fan and the newly admitted disciples were becoming familiar with the martial academy,

the academy dean, Mao Wangchen, together with Vice Dean Ye Wouji and another trusted vice dean, were holding a secret meeting with the Nineteenth Prince.

The Nineteenth Prince had specially come all the way from the imperial capital to Qinghe Commandery to attend the martial academy assessment. Naturally, he had not come merely because he had nothing better to do.

He held a golden goblet in hand, his face grave.

“Father Emperor’s illness grows ever more severe, and he grows ever more worried about the future of Great Gan. I have come this time under his instruction, carrying the Emperor’s Sword bestowed by him, a sword that can strike down ninth-level grandmasters. I came only for... the Azure Python...”

He did not continue.

Among the Liu imperial clan of the present age, there was a special supreme technique passed down through the bloodline, condensing imperial aura into something tangible. The more prosperous Great Gan became, the higher the emperor’s cultivation.

Regrettably, this special supreme technique had many restrictions, and only direct heirs of the imperial family could cultivate it.

Beyond that, this supreme art had all manner of wondrous uses. Not only was one’s cultivation affected by the strength of the people of Great Gan, but it could also condense items such as the Emperor’s Sword and bestow them upon those with imperial blood...

The Emperor’s Sword possessed unfathomable power, much like a tangible “imperial sanction blade.” It could truly be used to strike down corrupt ministers above and demons below.

“His Majesty’s illness may still be a lingering aftereffect of that affair; otherwise, ruling for another hundred years would not be a problem...” Upon hearing this, Mao Wangchen also shook his head, sighing endlessly.

Ye Wouji narrowed his eyes.

“Although Fan Lin has not broken through the final barrier to reach the tenth level, with the power of the Azure Python Army, even the dean would probably...”

Mao Wangchen let out a long sigh.

“This matter can only be pursued gradually.”

He was a tenth-level martial artist, yet how could he possibly dare to confront the Azure Python Army head-on?

Even if one third of the Azure Python Army was not under Fan Lin’s direct command, but dispersed among the cities of Qinghe Commandery.

The Nineteenth Prince nodded.

“I have already made preparations to remain in Qinghe Commandery for an extended stay, and I also hope Dean Mao will lend me a helping hand—”

Mao Wangchen wore a solemn expression.

“Green Tea Martial Academy is a martial academy under Great Gan, so naturally everything must take His Majesty’s wishes as the highest priority.”

...

After the banquet dispersed and the Nineteenth Prince had departed,

Ye Wouji, Mao Wangchen, and the others all changed their expressions.

Ye Wouji shook his head with a cold laugh.

“That Fan Lin is related by marriage to the Great Gan emperor; they are family by connection, yet our own sovereign is so ruthless...”

Mao Wangchen narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“Fan Lin’s personal strength is one thing. Even if he breaks through to the tenth level, the court may not be overly wary of him. The key is the Azure Python Army. All three thousand regular troops of the Azure Python Army are powerful martial artists. Formed into battle formations, they are incomparably ferocious and can even kill tenth-level experts. Great Gan may be vast, but how many tenth-level martial artists can there be?”

“And it is even said that the Azure Python Army’s reserve forces already number over a hundred thousand, and Fan Lin has never stopped recruiting. He commands troops for his own protection and guards a vital border region. The emperor’s concern is only natural...”

“But our sovereign is truly gravely ill, on the verge of collapse. He dares not act openly and sends over a little fellow who is not even a grandmaster. Hmph, what can he possibly accomplish? Even with the Emperor’s Sword, he still could not kill Fan Lin!”

The “little fellow” Mao Wangchen referred to was precisely the Nineteenth Prince.

In truth, that was indeed the case. Forget the Nineteenth Prince alone; even if a tenth-level expert came in person, he still could not dare to claim he could do anything to the Azure Python Army or to Fan Lin.

Ye Wouji’s expression turned serious.

“Our sovereign suppresses the world and has countless means... Even if he is gravely ill, he must not be underestimated. If there is no open move, there must still be a later card to play. But that has little to do with our martial academy, and we absolutely must not get involved!”

Mao Wangchen nodded.

“Of course! Our martial academy is only a place for training disciples; there is no need to provoke the Azure Python Army and let them tear each other apart to their hearts’ content...”

On the surface, they had assured the Nineteenth Prince that they would cooperate fully, but in truth they had their own thoughts. How could they lightly gamble the fate of the martial academy and meddle in such affairs?

In Great Gan, with seventy or eighty commanderies, the emperor was far away, and the court could hardly manage everything!

There were so many martial academies across the land; governance was divided among them, and truly loyal to the Great Gan imperial family were probably not that many.

This was also one of the ways the court fell far short of secluded sects: a vast scale inevitably led to a bloated system. Even when standing on the same side, it was difficult to remain of one mind in every matter.

After exchanging a few simple words, Ye Wouji’s eyes rolled, and he changed the subject.

“By the way, Dean, do you still remember my earlier suggestion regarding an increase in the treatment of the newly admitted disciples...”