"Hehehehehehehehehe." The young woman — or rather, the Abyss Wraith King — laughed with a hollow, cavernous tone: "Never thought such a slip of the tongue would be noticed by you. Hehehe. But you think yourself very clever, don't you, Yuan Tianzhu?"
'Interesting… I never told it my name. How does he know it? Could it be because it's the guardian of the Dao Trial? Or is it something else?'
Yuan Tianzhu's brows rose slightly.
He then shook his head.
"No. I don't consider myself smart. Just attentive. Hm, that's the advantage of being an introvert. You listen more and talk less, and by listening, you learn more about people. Not to mention that, when people talk, they unintentionally reveal deeper things about themselves.
"Of course, being an introvert has its disadvantages too… like disliking groups and all. Ah, how hard it was to make friends in school. If not for an extrovert adopting me, I don't even know if I would've had any friends…"
Yuan Tianzhu went on babbling nonsense while running a hand through his hair.
The Abyss Wraith remained still, simply watching the insolent human before it with soulless and twisted eyes.
'He's never going to shut up, is he?'
After a while listening to Yuan Tianzhu's drivel, the Abyss Wraith King finally grew tired and let out a frigid breath: "Shut up, please."
Yuan Tianzhu's face fell.
"Ah, right… back to the previous topic… I said that on purpose."
"Why?"
Yuan Tianzhu asked, his gaze confused and intrigued.
"Hehehe… it's a clue for the true participants of the Trial. If they can't even catch such a detail, they're not worthy of passing the Trial."
Yuan Tianzhu's eyes narrowed.
"Don't tell me…"
The wind howled through the black forest, the branches of mummified trees dancing. Yuan Tianzhu shivered from the cold, and unintentionally turned his gaze toward Tie Xin—only to realize he had vanished without a single trace, as if he never existed in this haunted, vile world.
"That's right," the Abyss Wraith King chuckled, "The ragged old man, his grandson, Tie Xin, and of course, me — the young woman — none of them exist."
BOOM.
A deafening blast echoed in Yuan Tianzhu's ears.
He instinctively stepped back.
He couldn't believe what he had heard.
Of all the possibilities he'd considered, none came close to this.
They don't exist? What does that even mean?
Yuan Tianzhu's feet tingled as he stared at the Abyss Wraith King.
"Shocking, isn't it? Hehehe. Too bad the other participants didn't have the luck to get this privilege. Hehehe… they were killed before even understanding the hidden circumstances of their reality."
The Abyss Wraith began to walk out of the red quicksand effortlessly. Its slender — yet oddly disproportionate — silhouette emerged unscathed, like a fish leaping from a crystal-clear blue ocean: intact, safe, and free.
"And the Dao Trial rules?!"
Yuan Tianzhu roared, clenching his fists.
His eyes, transparent blue and clear like ocean mirages.
"Are you stupid? Of course they were lies I implanted in their minds so they could explain it to the true participants of the Dao Trial. But even they were disappointing. None of them caught the clues I left behind. Heheh. If they can't even do that… why should they pass the Trial? Hehehe. Bunch of fools."
So that was it… That's why he had told Tie Xin he lived among fakes. But in truth, he himself was also fake — likely creations of the Abyss Wraith King, like the other Abyss Wraiths.
Everything they lived through… the despair, the hope, the anguish, the futile joy… it was all to make the atmosphere of the Dao Trial more complete, more human. What a shame… they never existed. Just mere puppets for the Abyss Wraith King to toy with it.
'So it was all a lie? And the Trial? How do we pass it? And why am I here…?'
Yuan Tianzhu pushed his mind into overdrive, but couldn't reach any plausible conclusion for the situation he was in. Everything felt vague, as if a mist had settled in his mind.
He scrutinized the Abyss Wraith King in search of answers.
Maybe it wouldn't answer. Maybe it would.
Even if not, he had to find a way out of this nightmare.
The Abyss Wraith King's eyes narrowed slightly as it took several steps toward Yuan Tianzhu. Only the sound of its footfalls echoed through the Black Forest. The sound of wind and rustling branches had vanished completely. Each step it took resounded thunderously in Yuan Tianzhu's heart — as if something were trampling over him.
Its body, half-human and half-monster, began to transform.
Its size increased to two meters tall. The human part of its body began to bubble, as if something were about to burst forth. In the next instant, its jade-like, smooth skin exploded with a sickening pop, blood spurting into the air.
The blood splattered to the ground and was instantly absorbed, leaving no trace behind.
When Yuan Tianzhu looked up again, he saw only a ten-meter tall monster, massive like a small mountain, in the form of a reptile, with large, strong limbs and bulging blue veins crawling beneath its skin.
Its body was strangely semi-transparent — sometimes real, sometimes unreal — casting a spectral glow throughout the Black Forest.
Yuan Tianzhu observed the scene calmly, his heart already dead.
Whether he got answers to his questions didn't matter anymore.
What mattered now was: how to survive this colossal abomination standing before him?
"Hehehehe… The Trial? How to pass it? Hahahahahahahahah!"
Instead of answering, the Abyss Wraith King burst into a fit of laughter, as if it had just heard the joke of the century.
Then, abruptly stopping, it said in a vile and venomous tone:
"Jump into my mouth and you'll complete the Trial."
When the Abyss Wraith King saw Yuan Tianzhu remain silent, it couldn't help but sneer, a monstrous grin forming on its grotesque face.
"…What? You won't do it? Didn't you want to pass the Trial? Hehehehe."
Yuan Tianzhu looked down, then around him: the mummified trees, the mountain ranges behind him — which he once thought held the key to completing the Trial.
He burned every element into his mind.
Only then did he glare at the Abyss Wraith King — his eyes cold as winter, his stance straight and unshaken like a sword ready to be sheathed.
"Go fuck yourself."
The Abyss Wraith was stunned for a second. Then burst into malevolent laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Without warning, its mouth descended upon Yuan Tianzhu's head, swallowing him in a frenzy. Yuan Tianzhu didn't even have time to scream or panic. It all happened in the blink of an eye. He saw a fleeting mirage before everything turned as black as the void.
With a single bite, Yuan Tianzhu's body was completely devoured by the Abyss Wraith King. The latter chewed him with twisted care, blood dripping from his enormous maw.
After consuming Yuan Tianzhu, it stared at the spot where the young man once stood and said — to itself, or perhaps to Yuan Tianzhu:
"Pay heed… Those blue eyes of yours… will one day take everything from you. Till that day, proceed with caution, my **********."
…
"Where… am I…?"
Yuan Tianzhu awoke in a completely darkened place.
He couldn't feel his limbs.
He only knew he was conscious.
That was when he heard a metallic voice echoing inside him:
[You have failed the Dao Trial.]
[Proceeding with punishment.]
[Punishment: 100,000 years of soul torture.]
[100,000 years of physical torture.]
[Additional 500,000 years of torture in the final floor of Hell.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
[Interference detected.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
[Interference too strong.]
[Proceeding with emergency safety protocol.]
[Emergency protocol failed.]
[Interference too strong.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
[Ding! Error 403.]
…..
Failed the Trial? Error 403? Interference? Emergency protocol? Punishment?…
Yuan Tianzhu had no idea what was happening, but none of it sounded good. He tried to resist, but his vision faded, the sounds vanishing into a distant roar.
Then, the darkness embraced him like a mother…
…
Gasp!
Yuan Tianzhu awoke with a jolt, gasping for air. He lay on a cold, hard surface. The smell of old parchment and dust wafted into his nostrils.
He sat up, groaning at the sudden movement — strangely painful. Yuan Tianzhu looked around, wide-eyed with confusion as he took in his surroundings.
He was in a vast, dimly lit hall, filled with towering shelves that seemed to stretch on forever. Books and scrolls packed every inch of the space.
The place had a timeless, otherworldly feel — as if it had existed for ages untold.
"Where the hell am I?"
Yuan Tianzhu rubbed his temples. The last thing he remembered was being eaten by the Abyss Wraith King… that metallic voice…
Was he dead? Or was it all just some bizarre nightmare?
He struggled to get to his feet.
The place was massive — he couldn't see its end. In a far-off corner, he noticed a large, ornate desk at the end of the corridor. Hanging above it was a large, weathered plaque, with letters carved in elegant script:
"Primal Origin Library."