Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

In this “illusion,” ancient divine beasts and fierce beasts had already started battling against the cultivators.

These ancient divine and fierce beasts were definitely not at the upper five realms. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for so many of them—just a single one would be enough to slaughter everyone present.

Xu Ming figured that even if it were him, at most, he would just be able to struggle for a bit before being overwhelmed.

That said, these divine and fierce beasts were still quite powerful.

The cultivators in the Rootless Secret Realm were all at the Dragon Gate and Golden Core realms, whereas most of these fierce beasts were at the peak of the Golden Core realm, with some even reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

This meant that the cultivators were already lucky if they could survive, let alone kill these beasts—it was an extremely difficult feat.

At first, these cultivators were arrogant, believing they could slay the divine and fierce beasts.

But it didn’t take long for reality to set in. They started fleeing in all directions, realizing that as long as they could hold out for a single incense stick’s worth of time, nothing else really mattered.

Xu Ming, however, took an unconventional approach.

He had no idea whether these divine and fierce beasts were real or not. Regardless, he had never fought against such creatures before, so he figured he might as well give it a try.

The other cultivators in the “illusion” were momentarily dazed when they saw Xu Ming going head-to-head against a ferocious beast at the Nascent Soul realm.

For a moment, they couldn’t even tell who was the real ancient beast.

And in the end, that ancient fierce beast was actually sent flying by Xu Ming’s strike.

“Madman!”

Everyone came to the same conclusion about Xu Ming—this guy was absolutely insane!

Meanwhile, the woman in the red dress sat on a stone, watching the entire scene with great amusement.

To her, watching these cultivators struggle between life and death was like witnessing an extraordinarily thrilling play.

And as for Xu Ming, she found him even more intriguing.

“This man always manages to surprise me,” she murmured to herself.

“Huh?”

Just as the woman in the red dress was enjoying the spectacle, Xu Ming suddenly vanished from her sight.

When she shifted her gaze, she saw Xu Ming already charging at her with his longsword, swinging it down in a fierce strike.

Boom!

Xu Ming’s sword was intercepted by a red sword aura hovering around the woman, preventing him from advancing even an inch.

Rumble!

His sword energy surged violently.

It even pierced through the protective sword aura, slashing toward the woman.

The woman gracefully floated into the air as Xu Ming’s sword energy struck the stone beneath her.

The massive rock shattered into dust.

“Tsk.”

Xu Ming clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

He had intended to ambush her with a surprise attack, hoping to take her down in one strike.

But he hadn’t expected that she had sword energy surrounding her as protection.

Otherwise, if his strike had landed, there might have been a real chance of success.

“Attacking someone without even a proper greeting—how rude~” the woman in the red dress teased.

“I never planned on making you like me in the first place.”

As soon as Xu Ming finished speaking, he charged at her again, sword in hand.

The woman’s lips curled into a smirk. She flicked her fingers, and a blood-red longsword flew into her grasp.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Their swords clashed in rapid succession, sparks flying in all directions.

Xu Ming could tell that this sword spirit’s techniques were incredibly varied, yet seamlessly coordinated, as if she had fused all sword techniques into her own unique style.

Finding an opening, Xu Ming launched Heaven-Splitting Fist—Mountain Shaking Form straight at her chest.

Thud!

Xu Ming felt as if his fist had struck solid steel.

Her chest had looked so soft—just moments ago, it had even jiggled a little while they were exchanging blows.

Yet, unexpectedly, it was this firm!

“What a scoundrel~ Touching me there,” the woman in the red dress teased, lightly patting her chest. Her clothes didn’t even have a single wrinkle.

It was then that Xu Ming realized—he hadn’t actually touched her at all. Instead, the thin layer of sword energy surrounding her had acted as a protective membrane, covering her entire body.

“But time’s almost up.”

The woman in red glanced at the incense stick planted in the ground.

It was about to burn out.

The cultivators in the “illusion” held onto a sliver of hope, believing they had finally passed the trial.

Not only could they leave alive, but they might also gain great fortune from this ordeal.

But who would have thought—

Just as the incense had barely an inch left to burn, the ancient divine and fierce beasts suddenly went berserk, launching frenzied attacks on the remaining cultivators.

As if, in their final moments, they were determined to take their enemies down with them.

Blood and severed limbs flew through the air.

Some cultivators were outright obliterated, exploding into misty clouds of blood, leaving nothing behind!

A blazing phoenix, engulfed in raging flames, dove toward Shi Xin.

Xu Ming reacted instantly, dashing to Shi Xin’s side and slashing out with his sword.

His sword energy clashed with the fire phoenix, sending a fiery shockwave rippling through the air.

Any cultivator caught in the explosion was instantly reduced to ashes.

As the last bit of incense burned away, the surviving cultivators collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

They looked at the mangled, incomplete corpses littering the battlefield, their minds blank.

“I survived! Hahaha! I’m alive!”

“I made it through!”

“As expected, I am destined for greatness!”

Some cultivators were ecstatic, overwhelmed with joy, their reactions resembling that of a scholar who had finally passed the imperial examination after years of failure.

Xu Ming, standing beside Shi Xin, furrowed his brows.

To him, things weren’t that simple.

The woman in red had never said this was the only trial.

Clap, clap, clap.

The red-dressed woman slowly applauded, stepping forward toward Xu Ming and the others.

“Congratulations on passing this test.”

With a casual wave of her hand, treasure chests materialized before the cultivators.

As the chests opened, the dense aura of spiritual energy from the heavenly treasures within filled the air.

Even if they didn’t recognize the items inside, they could tell they were unimaginably valuable.

Just as one cultivator, dazed with excitement, stepped forward—

A sharp sword energy slashed down in front of him, blocking his path.

The woman’s lips curled into a sly smile as she spoke slowly:

“But~ only one of you can have all these treasures.”

Her gaze swept across the survivors.

“And now… please fight amongst yourselves.

Only one person will walk out of here alive.”