Chapter 384: Tackling the Test

"C-Chen’er..."

"Yu’er! Where are you?!" Hearing Feng Yu’s voice, Yi Chen immediately turned his head towards the direction of the voice and found Feng Yu looking towards him through a doorway that had appeared out of nowhere.

When their eyes met, Yi Chen saw Feng Yu’s lips quiver subtly as she asked the next moment, "A-Are you going to leave me, C-Chen’er?"

Her voice trembled as if she was almost on the verge of crying.

’This...’

Hearing those words, a frown instantly formed on Yi Chen’s face as an aching sensation overwhelmed his heart.

"N-No, Chen’er, why woul-"

He tried to calm her down, but before he could finish his words, another doorway appeared out of thin air right next to the one where Feng Yu stood on the verge of crying.

Two familiar figures appeared inside this doorway, immediately catching Yi Chen’s attention.

"Rakim...my baby. You’ve suffered a lot, haven’t you? Let’s go home now." His mother said in a doting tone while gesturing for Yi Chen to come in her direction, her eyes brimming with tears.

His father, who was standing just behind his mother, had a relieved smile on his face with an expectant glimmer in his eyes while looking towards Yi Chen.

"M-Mom...D-Dad..."

It was at that instant that the two doorways pulled away from each other, making Yi Chen draw his hands in both directions as a feeling that he was about to lose them both welled in his heart.

"Chen’er...y-you aren’t going to abandon me here, right?" Feng Yu asked while stretching her hand out of the doorway in an attempt to call Yi Chen towards her.

At the same time, his mother’s voice came from Yi Chen’s right, making him turn his head towards her.

"Rakim, come. You won’t be abandoning your parents, right?" his mother asked with a teary face, making Yi Chen feel like rushing in her direction to give her a hug.

However, before he could take any action, a white pathway took shape out of nothingness right in front of his eyes as square panels began arranging themselves one after another.

For the first five panels, the pathway was straight, but after that it diverged into two directions. One connected to the doorway inside, where Feng Yu was waiting for him, while the other connected to the one where his family was.

"Yi Chen! Why aren’t you coming?!"

"Rakim, come! The doorway will close soon!"

Both Feng Yu’s and his mother’s voices echoed in his head, causing Yi Chen to come to a standstill.

Earlier he wasn’t very sure, but now that his eyes fell on the two diverging pathways in front of him, it became evident to him that in the end he could only make one decision.

He could either choose to go towards Feng Yu or go towards his parents. However, this very decision caused great distress to him.

On one side was Yu’er, whom he loved dearly, but at the same time he couldn’t abandon his family, for he greatly loved them as well.

’...Just which side to choose,’

"Chen’er, please! Please don’t abandon me."

"Rakim... come, dear. Your father and I have been waiting for your return all these years."

Hearing the two sides, Yi Chen fell deeper and deeper into the dilemma as to which side he should choose. Unable to make a decision, he could only clench his fists in frustration while looking at the two of them with a helpless expression.

’...If I choose Yu’er, then what would happen to mother and father?’ He thought while noticing the deep wrinkles that had formed under their eyes as a feeling of guilt welled in his heart.

However, glancing towards Feng Yu’s lonely figure, Yi Chen felt a stabbing pain in his chest. ’Yu’er...I don’t want to abandon you...I really don’t.’

Several minutes passed with no conclusion whatsoever as the desperate cries from both Yu’er and his mother echoed in his ears, further widening the gulf of indecisiveness in his heart.

It was at that moment that the white pathway that had been stationary all along began to flicker intensely, drawing Yi Chen’s attention.

"This...is it about to disappear?" Yi Chen muttered under his breath with widened eyes as his entire being shook with panic.

Glancing up to meet both Feng Yu and his parents’ pleading eyes, a crushing feeling enveloped Yi Chen’s heart, for he had yet to make a decision.

Crumble!

It was at that moment that the first panel in front of him began to crumble into fine powder, causing Yi Chen’s mind to go into overdrive.

The once indecisive eyes narrowed firmly, making Yi Chen exclaim out loud in fury, "Fuck it!"

Hearing his rageful roar, both Feng Yu and his mother went quiet for a moment as an expectant glimmer appeared in their eyes.

Meanwhile, not meeting any of their eyes, Yi Chen gritted his teeth before finally taking the first step.

’If I’ll have to make a choice, then I’ll make it on my own terms!’

He took a deep breath and continued walking on the white set of panels one after the other as he closed in on the point where the path diverged into two.

"You want me to decide between Yu’er and my parents?! I choose both!" Yi Chen shouted with fury as he walked straight ahead from the diverging point, not caring the least about the fact that the path ahead had no trace of either Yu’er or his parents.

Step!

However, the moment his first step landed in front of the diverging point, the darkness underneath was instantly replaced with a white panel, and the very next moment a separate path began taking shape straight ahead of him.

Not caring the least bit about these changes, Yi Chen kept walking forward, as from the corner of his eyes he noticed the two doorways that were far away shook momentarily.

Bzzz!

’Who said that I can’t return to my family with Yu’er in tow?’

The two doorways started to move out of nowhere, slowly making their way towards each other.

’If the world doesn’t bend my way, then I’ll make it bend!’

BZZZ!

The pace at which the two doorways were closing in increased exponentially the very next instant.

’If the laws don’t aid me, then I’ll create new laws!’

BOOM!

The two doorways collided with each other, slowly merging into one as both his parents’ and Feng Yu’s smiling faces appeared in front of Yi Chen’s eyes, standing together inside one single doorway, waiting for his arrival.

’If time fails me, then I’ll create an entirely new timeline!’

As this thought crossed Yi Chen’s mind, he finally took one final step towards the doorway, and at that very moment, blinding white light shone from inside the doorway, engulfing Yi Chen’s entire being.

.....

’Just why isn’t he out yet...’ Yu Xong thought, with nervousness evident on his face while discreetly looking around him.

Unlike before, all twelve peak masters were standing on the stage with him, waiting for the Heart Test to end.

Normally, it was considered odd for even one of them to show their face during the recruitment tests, but today not only one, but all twelve of them were present.

As for the reason why they all had chosen to arrive today? It was naturally Yi Chen!

All twelve of them had their gaze directed at Yi Chen’s figure, who was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes firmly closed.

Yu Xong’s eyes went towards the last remaining incense stick as he couldn’t help but mutter inwardly, ’Only ten minutes more...’

As he thought, the tension in his heart slowly rose.

"Only ten minutes remain, and he still hasn’t cleared the test! It was a waste of time to come here in the end!" Grand Elder Yan snorted, annoyance evident on his face, and continued, "So what if he has a peak-grade spirit root? Even if he manages to clear the heart test, what use would he be?"

As Grand Elder Yan finished those words, he turned around while flapping the sleeves of his robes in irritation and was about to leave.

However, just then a chuckle from someone made him stop in his tracks.

"Grand Elder Yan, I don’t quite agree with your perception." A warm-looking old man, who was among the twelve peak masters, said all of a sudden.

His dark blue robes stood out distinctly among those of the other eleven peak masters, and so did his waist-length beard that gently ruffled in the wind.

"Patriarch..."

Grand Elder Yan was about to refute, but recognising the person who had said those words, he controlled himself at the last moment.

The Patriarch nodded at this and gently combed his beard with his hand while saying, "Yes, this young man is indeed taking a lot of time in his heart test, and he might even end up failing at this rate.

However, if he does manage to succeed in the little time he has, then..." The Patriarch’s eyes narrowed the very next second. "Don’t you think the heart demon that has been holding him back all this while would be completely resolved, pushing him to even greater heights? Doesn’t Grand Elder Yan agree?"

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