40: Second Floor – The Garden of Temptation
When Lin Tian stepped onto the second floor of the Trial of Falling Skies, the change was so jarring it forced him to pause.
Gone was the harsh stone and darkness of the first level.
He now stood beneath the azure sky of an endless garden.
A soft wind moved through towering lotus trees, each with blossoms glowing faintly in pink, purple, and pale blue. The air smelled sweet—too sweet. Like honey and jasmine combined. The ground beneath his feet was moss-covered marble, soft as silk, yet unnaturally warm.
Everything around him whispered one thing.
Comfort.
Peace.
Desire.
He frowned.
This place was dangerous.
Not because it threatened his life—but because it soothed the will.
He took a step forward.
The path twisted gently, beckoning with no urgency. Flowers parted at his presence. Small streams gurgled across the edges of the pathway, each running clear and cold beside glowing fish.
But it was the voice that made him freeze.
"Lin Tian."
He turned.
And there she was.
Yue Qingyan, standing a few paces behind him. Her hair unbound, her robes softer than he remembered, her violet eyes no longer guarded. She didn't radiate pressure or distance. She looked—content.
Safe.
"Why do you always run off?" she asked, stepping forward with a gentle smile.
His expression tightened.
She reached up, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulder. "You don't need to fight anymore. You've already earned everything. Just stay."
He backed away. "You're not real."
She tilted her head. "Does that matter? I feel real. I speak like her. I think like her. Don't you want this?"
"No," Lin Tian said softly.
Then came the second figure.
Su Meiyu.
She appeared as if stepping out of mist—laughing, relaxed, one hand on her hip, her fox tails gently flicking behind her.
"Tsk. Don't be so cold," she said, circling him. "You've fought so hard. Take your reward."
A third presence formed.
Jiang Yuyan. Calm. Regal. Her hands behind her back, her expression neutral. But her eyes warm.
"We are not your enemies," she said.
Lin Tian stood perfectly still.
Then the voice of the trial echoed in the sky.
"Second Floor: The Garden of Temptation. Do not resist what is given. To pass, one must either accept… or walk through without indulgence."
The three women surrounded him now.
Not threatening. Not seductive. Just inviting.
They represented more than affection.
They represented victory.
Acknowledgment.
Everything he had always reached for.
Su Meiyu stepped forward, cupping his chin.
"You've already won. Why struggle? Just enjoy it."
Yue Qingyan came behind him, her voice soft. "You're not weak for wanting this. You're human."
Jiang Yuyan stood before him, eyes locked to his. "What more do you need to prove? Let go of the climb."
Their hands reached for him—gentle, warm, comforting.
But Lin Tian closed his eyes.
And then, he laughed.
The sound wasn't bitter. It was light. Free.
He opened his eyes and smiled.
"You three," he said, "are the closest things I've ever come to distractions worth chasing."
They blinked.
"But if I settle here… then what I've built with the real you would mean nothing."
He stepped back from them all.
And as he did, the garden flickered.
Their images trembled. A crack appeared in the sky.
Lin Tian continued.
"You offer love, validation, warmth. All the things I never had."
He bowed his head briefly.
"But the real you—the women I know—you would never ask me to stop climbing."
He took another step.
"Yue Qingyan would watch from the peak and wait for me to catch up. Su Meiyu would laugh and race me to the top. Jiang Yuyan would test the height of the heavens themselves and ask if I could keep pace."
The garden groaned.
Petals began falling from the sky. The rivers dried up.
The false women stepped back, their eyes no longer warm—but cold, angry, and vanishing.
"You know," Lin Tian said, eyes sharp now, "if the trial wanted to tempt me… it should've known that I've already tasted what's real."
With one final step forward, the entire garden shattered into light.
The illusion collapsed.
And the voice echoed once more.
"Temptation resisted. Floor passed."
Azure Moon Sect – Council Pavilion
Su Meiyu stood at the edge of the stone platform facing the elders again. But this time, she hadn't come alone.
She stood with two disciples behind her—rising stars of the inner sect, both known for loyalty to her.
They carried sealed scrolls.
Elder Shen looked unimpressed.
"What is this, Elder Su? Another speech?"
She smiled coldly. "This is documentation."
"Of what?"
"Of council corruption."
Gasps rippled. The other elders stirred.
She waved to the disciples, who stepped forward and handed the scrolls to the neutral recordkeeper standing off to the side.
"These scrolls contain evidence of recent attempts to tamper with the Trial of Falling Skies."
Shen froze.
Su Meiyu's smile widened. "I believe one of you authorized it. Perhaps more."
"This is slander," Shen growled.
"Is it?" she asked. "Because I already sent copies to Jiang Yuyan."
That made them all still.
"Whether you approve of Lin Tian or not, the Trial is sacred. The founders swore it would never be used as a tool. If you're willing to break that pact—"
"Enough!" Shen snapped, standing.
But his voice was drowned by another.
"Continue, Elder Su," said Sect Mistress Yue Qingyan, stepping onto the dais behind them all.
The entire room stood at attention.
Shen's face went pale.
Su Meiyu bowed politely. "Of course."
Yue Qingyan sat down calmly. "And summon the disciplinary committee. If even one line of that scroll proves true… I will remove them myself."
Su Meiyu said nothing.
But in her heart, she smiled.
Elsewhere – Crimson Pavilion
Jiang Yuyan stood at the edge of a quiet pond, her eyes closed. She had received the scrolls earlier that morning and confirmed the seals.
She had also sent two of her personal guards to follow Shen's former array master.
What she discovered?
Worse than she expected.
A tampering attempt that could've severed Lin Tian's spirit sea if triggered at the wrong moment.
She opened her eyes.
"I gave them a chance to back away quietly," she whispered. "They chose arrogance instead."
She turned to her attendant.
"Send word to Lin Tian's faction. Quietly. Prepare for reformation."
"Of the council?" the attendant asked.
"No," she said.
"Of the sect."
Trial Realm – Transition Chamber
Lin Tian stepped through the veil separating floors two and three, finding himself in a small chamber filled with pulsing light.
There were no illusions. No enemies.
Only a stone pedestal, and atop it, a scroll.
He stepped forward.
The scroll opened at his touch, revealing a single line.
"The third floor is not about what you know… but what you've forgotten."
He frowned.
And then the floor beneath him vanished.
End of Chapter 40