One step, two steps!
Thirty meters, hundred meters, hundred fifty meters!
Jiang Yi was only 300 meters away from the Mammoth Beast. Usually, this distance could be covered in a blink of the eye, but at this very moment, he felt that this was like the hardest journey for him in this world. Every step he took would need him to muster up all of his courage. His legs were trembling, and his body convulsed. His back was covered in sweat while his lips shivered. His complexion had also turned green as well.
One could imagine the scene of a sheep walking towards a fierce dragon. Or imagining a weak scholar approaching a fierce tiger. Perhaps, this sheep and scholar could try their luck, but they couldn’t prevent the fear in the depths of their soul and the natural body’s instinctive reactions.
At this moment, Jiang Yi’s situation was a lot more terrifying than the sheep or the scholar. A mortal might not be able to experience an encounter with a giant dragon, and the feeling of getting enveloped by its fearsome prowess. That kind of mountain-like suppression and malicious aura could cause fear to be released from the depths of anyone’s soul spirit.
Humans were the spirit of all living things, and humans possessed soul spirit. They were able to think, possessed the seven emotions and six desires, and could feel joy, grief, and fear! This was the natural instinct of a person and emotions since they were brought out from their mother’s womb, it was emotions that were buried inside their bones.
Martial artists cultivated to defy heaven and change their destiny. Similarly, they were fighting against themselves, and they would only grow stronger by surpassing themselves.
Jiang Yi understood this reasoning. That was why his conviction was suppressing the fear he felt within his soul spirit at this very moment. However, he felt that his body could no longer endure it. His breathing grew erratic over time, and his heartbeat had gotten faster. His blood boiled while every one of his pores was expanding and shrinking at extreme speed. His footsteps had become slower as well. He was afraid to die due to the explosion of his body.
Three hundred meters… six hundred meters!
He stopped and shut his eyes. He no longer dared to look at the icy cold eyes ahead of him. He took in huge breaths and arched his back slightly. He tried to stand firm so that he wouldn’t fall on his knees. He was also trying to adjust his body condition in order to prevent his heart and arteries from exploding.
“Not good. I can’t. I must not advance anymore. Otherwise, I will die…
“Retreat. Retreat. This is not the only method to comprehend the Mirage Divine Ability. I will surely be able to find other ways.
“Stop advancing further. This might be a trap. A trap that would make one throw their lives away voluntarily. If I advance any further, I might die immediately…
“…”
Countless thoughts flashed in his mind. All these thoughts seem to have appeared unknowingly, causing Jiang Yi’s soul spirit to be assaulted once again. It was like a stone being thrown into a lake as it arose countless ripples.
Humans were intelligent beings. They could feel terror, hesitation, lingering fears… they would escape.
Things started to grow out of hand the moment such thoughts emerged in Jiang Yi’s mind. He started to retreat involuntarily. By the time he was roused, he had already retreated 300 meters!
“This place is so terrifying. It’s actually able to influence my soul spirit!”
Jiang Yi turned pale with fright. However, he grew even more determined to approach the Mammoth Beast. The more this mystic realm tried to deter him, the more he wanted to approach it. Only by approaching it would he be able to discover the mystic realm’s secrets as well as to comprehend the Mirage Divine Ability.
“Let’s go!”
He took in two deep breaths of air and advanced forward with large strides. All the thoughts in his mind had disappeared with only a boulder-like determination remaining as he approached the Mammoth Beast. Even if he had to die… he still had to approach it!
“Illusion. All these are illusions!”
Jiang Yi murmured to himself. Everything he saw, everything he felt, and the roars he heard were all fake. A silhouette appeared in his mind. A bright and beautiful young lady was waiting for him ahead. He could only approach the young lady after breaking through the layers and layers of obstruction. Only then would he be able to smell the sweet scent of her hair and caress her pretty face.
Three hundred meters, 600, 900… 1600 meters!
His breathing had already turned absurdly hurried, and his heartbeat had grown ten times faster. His whole body was shivering like the flaring of epilepsy. However, he still continued onward!
“Pfff!”
Suddenly, his body turned soft as he knelt onto the ground. He opened up his mouth to spurt out a mouthful of blood. His body reaction caused his blood vessels to circulate even faster, and some of his small arteries had also ruptured, causing him to suffer internal injuries.
“Crawl!”
However, at this moment, he ignored all of these. Since both his legs had turned soft and that he could no longer stand back up, he started crawling. He had to approach the Mammoth Beast even if he had to die!
Two thousand meters… 2600 meters!
His body could no longer move. Behind him was a kilometer long trace of blood, making it a ghastly sight. His seven apertures started to shed blood, and his eyes rolled white. Clearly, his consciousness had reached the brink of collapsing.
A ghost could frighten a person to death!
A human could be frightened to death if they were suffering from strong stimulation and fear. They would also die from internal bleeding if their heart was beating too quickly. Clearly, Jiang Yi had been mentally confused by the illusions formed by this mystic realm. Perhaps, he might be frightened to death if he was to continue on.
Jiang Yi no longer advanced.
At this moment, his mind had turned somewhat dazzled; and it seemed like it was about to crumble. How could he possibly know how to advance? He laid on the ground like a reptile as blood flowed out from his seven apertures unhurriedly, dying the ground red.
“Illusion. All of these are just illusions. I mustn’t be baffled by everything that is before me. I have to continue advancing. My heart has to become even stronger. So long as my heart grows stronger, no illusions will be able to sway my heart!
“Temptation is emptiness, emptiness is temptation. So long as my heart grows stronger, no demons and ghosts would be able to stop me from advancing further. I would also be able to see through all kinds of puzzles, and nothing would be able to deceive my eyes. I must not be afraid. If I’m not afraid of death, what’s there for me to fear?
“Jiang Yi, you have to pull yourself together. Ruoxue is still waiting for you to rescue her. If you couldn’t even overcome such a small challenge, how are you going to head over to the East Imperial Continent? How are you going to prevail over the formidable Wu Clan and rescue Ruoxue? Fake, all these are fake. I mustn’t be afraid. I have to continue advancing!
“…”
A series of thoughts emerged within Jiang Yi’s mind continuously. He tried to convince himself that everything he was feeling was all fake in order to overcome his inner fear so that he could continue advancing.
In fact!
He succeeded. His body had started to advance forward under his incomparably strong conviction. However, the bleeding from his seven apertures worsened, and his body trembled violently. His arteries ruptured one after another. Perhaps… he would have died from blood loss before he could even crawl to the side of the Mammoth Beast.
Two thousand seven hundred, 2940 meters… 3000 meters!
Finally, his body came to a stop. More than half of his arteries had ruptured, and his physical body was suffering from serious injuries. The thoughts were still ringing out in his mind, and he wished to continue, but his body could no longer support his conviction. He could no longer move.
“Am I going to die?”
His face that was covered in blood had revealed a trace of agony. Subsequently, his body distorted due to the intense pain, and his eyes were constantly contracting. Everything before him seemed to have turned blurry. He gazed ahead of him in a daze and remained motionless as if he was waiting for death to arrive.
“Huff. I’m unable to overcome my fear in the end. My heart is still not strong enough! An illusion zone actually took my life…”
An exhausting thought emerged in his mind. At this moment, not only was his soul spirit exhausted, but his whole body was incomparably weak as well. He really wished to have a good sleep and lie dormant like this forever.
“This isn’t right!”
At the moment he shut his eyes, a thought flashed by in his mind suddenly. “I have always thought that this Mammoth Beast is an illusion. What does this signify? This indicates that I’m convincing myself not to be afraid. This meant… I’m still afraid. However, this Mammoth Beast doesn’t even exist. Why do I have to convince myself? Why do I have to fear?
“If a person’s heart is strong, they would never be afraid regardless of whether this was an illusion demonic beast or was a genuine one! So what if it is real? So long as my heart is strong enough, I would be able to annihilate it! Wrong, wrong. My train of thought kept on entering the wrong pathway. Hahaha. Jiang Yi, oh, Jiang Yi. You have always been very smart. Yet, you were almost killed by an illusion zone.”
Jiang Yi opened up his eyes suddenly at the moment he was about to shut it. His eyes were no longer blurry as it was filled with radiance instead. Simultaneously, the golden light in his soul spirit had flourished. That soul spirit body that was similar to the Fire Dragon Sword expanded rapidly at a terrifying pace.
