460: Chapter 460 The Ancient Mirror of Inquiry, the Bewitching Inner Demon!

Lu Li happily took out a jade box crafted from top-grade warm jade, carefully stored this divine medicine—enough to make the outside world fight to the death—into his storage ring, and then, as if nothing had happened, continued humming an unknown tune while striding toward the deepest part of the Immortal Palace.

Pushing open the third door, the scene before him changed once again.

In this trial, there was no bridge with gravitational pressure, nor was there an Abyss Storm that could tear the Soul apart.

What appeared before Lu Li was an immensely vast and quiet Bronze Hall.

Unknown pearls were embedded in the ceiling of the hall, emitting a soft light.

In the very center of the hall, a huge and ancient bronze mirror stood silently.

This bronze mirror was a hundred zhang tall, its frame carved with intricate patterns of a hundred beasts; the mirror surface had not rusted with the passage of time, but instead was as clear and bright as autumn water, emitting a strange vibration that could see through all illusions in the world and point directly to the heart.

"The third trial: Confronting the True Heart, ancient mirror of heart-questioning."

"The path of cultivation is a Heaven-Defying act; the Physical Body and Primordial Spirit are but shells. Only when the Dao Heart is indestructible can one attain the Great Dao.

This mirror can reflect the trial-taker's deepest desires, fears, and obsessions.

Those who see through the Heart Demon and walk out of the illusion pass; those swallowed by desire and lost within it will have their Divine Soul imprisoned in the mirror forever, never to be reincarnated."

After hearing the rules, Lu Li walked curiously to the huge bronze mirror.

He stood less than three feet from the mirror's surface and looked down into it.

The mirror surface, originally calm as water, suddenly rippled violently like a stone had been thrown into it the moment it reflected his figure.

Immediately after, the scene in the mirror changed. Lu Li felt a momentary daze, the empty hall around him vanished, and he found himself standing in the center of a massive treasure vault that pierced the clouds.

What a Soul-stirring sight it was!

Looking around, there were no mundane gold or silver treasures in this vault; instead, there were mountains of supreme treasures that would drive even an Immortal mad.

To the left was a mountain piled with top-grade Immortal Crystals, emitting Immortal Qi so dense it had liquefied into a torrential rain that never stopped; to the right were rows of jade shelves holding Undying Divine Medicines that had already taken human form and were playing around; at the highest point of the vault, over a dozen Extreme Immortal Artifacts that suppressed Luck and emitted world-destroying auras floated—sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, each radiating an alluring luster.

And deep within the treasure vault, he saw his father, Lu Yuan, looking at him with admiring eyes, and his mother, Gu Qingxue, waving to him gently. There was even a delicate little girl calling him "Brother" in a childish voice—it was his unborn sister, Lu Qingcheng, whom he thought of day and night.

"Do you want it?"

Just then, a voice full of ultimate seduction, gentleness, and seemingly able to resonate directly within the depths of one's Soul, quietly echoed in Lu Li's heart.

This voice did not come from outside; it was Lu Li's own inner voice, the Heart Demon manifested by the ancient mirror of heart-questioning.

"Look at these; these are all the top-tier resources in the world.

As long as you stay here, you can possess everything in the world..."

The Heart Demon's voice wound around his nerves like silk, constantly magnifying his deepest desires: "Don't you love snatching good things the most? Haven't you always wanted to give the best to your family? Look, with these treasures, you can make your sister, Lu Qingcheng, the strongest Immortal in the Myriad Realms from birth, worshipped by all races; you can make your father, Lu Yuan, incredibly proud of you and lead the Qingyun Dao Sect to glory..."

"No need for arduous slaughter, no need to face dangerous enemies, no need to sleep in the wild.

Just nod your head and say you are willing to stay, and everything here will be yours.

You will be the Dominator here... Stay, this is the perfect ending you've always wanted..."

The Heart Demon tempted him frantically. It knew Lu Li wasn't afraid of death or pain, so it didn't manifest powerful enemies. Instead, it precisely grasped Lu Li's weakness—his care for his family and his bandit-like hobby of hoarding treasures.

Lu Li stood there, looking at the massive mountain of treasures in the mirror that even he found unbelievable, and looking at his smiling family.

He stroked his chin; for a moment, he was indeed tempted.

"So many treasures. If I move them all back to the Qingyun Dao Sect, how many warehouses would they fill? Even if my sister eats top-grade Immortal Crystals like candy, she wouldn't be able to finish them, right?"

Lu Li muttered to himself, his eyes seemingly starting to grow hazy.

Seeing this, the Heart Demon hidden in the shadows was overjoyed and worked even harder to drive the illusion, trying to make Lu Li lose himself completely.

However, in the next second, Lu Li's originally hazy eyes suddenly became crystal clear again.

Not only did he not reach out to touch the illusory treasures, but he even frowned with disdain and curled his lip.

"I say, you Heart Demon, isn't your professional ability a bit too poor? You want to fool me with just this?"

Lu Li pointed at the mountain of treasures in the mirror, crossed his arms over his chest, and started a mockery session with a look of disappointment: "Although these things look like a lot and are tempting, they're just sitting here out in the open without even a single guard around them, and I can't even find an enemy to fight.

Even if I take them all, what's the fun in that?"

"Your illusion design is a total failure! There's no pleasure of searching for spoils while stepping on an enemy's face; no heart-wrenching wails from the person being robbed; none of that sense of achievement where 'what's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine'.

"Without the arduous process of snatching, how can I experience the supreme joy of a harvest?"

The more Lu Li spoke, the angrier he became, recalling the earnest teachings his father, Lu Yuan, had given him since childhood.

"My dad taught me from a young age that the cultivation world is full of deception, and only things snatched with your own two fists are the most reliable and satisfying! Anything given for free or falling from the sky is definitely a trap! Putting such a large pile of soulless fakes here is simply an insult to me, the Number One Bandit of the Qingyun Dao Sect!"

"Trying to disturb my Dao Heart with this kind of crappy illusion? Too fake! Shatter for me!"

Lu Li shouted. His Dao Heart was as solid as a rock in a ten-thousand-year-old frozen latrine—foul and hard, but absolutely unshakable by such low-level desires.

Because his desire was built upon the action of "snatching," not simple "possession." This bandit logic was a direct dimensional strike against the ancient mirror of heart-questioning's traditional Heart Demon trial!