NOVPUBThe youth in gray walked slowly into the third layer.
People around did not rashly enter but looked on from the sidelines.
Majestic Buddhist chants emanated from the empty void.
Immediately after, three Buddha statues shone brightly with golden light, which together with the gray mist enveloped the youth in gray.
The youth in gray paused momentarily before rising up, dispersing the layers of mist, and easily walked past this level.
"He passed in just a few seconds?" Zhang Chou beside him was astounded, his eyes wide and mouth agape.
"What kind of monster is this?"
"Is it really that simple?" someone asked, doubtful.
The sight of another youth walking into the gray mist and golden light followed soon after.
Before even two minutes had gone by, the youth suddenly began to struggle, his hair disheveled, running out from inside as if mad.
"I am a ghost, I am a ghost," the person shouted aloud.
In the end, he exploded his Vein Gate by the side and died.
The contrast between the two incidents was too stark for the crowd to accept.
Xu Zimei smiled and, without paying attention to the others, walked directly inside.
As soon as he entered, the scene before his eyes began to change.
He saw everything around him shrouded in a gray haze, with only three Buddha Ancestor statues radiating golden light floating in mid-air.
The Buddha Ancestor spoke as if to a person, the Way of Inquiry: "Would you wish to Become Emperor?"
"Willing," Xu Zimei nodded.
"Good, we can help you," the Buddha Ancestor in the middle smiled, a flick of the golden finger.
A streak of golden light soared down, directly entering Xu Zimei’s forehead.
At that moment, his body burst forth with golden Buddhist light, and his entire being was filled with an intense scent of Buddhist Law.
He had transformed into an actual Buddha Ancestor.
"Bearing the name of Buddha, walking amongst the world," a grand Buddhist chant echoed from above.
"You are the Present World Buddha."
Xu Zimei looked up, only to see the gray mist before him disappear, and the three Buddha statues vanished without a trace.
Turning his head, he saw Da Zhi and a group of people behind him looking at him enviously.
As the Present World Buddha, highly virtuous and respected, he was revered by everyone. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Even many who saw him would bow down and worship.
Xu Zimei felt as if the passage of time within him accelerated greatly.
But this sensation of time passing was subtle, undetectable even by ordinary strong beings with the Divine Vein.
He easily passed the third layer and, after becoming the Present World Buddha, seemed to undergo a complete metamorphosis.
He effortlessly ascended all the way to the tenth layer.
This drew the attention of the entire Heavenly Dao Academy.
Soon after, the principal met with him personally, taking him under his wing as the most promising Disciple to compete for the title of Great Emperor.
Then his fame grew ever larger.
He held Buddhist meetings, preached the Buddhist Law, and acquired thousands of Disciples who believed in him; some even built temples and crafted golden statues in his honor.
Destiny swiftly took shape, and within the competition for Destiny, he shone brilliantly, securing it after a hard battle.
Just as he was bearing Destiny in the Firmament, the three Buddha statues that he had encountered in the Tower of Heavenly Dao suddenly appeared before him.
They were smiling at him.
Their laughter grew indulgent, louder and louder, and the Buddhist light on his body slowly faded to nothing.
It turned into Ghost Qi.
The three Buddha statues also transformed into three skulls, their eye sockets flickering with dark black flames.
"You are not the Present World Buddha, but a sacrifice of the Ghost Tribe," the skull laughed at him.
Following that, Xu Zimei felt the intense Buddhist light within him turn entirely into pitch-black Ghost Qi.
His entire face was eroded by the Ghost Qi.
The temples built for him, the golden statues molded, at this moment, they had all become ghosts.
The disciples who listened to his scripture reading were also entangled in Ghost Qi, screaming hoarsely.
At the place closest to Destiny, he was struck down from the clouds by a pair of enormous hands.
And at this moment, when Xu Zimei opened his eyes again, he found himself still deep within the third floor of the Tower of Heavenly Dao.
"This is the two sides of Ghost Buddha, to clearly comprehend and see one’s true nature," he murmured to himself.
In this illusion, he had constructed a very complete worldview and persona.
Having been the Present World Buddha for a lifetime, only to be told that he was actually from the Ghost Tribe.
Being cast down while nearing Destiny, these two most powerful contrasts could almost drive a person mad.
After all, this was a lifetime crafted for a persona by an illusion.
Do you ultimately want to be a Buddha, or a ghost? Or do you simply want to be yourself, regardless of Buddha or ghost?
However, Xu Zimei’s Taoist Heart was strong. He wasn’t affected and instead calmly observed the life the illusion had created for him.
He had broken through the third floor slightly later than the young man in gray.
Because Xu Zimei did not rush to break through, while that young man in gray must have instantly shattered the illusion’s falsehood as soon as he entered it.
To possess such a strong will and Taoist Heart and to shatter this illusion in an instant, Xu Zimei knew that among the younger generation he knew, he would at least rank in the top five.
Xu Zimei turned to look at Da Zhi the monk behind him and smiled, "Come in, you only need to remember one thing.
You don’t have to be a Buddha or a ghost; you just need to be yourself."
Seeing that several people had already entered, the remaining dozens hesitated for a moment before walking in as well.
The gray fog became even more violent.
Out of the remaining fifty people, only about ten managed to get through this third challenge.
Monk Da Zhi emerged from the gray fog, drenched in sweat.
Panting, he looked at Xu Zimei and laughed loudly, "Thrilling! That was truly thrilling."
"What did you see?" Xu Zimei asked.
"I saw that I was bearing Destiny," the monk Da Zhi said with a smile.
"But this illusion didn’t account for one thing; I can see the secrets of heaven.
We diviners can observe everyone’s Qi, but I don’t possess the ability to Become Emperor.
Even if Destiny was laid out before me, I wouldn’t have become the Great Emperor—they miscalculated.
However, experiencing what it feels like to be an emperor once in my life, I truly have no regrets."
Xu Zimei shook his head and chuckled, the group continued upwards to the fourth floor.
As long as they passed the fourth floor and reached the fifth, they would have made it through the Tower of Heavenly Dao’s assessment.
Everyone was somewhat apprehensive; the Heavenly Dao Academy’s examination was truly diabolical.
When the dozen or so people arrived at the fourth challenge, they saw that everyone had been separated into different spaces.
Xu Zimei found himself alone in a room.
Inside the room, apart from himself, there was a second Xu Zimei.
An identical self.
"For most people, sometimes what needs to be overcome is not just the enemy, but also themselves."
An elderly voice came from all around.
The voice echoed in the empty void.
"The task of the fourth challenge is to defeat the other you, and then you can pass."
Xu Zimei chuckled lightly and looked up at his other self.
Identical, with almost no discernible difference.
He drew Tyrant Shadow, and his counterpart did the same.
The two made the same movements, using the same martial skills.
"Interesting," Xu Zimei smiled.
"But I don’t plan on playing along with you any longer."
