The next day, the contestants were led not to the arena… but downward.
Through winding tunnels, sealed doors, and damp stone, they descended into a natural underground chamber etched in glowing spiritual patterns.
At its center stood the Mirror Spiral Array.
An ancient formation once used to train Ironwood's core elders. It was sealed for over a century, due to the risks.
Today, it would be used again.
The Trial
Elder Hua stepped forward, voice calm.
"You will each enter the array one at a time. It will project your greatest flaw… and your greatest truth. Defeat both, and emerge. Fail, and remain inside until you are dragged out."
She paused.
"No observer may interfere. No external aid will help you. This is not a test of cultivation—but of self."
The other disciples looked uneasy.
Fang Xi merely stepped forward when called.
The floor opened.
He dropped.
Inside the Spiral
At first, there was nothing.
Then…
Flames.
Screams.
A burning temple. Disciples torn in half. Sky choked with ash.
And above them all — himself, draped in black and red, laughing as he cut down elders and children alike.
The Heavenly Demon.
He stood atop a pyre made of bones and called his own name—
"Fang Xi!"
The Confrontation
The illusion turned to face him.
"Still hiding behind reincarnation? Still pretending to be weak?"
Fang Xi didn't flinch.
"I'm not pretending," he said calmly. "I am weak. That's why I'll win."
The echo charged him, sword drawn in flame.
But Fang Xi didn't dodge.
Instead, he summoned the memory of the Singing Cave, channeled the rune—
—and the mark on his wrist pulsed, turning silver-blue.
The illusion shuddered.
Slowed.
This one is mine, he thought. A past I created. A shadow I rule.
He stepped into the blow, caught the blade, and whispered:
"Submit."
The illusion crumbled into dust.
And the Truth
The scene shifted.
Now he stood in a quiet room.
A woman was weeping.
She looked up—and her eyes were his.
Younger. Innocent. Desperate.
"Please," she whispered. "Stop hurting people."
It was his mother.
From the life before.
Before he became the Heavenly Demon.
My greatest truth is not hatred, he realized.
It's the memory of what I could have been—if I hadn't chosen the path of power.
He turned away.
And walked out of the spiral.
Judges' Reactions
Elder Hua opened her eyes as Fang Xi emerged.
Only ten breaths had passed.
"Unshaken," she whispered. "Dangerous."
Wei Lian glanced at him as he returned.
"You weren't supposed to survive that fast," she murmured.
"I had help," he replied, tapping his wrist lightly.
No one else noticed.
But the robed guest from yesterday had returned.
And this time, he was smiling.