The Tāotiè, with a sheep's body and a human face, has two horns growing from its head and is covered with blue mane resembling sharp swords. Upon close inspection, one can discover that the roots of these manes are entwined with wailing spirits.
Trapped here for eternity, unable to transcend rebirth, they harbour deep hatred for the Tāotiè. Despite this, the wrath of their spirits has become sustenance for the Tāotiè, nourishing its strength.
The Tāotiè represents greed, with a strong desire for possession of everything. Its abdomen features another face, which becomes highly anthropomorphic when its greed reaches its limit.
Additionally, this face also represents the Tāotiè's own strength. The more varied facial expressions it displays, the more it indicates that the Tāotiè has consumed a greater quantity of blood and flesh, and killed a greater number of living beings.
The death of the four evil spirits was a rebirth, not a full recovery. It's not said that their levels were cleared to zero, but it's quite similar. The reason Qiongqi was beaten up so badly was because it had been cleared multiple times, and by the end, it had no strength to resist.
The Tāotiè is now in its prime, with the ferocious aura of the primordial world granting it immense strength, making it fearless of any foe.
The Tāotiè is now at the height of its powers. The malevolent qi in the Hónghuāng Tian dì grants it limitless strength, and it fears no enemy.
The Tāotiè roared with anger, and the boundless malice transformed into a tangible form, erupting outward from its center. Nezha was all too familiar with this move of the ferocious beasts. Maintaining his speed, he flicked his left hand, and the Mixed Heaven Silk suppresses hardness with gentleness, blocking the malicious qi. Then, with his fire dragon spear, he stabbed directly at the Tāotiè's sheep head. An unpleasant laugh issued from the human face on the Tāotiè's abdomen, seemingly mocking its overconfidence.
The Tāotiè roared and its boundless malevolent qi transformed into tangible energy, blasting outwards from its center towards the surroundings. Nǎzhāi was all too familiar with this tactic used by the beastly spirits and, without slowing his pace, he flicked his left hand, causing the Huántiān Líng to bend and yield to the force of the malevolence before him. Following this, he drove his Huǒlóng Gēn straight at the Tāotiè's sheep-like head. A laugh of sorts emerged from the face on its abdomen—a sound devoid of any charm—seeming to mock his hubris.
Yángjiàn relies on the Ba Jiǔ Xuán Gōng to enhance his defense, while Nezha uses the Ba Jiǔ Xuán Gōng to strengthen his power. It's not about who is right or wrong, and it depends on personal choice.
Nezha's strike was so powerful that it was about to smash the Tāotiè's sheep-like head into its abdomen. The laughter from the face on its belly suddenly stopped, and in its place, there were only agony and roars of pain.
The Tāotiè couldn't quite grasp how its concealment methods had been uncovered by its opponent.
It deceived with a feint and struck at the west while hiding in the east to launch a surprise attack, only to be struck again.
Nǎzhāi's heart was uninterested. He had seen his teacher's spatial abilities many times before, so why would you even try to play hide-and-seek with me? Let me find you!
No matter how the Tāotiè attempted to conceal itself, Nǎzhāi was always able to detect its presence. Following this, he swung his Qiánkūn Quān.
The Tāotiè is even more enraged than the original Qiongqi. Qiongqi was imprisoned for countless years, already carrying the stigma of a prisoner, and its wrath was relatively weaker. On the other hand, the Tāotiè considers itself a predator and does not believe it will lose. A small setback is merely that—a minor defeat. The Tāotiè can be revived endlessly with infinite opportunities. However, if the opponent loses even a single move, they face complete defeat. It believes it will definitely win.
Know thyself and know thy enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Deng ChanYu has a fair understanding of Cai Feng, and she believes she has solutions to whatever tactics the opponent may employ.
She is confident that she knows enough about the other party to always win. The only uncertainty is the special opportunity that Caifeng obtained from Hú Gōng, which Caifeng deems indispensable. She was willing to expose herself on the cause-and-effect level and allow Dèng Chányù to discover it. This opportunity must have its unique advantages. It may not be very powerful, but it must be able to suppress her in some way.
The old man Hú Gōng said that he himself did not know exactly what it was. Only those who participated in the trial and eventually passed could ask about the true nature of the Hú Zhōng Shì.
Dèng Chányù had no choice but to make the journey, whether she liked it or not.
The scene of the trial was enveloped by boundless clouds and mist.
"Were you ever repentant?" A dark and robust figure, somewhat resembling a divine lamp, emerged from the clouds and asked Dèng Chányù.
Dèng Chányù answered confidently: "Never."
The dark and robust figure vanished, and a leopard spirit emerged slowly from the shadows.
Dèng Chányù just gave a quick glance, and the leopard spirit was scared to urinate. This battle had no suspense at all.
Starting from the leopard spirit, through tree spirits, water ghosts, and then to a blood-red dragon, this was an apt trial for Fa Zhǎngfáng of the original timeline. It revealed the wisdom, enlightenment, or other attributes of the testers. Dèng Chányù observed various auxiliary items in her battles that would help her pass through the trial. For instance, she ignored all spells to suppress ghosts and arrows that killed dragons. Instead, she simply crushed them one by one as she advanced.
After she twisted off the head of the dragon, the dark and robust figure, Big Black, appeared again and asked, "Did you ever regret?"
Dèng Chányù suddenly realized, "Ah, so it's like this. As long as I say 'I don't regret,' they will keep coming out one after another, relying on a human wave strategy to make me regret it?"
She chose "I don't regret" again.
As expected, she faced two more rounds of relentless enemies. Indeed, the strength of the adversaries had increased significantly. The guardian dragon in the first round was at most just adult, with a rather mixed bloodline. In the third round, the guardian monster turned into a lion spirit with a thousand years of cultivation. This creature seemed to be on par with the nine-tailed fox spirit, as it now knew magic!
When Black Strongman asked Dèng Chányù if she regretted it for the fourth time, she countered: "Regretful or not, what does it matter?"
A dark, humanoid creature pointed to a door: "If you regret it, go through that door and face your destiny."
Then it pointed to a path: "If you don't regret it, take this road to continue your path."
On both sides of Dèng Chányù, two neat rock walls appeared, along with a pen. There was a sense that they were meant to sign their names on the dueling arena contract for life and death.
It seems as if no matter what choice she makes, she needs to provide a reason.
She smiled, finding the transmission mechanism of this "beta" version quite interesting. It seemed to be arranged according to the tester's own experiences.
She first wrote on the left rock wall: "Who says that life and death are determined by fate? I believe that this life is in my own hands! Today, the sky is overturned, the earth is subverted, and my body is broken, but my path remains unchanged!"
She twisted her hands, using the boundless power of space to shatter the "Fate Gate" on her left hand.
What nonsense about fate! I can cut it once, and I can cut it again.
She then approached the rock wall on the right and wrote a few words.
"An excellent horse does not hitch itself to a weary donkey, nor does a phoenix consort with swallows and sparrow-hawks."
For the small path on the right side, she was equally disdainful. What kind of absurd mechanism thinks it can arrange one's own destiny? Your path isn't any less of a fate than mine.
She raised her hand, and the earth convulsed. A raging space storm, like a bulldozer, directly smashed the small path on the right. In the end, it created a dark hole.
