Chapter 293

Page 293

"I still need to observe carefully, after all, matters of true law cannot be taken lightly!" As he said this, the shadowy figure's eyes flashed with a hint of determination.

……

The Second Bridge of Destiny.

"I like you, what about you?" A gentle voice, containing the most important emotions of a woman, slowly entered Huang Quan's ears from behind.

This is her feeling.

But faced with this feeling, Huang Quan merely frowned and left the bridge.

Huang Quan wasn't ignorant of emotions; he simply knew that Gu Qici would never say such a thing to him.

More importantly, Huang Quan already has that most important person in his heart, so whether it's out of understanding Gu Qici or out of self-awareness, Huang Quan will only choose to move forward.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Huang Quan has no feelings for Gu Qici at all. In fact, he had a feeling for her from the first moment he saw her, but that seed remained at that level. He preferred to admire her more than romantic feelings.

Therefore, he left the second bridge.

On the bridge that followed, Huang Quan experienced many things, and even heard the voices of his parents.

Aside from the first ten bridges, which evoked some feelings in Huang Quan, the people or voices that appeared on the eleventh to the thirty-fourth bridges were completely fictional to him.

Huang Quan initially found this somewhat puzzling, but he later understood that it was because of his missing memories that the life he conjured was no longer perfect.

Although Huang Quan had no memories, deep in his mind he knew very well that some things simply do not exist. So in the end, when faced with those false people and false voices, he simply shook his head and leaped over them!

Looking at the thirty-fifth bridge now, Huang Quan could clearly feel that the voice that had been transformed was his own. However, the voice was strange, as if it was him but not him. In a state of confusion and complexity, the voice finally sighed and disappeared from Huang Quan's ears!

Of course, Huang Quan didn't think too much about this situation. With one step, he arrived at the platform in front of the thirty-sixth bridge.

At this moment, from the beginning of no end to the present Yellow Springs, a black passage can be vaguely seen in front of them. Although it is not clear at a glance, at least there is hope!

"There are still forty-six bridges?" Huang Quan murmured to himself, his eyes flickering slightly.

This time, instead of walking down in one go as before, he sat cross-legged on the ground and, taking advantage of the brief moment when the platform collapsed, calmly relaxed his mind...

He was, after all, just one person, and after walking for so long, his mind was also somewhat fatigued, so he naturally needed some time to rest.

Huang Quan continued muttering, neither turning back nor continuing forward. In the midst of his silence and overwhelming emotions, he suddenly uttered a single sentence: "Evil energy... what exactly is it?"

"Huh?" The voice paused, seemingly surprised that Huang Quan would ask such a question, but after a moment of silence, it replied, "You shouldn't be asking me this question, but rather asking yourself. Isn't it... yours?"

"Then, what is the truth?" Huang Quan asked again in an instant.

"The truth?" As if startled, the voice of the Buddha remained silent for a long time.

This is a problem. After recovering part of his memories, he originally thought that this person wanted to use evil energy to improve his cultivation. But later he found that maybe that wasn't the case. It was a feeling. He couldn't explain why. He always felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was.

It's complex and contradictory, but it just exists, which is why he asked this question.

"What exactly is it?" Huang Quan didn't say the last question aloud; he pondered it to himself.

He didn't know, so he wanted to know, but he understood that the voice couldn't answer him, because it wasn't the real Gu Qici. Perhaps only the real Gu Qici would know the answer that belonged to him.

But even the Yellow Springs now have their own answer!

"My truth is... Keep going!" Suddenly, Huang Quan's gaze calmed down again, and he stopped paying attention to the voice that never appeared. With another step, he stepped onto the thirty-seventh platform. However, unlike before, the thirty-sixth bridge did not disappear, but collapsed directly!

However, this bridge was different from all the previous bridges. After crossing it, his heart suddenly ached as if he had been hit by a heavy blow, causing him intense pain and making his face turn pale.

Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"From this bridge onwards, the tests will extend beyond your consciousness to include your cultivation level. With your current strength, reaching this point is already your limit..."

No shadowy figure was seen, only the sound of a shadowy figure was heard.

After finally coming to her senses, Huang Quan's eyes flickered slightly, and she asked, "What's at the end of this Bridge of Destiny?"

Upon hearing this, the dark figure remained silent for a few moments before replying, "There are things that you cannot bear right now. No, not only you, but all the cultivators on the True Profound Continent are also unable to bear them."

"Hmm?" Huang Quan asked with slight doubt, "What is it?"

"Hehe! Kid! If you want to know, come back another time! When you reach the last bridge, you'll know everything," the shadowy figure laughed.

"Uh? So, you're willing to let me out?" Huang Quan asked tentatively.

“Of course! The exit is on the thirty-seventh bridge ahead of you,” the shadowy figure said.

Upon hearing this, Huang Quan paused for a moment, as if he understood, and muttered to himself, "Is this the final test?"

"That's true, but life is full of trials and tribulations, and you'll encounter countless questions. It's impossible to pass every test, and it's impossible to answer every question. All a person can do is push themselves to their limits..."

"So, you think these thirty-seven bridges are my limit, right?" Huang Quan asked, his eyes slightly twitching.

“You can understand it this way…” the shadowy figure continued, “Actually, you have exceeded my expectations, because in my mind, you could only reach the thirty-fifth bridge at most, but in the end you reached the thirty-sixth bridge. That’s why I think you can try the thirty-seventh bridge…”

Hearing this, Huang Quan frowned and asked again, "What if I fail?"

"You can rest assured about that! Even if you fail, I will let you leave," the shadowy figure promised.

“Alright! Then I have one last question,” Huang Quan said calmly.

"Ask away!"

What is your purpose in doing all this?

Upon hearing this question, the dark figure seemed to hesitate for a moment, not immediately answering Huang Quan, but after a long pause, slowly speaking: "To prove whether you are qualified to possess the true law."

"True Law?" Huang Quan was bewildered. He had not fully recovered his memories of the True Law, so he naturally did not know what the shadowy figure meant.

At this moment, the shadowy figure continued, seemingly with a sense of reminiscence and sigh, "I have an old friend, a very good old friend. I can sense his presence from you, so I think he must have entrusted the true Dharma to you!"

"Hey! What entrustment? I clearly don't know anything! And since you know I have a relationship with your old friend, why did you try to kill me before? Don't tell me it was just a test. I almost died at your hands!" Huang Quan suddenly became a little angry.

"Uh?" The shadowy figure hesitated for a moment, then coughed twice and deliberately changed the subject, saying, "By the way! You've been here for two days already. If you don't hurry up, you won't be able to complete your mission."

"Huh? It's so awkward to talk about other things like this!" Huang Quan complained.

But then, the shadowy figure stopped talking and seemed to have left.

But after calming down, he still had to face the thirty-seventh bridge ahead.

Then, Huang Quan sighed, a look of solemnity in his eyes. Without further thought, he stepped onto the final, thirty-seventh bridge in the blink of an eye.

Strangely enough, this time, no sound reached his ears from the bridge. It was as if the bridge was extremely ordinary, so ordinary that Huang Quan couldn't believe that this bridge was the Bridge of Destiny!

Therefore, standing on the bridge, he stopped once again.

……

on the other hand.

Hidden somewhere, the shadowy figure watching all this shook its head: "The Bridge of Destiny is something I painstakingly built with my life's blood, for which I even paid the price with my life..."

"The first thirty-five bridges are merely the beginning; the thirty-sixth bridge is a transition to the thirty-seventh. At the original three realms of cultivation, one can pass through it with strong willpower, but the thirty-seventh bridge is different. It is not only a psychological pressure but also a test of cultivation..."

"But he should be somewhat different. With his unique power, crossing this bridge will be difficult, but he should be able to succeed."

"Stopped at the thirty-eighth bridge? Heh, not bad!" the shadowy figure mused to himself.

……

The Thirty-Seventh Bridge of Destiny.

Huang Quan stood in the center of the bridge, motionless. At this moment, he looked at the thirty-eighth bridge in front of him, and his heart was very calm.

Because there were no hallucinations, no sounds, and not even anything to distract him, it was perfectly safe.

But precisely because of this, within this eerie sense of security, deep within Huang Quan's heart, beneath that calm, there was a faint sense of crisis, though it was real!

But this sense of crisis did not come from the Bridge of Destiny, but from Huang Quan himself. It was this sense of crisis that made him stop in his tracks. Suddenly, Huang Quan frowned. The voice that belonged to him when he crossed the thirty-fifth bridge, that slight sigh, appeared in his mind in a strange way... lingering there!

"That wasn't a fantasy, but my own thought!" Suddenly, Huang Quan seemed to understand something, his eyes clearing as he looked down at the black bridge beneath his feet: "No wonder I walked so easily this way. It wasn't truly easy; this Bridge of Destiny was deliberately designed that way. All the illusions weren't just illusions..."

"This is neither my confusion nor my clarity, but this Bridge of Destiny..." Huang Quan thought to himself. An indescribable feeling instantly settled deep within his soul, just like everything about him was simply made clear by this Bridge of Destiny. It made him understand, made him know, and in this clarity, it gave him a choice. The road ahead, imprinted in his eyes, did he dare to walk it?

"No!" Huang Quan shook his head, his eyes suddenly filled with countless struggles. At the same time, the black river below seemed to sense Huang Quan's uneasy heart. The originally mournful voice seemed to be responding to Huang Quan, and gradually, the volume increased several times, turning from a quiet place with no impact into a strong noise!

Huang Quan remained oblivious until the very end, when he abruptly closed his eyes, as if shutting himself off from everything. When he opened them again, he understood: "I will not turn back on this path, because turning back is not the way... This path ahead seems to be where I am meant to go, but in reality, I do not know the final outcome. The so-called outcome is merely what the Bridge of Destiny has given me!"

"To truly break through this place, I cannot follow the path it has laid out for me. Although I have arrived here under its arrangement, this is not the end. Therefore, I still have the opportunity to change things. On this Bridge of Destiny, there is neither death nor life, but a belief... So, I must take control of this final destination myself!"

Suddenly, the roar in his ears grew even louder, as if it were resisting his thoughts!

"I understand!" After saying that, Huang Quan's eyes flashed coldly. He didn't turn around, didn't take a step forward, and didn't choose the path that the Bridge of Destiny had given him. In that instant, he chose the path he had chosen, which was to resolutely jump into the black river below!

Only when there is no way out can one make their own choice; that is true self. Although Huang Quan's cultivation level is low, his mind is far from ordinary. His willpower seems to have been forged countless times, making it terrifyingly resilient. Even if the sky collapses and the earth cracks, and the sea turns into mulberry fields, he will still choose himself and remain steadfast in his beliefs!

"This is my path!" With that thought, his body suddenly fell freely from the bridge, without any hindrance or hesitation.

However, just as his body was about to touch the river below, the river suddenly changed. The surface of the river suddenly became turbulent, and a cold wind blew. Countless skeletons with incomplete limbs suddenly climbed up from the river with baring teeth and a sense of fear. Their terrifying roars were directly imprinted in Huang Quan's eyes!

"Hmph!" Huang Quan raised an eyebrow, a cold glint in his eyes, seemingly unconcerned: "This little trick is nothing compared to the previous Voice of Destiny!"

As he pondered, Huang Quan closed his eyes, ceasing his thoughts and thoughts. At the same time, countless vengeful ghosts and remnants of spirits, imbued with a chilling aura, wandered around Huang Quan. Some even passed directly through his body, but Huang Quan remained oblivious.

Finally, his body came into contact with the black river!

With a splash, after Huang Quan's body completely plunged into the river, the Thirty-Seven Bridges of Destiny underwent their first real change.

In the blink of an eye, black flames ignited on the thirty-seventh bridge, and all the skeletons began to slowly dissipate. All the ghosts sank into the river with the Yellow Springs, as if they were buried alive with the dead!

At this moment, Huang Quan, who was in the River of Destiny, did not notice that the three different forces in his dantian, his mind, and his heart had undergone a strange change under Huang Quan's resolute decision!

It was as if, in that instant, he had merged directly with Huang Quan's soul. And with this change, in Huang Quan's consciousness, it was as if... he saw a boundless world.

This place is all mountains, lush with greenery, very beautiful and lovely. Countless people, their figures barely visible, live and thrive here.

Furthermore, in this world, at the very edge of the East, there stands a golden altar!

Looking at the front of the altar, there were three figures dressed in black robes, sitting cross-legged in front of the altar, seemingly meditating.

Suddenly, just as Huang Quan continued to observe this realm from the void, the figure sitting cross-legged in the middle trembled abruptly, immediately opened his eyes, looked towards the sky, and shouted with a furrowed brow, "Who goes there?!"

Suddenly, under this voice, an aura powerful enough to annihilate Huang Quan countless times was released from this person. Although Huang Quan's current existence was only a consciousness from another realm and would not truly die, this will was completely destroyed in the blink of an eye under this terrifying aura!

Just as the aura was about to follow Huang Quan's consciousness to find his physical body and kill him, a terrifyingly powerful force suddenly appeared, instantly blocking the aura's pursuit and protecting Huang Quan...

Soon enough, Huang Quan, having experienced this inexplicable crisis, opened his eyes, but at this moment, he was already on the platform of the thirty-eighth bridge.

In his lingering fear, Huang Quan didn't even have time to observe where he was. A sense of relief at surviving a disaster filled his mind.

However, once he calmed down, his gray clothes were already soaked with cold sweat, and even the corners of his mouth were dry: "What was that aura just now...?"

"They are from another world!" At this moment, with this voice, the dark figure reappeared in Huang Quan's eyes without a sound.

Without a doubt, the force that protected Huang Quan during the recent crisis was this shadowy figure; otherwise, Huang Quan would have undoubtedly died.