To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

The vast sea of ​​clouds swayed in the wind, stretching all the way to the horizon.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the sea of ​​clouds, revealing its form.

That person was Gu Fan.

After failing to find a way out downwards, he turned back upwards, piercing through hundreds of layers of clouds, but still found nothing.

"Could it be that we've entered an illusionary formation?"

Gu Fan secretly doubted this in his heart, and with a blink of his eyes, his Myriad Manifestations Eye quietly activated.

Whether one is in an illusion array or not can be known at a glance with the All-Seeing Eye!

"No array hub? Something's not right! What's going on?"

Under the all-seeing eye, no array hub was visible around him, indicating that the sea of ​​clouds was not formed by an array. However, Gu Fan did see something, though. He saw countless pale golden lines floating in the void, outlining a picture that spread across the entire sea of ​​clouds.

The image was not a formation, but rather resembled hundreds of rivers and streams intersecting and weaving together into a chaotic, three-dimensional net.

What's even more peculiar is that these three-dimensional networks seem to be constantly changing, sometimes intertwining and merging, sometimes differentiating and evolving.

Gu Fan squinted at the three-dimensional image, his mind racing.

"The trials at the Hall of Two Elements are a selection process. The Yin-Yang spiritual energy of the previous trial cannot be directly resisted; it requires the principle of Yin-Yang harmony to resolve it. The same should be true here."

"These intricate patterns, constantly evolving and changing, perfectly embody the principles of Yin and Yang, their cycle of birth and death."

At this thought, a flash of inspiration struck Gu Fan, and he suddenly looked up at the sea of ​​clouds above.

"The sea of ​​clouds is not endless; rather, the space here is chaotic, forming a labyrinth. To escape, one must understand the principles of Yin and Yang, and comprehend the laws governing spatial change!"

This second test assesses one's understanding of the principles of Yin and Yang, their arising and ceasing.

"Such intricate patterns are not easy to decipher even for cultivators of the Tai Chi lineage."

"However, with the aid of my Myriad Manifestations Eye, even without understanding the principles of Yin and Yang, I can still see the patterns and deduce the underlying rules; it just takes much longer."

Seeing a glimmer of hope for escape, Gu Fan was overjoyed. He immediately sat in mid-air, placed his hands on his knees, and used his All-Seeing Eye to observe the chaotic scene.

A moment, then a moment, time passed.

Just then, Gu Fan heard a muffled sound.

Looking in the direction of the sound, one could see that the sea of ​​clouds above his head was becoming increasingly dark, with spiritual light wandering within it, and even a low rumble of thunder could be heard, but the sea of ​​clouds further away remained unchanged.

"Will this sea of ​​clouds bring thunder and rain? But why is it only the part above my head that's not right?"

Gu Fan frowned, steered the Sky-Piercing Shuttle and fled into the distance, only stopping after traveling a hundred miles, and then sat down cross-legged again.

Unexpectedly, less than half an hour later, thunder roared overhead again.

Gu Fan found it even stranger, but this time he did not leave immediately.

Yunhai's reaction was so strange that it piqued his curiosity.

"I'll see what happens!" Gu Fan muttered to himself, then stopped using the Myriad Manifestations Eye and looked up at the sea of ​​clouds.

The sea of ​​clouds gradually gathered into a gray-black color, with purple lightning occasionally flashing, as if a heavenly tribulation was about to descend.

Half an hour later, a bolt of lightning as thick as a wrist struck down fiercely.

Gu Fan raised an eyebrow and held the Cloud-Covering Umbrella above his head.

Purple lightning struck the Cloud-Covering Umbrella, bursting forth with countless lightning snakes that scattered in all directions. The dark golden clouds surrounding the Cloud-Covering Umbrella trembled, and the light and heat of the lightning rushed towards them.

After one bolt of lightning, another struck.

The first bolt of lightning was only as thick as a wrist, but the second bolt was as thick as a thigh, its power greatly increased.

Gu Fan slightly opened his eyes and immediately retreated far away, leaving a trail of afterimages.

The lightning did not pursue, but struck the spot, pierced through the sea of ​​clouds, and disappeared.

Gu Fan fled several miles away and looked back to see the calamity clouds slowly subsiding, the atmosphere of world destruction completely gone.

"This means... we're not allowed to linger in one place?"

Gu Fan pondered for a moment, then quickly realized what was going on.

This is the key point of the second trial. Not only do you need to comprehend the Dao of birth and death, but there is also a time limit, which greatly increases the difficulty!

"Tsk." Gu Fan gasped.

"Senior, were you able to withstand that tribulation lightning just now?" Gu Fan asked Chang Yuan.

Chang Yuan pondered for a moment and asked, "Once or twice is no problem, but... how long do you expect me to hold them off?"

With the blessing of the Divine Thunder Eye, he has a high resistance to lightning, and ordinary lightning tribulations cannot harm him.

Gu Fan pointed to the sea of ​​clouds and said, "Just now I had an epiphany. This sea of ​​clouds is constantly churning, just like the principle of yin and yang, birth and death, and rotation. As long as you understand the law within it, you can leave this place."

"Unfortunately, I am not a cultivator of the Yin-Yang lineage. Even with my comprehension, it would probably take me seven days to comprehend it."

"Seven days?" Chang Yuan exclaimed in shock, "Who needs seven days to undergo tribulation! Didn't you see? Each tribulation lightning bolt is stronger than the last. In seven days, we might even summon the Yin-Yang Divine Lightning, and we'd both be reduced to ashes!"

Gu Fan shrugged and said, "Then we'll just have to find somewhere to stay."

The first level's canyon has a stone platform that can block Yin and Yang spirits and retain opportunities. If the second level has a similar place that allows him to study in peace, that would be even better.

Gu Fan randomly chose a direction, flew away on his escape light, and spread his divine sense like a large net for more than twenty miles, searching for possible clues.

Unexpectedly, not long after he opened his divine sense, a gentle breeze suddenly rose in the sea of ​​clouds.

The breeze wasn't strong, only lifting the hem of Gu Fan's clothes, but when it touched his consciousness, it felt like being cut by a knife.

"hiss--"

Gu Fan gasped and quickly withdrew his divine sense.

"What's wrong? Did you find anything?" Chang Yuan asked, peeking out from his sleeve.

Gu Fan nodded and pointed ahead, saying, "There seems to be something over there. Senior, you can find out by using your divine sense."

"hiss--"

Chang Yuan probed out his divine sense with some skepticism, and the next moment he cried out in pain, cursing, "You cunning brat, you have no conscience! How dare you toy with me!"

Gu Fan suppressed the upturn of his lips and said in a low voice, "The wind was clearly not strong, but it felt like a knife cutting into my spiritual sense. I have never seen anything like it before. I thought that you were knowledgeable and had a way to deal with it, so I let you experience it."

"Pah, don't try to fool me!" Chang Yuan certainly didn't believe Gu Fan's explanation.

Gu Fan chuckled twice and asked apologetically, "Senior, can you identify the origin of that wind?"

Chang Yuan continued cursing for a while, and after a long time, he responded angrily: "I know a few kinds of wind that can suppress divine sense. Since this place is the inheritance site of the Taiji Dharma lineage, it is probably the Taixu Divine Wind."

At this point, Chang Yuan's serpentine eyes darted around twice, then he crept close to Gu Fan's ear and whispered, "Your lucky break has arrived!"

"What do you mean?" Gu Fan asked, intrigued upon hearing the word "opportunity."

"The Taixu Divine Wind restrains divine sense not by destroying it, but by purifying and refining it. If you can withstand the pain, your divine sense strength may be able to take another step forward." Chang Yuan's tone was full of temptation.

He had personally witnessed Gu Fan's pain in order to cultivate the "Star Evolution Divine Method," and knew how much Gu Fan valued the strength of his divine sense. He immediately revealed the news of the Great Void Divine Wind.

Gu Fan frowned upon hearing this: "Is this true?"

He strongly suspected that Chang Yuan was deliberately deceiving him in order to get revenge on him.

"Believe it or not!" Chang Yuan said, then tucked the words back into his sleeve.

He wasn't lying; the Taixu Divine Wind did indeed have the effect of condensing divine sense, but the process was comparable to being cut into a thousand pieces. Unless absolutely necessary, no cultivator would be willing to try it.

Gu Fan nodded with some skepticism.

However, he could not linger here. Even if he was willing to stop and temper his divine sense, the tribulation lightning in the sea of ​​clouds would not allow it, so he had no choice but to put the matter aside and continue exploring into the distance.

Gu Fan flew for half a day but still hadn't found a place to land. He was getting tired of the monotonous scenery of the sea of ​​clouds and couldn't help but frown.

Just then, he suddenly felt the sea of ​​clouds below churning violently, and immediately stopped to watch.

The next instant, a strange beast with four wings on its back, a bird's head and a human body, burst out of the clouds. Upon seeing Gu Fan, it let out a joyful scream, flapped its four wings, and brandished its sharp claws as it pounced on Gu Fan.

"A monster in the early stage of the third tier!"

Gu Fan was not surprised but rather pleased to sense the aura of the demonic beast, after all, this was the first living creature he had encountered in the sea of ​​clouds.

A flash of fire beneath his feet dodged the strange bird's attack. The Returning Origin Furnace flew out of his hand and slammed hard into the bird's back, instantly breaking off its two wings and twisting them into bizarre shapes.

The strange bird stumbled and steadied itself, its eyes bloodshot and filled with rage, before raising its head and letting out a sharp screech.

As the shriek spread, the sea of ​​clouds around Gu Fan churned again, and four more identical demonic beasts flew out in succession.

"A third-tier demonic beast, and it lives in groups?" Gu Fan's eyes gleamed.