Whoosh! Everything around him disappeared, and Kam Chin Kee returned to the straw hut. It was unknown when the music had stopped, but Wat Suen was still sitting cross-legged with her eyes shut, looking peaceful.
He looked around to see the other participants showing different emotions. Some were laughing like a maniac, some brimmed with anger, while some wore odd expressions, but most of them were speaking to themselves.
“Hahaha, I’m the best in the world!”
“Do you know how long I’ve had to tolerate you…?”
“Mung Si… finally…”
Kam Chin Kee turned to Chui Yim next to him who had his eyes shut and watched the changes taking place to his face.
Chui Yim was currently in the garden, lifting a huge rock with sweat dripping down his body.
“Siu Yim! Where are you!?” A man called for him. “Time for breakfast!”
“Oh!” Chui Yim answered and rushed into the house. He immediately started digging in, not even sparing the dishes on the table a glance.A middle-aged man sat opposite him and watched Chui Yim devour the food silently with a gentle smile. It was a peaceful and harmonious day spent with his father for Chui Yim.
“I’m done.” Chui Yim put down his utensils after some time.
“Take another bowl.” The middle-aged man smiled and passed him another bowl.
“Oh.”
Chui Yim took the bowl and feasted again as if he could never finish this meal. Yet the Heaven’s Flame inside him was palpitating, reminding him that it was the lord of all flames and possessed the power to overcome all poisons and illusions.
He had had many bowls at this point as if he couldn’t feel the Heaven’s Flame’s movement.
After a long time, Chui Yim shook his head at the middle-aged man who passed him another bowl with gentleness and adoration. “This meal should have ended a long time ago, as well as this dream.”
Thus, he woke up. Kam Chin Kee sighed in relief when he saw Chui Yim open his eyes.
Man Yee Ho watched everything that was happening in front of him coldly. Currently, he was under a night sky full of stars.
A bunch of men sat in front of the campfire, feasting on meat and wine while singing loudly. They behaved nothing like soldiers now. As soldiers, they rarely had such a chance, but after a major victory, he allowed them to do so as a general.
Man Yee Ho found it funny how this scene that he once found shameful and awkward to be something he dearly missed.
That was why he opened his eyes after recalling.
That was no longer the world he lived in after all.
Yeung Tin Hun was now sitting on a tree, watching the kid below practice with his spear. The next second, the kid went for the plum blossom pile.
Yeung Tin Hun shot out fruit seed as a hidden weapon.
“You’re such an old pervert!” The kid dodged his attack and turned around with a roar like he was ready to fight Yeung Tin Hun.
“Hahaha.” Yeung Tin Hun woke up laughing. It might’ve been a dream, but he was still happy to meet that kid once more.
Wat Suen was slightly surprised by the four teenage boys. They woke up almost immediately after she stopped playing; they were the fastest among everyone. However, they were only worth an extra glance from her before she shut her eyes once more.
In front of her were countless teenagers acting like madmen.
Sunlight shone through the straw hut onto the crazy messy crowd. It was a weird scene to watch.
“Hahaha! You should know the difference between geniuses and commoners!” Lee Bat Fan laughed madly while he hugged Mung Si on his left and caressed Ping Ching’s face with his right, to which the girls giggled. Beneath his feet were Chui Yim, Kam Chin Kee, and the other talents.
He did feel that something was off, but he would rather drown in this fantasy where he successfully achieved all his desires.
Mung Si opened her eyes with a reddened face. She knew it was an illusion, but still…
“Can I ask the Fifth Teacher for the name of the piece now?” Mung Si stood up and bowed to Wat Suen.
“Mirror Lake,” Wat Suen answered, not even opening her eyes.
Mirror Lake, a mirror-like lake that created ripples in the listener’s heart. It reflected the utmost desires of all listeners.
Thus, Chui Yim saw the peaceful days he had with his father, Kam Chin Kee saw the sister from his previous life who made him feel the love of a family for the first time, Man Yee Ho saw his fellow soldiers that were like brothers to him, and Yeung Tin Hun saw his disciple who was like his son.
However, the four of them pursued different dreams compared to other teens, who mostly saw themselves reaching the top of the world and possessing extraordinary power.
The fantasy of achieving every desire in life would make people unwilling to wake up, and they might even hope to be in the dream forever. They would subconsciously ignore or forget even if they sensed that they were in an illusion.
Currently, many important figures were sitting in the shabby outer sect on a simple cushion and drinking the most flavorless tea ever.
It did not take long for a clan leader to lose his patience.
He was too used to a luxurious lifestyle, thus, this was too uncomfortable for him. “I say, what are we waiting for? There isn’t anything for us to watch, unlike the inter-school exchange.” He stood up, looking at the cushion and his tasteless tea in disgust. “This is an absolute waste of time.”
“Indeed.” Woo Nim turned to him and nodded. “Thus, you may leave.”
She stood to the side, revealing the door behind her.
“Huh?” The person was dumbfounded and looked around, trying to find someone who shared the same feeling as him to confront Cloud Palace, but everyone around him only sat on their seats silently and looked around.
The clan leader realized he made a stupid mistake, but there was no turning back. “Yes, indeed the best in the world! So shabby that even the Metallic Blood War Gate could pull out a projection technique that you can’t!”
But Woo Nim was not angered. “Firstly, we never said we see ourselves as the best in the world. Secondly, that’s because we are Cloud Palace.
“Goodbye.”
Cheuk Kwun furrowed his brow. It was unknown when he drew the formation in the air, but the person was already gone.
The others were in doubt. They were similarly annoyed and wished to find out how the participants were doing. But what does she mean by “that’s because we are Cloud Palace?”
Because they are Cloud Palace, they disdain projecting the trial situation, or because they are Cloud Palace, they do not care about how the spectators felt?
But that was just what they imagined. Woo Nim did not explain and nobody dared to ask.
Soon, there was a change to the space in front of them.
Buzz… One by one, people appeared from thin air and dropped to the ground.
The numbers increased rapidly and flooded the small space of the outer sect.
Finally, only about fifty participants passed Wat Suen’s stage. Be it Northerners or Southerners, starting with more than a hundred originally, more than fifty per cent were eliminated after the first stage.
The first stage was only to listen to a piece called Mirror Lake, which reflected the utmost desires in one’s heart. It tested one’s character and whether they had sufficient determination when placed in front of huge desires. Thus, everyone that made it sighed in relief, while those who didn’t had nothing to say either because they were so immersed in the fantasy that they were drowning in it.
Even Sun Liu, who ranked on the Blue Skies Rank, was eliminated at this stage.
Character was the hot-tempered Sun Liu’s weakness.
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