The platform rose again.
A new stretch of steps appeared ahead.
Unlike the lower layers, these steps were narrow and stretched across a vast open void. Each step floated separately, with gaps between them large enough to swallow an ordinary cultivator. White-gold mist moved between the gaps, and inside the mist, vague figures could be seen drifting silently.
They did not look like guardians at first. They looked like memories, shadows, or souls that had never fully formed.
Then the system prompt appeared.
[Second Stage: Genesis Will Corridor.]
[Objective: Cross The Corridor Without Losing Your Will.]
[Warning: The Corridor Will Manifest Regrets, Fears, Desires, And Attachments.]
[Warning: Participants May Assist One Another, But Cannot Bear Another Participant's Trial Completely.]
[Warning: Individual Willpower Assessment Has Begun.]
The moment the prompt faded, the white-gold mist surged upward.
The world around them changed.
