Chapter 426: The Gate of Heavenly Dao

"Glory of the Nine Heavens" novel—find the latest chapter!

Winnie? Kela? Ah Xi?

At this moment, even an idiot could tell this was an illusion, but the voices were weirdly jumbled, carrying a familiar yet just-out-of-reach tone that seemed deliberately designed to lure Wang Feng into turning his head for a glance.

But... seriously? This is it?

Wang Feng smirked slightly. If this was a mental test, it was laughably easy.

"Wang Feng."

This time, the voice came from directly ahead—the proud princess from the Eight Tribes!

Crowned and clad in a phoenix robe, she exuded nobility and grace. Then, she raised her hand to her own face and slowly removed her mask...

Lucky Heaven’s face was the hottest mystery every guy on the continent wanted to solve. Even if Wang Feng had only glimpsed half her face before, or even if they had no prior connection, the mere thought of the Eight Tribes' princess removing her mask in front of him would undoubtedly make any man stop and stare.

But this was Wang Feng. Curiosity? He could take it or ditch it. Just as he had controlled his fear of heights earlier, suppressing this bit of curiosity was child's play.

He didn’t so much as peek at Lucky Heaven. No matter what she was doing or what lay beneath that mask, Wang Feng acted as if she weren’t there, walking straight through her like she was air.

As expected, it was just an illusion. The moment he 'passed through' her, Lucky Heaven vanished instantly. Without so much as a blink, Wang Feng marched onward.

After climbing another thirty or forty steps, the calls resumed—again from straight ahead, but this time, it wasn’t Lucky Heaven. Instead, it was the mesmerizing Mermaid Princess Clara.

She wore a translucent, pale-red nightgown, the sheer fabric obscuring every curve of her body in a tantalizing haze—teasing just enough to drive men wild.

"Brother Wang Feng," Clara lay half-reclined on the steps, her eyes smoldered while she sucked on her finger. Her delicate index finger slid in and out of her crimson lips, leaving her lips glistening. Her body trembled slightly as she let out a moan that could melt any man’s resolve. "Ah... come here..."

And he did—by stepping right over her.

Lust? At this moment, Wang Feng’s heart was as steady as a rock. If he were that weak, he’d have banged Clara ages ago. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had the chance.

The Mermaid Princess vanished into thin air beneath the feet of the indifferent man, only for the next temptation to appear almost immediately.

This time, it was a stunningly beautiful woman seated gracefully in the middle of the steps, gazing at Wang Feng with tender eyes—as if welcoming her husband home after a long absence. Her loving gaze overflowed with affection.

It was Karida. Only when Wang Feng drew near did she rise with a smile, opening her arms to him. "Wang Feng, this time—"

Swish~

The illusion was met with another unhesitating stride. *Tch, since when is Sister Da this gentle? I couldn’t even dream of this.*

Then came the fourth trial.

"Senior Brother Wang Feng!" The voice was bright, confident, and brimming with youthful energy—so vivid it even stirred a flicker of nostalgia in Wang Feng’s heart.

It was Junior Sister Yueran!

"You’ve got brains, but stamina? Nah!" She wasn’t waiting on the steps but climbing ahead, turning to flash him a playful grin as she stretched out her hand. "Come on, let this lady give you a hand! Hah! Finally one-upping the genius!"

For a second, Wang Feng was back in those lively days. But the illusion lasted only a heartbeat...

Illusions were god-tier traps for those caught in them—inescapable, manipulative, all-consuming. But for those who remained untouched, their power fell far short of expectations.

This wasn’t just due to Old Wang’s unique Insect God species. Honestly, every Wang Family Village local probably had this illusion resistance. After all, in a place where 3D movies and even holographic projections were commonplace, no matter how lifelike the sights and sounds, no one ever bought the illusion. Everyone knew it was fake, so the impact was negligible—a skill nobody else in this world could match.

Without hesitation, Wang Feng stepped past Yueran. That pause? Just a flash of nostalgia.

To let go is to truly release. Even if this were the real Yueran standing here, she has her own life now, and I have mine. Perhaps we might shake hands, perhaps we might chat and laugh, but there’s no lingering attachment left.

Five gates cleared, nearly without stopping.

Wang Feng’s greatest weakness was the trial of the heart. Illusions are real only if you believe in them. If you don’t, they become like fleeting bubbles, easily burst through.

Wang Feng’s steps grew firmer and faster. He felt the end of this path might soon be in sight. But just then, a voice hidden deep in his memories suddenly rang out.

“Xiao Feng.” It was a woman’s voice, gentle and loving, though somewhat weak and breathless. The words were slow, yet they struck like the most resonant bell in the world, causing Wang Feng’s resolute posture to falter slightly.

“Come home,” the woman said tenderly. “Mom has made your favorite pork and cabbage dumplings.”

Wang Feng staggered, his rapid steps slowing abruptly.

The figure of a middle-aged woman appeared before him. She looked to be in her early forties, her face slightly pale but smiling brightly. On her head was a hat Wang Feng remembered all too well—his mother, too, had once cared for her appearance.

Wang Feng’s footsteps came to a complete halt. His lips trembled slightly, and his eyes blurred with tears.

In this world, no debts exist between people—except to one’s mother!

Even as the master of the Heavenly Path, Heaven Elder could not directly observe the events on the Path to Heaven, but he could sense them with his heart.

“All humans have desires. The third segment’s trap preys on human desires,” Heaven Elder murmured, eyes closed. He could feel the shifts in Wang Feng’s emotions at this moment, and to his surprise, it somewhat astonished him.

Friendship, curiosity, desire, the first stirrings of love, the ties of childhood love—these were the things young men Wang Feng’s age found hardest to resist. They couldn’t discern truth from illusion, willingly drowning in them. The world was full of such fools, though there were also those with true wisdom who could rise above such worldly desires at this age.

Given Wang Feng’s earlier performance, not just Heaven Elder but the other elders and the Island Lord had all agreed he could resist these temptations. Yet once again, Wang Feng had surprised them.

What did resistance even mean? There had to be a struggle to call it resistance!

Heaven Elder strained to sense Wang Feng’s state but found no sign of him struggling against any desires. This man… seemed to have none at all! Faced with illusions lifelike enough to deceive, his heart didn’t waver in the slightest—let alone be tempted.

“Incredible… incredible!” Heaven Elder muttered in awe, eyes still shut. “A man with no desires? How can such a person exist? Even if he sees through the illusions, there should at least be some inner turmoil. Yet I detect nothing…”

“Could he be a heartless monster?” Ghost Elder shuddered. If such a cold, detached figure truly became the Chosen One, and the Darkmoon Island followed him, would it be a blessing or a curse for humanity?

“To walk the razor’s edge—perhaps he’s a saint who loves all under heaven,” Heaven Elder mused. “I think—”

His voice suddenly cut off.

“What is it? What do you sense?”

Heaven Elder didn’t answer, his brow furrowing deeply.

The Island Lord and the other elders sensed something had changed, watching Heaven Elder’s expression in silence.

His frown deepened, and a trace of sorrow appeared on his face, as if he were sharing in someone’s grief, as if mourning a loss.

The others fell quiet.

The Heavenly Path is merciless, treating all as straw dogs; yet it is also said to be compassionate, shining upon the world.

Heaven Elder was “merciless.” In all these years, the other elders—as close as brothers and sisters—had never seen him truly happy or angry. His rare smiles were only polite gestures. But now, the sorrow on his face seemed to touch the depths of his soul, resonating with Wang Feng’s emotions, drawing him into the same despair—not just observing, but feeling it himself.

A long silence followed.

“Stuck, then?” Ghost Elder couldn’t help but ask. Though they didn’t know what Wang Feng had seen, it must have struck his weakest point, holding him captive for so long.

“Too much time has passed,” Third Elder shook her head. However fast Wang Feng had been before, the collapsing path must be closing in on him now.

"Humans must have weaknesses, otherwise they wouldn't be human," the Island Lord said calmly. "The more resolute a person's heart is, the more fatal their vulnerability tends to be. Whether you're a dragon or a worm may well be determined at this very moment!"

…………

On the Celestial Path, bathed in light.

When his mother's outstretched arms touched Wang Feng, the slightly cool sensation of her fingers and the fragrant aroma of pork and cabbage dumplings awakened his deepest memories.

This time, Wang Feng couldn't push past it. Illusions are unreal when you don't believe in them, but if you choose to believe, they become reality.

Whether he succeeded or failed, he wanted to make his mother proud. And it was that very night when his mother, smiling, had prepared those pork and cabbage dumplings for him...

After that night, Wang Feng went to the orphanage and never ate dumplings again—couldn't bear to eat them, couldn't even stand to look!

That agony was ten thousand times sharper than anything else in this world.

And now, on this radiant Heavenly Path, his mother had finally emerged from heaven. Wang Feng leaned his trembling body against hers—her frail body still radiating warmth. Her right hand, with an IV tube still attached, gently stroked his hair.

A hundred steps, eighty steps, fifty steps...

The steps behind him were collapsing, crumbling with terrifying speed. Yet in Wang Feng's perception, the world was utterly serene and peaceful, with only his mother's whispered words echoing in his ears.

"Little Feng, do what you want to do. You must live a happy life."

At this moment, his face was drenched in tears.

Twenty steps, ten steps, five steps!

The collapsing steps had reached right behind him, on the verge of giving way, yet Wang Feng acted as if he didn't notice.

"Mom, I've lived well, always well, and I'll be even better in the future!"

He closed his eyes and kissed his mother's forehead. When he opened them again, she had vanished.

An illusion? A deception? An inner demon?

They were wrong. Some believe a strong person's weakness is their most fatal flaw, yet they fail to realize that their seeming weakness is often the very source of their strength!

She was the one who supported him most unconditionally and unreservedly in this world—how could she ever drag him into an abyss?

The crumbling steps, the unknown world, the mysterious Dark Demon Island, even the entire Holy Sanctuary he would soon face—all of it was insignificant to Wang Feng now.

At this moment, Wang Feng feared nothing, advancing fearlessly!

The energy of the two Heavenly Soul Pearls surged abruptly, and Wang Feng's spiritual energy skyrocketed, as if his "Ren and Du channels" had been unblocked. His willpower instantly more than doubled, expanding this "vessel."

Boom—!

He'd reached Ghost level!

For someone who was deficient in neither energy nor understanding, the bottleneck restraining him was as thin as a sheet of paper. When the moment arrived, it shattered instantly.

His surging soul power rippled wildly, and Wang Feng actually soared upward, breaking free from the constraints of the heavenly stairs.

The scenery before him shifted—the once-endless staircase of the distant Heavenly Path now seemed to shrink beneath his feet in an instant. This was his moment; the path of heaven had also come to an end.

A radiant gate appeared before him.

This was no ordinary door—it wasn't solitary. True dragons and phoenixes circled around it, their celestial choruses filling the air.

The Celestial Gate—this was the true door to the Heavenly Dao!

Wang Feng extended his hand to push the gate, but before he could even exert any force, the moment his fingers touched it, the scenery instantly shifted. In the blink of an eye, he found himself inside a vast hall.

The pull of the Heavenly Soul Pearl had reached an overwhelming intensity, seemingly emanating from within this very hall. Yet, when he looked around, the apparently limitless hall held nothing but a statue of the Supreme Sage Teacher. The rest was empty, devoid of anything else. However, a vast pressure emanated from the statue, spreading and filling the entire hall.

It appeared this was the final scene. Was this like Nagaraja's statue in the Dragon City Illusion?

Sensing the formidable power emanating from the statue, Old Wang sensed a tough fight was coming.

But he wasn’t in a hurry. Having just unexpectedly reached ghost level, he hadn’t yet had the chance to fully grasp and experience it.

First, he needed to organize his thoughts.

His body now felt like some undiscovered treasure vault, its entrance passage just opened. Yet, the explorer knew nothing of what lay inside. Worse, due to prolonged isolation, the inside was starved of air. For the time being, any human attempting to enter would find it impossible to breathe, let alone proceed.

This was normal after a ghost-level breakthrough—often leaving one utterly drained, requiring a long period of recovery and adjustment to allow the soul force to gradually fill the newly unlocked body.

Fortunately, with the Heavenly Soul Pearls, soul force flooded in like a mighty wind, forcibly ventilating the millennia-sealed treasure cavern, restoring airflow, reviving everything, and bringing renewed vitality.

As Wang Feng circulated his soul force, the twin Heavenly Soul Pearls finally hit their output limit. The soul force they channeled was now far purer and more refined than before. Under the nourishment of this qualitatively enhanced power, his body rapidly strengthened—a process that lasted a full half-hour…

When he reopened his eyes, he immediately noticed his clothes felt slightly tighter. The once perfectly tailored sleeves now seemed a bit short, and his back felt tight.

Yet, the change in physique was the least significant. His senses had sharpened, and his soul force had surged. If, at Tiger Peak, his soul force had felt like a gushing park fountain, now it felt like a raging river, rushing toward him in overwhelming abundance!

Powerful—Old Wang felt as if every pore of his body brimmed with energy ready to burst forth!

The joy on Wang Feng’s face was fleeting. While the ghost-level strength brought him boundless delight, he quickly steadied himself.

Whether facing the Holy City in the future or the enigmatic Dark Demon Island now, ghost-level alone wasn't overwhelming. He was becoming more conscious of his lowly status.

Moreover, forget the Holy City or Dark Demon Island—even the last trial in the Six Paths of Samsara before him, the statue of Supreme Sage Teacher Wang Meng, exuded such formidable power that dealing with it wouldn’t be easy.

With a mere flicker of thought, without even consciously channeling soul force, Wang Feng’s eyes instantly turned golden—Insect God Eye, activate!

The interior of the statue was imperceptible. This was no ordinary stone carving; instead, it felt like an exquisitely crafted alchemical construct, its mysteries impossible to discern.

As for the boundless space around the hall, it truly was infinite—not just the surroundings, but even the ceiling stretched endlessly. Yet, it was completely sealed, with no passage leading outside. Not even stars dotted the sky above, only an endless, blinding whiteness of unknown origin, illuminating the space with piercing brightness.

At first glance, it seemed simple—merely a pocket dimension. But in Old Wang’s eyes, it was far more complex.

This was an eighth-order Cosmic Cage. Not even a dragon-level expert could forcibly break out. Either an external operator had to open it, or one had to locate the formation’s core and dismantle it with runes.

And as for the core—in this vast, white expanse, what else but the alchemical statue of the Supreme Sage Teacher standing at the center?

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