As everyone watched in awe, Qin Xuan once again set foot on the 1,001st step.

BOOM!

After the one-thousandth step, the scene changed abruptly.

A starry mist swirled around. It was no longer an endless staircase.

One after another, Star Platforms appeared, floating in the void. They stretched across the boundless sky of the Star Ruins, extending as far as the eye could see.

"Congratulations, everyone, on passing the Star Inquiry Stage assessment and successfully Guiding your Fate Stars."

The starry projection of the Vermilion Bird Divine General reappeared, looking as heroic and imposing as ever.

Her magnificent red cloak radiated majesty.

Just as everyone thought the Star Inquiry Stage assessment was over, Jiang Chizhen gave a mysterious smile.

"Next, you all need only continue to ascend the steps and pass through the Illusion Heart Platform. Then, you may return the way you came."

Hearing this, the crowd exchanged glances.

They looked at Qin Xuan, already invincible on the highest step, and their hearts pounded with terror.

’We still have to keep climbing? Isn’t that just suicide?’

Qin Xuan, however, was very pleased with this outcome. He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

’I haven’t even opened my Star Mansion yet.’

’No wonder I’m still at the Foundation Establishment Eleventh Level. It seems the opportunity to reach the Twelfth Level lies within this Illusion Heart Platform.’

He was already invincible among his peers; continuing the assessment would benefit him the most!

A Cultivator asked with a trembling voice, "If I may ask, Divine General, what is the Illusion Heart Platform?"

Jiang Chizhen raised her hand.

The Vermilion Bird projection behind her suddenly spread its wings, erupting in a brilliant red light.

"KREEE!"

A clear, resonant cry echoed throughout the Star Ruins.

Then, illusory steps of white jade appeared one after another.

A hundred white jade steps separated each Star Platform.

"On the Illusion Heart Platform, fighting is forbidden. There is no danger to your lives."

Upon hearing this, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Ten steps will earn you Starlight Dust, a hundred will earn you a Star Technique, and a thousand will allow you to open a second Star Palace."

A second Star Palace?!

At these words, the Cultivators’ gazes burned with fervor.

’Not only is there no mortal danger, but we could even open a second Star Palace.’

’If we succeed, wouldn’t that mean we’d be invincible at our level?!’

The crowd instantly grew excited, and some began to look at Qin Xuan with greed in their eyes.

’Since fighting is forbidden, your advantage is gone!’

"With every step you take on the Illusion Heart Platform, you will trigger a Heart Demon Illusion Realm. The higher you go, the stronger the illusion and the greater the pressure."

Jiang Chizhen said lightly, "If you become lost on the Illusion Heart Platform, you will end up like them, staying here to accompany me forever."

She waved her wide sleeve.

Countless gleaming white bones appeared, piled layer upon layer.

Scene after scene of past images appeared.

The Illusion Heart Platform actually created illusions based on a climber’s deepest regrets and obsessions, generating the very thing they feared most!

They were extremely realistic.

The slightest carelessness would cause one to become immersed in the illusion, trapped for all eternity!

The Cultivators’ scalps tingled with fear.

"I’ll risk it! Even if I can’t open a second Star Palace, an extra Star Technique is still a win!"

Someone let out a great shout and started up the steps.

Their figure abruptly vanished into the misty clouds.

With their mortal fears assuaged and someone to take the lead, the Cultivators surged forward one after another, plunging onto the steps of the Illusion Heart Platform.

Naturally, Qin Xuan was among them.

The moment he stepped onto the 1,002nd step, the scene before him suddenly changed.

He was dressed in the simple clothes of a woodcutter, kneeling endlessly before a statue of the Buddha as three withered, yellow divination slips fell from the tube.

The Worst Draw, The Worst Draw, and still The Worst Draw!

Qin Xuan’s pupils constricted.

He staggered backward, utterly crestfallen.

"No, impossible! How can my brother’s illness be incurable? There has to be a way. There must be a way."

Qin Xuan threw aside the divination tube before him, weeping bitterly like a man driven to madness.

Just as Qin Xuan was hopelessly lost in his anguish,

he inadvertently glanced at one of the withered yellow divination slips before him.

He snapped his head up.

’Wait a minute. I’m a Demon Cultivator. When did I ever have a brother?’

CRACK!

The distinct sound of something shattering rang out.

Looking at the divination slip, he felt an intense sense of disconnect.

Qin Xuan picked up the illusory divination slip and took a large stride forward.

The illusion before him shattered.

He ascended the steps without stopping. In the blink of an eye, the 1,100th step came into view.

He had actually climbed a hundred steps in one go,

arriving directly before the first Star Platform!

"Is Liu Mobai even human?"

"How did he do that? The Illusion Heart Platform has no effect on him!"

The Cultivators who had yet to start climbing were left dumbfounded.

’A mental state like that... could even a Golden Core Cultivator compare?’

What they didn’t know, however,

was that Qin Xuan had only realized something was wrong because he saw the divination slip.

He shouldn’t be in a predicament like this.

Because he had a Golden Finger!

’If I’m in a predicament but there’s no Divination prompt, it must mean the scene in front of me is fake!’

Relying on this logic, Qin Xuan advanced with unstoppable momentum.

All the illusions, like fleeting dream bubbles, shattered before him.

Qin Xuan ascended the steps at an astonishing speed, so fast that even Jiang Chizhen was too stunned to react for a moment.

He looked up.

On each Star Platform stood a silent, hazy figure, bearing the imprint of memories from a different era.

’Are these all traces left by past climbers?’

Information about the rules flooded into his mind.

Cross a Star Platform and defeat the illusion of a past Cultivator to receive a Star Technique inheritance!

Qin Xuan frowned slightly, lost in thought.

’These Cultivator illusions are also a kind of gift... They help a climber touch a thread of karma, allowing them to guard against what’s to come.’

Any illusory phantom that appeared on the Illusion Heart Platform

was someone with a strong, karmic connection to the climber, and who had also been to the Star Ruins before, their aura having been recorded!

With this in mind, Qin Xuan stepped onto the first Star Platform.

On the first Star Platform, a young phantom with a dignified bearing, dressed in a Coiling Dragon Golden Robe, suddenly opened his eyes.

"I am Xiao Dinghai, thirteenth son of the Daqian Emperor Monarch. Prepare yourself!"

BOOM!

Surging Imperial Dragon Qi erupted from Xiao Dinghai’s body as he raised a hand and threw a punch!

As the punch flew, phantoms of nine Five-Clawed Golden Dragons appeared behind him, roaring and coiling.