You monster, I could tell you weren't human at first glance.

Because a large number of people were filtered out in the first stage's Spiritual Root test, by the second stage, there were fewer than a hundred testers left.

Under the guidance of Falling Cloud Valley Disciples, Qi Yuan stepped onto the small path almost simultaneously with the others.

His vision blurred for a moment. When Qi Yuan came to his senses, he found himself in a lush forest, stepping on soft soil, with a sharp long saber in his hand at some point.

Such a realistic illusion!

Although he didn't have deep knowledge of the Dao of Formations, he still had a keen eye. This illusory Formation was not only extremely realistic but also connected to heaven and earth, endless and ever-growing—clearly the work of a Great Master of Formations.

Qi Yuan looked around, his expression gradually turning solemn.

He discovered that after entering this place, his head felt much heavier, and his thinking had become somewhat sluggish.

To be able to affect a Golden Core Perfection Cultivator proved that the Rank of the illusory Formation was extremely high. He must not let his guard down; otherwise, he might really capsize in a gutter.

Heart-Nature is not the same as Spiritual Root Aptitude and has little to do with one's own cultivation level.

When he entered the Taixuan Holy Land, the Heart-Nature test he underwent was merely being illuminated by a top-tier Spirit Treasure, the Heart-Inquiry Mirror. Then, he passed in a daze and was immediately accepted as a closed-door Disciple by the Taixuan Holy Land Sect Master of the Holy Land himself. This event caused a sensation throughout the entire Taixuan Holy Land... After reminiscing for a moment, Qi Yuan stepped forward.

Although this Formation seemed to be trying to interfere with his memory, he had cultivated a secret technique specifically for resisting Divine Soul attacks called the "Luo Tian Spirit Refining Manual." Therefore, he didn't completely lose his memory and vaguely knew he was participating in an assessment... Outside the Formation.

The water shimmered, and mist rose.

water mirrors condensed from magic power floated in mid-air, displaying the situation of the testers within the Formation.

After confirming that the illusory Formation was operating normally, Yin Qingyuan, the Elder in charge of the Dao Initiation Pavilion, smiled faintly and said loudly:

"The Illusory Heaven and Earth Formation was laid a thousand years ago by a Void Refining Realm Formation Great Master who visited the valley as a guest. It is integrated with the Sect's grand Formation and contains three stages personally designed by the Ancestral Master. Passing them counts as clearing the test."

"Once the Formation is activated, the Formation Spirit within will manifest in thousands of Incarnations to test everyone. Anyone who enters this Formation will have their memories of this period erased and forget the trial, making choices with their most authentic original heart."

"After a thousand years of nurturing, Senior Formation Spirit has long developed consciousness. The illusion is even more perfect than before; even a Void Refining Cultivator caught in this Formation would find it difficult to escape in a short time."

"Father is currently in seclusion attempting a Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Peak and really cannot spare the time. Thanks to Elder Yin for helping to manage the overall situation, Xirou offers her thanks here."

Hearing this, Bai Xirou nodded. She first gave a graceful bow to Yin Qingyuan and then fixed her gaze on the images in mid-air, showing a look of expectation, thinking to herself:

"If Falling Cloud Valley wants to rise, cultivating new Disciples is the top priority. I hope we can find some good prospects this year."

...Inside the Formation.

Qi Yuan was walking in the forest when a sound suddenly came from the distance.

"Help!"

"Hehe, little beauty, in this desolate mountain and wild forest, no one will come to save you even if you scream your lungs out..."

Qi Yuan looked toward the sound and saw a beautiful woman with disheveled clothes being chased by a large man who looked like a bandit. The two were running quickly in this direction.

The beauty cried for help as she fled, and she soon reached Qi Yuan.

"Young Master, please, I beg you to save me!"

Seeing Qi Yuan, the beauty seemed to have caught a life-saving straw and immediately rushed toward him.

"Get out of the way! If you dare to ruin my good business, I won't let you off."

The bandit brandished a sharp blade and gave Qi Yuan a fierce warning.

Qi Yuan understood inwardly, but his face remained calm. With a movement, he bypassed the beauty who was trying to throw herself into his arms, stepped forward, and killed the bandit with one strike of his blade.

The head rolled down, and blood splattered everywhere. It looked incredibly real.

"Thank you for saving my life, Young Master. This Servant is eternally grateful."

At this moment, the beauty's face was flushed, her clothes were messy, inadvertently revealing a large patch of snowy white skin. Coupled with a pitiful appearance, she looked increasingly seductive.

However, Qi Yuan smiled coldly:

"Prodigy, stop pretending. I can tell at a glance that you're not human."

After saying that, he knocked the beauty to the ground with one punch and then quickly untied his belt... and tied her up securely.

"Young Master, you... what are you doing?"

The beauty was terrified and struggled repeatedly.

"Setting aside whether it's possible for a delicate Young Miss to appear alone in such a desolate wilderness, you're wearing such a cumbersome long skirt yet running faster than that eight-foot-tall man. No matter how I look at it, you don't seem like a weak woman who can't even truss a chicken."

"Most importantly, you've been running in this muddy ground for so long, yet there isn't even a speck of mud on your embroidered shoes. Who are you trying to fool?"

Listening to Qi Yuan's explanation, the "beauty" finally stopped struggling and vanished into a puff of green smoke.

Seeing this, there was no surprise on Qi Yuan's face. Instead, he showed a hint of interest.

A bit interesting.

He had previously thought this stage was just a simple test of lust, but he didn't expect it to hide some mysteries.

He chose to capture her alive not because of lust, but because he wanted to see if there were any other special plotlines.

Of course, it currently seemed there were no other surprises, but he should have passed this stage... While his thoughts raced, Qi Yuan casually wiped the blood off the blade and continued walking forward... Meanwhile.

The expressions of the Falling Cloud Valley Cultivators on the scene were not very good, because the images displayed in the magic mirrors were truly unbearable to watch.

The illusory Formation would automatically generate scenes based on the gender of the tester. Male testers encountered bandits robbing beauties, while female testers encountered wicked women robbing handsome men.

Perhaps because the scenes were different, the female testers performed well in this stage, while the male testers' side was full of unsightly behavior and chaotic antics.

Besides about a small half of the testers who resisted the temptation of beauty after a heroic rescue, a significant number of testers chose to do it themselves after killing the bandit... Another part felt cowardly and quickly ran away... Some even acted as accomplices, excitedly lining up behind the bandit... What was most insane was a pervert who killed the beauty without hesitation and left only the bandit... Fortunately, those deemed to have failed were usually teleported out before they could take off their pants and were announced as eliminated on the spot; otherwise, the Falling Cloud Valley immortal cultivation School would have turned into a party scene.

"Preposterous! What kind of monsters and demons are these? I didn't expect the world's morals to have fallen to this extent. It's truly disappointing."

"Sigh, that newcomer I was optimistic about clearly had good Aptitude, but I didn't expect him to be so pathetic!"

"The first illusion stage was already simple enough. As long as one doesn't move with lustful intent, they can pass easily. Even running away in the face of trouble can be explained as being cautious by nature and barely counts as passing. Yet it turned out like this. These young people nowadays..."

"Eh? Look over there, someone has perfectly passed the first stage of the illusory Formation!"

Just then, a soft exclamation came from among the Falling Cloud Valley crowd, drawing everyone's attention.

Following that person's finger, they saw the recording of Qi Yuan during the first stage.

Looking at the image in the water mirror, Yin Qingyuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he said with a calm face:

"Not bad. He discovered the hidden information of this stage. It indeed counts as a perfect pass."

"This Qi Da is not deluded by female beauty, is brave and resourceful when facing issues, and is observant. Although his Spiritual Root Aptitude is a bit poor, his Heart-Nature is quite good."

Bai Xirou also nodded and said slowly:

"The path of immortal cultivation is full of dangers, traps, and schemes everywhere. A slight mistake can lead to death and the dissipation of one's Dao, leading to eternal damnation. This requires Cultivators not only to avoid being obsessed with beauty but also to remain vigilant at all times."

"Originally, the first stage of the illusory Formation tested these things; one had to discover the flaws of the 'beauty' to pass. But because the pass rate was too low, the rules were later relaxed so that as long as one doesn't commit evil, they pass."

After saying that, she sighed softly and said faintly:

"Since the Grandmaster passed away, our Falling Cloud Valley has been declining day by day, and there are fewer and fewer talented entry-level Disciples. The last time a tester perfectly passed this stage was nine years ago."

"Who was it?"

Besides some people who knew the inside story, many Falling Cloud Valley Disciples who had joined in recent years showed curious expressions.

They although they had also undergone the illusory Formation trial, they had never heard of the inside story about a perfect pass.

Before Bai Xirou could answer, Yin Qingyuan raised an eyebrow and replied calmly:

"That person was none other than your Senior Sister, Bai Xirou."

"Also, she was only ten years old at the time."