Pathway

The sudden appearance of the large emerald eye right in front of them, caused the disciples to panick. They tried to control their fear but they couldn't. The powerful oppresing aura emanating from the eye was putting a seemingly massive pressure on them. They couldn't help, but scrambled on their knees. The two golden cores were not spared from the effect of the aura either. Their hearts lurched in primal fear while they barely stood on their feet. Afterall, the eye was a total-grade luminous artifact. If it was to reveal its true power, their souls would've exploded from its sheer force.

The Divine Crucible.

A treasure of immense power which could even gaze into the depth of the mind of a god. They might find it difficult, but only the celestials could manage to resist its power. For mortal and immortal cultivators on the mortal plane, they simply had no chance against the power of the crucible. 

With all his might, Ju Feng was fighting the extreme pressure, coming from the eye. But after some seconds, he slumped on the ground. Any second from then, he would have to enter the state of unconsciousness. The other disciples had already succumbed to the pressure and had already passed out. It wasn't their fault. How could they resist the immense pressure from a divine artifact when they were yet to step fully into the Zhuji stage? Their cultivation level was simply not strong enough at that time to withstand the little amount of pressure from the emerald eye.

As Ju Feng was passing out, the voices sounded again.

"Weak, too weak. They couldn't even withstand a little immortal pressure." 

"Yet, they want to enter the Jade palace. I'm surprised, Femara."

"Indeed, Neviria."

"But the golden cores seemed to be holding their own, Femara." 

"Yes. They seemed to be withstanding the eye with no visible effect on them."

"Why wouldn't they, Femara? After all,  they have golden cores. Compared to the others who haven't even formed a phantom core. Can the two of them withstand a nascent glare? Do you want to find out, Femara?"

"Let them be, Neviria. That would be unnecessary oppression."

"No. That would be finding out."

" We're not oppressors, Neviria. Are we now?"

"Are we not, Femara? Mm?"

"Maybe, we are." 

"Hehehe."contemporary romance

"Okay, let's focus on the matter before us."

With that, the pressure coming from the eye receded much to the relief of the adventurous group. A green-gold mist was released from the eye which made Jufeng recovered his full composure as the other disciples also regained their consciousness. Zhang Xiu Ying and elder Cao Wang Xiu were also restored from the fatigue which their minds suffered.

"We, not-humbly, welcome you all to the ancestral palacium of the mightiest of the emperors. The immortal Jade emperor himself, Wan Bao."

"Welcome."

"You must be wondering what kind of palace is this after your visit to the garden. Well, you are right to wonder. As you can see, this is not your traditional kind of palace, just to confirm your thoughts. This is the palace turned myth. The Immortal Jade Realm itself." 

"A place that transcended the mortal plane and directly connected to other planes. How about that?:

A palace which connected to the heavenly and nether planes? Ju Feng asked himself. That sounded like what gatekeeper Luoyang told him about his own pagoda. He was still thinking about the palace when the two voices brought him out of his reverie. 

"The outer premises of the palace is a gift from the Jade emperor to all that enter this place. Like yourselves." 

"There are fruits and plants you wouldn't find in many other places, but do exist here. Even if you've turned back without entering the palace, you would've recieved worthy gifts in remembrance."

"But inside the palace? It's a different thing entirely." 

"A true immortal domain beyond mortal comprehension. You may easily die in there, that's why the Jade emperor designed the following trials." 

"To see how strong your cultivation levels and martial skills are. So, you can prepare for what's ahead. You never know what you could get in there."

"Since you are here, it means you must've reached the conclusion of moving forward. Well, that's good. But you must pass our trials, first."

"Only two of them, for you to be able to enter the Jade palace."

"First of the trials is the Divine Crucible. After that, you'll face the the Golems Might."

"But do not worry treasure hunters. The trials will be according to your levels and capacities."

"If you are all ready, then let it begin."

"Starting from the left. Let your truth be revealed, and your agony be known."

As soon as the Luduans finished talking, the large emerald eye settled in front of Fu Yingjie. He was holfing his head with both hand while a powerful voice sounded in his head.

"Fu Yingjie! What a beautiful name you have. Ying-Jie. Do you even know the meaning of your name? Yes, of course you do know. How brave you are born to be. Yes, how heroic was your birth alignment. Born on a beautiful solar morning, the path of greatness was set. Yet, when you suppose to live up to your name, you proved to be a disappointment. You were there on that day. When two lowly demons attacked you and your family. You watched your parents being captured and you did nothing about it. Oh, you actually did something. You ran! Hm? What do you say? That you were young? Mhm, you're right. You really were young when that happened. How old are you then? Five? Six? Pathetic. Some kids were that age when they performed unbelievable things. But you? You were simply a coward and a weakling. Do you agree to your failures?"

By the time the Emerald eye left him, Fu Yingjie was already sprawling on the floor. He had tears flowing down his face as he continued nodding his head in agonizing acceptance.

The Emerald moved to elder Wang Xiu as she stood there, transfixed. After seeing what happened to Fu Yingjie, her unyielding stare was on the emerald eye. She could faintly sensed the power of the eye, and wondered if she could withstand the truth it would bring.

"A true golden core. Cao Wang Xiu, elder Cao, or should I simply say 'Wang Xiu'? Mhm, what a beautiful child you were born. Friends and foes praised your parents and revered your birth. The elegant jewel in the eyes of her parents, Cao Wang Xiu. You were once a brilliant child. Yes, I would have been proud of you if I was there too. I have to agree that you came into cultivation a bit late, but you advanced rapidly. You even became a nascent soul faster than most. I'll give you that. But at what cost? You are what you are because of your parents, yet they died because of you. And when your father was dying, you ran away instead of saving him. How pathetic was that? Cowardice is one thing but to add weakness to it? Truly pathetic. However, you had the chance to take revenge on the cause, but what did you do? Nothing. You were too weak to do anything. Admit it,  you are a curse and not a jewel, to your parents. You miserable coward, and a pitiable weakling."

"Noooo."

The words made elder Wang Xiu screamed with tears, while her body released blinding flares of light. The words weren't fair on her. Not able to bear the words any longer, she fell on her knees. She deserved to be reminded of the truth she had been suppressing in her mind.

"Yes, face the truth and let your mind be at peace. Now that's better. Nothing relieves more than the truth."

The emerald eye moved from one to the other as the truth hidden in their mind was brought into bear for them to confront.

Lin Da-Xia was holding her head sobbing as she sat on the floor, crawled up and shaking after her own encounter with the eye.

Lin Cheung was kneeling down with his head bowed low, and tears dropped from his eyes.

Zhang Xiu Ying had already manifested pillars of fire in anger. It was as if she wanted to burn her pain away. She had faced moments of truth before when she performed the divine trials at the valley of the gods. So, she readily admitted it when the emerald eye brought them to the fore again. She should've controlled herself, but so many painful hidden truth. They really aroused her anger to burn something, anything.

"Zhang Ju-Feng, the one who comes with the wind. The mortal storm. True, you are not like many. Your name is even more unique than you can imagine. Do you even know why they called you Ju-Feng only? Yes, according to the prophecies. But do you really want to know the irony of your name? Alright, I'll tell you. You're not the one who comes with the wind, Ju Feng. You're the one who comes with death. Yes, you are. Intentionally or not. Your father suffered because of you. A whole village suffered near destruction because of you. Your folks left their birth place because of you. How many people are still going to die because of you? You want to know? Well, many. It's good you already admitted that you're walking in the shadow of death. That's so thoughtful of you for the fact that it's true. I commend you for also admitting that you are a lamentable weakling who happily hides in a cave. You're just too weak to save yourself, mindless of saving others. Let me compound your misery a little bit more, young mortal. A time is coming when you'll loose it all. Even your soul. Then, what'll you do?"

done.co