By now, the black mist around Li Guanqi had expanded to a radius of ten zhang!
Seeing this, Zheng Deyuan could not help but sneer. "Looks like this fellow is very likely going to die to his heart demon!"
"The most terrifying thing about the heart demon tribulation is how it dredges up the deepest fears hidden in someone's heart and exploits them."
"If he can't see through his heart demon, he'll be a ruined man for the rest of his days!"
The elder beside him nodded slightly, sharp glints flashing in his eyes as he muttered under his breath, "I'm afraid what this little bastard is facing is a heart demon tied to family bonds."
"That kind of heart demon is arguably the hardest to overcome!"
"After all, if one wants to break the heart demon and temper an unshakeable Dao heart, there is only that single choice."
It was not just the two of them; many keen-eyed observers in the surrounding crowd had noticed this as well.
The rapidly spreading black mist meant that the one undergoing tribulation was sinking deeper and deeper into the illusion cast by his heart demon.
Once it reached a certain threshold, it meant the cultivator had completely lost himself to the illusion.
This was the will of the Heavenly Dao, a trial to test a cultivator's mindset and temperament.
That was why it was often said that the Nascent Soul severed mortal ties.
Just as the crowd was wildly guessing, Li Guanqi was experiencing an exceptionally warm, tender dinner.
There were no delicacies of land or sea on the table.
Just coarse white rice accompanied by the Zhao Manor's leftover roast duck.
Yet sitting together around the table, talking and laughing as a family, still brought Li Guanqi an unfamiliar warmth of home.
Night fell.
The kang was heated until it was thoroughly warm. But the family was strapped for cash, owning only a single large quilt.
The whole family shared that one quilt, with Li Guanqi and Li Cuiwei lying in the middle.
Li Guanqi rested against the man behind him, while his mother held Li Cuiwei in her arms.
The rhythmic sound of three people breathing evenly reached his ears, yet Li Guanqi remained wide awake, staring into the dark for a long time.
He did not know what was constantly troubling him deep down, nor what he was afraid of.
Restless and perplexed, he felt the soothing warmth of the heated kang beneath him and eventually drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
Early the next morning, Li Guanqi opened his bleary eyes and caught the fresh fragrance of white porridge.
Holding a warm, damp towel, the man roughly wiped his face with a laugh. "Up you get, little lazybones! Your sister went out to work ages ago."
"Aren't you going to town to deliver letters today?"
Li Guanqi gave a dazed grunt of assent, got out of bed, and drank some porridge.
The snow outside had stopped. After breakfast, the man went out to shovel the snow, the scrape of his shovel hissing rhythmically.
Having tidied up, their mother sat on the kang and began embroidering.
Scratching her head with the embroidery needle, the woman smiled at him and said, "If you don't feel like delivering letters today, go help your father shovel snow."
Li Guanqi answered softly, "I'll go shovel snow."
He did not know why he said that; he simply wanted to learn a little more about this man.
Seeing him come out, the man hurriedly found some thick clothes for him to put on and handed him a pair of gloves, telling him to keep them on.
These gestures left Li Guanqi somewhat at a loss.
He was not used to being cared for like this by a "father."
Yet that unfamiliarity brought an entirely novel sense of warmth coursing through him.
As they shoveled the snow, the man kept reminding him to be careful, terrified that he might bump or scrape himself.
Once the snow was cleared, the man put on his coat to head out. Before leaving, he leaned down and ruffled the boy's hair. "Stay home and keep your mother company. Dad's going to the city today to haul a few cartloads of firewood for someone. When I come back tonight, I'll buy you meat buns."
Li Guanqi nodded numbly, listening to the sound of the man turning to leave.
Song Wanrong stood at the doorway and smiled. "Qingshan, come back early."
The man waved from outside the gate, laughing. "Go back inside, the wind is harsh."
Feeling the concern in the man's words, a look of blissful contentment appeared on Song Wanrong's face.
Though Li Guanqi could not see at this moment, he knew his mother had to be smiling.
His father... was named Li Qingshan...
As the days went by, Li Guanqi's headaches grew less and less frequent.
Instead, each day was filled with happiness, surrounded by his parents' love.
Though life was impoverished, they lived it with relish.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, the black mist around Li Guanqi had expanded to nearly a hundred zhang!
Seeing this, the onlookers shook their heads one after another. It looked like this person's Nascent Soul tribulation was doomed to fail.
Yet inside the illusion, three years had already passed, and Li Guanqi had grown quite a bit taller.
Suddenly, a thud echoed in his ears, followed by Li Cuiwei's sharp cry.
He rushed to his sister's side and helped her up, hurriedly asking, "Sister, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"
Li Cuiwei clutched her chin, wincing. "I'm fine, just scraped a cut on my chin."
Li Guanqi's entire body shuddered violently!
A piercing pain stabbed into his mind!
With a thud, he fell to his knees, clutching his head and bashing it frantically against the ground!
Thud! Thud, thud, thud!
Each dull impact was louder than the last, and blood soon seeped from his forehead.
Foreign memories surged endlessly into his mind.
"Ahhh! Ahhh!"
He roared with all his might, yet he still could not stop those memories from surfacing.
Cold, bloody images flashed continuously before his mind's eye.
Li Guanqi faintly heard the woman's panicked screams and the man's anxious voice.
After who knew how long, Li Guanqi lay numbly on the kang, staring up at the ceiling.
Taking advantage of the others sleeping soundly beside him, he quietly walked out of the house and wandered aimlessly through the streets.
He remembered.
He remembered everything.
Yet throughout these three years, he had genuinely lived through every single day here.
He did not even know how many times he had called that man "Dad."
And now... he realized it was all fake.
He actually understood how to break this illusion, but he simply could not bring himself to do it.
In the sky outside, the black mist had swollen to nearly three hundred zhang!
No one believed Li Guanqi could still wake from the heart demon tribulation.
Such a terrifying volume of black mist could only prove that the cultivator was hopelessly trapped in the illusion.
A sneer played at the corner of Zheng Deyuan's mouth. Had the heavenly tribulation not yet dispersed, he would have struck long ago.
"A genius, my ass! If you can't reach the Nascent Soul realm, you're nothing but an ant!"
This was precisely why so many people said that only upon reaching the Nascent Soul realm did one truly set foot on the path of cultivation.
Right at that moment, however, the black mist enveloping Li Guanqi began to churn violently!
Standing outside the door, Li Guanqi held a kitchen cleaver in his hand, yet he could not bring himself to push open the door before him!
He knew. He knew everything.
Yet if breaking this heart demon tribulation and reaching the Nascent Soul realm required him to slaughter his own family with his own hands, he refused!
Even if it was an illusion, how could a son murder his own mother and kin?!
Li Guanqi exhaled a breath of turbid air. Within the Sword Ruins, the blood-colored sword trembled faintly.
With cold eyes, Li Guanqi looked up at the night sky and whispered softly,
"Severing the seven emotions, cutting away the six desires... I can do that."
"But murdering my mother and kin, abandoning human morality and natural bonds—that, I, Li Guanqi, cannot do."
"If that is what it takes, I would rather abandon this Grand Dao of longevity!"
Boom!
Under the power of the Sword Ruins, cracks fractured violently across the Core Formation golden core within Li Guanqi's body!
Without him even noticing, the kitchen cleaver in his hand had transformed into the Red Lotus sword.
Treading into the void, Li Guanqi slowly raised his sword, gazed up at the heavens, and slashed out with all his might!
"Heaven Breaker Sword Art—Demon Subduer!"
Boom!
Instantly, a hundred-zhang sword light burst forth, carrying an incomparably immense sword intent!
With just this single strike, the illusion shattered completely!
It was not because this strike was overwhelmingly powerful, but because he had held fast to his original conviction. The illusion could no longer bind him.
As the illusion collapsed around him, Li Guanqi turned his head, looking back with lingering reluctance at his mother, his sister, and the fabricated father.
His voice trembled slightly as he said, "Thank you."
Boom!
Chapter 276