Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

With the infusion of Jiang Shi's Five Elements power, the stone gate finally opened.

Jiang Shi withdrew his hand, and the runes on the door slowly dimmed.

The two beams of yellow light in the eyes of the giant bear relief lingered for a moment, as if something behind the door had glanced at them before reluctantly extinguishing.

Behind the door was a deep, dark passage.

The passageway is wide enough for five people to walk side by side.

The walls on both sides are inlaid with glowing, earth-yellow crystals, arranged neatly like two rows of lanterns, illuminating the path beneath our feet.

The light from the crystal is warm yellow, shining on the gray stone wall like the sunlight at dusk.

The ground was covered with flat stone slabs, each about ten feet square, with gaps between them as thin as a hair. Each slab was engraved with runes, densely packed, resembling some kind of ancient script.

Jiang Shi squatted down and took a look; he didn't recognize the person.

It wasn't any kind of script he had ever seen before; it seemed more like part of a formation.

"These runes are still functioning." Feng Yiran lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his sword. The runes lit up briefly and then dimmed again. "The formation has not been destroyed."

Huo Lie leaned on Shui Lingxi's shoulder, her face still pale, but better than before.

He looked down at the runes at his feet, then looked up at the crystals on both sides, and muttered, "Master Wuxing is really a meticulous person. Even the corridor is built to be so grand."

"Speak less, save your energy," Shui Lingxi said. She put Huo Lie's arm on her shoulder and helped him walk forward.

The spirit beast followed at her feet, the fragments of the earth spirit orb around her neck swaying back and forth.

Huo Lie was closest to her, so Shui Lingxi took good care of him.

Jiang Shi walked at the front, extending his spiritual sense. The passage was very long; his spiritual sense could reach fifty feet away, but beyond that was still the passage, with no end in sight.

After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, a light appeared ahead. It wasn't the yellow light of the crystal, but a different kind of light, whiter and colder.

At the end of the passage was a large hall.

The hall is square, with each side measuring approximately twenty zhang (about 60 meters).

The dome is very high and inlaid with countless tiny crystals, like a starry sky.

There were no runes on the four walls, only murals. The murals depicted a person wearing a five-colored Taoist robe, sitting cross-legged on a mountain, surrounded by five mythical beasts: a golden wolf, a blue python, a red lion, a blue tortoise, and a brown bear.

The Five Elements Master tamed the five guardian beasts.

A stone tablet stands in the center of the hall.

The stone tablet is about ten feet tall, entirely black, and its surface is as smooth as a mirror.

The inscription on the stele is powerful and vigorous, each stroke as if carved with a sword.

Jiang Shi walked up to the stone tablet and carefully examined the inscriptions.

"I am the Five Elements Master, who has cultivated the Dao for three thousand years and has gained some insights into the Dao of the Five Elements. Now I will hide all my life's learning in the fifth level of this secret realm, awaiting the destined one."

"To inherit my legacy, one must pass three tests."

"The first challenge is the Gravity Maze. Within the maze, gravity is unpredictable, and you must use the power of the five elements to overcome it."

"The second challenge is the Earth Spirit Battle Formation. Five Earth Spirit Warriors, each wielding a weapon, work together in perfect harmony. You must break their formation to pass."

"The third stage is the path of the Dao heart. Confront your true self, break through and then rebuild. Those whose Dao heart is unstable will stop here."

"Those who pass all three trials may proceed to the core temple to obtain my Five Elements Wheel and Dao Seed."

"If there is no opportunity, one should not force it. Those who forcibly break the formation will surely suffer a backlash."

There are three grooves at the bottom of the stone tablet, arranged in a triangular shape.

The shape and size of the groove are exactly the same as the Earth Spirit Orb fragment given by Rock Bone.

Jiang Shi took out three fragments from the storage bracelet and placed them into the groove one by one.

When the first piece was placed, the inscription on the stone tablet lit up briefly.

When the second piece was placed, the murals on the hall walls began to glow.

When the third piece was placed in, the entire hall shook.

On the ground in front of the stone tablet, runes began to rotate and converge into a circle of light.

A portal of light rose from the aperture, its frame formed of condensed light, and inside the portal was a chaotic gray expanse.

The first level is the gravity maze.

Huo Lie lifted his head from Shui Lingxi's shoulder and glanced at the portal: "We're going in already?"

"Wait a minute." Jiang Shi carefully put away the fourth fragment. "The rock bone gave us four fragments. We'll use three to open the door and keep one as a spare. Just in case we need it in the maze."

Feng Yiran nodded, drew his sword, and took the lead in walking towards the portal.

"I'll go first," he said. "You all follow."

He stepped into the portal of light, and his figure disappeared into the gray.

Jiang Shi followed, then Shui Lingxi, who was carrying the fiery spirit, and the spirit beast came last.

The moment you step through the portal, the world turns upside down.

Jiang Shi felt as if he had been thrown into another world.

There was no ground beneath my feet, no sky above my head, and all around me were gray stone walls that seemed to reach the top of nothingness, with endless darkness overhead.

He landed on the ground, no, he "landed" on the wall.

Gravity is to the left.

His feet were on the left wall, his body was perpendicular to the ground, but he felt like he was "standing up".

It was an extremely strange feeling; his brain told him the ground should be flat, but his body told him that the left side was "down".

Huo Lie was the one who got hurt the most.

He was already being supported by Shui Lingxi when the gravity suddenly shifted to the left, and the two of them were thrown against the left wall.

Shui Lingxi was alright; she reacted quickly and braced herself against the wall with her hands.

Huo Lie slammed his face against the wall, causing his nose to bleed.

The formation here prevents even Golden Core cultivators from levitating.

"Holy shit!"

"What kind of place is this?!"

Huo Lie covered his nose, blood seeping from between his fingers, and he cursed as he spoke.

The spirit beast of Shuilingxi was also thrown away, crashing into the opposite wall and letting out a pitiful whimper.

It slid down the wall, kicking wildly with all four legs, and barely managed to stand up.

The wind was the first to adapt.

He stood against the left wall, leaning slightly forward as if standing on flat ground. His gaze swept around, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"Gravity is changing," Feng Yiran said calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, gravity changed again.

This time it's upwards.

All four people were thrown towards the ceiling at the same time.

Huo Lie let out a miserable scream as Shui Lingxi grabbed his collar in mid-air. Feng Yiran used the tip of his sword to brace against the wall, changed direction, and landed steadily on a protruding stone beam.

Jiang Shi adjusted his posture in mid-air, lotus flowers rose beneath his feet, and he performed the Lotus Step, which was very difficult to execute under the chaotic gravity, but he still managed to stay steady.

Although the Wei family's footwork is only at the Earth level, it is exceptionally exquisite and can exert extraordinary power even at the Golden Core stage.

Soon, gravity returned to normal.

Four people fell from the ceiling and landed on the ground.

Huo Lie didn't fall this time; Shui Lingxi caught him in mid-air.

"This maze... was it intentional?" Huo Lie sat on the ground, his nose still bleeding, and wiped it haphazardly with his sleeve.

Jiang Shi didn't answer. He squatted down and touched the ground with his hand.