Chapter 68: Entering the Five Elements Secret Realm

After taking a few more steps, Li Taixing was surprised to find a cave suddenly appearing in front of him.

"This is confusing... The entrance was so grand, and now it's just a plain, broken cave? Feels like the decorator quit halfway," he muttered to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

However, before he could finish his thought, several information panels appeared on the ground where he was looking. When Li Taixing saw them, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

[If you go any further, you'll fall into a trap.]

[Step on this rock, and you'll get crushed by a one-ton boulder, instantly turned into a pulp.]

[Beware! This area is filled with hidden earth spikes that will pierce your body if triggered.]

"Good grief!" Li Taixing exclaimed. "Turns out they didn't skimp on the decoration—it's just that the whole place is a massive death trap."

Traps were everywhere, hidden under every rock and crevice. Without his newfound danger prediction ability, he would've likely met a grisly end here. At this moment, inside a distant secret chamber, an old man sat watching Li Taixing through a Qiankun Mirror. His eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Hahaha, this boy is far too weak. He won't make it past the first test. Once he falls, his body will be mine." The old man smirked, thinking Li Taixing had no chance of surviving the trial. But as he continued to watch, his smirk faded.

Li Taixing walked through the traps with ease, casually sidestepping danger as if he were strolling through a garden.

"Impossible!" the old man gasped, his face contorting with disbelief. "How is he avoiding everything?"

He could barely believe his eyes. His carefully crafted traps were supposed to catch anyone off guard, and yet here was this young cultivator breezing through them.

"Has my hard work gone to waste? Did my traps malfunction because they've been inactive for so long?" the old man muttered angrily, his frustration building. Unable to contain his suspicion, he decided to check the mechanisms for himself. He left the chamber and headed toward the Earth Assessment level.

As he stepped onto one of the hidden mechanisms, a whistling sound filled the air, and a massive boulder came crashing down toward him.

"Ahhh!" the old man screamed, barely managing to stop the boulder with his hands. His legs trembled under the weight of the stone.

"Okay, the mechanisms still work…" he grumbled, pushing the boulder aside. But as he stepped forward, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way, sending him plummeting into a pit.

"Ugh!" The old man barely managed to grab the edge of the pit and pull himself out. Just as he steadied himself, another loud crack echoed above him.

"Oh no… not again!" The old man looked up in horror as another boulder came crashing down. He had no time to react, and the rock sent him tumbling back into the pit. This time, sharp spikes below pierced him in several places.

"Why am I always the one suffering?!" the old man groaned as he lay there, thoroughly embarrassed and in pain.

Meanwhile, Li Taixing reached the Wood Assessment level. This section of the secret realm looked vastly different—he found himself at the edge of a dense forest. The trees towered high, their leaves creating an eerie atmosphere.

"This should be the Five Elements Wood section," Li Taixing mused. "I wonder what's ahead."

Before him lay three paths: left, center, and right. As soon as he glanced at them, information panels for each path appeared.

[The left path is filled with arrows. Walk here, and you'll be shot full of holes.]

[The middle path is like a dreamland, where your wishes come true… but you may never leave.]

[The right path is filled with poisonous gas. Enter here, and you'll likely be poisoned to death.]

Li Taixing grinned as he looked at the last option. "Well, looks like I'll be taking the right path."

He was unconcerned about the poisonous gas thanks to the Hunyuan Pearl that protected him from all harm. Without hesitation, he walked along the right path. Just as he entered, the limping old man arrived at the same level, clutching a cane and seething with anger.

"That brat! I'll make him pay!" the old man muttered through gritted teeth. He saw the three paths and quickly deduced that Li Taixing had chosen the right one.

"He's doomed!" the old man cackled. "No one survives that path—not even with antidote pills."

Confident in his assessment, the old man returned to his secret chamber to watch Li Taixing's demise through the Qiankun Mirror. However, what he saw left him dumbfounded.

In the mirror, Li Taixing calmly walked through the path, surrounded by toxic mist but seemingly unaffected. At one point, he even stopped to relieve himself on the roadside.

"That damn brat!" the old man roared in fury, nearly losing his mind.

"Could the poison gas have expired?" he wondered aloud, beginning to doubt the potency of his own traps.

But as Li Taixing continued to breeze through the challenges, passing the Wood Assessment with ease, the old man knew something was wrong.

"If I had known this little rascal was coming, I would've checked the traps beforehand!" he cursed bitterly. Gritting his teeth, the old man limped over to the right path, determined to see for himself what had gone wrong.

As soon as he stepped into the poisonous fog, he collapsed. The gas was as deadly as ever.

"It hasn't expired!" he gasped, quickly swallowing an antidote pill to counteract the poison.

Still paralyzed from the gas, the old man lay on the ground, tears of frustration streaming down his face.

"This boy… I swear… I will make him suffer!"