Transcending Dreams

B2 - Chapter 95

Congratulations on having no pride and surviving!

The Wheel of Death will continue! As a reminder, your accompanying Elder is just a shout away!

William stood still, staring blankly at the wall as the platform descended again.

It was good that he automatically passed that round.

William wanted to think that, but he could not help but feel insulted. It was apparent from the previous two rounds that they were specialized to his prior experiences and based on his personality.

He could agree on being greedy. It was a trait he was well aware of and frequently had to fight against to stop himself from making stupid decisions. Though sometimes he lost that fight.

Fearing the Sky Hares was debatable but acceptable. However, being told he had no pride hurt his pride. Surely, that should mean something.

The platform came to a stop. William looked up to see the ceiling well over four times the distance compared to when he was at round two.

That surprise would be coming after the next round.

He glanced at his surroundings and wasnt surprised to see no visible exits on the wall. It seemed like that was a specialty of round one.

He wasnt sure what he preferred to happen next. For the voice to give him another pass or to save his apparently non-existent pride and experience round four.

[WARNING | External factor affecting mental state]

That alert negated Williams self-debate.

He flexed his fingers nervously as he waited to be brought into the illusion. He was racking his brain to try and guess what he would be tested on now, but he came up with a blank.

The most probable test would be something related to love and desire. Another common test he had noticed was brought up frequently in the cultivation novels he read on Earth. However, the issue was he had no such attachment on this world.

Unless it counted fondness as love, then yes, there were a few that he was fond of.

Still, that was highly unlikely. The tests were meant to overcome attachments such as love to free cultivators to fully dedicate themselves to pursuing immortality. Doing that same to friendships was a little much.

William frowned when nearly a minute passed without his surroundings changing. He started to get a creeping feeling that he was already in the illusion and simply didnt know it.

Then, the world around him flickered.

He was standing in a hallway he had practically forgotten. It had been years since he visited, not due to any real animosity but a gradual distance that grew over time.

Will! Eat your food while its still hot!

William stared at his mother standing on the open end of the hallway with a furious look on her face. She was far younger than the last time he had seen her, with the familiar harried look from dealing with too much at once.

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The lines on her face hadnt set in, and her gaze held more exasperation than disappointment. It reminded him that this was an illusionnot realityeven if the system had stopped working for some reason.

Youre not real, William said out loud, both for his illusionary mother and himself.

What?! She took a heavy step toward him. Dont play games with me today! We have to leave in an hour to catch the flight to New

He found himself back on the platform, his unwelcome trip to Earthillusion or notover.

William gasped in shock when the metal platform beneath him plummeted without warning. It was at a speed that made him lose contact with it, and he ended up free-falling without support.

The platform crashed with a force that shook the entire elevator-like shaft, with William landing roughly on his feet soon after. By some miracle, he was able to control it enough to not cause himself any damage.

The Wheel of Death has encountered an error. It is closed until further notice. Your accompanying Elder will be with you shortly.

He took in that information silently as he looked around, seeing something other than walls for the first time since he entered this place. In fact, there were no walls at all. The platform fell out of the shaft and landed on soil.

William glanced up and grew curious. He walked off the platform to see a massive, cement-colored cylinder hanging in the air without any visible support.

It could be supported from above, but the sky looked as natural as it could get. It was a mostly clear night sky, with a few wispy clouds doing nothing to block the soft moonlight shining down from above to illuminate the land.

He supposed it could be another illusion, but he seriously doubted that as a possibility. The system didnt warn him of it, and even though it wasnt infallible, it was confident it was working just fine at the moment.

William recalled when the illusion broke. His momillusionary motherwas about to say New York or a place that only existed on Earth. He didnt know why that was enough to break the Wheel of Death, but perhaps it could only simulate what could exist in this world.

Or perhaps it was the whole illusion, and the strain was too much for whatever was creating it, breaking at that word by coincidence.

It was not the best reasoning, even to himself, but his gut told him he was on the right track.

He shook his head and faced the only thing of any interestother than the colossal cylinder hanging above himthe large compound in the distance.

William could see faint lights evenly spaced around the walls, with a large estate beyond towering above everything around it. This was begging to be visited, and that made him suspicious.

He glanced at his status screen and zeroed in on his Spiritual Energy.

Spiritual Energy: 428/1630 (20% per Hour)

It would take roughly four hours to recover all of that. Long, exceptionally so, but necessary.

That compound could only house two things in Williams mind. Either this was the surprise that the voice mentioned after round five, or this was where the corrupted avatar was imprisoned.

Both possibilities needed for him to be at his peak state.

However, that didnt mean he would simply sit here and waste time. He could get quite a lot done to give himself additional help.

The one that could further his strength the most was his Spirit attribute. The math he had done on how much Spirit he needed to completely fill his major meridians indicated that he was close.

In fact, William thought there was a good chance he currently had enough unused points to get him there.

He brought out the spirit beast egg from the spatial stone and studied it carefully for the first time since they entered the Wheel of Death.

It didnt seem to have changed much physically other than the flowery decorations growing darker, but it was definitely more lively. The egg moved around happily on his palm, which he hoped was a sign it would hatch soon.

You know the deal, Little Egg, William was used to talking to it by now. Alert me if anything gets close. Ill give you a good treat soon.

The egg rocked forward, sending a ping that practically screamed yes at him. William chuckled and sat crosslegged on the grass, not far from the massive metal platform.

He placed the egg on his lap and prepared himself, hoping he would unlock the next stage of his cultivation technique.