The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 443 Taboo
An Rong pointed to the fork in the road and said:

"The next two trials are the Perseverance Trial, which tests your judgment and willpower, and the Strength Trial, which tests your cultivation level. Each cultivator entering the Immortal Mansion will face different trials, so I cannot give advice on these two trials. However, with your cultivation and temperament, passing them should not be difficult."

"After completing these two trials, we will enter the core of the Immortal Abode and meet up before the final trial."

An Rong cupped his hands in greeting to Wu Chang and Eileen, then stepped into a side path and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

With An Rong gone, the fork in the road in front of Wu Chang became two paths. It seemed that as long as he and Eileen didn't separate, they wouldn't be able to proceed to the next trial.

Wu Chang looked at Eileen and asked, "What's your view of this world?"

After entering the world instance dimension, he always felt a faint sense of unease, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Although his inspiration level was close to 200, he was still essentially a mortal from the Desolate Realm. Therefore, he wanted to hear whether the dungeon dimension from the perspective of the god Eileen would be different from what he saw.

Eileen blinked and asked, "Are you asking about the entire world of the instance dimension, or the immortal abode you mentioned?"

Wu Chang shrugged and said, "Either is fine."

Eileen pursed her lips, briefly organized her thoughts, and said:

"The world of the dungeon dimension feels different from other dimensions we've been to; the energy level here is very high."

Wu Chang nodded and said, "After all, it is a world instance. It has accumulated a large amount of abyssal erosion that the Desolate Realm is preparing to release into the Realm of Reason. It also takes shape directly in the middle layer, so its energy level will be higher than that of an ordinary Desolate Realm plane."

Eileen shook her head and said:
“Unlike other planes, this plane did not experience an overflow of extraordinary beings and an increase in energy level due to interference from the Abyss’s erosion. In my opinion, it absorbed the Abyss’s erosion rather than improved it; it was more like a recovery.”

Wu Chang seemed to understand something, and slowly said, "Recover?"

Eileen said, "Moreover, this recovery is still ongoing. The reason why this world was able to accumulate so many extraordinary beings, as well as three Earth Immortals and four Demon Kings in such a short time after the spiritual energy was restored is because this is its true form."

"This world may not have originally been in the Desolate Realm, but in the Realm of Reason. The anomalies you have noticed may very well have originated from there."

The world's duplicate dimension may have previously existed in the Realm of Reason?
Upon hearing Eileen's speculation, Wu Chang frowned and fell into thought.

His experience with the Abyss Games told him that transcendence, or rather, the corruption of the Abyss, is difficult to shake off once you're tainted, and its effects only grow stronger.

Even if certain factors cause the extraordinary to fall into a brief period of dormancy, it will reignite as long as it is given a spark.

Just like the Stylan plane, the Arcane Knights were once at their peak, capable of wiping out the Church of Tranquility and even developing S-class items to extract divine power.

The disbandment of the Arcane Knights and the development of technology may have caused the transcendence of the plane to stagnate, but with the emergence of industrial transcendence, the transcendent has not only made a comeback, but is also more ferocious than before.

This shows how difficult it is to break free from the extraordinary.

If a plane can fall from the Realm of Reason to the Realm of Desolation, does that mean that as long as the same method is used, a plane can be directly removed from the Abyss Game from the Realm of Desolation?
With this thought in mind, he subconsciously recalled the Midnight Graveyard instance.

Although the Midnight Graveyard instance was freed from the influence of the Church of Tranquility and the Society of Light under the sword of order wielded by Eileen, it failed to help Hanl fulfill his wish and caused the transcendents to disappear completely.

Ultimately, they failed.

In Wu Chang's view, the failure of Midnight Graveyard was destined from the beginning; trying to make the extraordinary disappear by forgetting was far too hasty.

But the thought that the disappearance of the extraordinary might free the plane from the abyss was planted in his mind.

If, he meant if.

The world instance plane is truly a desolate realm downgraded from the Realm of Reason. If we master this method, can we escape the Abyss Game?

Thinking about this, he began to get excited.

Eileen's words did not end there. After Wu Chang finished thinking about the downgraded world instance, Eileen continued:

"The anomaly of the world instance is not only in its energy level, but also in the existence of the Immortal Fate. Although it conforms to the description of immortals in your world, its existence does not conform to the laws of energy and divinity."

"You should know that even the spiritual energy system is just one of many energy systems. It is unique, but it will not exceed the limits."

Wu Chang tentatively asked, "So what you mean is?"

Eileen said, "I think the existence of the Immortal Fate has obvious human traces. It is somewhat similar to the ideal of divinity, but it is more natural and hidden than the ideal of divinity."

She grasped the hilt of the sword from the Eternal Lake and said:
"If it were me before, I would never have been able to detect that there was a problem with the Celestial Fate. It was only through communicating with the Eternal Lake that I gained a certain understanding of the order, which allowed me to sense a trace of deliberate intent from it."

What Eileen said touched upon the realm of divine perception, which he was in no condition to judge in his current state.

At this point, he could only take out the Omniscient Crystal and seek confirmation from it.

"Did the world's duplicate planes truly belong to the Realm of Reason, only to be relegated to the Desolate Realm?"

The omniscient crystal flickered, but did not immediately answer Wu Chang's question. It seemed to be hesitating, wondering if Wu Chang was qualified to know about this matter.

After waiting for almost a minute, it finally gave an answer.

"Yes."

Wu Chang then wanted to press further, asking how the world instance was downgraded and whether the same method could be used to free the plane from the abyss.

Before he could speak, the Omniscient Crystal began to play dead, its light completely disappearing as it fell freely to the ground.

Wu Chang reacted quickly and caught the Omniscient Crystal. He looked at the crystal in his hand with a bit of helplessness. Yes, since the Omniscient Crystal possessed a certain degree of omniscience, it could definitely guess the question he wanted to ask next.

Judging from the Omniscient Crystal's performance, he is not yet qualified to know about the method of plane demotion.

The omniscient crystal has its reasons for making this judgment; curiosity killed the cat, and he had no reason to court death.

He shook the crystal in his hand and said:
"Alright, stop playing dead. I'll change the subject. About the destiny of immortality..."

He had just uttered the words "fate to the immortals" when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.

The omniscient crystal can predict the questions he wants to ask. So, what is the question it is avoiding: is it a dimensional degradation, or the truth about the celestial destiny?

Sometimes, not being able to answer is itself an answer, revealing a lot of information.

If the Omniscient Crystal answers the question about the dimensional demotion and then plays dead, it will reveal some information about the celestial destiny, regardless of whether it answers or not. However, if it doesn't answer either question, it won't be able to determine which question is the taboo.

Wu Chang hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave up asking further questions.

Phew, the abyss is still too dangerous.

He exhaled, put the Omniscient Crystal back into his personal space, exchanged a glance with Eileen, and walked together into their respective forks in the road.

Whether it's a demotion or the true nature of the immortal destiny, that's a matter for later. What they need to do now is to take over the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion and get the immortal destiny first.

Wu Chang walked into the fork in the road where he was, and after walking less than ten steps forward, he looked back and found that the road he had come from had disappeared.

He continued forward and soon entered the third pass, which An Rong called Yi Pass.

As a gust of cold wind swept past, demonic energy drifted into the spiritually rich immortal abode, visibly displacing the spiritual energy.

When he entered Cuiyang County before, the feeling of being bound by demonic energy reappeared. Within the demonic energy, four demonic creatures, each over five meters tall, slowly appeared in front of Wu Chang.

One of the monsters swung its tail, shattering the ground. The flying pebbles flew past Wu Chang's ears, the sound of the wind being cut sharp and piercing.

Wu Chang sighed. Although he really wanted to cooperate with the Immortal Mansion in putting on a show, the master of the Immortal Mansion was really disappointing. Compared with the Brave Gate, the Yi Gate had increased the realism of the illusion, but it still could not break through his will barrier.

Although it is unknown how the master of Kaiyang Immortal Abode left the demonic energy in the cave, the demons blocking his way were all fake, simulated by immortal magic.

Seeing the scene before him and combining it with An Rong's description, he understood the pattern of Yiguan.

If nothing unexpected happens, even if the participants defeat the monsters before them, these monsters, formed from arrays and immortal techniques, will continue to regenerate.

The correct way to pass through is to resist the attacks of the monsters while searching for suspicious places around you to determine where the exit of Yi Pass is. Misjudging will likely increase the difficulty of the test.

Although it's called a trial, it's actually part of training cultivators. If Wu Chang hadn't obtained the Eternal Light Research Institute, he could have used this test to hone his endurance.

But right now, he just wants to speedrun.

The illusions that Yi Guan used were ineffective against him. Since he saw through the setup, there were many ways to pass the level.

He approached the four demons, snapped his fingers, and unleashed his mystical domain.

He admitted that at the macro level of formations, the spiritual energy system possesses a grandeur that mysticism lacks, but in terms of small-scale formations and consciousness, mysticism still holds the advantage.

The moment the four monsters were imprisoned in the occult realm, the array within their bodies was broken, leaving them standing frozen in place, baring their fangs and claws.

Wu Chang bypassed the monsters, followed the array formation forward, and easily found the exit, walking out. "You have completed the third trial of Kaiyang Immortal Palace and obtained one layer of Kaiyang Blessing."

"You have received the blessing of perseverance. During the World Dungeon, your Stamina is increased by 5%, and the effect of demonic energy on you is reduced by 5%."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that this method of passing the test could actually be recognized and receive the blessing of perseverance.

Could it be that his decision to take the shortcut also meets the criteria for judging judgment?
Just as he was about to leave the third level, the demonic aura that was gradually dissipating behind him froze him in place.

This time, the test of Yi Guan used a reverse illusion technique, which was intended to confuse the test takers and make them believe that everything that had just happened was an illusion, just like the test of Yong Guan.

Neither demonic energy nor demonic creatures exist.

But in Wu Chang's eyes, the demonic energy in the test was real. Not only did it exist, but at this moment, under the transformation of some unknown power, it was integrated into the immortal technique that condensed the demons, turning into a special "immortal energy" that dissipated.

Wu Chang swallowed hard. Demonic energy could actually be converted into immortal energy used by immortals?

What he was seeing now was either a secret he had accidentally discovered, or a clue deliberately left behind by the master of the immortal mansion.
Unable to determine the situation, he tried to request help from outside the arena, but the Omniscient Crystal was still feigning death, ignoring his calls.

Wu Chang looked in the direction where the demonic energy dissipated, and couldn't help but smile.

This is indeed a world instance; it's quite interesting.

He left through the exit of Yiguan and continued forward. Following the path beneath his feet, he soon arrived at the end of the grassland.

The road ahead is blocked by a large mountain. To enter the mountain, you must break the large rock blocking the entrance to the cave.

This is the test of one's cultivation level, simple and straightforward.

With the bonus from the Master of Breakthrough, Wu Chang's strength attribute reaches 300 points even without using the Sea Giant transformation.

He didn't use any special abilities; he simply stood beside the large rock and pushed it aside.

The obstacles that test a cultivator's skill level are not made of ordinary stones. Even for an ordinary Grandmaster, it would be extremely difficult to break the large stones.

But this solid boulder was pushed aside by Wu Chang's brute force, revealing the path it was blocking behind.

What skills, what techniques? Since the trial is called "strength," why not just use brute force?

As the stone was pushed aside, a notification popped up in front of Wu Chang's eyes.

"You have completed the fourth round of trials at Kaiyang Immortal Palace and have obtained one layer of Kaiyang Blessing."

"You have received the blessing of power. During the duration of the world dungeon, your strength attribute is increased by 5%, and the influence of demonic energy on you is reduced by 5%."

Wu Chang entered the cave, and in a flash, he found himself in a large hall.

He glanced around; Eileen and Anrong hadn't finished their tests yet, so he was the first to come out.

The hall was very empty. In the previous rounds of trials, a dozen or twenty cultivators had tried to pass, but here, only two people remained in the hall.

One of them, dressed in a long robe and looking like a scholar, was pacing back and forth in the hall, gesturing with his right index and middle fingers together in front of him, as if he were calculating something.

He noticed Wu Chang's appearance, but only glanced at him for a moment before immediately looking away and continuing his calculations.

The other cultivator was dressed like a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person who travels through the martial arts world), dressed simply and even appeared unkempt, with a huge gourd the size of a watermelon hanging from his waist and a long spear stuck beside him.

He seemed to know Wu Chang, and bowed to Wu Chang before continuing to pour wine from the gourd.

Two oddballs.

As Wu Chang was sizing up the two, Eileen walked into the hall from the cave.

She stood quietly in place and used her spiritual power to tell Wu Chang that when she passed through Yiguan, she discovered that there was some kind of connection between demonic energy and immortal destiny, and took some time to confirm it.

After hearing this, Wu Chang also told Eileen about his discovery.

While the two were discussing through mental communication, An Rong, whose breathing was unsteady and somewhat rapid, also entered the hall from the cave.

Unlike their indifference towards Wu Chang and Eileen, the scholar and the drunkard immediately stopped what they were doing upon seeing An Rong.

The drunkard spoke first:

"Little Tai Sui, have you found a way to break through the fifth level this time you've returned?"

An Rong shook his head and said, "Senior Su, it wasn't me who broke through the fifth level this time, but Sect Leader Tang next to me."

The drunkard looked at Wu Chang with surprise and said:

"Don't try to fool me, little bastard. With Brother Tang's cultivation, it's no surprise that you can break through the first four trials. But the content of the fifth trial is clearly not conducive to the Tang Clan's fighting style."

An Rong said with a smile, "Whether it's true or not, Senior Su will know in a moment."

An Rong stopped talking to the drunkard and turned to Wu Chang to explain:

"In ancient times, people also called Kaiyang Star Wuqu Star, believing that Wuqu Star was in charge of the martial fortune of the world. The final gate of Kaiyang Immortal Palace corresponds to the character 'Wu' in Wuqu Star."

"The master of Kaiyang Immortal Palace left behind an avatar through immortal techniques. Only by defeating the avatar in martial arts can one pass the fifth round of trials."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow. He only needed to defeat the clone to pass the test, which seemed easy enough.

An Rong saw what Wu Chang was thinking and said:

"There is no shortcut to defeating the clone. Sect Leader Tang, come with me, and you will understand after seeing it once."

An Rong led Wu Chang and Eileen through the hall and headed towards the wooden pavilion in the distance.

The scholar and the drunkard exchanged a glance, put down what they were doing, and followed.

The moment the group entered the wooden building, Wu Chang felt a binding force coming from him, trying to suppress his strength.

He snorted coldly and used divine lightning to protect himself. Accompanied by slight crackling of electricity, the binding force did not take effect.

Trivial skills.

Before Wu Chang could finish gloating, a notification popped up in front of him.

"Players refused to suppress their strength, upholding the fairness of the test; therefore, the fifth round of the test could not be generated."

Wu Chang: ?
Where is the Martial Star? Why doesn't it uphold martial ethics? Since its skills are inferior and it can't suppress the strength of the test taker, it's just cheating by not starting the test, right?

An Rong explained from the side:

"Sect Leader Tang, the fifth round of trials has begun. All cultivators participating in the trials will have their cultivation suppressed to the Spirit Control Realm. They will not be able to participate in the trials due to this restriction."

Wu Chang sighed. When you're under someone's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head.

He and Eileen had no choice but to lower their defenses and accept the suppression of their strength by the binding force.

An Rong didn't say anything when he saw Wu Chang kill Zhu Yinhai, but the scholar and the drunkard on the side stared wide-eyed.

This was the first time they had ever seen a cultivator resist the suppression of immortal techniques. What surprised them even more was that not only Tang Wuchang could do it, but his wife could too. When did the two of them become so strong?
Oh no, could they really have taken away my destiny?

After a brief moment of shock, they steadied themselves, realizing that having strong cultivation was useless in the fifth round of trials. The Tang Clan excelled at long-range attacks and was adept at using various hidden weapons, but these tricks were useless against the projection of the Immortal Abode Master.

With Wu Chang and Eileen working together, the space in the center of the wooden building distorted, and the figure of a burly man wearing armor, with an indistinct face, holding a long spear, and with ribbons wrapped around his arms, slowly took shape in front of everyone.

It is the projection of the immortal abode master that An Rong spoke of.

The power of the Immortal Abode Master comes from the Martial Star. His appearance differs from the details of the Martial Star Lord wood carving, but their temperaments are similar. Just one glance is enough to tell that they are from the same school.

Wu Chang had personally witnessed the martial arts skills of the wooden sculpture of Wuqu Xingjun. The martial arts skills that had reached the pinnacle were enough to erase the huge difference in strength between the wooden sculpture projection and the Lord of the Deep Sea.

No wonder no one has been able to complete the fifth round of trials since the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion was discovered. Even if the master of the mansion has three or four tenths of the martial arts of the Wuqu Star Lord wood carving, it is still not something that ordinary cultivators can withstand. Moreover, the cultivators who are undergoing the trials have to have their cultivation levels forcibly suppressed.

The lower one's cultivation level, the lower the damage one can unleash, and the greater the impact of martial arts techniques.

For players participating in world dungeons, suppressing their cultivation level to participate in the trial almost eliminates their chances of success.

But for Wu Chang, this rule actually provided him with an opportunity to complete the test.

(End of this chapter)