A brilliant burst of multicolored light heralds their appearance into this strange world of the Secret Sword Realm Nexus.

It is empty, just like the world of the first and second trials, but there are notable differences. There is an ever-present moonlight that produces soft shadows to fall below them. This source of light is invisible, just like the other voids, but there is something different about it. In a way, it is as if the light itself is produced by sword Qi — small, intangible, yet extraordinarily intense.

Indeed, it is as if this void is bathed in the light produced by the glint of a sword bathing in moonlight.

Moreso, flashes of color dominate the empty sky — scintillating points that vanish without a trace as quickly as they appear.

The floor is more mirrored than in the other void worlds, providing Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui the opportunity to see their slightly blurry reflections.

This void world is calm and serene — more than the other void realms. It is almost like suppression, but more gentle and less destructive. In fact, rather than suppressing, it has a soothing effect. Even I feel the difference.

It is almost as if that sword is singing a quiet lullaby that can infiltrate my soul.

It is fascinating, and I am still coming up with theories to explain the phenomena when I discover that Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui are even more stirred by it than I am.

Wu Yulan’s eyes are wide open as she stares into the distance — not at anything in particular because what surprises her can only be sensed by her spiritual senses. Lan Xiaohui seems equally as astonished as Wu Yulan.

Am I missing something? What is causing such a reaction in them?

“What’s the matter?” I ask them.

“This…” Lan Xiaohui says, almost breathless.

Wu Yulan, now, scans the sky with her physical perception looking for something. She turns around, but whatever she is searching for cannot be found.

“It’s the… world of the Empty Moon Prana,” Lan Xiaohui says, with an uncertain tone.

When she says those words — those that most closely match her impression of this realm — I immediately understand.

I have not read the tablet that contains [Empty Moon Prana], so I cannot see the similarities, but this Qi in the air is indeed slightly familiar to me because it is also similar to [Emptiness Prana]. These two methods are related after all.

However, to the two of them who had attempted countless times to cultivate the foundation of the scripture, this Qi must be even more familiar. That glint of the sword that bathes the world in silver light — it could be the concept behind this Empty Moon.

Perhaps that is what this realm is. It may not be a realm that induces forced enlightenment states, but rather a realm that can comprehend the basic concepts and laws of a method, and produce its Qi and energy.

To a cultivator, such a thing may be more valuable than forced enlightenment. I could compare forced enlightenment to many activities of lesser intelligences, but one that comes to mind, because Lan Xiaohui has musical knowledge, is indeed like playing an instrument. During forced enlightenment, Lan Xiaohui might learn to play a song, and forcefully memorize her movements, but this realm allows her to learn the theory behind it.

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Though the speed of learning, naturally, cannot be compared, this kind of environment would still vastly improve the learning speed, on its own, and even eliminate bottlenecks in comprehension.

When Lady Yue instructed Lan Xiaohui, she used a similar method through her domain to teach Lan Xiaohui the [Emptiness Prana]. This realm is an even more advanced version of such, incorporating even the principles of my newest cultivation method that I learned from Sun Zhen.

The principles of the laws within this Qi are the same as the principles produced by annihilating Qi, and in a way, much purer. The downside of this world’s Qi is that it is too weak to directly cultivate, but the principles themselves are present enough to induce enlightenment.

It is a fascinating realm and a fascinating teaching method. Even though, outside this world, I am capable of teaching the fundamentals of methods to Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan directly, I cannot teach them the principles behind it, or advance their understanding of the Dao.

My sentient core bubbles with satisfaction that I am capable, subconsciously, of producing such an advanced teaching formation, and I agree with its sentiment.

[ THIRD LAYER: COMPREHENSION PHASE. ]

The words explode from the firmament, as always, neither male nor female; neither deep nor high; neither fierce nor soft. As the reverberation fades, the Qi in the realm becomes thicker and particles of dust begin to fall from a single point in the sky, above and between the two cultivators, forming a growing pile of glittering silver dust on the floor.

The words Third Layer come as a surprise to me. This is not entirely outside my expectations as I considered the possibility that the Secret Sword Realm Nexus would be necessary for completing the third trial — as every trial before this one was a test, but also a teaching experience — but I did not expect that it would be the third trial itself.

If this is the third trial, then what is the first-place reward of the second trial?

I had assumed that the first-place reward was related to a world deeper within my Inner World, especially because I could not find Wukong and assumed he had already crossed into that layer. But now I am not so certain anymore.

Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui stare at the falling, glittering dust, and Lan Xiaohui even reaches out to touch it. However, the moment her finger touches it, a long incision appears on her extended digit, deep enough to reach the bone.

She yelps in pain and covers her trembling finger with her other hand, putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Wu Yulan looks somewhat concerned, but only somewhat. After all, they regularly endure far worse injuries than this within the Inner World.

“It is so sharp,” Lan Xiaohui says, stating the obvious.

Wu Yulan chuckles and nods. “Xuelian, with this, we might learn the fundamentals of the method in only a month’s time, but…”

Lan Xiaohui nods. “We don’t have that much time. We need to take care of Yun Fei.”

Wu Yulan also nods and looks up at the source of the falling dust.

“I have already taken precautions for this event. I placed several seals on Yun Fei that will release poison pellets when the time is right. For the next month, Yun Fei’s safety, outside of unforeseen events, is guaranteed. However, without my refining flame, it is just detoxification, not treatment,” I tell them, and even though I call my treatment detoxification, it is in actuality toxification. Only my snake poison can suppress the Yin poison in Yun Fei.

Lan Xiaohui smiles. “If that is the case, then there should be no problem. Thank you, Yaoyue.”

“That is not all,” I tell them. “The world outside this realm — my Inner World — is moving at the same time as the world outside my Inner World. One hour in my Inner World is one hour in the world outside. However, time in this realm moves ten times slower. One hour in here is ten hours in the Inner World.”

Lan Xiaohui and Wu Yulan seem slightly confused by my explanation.

I rephrase: “You have three days, not thirty.”

Realizing that they have wasted several hours already, just by looking around and praising the realm, the two cultivators immediately sit down cross-legged and close their eyes. Their breathing calms down and the faint pulse of their gold cores becomes audible in the stillness, as they begin attempting to unravel the mystery of the Qi around them.