I rely on talking to brush the copy

Su Jian turned to look at Le Jing, "Are you going?"

Le Jing shook his head and said calmly, "Wait. Let them go up first."

To be honest, combined with the hint given by the sword cultivator just now, he almost immediately thought of the content of the exam.

The cloud ladder is likely to target everyone's memory and create illusions to test the candidates. This is also a routine that has been written in later immortal novels.

But... there is always a chance of something happening.

So Le Jing must wait and see for a while.

Facts have proved that there are many candidates who have such plans like Le Jing.

So the messy candidates immediately divided into two groups. Some of them, like Le Jing, chose to wait and see, and some people stepped on the cloud ladder without caring.

Then the people who stepped on the cloud ladder disappeared silently in the clouds one after another.

Le Jing narrowed his eyes. Is it space transfer? Or a trick? Or space folding?

It seems that he can only experience it himself.

Le Jing nodded to Su Jian, "Let's go."

Although it was a cloud ladder, Le Jing felt that it was hard when he stepped on it, just like a white marble floor.

The mountain winds were howling on both sides, but the cloud ladder was always stable, and people walking on it could hardly feel any shaking.

After walking a few steps, a thick fog rose, and the milky white fog came particularly inexplicably.

Almost at the same time as the fog rose, Su Jian and the big wolf dog beside him disappeared together.

Le Jing walked quietly on the cold cloud ladder. The road ahead and the way back were all white. All he could do was to walk steadily.

After a few breaths, the thick fog dissipated, gradually revealing the cold appearance of the city.

Le Jing calmed down and observed the surroundings calmly.

The surroundings were ancient buildings with quaint style, which looked similar to Changsu City.

Le Jing almost immediately found something wrong here.

It was too quiet here.

There were a few people on the street, and occasionally a few pedestrians were also hurried and silent. The wind passed silently through the empty streets, and even the birds kept quiet and didn't dare to make any noise.

It was like a long silent movie.

Le Jing had discovered that he couldn't see the cause and effect of the pedestrians.

Either his power was limited by some existence, or the people he saw were all illusions that didn't exist.

Le Jing walked forward cautiously and found that although the shops on both sides of the street were open, no one was greeting customers. The boss sat stiffly in front of the counter, and it seemed that even his eyes had stopped blinking.

Inadvertently, Le Jing's curious eyes met the lifeless eyes of a teahouse owner. The owner nodded stiffly and asked like a robot, "Why didn't you go to class?"

Le Jing thought for a moment and said casually, "I was sick today."

The boss's face, as stiff as granite, was shaking violently, "If you go to class every day and carry out ideological transformation, how can you get sick?"

Le Jing: ...

"Go to class quickly, or I will let the police arrest you."

"...Okay, I'm going to class, goodbye uncle."

Le Jing ran away without looking back.

Suddenly, there was a sound of gongs and drums, and a parade suddenly appeared on the street where people were scattered.

Four men were carrying a wooden donkey, and a naked woman was sitting on the wooden donkey, wailing in a shrill and inhuman way.

As the men walked, they proclaimed the woman's crime: "The husband is dead, but this bitch didn't commit suicide! She even smiled at other men!"

The silent people suddenly roared in anger: "Dump this bitch into the pond!"

"Beat her to death!"

"Dunk her in a pig cage!"

The woman wailed in pain, her private parts were bleeding, and blood was flowing on the ground.

Le Jing looked at this scene in shock and lost all his words.

The excited crowd passed by him, and the smell of blood on Le Jing's nose became stronger and stronger. He lowered his head expressionlessly, and his stomach was churning.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm tightly and asked loudly: "Why didn't you go to class?"

Le Jing slowly raised his head and met a weird smiling face.

"...I'm sick."

The man's smile widened, "That's because your thought transformation is not thorough enough, so you're sick." He held Le Jing's arm tightly, as if he was holding a criminal, "Come on, I'll take you to class."

Le Jing was held by him and ran in the opposite direction of the parade.

A crow suddenly landed on his shoulder, its cold beak pressed against his ear, whispering softly: "We are watching you."

Le Jing moved his eyes, and the crow flew away immediately. Another crow on the wall stared at him and made a hoarse cry:

"Remember, I'm watching you."

Le Jing's face was pale, and he let the man lead him into a private school. The teacher was teaching, and dozens of well-behaved and expressionless children were sitting below.

"Why are you so late? Hurry up and sit down to listen to the class."

Le Jing sat down in the last seat in silence.

"New student, what's your name?"

"Le Jing."

"Recite the free schedule for Mondays for everyone."

"...I don't know."

"How can you not know it? This is the freedom we must remember!" The teacher was a little angry, "Liu Hua, recite it to the new students."

"Okay." A little boy about ten years old stood up expressionlessly, but before speaking, he raised the corner of his mouth and showed an cheerful smile, "Get up at 10:00 on the Sunday of the month, and have white porridge and stir-fried tofu with vegetables for breakfast. ...Chenshiji student When you go to school to study, you should read your teacher’s recent teachings a hundred times... Peasants go to work in the fields, officials go to court and work... During lunch, merchants are not allowed to eat meat and fish, but officials can eat cooked beef... Couples can move into a house at the quarter of the hour , everyone must go to bed before Hai Shi..."

Liu Hua talked non-stop for more than ten minutes. In his detailed talk, every hour of the twelve hours of Sunday (the ancient name for Monday) stipulated in detail what people from all walks of life should do. There are standards for everything you do, including sleeping positions and the length of time couples have sex.

"Master, I have finished speaking."

"Very good, sit down." The master asked Le Jing with a cold face: "Have you remembered?"

The whole class turned their heads to look at Le Jing in unison, and asked expressionlessly: "Do you remember it?"

Le Jing stared at them silently for a long time, then slowly closed his eyes, suddenly enlightened in his heart.

This is his fear.

There were very few things Le Jing was afraid of, very few.

But everything in front of him was indeed his biggest fear.

He is afraid of the evil of banality.

He is afraid that his freedom will be deprived, his thoughts will be monitored, and his humanity will be stifled.

He's afraid of "I'm watching you."

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."

"Under the shade of the chestnut tree, I betray you and you betray me."

“Thoughtcrime does not lead to death; thoughtcrime is death.”

"Big Brother is watching you."①

This was a fear he had harbored since childhood. It is also the "labor pain" of his closely monitored and controlled childhood that continues to this day.

That's why this fantasy is so twisted, weird, and nondescript.

When Le Jing opened his eyes again, his master, classmates and classroom had disappeared, and the familiar white mist filled his surroundings. Ten seconds later, an old man in gray robes with white hair appeared in front of him.

"What an interesting little guy." The old man looked at Le Jing with inquiring eyes. "I have never seen such a weird and scary thing. It seems ordinary at first glance, but when you look closely, it makes your scalp numb."

Le Jing nodded politely to him, "I didn't expect that this is my biggest fear."

"But you have always been calm." The old man asked curiously: "Why? Aren't you afraid?"

"If I'm afraid, will the fear disappear? No, it won't. Fear will only feed on my "fear", continue to grow, and slowly become the inner demon that controls my thoughts." Le Jing raised his eyebrows, Smiling calmly, "So I don't have to, and I can't, be afraid of 'fear'."

The old man looked at the boy who was smiling calmly, with admiration in his eyes, and he could not help but feel a deep love for talent in his heart: "You are very good." He asked expectantly: "Boy, are you willing to worship me as your teacher?"

Such an outstanding seedling will be snatched away by others sooner or later if you don't take advantage first, and it will be too late to regret it by then.

…

…

Mei Yiliang sat in the audience, his eyes lingering on the cloud mirrors above. The pictures that appear in each cloud mirror are different, and they are the fears in the hearts of every examinee.

There is great terror between life and death, so ordinary people try their best to cultivate immortality. Cultivation of immortality is about cultivating the heart and immortality.

In addition to life and death, there are still many scattered little fears in life.

Fear of old age, fear of injury, fear of separation from love, fear of unrequited efforts... These fears are fragmented, but they make up the life of a mortal.

Only by facing fear head-on can we break down obstacles, overcome fear, become transcendent, and go further and further on the road.

Cultivation is actually a process of constantly overcoming inner fears.

In the illusion that reflects the fear in their hearts, many candidates are exposed to their true colors and show their ugly appearance.

Some people are lying in hospital beds without love, some are crying because of their aging, some are committing suicide because they have turned from rich men to beggars...

Cloud mirrors continue to disappear, proving that candidates are constantly being eliminated because they cannot overcome their fears.

Suddenly, the eyes of many viewers, including Mei Yiliang, were attracted by a cloud mirror.

The picture that appeared on the cloud mirror seemed ordinary, but it was terrifying if you think about it carefully.

Mei Yiliang stared at the boy on the screen, full of doubts.

He didn't expect that he would see the senior on the ladder!

The senior has great magical power, shouldn't he sit in the front row and accept disciples? Why did you go into battle in person to participate in this Immortal Ascension Sect assessment?

This...this is against the rules!

But soon he put aside his doubts and focused all his attention on Yun Jing's picture.

He has been cultivating Taoism for decades and has built a foundation. He also overcame the fear in his heart and fought out from thousands of troops.

But in a different place, if he had faced such fear, he would most likely...be eliminated.

Even now, he is not sure that he can overcome such a terrifying fear, and he has never thought that there can be such "fear" in the world.

At first glance, it seems ordinary, but everything, every minute and every second makes my scalp numb and my back feels cold. I just feel that the whole world is my enemy and I can't find a place to stay.

Senior is worthy of being a senior, he is still so calm in the face of such fear.

Mei Yiliang was even more curious about how the senior could overcome this fear.

The next moment, the boy opened his eyes, and immediately after, the illusion caused by his fear disappeared, and the cloud mirror was filled with milky white smoke again.

Mei Yanliang was stunned.

Is this the end?

In order to overcome his fear of the bully who had bullied him since childhood, he struggled in the illusion for three days and three nights, and only got out of the illusion after killing the bully with a knife.

But the senior did nothing!

He just closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the illusion disappeared!

In Mei Yanliang's unbelievable eyes, another old man appeared in the cloud mirror. The old man had white hair and a childlike face, wearing a gray robe, and his temperament was ethereal, like a cloud of mist.

Mei Yanliang was surrounded by a series of cold air sounds, and even he himself was shocked.

This old man was famous in their Linqing Sect. The old man's Taoist name was Xingyuan Zhenjun. He was the senior brother of the head of the sect and the supreme elder of the Linqing Sect. His cultivation had reached the Mahayana stage and he was only one step away from ascending.

The illusion on the cloud ladder and the water mirror used to observe the mind are all the magical powers of the True Lord. However, there have been countless candidates for hundreds of years, but only a few candidates can induce the True Lord to appear!

"Why? Aren't you afraid?" The True Lord's question is also Mei Linliang's question. He stared at the boy intently, hoping to get an answer.

"If I am afraid, will the fear disappear? No, it won't. Fear will only feed on my "fear", continue to grow, and slowly become the inner demon that controls my thoughts. So I don't have to, and can't, be afraid of "fear."

Mei Linliang was dumbfounded, and then he admired the senior so much!

It was only then that he realized that the boy's eyes were extremely calm and clear from beginning to end, so the senior didn't have to do anything, and the illusion disappeared naturally.

It is easy to know "not to be afraid of fear", but it is difficult to do it. Most people in the world know but cannot know it.

Even Mei Linliang himself can't say that he has completely overcome all fears now.

But the senior did it so lightly.

This is the true demeanor of a master!

Xingyuan Zhenjun also had a look of admiration on his face, and asked almost eagerly: "Are you willing to become my disciple?"

A burst of curses suddenly broke out from the seats of the heads and elders of various sects in the front row:

"Hey! That old man got there first!"

"How can Xingyuan be so quick!"

"This boy's way is freedom, which is in line with the way of our swordsmanship. He should join our Zixiao Sword Sect!"

"Bah! He should definitely join our Tiandao Sect to learn the way of ruthlessness! With this boy's rational and calm temperament, he will be able to cultivate to the Nascent Soul within a hundred years!"

"No, no, this boy is young but mature in mind, and has a particularly thorough understanding of people and things. He should join our Qingshan Academy to study Confucianism!"

Mei Yanliang was stunned to see that the old predecessors from various sects, who were mysterious and profound, personally participated in a unique quarrel in order to compete for the ownership of Senior Le Jing.

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① These four sentences are from George Orwell's "1984"