Chapter 194 – The Illusion of Fear (1/2)
Chapter 194 – The Illusion of Fear
The Illusion Trial of the Luo Shen Mountain.
Qinghan was standing right in front of an ancient tree, while his lips were raised up in a faint smile. This tree was the tree of fear. Of course, he wasn’t appreciating the sceneries in his surroundings; he was rather staring at the only spirit fruit on the tree.
Today, he was here to try to pass the illusion of fear, and snatch the spirit fruit on the top. It had been six months since the last time Qinghan had so closely approached an ancient tree. Through arduous cultivation, he had now reached the third level of the Realm of the Marshal. Thus, his Battle Qi and soul power had improved accordingly. That was why he was determined to try to, not only to pick up the spirit fruit, but also to test the results of his cultivation.
As for why the tree of fear was chosen as his first trial, Qinghan had his own explanation. The so called trees of the seven human emotions included feelings of happiness, fury, sadness, fear, love, hatred, and lust. As a time-traveler, Qinghan had experienced two lives already, so he reckoned that fear should be the least threatening feeling for him. He had died once, what else would he be afraid of? Plus, he had slaughtered many of his enemies, and had experienced many big events, he proudly thought that there was nothing left for him to be fearful about.
Having been through various illusions, Qinghan came to the conclusion that, among the seven human emotions, happiness, fury, fear, and hatred, were less of a problem than sadness and lust. He understood himself all too well. He was a man who valued brotherhood and kinship, and thus his feeling would be easily affected by the people he loved. Sometimes, he even couldn’t get himself out once plunged into the swirl of sorrow.
Since he believed that he had nothing to fear, he decided to go ahead and try his luck. After inhaling some fresh air, Qinghan put on a smile as he tried to calm himself down, before he slowly approached the ancient tree.
Once he got close enough, the white fog began to dissipate, and a new scene appeared. Qinghan didn’t give much heed to the changes, and kept walking forward.
The distance between him and the tree wasn’t that long, say only a hundred meters at most, he could’ve arrived there within the blink of an eye. But, it was in the Luo Shen Mountain, he had to be careful, since the illusion could suddenly become too overwhelming for him. If he recklessly rushed to the tree, he would most likely be trapped in an illusion with no way of escape.
One step, two steps… twenty steps!
The scene kept changing, now the sky was turning scarlet red. There was even some uncanny sounds ringing out next to Qinghan’s ears. Most importantly, in the influence of the illusion, fear began to invade Qinghan’s brain.
The illusion of fear was nonetheless the most dangerous, even though the illusion would easily vanish if one remained calm and stable. As a mundane human being, however, Qinghan simply couldn’t stand the increasing fear that was brought by the illusions, because it was amplified to an extent that every other feeling in his mind was squeezed away. He became more and more timid as the feeling of fear fully occupied his brain.
“Damn it. This grotesque sound won’t scare me… Yes, definitely.” Qinghan forced a smile, as he tried to persuade himself not to be controlled by these fearful feelings. A second later, he hurriedly closed his eyes, and used his Battle Qi to shut off his hearing and sight. Like a stiff robot, he walked mechanically up ahead.
At the beginning, he was glad that this tactic actually worked. It was true that the influence of the illusion would sharply be reduced if he couldn’t see or hear anything. When he was about ten meters away, however, he realized that this method was totally ineffective.