"Her Majesty the Empress?"
Yun Jin raised her brows slightly.
She focused her senses. This body she now inhabited possessed cultivation—and not just any cultivation, but exactly her true strength: Nascent Soul stage.
That alone was surprising.
But what came next was stranger still.
She scanned the area with her divine sense. Aside from herself being at the Nascent Soul stage, everyone else in this world… was a mere mortal.
Yun Jin narrowed her eyes.
A Nascent Soul cultivator ruling over a mortal world as queen? That's what this was?
Perplexed, Yun Jin began to explore this realm.
This world felt even more vivid and real than the one in her previous heart trial.
In the first heart trial, she'd grown from an infant into a peerless expert in a blink. The entire process of growing up had been skipped entirely.
But here, time passed differently. It flowed naturally. Yun Jin spent three full months here—truly experiencing time—and only then did she confirm:
This was a mortal world.
The only difference?
Her.
She was the lone cultivator in the entire world. The only one. A Nascent Soul cultivator.
And what did that mean?
If she wished, she could slaughter every last mortal in this world without so much as a scratch.
A Nascent Soul cultivator in a mortal realm…
She was invincible.
Utterly invincible.
There were no enemies to speak of here. The mortals wouldn't even dare raise their voices to her. To them, she was nothing short of divine.
So then… what exactly was this heart trial testing?
Yun Jin waited a long time, but no main quest ever came. The world had a built-in restriction—no cultivation allowed.
Bored, she turned her energy to developing the mortal realm.
She had traveled through countless worlds. Although most of her memories and experiences were sealed away, as she began to manage this vast mortal kingdom, fragments of that knowledge resurfaced.
She remained in this illusionary world for thirty full years.
Despite wielding immense power, Yun Jin never once abused it. Instead, she protected the people, guiding the mortal world into an age of peace and prosperity—a paradise of human civilization.
When she finally returned to the Heart Trial Stairway, she felt slightly dazed.
Thirty years… This stairway was truly merciless.
Thirty years of time—long enough to unravel even the most stable mind. Some, even knowing this was a trial, would still reveal their true nature after so long.
There are those who are kind and good at heart.
But what if, one day, you were granted a power so absolute that no one could match it?
Would your kindness still endure?
That was the core of the second trial.
Yun Jin took a moment to compose herself. Her mind quickly returned to a state of calm, and without lingering, she stepped forward again.
This time—
Just one step away from the top of the stairway, she was drawn into the third trial.
Yun Jin understood.
This must be the final test.
Clear this one, and she would reach the summit.
As for how the previous two trials had been evaluated, she still had no clue.
Letting her spirit relax, Yun Jin entered the third illusion.
This time—
The moment she stepped into the scene, an irritating restlessness gripped her.
In the illusion, she held a sword and floated in midair. The place was thick with demonic energy, and beneath her, wave after wave of demons surged.
A brutal battle was raging below between the human race and the demon race. Yun Jin was the commander of the human side. The battlefield burned with chaos. Casualties on both sides were heavy. She herself was locked in fierce combat with the demon leader in the sky.
Gradually, the human forces gained the upper hand, and Yun Jin also began to outmatch the demon commander.
She was about to press forward and finish him off—
But the demon commander suddenly dropped his weapon and began to plead:
"Fairy Yun, this war has dragged on too long. Both sides have suffered dearly. If this continues, even if we demons fall, the humans will be left in ruins. Why not end it here? We demons are willing to sign a contract of surrender, pledge our loyalty to the human race, and offer tribute year after year. What say you?"
A treaty?
Submission?
Yun Jin sneered. With one clean strike, her sword fell.
The demon leader's head hit the ground. Dead beyond question.
Then Yun Jin led the human forces in completely annihilating the remaining demons in the illusion. Just as the demon leader had warned, the cost was high. The human side suffered catastrophic losses—only one in ten survived to see the end.
Someone couldn't help but speak up:
"Commander, the demon army sought peace many times. Had we signed the treaty earlier, there wouldn't have been a war. So many would still be alive. I think..."
Yun Jin glanced at him and raised her sword.
Before he finished speaking, he fell lifeless to the ground, his eyes still wide open in disbelief.
The entire field fell silent.
All eyes turned to Yun Jin.
Her tone remained calm. "Do you truly not know what the demon race is? They are born of the outer-realm. By nature, they are greedy and cunning. Whenever they find a world teeming with life, they descend upon it and seize everything. And the worlds they conquer—do you know what becomes of them? If we fail to annihilate them now, they'll regroup, or worse, receive reinforcements from the outer-realm. And when that day comes, it will be us who are annihilated. The demons of this world are now extinct. It is time to rebuild. Let me hear one more word of mercy for demons or regret for this war, and you will be executed without pardon."
As her words fell—
The illusion shattered.
Yun Jin was back on the stairway.
She chuckled softly and took the final step to the top.
She didn't know how the trials had been judged. But at every step, she had followed her heart.
She had no regrets.
At the summit was an open platform. At its center stood a single mirror.
"Young Master, finished already?" The Tian Po Sword reconnected with her. Its voice rang once again in her ear. "This mirror is the Heart Reflection Mirror. If you want to see the results, step in front of it."
Yun Jin was curious. She walked toward the mirror.
Standing before it, she looked at her reflection.
At first, the mirror simply showed Yun Jin.
Then the images began to shift.
Scenes from the first trial—her unflinching vengeance.
Then the second—her rule over a kingdom of mortals, her guidance and protection earning the reverence of tens of thousands.
And finally, the third trial—her ruthless judgment on the battlefield.
The images faded.
Then a line of text appeared across the surface of the mirror:
"A practitioner of unwavering conviction. A ruler born to be revered. A commander with merciless clarity. Her heart is set; her principles unshakable. She does not waver for the thoughts of others. Final Evaluation: No need for others' judgment. She walks her own path."
Yun Jin let out a quiet laugh.
This Heart Reflection Mirror was amusing—its final verdict was that no verdict was needed.
She found it… acceptable.
She had her own path, her own code. No amount of external judgment could change that.
Perhaps the mirror understood this as well.
"Well now, I didn't think that broken mirror would ever reach a point where it couldn't give an evaluation," Tian Po Sword muttered, half gloating.
"What broken mirror? You trash sword, can you not speak properly for once?"
A voice rang out in irritation.
From within the Heart Reflection Mirror, a small boy tumbled out—wearing nothing but a bellyband and no pants.