I Cultivated Too Long and Got Isekai’d Into a Game

After the memory ended, the reflections began to change once again.

This time, each reflection showed a different scene—a different moment in time—portraying fragments of his darker history. In particular, events that had taken place long before he became Sect Master or even the Great Elder.

For example, one scene showed Xu Tao sitting at the peak of the tallest tree at the base of Kunlun Mountain. There, he seemed to be cultivating the Earth Qi around him… but in truth, he was simply peeking at the lake ahead, where a few female sect members were taking a dip. Right—he was just a voyeur.

Another scene showed a time when he had just shattered his cultivation to restart for the second time. He was running away from loan sharks from whom he had borrowed money to buy a powerful cultivation root. To escape, he hid under the long skirt of a passing nun…

Although she did cover for him, after the loan sharks disappeared, the nun's sermon followed. The young Xu Tao didn't appreciate the nagging, of course, and said, "I don't want to hear that from a nun wearing such risqué underwear!"—in a loud voice, audible to everyone passing by.

After that, even the clergy came looking for him for publicly shaming a woman of the cloth who practiced celibacy—basically, just increasing his enemies.

There was also a scene from an old memory he thought he had already forgotten—Xu Tao standing before a burnt home, crying while grasping at the charcoaled remains of someone.

'This mirror…'

At long last, Xu Tao figured out what was going on.

'It's showing one's old mistakes, deepest regrets, and failures—trying to break their Dao Heart and stop them from moving forward!'

Honestly, Xu Tao almost fell for it.

The cringe from watching his past actions, wrong choices, arrogance, and all the mistakes he had made was enough to make him want to strangle himself to death…

But he wouldn't have reached the Divine Heaven Immortal Realm if he had a weak heart. As such, he was able to fight off his inner demons. Though he took quite a bit of "damage," both emotionally and mentally, he could still continue the trial.

Step by step, while being forced to watch all his past mistakes on an endless replay, he headed for the exit. However, with every wrong turn, he had to backtrack and lose time.

He couldn't "cheat" either, as any detection technique that extended further than five meters was forcibly canceled. As such, he could only honestly work his way through this maze of mirrors.

While he was diligently searching for the correct exit, the others were also doing the same thing—clearing the maze of mirrors. But one thing Xu Tao didn't realize, however, was that his little "countermeasure" to help everyone survive had backfired on him.

The mirrors were enchanted, reading the entire history of the person reflected in them and playing back their past mistakes, regrets, and failures.

With that in mind, what would happen if Xu Tao's clones activated? The answer…

🔷🔷🔷

Jehanne, a brave and pious saint… was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees while either laughing or crying—it wasn't clear which. In her current state, however, it was obvious she wouldn't be able to clear the maze.

The mirrors were all showing scenes from Jehanne's childhood through her time on the battlefield. They displayed embarrassing moments, depressing memories, and even the stupidest mistakes she had ever made. All of it made her mind regress, rendering her unable to move an inch.

At that moment, Xu Tao's weakest clone activated. There wasn't much danger present, after all, so there was no need to use the two full-strength clones just yet.

But just as the clone used the Qi Transmission Threads to speak to Jehanne, the mirror's surface began to shift. The display changed. Instead of showing Jehanne's embarrassing past… it now displayed Xu Tao's past.

"T-This is…!"

Jehanne, noticing the change, quickly widened her eyes.

Scenes of little Xu Tao roaming around the market, stealing food from vendors—or of the older Xu Tao teaching disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect while secretly picking his nose behind everyone's backs—played across the glass.

"Pfff!"

Although these were scenes that would make the man himself want to dig a hole and bury himself, to Jehanne, they were precious memories of the one she adored—struggles that had shaped Xu Tao into who he was now.

The clone, despite not having emotions, wanted to disappear just from watching the scenes playing on the mirrors. But its purpose was to lead Jehanne to the end, not to get goosebumps from cringing.

"I… want to see more!"

Jehanne, after watching every version of Xu Tao visible from where she stood at least three times, began walking forward with renewed motivation. She was seeing more sides of Xu Tao than he would have liked anyone to see. Unfortunately, the clone could do nothing to stop it.

If it wanted to end the playback, it would have to return into a strand of hair—which would also mean being unable to guide Jehanne forward again, defeating its purpose. It was stuck in a paradox, unable to act until the end.

The clone led the way with a deadpan expression, while Jehanne…

"Ahh~! Sir Tao as a baby is so cute! Oh, he soiled his pants!"

"So such a tragedy happened to his parents… If only I could have been by his side…"

"Run, Sir Tao! The wild boar is right behind yo—oof! Getting launched like that must have hurt…!"

…was enjoying every second of it.

With her slow pace, taking in everything without missing a single detail, it took her over thirty minutes just to reach the maze's end.

As soon as they arrived, the clone popped, disappearing. Its Qi had been entirely used up despite not employing any techniques. Just walking through such mental torture was enough to accelerate its energy consumption!

Jehanne took a deep breath as she stood before a glowing formation.

"Somehow, watching all those versions of Sir Tao makes me want to see him~!" she giggled, smiling sweetly.

The fact that she had been reminded of her own embarrassing moments had completely faded from her mind.