Fang Hao stepped into the fifth-layer light gate, and the sight before him left him rooted to the spot.

This was neither the shattered Void Realm nor an endless sea of sand, but a towering, ancient white jade platform. The platform was surrounded by mist, with no edge in sight. There was nothing on it except for a huge ancient bronze mirror standing in the center, its surface blurry and reflecting no image.

What made Fang Hao even more alarmed was that the entire space was terrifyingly silent. There was no sound of wind, no aura of other trial-takers, and even that elderly guiding voice had vanished.

"Is anyone there?" Fang Hao asked tentatively, his voice echoing across the empty platform before being quickly swallowed by the mist.

There was no response.

Fang Hao walked to the ancient mirror; ripples suddenly appeared on the surface, and several lines of ancient characters emerged:

"Fifth Layer, Heart-Questioning Platform."

"The mirror reflects the past; the platform illuminates the original heart."

"Break through delusions to preserve the truth, and one can achieve enlightenment."

The characters slowly dissipated, and the mirror surface returned to its blurry state. Fang Hao waited for a long time, but no further guidance came.

"Heart-Questioning Platform?" Fang Hao frowned in thought. "What exactly is this layer supposed to test?"

He searched the platform carefully. The surface was as smooth as a mirror, with no mechanisms or exits to be found. The surrounding mist was thick; attempting to walk into it would inexplicably lead him back to where he started.

It was as if in the entire world, only he and this strange mirror remained.

Time trickled by. Fang Hao tried various methods: stimulating the ancient mirror with spiritual Qi, probing it with Divine Sense, and even testing it with the spatial laws he had just comprehended... all were to no avail.

The ancient mirror showed no reaction, simply standing there quietly.

A sense of loneliness began to spread. In this absolute silence, even the sound of his own heartbeat seemed exceptionally loud.

One day, two days... Fang Hao lost track of how much time had passed. There was no sunrise or sunset here; time seemed to have stagnated.

He began to feel irritable. He could not Cultivate, as his spiritual Qi seemed suppressed by some rule here. His storage ring would not open, and even the time-slowing function of the qiankun ring had failed.

He was truly isolated and helpless.

"Am I to be trapped here forever?" This thought sent a chill through Fang Hao’s heart.

He forced himself to calm down and recalled the hints on the ancient mirror: "The mirror reflects the past; the platform illuminates the original heart... Break through delusions to preserve the truth..."

Fang Hao walked to the ancient mirror once more and stared at the blurry surface.

"Past... heart..." He murmured to himself, and suddenly had a moment of inspiration. "Could it be that I need to face my own heart?"

Fang Hao took a deep breath, pressed his palm against the mirror, closed his eyes, and began to review his path of immortality cultivation.

From being an ordinary youth in Nine Slopes Village, to a lowly Disciple in the Menial Labor Department, to making his mark in the Outer Sect Grand Competition... scene after scene of the past surfaced in his mind.

The mirror suddenly reacted! The blurry surface gradually cleared, but what it reflected was not Fang Hao’s current appearance, but images of his past—

At fifteen, he was in the village listening to a storyteller recount tales of immortals, his eyes full of longing;

At sixteen, he was sweating profusely in the mines, his face covered in coal dust;

At seventeen, he was fumbling through his Cultivation in a waste mine, a stubborn look in his eyes;

At eighteen, he was fighting with all his might in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, his expression resolute...

Every image was lifelike, as if the past were being replayed across time and space.

Finally, the mirror showed his current self, with a bit more maturity and stability in his gaze.

"Is this my past?" Fang Hao whispered to himself.

The mirror changed again, this time revealing the fears and desires deep within his heart— 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He saw himself being mocked by everyone for having a poor Spiritual Root;

He saw his parents suffering the cold shoulders of others in the village;

He saw the contemptuous gazes of Chen Feng and the others;

He also saw his own thirst for power, his longing for immortality, and even... his faint jealousy toward Genius Disciples like Ye Qing.

These were all secrets of his heart that he usually refused to face, or was even unaware of himself.

Cold sweat broke out on Fang Hao’s forehead. This ancient mirror could actually see into the deepest parts of a person’s heart!

"Break through delusions to preserve the truth..." He remembered the hint. "Does it want me to acknowledge and accept these things?"

Fang Hao took a deep breath and spoke softly to the image in the mirror: "Yes, I am afraid of being looked down upon, I thirst for power, and I am jealous of those Geniuses... but all of these are me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the image in the mirror suddenly distorted and turned into a beam of light that enveloped him!

Fang Hao only felt his Divine Soul shake, as if it had been thoroughly cleansed. Many previously vague cultivation doubts suddenly became clear, and his mental state became more transparent and harmonious.

When he came to his senses, he found that the ancient mirror had disappeared, replaced by a staircase leading upward into the depths of the mist.

A line of words appeared beside the stairs: "The Heart-Questioning is passed; you may ascend to the sixth layer. However, the sixth layer requires a Foundation Establishment cultivation base; you have not yet met the standard, so enter with caution."

Fang Hao looked at the stairs, struggling internally. The fifth layer had already been this difficult, and the sixth layer required a Foundation Establishment Realm; he was indeed not qualified.

But he still wanted to give it a try. Circulating all his spiritual Qi, he stepped onto the stairs.

As soon as he stepped onto the first level, he felt a mountain-like pressure crash down upon him! It was as if the entire world were rejecting him, trying to crush him to pieces!

Fang Hao gritted his teeth and persevered, pushing the Myriad Manifestations Heaven Swallowing Art to its limit. His seven-element Spiritual Root exerted force together, and he managed to climb a few more steps.

But the pressure grew heavier and heavier. By the seventh step, he could no longer advance a single inch. His bones creaked and groaned throughout his body; if he forced himself further, he would likely be heavily injured or even perish.

"So it really won’t work..." Fang Hao smiled bitterly and had to retreat from the stairs.

The moment he stepped down, the entire Heart-Questioning Platform shone with brilliant light, and that elderly voice finally rang out:

"Trial-taker Fang Hao has passed the fifth layer of the illusionary Realm. Questioning the heart to see one’s nature, with a transparent Dao Heart—this is truly rare."

"I bestow upon you one ’heart-questioning mirror’ to illuminate your original heart and dispel Heart Demons; I also bestow upon you a ’Clear Dao Heart’ to help you break through Realms in the future without worry."

A small ancient mirror and a streak of clear light merged into Fang Hao’s body. The heart-questioning mirror would help him maintain a Clear Dao Heart, while the Clear Dao Heart would make it harder for Heart Demons to arise when he was breaking through Realms.

Although his cultivation level had not increased, these two rewards were of vital importance for his long-term cultivation.

Only then did Fang Hao realize that he had stayed in the fifth layer for a full seven days. The light screen showed that he was still the only one who had passed the fifth layer; even Ling Qianxue’s name had not appeared.

"It seems this layer is indeed extremely difficult," Fang Hao thought. Had he not gone through the tempering of the first four layers, and possessed the Myriad Manifestations Heaven Swallowing Art along with many Opportunities, he likely would have found it difficult to pass as well.

After meditating to recover, Fang Hao looked at the stairs leading to the sixth layer. Although he had failed this time, he was not discouraged.

"Foundation Establishment... it won’t be long." Fang Hao clenched his fists. "Once I succeed in my Foundation Establishment, I will definitely come back to challenge this sixth layer!"

It was time to leave now. There were still four layers left in the Illusionary Realm Trial, but they were not something his current self could reach.

With a thought, Fang Hao was teleported out of the illusion. When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the Sect Plaza.

Many Disciples had already come out onto the plaza, each looking as if they had gained quite a lot. Seeing Fang Hao appear, many people cast surprised glances—those who could stay in the illusion for so long were not simple figures.

Fang Hao felt the heart-questioning mirror and the Clear Dao Heart within his body. Although his cultivation was still at the Late Stage of the Ninth Level of Qi Refining, he knew that his gains were far more than what appeared on the surface.

The Illusionary Realm Trial ended.