The world shifted around Lin Tian as he stepped into the fourth floor of the Trial of Falling Skies. The glow of the portal faded behind him, replaced by an eerie silence that stretched endlessly into the void. He felt neither ground beneath his feet nor air around him—only a vast, colorless emptiness that pressed against his senses like a thick fog.
Then the voice came. Deep, resonant, calm.
"Fourth Trial: The Illusion of Fate. You may see what could be. You may see what should be. Will you accept your fate... or make your own?"
A faint light sparked in the distance, small and trembling like the flame of a single candle. As Lin Tian focused on it, the light expanded and grew into a shape—a doorway, arched and ancient, formed from gleaming jade. Strange markings covered its surface, glowing softly.
Without hesitation, Lin Tian walked toward it. The silence remained absolute, broken only by the sound of his own steps echoing faintly against nothingness.
As he passed through the doorway, the world beyond unfolded like pages in an ancient scroll.
He was no longer standing in the void.
Instead, he found himself in the heart of Azure Moon Sect.
But it was not the sect as he knew it.
The towers rose higher, the walls shone with divine radiance, and thousands of disciples moved about in perfect order, all dressed in luxurious silken robes embroidered with golden thread. Strange symbols of authority hung from their waists—tokens he had never seen before.
A familiar figure approached.
Yue Qingyan.
But she was different.
Her hair was bound in a high ceremonial crown, her robe glittered with heavenly sigils, and her eyes burned with pride. She smiled when she saw him.
"Supreme Elder Lin Tian," she greeted, bowing her head slightly. "You grace the sect with your presence."
Lin Tian frowned.
"Supreme Elder?"
She laughed softly.
"You lead the Inner Council now. Your cultivation has surpassed the Heaven Ascension Realm. You have become the sect's foundation... and its ruler."
As if on cue, Su Meiyu appeared beside her, dressed in the crimson battle robe of the War Matron. Her nine fox tails waved gracefully behind her, and her smirk was the same as always.
"You've tamed every elder, crushed every rival, and silenced every critic," she said smoothly. "You've built this paradise with your own hands."
Jiang Yuyan came last, her dark robes trailing like midnight mist, her gaze cool and unreadable. But when she spoke, her voice was softer than Lin Tian expected.
"You are no longer a mere cultivator," she murmured. "You are destiny itself. All of this... because you followed the path the Heavens set before you."
Lin Tian stood silently.
It was beautiful. Perfect. Everything he had wanted. Power, respect, love, control. The sect's fate shaped entirely by his hands.
But something was wrong.
No tension.
No struggle.
No risk.
It was... too easy.
The wind shifted.
A faint sound echoed from behind him.
He turned.
And gasped.
A second doorway stood at the far end of the grand courtyard.
Through it, he saw another version of Azure Moon Sect.
One scarred by war.
The towers cracked and crumbling.
The disciples weary and wounded, dressed in battered armor.
And at the center of the courtyard... he stood.
Not as a supreme elder or ruler.
But as a warrior.
His robe torn, blood staining his sleeves, his blade gleaming with power. His eyes burned—not with comfort or satisfaction—but with wild, fierce determination.
Facing him in this vision were foes unlike any he had seen. Beings of shadow and flame. Enemy sects. Forgotten gods. Calamities yet to descend.
Yet he stood. Alone. Laughing.
Free.
The voice returned.
"This is the path of struggle. Of risk. Of danger. A life where you may lose everything. But here... you are your own master."
The two visions hung before him.
The perfect future, safe and secure.
And the path of chaos and freedom.
Su Meiyu appeared beside him, her voice soft.
"Why struggle, Lin Tian? Take the first path. Enjoy what you've earned."
Jiang Yuyan's shadow fell across him.
"Or claim your fate. The one written for you."
Yue Qingyan stood at his side, her gaze full of warmth.
"Choose peace. Choose certainty."
But he shook his head slowly.
"That's not me."
They stilled.
"I never followed the path the Heavens set for me," Lin Tian said. "I died in the gutter because I followed a path that wasn't mine. I survived because I broke the rules. I will climb—not because fate demands it, but because I choose to rise."
His voice rose.
"I don't want peace bought with chains. I don't want comfort bought with surrender. I want to fight. To win. To lose. To feel the edge of life and death. Because only then does it matter."
The perfect sect flickered.
The vision cracked.
"I refuse this fate," Lin Tian declared.
The courtyard shattered like glass.
Light poured in.
The voice spoke one last time.
"Illusion denied. Fate rejected. Trial overcome."
Lin Tian stood in the void once more, calm and whole.
His spirit burned.
He had passed the Fourth Trial.
But something more stirred in the distance—far beyond this realm.
The Fifth Floor awaited.
Meanwhile — Azure Moon Sect, Council Pavilion
The sect stirred like a beast awakening.
Word of Elder Shen's disgrace spread swiftly. Disciples whispered of Su Meiyu's triumph, Jiang Yuyan's quiet return to power, and Sect Mistress Yue Qingyan's silent approval.
But not all were pleased.
A small group of outer elders met in secret.
"He's becoming too strong," one muttered. "If he passes the trial… none of us will be able to stop him."
"He will change the sect forever," another whispered.
A third elder grimaced. "Perhaps not all change is bad... but I fear what follows him."
In the shadows, alliances formed. Plans prepared.
Not everyone welcomed Lin Tian's rise.
Crimson Pavilion — Nightfall
Jiang Yuyan stood upon her balcony, watching the stars shift over the trial gates.
"He passed the Fourth Floor," she murmured.
Su Meiyu's fox-shaped spirit talisman flickered beside her.
"So... the boy may survive after all."
Jiang smiled faintly.
"Of course. He isn't like the others."
From the distant chamber of Sect Mistress Yue Qingyan, the faint bell of meditation echoed through the mountain. Even she waited.
They all did.
For Lin Tian.
And what he would become.
Trial Realm — Fifth Gate
Lin Tian gazed upon the glowing doorway of the Fifth Trial.
The final trial loomed.
His path was not set.
His destiny was his own.
And he stepped forward with no fear.
End of Chapter 42