Ch. 1688 - Facing One’s True Heart, The Heart-Devouring Beasts

Xu Zimo took a look around.

Among this group, many were geniuses from the five major powers.

The number of people who passed was fairly high.

Out of fifty, more than twenty had succeeded.

Soon after, the third group also entered.

“Let’s go take a look at this so-called Bridge of Pure Heart,” Xu Zimo said.

Carefree Monk nodded.

A group of about twenty people left the Hall of Transmission and headed outward.

Outside the hall, a palace could be vaguely seen in the distance.

In front of that palace stood an extremely ancient iron chain bridge.

From the outside, the Human Sovereign Palace did not look particularly vast.

But once inside, everyone realized the space was folded.

A single space could expand to more than ten times its apparent size.

From the outside, this was impossible to perceive unless one was already within it.

Standing before the iron chain bridge and looking down, the depths below were unfathomable, like a bottomless abyss.

From time to time, black tides surged below.

It looked as if they were ready to devour anyone who dared cross the bridge.

“Does anyone know what’s down there?” Liu Xu’er of the Jade Maiden Palace asked first.

“Everyone here is entering the Human Sovereign Palace for the first time. Who would know?” Zhang Meng replied with a smile.

“There’s a stone tablet here,” someone suddenly called out.

Beside the bridge, a stone tablet lay toppled over, flat on the ground.

Everyone quickly gathered around.

“Let’s see what it says.”

Someone read aloud, “Bridge of Pure Heart. The noble are open and at ease, the petty are forever anxious. Understand your true self, and you may cross this bridge. Beneath the bridge dwell Heart-Devouring Beasts. Those who fall are stripped-heart corpses. Enter with caution.”

“Even the Human Sovereign specifically warns us to be cautious,” someone inhaled sharply.

They exclaimed in shock, “Unlike the first trial, this one looks like people will die.”

Failing the first trial merely meant being eliminated, with no real loss.

But falling from the Bridge of Pure Heart meant certain death.

Everyone fell silent.

“Those who understand themselves may cross. I’ll try,” someone said.

It was Zhuo Ding from the Heart Sword Ancient Sect, also one of their geniuses.

People murmured, “The Heart Sword Ancient Sect cultivates the heart itself. The stronger the heart, the stronger the power. They have an advantage in this trial.”

No one moved rashly. All eyes were fixed on Zhuo Ding.

As he stepped onto the Bridge of Pure Heart, his body stiffened slightly, then he slowly walked forward.

“Look at his eyes. They’re unfocused,” someone warned.

“He must have fallen into an illusion.”

After walking about ten meters, Zhuo Ding’s expression grew increasingly strained, eventually twisting grotesquely.

Finally, he burst into wild laughter.

His hair was disheveled, and he looked completely deranged.

“Junior Sister Yun, listen to me. Senior Brother did it for the sake of strength. Betraying you wasn’t my true wish. Ahhh…!”

Amid his hysterical screams, Zhuo Ding leapt straight off the Bridge of Pure Heart.

A black shadow flashed by at terrifying speed and swallowed him whole.

It vanished instantly.

That shadow was likely a Heart-Devouring Beast, lurking below to devour those who fell.

Seeing this, everyone hesitated.

At their level of cultivation, who could claim they had never done evil or killed innocent people?

“This trial is way too hard,” someone complained.

“It’s not necessarily hard,” Carefree Monk said calmly. “It depends on whether you can face your own heart. This monk will give it a try. Those who lack courage should withdraw now.”

“I’ll try as well,” Xu Zimo said.

He possessed a map of the Human Sovereign Palace and already knew about this place.

He also knew that the Bridge of Pure Heart was not truly difficult.

Among the group, only a few chose to withdraw. The rest stepped onto the bridge together.

……

Xu Zimo walked at the very front.

He was the most relaxed of them all.

The moment he stepped onto the bridge, a wave of vast righteous force rushed toward him.

Immediately after, his consciousness sank into a state of chaos.

From the outside, he would appear to be walking forward unconsciously.

Within that chaos, all the people Xu Zimo had killed came back to life.

They surged toward him, as if demanding his life.

In his past battles, the aftermath of combat had claimed countless innocent lives.

Those innocents now appeared, questioning him.

There were times he had wiped out entire factions because of a single disciple or elder.

The innocent members of those factions also reappeared to accuse him.

Everything he had experienced in his life played before his eyes like scenes from a film.

All those he had killed, whether wrongly or not, came walking toward him.

Some spoke of benevolence and righteousness.

Some wept with grief and resentment.

Others were grotesque and terrifying.

In an instant, countless voices exploded in his mind, making his ears ring.

“Get lost,” Xu Zimo said coldly.

“The dead have no need to ask why they died. I am not a judge, nor do I preside over good and evil. I act as I like. Why should I explain myself to anyone? Do you want me to take a trip to the netherworld and destroy your souls as well?”

He snorted, intending to disperse all the wandering spirits.

“Murderer, give me back my life!” the spirits roared.

They were not afraid at all. Instead, they became more ferocious and lunged at him.

Xu Zimo did not dodge or evade.

He allowed the spirits to rush at him, yet they could not harm him in the slightest.

Because everything before him was an illusion.

Or rather, a more advanced illusion.

One that directly targeted the heart.

If you faltered even slightly, you would be completely submerged.

Some believed the Human Sovereign created the Bridge of Pure Heart to magnify the darkness within people, as well as the memories they dared not revisit.

But they were wrong.

Everyone has darkness in their heart. Did the Human Sovereign himself not have it as well?

Where in this world is there a flawless saint?

The Bridge of Pure Heart exists only to make you face your own heart.

When you can face everything openly, without fear or guilt, the bridge poses no difficulty at all.

That was precisely Xu Zimo’s state.

Countless vengeful spirits rushed toward him, and he did not block them.

They passed through his body as if he were transparent.

From the outside, Xu Zimo had already reached the far end of the bridge.

At that moment, the entire bridge began to shake.

Black mist roared beneath it.

Suddenly, a Heart-Devouring Beast lunged toward Xu Zimo.

With a thunderous boom, Xu Zimo’s tightly shut eyes snapped open.

He punched forward and smashed the Heart-Devouring Beast into pieces.

His gaze was completely clear.

He was almost at the end of the bridge, and the Heart-Devouring Beasts were growing anxious.

Xu Zimo looked back.

Out of the more than ten who had entered, only five remained.

All the others had been devoured by the beasts.

“It seems the hardest thing for people to face is still their own heart,” Xu Zimo said with a sigh.

“Human, stay,” a hoarse voice echoed from among the Heart-Devouring Beasts.

Countless beasts surged into action.

“You are violating the Human Sovereign’s instructions,” Xu Zimo said calmly.

“Those who do not fall from the bridge are not supposed to be attacked, are they?”

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