After seeing the words on the hand, Xuan Yi rushed straight into the door, however he was stopped. As soon he reached the door, Xuan Yi felt a powerful will enveloped him, preventing him from moving forward.
He mobilized all his strength, thus taking a few steps forwards by resisting this will. However, his smile did not last long as the will penetrated his Divine Sea and started attacking his cultivation level.
First, cracks started appearing on his Divine Altar, an act whic terrified Xuan Yi. As the heir of a Supreme Land, he did not have access to Emperor Scriptures that allowed him to create a Dao Foundation. Luckily for him, he had a fortunate encounter that granted the opportunity to have 360 Divine Veins.
However, his Divine Altar was still full of cracks. Now, more were added to the original tattered altar. Xuan Yi was horrified by the prospect of his altar being destroyed, thus becoming a cripple. However, what scared the most was the fact that he was proven unworthy to enter the inn. He had so many dreams, goals, and expectations before he came here.
He dreamed that he would show his talent and strength to these Heaven Chosens from the Emperor Lineage, then get the attention of Xi Shi. Afterwards, with the help and resources of the Association of Chamber of Commerce, he would cultivate all the way to the Supreme Realm, fight in the Heaven Will Battle and suppress all of his peers. Then, he would prove the Dao, elevate his sect from a Supreme Land into an Emperor Lineage—just like Emperor Nine Yang from two generations ago.
Unfortunately for him, an entrance door had just crushed his dreams. Xuan Yi watched as the door that was only a few steps away from him seemed so far away, as if a microcosm of an entire world was between him and this door.
Those few steps represented the fact that he was not worthy to stand on the world's stage with the name of Heaven Chosen, that he did not reach the caliber of the ones that have truly reached the top.
After thinking about this, Xuan Yi refused to give up. He gritted his teeth and tried to take another step while bearing a tremendous amount of pain and suffering.
However, compared to the despair of realizing that he cannot live up to the standards or level that he once believed he was or had reached, compared to the realization that he is not as important or gifted as believed, this pain was nothing.
Unfortunately for Xuan Yi, his iron Will and determination did not change the outcome. While trying to take another step, Wang Wei's powerful True Will that manifested in the form of a grey shadow started to move upward from the Divine Altar to the Ancient Lamp.
The horror that Xuan Yi felt suddenly intensified. He realized that once this grey shadow reached his Ancient Lamp and destroyed it, that he would over for real. He might still have a chance to amend his destroyed Divine Altar, but he would be truly finished if his ancient lamp was also destroyed.
So, Xuan Yi started to ponder his next step of action; he ponder the possibility of giving up and retreating. Memories of the past then flashed from his mind.
He saw the faces of all his junior and senior brothers and sisters of the sect. He saw the smile and joyful vigor they had on their faces when they knew that he had the opportunity to compete for this generation's Heaven Will.
All the compliments and encouragement he received, all the time that some disciples would share their fortunate encounter with him in order to ensure that he had enough resources to compete with these heirs of Emperor Lineages.
Many of these resources were not even remotely valuable, but Xuan Yi always accepted all of them with a smile on his face. What he cared about was not the value, but what these resources represent: the hope of all the disciples and elders of the sect.
As a result, Xuan Yi has spent a lot of sleepless nights pondering how to shoulder all these responsibilities, all these expectations of the people around him. He always dreamed about how he would repay all his fellow brother and sisters of the sect after he become a Great Emperor, how he would lead the sect through glory and wealth until thy reach the top of the food chain in terms of power in the Myriad Emperor World.
After all these memories came to his mind, Xuan Yi removed any thought or idea he had about giving up. He decided to persist under the pressure of this Great Will.
However, Xuan Yi began to falter again an he watched the grey shadow slowly inching closer to this Ancient Lamp. The closer the grey shadow rose, the more pressure Xuan Yi felt as sweat started falling from his face and down in his back. In just a few seconds, his clothes were drenched like he was walking in the rain.
Time started to pass slowly for Xuan Yi as he contemplated his next action that will forever change his future.
One part of him did not want to destroy all the hope and expectations of his fellow sect members, while another part did not want to lose his cultivation level that he spent so many years training.
So, when the grey shadow was only a few centimeters away from the Ancient Lamp, Xuan Yi took a few steps back, stopping its inevitable destruction. So, he sighed in relief after seeing that his Ancient Lamp was intact.
However, a great deal of shame followed him afterwards. It was then that Xuan Yi realized how selfish of a person he was, and also how far he was from those Heaven Chosen.
However, he quickly shook these thoughts from his mind. He realized that maybe it was not him that was the problem, but this test. Maybe that it was impossible for others to pass as well.
So, with this mindset, he went to the side and waited for the next person to try to enter. Xuan Yi was sure that his conjecture was correct as he stood there with a smirk on his face. However, his clenched hands behind his back might indicate something else.
Meanwhile, inside the True Dragon Inn, Wang Wei and his group silently watched Xuan Yi's mental and physical struggle with this test while drinking wine or tea and eating snacks.
"It's a shame that he gave up," said Li Jun with a sigh after taking a sip of wine.
"Not everyone has the Will to lose everything in order to prove to themselves and the world that they are extraordinary," replied Yan Liling, who was drinking tea.
"You two missed the whole point of this test," said Wang Wei. "I designed this little trial to test the foundation and will of the people entering. If this Xuan Yi had a solid enough foundation, he should have been able to enter. However, even if he did not, as long as he has the Will to, he could still pass."
"How?" asked Yan Liling, a little confused.
"Simple, by allowing his Divine Altar and Ancient Lamp to break apart, then reconstruct it. He could repeat the process again and again until he reached the standard that I set for this trial.
"Although his cultivation level would have dropped to the Divine Altar Realm, what is that compared to a supremely powerful future? Just the fact that he gave up so quickly proved that this person does not have the Will and Dao Heart to become a top powerhouse."
"Breaking before Rising," added Yan Liling.
Li Jun sighed before taking another big gulp of his drink. "Not everyone can be like you, big brother, and treat themselves as cruelly as they treat their enemies—if not even worse."
As he uttered these words, Li Jun started to reminisce about the time he witnessed his big brother going through Heavenly Tribulation. He saw how his big brother used Heavenly Fire to temper his body.
He burned his skin, muscles, blood, and nerves. At that time, all that were left untouched were the internal organs. As a person who knows how it felt like to boil alive, Li Jun could only imagine how painful such a process would be.
Yet, his big brother did not scream, complain, or winced throughout the entire process. Well, not that he did have any organs to scream to begin with.
It was during that moment that he realized one of the things that separated his big brother from the other Heaven Chosens: he was a very cruel person—especially to himself.
Oftentimes, Li Jun has asked himself whether he could go to such lengths in order to become powerful. And to this day, he did not have an answer yet.
"That's because these people do not have the drive or desire to succeed at all cost," replied Wang Wei with a calm look on his face.
Meanwhile, a few minutes after Xuan Yi gave up, a few other people showed up and saw the provocation at the door entrance.
