Chapter 15: A Miracle Wrought by My Hand (Part 1)
"You've already done very well. There's no need to force it," Guardian Xu said, comforting his disciple.
Yu He also nodded and said, "To reach the 7th Floor at your age is already considered first-rate among the younger generation of disciples in the sect!"
Xu Hui recovered from his disappointment, took a deep breath, and stared coldly at Li Qiye. "Your turn!"
"Heh, it's not too late to admit defeat," a disciple from the Nine Saints Demon Gate jeered. "For a piece of trash like you who hasn't even started Cultivation, just passing the first floor would be a miracle."
Xu Hui spread his legs, stared at Li Qiye, and said with a sinister smile, "If you crawl between my legs on your knees now, I won't make things difficult for you. But if you wait until later... well, I can't say for sure!"
Nan Huairun and Guardian Mo turned away, unwilling to watch. There was no doubt that Li Qiye was doomed to lose. Even if a miracle happened—a one-in-a-billion chance that allowed him to pass the 7th Floor of the Chaotic Heart Forest and clear this scholarly exam—he would still have to crawl between Xu Hui's legs.
But Li Qiye didn't care in the slightest. He slowly said, "No, I'm waiting for *you* to crawl between *my* legs." With that, he stepped into the Chaotic Heart Forest.
The moment he entered the Chaotic Heart Forest, a sea of fire appeared before Li Qiye's eyes. He plunged into a world of surging magma. SIZZLE, SIZZLE, SIZZLE! In the Illusion Realm, his feet were already being seared, smoke rising from them. The pain was excruciating, yet Li Qiye didn't even grunt as he continued forward.
Li Qiye paid the Chaotic Heart Forest no mind. He had endured millions of years of hardship, experiencing pains far greater than this. During the Desolate Era, when he was the Yin Ya, he was not yet able to scheme against the world. He had suffered countless tribulations. He had fallen into the hands of Celestial Demons; he had fallen into the clutches of the Ancient Netherworld... He had been imprisoned for ten thousand years without seeing the light of day. He had suffered countless tortures. Although the body of the Yin Ya was Undying and granted Eternal Life, the pain was never diminished in the slightest!
Over millions of years, he had been to the Burial Ground, entered the Immortal Land, and traversed the Demon Land and Ghost Realm—the truly most dangerous places in the world. Compared to them, a place like the Chaotic Heart Forest, meant only to temper one's Dao Heart, was utterly insignificant!
The meager Chaotic Heart Forest couldn't shake Li Qiye's Dao Heart in the slightest!
"Heh, a Mortal Body piece of trash who hasn't even started Cultivation, passing the first floor—" a disciple sneered while watching the Chaotic Heart Forest. But he couldn't finish his sentence.
In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye had already passed the first floor. In the Illusion Realm, the sea of fire failed, and Li Qiye plunged into the coldest, most desolate world of ice...
Outside the Chaotic Heart Forest, countless disciples of the Nine Saints Demon Gate were waiting to see Li Qiye make a fool of himself. However, the scene that followed left every single one of them with their jaws wide open.
Guardian Mo and Nan Huairun had turned away, not wanting to witness Li Qiye's humiliation. But what followed was a dead silence, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. This puzzled them, and wondering what had happened, they couldn't help but turn back. When they did, they saw an unbelievable sight.
"The, the... eighth floor..." a disciple stammered, shivering.
"First floor, second floor, third floor..." another disciple muttered in a daze, his eyes following Li Qiye's steps.
"Ninth floor, tenth floor, eleventh floor..." The impossible was happening. Li Qiye walked through the Chaotic Heart Forest as if he were strolling through a peaceful courtyard. He moved at a leisurely pace, his speed never faltering for a moment. It seemed as if he wasn't in the Chaotic Heart Forest at all, but rather on a small path in his own backyard garden.
"The, the, the... fourteenth floor—" In the end, Li Qiye calmly passed through the Chaotic Heart Forest and emerged from the other side, stepping out from the final floor with an air of complete and utter ease.
At that moment, everyone present was petrified. He passed the fourteenth floor of the Chaotic Heart Forest! This... this was absolutely impossible! Throughout the ages, no young disciple in the Nine Saints Demon Gate had ever been heard of passing the fourteenth floor. Not even Li Shuangyan, hailed as the most talented and having the firmest Dao Heart in the history of the Nine Saints Demon Gate, could accomplish such a feat!
"Impossible! Impossible! This is absolutely impossible—" Xu Hui descended into utter confusion. It should have been impossible, yet it had happened right before his eyes!
Xu Hui's master, Guardian Xu, stood with his mouth wide open, unable to close it. Passing the fourteenth floor of the Chaotic Heart Forest... not even their Sect Leader, the Sun Demon Emperor, could do that! Just how frighteningly firm must his Dao Heart be!
"Just an appetizer, and not a very tasty one at that," Li Qiye said as he walked back, looking calm and completely at ease. It was as if he had just strolled down a garden path, not the Chaotic Heart Forest.
"So, how about it? Get on your knees and crawl over," Li Qiye said, glancing at Xu Hui with utter indifference.
"No! No! That's absolutely impossible!" Xu Hui shrieked. At this point, it wasn't just Xu Hui; no one present could believe it! This was simply impossible.
"This is impossible—" Even Guardian Xu couldn't believe it. He said, "Could something be wrong with the Chaotic Heart Forest?"
"That must be it! That has to be it! The restrictive spells on the Chaotic Heart Forest have failed!" Xu Hui cried out hastily, as if clutching at a life-saving straw. "This round doesn't count! The forest must have malfunctioned!"
"That's impossible." It took a long time for even the chief guardian, Yu He, to recover his senses. He shook his head and said, "The Chaotic Heart Forest has never had a single problem since the sect was founded. Let me test it." With that, he personally stepped into the Chaotic Heart Forest.
Yu He was indeed powerful, befitting his status as chief guardian. He passed through the first nine floors with ease, his Dao Heart exceptionally firm. It was only when he reached the tenth floor that his pace began to slow.
BANG! Yu He was still unable to pass through the entire Chaotic Heart Forest. Before he could even finish the eleventh floor, he was suddenly ejected. His Dao Heart could not withstand the forest's interference!
"The Chaotic Heart Forest has not malfunctioned," Yu He finally said, shaking his head with absolute certainty. He then looked at Li Qiye with a strange expression, completely unable to believe this reality.
Li Qiye was just a thirteen-year-old boy. To pass fourteen floors of the Chaotic Heart Forest, either there was something fishy going on, or his Dao Heart was so firm that nothing could shake it! But for a thirteen-year-old, that was simply impossible. To possess such a Dao Heart, how much tempering must one have endured? With a Dao Heart like that, even with the worst aptitude, becoming a Great Sage in the future would only be a matter of time and opportunity! The problem was, a thirteen-year-old boy simply could not possess such a Dao Heart!
At this moment, everyone present was dumbfounded and at a loss for what to do.
"Are you carrying a powerful treasure?" Guardian Xu stared hatefully at Li Qiye. He simply refused to believe that a thirteen-year-old boy could pass through the Chaotic Heart Forest. It was impossible.
"That must be it!" Xu Hui exclaimed. "The Xiyan Ancient Sect is an Immortal Sect Emperor Lineage! He must have an Immortal Emperor's Treasure hidden on him!"
At this, countless people turned to look at Li Qiye. Many disciples of the Nine Saints Demon Gate thought it was possible. After all, the Xiyan Ancient Sect was founded by the Mingren Immortal Emperor. It was plausible that the Xiyan Ancient Sect of today still possessed one or two Immortal Emperor's Treasures! If he really had an Immortal Emperor's Treasure and used it to cheat, passing through the Chaotic Heart Forest was indeed a possibility.
"Cheating with a treasure doesn't count for this round!" Guardian Xu said coldly, now dead set on the idea that Li Qiye had cheated.
"Guardian Xu, you've gone too far!" Guardian Mo snapped back to his senses. He didn't have time to figure out how Li Qiye had passed the Chaotic Heart Forest. In a somber voice, he said, "You set the rules for this scholarly exam, and the Chaotic Heart Forest belongs to your Nine Saints Demon Gate. Now that you've lost, you're going back on your word!"
"Cheating with a treasure naturally doesn't count!" Guardian Xu said coldly.
Guardian Mo, of course, had to defend his own now. He said in a low voice, "Whether he used a treasure to pass through the Chaotic Heart Forest is irrelevant. Your Nine Saints Demon Gate never stipulated that one couldn't use treasures to pass. Our disciple passed, which means he won this round!"
"Shameless! Cheater! The Xiyan Ancient Sect is a bunch of shameless scoundrels!" The disciples of the Nine Saints Demon Gate simply didn't believe Li Qiye could pass the Chaotic Heart Forest, so many of them started to cause a commotion.
Guardian Mo didn't want to get entangled with them. He turned to Yu He and asked, "Guardian Yu, did our Xiyan Ancient Sect disciple win this round or not?"
"Well..." Yu He was put in a difficult position. He didn't really believe Li Qiye could have passed the Chaotic Heart Forest either, but it was true that the Nine Saints Demon Gate had no rule against using treasures to do so.
"My conscience is clear, and I have nothing to be ashamed of before heaven and earth," Li Qiye said leisurely. "Unlike some people from the Nine Saints Demon Gate, who can dish it out but can't take it, and refuse to admit when they've lost. Since you think I'm hiding a treasure, then go ahead and search. If you find such a treasure, it's yours!"
Yu He pondered for a moment, then looked up and said to Li Qiye in a serious tone, "If you truly wish to clear your name, the Nine Saints Demon Gate does have a way. Our founder left behind a treasure called the Immortal Bone Mirror, which can illuminate all Origins! If you are willing, we can have the Immortal Bone Mirror scan you. If you are truly carrying an Immortal Emperor's Treasure, this mirror will absolutely reveal it!"
"I agree! Use the Immortal Bone Mirror!" Guardian Xu was the first to second the motion. "If the Immortal Bone Mirror doesn't find anything, it proves he isn't carrying a treasure!"
"That's right! If he doesn't dare to be scanned, he's cheating!" The other disciples of the Nine Saints Demon Gate chimed in their agreement.
"You people are truly pathetic." Li Qiye glanced at the crowd and smiled. "Fine. You want to scan me, I'll let you scan me. Bring it out."
Seeing that Li Qiye had agreed, Yu He immediately sent someone to retrieve the Immortal Bone Mirror! The Nine Saints Demon Gate's Immortal Bone Mirror had a grand origin. It was said to have been passed down from the Desolate Era and was even refined by an Immortal Emperor. This Immortal Bone Mirror could illuminate one's Origin, making it countless times stronger than a True Mirror!