Chapter 207

Not a breath could be heard; one could hear a pin drop.

No one had ever seen such a scene, nor had anyone anticipated it.

In truth, this silence did not arrive suddenly only at the end; the moment the young man touched the small mirror, things began to change.

As the mirror surface reflected into the young man's pupils, the jade substance began to flow, yet it showed no tendency to change color; it was neither clear nor yellow, showing no reaction at all.

Amidst the confusion and bewilderment, the way Sui Sui Zaihua suddenly stood up was abrupt and striking.

Even in the official business of the prefecture, few had ever seen the old man look so astonished, let alone to such an intense degree. Fortunately, the expression softened slightly in the next moment; although he still stared in admiration, it was at least the appropriate posture for a high-ranking official of Shaolong.

Because the mirror, after all, did not truly remain unchanged; it seemed to stall for half a breath before entering the normal process.

Just as the crowd had bewilderedly shifted their gaze from Magistrate Sui back to the mirror, they froze before it once again.

There was no need to guess whether the magical artifact was malfunctioning as before, nor to wonder why the Inspector was so shocked.

Its performance was so direct, vivid, and high-profile, clearly and unmistakably declaring to everyone how different it was from everything that had just occurred.

The flowing jade substance resembled clouds as thick as grease. It did not change into any color, but many patches of white light broke through from behind them, gradually intensifying, then illuminating it, penetrating it, and melting it.

Countless rays of incandescent white spliced together, completely swallowing the entire mirror surface.

Thus, it became an incandescent sun wheel.

For a time, the sound of people rising on both sides was incessant; everyone was staring intently.

What realm is this?

"The 'Sword Mind Reflection' has four states: Turbid, Clear, Bright, and Void-Clear." The old man's words surfaced in his mind—Turbid, Clear, Bright... this is Bright!

There was no visible flow, let alone stillness; it just shone like this, and then, that heavy, ferocious black substance appeared once again.

It was likewise a strange manifestation that the crowd had never seen before.

It did not emerge from the bottom, aggressively pushing upward, but began to flow and wrap around the edges of the mirror, and more and more, and more... even exceeding the mirror frame.

For the first time, people knew where the black substance came from.

It was flowing black metal; it was clearly the melted mirror frame!

Before, only a portion of the metal in the core of the frame had melted into black substance to infect the mirror surface, but this time, it had all turned into a soup of black flow. The entire "Sword Mind Reflection" no longer looked like the small mirror it was before, having completely transformed into a flow of black and white.

The mirror frame had completely melted, and the scale of the black substance was so massive it exceeded everyone's imagination; it could even completely wrap a person's head, and at its center, the palm-sized mirror surface looked pitifully weak.

The black substance spread and flowed continuously, soon reaching the peak of its power, and then immediately pressed down on the mirror surface with irresistible force—heavy, viscous, and dark. They writhed, like black dragons formed from shadows.

Like a blooming black lotus slowly closing, even in the face of such proud incandescent white, the black substance still displayed its power, crushing force, and unstoppable nature without any dilution. This was precisely the design of the artifact master—the 【Fearless Pass】 of the later mind-state would not be simple; it would only be more difficult than the first two realms.

This had been fully demonstrated visually; the incandescent white light had been heavily covered, not a bit leaking out anymore. The massive black substance pounced on the mirror surface like heavy iron sand pressing onto thin, brittle paper.

And then, at the moment this sky-covering black substance made contact with the mirror surface, every tightened mind and held breath went rigid.

There was no struggle, nor was there any "time of persistence."

The dazzling white light suddenly broke through everything, as if a startled true dragon had turned its head and swallowed the evil sheep in one bite. In an instant, the thick black substance, like a shadow encountering the great sun, vanished into nothingness.

The Official Viewing Platform was frozen like ice; no one had imagined that the confrontation with the black substance could take such a form and result.

The mirror frame re-solidified, the light of the scorching sun slowly descended, and the young man before the mirror opened his eyes.

His face was illuminated in minute detail before the incandescent mirror; at this moment, his expression was peaceful, his eyes steady, appearing for a moment like a god-man in a vision.

The entire venue was silent.

This silence only loosened slightly after the young man took a step back and finished bowing to the four directions.

"Holding the Heart." Sui Sui Zaihua was still standing; the old man's expression was nearly solemn. Amidst the focused gazes of the crowd, he spoke slowly, his voice penetrating the entire venue, "—Bright Spirit!"

Holding the Heart, Bright Spirit.

The martial artists who had tried this magical artifact went without saying; everyone knew how terrifying it was. The observing scholars were also completely speechless, their newly reshaped understanding torn apart once again—they had already raised their horizons to a mouse-and-rabbit race, so why did a true dragon suddenly roar past?

What was seen today left many shocked and speechless. Between the cultivation talents of different people, there really was... a true, genuine difference between clouds and mud. Some crawl among withered branches and rotten leaves, while others soar in the clouds.

"Uninvaded and unstained, the heart is as bright as a god. Facing the demon shadows of the mind-state, one can fight and win; this is the so-called 【Bright Spirit】." Sui Sui Zaihua said slowly, "This is the end of the Fearless Pass, representing that you have mastered this magical artifact. In your hands, the 'Sword Mind Reflection' is henceforth a boring toy."

The old man looked at Pei Ye: "Young man, if your first pass was truly 【Unchanging】, then so be it, representing that you have the heart of a natural 'Bright Mirror Ice Mirror' like the Glazed Sword Master, and 【Bright Spirit】 goes without saying. But since you are 【Holding the Heart】, it must have come from acquired tempering. How... can you be 【Bright Spirit】?"

—'What kind of things have you faced directly?'

Pei Ye remained silent.

He knew what the old man was talking about. The 【Fearless Pass】 of the "Sword Mind Reflection" seemed mysterious, but he had experienced it once, and especially after observing it with 【Spring Longevity】, he completely understood its principle.

Within the Mind-Spirit Realm, it harvests the "Pure Self," places it into the concept of a "Sword," and then introduces a collection of concepts such as "Fear" or "Enemy."

The key lies in the "Enemy."

And this enemy is, in fact, "quantitative."

If it is a vicious tiger, then the manifestation of an ordinary martial artist's heart might only be a small mouse, naturally collapsing upon seeing it.

Stronger ones are merely like rabbits, able to struggle and resist, achieving 【All-Control】, which is already the talent of a fine rodent. And the outstanding ones among the Dao-born who can resist for a long time are of the fox and wolf variety; although they are still bound to lose, they at least have the possibility of a fight.

And Pei Ye's mind-spirit is a Qilin.

A tiger before it is just like a white rabbit before a tiger.

But if a true dragon comes, then the Qilin is not enough to look at.

In other words, 【Bright Spirit】 does not mean 【Bright Spirit】 forever, able to resist all fear forever. It is just that the young man who has truly faced immortals and gods has a heart far superior to ordinary people. In terms of understanding "fear," the "Sword Mind Reflection" is no longer enough to probe his bottom line.

This is precisely the old man's question.

You are young, how is your heart so deep like an abyss? What carved it out?

Pei Ye was silent for a moment, lowered his head, and said something nonsensical: "I am from Fenghuai, my lord."

"..." Sui Sui Zaihua raised his head slightly, also stunned for a moment, before slowly nodding, "Good child—your name is Pei Ye, isn't it?"

"Yes, my lord."

"You, do you really not want to demonstrate two styles of sword?"

Pei Ye hesitated: "Demonstrating sword is fine, if you want to see it, I will demonstrate it, but..."

But... he really had no heart to enter the Sword Academy.

Sui Sui Zaihua nodded slowly, not talking about it anymore, only saying: "After this meeting ends, follow me to the Prefecture Office for an hour, how about we chat for a while?"

Pei Ye cupped his hands and nodded: "I also have matters I wish to consult with you, my lord."

Thus Sui Sui Zaihua smiled and nodded, signaling him to return, and then sat back down.

To the side, Zhao Zhang was still staring blankly at Pei Ye's back, turning his head and saying: "Magistrate, Magistrate Sui, such a genius, is the Sword Academy not recruiting him?"

Sui Sui Zaihua smiled: "The Sword Academy is not a place to tie people up. If there is fate, come; if there is no intent, go. No matter where in the Great Tang, Young Hero Pei will become a pillar of the country, why be rigid?"

Zhao Zhang sighed heavily: "Magistrate Sui is high up and doesn't know the bitterness of those below. The Sword Academy is the place the imperial court is pushing heavily right now—if he goes elsewhere, my political achievements will lose half their color!"

"Hahahaha, then Magistrate Zhao, go flatter him yourself."

"..." Forget it, Magistrate Sui has high integrity, I won't go disturb others." Zhao Zhang laughed and sighed.

Firstly, everyone said the break was uncomfortable, so I'll write out the rest (although I feel this act of showing off is already done); secondly, if I add this update, I will have updated 10,000 words today!

From now on, please call me—【The 10,000-Word-a-Day Author】!

After finishing this chapter, I originally still owed 31 updates.

However,

【Thanks to Boss Jun Xinxu for the Alliance Leader reward, the boss is generous, thanks for the support, it was really a waste of money.】

So I owe 32 updates again.

I will try my best to ensure updates on time tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)