Lin Mingping calmed down, took out two pure True Yuan Stones, and began to meditate to recover his strength. At the same time, he applied the Rejuvenating Tendon and Bone Cream on both arms.

  He had just suffered a double fracture in both arms, with flesh and blood mangled. Such an injury would take at least ten days to half a month for an ordinary martial artist to recover from, but Lin Ming's recovery ability was extremely strong. With the addition of one or two precious bottles of "Tendon and Bone Revival" ointment worth thousands of gold coins, in less than two hours, his arms had completely recovered.

  With one hour left, Lin Ming restored his true yuan and strength to their peak, and his mental state was also adjusted to its best condition. He finally began the seventh layer's trial.

  A flash of light, the temple disappeared, Lin Ming entered a bright white world, countless distorted scenes were slowly forming.

  "The seventh layer... a place where no one has set foot for 19,000 years." Lin Ming clenched his fists, and his mood completely calmed down.

  Before this, he had imagined the appearance of the seventh floor many times, but when he really arrived at the seventh floor and saw the scenery of the seventh floor, Lin Ming was completely stunned.

  Never thought it would be this scene.

  The front six layers, each scene corresponds to its name, such as the first layer of hell corresponding to the blood pool, the second layer of hungry ghost corresponding to the yellow spring, the third layer of cattle corresponding to the wilderness, the fourth layer of witch slave corresponding to the arena...

  Lin Ming originally thought that since the Seventh Layer was the Demon God Realm, it should correspond to a space similar to the Divine Domain.

  But unexpectedly, he arrived at a mortal city, beside Lin Ming, where people came and went, children played, vendors carried poles, and the air was filled with the mixed smells of dust and flowers, everything was so real.

  But this was not what surprised Lin Ming the most. What surprised him the most was where he currently was.

  He stood in front of a finely decorated but somewhat outdated wine building.

  No longer bright glazed tiles. Slightly faded vermilion pillars, old wooden window frames and attic, upturned eaves, everything subtly exudes a hint of the passage of time...

  This wine shop was all too familiar to Lin Mingtao, from the time he could remember, he had been running around in the great hall of this wine shop, listening to storytellers tell stories, listening to wandering artists sing songs, watching guests play chess, and begging for sweets from old regulars.

  Covered bowl tea. Iced sugar gourd. A small second with a towel on his shoulder, the fragrant rice dishes made by his mother, everything is exactly the same as in memory.

  This... is his home.

  "Qingsang City, Lin Family Wine House. A place I've lived for over a decade... how could I possibly be here?"

  Lin Ming's feet involuntarily stepped into the wine house, but just as he crossed the threshold, his footsteps suddenly froze. Lin Ming stood still in his tracks, with a stormy sea churning in his heart.

  He saw a young man in brocade clothes, about ten years old, holding a folding fan and smiling as he walked out of the kitchen.

  But this person was none other than Lin Ming himself, or rather, it was him several years later.

  However, Lin Ming saw that this young man had no martial arts skills at all, and had a bookish air about him, clearly having never practiced martial arts before.

  Not only that, but their demeanor and temperament are also completely incompatible.

  Lin Ming's breath was restrained, but between his eyebrows, a sharp aura was hidden, ready to burst out at any moment, and with a single blow, the momentum would be unstoppable.

  The young man in front of him had a playful and irreverent smile, with a hint of subtle evil charm, looking like a refined and elegant gentleman chasing after the wind.

  Is this... really me?

  Lin Ming couldn't believe it.

  "Little Li, get me a sedan chair. Miss Su from the Green Flower Building is hosting a gathering tonight and has sent me an invitation. I must go to show my support." The young man snapped open his folding fan and fanned himself rapidly.

  "This...this isn't good, is it..." The little servant named Xiao Lizi suddenly looked embarrassed, "Young Master, the second young lady of the Tian family is having a birthday banquet today and she specifically invited you to attend..."

  "Get out of my head, she's hosting a banquet and needs a chef, just assign it to her and I'm done, what's the point of me going?"

  "This..." Little Li's face turned bitter, "Miss Tian still wants to ask you to leave a treasure at her birthday banquet, and says she wants to learn poetry from you... You're the new top scholar, your poetry must be the best in Qing Sang City..."

  "Moreover, young master, the second miss of the Tian family is not only beautiful but also virtuous. Last time madam saw her, she liked her very much, who knows maybe in the future... Ah, young master, don't go!"

  Xiao Lizi hadn't finished speaking when the young man stepped out of the gate and said without looking back, "If my dad asks later, just say I went to Tang Juren's house for a drink."

  Before he could finish speaking, the person was already gone, leaving Little Li's face bitter like an eggplant that had been frostbitten. He was done for; if Madame and Master found out, he would definitely be scolded to death.

  Miss Tian Jia'er obviously has a crush on the young master, Miss Tian Jia'er is kind, beautiful, and from a good family, she and the young master who came from a scholarly family are a match made in heaven.

  But Lin Shao Ye actually had his eyes on Su Niang from Qing Hua Lou, it's really hard to understand.

  The Green Mansion is actually a high-end brothel, where most of the courtesans are chaste and refined, selling their art but not their bodies. They are all elegant and refined in appearance, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song, being talented beauties and rare gems in the world.

  Su Niang was the top courtesan of Qing Hua Lou, although she had a clean and pure body, but as a courtesan, she was still considered to be of lowly birth, how could Master and Mistress possibly allow her to marry into their family.

  "He's dead, he's dead. If Master finds out that Young Master went to the Green Flower House, not only will Young Master be finished, but I'll also be in trouble." Little Li looked worried and didn't know whether it was better to honestly report to Master or to keep it a secret..."

  Lin Ming stood outside the hotel, silently watching everything. Just now, the young man had brushed past Lin Ming, but didn't even give him a glance.

  Lin Ming understood that he didn't belong in this world and was just a passerby. The people here couldn't see him.

  "Why is it like this, why is there another me here?"

  "When I was eight years old, my parents sent me to a private school to study for the imperial examination. I studied for four years until I was twelve, then I threw away my books and resolutely abandoned civil studies for military pursuits, which led to a dispute with my parents at the time. In the end, I persisted... so I became Lin Ming as he is today. But in this world, I didn't abandon civil studies for military pursuits; instead, I continued to participate in the imperial examinations, from being a xiucai, then a juren, all the way until I passed the exam and became a zhuangyuan..."

  "Why is there such a world? Is this world a real parallel world or a virtual world created in my mind?"

  "What is this seventh trial of the Wizard World testing? Is it testing my will to martial arts? If so, what does it take to pass?"

  "Why did I end up in the mortal realm if I'm from the realm of witches?"

  Lin Ming's mind was complicated, standing blankly in the great hall of the wine tower, this stop would last for several days.

  People coming and going, no one saw him, some people even passed through Lin Ming's body...

  The cries of street vendors, the singing of wandering performers, and the delicious food and drink that tantalize the senses. Even the weathered faces of parents...

  All the scenery is so real, yet so illusory.

  Everyone is familiar yet full of strangeness.

  However, in such a noisy fantasy world, Lin Ming seemed to be just a gray stroke among them, faint and extremely lonely.

  "Is the world an illusion, and am I real?"

  "Or... is the world real? Am I imaginary?"

  "No, this isn't my world, it's just my heart demon!"

  Lin Ming suddenly opened his eyes, and the Soft Silver Spear emerged from its sheath!

  "Bang!"

  It was as if countless glasses shattered at once, and the restaurant in front of me disappeared with all its customers!

  However, Lin Ming did not return to the Life and Death Arena. Instead, he arrived at a battlefield where war drums were beating loudly and banners were fluttering in the wind!

  "This is..."

  Lin Ming saw the soldiers with golden armor and iron horses in front of him, feeling their stern and murderous aura, his heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly realized something.

  The spiritual power dispersed like a tide, and in an instant, it locked onto the figure of a young man. Lin Ming's eyebrows furrowed, and indeed, it was so!

  He moved, and the next moment, he appeared in a military camp. Here, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, wearing simple armor, holding an iron spear, with a tense expression on his face.

  Seeing this young man, Lin Ming's face was complex and he closed his eyes.

  It's me, it's still me!

  Why is this?

  At the age of twelve, he had a dispute with his parents and eventually practiced martial arts. At that time, Lin Ming said that if he couldn't reach the first level of practicing body at the age of fifteen, he would join the army, establish military merit, and return home in glory!

  It seems that this is what I looked like when I joined the army back then!

  Another self, another world!

  ……

  In the barracks, a young man sat on a bench, holding an oilcloth and silently wiping a shiny iron gun. The gun was somewhat long compared to his stature.

  "Hey, new recruit, first time on the battlefield?" A soldier in his thirties with a simple and honest face walked over, holding a rice bowl and mumbling while eating.

  The young man nodded timidly, "Uh-huh, I'm a new recruit."

  "Haha, new recruits are always nervous on the battlefield. Don't worry, we're from the same military camp. We'll be charging together soon. Just follow me and I'll protect you!"

  "Good...good..." A smile of gratitude squeezed out on the somewhat immature face of the young man.

  The battle began, tens of thousands of soldiers rushed forward, and the vast momentum even opened up the clouds in the sky.

  Gunsmoke rises, sword and knife shadows, guns broken and halberds snapped.

  The army where the young man was in triumphantly returned, but that simple and honest old soldier never came back...

  The dead soldiers were buried on the spot together, without even a grave, and the young man didn't even know the old soldier's name...

  Days go by one after another, and on the young man's face, there is less naivety and more determination.

  He rose from a new recruit to a squad leader, then a hundred-man commander, and finally a thousand-man commander...

  His marksmanship became more refined, his strength grew stronger, and his military demeanor became more mature.

  Slowly, he also became an old soldier, watching new recruits join one by one, and saying to them...

  "It's okay, just follow me after a while and I'll protect you!"

  Naive and innocent young men, with dreams of joining the army, but one by one they become strangers' dry bones in a foreign land. Those who truly survive look down on life and death, and after experiencing many battles, they become old soldiers just like the young ones.

  Such days have been going on, every soldier has a general's dream, but more of them just follow the footsteps of their predecessors and die with their dreams.

  ……

  Lin Ming silently watched the changes in this world, and he finally understood that these separate lives were neither illusory nor real.

  In this world, people look at him, he is illusory; he looks at this world, and this world becomes illusory.

  Life is like a dream, dreams are like life, true and false, no one can tell them apart.

  The seventh level of trial may not be a trial at all, but an opportunity, an epiphany, and a profound understanding of the heart of martial arts.

  Realizing this, Lin Ming no longer went on to destroy this world, but instead followed in its footsteps, looking at it bit by bit.

  He is just a passerby, quietly watching the passage of time, gazing out at the vast ocean and the changing landscape.

  Outside of life and death trials, in a piece of darkness, the eyes calmly gazed into the endless void, with no spark in those huge eyes.

  "Got it?"

  "Amazing, he realized it in just the second world, and now after a day and night, this young man's comprehension of the heart of martial arts is astonishing!"

  The seventh layer of trials is precisely the heart of martial arts, which is a test and also a great opportunity!

  If one can grasp the true meaning of this test and temper their heart in the process, they will reap boundless benefits!

  Although no one has entered the seventh layer of the trial of life and death for 19,000 years, Yan Mu knew that the formation left by the witch god also existed in the divine realm.

  Its name is - reincarnation.

  Even those proud sons of heaven in the realm of gods often lose themselves when entering reincarnation.

  Most of them are convinced that all this is an illusory demon, constantly destroying these worlds. However, when new layers of the world emerge one after another, they see countless versions of themselves, and their hearts become lost, bewildered, unable to distinguish who is illusory and who is real, unable to distinguish which one is the true self.

  Once lost, the heart of martial arts is damaged, and it may even affect future cultivation.

  Even if someone with a genius-level understanding grasped the meaning of reincarnation, they would still have to go through several, or even dozens, of worlds before slowly figuring it out.

  Lin Ming had actually seen through the true and false in the second world, and had gained insight into the cycle of reincarnation. How could this not be astonishing?

  "It's a pity that the master has already passed away, otherwise he would have definitely accepted this disciple. I originally thought that this young man had ordinary innate talent and only achieved such accomplishments because of some good opportunity, but unexpectedly, he has such a natural gift in understanding the essence of martial arts!"

  "I'll just watch and see how long he can comprehend in this hundred-life cycle."