This was a palace forged of bronze.
At the center of the palace stood only a single brass crane-neck floor lamp. The crane's neck was long and slender, curving in a graceful arc, and perched at the very tip of its straight beak was a candle flame no bigger than a peach.
It was this lone candlelight that illuminated the entire great hall.
The flame was feeble; many corners of the bronze palace lay drowned in darkness.
A thin-framed young Gu Master stood upon the palace's massive square tiles. Beside him rose an enormous pillar, coated in crimson lacquer, so thick that it would take three adults stretching their arms wide and joining hands to encircle it.
The candlelight streamed over but was largely blocked by the colossal pillar, leaving one half of the young Gu Master bathed in light while the other half was swallowed by shadow and darkness.
It was Han Li.
At this moment, cold sweat beaded Han Li's forehead, and his heart wavered with indecision.
"I was overconfident."
"This Senior Zhen Yuan Zi, though a Righteous Path Gu Immortal, his true inheritance isn't something someone like me is qualified to obtain."
"Reaching this point has already exhausted every trick I know. Several of those steps relied on nothing but sheer luck."
Han Li had been through all of this, and he understood with perfect clarity just how dangerous this bronze great hall truly was.
Looking back on it now, he felt a chill run down his spine.
In truth, inheritances from the Righteous Path were often not terribly dangerous — it was the Demonic Path that was riddled with cunning tricks and mortal peril.
Though Zhen Yuan Zi's inheritance trial held these dangers, they were nothing to a Gu Immortal. But to Han Li, who was still merely a Gu Master, they were far too perilous.
Han Li was naturally a man of extraordinary fortune, and his fate was entangled with Fang Yuan's through a Fate Gu connection, granting him a constant stream of opportunities. He had already reached the Fourth Transformation.
For someone his age, with no Gu Immortal backing him, this level of cultivation was exceedingly rare.
Han Li stood rooted in place, unmoving. He strained to turn sideways, trying to look back at the path he had already walked. He wanted to withdraw.
This Gu Immortal true inheritance of Zhen Yuan Zi's was simply too far above his level. Though it was tremendously tempting, Han Li had now sobered up completely.
After pondering for a long while, he cautiously attempted to step forward with his right leg, aiming to the side.
The next instant, his field of vision shifted dramatically.
"I... advanced instead?"
Han Li swiftly scanned his surroundings, and his face turned pale at once.
He discovered that the crimson-lacquered giant pillar had already been left behind him — he had moved forward more than a dozen steps from his original position.
He was now much closer to that brass crane-neck floor lamp.
If he could reach it, Han Li would gain recognition and fully inherit Zhen Yuan Zi's true legacy.
But Han Li had already made up his mind to retreat.
That forward step had been nothing but a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse — a pure accident. His real intention had been to withdraw from this place, yet he had ended up advancing instead.
He could easily imagine what would have happened had he been harboring the thought of moving forward and chosen a different direction. The outcome would surely have been catastrophic.
When it came to Formation Path, Han Li — a rogue cultivator by origin — had almost no foundation to speak of, a virtual blank slate. At best, his knowledge was the kind of clumsy countryside trick, the half-baked skills of an amateur.
He had come this far through cleverness, calm reasoning, and luck.
Among these factors, it was luck that played the most prominent role.
And that only eroded Han Li's confidence further.
Because luck was the most unreliable thing of all. A rational person who relied solely on nothing but luck was no better than a pure gambler.
"Sigh... I'm essentially betting my life right now. It seems like stepping back toward the right rear might be safer." Han Li observed his surroundings. At this point, he was completely in the dark and could only go by feeling.
Then he took a step back.
Whoosh.
His vision shifted once more — and the result left him stunned. This time he had advanced even farther, a full several dozen steps!
That brass crane-neck floor lamp, the symbol of success, was now within arm's reach. Han Li could almost stretch out his hand and touch it.
Of course, in strict reckoning, he was still just barely short of it.
So close, yet so impossibly far.
Han Li hesitated.
Facing a situation like this, it was only natural for his resolve to waver. After all, success seemed to be right there, just a single correct step away.