"Why do you keep looking at them, Master?" Dugu Xuanye asked.
Dugu Yuanshen pointed his finger at Zhang Feiās group. "Do you recognize two of those five women?"
"Hmm?" Just like his master, Dugu Xuanye flashed golden for a moment. "One of them is Nalan Wangzi, the first princess of the Soul-Devouring Demon Race. The other one is Tianshi Shengjie, the princess of the Celestial Dragon Race. One of the other three women is Yue Xuelian, the Sect Master of the Celestial Moon Sect, but I canāt recognize the other two."
"Yes," Dugu Yuanshen nodded. "I canāt recognize the woman in the green dress, but Iāve met the woman in the purple dress. If I remember correctly, her name is Helian Xunāer, and she is Wan Jiangās disciple."
Dugu Xuanye looked at his master. "If I recall correctly, Wan Jiang relinquished his duty to guard the Star Tower a few years before the changes that occurred in this Paradise Realm, but I have never heard of his whereabouts since then."
"Several years ago, I heard from Li Tianyu that Wan Jiang decided to join the Moonlit Passion Temple, and he also told me that the sect was no longer a dual cultivation sect but a universal one." Dugu Yuanshen pointed at Zhang Fei. "Try observing that man and his relationship with those women."
Dugu Xuanye looked at Zhang Fei. "Eh? Master, I detected his yang qi within their bodies, except for Sect Master Yue Xuelian."
"Yes," Dugu Yuanshen nodded. "Although Helian Xunāer and Tianshi Shengjie are still virgins, they have already consumed a lot of that manās yang qi. Nalan Wangzi and the woman in the green dress should be his wives, as I can sense their yin qi within his body."
"Who exactly is that young man? How could he take Nalan Wangzi as his wife? Moreover, Helian Xunāer and Tianshi Shengjie are also his women, even though their relationship is not yet official."
Dugu Yuanshen seriously observed Zhang Fei. "That young man is surely no ordinary man, and he might be the one who brought about the changes in the Moonlit Passion Temple. His age is still under a hundred, but his cultivation has already reached the Celestial Emperor Realm, and his soul power is already on par with mine."
"What?" Dugu Xuanye screamed. "Are you serious, Master? Is his soul power already on par with yours?"
"Iām dead serious." Dugu Xuanye found it hard to believe, but he knew his master wouldnāt be wrong. "That young man must be extremely talented to reach the Celestial Emperor Realm in less than a hundred years, and his soul level has also reached the perfection stage of the Divine Soul Level."
Dugu Xuanye smiled bitterly upon hearing this. "There are so many hidden dragons in this Paradise Realm, but I feel that young man is the best among them. Even I needed tens of thousands of years to reach my current level, but he was able to reach his level in less than a hundred years."
"Haha," Dugu Yuanshen laughed. "Xuanye, you donāt have to feel that way, right? Youāre not a dual cultivator like him, and youāve worked hard to reach this stage. When I retire in the future, Iāll hand over my position to you, and Iāll enjoy my old age away from the hustle and bustle of the world."
Dugu Xuanye sighed. "Master, I donāt like dealing with complicated matters, so Iām not sure that I can lead our sect. I think you should choose my junior brother to replace you, and Iām sure he can bring our sect more success."
"Letās talk about that in the future."
"What are you going to do to Nalan Wangzi, Master?"
"Nalan Wangzi is one of that manās wives, and Tianshi Shengjie is one of them. If we attack her, not only will we be in trouble with the Soul-Devouring Demon Race, but we will also have to deal with the Celestial Dragon Race, so we should not do anything to her and keep an eye on her movements." Dugu Yuanshen looked up. "Your final challenge is about to descend, so you should prepare now, Xuanye. If you successfully pass it, you can go to the third floor with me, and youāll get some interesting things there."
"Yes, Master." Dugu Xuanye closed his eyes and waited for his final challenge.
Meanwhile, Dugu Yuanshen continued to observe Zhang Fei, and his eyes flashed golden several times, but he couldnāt see anything strange about him. āCould it be that my feelings about him were wrong?ā
After he couldnāt find anything from Zhang Fei, Dugu Yuanshen took a look at his other disciples before closing his eyes again.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Zhang Feiās soul was already somewhere else, a vast ancient residence. He was certain he had never seen that place before.
"What is this place? Why did the challenge send my soul here?" Soon, many people appeared in that place, but Zhang Fei had never seen the clothes they were wearing before. "Who are they? Why did they appear in my soul test?"
Zhang Fei tried to touch one of them, but his hand went right through his body. He walked to other areas while trying to touch the people, but he still couldnāt, confusing him.
When Zhang Fei arrived in the main hall of the residence, the sky above it quickly became completely dark. He looked up at the sky, where he saw a black-robed man riding a flaming horse with a black sword in his hand.
Zhang Fei raised an eyebrow when he heard the black-robed man muttering something, and everyone in the residence fell asleep by themselves. He saw their expressions quickly turn to horror, and they all screamed the same thing.
"What the hell happened to them? Why are they suddenly reacting like this?" Zhang Fei was shocked when the black-robed man swung his black sword, and everyone stopped screaming. Although he couldnāt touch them, he immediately realized that the people were dead without any physical injuries. "Shit!"
Zhang Fei shuddered when the black-robed man looked at him, and he could see that his eyes were jet black, similar to some demon races. He saw the manās mouth move as if he was saying something to him, but he couldnāt hear the words.
After the man disappeared, the scene changed rapidly, and Zhang Fei saw that everyone inside had become dried corpses. As he wondered about the previous incident, he saw a very familiar woman appear there. "Yuan Xiajie."
Yuan Xiajie was completely shocked when she saw that all her clan members were dead. She ran to check the entire area of āāher clan, but she found only corpses everywhere she went. She fell to the ground limp, cried as hard as she could, and screamed hysterically.
Zhang Fei realized that all he saw before was the destruction of the Ancient Nether Race, and the black-robed man who appeared before was the nightmare lord, Meng Zhou. When he released Wang Yin and the others many years ago, he met Yuan Xiajie there, and Feng Yao appeared to force her to free the female demons.
Zhang Fei was confused by everything that appeared before him because he had no relationship with Yuan Xiajie, and he also didnāt see the events of the day of her Yuan Clanās destruction, but the challenge in the tower displayed all those events for him.
"Hmm?" Zhang Fei frowned as he saw a pitch-black aura emanate from Yuan Xiajieās body, and the womanās appearance slowly transformed into a demon he had never seen before. "Shit! Why am I so unlucky to meet her here?"
Zhang Fei took several steps back as Yuan Xiajie rose to her feet and faced him. His heart tightened as he thought back to their first meeting in the past, and his body shook violently remembering the events of that day. Even though the incident had passed many years ago, he still remembered the horror she showed him, which made him unable to move in front of her.
Yuan Xiajie looked at Zhang Fei with hatred and resentment, and the pitch-black aura that enveloped her body spread throughout the residence. "Iāll kill you! Iāll dismember your corpse!"
"Shit!" Zhang Fei hurriedly flew away as Yuan Xiajie flew towards him. He was almost never afraid of anyone, but this woman terrified him.
"Iāll kill you!" Yuan Xiajie suddenly moved in front of Zhang Fei, forcing him to fly in another direction. However, her pitch-black aura immediately surrounded him and restricted his movement, followed by a powerful slash from her. "Die!"
"Gah!" Zhang Fei screamed in pain as soon as Yuan Xiajieās attack hit his soul, plunging him to the ground. "Fuck!"
Zhang Fei immediately dodged as Yuan Xiajie charged toward him again, causing her attack to crash into the empty ground. She didnāt stop there and chased after him, with two pitch-black swords in both hands.
"Fuck! This woman is really scary!" Zhang Fei zigzagged to avoid Yuan Xiajieās attacks. "What should I do to defeat her? If I used my body, I would definitely be able to fight her, but this is my soul."
[Calm yourself, Kid.]
"Old Fox! What should I do to deal with this crazy woman?"
[That woman isnāt real, and sheās the embodiment of the fear in your soul. The more you fear her, the stronger she will become, so you have to overcome your fear of her.]
Zhang Fei knew this, but he felt immense fear towards Yuan Xiajie. He continued running as he avoided her attacks. "Shit! I thought this challenge would be easy, but I ran into this damn woman instead."
[As long as you canāt overcome your fear of her, you canāt complete this challenge, Kid.]