Chapter 1302 - 1302: Fourfold Punishment

The strange Gatekeeper had previously said that four of the five beauties were clones.

If they were ordinary clones, Liu Zixuan could have discerned them with the power of his Blazing Dragon Eye. But now, the effect of the Blazing Dragon Eye wasn't so apparent.

Moreover, these cloning effects were not much different from modern cloning technology, making it hard to spot the differences using the Blazing Dragon Eye.

Therefore, to discern the real ones, he had to calm down and carefully observe the subtle differences among the five.

Details always determine victory or defeat!

The eyes are closest to the brain, so when observing something, it reflects in the brain the fastest, allowing judgments to be made.

However, when observing something completely identical, this close-range refraction can also cause confusion.

Because staring continuously can make the brain stop functioning, freezing the image and making it impossible to spot differences.

One minute passed, and Liu Zixuan's eyes were somewhat strained; not only did he fail to find the differences, but he also felt there were no flaws whatsoever.

Two minutes passed, and Liu Zixuan finally spotted a minor difference on the second beauty's body on the left.

"Thirty seconds left!" At this moment, the strange Gatekeeper reminded.

Liu Zixuan scratched his head and hurriedly looked at the other beauties; truth be told, the more he looked, the more anxious he became, and the harder it was to notice anything.

Thirty seconds is neither fast nor slow, but it's just a matter of a few blinks.

Three minutes quickly passed, and the strange Gatekeeper snapped his fingers, and the cabinet doors closed once more.

"Which one is real?" he asked.

"The..." Liu Zixuan touched his chin. Among the five beauties, the second one had a tiny red mole the size of a grain of rice on her chin, while the others seemingly did not. But he also knew that a mole couldn't confirm her authenticity.

He could feel that his mind was in turmoil.

Simply put, this test was a test of eyesight and mind. When the eyes are dazzled, the heart becomes confused too, making it impossible to win.

But he had to guess one. If he guessed right, he'd luckily pass; if wrong, he could eliminate one from the five.

He previously saw a tiny black mole the size of a grain of rice on the second girl's chin, while the others seemed not to have it. So he immediately said, "The second one is real!"

"Incorrect guess."

The strange Gatekeeper immediately said.

Liu Zixuan smiled helplessly: "I accept the punishment."

"It's not a punishment but a penalty!"

The strange Gatekeeper stepped forward, gripping a long whip: "During this time, you'd better not resist, or the penalty's power will increase tenfold! With one strike, your life might be gone!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zixuan furrowed his brows slightly. He wasn't afraid of penalties, as this was part of the challenge.

But he was pondering one question: the penalty just mentioned, taking one penalty round would drop him from the Life and Death Realm to the Innate Emperor Realm Third Heaven. If he guessed wrong twice, two rounds of penalties would reduce him directly from the Life and Death Realm to the Innate Emperor Realm First Heaven.

A penalty that could drop realms must be able to attack the meridians and dantian, indicating that this Gatekeeper's strength was definitely above Liu Zixuan.

The strange Gatekeeper also said that if Liu Zixuan resisted, the penalty's power would increase several times and could take his life. This was enough to show that his strength was decidedly more than just slightly superior to Liu Zixuan.

Back in the Four Symbols Sect, Liu Zixuan had learned from Ya Fei that above the Life and Death Realm was the Unity Realm, similar to the Life and Death Realm, which also had two layers: the Unity Realm and the Unity Realm Great Perfection.

To annihilate Liu Zixuan with such power, only a Unity Realm expert could do it.

Could it be that this strange Gatekeeper had already reached the Unity Realm above the Life and Death Realm?

At this thought, a ripple stirred in Liu Zixuan's heart. He wouldn't resist; it was just a physical penalty, even though it could lower his realm, but it might not be without benefits.

Such tempering of the dantian and meridians is rarely encountered outside. Suffering such trauma is equivalent to a baptism of the dantian and meridians, which is very beneficial to him.

Realms and the like can be slowly cultivated back; don't forget Liu Zixuan has three-layer realms.

Of course, besides this, Liu Zixuan thought of other things.

For instance, if the guardian on the thirteenth floor was truly at the Unity Realm, there might be the strongest realm in the world above, as Ya Fei said. Perhaps the top-level Gatekeeper was that kind of expert.

Thinking of this made Liu Zixuan feel a subtle excitement.

He hadn't been in the Life and Death Realm for a short time, and to break through again, he needed to engage with experts of that level.

After all, as Ya Fei once said, where the family behind Liu Zixuan resides, the Life and Death Realm isn't the strongest.

After this ruins journey, perhaps he wouldn't be far from returning to his family.

To meet a true expert, he must pass this test!

At this thought, he nodded to the strange Gatekeeper: "Let's begin!"

"Rest assured, the four penalties won't take longer than a minute!"

The Gatekeeper revealed a smile that was extremely intriguing, then abruptly struck the golden whip he held, instantly sweeping Liu Zixuan with a powerful force.

In the first moment, Liu Zixuan seemed to stand in the clouds, first drifting, then seeing bright and shining lightning.

Immediately afterward, he seemed to become a conductor, being ferociously struck by those lightning bolts.

Suddenly closing his eyes, he felt like the lightning was piercing his meridians and bones as if needles, making his whole body feel ready to explode.

Though it seemed like a moment, it felt like a long time.

Finally, the lightning stopped, and in an instant, the surroundings became hot—it was fire!

Liu Zixuan squinted and saw himself at the center of a flame. His skin wasn't very hot, but his dantian felt like it was burning, like during Alchemy.

The dantian, inherently fragile, when burned this way, he could feel his Inner Strength depleting rapidly.

After the fire came the ice, completely freezing his meridians and dantian, making it seem like he could hear the sound of his meridians fracturing.

The three penalties left only his physical form unscratched, while internally he felt immense pain.

Fortunately, he was a Life and Death Realm expert; if he were an Innate Emperor Realm expert, he'd likely be dead by now!

The fourth penalty was gravity!

After the freezing, suddenly his body felt as if it bore the weight of a mountain, making it hard for him to breathe...

The four penalties, as the strange Gatekeeper said, lasted only a few minutes, but for Liu Zixuan, it felt like years.

Since he began practicing martial arts, he hadn't undergone such tempering and baptism.

Whoosh!

Breathing out heavily, Liu Zixuan opened his eyes, and in that instant, it was like being reborn...