Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Everything before his eyes was indeed confusing. Yan Liqiang had nearly fallen into the trap right at the very beginning…
However, for someone like Yan Liqiang who had lived two lives, the scene before him was all too ridiculously ethereal. If the illusion that appeared before him was a scene from the Silver Continent, he might’ve not reacted as quickly. Since the scene happened to be from his previous life, he knew that everything before his eyes was definitely unreal.
Yan Liqiang lifted his head up to look at the sky, then at the beach. Listening to the sound of the ocean waves, he looked at the woman he used to love the most. Everything here was buried in the deepest part of his memories. He had never mentioned it to anyone so no one would ever know about it. Little did he expect this to be shown to him in this situation.
How was this possible? It was like a dream, yet it felt more real than a dream. Everything stemmed from scene and experience in the deepest part of his consciousness…
Thoughts ran through Yan Liqiang’s mind…
“Why are you not speaking, dear…?”
Her tone and expression… They were completely the same as how he remembered them from the Lu Jiaying in his memories.
Yan Liqiang looked at Lu Jiaying and shook his head as a smile broke across his face. “Sorry, but you’re already dead in my heart. You were merely a part of one of my past journeys that I don’t wish to experience again. We will never meet again…”
“What are you talking about? Don’t scare me! If you’re feeling unwell, let’s go to the hospital! Or we can go home…!” Lu Jiaying was panic-stricken. She grabbed onto Yan Liqiang’s arm, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Goodbye…” When Yan Liqiang finished saying that, he shot his fist out.
Lu Jiaying’s body suddenly soared upward…
Yan Liqiang vaguely heard a crack before everything — the ocean, blue sky, beach, all the beauties in bikinis, including himself, immediately shattered like a glass mirror…
……
Yan Liqiang woke up and found himself lying on the floor. He scanned the area around him twice with his eyes and then got up with a roll, discovering that he was still inside the strange, empty crystal pagoda. He looked behind him and saw the closed entrance. Crystal-like walls surrounded him, showing him his own reflections.
When he entered this place, it was pitch-black so he couldn’t see anything. Yet, at this moment, the first floor of the pagoda glowed with an eerie blue color.
“Is anyone here?” Yan Liqiang shouted.
He didn’t hear anything except for the echoes in the room.
What was that illusion? Why did he experience that as soon as he came in without any warning? Yan Liqiang muttered to himself while he observed his surroundings.
Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary in the surroundings of the room. All of a sudden, Yan Liqiang remembered something. He snapped his head up and looked at the ceiling.
There, he saw something that seemed familiar…
A simple and quaint bronze decoration was embedded on the ceiling. It was about the size of a dustpan and had a metallic luster. There was a blue fist-sized, glowing rare beast core crystal in the center.
That’s a… spirit talisman…
Its unique structure, complex and mysterious, as well as the crystal in the center, allowed Yan Liqiang to recognize it at a single glance. He had seen this object before, not in the Heavenly Realm, but in reality. There was one on the Sacred Flame’s priest whom he killed when he was escorting Sun Bingchen back to the Imperial Capital. The object was one of his spoils of war, which he then gave to Mo Ziye.
The spirit talisman the old Shatu man carried wasn’t huge; it was just about the size of a bronze mirror that could be easily carried around. Yet, the spirit talisman before his eyes was a lot bigger and slightly higher in grade than the one that the old Shatu man had.
Yan Liqiang had only taken a few glances at the spirit talisman on the ceiling when his head suddenly felt dizzy. His body felt light too, as if he were overwhelmed by drowsiness. Even his own reflections around him started swaying…
Just when he was about to shut his eyes, he immediately snapped himself out of it and quickly averted his gaze from the spirit talisman.
Strangely enough, the moment Yan Liqiang averted his gaze from the spirit talisman, the dizziness in his head immediately disappeared and he felt completely normal. However, when he rested his eyes on the spirit talisman again, the sleepy feeling came back in just less than a few seconds…
After two tries, Yan Liqiang could pretty much determine that the illusion he was trapped in just now was probably related to that spirit talisman.
This crystal pagoda was filled with traps. It was uncertain as to who set them up, but even the most cautious person might fall victim to them. Like the illusion just now, if he didn’t wake up due to his special circumstances, he might have just fallen right into it.
Yan Liqiang secretly felt a chill down his spine.
There was nothing else on the first floor. Yan Liqiang looked around and discovered another entrance in the room that seemed to lead upstairs. He walked over and saw a line of words beside the entrance — ‘Those who aren’t caught up in love are permitted to proceed upstairs.’
Yan Liqiang cautiously ascended the stairs.
The second floor of the pagoda had a door. Yan Liqiang pushed it open, but didn’t find darkness beyond the door. Instead, it was a bright and spacious room with a table in it. After making sure that there weren’t any illusion traps or the like before him, only then did he enter the room.
The moment he entered, the door automatically shut behind him.
There seemed to something else on the table in the room so Yan Liqiang went straight to it. He discovered that it was a metal table and on it was a holder with palm-sized black, red, and white keys hanging from it. At the same time, there was also a note on the metal table.
The note said: ‘There are three locks on the left wall next to the entrance of this room. Each corresponds to one of the three keys. Behind each lock is a different sword technique secret manual, respectively known as the ‘Coiling Dragon Sword Technique’, the ‘Striking Swan Sword Technique’, and the ‘Fallen Moon Sword Technique’. Those who do not wish to proceed upstairs may select any key to unlock its corresponding lock and leave after obtaining the secret manual. Those who wish to proceed upstairs may choose a key and insert it to the door lock upstairs, then twist the key half a turn to the right. There is only one key among the three that can unlock the door. Only one chance will be given. Those who chose the wrong key will neither be able to obtain a secret manual or proceed to the next level.’
Yan Liqiang shifted his gaze from the note on the table as he immediately started hesitating.
Damn, this level branched off into different routes here. If those who came here stopped here, they would be guaranteed to walk away with one secret sword technique manual. If those who came here wanted to gamble for the chance of being able to proceed upstairs, the success rate was only one-third while there was a two-thirds chance of getting a hole in your bamboo basket, leaving you empty-handed.
This was a total gamble — firstly with luck and secondly with courage.
Yan Liqiang looked at the three keys on the table. He thought about it for a while and then picked up the black key resolutely.
The key had a considerable weight to it, almost half a jin heavy. When Yan Liqiang picked it up, the entire table automatically sank into the ground.
Yan Liqiang looked at the three different-colored locks, then at the entrance door to the next floor. He clenched his teeth, walked directly to that door, and pushed the black key into the keyhole…
The moment the key was pushed into the lock, it locked into the keyhole with a click. Yan Liqiang took a deep breath, then twisted the key half a turn to the right…
He waited for half a minute, but the door didn’t budge. Just when Yan Liqiang thought he had chosen the wrong key, the closed door automatically opened with a slightly muffled noise and revealed a line of words on the wall behind it — ‘Those who lack neither courage nor luck are permitted to proceed onto the third floor.’
Yan Liqiang then went up to the third floor…
