Here's the translation:
"Give it to me!"
"My axe!" Meng Jingzhou shouted loudly in the illusion, wanting to dive in and retrieve his axe.
The River Spirit lifted three axes and appeared on the surface of the river.
"Young man, you..."
Splash—
Before the River Spirit could finish speaking, Meng Jingzhou took a plunge and dove into the river, creating bubbles even bigger than the River Spirit's.
What's going on?
The River Spirit was bewildered; this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
The gurgling bubbles gradually decreased until they disappeared, leaving the river surface eerily calm, with only the ripples caused by the River Spirit's aura.
"Why is it so quiet? Did he drown?" the River Spirit muttered. He wasn't too worried that Meng Jingzhou would really drown; this was an illusion, and no one could drown here.
Before the River Spirit could figure out what Meng Jingzhou was up to, something unexpected happened again!
The ripples on the river surface became more frequent. The River Spirit furrowed his brows; he had controlled his power well, and it shouldn't be caused by his aura.
He realized, "It's that kid who jumped into the river!"
He saw traces of golden aura mixed in the stream, and the mist above the river emitted a faint divine aura, as if something terrifying was brewing at the bottom of the river!
The unknown terror was heart-pounding!
Three fountains erupted on the river surface, shooting higher and higher, splashing light golden mist that covered the entire river, making it hard for the River Spirit to see what was happening.
A wind blew from nowhere, dispersing the light golden mist.
Three figures appeared, all resembling Meng Jingzhou, but their auras were vastly different from before.
The River Spirit trembled; it was an instinctual reaction from the depths of his soul!
Ordinary Meng Jingzhou, powerful cultivator Meng Jingzhou, and... immortal Meng Jingzhou!
This was the fundamental rule of the illusion: when an object fell into the river, it would undergo three transformations: mortal, spiritual, and immortal.
"Give it to me," the three Meng Jingzhous said in unison, taking their respective axes.
With Immortal Meng Jingzhou around, the River Spirit had no chance of fighting back and was at his mercy.
Immortal Meng Jingzhou obtained the celestial axe, the powerful cultivator Meng Jingzhou got the spiritual axe, and the ordinary Meng Jingzhou, pretending to be fierce, took advantage of the River Spirit's confusion to grab his old axe.
With the three axes in hand, the illusion shattered, and Meng Jingzhou passed the level.
Those who passed the second level would fall into a temporary coma, a self-protective mechanism of the human body.
...
The members of the Asking Path Sect looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who had passed the second level, and remained silent for a long time.
Where are the honest people we were promised?
Yun Zhi remained silent; she had a premonition that recruiting these two into the Asking Path Sect would bring endless trouble.
She hoped her premonition was wrong.
The real River Spirit appeared, holding a gold and a silver axe, charging furiously towards Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.
As the guardian spirit of the Asking Path Sect, he had never suffered such humiliation.
"Don't stop me! I'm going to teach these two brats a lesson today and break their limbs, then heal them!"
The disciples of the Asking Path Sect quickly intercepted the enraged River Spirit.
"River Spirit, you can't chop them!"
"River Spirit, please calm down."
"If something happens to the participants, our reputation will be ruined if this gets out!"
Finally, Dai Bufan stepped forward and stopped the furious River Spirit.
"River Spirit, don't worry. I, Dai Bufan, designed the third test personally. It will definitely teach these two a lesson."
Seeing Dai Bufan's confident assurance, the River Spirit finally relented.
As the grand finale, the third test had two options: one proposed by Yun Zhi, which was milder, and one by Dai Bufan, which was somewhat残酷 (cruel), but both could test one's willpower. After voting, everyone unanimously chose Yun Zhi's plan.
Yun Zhi's plan was too mild, with no punishment for failure. To appease the River Spirit's anger, they had to choose Dai Bufan's plan.
Yun Zhi had no objections to this.
It would be good to let these two youngsters learn a lesson.
The second level weeded out many people. Faced with the temptation of the three axes, many followed their desires and lied to the River Spirit, claiming they had dropped the celestial and spiritual axes.
Those who were eliminated from the illusion complained that the second level of the Asking Path Sect was too difficult.
However, not everyone complained about the difficulty of the second level; those who passed didn't complain.
...
"The second level was quite easy," Man Gu said. "You just had to tell the truth."
Those waiting for the second level nodded in agreement, all saying the same thing as Man Gu.
"What? So we weren't supposed to jump into the river and grab the axes from the River Spirit?" Meng Jingzhou exclaimed. Why did others do it differently from him?
Lu Yang rolled his eyes at Meng Jingzhou, thinking he was really stupid. "If the River Spirit wasn't an illusion but real, wouldn't you have provoked him?"
"You should have done what I did and asked the River Spirit for his axes, then thrown them all into the river. That way, all three axes would have counted as ours."
Meng Jingzhou had an epiphany. "You're so smart."
Everyone silently watched Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou summarize their experience and began to wonder if their method of passing the level was wrong.
Man Gu nodded slightly. He remembered his father saying that the ancient barbarians were almost annihilated because of their pride and ignorance. As their descendant, he must overcome this shortcoming and learn humbly from others.
Man Gu felt that he had found role models to learn from.
Just as everyone was discussing the correct way to pass the level, Yun Zhi, Dai Bufan, and other disciples of the Asking Path Sect appeared.
Dai Bufan had a smirk on his face as he flipped his hand, and a mountain the size of a palm appeared. The mountain grew with the wind, reaching a height of a hundred zhang in just a few breaths.
Everyone marveled in low voices; such a feat was rare even among cultivators.
The mountain was covered with dense and lush trees, indistinguishable from a real mountain. On one side of the mountain, there was a long staircase leading to the summit.
"This is called the Mountain of the Heart's Inquiry, a marvelous item I commissioned an elder to create. On the Mountain of the Heart's Inquiry, mortals and immortals are equal. Your task is to climb the mountain. The higher you climb, the more resolute your willpower is."
"If you reach the fiftieth step, you will pass the test."
Someone asked, "But won't Man Gu have an advantage then?"
At fifteen, Man Gu had the physique of a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old, a head taller than others. He definitely had an advantage in climbing, with each step covering twice the distance of others.
Dai Bufan smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. The Mountain of the Heart's Inquiry will equalize everyone's physical condition. Whether you're a mortal or a cultivator, you'll all be mortals on my Mountain of the Heart's Inquiry."
"Is there a time limit?" someone else asked.
"No."
Everyone was delighted. No time limit meant they could keep trying. Why worry about not passing the third level?
Could it be that the third level was just a formality?
"Can we use treasures?" They had special treasures bestowed by their clans, which could be used without spiritual energy. They were a powerful tool.
Dai Bufan's smile had a hint of schadenfreude. "Sure."
If the treasures still worked.