Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

The python's gaping maw was only 0.01 inches away from Gou An's face.

Gou An could even smell the sour, foul odor emanating from the water python's throat, which made him feel nauseous.

The water python was then thrown back into the water by the remnant soul, and Gou An was pulled back to a higher place by the iron chains.

"Congratulations, you have passed this trial!" the remnant soul said.

Gou An swallowed hard, let out a long sigh, and felt as if he had just walked through the gates of hell.

"Could you please not conduct such dangerous trials next time?" Gou An couldn't help but complain to the remnant soul.

The remnant soul remained unmoved, and with a casual wave of its hand, returned to its original position in the ancient tower space.

As the passage to the eighth floor opened, Gou An was carried through it by chains.

"Next comes the trial of the eighth level!" the remnant soul announced.

Gou An couldn't help but complain, "Can't I take a break? From the first floor until now, haven't I had a moment to catch my breath?"

"How many hours has it been? This is exhausting!"

But the remnant soul only retorted with, "Didn't you just rest for an hour?"

"Just now?" Gou An was speechless with anger: "Which hour did you call 'rest' just now? I was almost scared to death, you know that?"

"I don't know!" The remnant soul simply shook its head, then said, "Only two levels left, hang in there, let's continue!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the scene on the eighth floor changed once again.

At the same time, the chains binding Gou An disappeared, and Gou An finally fell back to the ground.

But after looking around, I found that the surroundings had suddenly become hazy and the visibility was extremely low.

Moreover, he did not land on the ground, but on a small boat, floating on a boundless expanse of water.

"This is the trial of the eighth level!"

"Ferry across the Soul River!"

The voice of the remnant soul rang out, its exact location unknown.

"You only need to reach the other side to complete this level of the trial; there is no time limit this time!"

As soon as the remnant soul finished speaking, Gou An saw something faintly glowing in the distance of the gray mist.

It vaguely resembles a guiding lighthouse, and it's not far away.

Moreover, Gou An circulated his demonic power and found that it flowed smoothly, thus breaking through the previous layers of cultivation restrictions.

"Is it that simple?" Gou An was somewhat skeptical of the remnant soul's words.

"It's that simple, you can start anytime!" The remnant soul added, "However, I must remind you, this river is called the Soul River, it cannot bear a physical body!"

"The small boat beneath your feet is a special soul boat; only it can float on water!"

"If you abandon the Soul Boat, you will eventually drown here!"

At this point, the remnant soul's voice completely disappeared, and there was no further sound.

Gou An glanced at the calm, dark water and frowned slightly.

Soul River?

What is this?

Although he didn't quite understand it, Gou An didn't dwell on it too much.

They began rowing the boat in the direction indicated by the lighthouse.

Gou An initially thought the trial would be simple, but after some time, he realized something was amiss.

The lighthouse's flame didn't seem far away, but the distance remained unchanged despite the boat rocking for a long time.

It was as if the lighthouse was also moving in sync, keeping Gou An at the same distance, completely unable to get close.

"This is really weird!" Gou An cursed, preparing to try other directions.

But the result was the same!

Whether one chooses to stay away from the lighthouse or to stay close to it, it doesn't matter.

The lighthouse, missing, shone faintly in the gray fog, neither too close nor too far.

Gou An tried for a long time, but still nothing changed.

Furthermore, there is still no clue as to how to break the deadlock.

"Forget it! Forget it!"

Gou An felt a bit tired. Since there was no time limit for this round of trials, he might as well take a nap first.

So Gou An simply gave up, lay down on the wooden boat, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

The eight consecutive trials had left Gou An completely exhausted.

I had just closed my eyes when sleepiness overcame me, and I fell into a deep sleep.

Gou An didn't know how long he slept, and because he was so tired, he didn't even dream. He slept very peacefully.

Gou An was startled awake when he felt the wooden boat shake as if it had hit something.

岸？

Have we reached the shore?

Gou An got up and looked, only to find that it was not a shore, but an island.

Not too big, not too small!

The light that guides us to safety is on the mountaintop in the middle of the island.

"I came to see you, but you wouldn't see me. I was going to sleep, but you managed to seduce me here!"

Gou An looked at the lighthouse and couldn't help but complain. He then moored the wooden boat and tied it to the rocks on the shore with a rope, letting the boat be carried away by the waves.

Shaking his heavy head, Gou An went ashore, intending to look for clues and see if he could find any news from the other side.

Just then, Gou An suddenly heard a bear roar coming from the direction of the mountaintop lighthouse, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

However, the island was still shrouded in a thick gray fog, making it impossible to see very far. The surrounding area was full of barren forests, grass, thorns, and some small wild animals such as rats and toads wandering around nearby.

Gou An ignored all of this and prepared to go up the mountain first to see what the lighthouse was all about.

But as he walked along the road, Gou An felt that something was not right.

It felt like something was watching me from within the fog!

"Who?" Gou An shouted in the direction of the unease, but there was no response.

So he gathered a ball of demonic fire in his palm and threw it over.

But the demonic fire did not react at all after passing through the gray mist. There was no sound of burning or collision, as if it had been swallowed up by an invisible force.

"Is it just my imagination?" Gou An shook his head, thinking that he might be being too suspicious.

This is just a trial for me alone, how could there be anyone else?

It might just be a wild animal living on this island!

However, out of caution, Gou An still carefully made his way towards that location.

Although I didn't see anyone, I did find a cut mark on a tree, and when I touched it, it seemed to have been cut recently.

However, it's uncertain whether Gou An's presence was due to human intervention or the remains of an animal's claws.

Without thinking too much, Gou An continued up the mountain along the path, proceeding cautiously all the way. He even pulled a knife out of his mouth and covered the blade with demonic fire to provide light.

However, the effect was extremely weak. The mysterious black fog on the island seemed to absorb light, allowing people to see only a range of five or six meters around them. The farther away they went, the more blurry and murky the fog became.

Furthermore, the black fog had a strange smell, which greatly masked and affected Gou An's sense of smell, causing Gou An to be unable to smell anything.

"What a horrible place!"

Gou An continued up the mountain. Although the road was rugged, there were no obstacles, and he easily reached the top.

The so-called lighthouse on the mountaintop is a thick stone pillar, with a ball of fire naturally burning at the top, like a giant candle.

And there were many strange symbols carved on the stone pillar, like a spinning scissors!

Gou An became increasingly puzzled. He had thought there would be guidance at the mountaintop, but there was none.

Furthermore, Gou An noticed that there were many disordered footprints on the ground of the stone pillar, indicating that someone had been here before.

There were human footprints among them, as well as those of large wild animals!

There are indeed other people on the island!

Just as Gou An was wondering, a bear roar suddenly came.

Gou An turned his head and saw a huge black bear suddenly rush out of the gray fog and pounce on him.

"Damn it!" Gou An had no time to react and could only instinctively slash out with his sword.

The demonic fire wrapped around the blade transformed into a slashing aura, striking the black bear directly in the face.

The black bear, in pain, tumbled down the cliff, finally letting out a dull thud.