After speaking with Shangguan Qinglan, Ling Yun’s clone immediately began his challenge. Soon, several illusions appeared before him.

"Hmm? Is this challenge to test my greed, hatred, or ambition?" Ling Yun simply shook his head. "Greed? Every living creature has greed in their hearts, but I’m different from them, and I’m not greedy enough to be fooled by this kind of illusion. Hatred? I have hatred in my heart, especially towards Huang Lingzhu, who toyed with the lives of Ling Xi and Xiao Xiao. However, I am also grateful to her because her actions gave me two wonderful wives, and I am happy with that. Ambition? My only ambition is to restore peace to this universe so all my wives and children can live in peace."

Soon, all the illusions in front of Ling Yun disappeared by themselves, and he returned to the third floor of the Trial Tower.

"You finished the first challenge so quickly." Ling Yun turned to Shangguan Qinglan. "Don’t you have greed, hatred, or ambition in your heart?"

"Haha," Ling Yun laughed at her question. "Who doesn’t have greed, hatred, or ambition in their heart? These three are negative traits, but they can spur a person to become stronger if they can control them. Only if they can control their thoughts will they be able to progress; otherwise, they will reach a dead end that will lead to their death."

Shangguan Qinglan nodded. "All living beings possess all three, but not many of them can be like you. So, what is your greed?"

"Hmm?" Ling Yun rubbed his chin. "Love and women."

"Tch!" Shangguan Qinglan clicked her teeth. "All men are the same, whether they are human, spirit, or others!"

"Haha! You don’t know me yet, but I can tell you that I’m different from them."

Shangguan Qinglan did not comment on that. "What about your hatred?"

"There are only two people I hate in my life, and one of them is dead." Shangguan Qinglan raised an eyebrow. "I didn’t kill him, but a demon did. As for the second person, I hate her, but I am also grateful to her. Even though she did it for the safety of this universe, she has done many terrible things to my two dearest people by manipulating their lives. Even so, I am still grateful to her because I would never be who I am today without her, and I wouldn’t have two wonderful wives."

"Who are those two people?"

"The first person is my father, and the second person is Huang Lingzhu."

"Oh." Shangguan Qinglan nodded slightly. "Then, what are your ambitions?"

"My ambition is much simpler than other cultivators because I only want peace for all my wives and children, and I will fight hard to make it happen."

"Is that all your ambition?" Shangguan Qinglan asked in disbelief.

"You may not believe me, but that’s my only ambition." Ling Yun smiled at her. "For most people, wealth and status are everything, and many of them are willing to sacrifice those closest to them to obtain both. For me, all my wives and children are my wealth, and I will do anything to protect them, including slaughtering those who intend to harm them." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I see." Shangguan Qinglan nodded as she observed him.

"So, what’s the next challenge?"

"All the challenges on the third floor are mostly related to the seven deadly sins—greed, wrath, pride, jealousy, envy, sloth, and gluttony. However, there are several other challenges, all of which are related to our mental strength. Since you passed the greed test easily, I think you won’t have any difficulty passing the other six sins, but you must be careful with the other challenges."

"What are the other challenges?"

Shangguan Qinglan shook her head. "I can’t tell you about them, and you should prepare yourself to face them."

"I see." Ling Yun had no problem with that, and he was confident he could pass all the challenges on the third floor without any difficulty. "Why don’t you move on to the next challenge like your friends?"

"I’m not ready yet." Ling Yun raised an eyebrow. "I’ve already taken the next challenge several times, but I always fail miserably. I had to wait a year for this one, so I don’t want to fail again."

"What’s your next challenge?"

Shangguan Qinglan was a little embarrassed and awkward to tell him. "The lust challenge."

"Oh?" Ling Yun was a little surprised. "What comes up in that challenge?"

"Hey! You already have several wives, so you should be able to guess the challenge, right?"

"Haha," Ling Yun teased her. "Don’t you have a man you like? Have you never done that before?"

"Tch! I’m still a virgin!" Shangguan Qinglan shouted in frustration. "I had a lover when I was young, but he cheated on me with another female spirit. Since then, I don’t want to be in a relationship with a man anymore, and I prefer women now."

Ling Yun’s smile curled up after hearing that. "Anyways, the three spirits by my side are the lust spirit, the void spirit, and the lightning spirit."

"Huh?" Shangguan Qinglan was shocked. "Are the lust and void spirits really your wives? As far as I know, there’s only one lust and void spirit in this universe because they’re different from the other spirits, like me."

"Luxuria, or as I prefer to call her, Ling Xi, is the lust spirit. Zhou Yu is the void spirit, and both of them are my wives." Shangguan Qinglan was dumbfounded. "I met Ling Xi when I wasn’t a cultivator yet, and she helped me in many ways when I was still weak, so I’m truly grateful to have her in my life. As for Zhou Yu, she used to be my other wife’s master, and she became my wife several years ago."

Shangguan Qinglan was truly shocked to hear that. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the lust spirit chose a lustful man like you as her husband, but I have doubts about the void spirit. Is she really your wife?"

Ling Yun shot his memories at Shangguan Qinglan as before, and they quickly surfaced in her mind. Soon, her face turned extremely red with shame and anger, and she sharply glared at him because the memories showed him dual cultivating with three spirits.

Shangguan Qinglan ignored Ling Yun and looked at Ling Xi, Zhou Yu, and Lei Lin, who appeared in his memories, convincing her that the void spirit was one of the three women.

"Do you believe me now?"

"Yeah." Shangguan Qinglan erased all those memories from her mind. "Sigh! I’ll continue my challenge now, and I’ll leave with you after I’m done."

Ling Yun nodded to Shangguan Qinglan as he thought of something to help her. He cancelled his intention and wanted to continue to the next challenge, but an attack suddenly shot towards him.

After he blocked the attack, Ling Yun looked at Taiyi Guang, who sternly warned him, "Stay away from Qinglan, or I’ll beat you up and kill you."

"Haha," Ling Yun laughed mockingly. "Even though your cultivation is far above mine, you will never be able to kill me. If you dare attack me one more time, I will kill you immediately, and your parents will never be able to find your corpse. My current self is just my clone, but it won’t be difficult for me to kill you."

"You—" Taiyi Guang gulped loudly after he saw Ling Yun’s figure become gigantic. ’How is this possible? I’m much stronger than him, but I sense immense fear from him.’

"Now, don’t bother me anymore and mind your own business." Ling Yun immediately moved on to the next challenge.

Taiyi Guang wiped the sweat from his forehead as his body trembled. He had never felt death so close before his eyes, let alone from a cultivator much younger than him and merely a clone.

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On the second floor, An Yufei, Zhu Quezi, and the other senior cultivators had no difficulty completing their soul challenges, as did the female beasts. On the other hand, all of Ling Yun’s children had difficulty in their challenges, and they had yet to pass them.

"Seeing them struggling to face their challenges reminds me of when we first came to this tower," Kong Bailing said.

Xin Xinghe agreed with her. "Although they’ve been cultivated and trained hard, they still lack experience because they’re so young. However, they will continue to develop, and they might become as terrifying as their father in the future."

"Although I rejected them at first, our sect is truly fortunate that they chose to join us." Yin Jingmo commented.

Tian Jingyun glanced at the female beasts before speaking to the others. "I don’t think we need to wait for them since their beast contracts protect them. We should proceed directly to the next challenge."

"You can continue if you want, but Yufei and I will wait for our husband."

An Yufei agreed with Zhu Quezi. "Although their beast contracts protect them, they are our family, so we must protect them as well."

"Alright, we’ll go first." Xin Xinghe and the others immediately proceeded to the second soul challenge.

Meanwhile, An Yufei, Zhu Quezi, and those female beasts sat in their spots, waiting for all of Ling Yun’s children to complete their first challenge.

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On the third floor, Ling Yun also had no problems with the second challenge, which was related to pride. Although he was quite proud, he wasn’t truly arrogant, and he only showed his arrogance in certain situations, so the challenge wasn’t a big deal for him.

Ling Yun glanced at Taiyi Guang, who had already moved on to the next challenge, before turning his gaze to Shangguan Qinglan, who was struggling with her lust challenge. "Should I help her?"