Lin Yun entered the Death Dao. Zhang Qingtian and the others sat down cross-legged on the spot, waiting. The moment Lin Yun died, Zhang Qingtian and Jiang Changlin would know immediately.

"This is..." Upon entering the Death Dao, he realized it was less a path of death and more a pocket dimension created by a Spatial Array.

’The Elemental Power in my body has vanished...’ Lin Yun assessed his physical state and discovered that his Dantian was completely empty, without a single trace of Elemental Power.

Not only that, but his physical body had also become extremely weak, almost no different from that of an ordinary person.

The moment he entered the Death Dao, all his strength vanished, turning him into an ordinary person. Lin Yun now finally understood why even experts at the Primordial Ocean Realm couldn’t traverse the Death Dao.

"Once you enter this place of inheritance, it is a matter of life and death. Whether you live or die depends entirely on you." As Lin Yun was assessing his body, an ancient voice suddenly rang out from the void.

He heard the voice but saw no one. Lin Yun called out twice but received no response. So be it. Since he was already here, he had to grasp at any chance of survival, no matter how slim.

He carefully sized up his surroundings. It was pitch-black. There was no sound, no light, and no end in sight.

’How am I supposed to pass this trial?’ Without a single clue, Lin Yun had no idea how to get through this stage.

Outside the Death Dao, an hour had passed. The people from both groups were sitting in small clusters. Because Lin Yun had suddenly rushed in, they all felt lucky that at least they didn’t have to go in themselves.

"Zhang Qingtian, it’s been an hour, and that kid still isn’t dead," Jiang Changlin said. The Wind Forest Sect Disciple from last year had only lasted half an hour before dying in the Death Dao.

Hearing this, Zhang Qingtian also found it strange. A mere First Layer Opening Realm brat had actually managed to last for an hour. However, this didn’t shock him yet. After all, some people couldn’t be judged by their surface Realm alone.

An hour passed in the outside world, but within the Death Dao, it felt as if a hundred years had passed for Lin Yun. In a pitch-black space with no sound, no light, and no companions, Lin Yun lived for a century.

Loneliness, desolation, emptiness—all sorts of negative emotions continuously eroded Lin Yun’s mind. If not for the fact that he had lived two lives, he would have likely collapsed long ago.

’How long has it been...?’ Lin Yun, who had initially been pacing about, was now sitting cross-legged on the spot. Here, time stretched on endlessly.

Two hours, three hours... a full three hours passed. Jiang Changlin and Zhang Qingtian could sense that Lin Yun was still alive. A look of astonishment appeared on both their faces; this had already broken a record that had stood for decades.

To put it in perspective, the record for a Primordial Ocean Realm expert in the Death Dao was only one day.

Inside the Death Dao, Lin Yun’s eyes had now become vacant, without the slightest bit of luster. His entire being was like a walking corpse, his mind completely hollowed out.

"How many years has it been? Who am I? How did I get here?" Sitting cross-legged, Lin Yun continuously muttered to himself.

As time went on, Lin Yun forgot who he was and how he had gotten here.

As Lin Yun muttered to himself, a series of images suddenly flashed through his mind: the Divine Emperor slaughtering his entire family; the figures of Lin Xiaotian and Zhang Jingxiang appearing; his own rebirth—all his memories replayed in his mind like a movie.

With the appearance of these images, Lin Yun, whose eyes had become completely lifeless, slowly recovered. Consciousness returned to his eyes once more.

’The Death Dao... I see now. No wonder no one could pass the Death Dao. This first trial tests a person’s mental fortitude. Those with a weak will have no way of passing,’ Lin Yun said softly.

Having regained his spirit, Lin Yun no longer obsessed over the passage of time. Even if it were a thousand years, he was now prepared.

"It’s been a day, a whole day! How did that kid do it?" Outside the Death Dao, a full day had passed, and Lin Yun was not yet dead. Jiang Changlin and Zhang Qingtian were visibly unsettled.

’Could this kid really complete the Death Dao?’ Zhang Qingtian wondered whether he should send this news back to the Academy. But after some thought, he ultimately decided to wait a little longer.

Meanwhile, the ancient voice once again rang out in the dark space, "A thousand years, and your mind remains unbroken. You pass."

Following this voice, beams of light showered down into the dark space, and all of Lin Yun’s lost Elemental Power was restored. It seemed he had passed the first trial.

The black space shattered, and an old man now appeared before Lin Yun.

"Not bad. In thousands of years, you are the first to pass the thousand-year trial," the old man said with a smile, looking at Lin Yun.

Hearing this, Lin Yun was surprised. ’The Thunder God Hall has been in ruins for thousands of years, yet there’s still someone here?’

Sensing Lin Yun’s thoughts, the old man said faintly, "Don’t misunderstand. I am merely the Array Spirit of this Array. Back then, the Hall Master of the Thunder God Hall exhausted all his power to construct this Spatial Array, and I was born from within the Array."

Hearing the old man’s explanation, Lin Yun was relieved. He then asked, "Senior, may I ask if a thousand years has truly passed?"

Having just survived the thousand-year trial, Lin Yun had not yet fully recovered. Those thousand years had felt so real that he felt as if a millennium had truly passed.

"Haha, a Spatial Array can create its own space, so the time within it is naturally different from the outside world. Your thousand years here was merely a single day outside. The so-called thousand years was simply an effect the Array had on you."

"The thousand-year trial is primarily a test of one’s mental fortitude. Your will is firm, and now, after being tempered for a thousand years, you will come to know the benefits of this trial in the future. This is more powerful than any Cultivation Technique," the old man said with a smile.

Hearing this, Lin Yun nodded. After this tempering, he could already feel that his mental fortitude was countless times stronger than before.

The importance of a firm mind to a Martial Artist is self-evident. The higher a Martial Artist’s tier, the greater the demand on their mental fortitude.

A person with a weak will, even if they possessed a Supreme Technique, could never become a true expert. They would always be influenced by the people or things around them, finding it difficult to stay true to their own heart, and thus naturally fail to meet the requirements of an expert.

A firm mind has another crucial function: on the path of cultivation, a Martial Artist is fundamentally defying the heavens. Without a resolute mind, it is impossible to achieve greatness.

"Alright, little one. You have now succeeded in the thousand-year trial. Do you wish to continue with the next tests?" the old man asked.

"Continue," Lin Yun replied without a second thought. Before, he might have needed to consider it, but after experiencing the thousand-year trial, his mind had undergone a metamorphosis, and he made the decision without a shred of hesitation.

"Haha, good. But I must remind you of one thing: every trial carries the risk of death. Once you fail, it means your body and soul will be extinguished." As the old man’s voice faded, the scene around Lin Yun changed once again.