Thinking about that strangeness, Ling Wuxie pondered, imagining the purpose of it all, but reached no conclusion.

  "Keep going..." he sighed, then continued walking on top of the shroud. There was a straight path, and at the top, clouds of mist and the invisible sky covered in fog.

  Crossing the road, nothing strange happened to Ling Wuxie. The only thing that bothered him was that it seemed limitless. After a long time walking, he got nowhere, as if no matter how far he went, he would always be in the same place.

  This logic made Ling Wuxie narrow his eyes. Something was wrong with that shroud, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn't find a way to break it.

  "Is this also an illusion? But how do you break something that's not real?" He started reasoning, using his intelligence to think. After some time, he reached a simple logic:

  "Use the sword to break it! Destroy the whole ground—I want to see if this formation still works!" He concluded that with his mind. The most reasonable solution he could reach.

  What else could he do?

  Keep walking aimlessly? Stand still?

  Neither of those options was viable. The first could lead him to walk endlessly without ever reaching a destination, dying of hunger. And waiting for something to fall from the sky was the same as waiting for death.

  "Then break it! Better to attempt the impossible than wait for death!" Ling Wuxie wasted no more time. The next second, he drew his sword and closed his eyes. Within himself, he activated his blood, now much stronger.

  The Silver Illusion Sword glowed in pure red, and then transformed into a massive river of blood. Ling Wuxie gathered all his Blood Qi into his hands. The essence in his body flowed entirely to that point. His palm turned red.

  And the river shone even more brightly, sucking the essence from his hands and expanding its red waters. After reaching two meters in width, it stretched forward before Ling Wuxie, who tightly gripped the sword's hilt.

  Suddenly, he bent down, sending all that energy downward. The air glowed red, as if bleeding, and the river struck the ground.

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  Boom!

  When it hit the earth, a hole opened, throwing debris into the air. And soon, the road that once seemed huge became small. Ling Wuxie realized that ever since he arrived at that shroud, he hadn't taken a single real step.

  Realizing this, his face turned cold with sweat. Drops, like beans, fell to the ground. He was sweating heavily—both from nervousness and, mostly, from exhaustion.

  He had used a lot of blood energy. His skin was paler than snow, looking like there wasn't a drop of blood left in him.

  Sitting cross-legged, he began to recover using basic breathing techniques meant to restore energy—but they were slow.

  Three hours later...

  He had recovered. Standing up, he looked ahead, where there was a crater. And beyond it, a plaque — which he couldn't read from behind.

  Approaching the crater, he looked down. His sword was embedded at the bottom, its blade glowing in bright red. Jumping into the crater, Ling Wuxie dropped five meters.

  That was his current strength: he could destroy five meters below ground. As for trees, he wasn't sure. Before, he managed eight meters. Earth was much harder to break, due to rocks. Trees were easier.

  But it depends. Some trees are as tough as stone. And some rocks not even the strongest can move. That's why no one measures strength by destructive power, but by the force of a strike and how much weight one can bear.

  Ling Wuxie had no idea how much he used there, but in his mind, it could turn a tenth-level person into dust.

  He might have been delirious, but one thing was certain: he could skip cultivation levels — as long as he used his sword.

  "Next time, I'll forge some armor! That way I'll have advantages against martial artists too!"

  This kid was already thinking ahead. But he knew that before realizing that plan, he needed to leave the Dead Star — or wherever he was.

  Reaching the bottom, he landed on the ground. His legs hurt a bit from the impact, but it wasn't serious. Picking up the sword, he noticed its paint had faded.

  "Should I rename this?" He scratched his head and, for now, decided to give it another name. Later, he would repaint it.

  "Blood-Sucking Sword."

  "Once it uses Blood Qi, it'll suck it all to the last drop."

  This little devil is creative with names. But it's not a lie — he almost turned into a vampire. Well, it's not the sword's fault. Its owner used everything in a single strike.

  Shaking his head, he grabbed the sword and began climbing the wall, using it for support too. After a few minutes, he reached the top and approached the plaque, walking around it.

  Reading what was written, he was stunned.

  "Mental Road"

  "How long can you endure solitude?"

  'I was supposed to stay in that place until my mind collapsed?... Good thing I was smart. I don't want torture. Being stuck in this place is suffering enough.'

  Ling Wuxie spat on the ground and continued walking. Soon he reached the end, where there was nothing but clouds, forming a line leading to the other side.

  "How annoying! Now I have to jump on clouds? Is it even possible to jump on them?" He was shocked. To confirm, he picked up a stone and threw it onto a cloud — it stayed on top.

  "Oooo!" Ling Wuxie's eyes widened. Then, he picked up several stones and threw them onto all the clouds. Some sank, others stayed.

  "Another illusion! There are real and fake ones among them..." He came to that conclusion — and hated the Dead Star even more. Yes, it lived up to its name: every place carried a risk of death.

  'Not Dead Star... Survival Mist! Every area is a test to measure your ability to live. Because one wrong move means death.'

  He understood that — and thanked his parents for teaching him survival and caution.

  Remembering them, his eyes became more determined to get out. Grabbing several stones, he placed them in his pouch and, with a serious expression, jumped onto the first cloud — then played hopscotch.

  Throwing a stone: if it sank, he didn't jump; if it stayed, he ran across and jumped to the next. Repeating this many times, it took him about two hours to cross the whole place. And he finally reached the end, where another plaque stood. Ling Wuxie approached it.

  "Cloud Path"

  "Which is true? Which is false?"