Darkness stretched endlessly.
Lin Sheng stood within the vast sea of his own consciousness, his eyes fixed upon the strange horned creature before him.
Although this was his first time seeing such a being with his own eyes...
It was not the first time he had learned of their existence.
The Chip rapidly searched through every historical record it had collected over the years.
---
•[Historical Records Cross-Referencing...
Searching Ancient Archives...
Searching Seven Star Palace Records...
Searching Heaven Seal Gate Scriptures...
Results Compiled.]•
---
Streams of information flowed across Lin Sheng's mind.
According to the countless historical records analyzed by the Chip, this continent had suffered repeated invasions throughout its long history.
No one knew where the invaders originated.
Every surviving record described only a common phenomenon.
Space itself would suddenly split apart.
Gigantic rifts would appear across heaven and earth.
From those rifts...
Countless demons would emerge.
Wave after wave.
Like an endless tide.
Wherever they passed, demonic qi contaminated the surrounding spiritual energy.
Spirit veins became corrupted.
Mountains withered.
Countless cultivators died.
Entire kingdoms vanished overnight.
According to the ancient records, the world these demons came from had never been successfully entered.
The rifts connected two distant worlds only temporarily.
Once the distance between the two worlds naturally widened again, the spatial passage would collapse on its own.
That was why even the strongest cultivators rarely attempted to destroy them directly.
Doing so was nearly impossible.
The only option was to survive until the worlds separated once more.
Those ancient invasions had also left countless permanent scars upon cultivation civilization.
Many scholars believed that the Nascent Soul Heart Demon Tribulation originated from the lingering influence of those invasions.
Some even traced the origins of modern demonic cultivation techniques back to knowledge left behind by the demons.
Ironically...
Even demonic cultivators hunted demons.
Absorbing fragments of a true demon could refine one's demonic cultivation and improve future potential.
Thus, whenever a demon appeared...
Every faction would attempt to destroy it.
Not out of righteousness.
But because demons themselves were priceless treasures.
Lin Sheng slowly narrowed his eyes.
The creature before him...
Did not resemble any recorded type.
Either the historical records were incomplete...
Or this demon belonged to a particularly rare lineage.
The horned creature suddenly smiled.
An indescribably cold pressure descended upon Lin Sheng's consciousness.
The surrounding darkness trembled.
In a hoarse voice, the demon finally spoke.
"So..."
"A human capable of resisting my presence."
Its crimson eyes examined Lin Sheng with obvious interest.
"Interesting."
"Very interesting."
It slowly circled him.
"I infected this insignificant inheritance trial centuries ago."
"It has been... quite enjoyable."
"One genius after another entered."
"Each believing themselves extraordinary."
"Each becoming nourishment."
The demon licked its lips.
"Their souls were delicious."
Its smile widened.
"And now..."
"It is your turn."
Lin Sheng remained silent.
Instead, he quietly analyzed every word.
So...
This wasn't originally part of the inheritance.
The demon had somehow invaded the trial itself.
No wonder the third trial possessed only a twenty-five percent survival rate.
Many of those failures...
Likely hadn't failed the trial or maybe this may be the reason why the Heaven Seal Gate fell.
They had simply become food or became possessed.
Thinking of this, a chill ran down Lin Sheng's spine; he needed to end this now.
The demon suddenly stopped walking.
Its body erupted with black flames.
Boom!
Without warning, it raised one claw.
A sphere of dark demonic fire condensed instantly before shooting toward Lin Sheng.
The attack was unbelievably fast.
Within the Sea of Consciousness, distance seemed meaningless.
The fire struck his chest almost immediately.
Boom!
An explosion echoed throughout the mental world.
Lin Sheng's body was blasted backward.
Black flames rapidly spread across him.
The demonic fire attempted to devour his consciousness itself.
The demon folded its arms.
A cruel smile appeared.
"This flame..."
"Has consumed every challenger before you."
"It burns not flesh..."
"But the soul."
It quietly waited.
Normally...
The next thing it would hear...
Would be screams.
Agonized cries.
The desperate resistance of another doomed cultivator.
Instead...
Silence.
Several breaths passed.
Still...
Nothing.
The demon frowned.
Then slowly looked toward the burning flames.
Within the black fire...
A figure calmly stood.
Lin Sheng dusted nonexistent ash from his robes.
His expression remained completely indifferent.
He looked almost amused.
"You really shouldn't..."
"...enter another person's Sea of Consciousness so carelessly."
The demon's pupils immediately contracted.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The black flames surrounding Lin Sheng suddenly began shrinking.
No...
They were being consumed.
Pure white flames emerged from within.
At first they resembled tiny sparks.
Then...
They rapidly expanded.
The entire Sea of Consciousness brightened.
The demon instinctively stepped backward.
"What..."
"...is that?"
Lin Sheng slowly raised his head.
Behind him...
A colossal celestial body gradually materialized.
Brilliant white.
Radiating terrifying heat.
Its immense gravitational presence seemed capable of crushing everything within the mental world.
It resembled a miniature star.
Yet infinitely denser.
The White Dwarf.
The visualization born from Lin Sheng's White Dwarf Contemplation Method.
Within the physical world...
Manifesting even a trace of its true power remained extraordinarily difficult.
But here...
Inside his own consciousness...
It was different.
This place was its domain.
The White Dwarf was not merely an illusion.
It represented the very foundation of Lin Sheng's Mental Realm.
The source of his spiritual will.
The core around which every thought revolved.
Its existence suppressed all foreign intrusions.
The white flames surrounding Lin Sheng suddenly erupted.
Boom!
An ocean of pure white fire swept across the mental world.
The demon's confident expression vanished instantly.
Its face twisted into panic.
"No!"
"This is impossible!"
It desperately released torrents of demonic qi.
Black flames collided against the white inferno.
For only an instant.
Then...
They disappeared completely.
Like snow beneath the midday sun.
The White Dwarf Flames advanced without pause.
The demon finally screamed.
"No—!"
Its body rapidly dissolved.
Its horns melted.
Its claws turned to ash.
Even its soul itself began disintegrating.
The white flames showed no mercy.
Within moments...
Nothing remained.
The screams stopped abruptly.
Silence returned to the Sea of Consciousness.
Only the enormous White Dwarf continued floating peacefully behind Lin Sheng.
He quietly watched the last traces of demonic qi disappear. Such power within ones Sea of Consciousness; I wonder if reaching the next realm will materialise this.
"So..."
"This is the true purpose of the third trial."
Not merely to test Spiritual Power.
But to determine whether one possessed the mental foundation necessary to survive such an encounter.
If not...
They would simply become another victim.
Lin Sheng slowly dispersed the White Dwarf manifestation.
The endless darkness gradually faded.
The inheritance trial...
Had finally come to an end.