“Calm down!”
Lin Shuang pressed down tightly on the thickening and lengthening hair at the back of Huangpu Yuan’s head… This was the same wild manner he had displayed that day in the ruined temple.
Last time it was due to encountering evil cultivators, and this time because the tiger clan harmed the fox clan, was he going to lose control again…?
“Let’s double-check the exam papers.”
[…]
“We answered too quickly and smoothly last time, don’t you think?”
Lin Shuang felt deeply uneasy.
Without needing to travel, they were directly sent here by Wang Jian.
It felt exactly like a teacher forcing students to redo wrong answers!
[…?]
[What?]
Lin Shuang grabbed Huangpu Yuan, but in the next instant, continuous tiger roars surged forth like mountains and seas, as if ten thousand swords pierced their spiritual consciousness.
“Damn it, Lin Shuang, the spiritual consciousness test is here.”
Meng Zi staggered slightly while leaning on his sword.
Lin Shuang felt a slight tightness in her chest.
[Tiger demon Li Wei, half-step towards Spirit Transformation.]
[Continuous roaring for over half the time it takes an incense stick to burn can damage the spiritual sea of Ningyuan cultivators, potentially causing a 30-day coma that even pills cannot remedy.]
[All disciples, please be cautious.]
Approaching the fourth thousand layers, the nine thousand trials gradually became more brutal.
It was no longer possible to pass merely by speculation or triggering hidden treasures.
Without sufficient strength, even reaching the final stages would result in failure.
And failure could come at a painful cost, removing one from the trial.
[The fact that a warning appears means that more than ten disciples have previously been injured or killed at this level.]
[It’s a reminder, also a warning. Disciples with weak spiritual consciousness may choose to withdraw now and attempt the trial again next year after improvement.]
[Yes, the cost of forcing through is severe.]
[No matter how thoroughly you investigate, you will eventually trace everything back to the tiger demon.
Surviving half an incense stick’s worth of the tiger demon’s roar is passing the test!]
As these words floated, not only Qing Shui Sect, but disciples from the other five sects spent spirit stones or acquired tiger fur through various means, and were teleported by ‘Wang Jian’ from different spaces to face the tiger demon.
At this moment, every participating team faced the same half-step Spirit Transformation tiger roar!
The vegetation trembled, disciples’ faces turned pale, and they couldn’t even move their bodies.
“Form the formation!”
Ming Chongmen immediately drew formation patterns.
Wan Sengmen sat cross-legged, striking wooden fish.
Bai Hua Sect chanted incantations, and flowers of the four seasons bloomed one after another beside them, wrapping them in layers.
Qi Dan Sect swallowed pills and brought out spiritual defense artifacts.
…
Each disciple had their own methods, but all appeared somewhat strained.
Among them, the most cultivated were the three disciples from the Wansheng Sect, who had only reached the peak of the sixth layer of Ningyuan.
But what they faced now was a tiger’s roar imbued with the might of Spirit Transformation—possessing the spiritual consciousness of Spirit Transformation despite only being at the peak of the Condensed Yuan stage.
[Luckily, the trial warning came in advance; otherwise, stepping into this place would have made them lose consciousness immediately.]
[Out there, no one would warn us. Sigh, in the end, each sect still fears for their disciples’ safety during trials.]
[Actually, when Wang Jian screamed ‘Spirit Transformation’ loudly in the embroidery room, it was a warning for the disciples to be careful.]
[Yes, they even specially created a scene where Wang Jian was knocked unconscious by the tiger demon’s roar. Trial Nine Thousand really went to great lengths…]
No wonder the Immortal Summons List requires participants to be at the fifth layer of Condensing Yuan; this information was included in the scoring because it also serves as a warning.
The floating text discussed.
At any time, exploring trials has always been the joy of high-level disciples.
The test for this layer was to endure the tiger demon’s roar for half an incense stick’s time.
After half an incense stick, the tiger roar would gradually weaken, and the half-step Spirit Transformation tiger demon Li Wei would gradually see his spiritual consciousness wane.
After all, he wasn’t truly at the Spirit Transformation body level.
“Hold on, once the tiger’s roar ends, immediately kill him!”
Bian Bo Cai from Bai Hua Sect, sweating profusely on his forehead, didn’t even have time to wipe it off.
“The spiritual attack is already weakening!”
“At most another half a teacup’s time.”
“No, kill him before that!”
Zhu Jiao, the leading senior sister from Bai Hua Sect, sent forth a book from her hand, from which countless flower petals flew.
“We must be faster than Wan Sengmen!”
In an instant, the red apricot blossoms, the heavy crabapple…
Golden chrysanthemums on branches, elegant orchids…
Flowers of the four seasons scattered one after another from the book, drifting to the sides of the roaring tiger demon.
[“Comprehensive Guide to Four Seasons Flowers”? Two thousand spirit stones per copy? She’s crazy!]
[Bai Hua Sect’s ultimate technique—Four Seasons’ Passage, she’s accelerating time!]
[Ning Yuan, it takes two months to form one book! This is only the second round, and she’s already using it?]
[No choice, in terms of spiritual consciousness, who can compete with the chanting disciples of Wan Sengmen? If not now, when else?]
As the words fell, the tiger demon surrounded by Bai Hua Sect let out a sudden weakening roar.
As if having already experienced the four seasons, he was exhausted, unable to summon even a bit of spiritual consciousness, glaring angrily at the three Bai Hua Sect disciples.
“Attack!”
The three Bai Hua Sect disciples instantly surrounded him with flying petals.
Almost simultaneously, the projection showed the second-placed Wan Sengmen.
The steady sound of three wooden fish gradually drowned out the fierce tiger roar.
Solemn and majestic, as if seeing a Buddha image, a dazed expression appeared in the tiger demon Li Wei’s eyes.
The roar from his mouth gradually quieted.
Three wooden fish instantly expanded to the size of a peck measure, charging straight at him.
Shan Hai Sect even summoned three colossal mountains that instantly appeared on the ground, forming a defense.
Xiao Qi’s sword wrapped in cloth fell layer by layer.
Chanting an incantation, it became a mighty sword strike!
[“This year’s disciples are really strong!”]
[“Mid-level battles, cultivation levels are similar.”]
[“Let’s see who will be in the top three!”]
Almost as soon as these words flashed by, the six sects’ scenes in the projection changed continuously.
[Bai Hua Sect first defeats tiger demon Li Wei, 50 points.]
[Bai Hua Sect first delivers Huiniang’s remains to Wang Jian, 50 points.]
[“Look at me one more time, beloved,” Bai Hua Sect total 115 points.]
[Task completed: Found Huiniang, helped her return home, cleared this trial layer.]
Instantly, the three Bai Hua Sect disciples disappeared from the projection scene, having cleared and left this trial layer.
Then, several messages appeared.
[Wan Sengmen second defeats tiger demon Li Wei, 40 points.]
[Wan Sengmen second delivers Huiniang’s remains to Wang Jian, 40 points.]
[“Look at me one more time, beloved,” Wan Sengmen total 92 points.]
…
[Shan Hai Sect third… total 76 points.]
[Ming Chongmen fourth… total 48 points.]
[Qi Dan Sect fifth… total 32 points.]
“The results for the second round of the six sects are in.”
Instantly, the projection showed scenes of Pear Sister from Bai Hua Sect explaining and Xu Xiang Brother from Qing Shui Sect.
“The five major sects have successively cleared the trial and left this trial layer. Now only Qing Shui Sect remains.”
“It’s truly unfortunate; the Qing Shui Sect was originally leading all the way, and Sister Lin Shuang, who also participated in the outer sect arena competition, performed exceptionally well.”
The Bai Hua Sect senior sister shook her head.
“Pity, under the absolute gap in cultivation, intelligence is useless. This is the world of cultivators.”
[Qing Shui Sect… again sixth.]
[Gradually forgetting how many points Qing Shui Sect had accumulated before…]
“Next, let’s focus on the three remaining Qing Shui Sect disciples still struggling under the tiger’s roar.”
In the projection, only Lin Shuang, Meng Zi, and Huangpu Yuan remained.
At some point, Lin Shuang had taken out a small floral quilt from her jade pouch and tightly covered Huangpu Yuan’s head with it.
[?]
[??]
Meng Zi was calculating with finger signs, “Lin Shuang, I’ve figured it out.”
“Immortal Summons Leaderboard: 2 points, learning Wang Jian’s cultivation: 2 points, arriving before Wang Jian first: 2 points.”
“Obtaining Huiniang’s journal 2 points, Huiniang’s portrait 2 points.”
“Discovering Xiao Feng’s lie 2 points.”
“Receiving Wang Jian’s reply letter, obtaining the remaining parts of Huiniang’s journal each 2 points.”
“Obtaining tiger fur 2 points, being the first to teleport to the tiger demon’s location 2 points.”
“Related to Wang Jian, 8 points.”
“Related to Huiniang, 6 points.”
“Related to Xiao Feng and the tiger demon, 2 points and 4 points respectively!”
[?]
[???]
[Count thirty times, you’re still sixth with 20 points… Bai Hua Sect has 115 points!]
“Wrong.”
Lin Shuang pressed the small quilt over Huangpu Yuan’s head, hiding the snow-white hair with red streaks that showed after his madness.
Huangpu Yuan’s earlobes stiffened, sweat trickled down his neck.
Lin Shuang’s sweat also slid from her hairline, dripping onto his back.
“How much longer will you stay mad?” she whispered against his ear.
“…Half a teacup’s time.”
“…”
She gritted her teeth, her expression pained under the tiger’s roar.
After all, she had 108 spiritual senses, especially sensitive.
“How am I wrong? I couldn’t have miscalculated the spirit stone points!”
Meng Zi was unhappy.
His face was pale under the tiger’s roar, “Then I’ll recount.”
Lin Shuang interrupted him, “No, cough…”
Dust raised by the tiger’s roar made her instinctively close her eyes and cough lightly.
Huangpu Yuan let out a low chuckle from under her quilt, his voice hoarse, “Fourteen points.”
Lin Shuang covered his head, then nodded to Meng Zi.
“Yes, he posted the Immortal Summons List, uncovered his cultivation level, instantly teleported right before him. We found the portrait of Huiniang he had painted, Xiao Feng handed him Huiniang’s handwritten letter, Wang Jian’s reply, and even the teleportation to the tiger demon’s location was his doing…”
“Exactly, a total of fourteen points.”
“The points related to Huiniang are only six, and the tiger demon is only four…”
This big boss tiger demon’s presence, only worth four points?
A fifth of the total, does that make sense?
In this comprehensive application question, the core scoring point, instead of revolving around the tiger demon, step by step revolved around the story of Wang Jian and Huiniang!
“This really doesn’t make sense!”
Meng Zi even glared with sweat pouring down, “If I designed the trial, I’d definitely reserve the spirit stone reward for the biggest villain!”
[Yes, defeating the tiger demon gives fifty points… you just couldn’t kill him.]
[You dragged your feet, so you missed the biggest score!]
Lin Shuang took a deep breath.
“Known Huiniang is already gone.”
“Xiao Feng is gone too.”
“The trial continues, the only ones left on the scene are the tiger demon and Wang Jian.”
From the beginning, this was a single-choice question with only two options.
Lin Shuang frowned.
She couldn’t quite put her finger on what felt strange.
She pressed down on Huangpu Yuan’s head, feeling the big demon’s discontented movements beneath her hand.
Lin Shuang opened her eyes.
Yes.
When suppressed, there’s always resistance and counteraction.
Their only obstacle was when Xiao Feng was about to speak the name of the one Huiniang feared, then suddenly killed.
Provisionally assuming it was the tiger demon, Meng Zi chased out and picked up tiger fur.
But why didn’t the tiger demon kill Xiao Feng when he abducted Huiniang?
He abducted Huiniang, believing humans and demons couldn’t coexist, killed her, yet spared Xiao Feng?
He didn’t want Wang Jian or the investigators to know his existence, yet didn’t destroy all of Huiniang’s journals, only damaging half a page, leaving the rest with Xiao Feng.
Then threatening and watching Xiao Feng, warning her not to reveal his name.
Isn’t that very contradictory?
Couldn’t he have taken all Huiniang’s journals, destroyed them all, even directly killed Xiao Feng?
Why didn’t he.
Was this a clue deliberately left by the examiners?
No, in the several trials at Li’s Village, it had already shown that the puppet’s stories have their own cause and effect.
Just like Old Li’s affection for the Shetian dog Xiao Fang, there was strong logic within.
All information in the trial layers, though seemingly bizarre, was logically consistent.
The puppets are as real as humans.
So if she were the tiger demon, she would definitely destroy all evidence.
She wouldn’t leave any easily exposed clues outside.
If she were Wang Jian…
Lin Shuang closed her eyes.
The entire East City, as Wang Jian said, eight out of ten calligraphy and painting shops were operated by the Wang family.
Though he wasn’t on the streets, he had many eyes and ears.
Even newcomers like them could find clues leading to the tiger demon through questioning.
Could this local power Wang Jian not do so?
When the half-step Spirit Transformation tiger demon happened to be in retreat and not seen, did he just give up?
When they arrived here, Wang Jian seemed to know nothing, didn’t immediately reveal the tiger demon’s strange retreat behavior, making them dig for clues?
Whether inferred by conventional logic, or deduced by the exam’s scoring, this trial was very strange.
Huiniang’s April journal entry—”the way he looked at me was terrifying…”
If pointing to the tiger demon, facing the half-stick spiritual test of the tiger’s roar.
If ‘he’ refers to Wang Jian—
Lin Shuang’s breath caught.
Wang Jian, the painter cultivator.
One painting of Huiniang drunk at night made her lose herself, unknowingly walking to the painting.
Then, drawing a picture of mountains and rivers, instantly teleporting to the tiger demon’s location.
Wang Jian himself was a cultivator with powerful spiritual consciousness!
“The suspicion towards Wang Jian, I initially questioned upon entering the Wang family, then ruled out.”
Lin Shuang frowned.
“How did you rule it out? I used the Fire Eye Golden Sight technique, observing the spiritual energy within him, there was no fluctuation indicating lies.”
She pursed her lips, unable to continue.
Wang Jian’s paintings and calligraphy could all influence emotions.
“In Trial Nine Thousand, puppets mostly don’t lie, only conceal. This aligns with the iron rule in the cultivation world that if a cultivator’s words and actions contradict their heart, they will suffer repercussions in the future.”
“Those who lie are mostly those who seek death or do not seek ascension…”
“I understand.”
Lin Shuang raised her eyes, looking at the roaring tiger demon before her and the beautiful fox demoness in his arms, nearly drained of blood.
“What do you understand?”
Meng Zi turned around.
“The answer to this question, Wang Jian told us long ago.”
Lin Shuang pressed her fingers firmly on the quilt covering Huangpu Yuan.
Meng Zi: “?”
Huangpu Yuan: “…”
[…?]
An excited voice also rose from the Qing Shui Sect viewing platform.
“I understand, this is what my senior sister meant by carefully reading the question! Even if elders provide distractors, there will definitely be a correct problem-solving approach!”
[??]
[Who is that?]
[What does it mean?]
In the projection, Lin Shuang’s next words rang out with certainty.
“Wang Jian said from the very beginning—”
When she admired the painting of Huiniang drunk, being entranced by her seductive eyes, he had said it.
“This isn’t the real Huiniang, it’s just his painting…” Lin Shuang stared directly at Huiniang in the tiger demon’s arms before her.
[??]
[!]
[What—]
[If others hadn’t passed the level, I almost would’ve believed it—]
Yet in an instant, a low, hoarse laughter rang out from the small floral quilt pressed tightly under Lin Shuang in the projection.
In that fleeting moment, from beneath the quilt, a sword arose!
Huangpu Yuan carried Lin Shuang on his back and, in a flash of fury, charged toward the tiger demon.
His treasured sword expanded threefold and, within a breath, slashed fiercely toward the fox demon’s corpse in the tiger demon’s arms.
In the span of a breath, a tearing sound rang out.
To the shock of all watching, the fox demon split apart!
The once-beautiful body, long devoid of life, split down the middle…
Like a torn sheet of paper, it split into halves, and from the gap not revealing the tiger demon behind her, but instead a blackness like the night sky…
As if ink, it flowed out!
“Disciple junior, may you come down now?”
Huangpu Yuan’s voice was hoarse.
He didn’t turn his head.
Lin Shuang was nearly clinging to his back, tightly grasping his silver-red hair that had transformed.
Now, she finally climbed down from his back.
“So you weren’t actually trying to strike the tiger demon just now?”
“You should’ve said so earlier.”
Huangpu Yuan remained silent.
Lin Shuang turned her head, glancing around.
The tiger demon still held its roaring posture, but its voice had ceased.
The paper-like slit in the fox demon’s body continued to widen.
Far away, Wang Jian still lay on the ground.
Hmph, still pretending.
[???]
[!]
[What’s going on?]
Lin Shuang supported her forehead with her index finger. “We were initially teleported into a painting, right?”
“Now the surface layer of the painting has shattered, but the bottom part of the scroll where it’s glued and mounted hasn’t been cut open.”
Meng Zi hissed as he knelt on the ground, leaning forward and grabbing both sides of the fox demon’s paper slit, pulling it wider with a tearing sound.
When he reached his hand inside, his expression turned strange.
“I don’t sense any spiritual energy fluctuations.”
“Hmm, this level tests spiritual awareness.”
Lin Shuang smiled.
She immediately released one hundred and eight threads of spiritual awareness.
“Senior Huangpu, Senior Meng, how about we combine our spiritual awareness?”
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes widened instantly.
Combining the three of us…
—The elders outside won’t sense my formidable spiritual awareness at the Nascent Soul stage.
—The elders outside won’t sense the uniqueness of her one hundred and eight threads of spiritual awareness.
—We’ll quickly solve the level and obtain the passage spirit stone.
Huangpu Yuan, Lin Shuang, and Meng Zi exchanged glances, then simultaneously smiled.
They all said in unison, satisfied, “Good.”
[Are you kidding? Can spiritual awareness be combined? Are you lovers?!]
[Don’t fool around. Is that really the issue? The real problem is whether this level has been messed up by Qing Shui Sect! The trial wall of Yuan He Nine Thousand has been broken!]
[Reach out and touch… touch absolutely nothing! It must be another small realm for the next level next door!]
[Uh, is it okay to just break through directly to the next level?]
[That’s hilarious… the tiger demon was the antagonist of this level, but they went ahead and destroyed Hui Niang, who was supposed to be returned to Wang Jian…]
[Yeah, Bai Hua Sect handed over Hui Niang’s body to Wang Jian and received 50 points! I’m impressed, Qing Shui Sect! Right at the start, they ruined the mission bride’s corpse for this level!]
[Unbelievable!]
[So this is what Qing Shui Sect meant when they said we should watch how amazing this outer disciple Lin Shuang is in the puppet level, hahahahaha! Indeed amazing—]
The text seemed to carry laughter, floating by in large quantities.
Zhao Keran and other disciples of Qing Shui Sect held their breath.
Indeed, other sects had already passed the level.
Now what should they do?
The mission of this level was to send Hui Niang back home.
But in front of Lin Shuang and the three others, Hui Niang was gone…
As everyone worried, the projection screen inside showed a surge of spiritual energy.
[Qing Shui Sect’s three disciples were the first to discover the hidden fifth-grade treasure of this level—”My World Within a Painting,” worth 2 points.
They were the first to slash through the first layer of “My World Within a Painting,” worth 50 points.]
[?]
[!]
[The same score as defeating the tiger demon???]
[Ah? How do other sects that passed explain this?]
[Bai Hua Sect was the first to complete this level’s task: find Hui Niang and send her home (false)]
[Wan Seng Sect was second to complete this level’s task: find Hui Niang and send her home (false)]
…
[Qi Dan Sect fifth… (false)]
The records of the five sects that had previously passed were all changed!
In an instant, the surrounding environment within the projection changed for Lin Shuang and the three others.
They stood within an enormous ink painting stretching beyond sight… the three of them like ants, unable to see the top of the scroll no matter how they looked up.
Right before them was a crack they had slashed open with a sword stroke from Huangpu Yuan.
Unfortunately, within the vast painting, the crack was nearly negligible in its smallness.
Layer upon layer of mountains and seas stretched left and right, shrouded in mist and clouds.
To the left was the Dongcheng Embroidery Shop, and to the right stood the Wang family’s pavilions and mansions.
Wang Jian, lying before Lin Shuang’s eyes, was vividly present, yet merely a detail within the painting.
A brush dipped in ink now hovered above Huangpu Yuan.
On the brush handle, the hand holding it faintly revealed a sleeve of sky-blue fabric.
The owner of that hand—the real Wang Jian—was about to make a new brush stroke!
[The tiger demon was only at the early Nascent Soul stage, but the true Nascent Soul was the painter Wang Jian’s spiritual awareness!?]
[…Legends say Nascent Soul painters create fifth-grade scrolls, and every figure drawn obeys commands, capable of summoning armies from ink?]
[A painting of mountains and rivers… those who observe it, with their spiritual awareness merged into this world, can accelerate their comprehension of the secrets of the landscape. But if lower cultivators get trapped within, their spiritual awareness may not even be able to escape and call for help!]
[Isn’t this too difficult? Isn’t this supposed to be a five-layer trial of Condensing Essence?]
[Wake up. The false completion is actually the real Three Thousand Trials. Bai Hua Sect received the passage reward… these three from Qing Shui Sect triggered the hidden level, increasing the difficulty!]
[Their spiritual awareness cannot escape the mountains… Wang Jian continues painting, layer upon layer, enveloping their condensed spiritual awareness.]
[No wonder there were multiple Nascent Soul warnings in this level!]
[Sigh.]
A single sigh captured the mood of the disciples watching the projection.
“It turns out Zhen Chuan Nine Thousand and Yuan He Nine Thousand are far more complicated than we imagined.”
The Bai Hua Valley commentator senior sister, who had disappeared for a while, spoke again.
“Is this the real Nine Thousand Trials?”
The disciples of Bai Hua Sect, who had already passed and were originally first, now gazed in awe at the projection showing Lin Shuang and the three others still in the trial.
“The so-called Nine Thousand Trials had a false completion… a fake ending.”
“Do the senior Nascent Soul disciples know this?”
On the viewing mountain, Zhao Keran sat among a group of Qing Shui Sect disciples at the Six Thousand Layer.
Her competition rank was insufficient, so she originally couldn’t watch this projection.
But as the temporary housekeeper of Zhen Chuan… she had no problem. She could watch.
And watching was how she learned more.
“Something like this, even the text in the projection seems shocked.”
Zhao Keran looked at her senior brother and senior sister with a confused expression.
“Could it be that other sects don’t have this, only our Zhen Chuan and Yuan He Nine Thousand do?”
She wore a proud face.
I’m from Qing Shui, I’m proud.
But the senior brothers and sisters around her all twitched their foreheads.
No, junior sister.
They were all collapsing inside.
Day after day, they thought they had completed the trial, but it was actually a false completion.
The disciples at the Six Thousand Layer, led by Dao Fa, all remained silent.
“Junior sister Zhao, please be quiet.”
Zhou Xuanwu, sitting beside her, coughed lightly.
Junior sister, you’re speaking recklessly again.
Look how awkward you’ve made the inner sect senior brother and senior sister feel.
“Hehe, senior sister taught me in advance how to avoid the false ending and achieve the real one.”
Zhou Xuanwu stopped her from speaking further.
Zhao Keran sat at the viewing spot, smiling foolishly to herself.
Senior Brother Six Thousand Layer and Senior Sister: “…”
Back in the projection.
Clearly facing a challenge beyond their level, Lin Shuang and the three others indeed felt the strain on their spiritual awareness.
But the unification of their three spiritual awareness was nearing completion.
“Wait.”
Meng Zi sat cross-legged, choosing a good spot to settle down.
He was the first to release his flickering spiritual awareness.
It wasn’t very powerful.
Truly the demeanor of a sixth-layer Condensation Realm cultivator.
—The shape of a high-grade spirit stone.
Lin Shuang: “??”
Huangpu Yuan: “…”
This was the first time they had seen spiritual awareness shaped like this.
Meng Zi coughed lightly with slight embarrassment, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen spirit stones before? Hurry up, where are your spiritual awareness threads!”
Huangpu Yuan thought for a moment, then released his spiritual awareness, which far surpassed his frail body.
Reasonably powerful.
Though ill, his spiritual awareness was unharmed.
It was as thick and sturdy as a cultivator at the peak of the Condensation stage.
Yet its shape was strange, like a scorpion’s tail woven from seven or eight braids.
“What is this, hahahaha—” Meng Zi burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
Huangpu Yuan swept a displeased gaze toward him.
Lin Shuang struggled to suppress her laughter.
[…What kind of injury did he suffer to make his spiritual awareness look like this?]
[It’s said he witnessed his parents being killed by evil cultivators and was overwhelmed with grief.]
[Oh, then it’s fine. Grief can break even one’s intestines, let alone spiritual awareness… the fact that he could come up with this way of mending it already makes him a prodigy.]
But soon the text froze.
In the scene, Lin Shuang released her spiritual awareness.
It was like spider silk, one hundred and eight threads dancing in the wind, varying in length, stretching and contracting without breaking.
[???]
Meng Zi: “???”
Huangpu Yuan: “…”
He lowered his gaze.
Mother, yes, a nine-tailed fox cultivating each tail separately isn’t the worst.
There’s always someone worse off.
Cultivating one hundred and eight times simultaneously.
Pleasure spread from the tips of his tails to his consciousness sea.
Huangpu Yuan’s eyelashes lightly trembled.
“Alright, let’s combine into one.”
Lin Shuang smiled and spoke.
“I’ll go inside.”
Huangpu Yuan: “I shall be the innermost.”
Meng Zi: “You two protect my spirit stone from the outside…”
The three of them stiffened simultaneously.
[……]
[………………]
“What the hell, you two, what innermost nonsense are you talking about!”
Meng Zi slammed his sword sheath.
“Look at your spiritual awareness, can I even cover it!”
He couldn’t.
Huangpu Yuan lightly furrowed his phoenix eyes.
Lin Shuang helplessly sighed.
They had no choice but to let Meng Zi’s spirit-stone-like spiritual awareness go in the innermost layer.
Then came Huangpu Yuan’s unchangeable scorpion-braid spiritual awareness.
Then came her one hundred and eight threads.
“Fine, understood, let’s begin.”
In an instant, the three different spiritual awareness threads, of varying strengths, flexibilities, and characteristics,
Resonated instantly.
Transforming into a spear—
Meng Zi’s spirit-stone spiritual awareness became the spearhead, the nine-tailed spiritual awareness braid formed the shaft, and Lin Shuang’s spider-silk spiritual awareness became the tassel.
In a breath, it shot toward the torn ink.
Ten thousand ink mountains and a thousand ink abysses seemed to collapse upon them.
But the spiritual spear pierced through instantly!
Huangpu Yuan and Lin Shuang’s eyes flickered slightly.
—Combining three into one, secretly giving it their all was fine.
—Combining three into one, being too strong wasn’t my problem.
When the spear touched the ink abyss, it expanded threefold; when it touched the ink mountains, it expanded fivefold!
In an instant, it pierced through ten thousand mountains and a thousand rivers!
Piercing through the painting!
[?!]
[!]
[Is their spiritual awareness so harmonious? Can three cultivators at the Condensing Yuan stage match the power of a Nascent Soul?]
[Odd shapes, yet perfectly compatible?]
[Perfect candidates for dual cultivation!]
[???]
[Ah this… three people… how… dual…]
The text rolled by, instantly making the inexperienced Zhao Keran cover her mouth.
[Bai Hua Sect disciple ‘Liu Yun’ has been kicked out for inappropriate remarks.]
[Please watch the trials in a civilized manner. Avoid promoting unhealthy romantic or cultivation pairings.]
“……”
[……]
[Qing Shui Sect’s three disciples have broken through the fifth-grade treasure first, scoring 100!]
[!]
[In five breaths, the real Wang Jian will appear before Qing Shui Sect’s three disciples.
He refuses to believe you saw through his painted scheme, that his words had no loopholes!]
[Qing Shui Sect’s three disciples, can you make Wang Jian’s Dao heart finally see his own ugliness?]
Lin Shuang and the three others shattered the scroll.
Soon, they encountered the wedding chamber of the Wang family where they had first entered.
The festive layout and decorations hadn’t changed.
But Wang Jian no longer bore his previous sorrowful and refined expression. Now, his face was filled with resistance and hatred as he glared at Lin Shuang.
“Why? Why don’t you believe me! You doubted me before, but I explained everything, so why still don’t you believe me!”
He gripped the ink brush, his face showing a crazed expression.
Lin Shuang opened her mouth, wanting to speak but hesitated.
“The task of this level is to find Hui Niang and send her home.”
“Wang Jian, Hui Niang is with you, right?”
[!]
[Send her home, not back to the Wang family… hahaha, what a wordplay trap. The question deceived everyone.]
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage