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Wan Yi and Shi Jian exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Our strength is weak, and we have no confidence in either path. We are willing to wait here with Senior Dongxu."

The light fox rubbed against Chen Ye's leg and let out a soft growl, its meaning clear: it wanted to follow Chen Ye.

Chen Ye looked at his companions, deeply moved. Each person was making the most reasonable choice based on their own circumstances and the team's situation.

“Alright.” He took a deep breath. “In that case, let’s split up. Jiufeng, you’ve chosen the path of courage, so be careful and prioritize your own safety. Senior Yuxu and Zhiyin, you’ve chosen the path of wisdom, so act according to your abilities. If things become unbearable, withdraw immediately to protect yourselves. Senior Dongxu, Wanyi, and Shijian, I’ll trouble you to stay here and remain vigilant. If you encounter any enemies or anything unusual, send a signal immediately.”

"Brother Chen, what about you?" Jiufeng asked.

Chen Ye's gaze swept over the descriptions of the two paths once more.

Time is his greatest enemy. The Path of Courage is short but extremely risky; if he gets bogged down in a tough battle or falls into his own mental demons, it could actually take him much longer. The Path of Wisdom, while potentially time-consuming, offers him a greater chance of success thanks to his existing knowledge and the "logic hint chip."

Moreover… he always felt that these two paths weren't entirely independent. Wisdom requires courage to persevere, and courage also needs wisdom to guide it. Perhaps, he could…

A bold idea emerged in his mind.

He didn't make a choice immediately, but walked to the crystal monument, reached out his hand, and pressed it against the surface.

At the same time, he released the power of the Holy Blood, the power of the Star Crown, and the trace of the "Seed of Truth" within his body without reservation, and injected them into the crystal tablet.

"I, Chen Ye, the inheritor of the Holy Spirit, wish to challenge the limits of the corridor with both 'wisdom' and 'courage'!"

"Please open... the third path!"

Om-! ! !
The crystal monument trembled violently! The two statues seemed to come alive as well, their gazes simultaneously fixed on Chen Ye!

The light curtain at the entrance of the corridor suddenly erupted! Starlight, runes, and geometric shapes spun and rearranged wildly!
A grand, ancient voice, seemingly emanating from the starry sky itself, resounded in the second layer of space:

"Detected... Special privileges... Holy Blood... Star Crown... Seed of Truth..."

"Meets...hidden conditions..."

"The third path... the 'path of wisdom and courage'... is now open!"

"Trial participant, you will face a dual test of wisdom and courage! The difficulty has increased significantly, the time required is unpredictable, and the risks... are unknown!"

"Success will grant direct access to the core and additional rewards. Failure will result in utter destruction of body and soul, with no chance of liberation!"

"Do you... dare to go forward?"

A brilliant light shone in Chen Ye's eyes.

There really is a third way! A more difficult way, but also a potentially faster one!

He did not hesitate at all.

"This junior...is willing to go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the boiling light screen suddenly engulfed him!

Jiufeng, Yuxu, and the others only saw Chen Ye's figure disappear into the light screen. Then, the light screen returned to calm, and the entrances to the "Path of Wisdom" on the left and the "Path of Courage" on the right lit up at the same time, as if waiting for their choices.

“Brother Chen…” Jiufeng gripped the spear tightly, her eyes filled with worry, but then her determination turned into resolve, “I can’t fall behind either!”

She strode toward the entrance to the Path of Courage on the right.

Yu Xu Dao Ren and Zhi Yin exchanged a glance and then walked toward the entrance to the Path of Wisdom on the left.

Dongxu Daoist, Wan Yi, and Shi Jian retreated to the vicinity of the stairwell, watching their surroundings warily.

The second floor of the Tower of Eternity fell silent once again.

Only the three entrance light curtains, each emanating a different aura, silently told the story of the upcoming trial beneath the dim starlight dome.

Time ticked by. There were less than four and a half hours until the stars met.

The instant the light curtain engulfed him, Chen Ye felt as if he had been thrown into a spinning vortex composed of countless starlight, runes, and shattered images. The echoes of ancient voices reverberated in his ears, yet his body floated in the void as if weightless.

"The path to both wisdom and courage... facing both intellectual puzzles and courageous illusions..." Chen Ye silently recited in his mind, concentrating his mind and striving to maintain clarity of consciousness amidst the chaotic energy flow.

Suddenly, I felt a downward sensation!

He landed heavily on a solid, massive platform made up of countless translucent hexagons. The platform floated in the boundless dark void, with a slowly rotating star map dome above and a bottomless abyss below.

At the center of the platform stands a uniquely shaped, three-dimensional device, ten zhang tall. The device consists of countless geometric shapes that constantly change position and shape, rotating rune wheels, and energy nodes that flash with different colored lights, emitting a deep and rhythmic hum.

Around the platform stood twelve enormous mirrors, their surfaces flowing like mercury. The mirrors did not reflect Chen Ye's current image, but rather… scenes and figures from the depths of his memory, even blurry and distorted images that seemed to materialize his inner fears!
The intellectual puzzles and the courageous illusions have indeed begun simultaneously!

"The trial begins." The grand, starry voice rang out again, devoid of any emotion. "First challenge: Decipher the 'Star Code Lock' and open the energy bridge to the next area. Time limit: One incense stick's time."

"At the same time, the Courage Illusion will be activated. The illusion will reflect your deepest fears and obsessions, attempting to disturb your mind and shake your will. In the process of solving the puzzle, you must maintain a clear mind and resist the encroachment of the illusion."

"Failure conditions: Failure to unlock the combination lock within the time limit; or loss of focus, being swallowed by the illusion." As soon as the words fell, the central three-dimensional device—the "Starry Combination Lock"—suddenly lit up! Countless runes began to flow rapidly, geometric shapes began to deform in complex ways, and energy nodes flickered, emitting dazzling starlight.

At the same time, the twelve "heart mirrors" around the platform also began to fluctuate violently! The images in the mirrors rippled, distorted, and magnified like the surface of water after a stone was thrown in. Finally, one by one, lifelike yet eerie and unreal "illusions" slowly emerged from the mirrors!

The first hallucination: It was the one-eyed old soldier who grinned at Chen Ye before dying during the Trial of Loyalty. Covered in blood, yet with incredibly clear eyes: "Kid...live on..."

The second illusion: the fire lizard dragon that they had painstakingly killed in the Burial Dragon Abyss now appeared in an even larger and more ferocious form, letting out a deafening roar at Chen Ye!

The third illusion: It was Captain Saint Radiance Starscar's final silhouette as he vanished into starlight. He turned back, his eyes filled with endless weariness and expectation: "The successor... the future of the Holy Spirit Clan... is entrusted to you..."

The fourth illusion: it is the ethereal yet solemn face of Vera, the Star Speaker, before she vanishes in the garden: "Beware of the shadows... spying on the dream..."

The fifth... the sixth...

There are scenes of comrades falling while fighting side by side, deadly traps encountered while exploring ruins, and even some scenes he has never experienced but may terrify deep in his subconscious: such as the complete collapse of the Tower of Eternity, the eternal extinguishing of the Holy Light, the Abyss devouring everything, and him sinking alone into endless darkness...

These hallucinations are not simple images; they seem to possess a faint spiritual influence, piercing Chen Ye's mind like fine needles with the corresponding emotions of fear, sadness, pressure, and self-blame!
"I must stay calm... I need to crack the combination lock first!" Chen Ye took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, and focused his gaze and most of his attention on the rapidly changing "Star Combination Lock" in the center.

He walked quickly to the device and examined it carefully.

At the heart of the device is a complex structure consisting of three nested rune wheels rotating at different speeds. Each wheel is densely covered with Holy Spirit Clan stellar runes, interlocking and interconnected, so that a change in one affects the entire structure. Around the wheels are twelve energy nodes of different colors, each connected to a different geometric module.

Based on the knowledge gained from the Sage Sophia's rehearsal and the repair station database, Chen Ye recognized it as a composite "dynamic logic password lock." To unlock it, he needed to observe the rotation pattern of the three rune wheels within a very short time, identify the "key rune combinations" generated when they periodically overlapped, and activate the surrounding energy nodes in a specific order to guide the energy flow through the correct geometric modules, ultimately converging at the core to form a stable energy bridge.

This requires exceptional dynamic visual perception, logical reasoning ability, spatial imagination, and a thorough understanding of the Holy Spirit Clan's star runes.

Moreover, there's only a short time left!

Chen Ye focused his mind and spirit, his left eye shimmering with starlight (blessed by the Star Crown), his right eye gleaming with golden light (the Eye of Holy Blood), maximizing his perception. In his mind, the knowledge of "Fundamentals of Star Runes" and "Analysis of Energy Structure" instilled by Grand Scholar Hermes, as well as the teachings of Sage Sophia on dynamic logic, rapidly processed and integrated.

"The first layer of the wheel spins the fastest, mainly changing the 'position' and 'energy attribute' runes... The second layer spins at a medium speed, changing the 'connection' and 'conversion' runes... The third layer spins the slowest, but the runes are the most complex, involving 'stability,' 'cycle,' and 'core'..."

His gaze was like the most precise scanner, capturing the fleeting moments of runes on each wheel, while his brain, like an overclocked processor, frantically calculated their trajectories and intersection cycles.

At the same time, the illusions of courage began to slowly approach, emitting various interfering sounds:
The one-eyed veteran's voice whispered in my ear: "Kid, don't waste your energy... So many of us failed back then... What can you do by yourself?"

The Fire Lizard Dragon's roar carried a mental shock: "Insects! Struggle! Then be crushed!"

Captain Saint Radiance's sigh seemed to come from the depths of his soul: "Time... is not enough... it's all too late..."

Vera's warning turned shrill: "The dream is collapsing! Run!"

The tragic sight of his fallen companions, the deafening roar of the collapsing ruins, the desolate feeling of endless darkness... all sorts of negative emotions assaulted Chen Ye's defenses like a tidal wave.

He felt a stinging pain between his eyebrows, his temples throbbing, and his mind as taut as a bowstring.

But he did not back down.

He reflected on the "seed of truth" that had merged into his body, on his answers to "loyalty," "the Way," and "mission," and on his perseverance and the trust of his companions along the way.

"My 'truth' is the choice and perseverance I make right now!"

He silently recited the mantra, and that spark of "inner light" shone even brighter, like a stabilizing anchor, calming his wavering mind. The illusions and whispers from the outside world, though still present, had lessened their interference with his core consciousness.

Time flies.

About half an incense stick later, a glint flashed in Chen Ye's eyes!
"Found it! The intersection of cycles... The key rune combination for the three-layered roulette is—'Tian Shu (Convergence) · Xun Feng (Connection) · Kun Di (Stability)'!"

"The corresponding energy node activation order is: Green (Wind), Yellow (Earth), Purple (Gathering)... Geometric module guidance path: Triangular pyramid → Cube → Dodecahedron..."

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Ye's hands moved like lightning, quickly clicking on the corresponding energy nodes around the device in the order deduced!

laugh!laugh!laugh!
Azure, yellow, and purple lights lit up in sequence! The energy flowed like a guided stream, rapidly moving along the pre-designed geometric module path!
When the energy flow finally entered the core composite wheel, the rapidly spinning three-layer wheel suddenly slowed down and finally stopped at the "key rune combination" calculated by Chen Ye!

Om-!
The device emitted a pleasant, resonant sound, and a soft silver beam of light shot out from its core, coalescing in front of the platform into a bridge made of starlight leading to the depths of the dark void!
"Starry Sky Combination Lock, First Layer, Successfully Cracked. Time Taken: Half an Incense Stick's Worth." A voice from the starry sky rang out. "Rating: Excellent."

"First wave of the Courageous Illusion successfully resisted. Mental stability: Good."

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Facing two tests at the same time had taken a huge toll on his mental strength.

"The second stage is about to begin. The puzzles of wisdom have been upgraded, and the intensity of the Courageous Illusion has increased. Prepare."

Before the words were even finished, the "Starry Sky Password Lock" structure in the center of the platform became more complex, with a fourth layer of slower-rotating roulette wheels and more obscure runes appearing, and the number of energy nodes and geometric modules also increased several times over!
Meanwhile, the illusions emerging from the surrounding "mirrors of the mind" are becoming more real and impactful! Some logical paradoxes and cognitive distortions are even beginning to appear, attempting to fundamentally shake his worldview and beliefs!
“There’s no time to rest…” Chen Ye gritted his teeth and once again devoted all his energy to the new round of challenges.

He needs to be faster, more accurate, and his mental defenses need to be stronger.

Time flew by amidst intense focus and fierce competition.

One "star code lock" after another was cracked, and one energy bridge after another was built.

The illusions gradually escalated from initial emotional interference to direct mental attacks, memory manipulation, and even simulated extreme scenarios such as "betrayal by companions," "mission failure," and "personal corruption," repeatedly pushing Chen Ye's mental defenses to their limits. (End of Chapter)