"The Silver Moon Royal Mansion is powerful, and our chances of competing with them are slim. Defeating Zhong Ming, however, is not entirely out of the question."

"And beautiful women have always been drawn to heroes. I don’t know what methods Zhong Ming used to win the hearts of Luo Zhiwei, Xiyue, and the others, but they are ultimately just petty tricks. If you can defeat him on the Path of Purgatory three days from now, you’ll have a chance to make the two Commandery Princesses, and Xiyue, transfer their affections to you."

These words were spoken by an elder from the Xia Family, another prominent clan in Immortal Martial City. After learning about the Path of Purgatory, he had stepped forward to deliver this speech of encouragement specifically to the family’s younger generation.

Just as expected, as soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of the Xia Family’s younger generation lit up. Their blood pumped with excitement, and they radiated an eagerness to prove themselves, wishing they could step onto the Path of Purgatory that very instant to challenge Zhong Ming.

And the young members of the Xia Family were far from the only ones with such thoughts.

Xiyue possessed exceptional talent and formidable strength. Ji Qingyue and Ji Qinglian had world-toppling beauty, and behind them stood the staggering wealth of Prince Qinghe. Anyone who could win one of these three as his wife would achieve a meteoric rise, saving himself a hundred years of struggle.

Faced with such a temptation, very few among the younger generation of Immortal Martial City could remain unmoved.

Thus, in addition to the Xia Family, young Cultivators from the Qi Family, and even the Chu Family from which Chu Hanzhen hailed, all set their sights on the Path of Purgatory, intending to use this trial as an opportunity to outshine Zhong Ming.

’Exceptional talent? Hmph. No matter how talented you are, you’re just a Cultivator who recently reached Foundation Establishment. I’ve already completed Cultivating Evil. You’re no match for me!’

And among all these people, the younger generation of the Qi Family was by far the most confident. After all, the Path of Purgatory had been built by them—not that they intended to cheat.

Too many factions would be present that day, including some immensely powerful Guardians. Cheating openly would risk being discovered.

Besides, it wouldn’t just be the Qi Family losing face; the Silver Moon Royal Mansion’s honor would be on the line too.

But while cheating openly was out of the question, they still possessed some unique, hidden advantages.

—Before this, the younger generation of the Qi Family had already braved this Path of Purgatory hundreds of times. Not to mention, the very reason they created the Path of Purgatory was that their clan’s Cultivation Technique excelled at defense and resistance, making it a perfect match for it.

With both timing and location in their favor, they were completely confident in their ability to defeat Zhong Ming.

Right now, the Qi Family Patriarch was speaking to his son, Qi Yue, who was also the strongest of the family’s younger generation. "Qi Yue, mark my words. The trial three days from now is the greatest opportunity of your life. No matter what, you must defeat Zhong Ming."

"Not only will this greatly elevate your standing in the Silver Moon Royal Mansion, it will also give you the chance to win the hearts of Commandery Princesses Ji Qingyue and Ji Qinglian."

"Prince Qinghe’s power might not be top-tier, but he is incredibly wealthy. If you can form a marriage alliance with him, your position in the Qi Family will not only be secure, you’ll also have the chance to rise even higher!"

These words struck at the heart of Qi Yue’s own desires. His fists clenched instantly, his eyes flashing with a determined light.

"Don’t worry, Father. I won’t lose to Zhong Ming. I absolutely will not lose!"

...

Zhong Ming was completely unaware of the uproar he had caused in the outside world. At this moment, he was deep within the Immortal Martial Daoist School, helping Master Luo Zhiwei construct an array in the real world.

Reality lacked the convenience of the dream world, where thoughts could become reality. Furthermore, the simulations run in the dream still had minor discrepancies with the real world. As a result, constructing the array took them an entire day and night.

But in any case, they had finally built the array.

Now, drawing others into the dream world no longer required Zhong Ming’s direct involvement. He only needed to be asleep in a room in the back courtyard, connected to the array, and Luo Zhiwei could pull the Cultivators at the other nodes into the dream.

Furthermore, Zhong Ming was no longer the sole core of the array. An Illusion Spirit Treasure Mirror, a Magical Treasure-grade item, had become its other central hub.

The mirror not only significantly reduced the strain on Zhong Ming’s Divine Soul when he constructed the Dream World, it also acted as an indestructible dream-firewall.

Anyone who dared to probe the dream for espionage, or tried to use it to assassinate Zhong Ming’s Divine Soul, would be stopped by the Treasure Mirror. Only by shattering the mirror could they ever hope to touch the source of his Divine Soul.

Of course, even if someone did launch a brazen attack, Zhong Ming wouldn’t have to face the danger directly. The instant an attack came, Luo Zhiwei would sense it and eject any Cultivator with ulterior motives from the dream.

And being ejected would only be the beginning. Anyone who dared damage Luo Zhiwei’s array would face the combined might of her and Prince Qinghe’s Mansion—enough to make any power in Immortal Martial City pay an unbearable price.

’An Array Master truly lives up to the name. Their ability to independently devise all sorts of arrays is just too valuable. It’s no wonder Prince Qinghe, the Silver Moon Royal Mansion, and even the Celestial Sea King’s Mansion all want to recruit Master Zhiwei.’

’Thankfully, I was the one who ultimately won her over.’

...

Once all the preparations were complete, Prince Qinghe’s Mansion officially began its recruitment drive, just as planned.

For the first wave of announcements, they didn’t release any information about the Thunder Tribulation Array. Unsurprisingly, very few people responded.

Moreover, the few who did show up were all individuals with low cultivation.

This scene left Ji Qinglian and Ji Qingyue looking slightly abashed and feeling rather awkward.

’The reputation of our Prince Qinghe’s Mansion is still a little too low.’

Fortunately, Luo Zhiwei soon released the real news: anyone who joined Prince Qinghe’s Mansion could spend resources and Spirit Stones to cultivate inside the array she had devised—the very same array that had drawn the Celestial Dao Thunder Tribulation.