The Prodigies War

Above Mapleleaf Crossing, cicadas chirped in a deafening chorus. The spectators standing far away were all plunged into shock and daze, their thoughts scattered, as though they had been dragged into a strange and dreamlike illusion. The dream felt so vivid, so overwhelmingly real, that it seemed to carry them back to the very beginning of their own pursuit of the dao, reliving joys and sorrows, triumphs and setbacks, endless hardships and bitter struggles.

Lin Xun’s mind rippled for an instant, but he quickly regained his composure. When he looked again, a handsome young man stood upon the auspicious clouds. He wore coarse hemp robes and was barefoot, his demeanor gentle and unassuming. His eyes were clear and serene, devoid of arrogance, pressure or menace. Suddenly, the young man smiled. He raised a finger and casually traced a line through the air.

Boom!

In an instant, heaven and earth split open. All scenes and phenomena twisted violently. Lin Xun found himself standing upon a broken, dead-end road. One step forward led straight into a yawning abyss; one step back sank into endless darkness.

There was nothing else. Even worse, his cultivation seemed to have vanished entirely! Lin Xun’s eyes narrowed.

“Abyss and darkness, one illusory and the other real, life and death...which is illusory and which is real? It is up to you to decide.” A gentle and calm voice sounded.

Lin Xun fell silent.

Is the interplay of illusion and reality, life and death, the dao path mastered by Elder Golden Cicada?

He gazed into the abyss ahead. It was bottomless and profound, as though it could swallow not only flesh and bone, but one’s very soul. When he turned to look behind him, all he saw was a rolling darkness. It was hazy, unfathomable and deeply unsettling.

Crack! Crack!

Suddenly, fine cracks spread across the shattered ground beneath his feet, branching like a spider’s web. If this continued, the road would soon collapse entirely, and he would plunge into the abyss. At the same time, the black mist behind him writhed and surged forward, closing in without haste.

A deadly dilemma! Worst still, Lin Xun could not mobilize even the slightest trace of his cultivation. It seemed he had only two options: step forward into the abyss, or be devoured by the encroaching darkness.

Illusion and reality intertwined. Life and death stood side by side. The danger was extreme. Anyone else would believe that only by discerning which was false and which was real could this peril be resolved.

Many would even regard it as an invisible contest of the great dao itself. Fail to see through illusion and reality, or fail to distinguish life and death, and defeat would be inevitable.

For a fleeting instant, even Lin Xun almost believed this to be true. However, just as he was about to make his choice, he abruptly stopped. After a brief shift in expression, he laughed aloud.

What abyss? What darkness? What illusion and reality? What life and death? All of it was nothing more than a snare of the mind. Once caught within it, no matter what choice was made, the outcome would always be loss!

Like an ox led by the nose, one should struggle to break free. How could one follow the other’s pull? As for his vanished cultivation...this was precisely the illusion!

Bang!

The broken road beneath suddenly collapsed, and behind him, dense fog surged forward, swallowing everything in its path. At that instant, Lin Xun roared in his mind. “Open!”

Boom!

As all things shifted and transformed, the black mist and abyss burst apart like bubbles, vanishing without a trace. As Lin Xun’s vision snapped back into clarity, a finger that was as silent and sharp as sword qi was already inches from him!

It belonged to the golden cicada. At the critical moment, Lin Xun struck out with a single palm.

Bang!

The finger and palm collided. An ear-splitting roar erupted as light exploded outward in all directions. Lin Xun staggered, cold sweat breaking out across his back. If he had awakened even a fraction of a moment later, he would have already met with disaster. Thinking back on what had just happened, he felt a lingering chill. It was truly terrifying.

Without even noticing, he had already sunk into a mental illusion that cultivators called Appearance Bound, and it was precisely because of this that he had fallen into the killing calamity of the abyss and the black mist.

Was it an illusion? Yes and no. For whether real or illusory, it was still a lethal calamity, and all of it had been triggered by a single finger stroke. In truth, it was the golden cicada’s sudden attack. The dao power contained within that finger had silently invaded and distorted Lin Xun’s state of mind!

This was the true terror of the golden cicada’s dao manifestation. Illusion and reality coexisted. Life and death overlapped. Killing intent shifted freely between form and formlessness! Amid the fading light, the golden cicada’s figure dissolved like foam upon water, disappearing without a trace.

At Mapleleaf Crossing, ordinary travellers still waited by the ferry as before. In the distance, the watching mighty figures remained lost in a daze. Beneath the vault of heaven, aside from the absence of the golden cicada atop the auspicious cloud, everything seemed no different from before.

However, Lin Xun sensed that something was amiss. The golden cicada’s dao manifestation had not truly fallen, yet it was as though it had vanished entirely from this world. No trace of it could be perceived anymore.

“That which is formless has no shape, what stands before the eyes is real, while the golden cicada is illusory...”

Lin Xun’s brows lifted slightly. This was neither concealment nor invisibility, but a supreme dao technique, one that could evade not only the naked eye, but even spirit sense.

Time flowed on, but the golden cicada never reappeared.

Lin Xun’s expression grew increasingly solemn. The enemy lurked in shadow while he stood fully exposed; existence confronted the unseen. In such a confrontation, countless variables were bound to arise.

The golden cicada had become the ‘nothingness’ of the great dao. In contrast, Lin Xun, standing openly in the world, was ‘existence.’ Nothingness against existence, illusion against reality, darkness against light! This was the first time Lin Xun had ever faced such a battle, and the invisible pressure it carried was, without question, the most terrifying of all.

Suddenly, he drew a deep breath. He closed his eyes. His outwardly spreading spirit sense withdrew completely. He stood motionless where he was, his mind clear and tranquil like an ancient well untouched by even the faintest ripple. His mind was like that ancient well, yet it could still reflect the moon’s illusory shadow!

Then, within his mind, a figure appeared, standing at his side. Its five fingers were gathered into a seal, raised halfway in the air, yet it seemed unable to strike, hesitating there for a long moment. That figure was none other than the golden cicada!

“So...he’s been standing right beside me all this time,” Lin Xun realized. “Waiting for the slightest fluctuation in my mind or qi just to raise his hand and strike...”

A chill ran down his spine. Surprise and sudden realization surged together, and cold sweat soaked his back. This formless dao that blurred illusion and reality was truly unfathomable.

Boom!

The instant Lin Xun’s mind rippled, the golden cicada finally moved. His raised fist descended like a thunderbolt long held in restraint. However, Lin Xun had already captured his trace, so how could he fail to respond? Almost at once, he raised his fist and struck back.

Rumble—The collision of their fists shook heaven and earth.

The distant mighty figures, who had stood dazed, as though trapped within a dream, were violently jolted awake. Cries of alarm burst from their lips as they exchanged glances, fear and horror etched plainly across their faces.

For beings of their level, ordinary arts of illusion were meaningless, incapable of stirring their minds in the slightest. However, the golden cicada’s dao manifestation had shaken the very foundation of their minds with a single cry, casting them into a nightmare-like trance!

What kind of cultivation could possibly reach such a height? In the distant heavens and earth, a battle was unfolding. Gradually, it drew the full attention of the watching mighty beings.

Of note what chilled them to the bone was how utterly bizarre the battle appeared.

The golden cicada’s figure would vanish without the faintest trace, dissolving into nothingness. Meanwhile, Lin Xun stood with eyes closed, his spirit sense completely withdrawn. Despite that, each time, he seemed able to pinpoint the golden cicada’s position, forcing him to reveal himself again and again...

The sight left them staring in stunned disbelief.

After a long while...Boom!

The golden cicada was forced to reveal himself once more. He shook his head, let out a soft chuckle, and then vanished entirely, leaving not even a ripple behind.

Lin Xun finally opened his eyes. He turned toward the empty void and bowed. “Thank you for your guidance, Elder.”

...He won?

The mighty figures present were stunned. Some felt their hearts tremble violently, their thoughts thrown into uncontrollable turmoil. This dao contest might not have appeared especially dazzling, yet invisible killing intent permeated every moment from beginning to end.

If it had been them, they would not have found even a single trace of the golden cicada. Without even perceiving the opponent, how could there be any contest at all?

Despite all that, Lin Xun had won! He had truly won. Another dao law power vanished from the Heavenly Cycle Dao laws. This change was clearly perceived by the mighty figures present through the Jade Book of Merits.

However, the Chaos Dao Fruit that was meant to appear for Lin Xun still did not manifest, and that made the situation even more alarming. At a moment like this...how could it still be so?

If even after defeating the dao manifestation left behind by the golden cicada the Chaos Dao Fruit still refused to appear, did that not mean Lin Xun might never be able to leave the Mortal Transformation Zone?

......

The Realm of All Mysteries, Hidden Domain.

The golden cicada had just lifted a chess piece when his hand suddenly paused midair. A faint, unreadable expression flickered across his brow.

“Indecisive?” the Lord of Fangchun Mountain asked with a smile from across the board. “Does that mean you’re about to concede?”

The golden cicada slowly set the piece back in its place and gave a soft chuckle. “I concede this match willingly. I truly did not expect that Young Friend Lin’s state of mind would reach such a height. Even my formless dao that blurred illusion and reality failed to hinder him.”

There was unmistakable satisfaction in his voice.

A glimmer of understanding passed through the Lord of Fangchun Mountain’s eyes. “It has only been seven months since he entered the Mortal Transformation Zone, and he has already defeated the dao manifestation you left behind?”

He understood better than anyone how profound and elusive the golden cicada’s dao path was. It was one of the most inscrutable paths in the entire All-Wonder Dominion. Given the circumstances, even the Lord of Fangchun Mountain had not expected Lin Xun to overcome the golden cicada’s dao manifestation so quickly.

The golden cicada laughed aloud. “Fellow Daoist, there’s unmistakable pride in your words. You must be delighted.”

The Lord of Fangchun Mountain smiled faintly. “One day, I may no longer be worthy to call myself his master. But the more he excels, the more content I am. I have always wished for my disciples to outshine me.”

The golden cicada grew thoughtful. “I understand your sentiments, Fellow Daoist. Yet I find myself somewhat concerned for Young Friend Lin.”

“You fear that his performance as a variable may invite unforeseen disaster?”

“Precisely.”

“There is no need for concern. Alpha Origin has not acted. As long as he remains unmoved, there is nothing to fear.”

“Let us hope it remains so.”

At this point, the golden cicada suddenly said, “Young Friend Lin will surely challenge the dao manifestation you left behind next. That trial will not be easy for him.”

The Lord of Fangchun Mountain casually remarked, “To others, the dao manifestation I left behind would be insurmountable. But for Lin Xun, it will be the easiest to overcome.”

“So there is more to it than meets the eye?” the golden cicada asked, intrigued.

The Lord of Fangchun Mountain smiled faintly. “Would I, as his master, set an impossible hurdle for my own disciple? As for the intricacies, you may ask him yourself when the time comes.”

The golden cicada paused, then nodded slowly. “Then I shall look forward to that day.”