Qin Ruqing returned to the Trial Tower once more.

She pondered for a moment and quietly spoke, “Sir, Armored Sir?”

She didn’t expect a continuous task, so she thought they could just chat for a bit.

Originally, she only intended to test the waters, but unexpectedly, the armored figure actually appeared.

The ghostly flames in the eye holes of the armor flickered, giving Qin Ruqing the feeling that it was winking at her.

Armored Figure: “What is it?”

Qin Ruqing chuckled, “It seems I entered the illusion twice before. I just wanted to ask, does this count as one task or two?”

“Two,” the Armored Figure replied concisely.

“Oh, then, how many such tasks are left?”

Armored Figure: “As mentioned before, the number of tasks in the Trial Tower depends on the individual’s situation. Some people may complete the cycle in less than ten tasks, while others may not meet the Trial Tower’s requirements no matter how many tasks they complete.”

Qin Ruqing focused on the fact that some could leave after less than ten tasks.

She rubbed her hands together and asked, “Sir, who has left after less than ten tasks?”

She then mentioned a number: “Trial Participant 111?”

Armored Figure: “He completed eight tasks.”

Oh, eight tasks.

That person managed to complete eight.

Qin Ruqing nodded to herself.

She was determined to complete fewer tasks than that.

Seven at most, and six would be ideal.

Qin Ruqing wanted to continue the conversation, but before she could, the Armored Figure had already disappeared.

The space around her rippled, as if urging her to continue with her tasks.

Qin Ruqing spread her hands, allowing the space to envelop her.

---

Qin Ruqing’s previous complaints seemed to have been heard—this time, her identity in the illusion was finally a normal person.

A direct descendant of a sword cultivation family, with exceptional talent.

Oh, and by the way, Qin Ruqing was the only one in this sword cultivation family who practiced cultivation.

She had no choice; her understanding of swordsmanship was quite average, and this illusion seemed to value actual facts. If they had to create a genius in swordsmanship for her, it would probably be quite difficult.

After confirming that her ears were not deaf and her eyes were not blind, and checking her spiritual roots and other aspects of her body to ensure she was complete, she began to wait for her storyline character to appear.

Then Qin Ruqing encountered her third sister.

Qin Ruqing immediately knelt down.

For the first time, she clearly realized that this storyline was really messing with her.

Even though the sword in her spiritual space hadn’t reacted yet, Qin Ruqing could guess that her third sister was probably the target for her hunting this time.

This was truly frustrating.

In this illusion, her third sister’s role was that of her close friend, a childhood friend from a prestigious family.

Qin Ruqing was quite satisfied with this role, but, if they were already close friends with a high intimacy level, how was she supposed to go about killing her later?

—She really hoped there wouldn’t be a melodramatic plot where two best friends fight over the same man!

That would be a major dealbreaker for Qin Ruqing.

If this twisted illusion decided to create such a storyline, she might just quit on the spot!

However, she liked the current storyline because it allowed her to frequently see and get close to her third sister.

Her third sister was the eldest daughter of a prestigious family and practiced cultivation.

This felt a bit strange to Qin Ruqing because the real-life third sister she knew was skilled in both alchemy and swordsmanship.

It always gave her a sense of dissonance.

But it was just an illusion, so she couldn’t ask for too much.

Qin Ruqing and her third sister first met in the storyline during a martial arts competition between several prominent families, where young elites showcased their skills.

Qin Ruqing and her third sister ended up as opponents in that competition.

Cough, and then… Qin Ruqing won a small victory over her third sister.

Naturally, the elite young lady trained by her family was unhappy and privately requested a rematch.

Through repeated encounters, they got to know each other.

Qin Ruqing found that her third sister in the illusion had a personality similar to the real one but was more confident and composed, the way Qin Ruqing thought her third sister should be.

So confident, generous, and poised.

This confirmed to Qin Ruqing that the Trial Tower’s illusion was indeed based on the tester’s memories.

In the illusion, she and her third sister studied cultivation together, grew up together, and discussed insights on cultivation.

Qin Ruqing found that the insights shared by her third sister in the illusion were genuinely enlightening!

Could this be an invisible benefit of passing the Trial Tower’s tasks? Another form of training in the guise of a class?

In the illusion, they were both talented cultivators from different families, highly praised, and known as the “Cultivation Twin Beauties.”

The first plot twist occurred during the Hundred Clans Conference, where her third sister seemed to develop feelings for a male cultivator!

Qin Ruqing’s radar went off.

A man! Of course, a man had to appear! Couldn’t they just stick to the close friend plot without adding a man? Why did they have to complicate things?

Qin Ruqing initially thought it might be another melodramatic love triangle, but instead, the illusion’s scriptwriters had simply turned her third sister into a love-struck fool!

Her third sister actually began neglecting her cultivation for a man and deliberately downplayed her abilities just to cater to that useless man’s macho arrogance.

Qin Ruqing was infuriated.

Even though she knew it was an illusion and it was all fake, she was still enraged!

Her third sister could never be someone consumed by romance!

She began shaking her third sister’s arm every day, giving her a mental reset—neglecting cultivation for a man was nothing short of brain damage—she needed to fix it.

“He’s so useless that you have to pretend to be modest for him. What’s so good about a man like that!”

“Most importantly, he can’t even see that you’re giving way to him and actually thinks he’s impressive. That’s useless on top of useless!”

“And I heard there’s a lot of internal strife in his family. He’s competing with another cousin for the position of clan leader. The family’s discord means he’s even less likely to agree to you taking a husband from his clan—after all, we agreed from the start that we wouldn’t go to someone else’s family.”

After much persuasion, the storyline finally made some progress, and her third sister came to her senses.

Qin Ruqing breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that it was just an illusion. If this had happened in reality, she wouldn’t have been able to convince her third sister with just a few words.

The plot began to return to the right track, though the atmosphere was no longer as light-hearted.

Beast tides were becoming more frequent, and she and her third sister had less time together as they worked to maintain their family’s territory.

As their strength grew, they both became significant figures among the human race.

However, the conflict between humans and beasts was escalating.

Without a figure capable of overpowering the beasts, the battlefront was at risk of full-scale eruption.

In their quest for a way out, the human race turned their attention to the Ruins. Although it wasn’t yet time for the Ruins to open, the human high command decided to forcefully open the seal of the Ruins at great cost to search for opportunities in the Immortal Tomb.

Qin Ruqing and her third sister were among those selected to enter the Immortal Tomb.

Interestingly, Qin Ruqing encountered a selection process in the Ruins, entering a mysterious cave with a profound rule. Inside the cave, to complete her task, she met her third sister from the illusion.

Then, in the illusion, she and her third sister also entered the Ruins.

It was as if there was a circular convergence between the real and illusory worlds at that moment.

Before entering the Immortal Tomb, Qin Ruqing chatted with her third sister.

At that time, Qin Ruqing jokingly said, “Third Sister, since we’re both cultivators, what if we bump into each other in the Immortal Tomb while seeking opportunities?”

Her third sister replied, “It’s quite possible!”

“If we do bump into each other…” Qin Ruqing hesitated before speaking.

Her third sister turned to her and smiled, “If we do, it’s all about skill. Remember, no holding back.”

“Let’s agree that neither of us will hold back when the time comes.”

“No one is allowed to hold back.” Qin Ruqing remained silent.

They had indeed entered the Guixu. In the illusion of Guixu, there was no sign of the inheritance selection process starting, so the human race’s higher-ups had really paid a great price to temporarily open the Immortal Tomb’s seal—one couldn’t say it was opened; it was more like they barely managed to squeeze a few people in.

Qin Ruqing and her third sister awakened a great being deep within the Immortal Tomb.

The great being agreed to grant them the inheritance. However—

“The inheritance can only be given to one person. Both of you are qualified.” The great being leisurely watched them, looking as if they had to make the decision themselves.

This damn plot had indeed come to pass.

Qin Ruqing turned her head, pursing her lips, looking very displeased, but the third sister smiled, “Didn’t we agree on this beforehand?”

Yes, they had agreed. But who could have expected that this crappy plot would really play out like this!

In the struggle for Dao orthodoxy, every inch is fiercely contested!

The light consequence is a decisive victory or loss, while the heavy consequence could be paying with one’s life.

Qin Ruqing wondered why her third sister, who was perfectly skilled in both pill and sword cultivation, was made into an unrelated magic cultivator in this illusion.

It was waiting here.

The third sister’s eyes hardened, “Let’s fight!”

So Qin Ruqing did.

She had never lacked ruthlessness and decisiveness.

Qin Ruqing summoned the sword from her spiritual platform and confronted her third sister head-on with the sword in front of the great being, showing no mercy.

Nor could she show mercy.

Because the great being said, “You must fight with your lives at stake; only between life and death can the true superiority be determined.”

So this was a genuine life-and-death battle.

Qin Ruqing did not take this lightly just because it was a battle in an illusion.

On the contrary, having an evenly matched opponent, meeting her at the peak, setting aside everything from the outside, solely for the pure struggle for Dao orthodoxy—this was an opportunity every true cultivator would long for but might never have.

Now that this opportunity was right in front of her, Qin Ruqing would never hesitate!

With a refreshing strike, Qin Ruqing drove the sword into her third sister’s heart with a world-shaking blow empowered by her will to live and die.

With a killer’s intuition, Qin Ruqing knew that if she pushed the sword forward another half inch, it would truly pierce her third sister’s heart.

But Qin Ruqing stopped, waiting to see if she would get a task completion prompt in her mind.

The waiting time was unbearably long, enough for Qin Ruqing to realize one thing:

—If this wasn’t enough to complete the task, she wouldn’t mind driving the sword another half inch forward.

The next second after reaching this conclusion, Qin Ruqing heard the task completion prompt.

As if a stone had fallen, Qin Ruqing instinctively let go of the sword and began to breathe heavily.

The surroundings began to change, and Qin Ruqing knew this was a sign that she was about to leave the illusion.

Before she was completely teleported out, the last thing Qin Ruqing saw was her third sister’s encouraging and comforting smile.

As if saying: Qingqing did well.

Always supporting, always trusting, just like the real third sister.

The scene before her finally completely transformed into the pitch-black interior of the Trial Tower.

Qin Ruqing almost lost her balance and ended up sitting on the ground, staring blankly ahead.

Her hands were uncontrollably shaking, drenched in sweat, and her heart was racing as if it might burst out.

Having just been calm and decisive, she finally began to feel the fear.

Qin Ruqing covered her chest and calmed down for a long time.

After a while, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and sighed, saying:

“This mental state is really hard to assess!”