My blind date failed, so I had to ascend the throne and become emperor.

Chapter 186 Back to the Past
What kind of test is the third stage?

Not only Zhou Ping was curious, but the other Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were also speculating.

To be honest, the first two stages are not too difficult for someone at the Nascent Soul Realm level. Even if you encounter those powerful golden creatures, you can kill them with some effort. So the most difficult stage should be the third stage.

After all, it was an opportunity arranged by someone at the near-immortal level; it was absolutely impossible to obtain it without giving something in return.

The cultivators were all well aware of this.

While Zhou Ping and the others rested, those who had not yet comprehended the strange pattern technique began their second stage of testing.

Soon.

More than 80% of the Golden Core cultivators perished in the battles between those golden creatures, which made Zhou Ping secretly gasp. Although these cultivators who had not comprehended the cultivation technique lacked comprehension and talent, and most of them were just ordinary Golden Core cultivators, they had at least managed to cultivate to the Golden Core level, which was a rare feat for cultivators, taking hundreds of years to achieve.

They perished here.

Like mowing grass.

It's truly heartbreaking.

To know.

Outside, any Golden Core cultivator could be a guest of honor in any powerful organization. In cultivation places like Huangling Mountain, the highest cultivation level was only Golden Core.

It can only be said that the path of cultivation is full of hardships.

Unless you are exceptionally talented and only need to practice diligently, you may perish if you go out to gain experience and seek opportunities. No one can guarantee that they can cultivate to the peak safely.

Therefore, those who can become primordial spirits, or even return to the void, or become near-immortal level experts, are all driven by luck and strength.

Zhou Ping sighed.

But those who survived, including those in the Nascent Soul stage and those in the Primordial Spirit stage, were completely unconcerned. For them, this place of opportunity was a place where they were prepared to perish, after all, it was a great opportunity at the level of near-immortals, and once obtained, it would be like ascending to heaven!
"Zhou Ping."

"The first stage tests one's comprehension and talent, the second stage tests one's own strength, and I estimate that the third stage will likely be about one's state of mind. To become an immortal, all three aspects are indispensable, but your state of mind is relatively poor, so you must be very careful!"

As we were about to begin the third phase.

Xiao Ding reminded.

At the same time.

Phoenix Fairy also reminded Jiang Xia that, like Zhou Ping, Jiang Xia had only been cultivating for a few years, which was less than many Qi Refining cultivators.

Zhou Ping's expression turned serious.

If it's truly a state of mind, then I am indeed in trouble.

Time passed little by little.

We took a three-month break.

Boom.

The entire magnificent and spacious palace suddenly trembled, and then the surrounding walls suddenly cracked open, revealing rooms one after another.

The voice of a near-immortal level expert followed, “Each cultivator can choose a room to undergo the third stage of the test. As long as they successfully pass through it, they will be able to reach the place of inheritance and obtain the fruits of my life’s work.”

Listen to this.

Those at the Nascent Soul Realm all became envious.

Zhou Ping couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. If he could achieve near-immortal level results, he wouldn't need to fear the Star River Sect at all, and he could cultivate freely in the future.

soon.

The remaining hundred or so cultivators each selected a room.

There's really not much to choose from.

Zhou Ping's deduction using the "Stealing Heaven Technique" yielded no results, so he randomly chose a room.

After entering the room.

The environment suddenly changed.

He unexpectedly appeared in Jiangcheng, a city he knew so well on Earth. The streets were bustling with traffic and pedestrians were lively. At this moment, the autumn wind was bleak, and leaves were falling from the green trees on both sides of the road.

I looked at the reflections of people in the car windows on the street.

Zhou Ping was stunned.

With hair in his fifties, a plump figure and face, and no light in his eyes, he looked dazed and confused... This was how he was before he cultivated himself.

"Illusion?"

Almost instantly.

He then realized that it was all an illusion.

But then he was surprised. How could he have seen through the illusion set up by a near-immortal level expert so easily? Or was it all a deliberate scheme? *Buzzing*
The phone vibrated.

He took out his phone from his pocket, glanced at it, and saw a message from his aunt: "How did the blind date go?"

Zhou Ping was stunned for a moment, then remembered that he had just finished a blind date. The other party thought he was not capable enough and his conditions were too ordinary. They had arranged to meet at a restaurant, but the other party left shortly after they sat down.

Long-lost memories flooded back like a tide.

Since he began his cultivation, he felt he hadn't experienced being disliked like this in a long time. At home, he had the meticulous care and service of Chen Xue and Tian Xiaoqin, and his bed was always attentive to his every need, doing whatever he asked for. Outside, he had Jiang Xia by his side at all times, and even on a flight, he would be approached by flight attendants.

And now...

It seems that everything before was just my imagination.

No reply.

He stared blankly at his reflection in the car window, reached out and rubbed his face. The feel of his skin and everything around him was so real.

Zhuang Zhou dreamed of butterflies.

It's still Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly.

At this moment, Zhou Ping was somewhat bewildered, but he quickly shook his head and called out to the little cauldron in his mind, but there was no response. He immediately became certain that this was an illusion.

Next.

He returned to his home, an apartment in this complex, 120 square meters. Even after he moved to a villa in the Taiyuan complex, he never forgot the house where he had lived for so long.

Until noon.

His supervisor called and told him to come back to the company immediately to handle some matters.

Zhou Ping resigned without even thinking about it.

"Are you crazy? Don't you want to pay your car loan and mortgage? Get your ass back here right now!"

"If you're late, you can forget about getting perfect attendance this month."

"The supervisor said impatiently."

Zhou Ping smiled calmly, even if these experiences were incredibly realistic, they were still just illusions.

that's it.

He resigned.

When his aunt found out, she asked his uncle to arrange a job for him, but he could only refuse, saying that he was tired and planned to go out for a walk to relax.

When he boarded the plane and encountered a flight attendant, he did not initiate a conversation.

Traveling back and forth across the country.

half year later.

The balance in my card can't hold out any longer.

Zhou Ping frowned. This illusion was lasting far too long. If it continued like this, wouldn't he be trapped forever...?

and many more.

He suddenly realized that this might be the real test of the illusion.

Normally.

Once you realize you're in a hallucination, your subconscious will quickly clear up.

But six months have passed.

He showed no signs of becoming lucid.

Obviously.

Knowing it is useless; we must find a way to leave this illusion.

"Xiao Ding said that the third stage is likely to be a test of mindset. I had previously resigned voluntarily, broken away from my previous lifestyle, and changed my work-spotting-dating pattern. Could this be a change in mindset?"

Zhou Ping was in deep thought.

As a cultivator who has reached the pinnacle of the Golden Core realm and possesses numerous powerful treasures and supernatural abilities such as the Eight Treasures Seven-Colored Fan and Crimson Ice Blue Flame, how could he possibly revert to his former habits?

But this illusion transported him back to his past.

He had no cultivation or strength whatsoever; he was just an ordinary, mediocre person in the past.

"Could it be that this hurdle is about staying true to your original aspirations in order to achieve your goals?"

(End of this chapter)