Wang Jian, in the trial, was verging on madness, his eyes filled with ferocity that replaced his previous scholarly demeanor and sorrow. He seemed like an entirely different person.
Before Lin Shuang and the others, blank paper and ink were placed.
[Is Wang Jian’s question the final test?]
[An immortal cultivator’s spiritual consciousness does not perish easily, like a centipede that remains stiff even after death. The safest way to subdue a cultivator of evil cultivation is to destroy their mind and spirit completely.]
[Your answers will affect what follows.]
Lin Shuang raised her eyebrow.
Meng Zi stared at the blank scrolls, his expression desperate.
Huangpu Yuan remained silent.
[Written test. Time limit: one incense stick.]
[…Wang Jian really is evil.]
[Damn it! Unbearable to watch! I wish I could come back to this level again!]
[Why is there a written test?]
[After the spiritual battle, giving the disciples time to rest is part of the trial, a chance for them to regulate their breath.]
[Settling rewards.]
[It seems the reward for passing Wang Jian’s trial might be extremely generous.]
[Those who fake their way through might receive some reward, but those who truly pass… the reward might be astonishing.]
[Haishanzong will be in tears.]
Haishanzong’s trials naturally have rewards issued by Haishanzong itself.
[Three disciples from Qing Shui Sect have entered the written test.]
[Note: At least two of the three must answer correctly to shatter Wang Jian’s final mental defenses.]
Meng Zi let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Shuang and Huangpu Yuan twitched their mouths.
Soon, desks appeared, and scrolls were placed upon them.
[There hasn’t been any message from Haishanzong disciples lately. Has anyone ever reached this true ending before? Has anyone passed the written test?]
[Wonder what will happen. Curious.]
[Who is the sect leader of Haishanzong this year? Did the sect leader reach the true ending?]
But the projection gave no answer.
At this moment, on the mountain where Haishanzong disciples were observing, expressions of discomfort flickered across their faces.
“Why are you all looking at me like that!”
A huge, mountain-like man glared unhappily at those around him.
“I passed the fastest. I didn’t have time to think about all this nonsense!”
“You think you’re so great, but even you were slower than me at faking a pass!”
“…”
“Senior Brother, be honest. What was your score for passing?”
“Will the sect leader of this level end up being a disciple from Qing Shui Sect?”
The mountain-like man held his breath for a moment.
In the projection.
Lin Shuang and the others each took up a brush, sitting at three desks separated by screens of mountains and rivers.
Screens of Mountains and Rivers.
Even if one screamed at their seat, the person next to them could not hear.
Even if one stretched their neck out, they couldn’t see the answer sheet of the seat next to them.
Spiritual consciousness and vision could only focus on their own answer sheets.
Lin Shuang supported her forehead, her expression complicated.
The first time she heard that Wang Jian was skilled in painting mountains and rivers, she should have known that this test would definitely involve this treasure.
This screen, used in an exam room to prevent cheating, was extremely effective.
She should have realized that this situation would once again separate the three of them.
Lin Shuang subtly sensed that she had once again grasped the old heart of the test’s creator.
All the question information was indeed useful.
If one small question wasn’t applicable, there would be the next.
[Question 1: When were you dragged into Wang Jian’s ink painting? Please circle the correct answer below.
1. Upon entering this level, you were already inside the painting.
2. By Wang’s servants tearing open a teleportation talisman, transporting you to Wang Jian’s wedding chamber.
3. Searching for Xiaofeng, stepping into the embroidery room.
4. Teleporting to the tiger demon.]
Lin Shuang hissed.
This was the kind of question she feared most.
Was it multiple choice or single choice? It didn’t specify.
She pressed her temples, recalling and thinking before finally putting pen to paper.
[4]
[3]
[…Wasn’t it 2?]
[Where is the Haishanzong sect leader!]
[…Don’t shout. Haishanzong hasn’t spoken since earlier. Don’t you understand what that means, brother?]
Meng Zi scratched his head and ears, choosing 1.
Huangpu Yuan closed his eyes, then opened them, putting down his brush.
[Question 2: Where is the real Huiniang?
1. Tiger demon mountain.
2. Inside the painting.
3. With Wang Jian.]
Meng Zi sighed in relief, this question was simple, circling 3.
[An easy question…]
[I told you, this is a chance for the disciples to rest.]
[Question 3: Remove all lies and illusions, and retell the true story.
—Time limit: one incense stick.
Note: All clues must be explained in your answer.]
[!]
[…]
[I’d rather fight Wang Jian directly.]
Meng Zi held an empty rice paper, gnashing his teeth.
His legs were planted on the ground, soon crossed and placed on the chair.
Restless.
He couldn’t bring himself to write.
“Ahh—what kind of trial is this!”
Meng Zi scratched his head.
[This written test is messing with the disciples’ Dao heart.]
Huangpu Yuan began writing quickly, soon finishing two lines before putting down his brush.
Meng Zi pulled out a hair strand and scribbled a line.
—All Wang Jian’s doing.
[…]
[………………]
[I’m starting to admire this Meng from Qing Shui Sect.]
Lin Shuang thought for a moment, glancing at Wang Jian, then at Huangpu Yuan beside her, separated by the screen.
Soon she also began writing, finishing quickly.
She checked it over, no typos, the paper was neat, the handwriting not messy.
Alright, time to submit.
She was the first to stand up, handing her paper to Wang Jian with a look of disdain.
[…This test creator… is poisonous.]
Wang Jian actually took it, glanced at the answer sheet, then at Lin Shuang.
Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan also put down their brushes.
In an instant, text resembling mountain patterns appeared.
[Three disciples from Qing Shui Sect have completed their answers.
Wang Jian looked at it, his face changed dramatically. What? The first question, you actually got it right!]
[!]
The standing Wang Jian, holding his ink brush, took a step back, disbelief in his eyes as he looked at Lin Shuang and Huangpu Yuan.
“You actually discovered it…”
“Your spiritual consciousness must have realized long ago that the Xiaofeng and tiger demon I brought you to see were all figures from my painting!”
“Correct, hahaha!”
Wang Jian threw his head back in laughter, gradually tears streaming down his face, revealing a hint of pain.
“The real Xiaofeng was killed by me long ago…”
He roared, and with a crack, his ink brush developed a crack.
He took a step back, blood flowing from his mouth.
[You have discovered the truth, causing Wang Jian to recall his past pain. He has suffered some backlash to his Dao heart.]
[…]
[Question 1: Two out of the three answered correctly.]
[When did they enter the painting: 3. Entering Xiaofeng’s room, 4. Entering the tiger demon’s place.]
“Ahh… was there supposed to be two answers?”
Meng Zi was speechless.
[!]
Lin Shuang nodded, Huangpu Yuan sitting behind the desk, narrowing his eyes at the bleeding Wang Jian.
“There were many suspicious points about Xiaofeng.”
She had long found it strange why the other party only killed her when they arrived.
“Also, why killing Xiaofeng might drop some letters, or maybe not. The Baihua Sect got a letter fragment, while the Haishanzong received a complete letter.”
“And we didn’t kill Xiaofeng, yet we received all the letters?”
Meng Zi raised his head, covering his forehead, “Wasn’t it about convincing through virtue?”
Lin Shuang: “…”
[…I thought so too.]
[Oh because Xiaofeng is a figure in the painting. If the painting is destroyed, applying too much force might tear the paper completely. Applying skillfully, it might only create a small crease, with the figure’s storage bag still intact.]
[So her self-destruction of the dantian was actually Wang Jian outside the painting, creating Xiaofeng’s self-destruction through his brush?]
[Yes, that flying arrow from the sky was also drawn by Wang Jian. He didn’t want Xiaofeng to reveal the truth.]
[? Xiaofeng is a character from his painting. He can do whatever he wants with her. How could she say anything against him?]
[…Brother, I envy you for not having seen the cruelty of evil cultivators.]
[?]
In the projection, Lin Shuang solemnly looked at Wang Jian.
“The blood we saw was real, with a smell and spiritual fluctuations.”
“Xiaofeng, Huiniang, the tiger demon…”
“It was their blood you used in your painting, not cinnabar.”
“What?”
Meng Zi’s expression changed, instinctively gripping his sword hilt, “You bastard!”
Then his face changed dramatically, “Ah! So I got the second question wrong!”
[!]
[…]
“Ah, if I’m not mistaken, Huiniang isn’t anywhere else,”
Lin Shuang sighed lightly, looking at the scroll in Wang Jian’s hand that their spiritual consciousness had shattered.
“She’s inside the painting. You extracted a bit of their spiritual consciousness, imprisoning it within the painting.”
“Therefore, the tiger demon could howl but no more, Xiaofeng’s responses seemed plausible but were actually very limited. The only thing that might have surprised you was when I asked who Huiniang feared, and Xiaofeng pointed to you—”
At that time, she pointed at Wang Jian.
Their gazes all fell on the embroidery screen behind Wang Jian.
Coincidentally, the trial text appeared at that moment, indicating they had found Huiniang’s true feelings.
It shifted their attention from Xiaofeng’s finger pointing at Wang Jian to the embroidery.
Hiding Xiaofeng’s silent accusation—Wang Jian was the one Huiniang feared.
Once loved.
But for some unknown reason, since March, the way he looked at her had become hostile, making her afraid.
The demon race is far more sensitive to danger than human cultivators.
Since then, for some unknown reason, Wang Jian had changed, causing Huiniang’s fear.
“I kept thinking and couldn’t understand why Meng Zi said Xiaofeng was lying, and the trial had already given us points and rewards before we even saw Xiaofeng.”
“Recognizing our answer.”
Lin Shuang looked at Wang Jian.
“The trial is supposed to be realistic; it shouldn’t be this way.”
If Meng Zi hadn’t directly received that point back then, she probably wouldn’t have been able to clearly see what was true and what was false during the review.
Lin Shuang’s eyes glimmered, “There’s only one reasonable explanation for why Meng Zi could score just by pointing out that Xiaofeng lied without even seeing her—”
“Xiaofeng was something we were never meant to see—this was an illusion.”
[!]
[…]
[Indeed, I felt the trial was unfair back then! It felt like the trial was broken!]
The three of them had not yet seen Xiaofeng, not yet entered the situation.
But from outside the situation, they saw through Xiaofeng’s lie, and the trial gave them points.
Only because Xiaofeng was a figure from Wang Jian’s painting; when they met Wang Jian, the three of them spoke out, thus breaking Wang Jian’s scheme.
In the question-setting elder’s recognition.
Based on this analysis, Lin Shuang found everything became much clearer.
The smell of ink she had smelled in the embroidery room was not actually emitted by Wang Jian in excitement, but because they were already within the painting.
Old ink paintings also leave a faint scent.
“Xiaofeng’s emotions were singular, yet she suddenly became excited when I mentioned Huiniang’s handwriting.”
“Either that excitement was the emotion of the painter behind the scenes, or it was the residual spiritual consciousness of Xiaofeng herself.”
“It could also be a combination of both.”
Wang Jian’s expression changed.
[!]
“A painter uses their spiritual consciousness to enter the painting, pouring their emotions into it. Therefore, what remains in the painting is not just Xiaofeng, but also the painter’s subconscious emotions, expressed through their exquisite brushwork.”
Lin Shuang sighed.
“Xiaofeng’s final accusation against you was also a reflection of your own emotions.”
“Everyone keeps emphasizing that Dao cultivation lies in cultivating the heart.”
“Once a cultivator does something against their Dao heart, they will ultimately fail to pass their own test, inevitably creating a heart demon that will become an obstacle during future breakthroughs.”
This was a reminder from the pink-robed elder during the tacit understanding level about who would die first among the three of them.
Looking at Wang Jian, Lin Shuang’s expression was one of having solved the case.
“You couldn’t control your evil heart and did something unforgivable to Huiniang.”
“At that time, you knew you would definitely not be able to break through smoothly in the future, inevitably burdened by heart demons. But you suddenly realized, you’re not a blade or sword cultivator—you’re a painter! Since ancient times, emotions have been poured into paintings. Thus, you thought of storing all your heart demons and those you had killed within the paintings.”
“As long as no one exposed you, all your past heart demons were hidden within the paintings, and the you outside the paintings could maintain a stable Dao heart, appearing pure and untainted.”
“One painting wasn’t enough to dispel your heart demons, so you painted another.”
“Another… until all your negative Dao heart was immersed into the paintings.”
Lin Shuang looked at Wang Jian, “So right now, we only need to expose your painting scheme; we don’t even need to fight you, as you’ve already been consumed by your own heart demons.”
Once exposed, he could no longer deceive himself.
Wang Jian took a step back, collapsing onto the bed, his ink brush in his hand completely broken.
“Xiaofeng should have remained silent from beginning to end, just like the tiger demon and Huiniang. Therefore, Xiaofeng must have been the one with the most residual spiritual consciousness, and also the one carrying the most of your heart demons.”
“What she finally said was actually your years of remorse and regret poured out through your brush, wasn’t it?”
“‘It’s all my fault, all my fault…’
“‘Huiniang treated me so well, yet I harmed her…’
“This wasn’t what Xiaofeng wanted to say, but rather your inner self-questioning, a barrier you couldn’t overcome, Wang Jian.”
Lin Shuang closed her eyes.
“I kept wondering why our investigation was so smooth, as if we hadn’t encountered any obstacles. Why didn’t the thief destroy the crucial April letter from Huiniang.”
She opened her eyes, looking at the trembling, bleeding Wang Jian, already suffering from backlash.
“Now that it’s all connected, it makes sense.”
“The Huiniang letter we saw wasn’t real at all. The real one had already been destroyed by you, but what you could destroy was the real object, not your own heart demons.”
“Even when painting, you couldn’t forget Huiniang’s words. They were in your memories, in the brush and ink where you stored your dirty spiritual thoughts, on Xiaofeng’s figure where you hid your heart demons, impossible to erase.”
[Brush and ink can be illusions, but the spiritual thoughts the painter poured into them cannot.]
“The letter from Huiniang saying she feared him, which was on Xiaofeng—was the memory Wang Jian most wanted to erase from himself. Yet, the more people try to forget something, the more they can’t, they can only hide it away.]
[When Xiaofeng was questioned, she instinctively spoke the truth without hiding anything, probably because she touched the painter’s true emotions at the moment the brush was put to paper.]
[…I see now.]
Lin Shuang sighed.
“When the Xiaofeng in the painting was destroyed, you feared we would examine her body for too long and discover the anomaly, exposing the painting scheme. Thus, you hurriedly led us to the next painting, which was the second painting where the tiger demon resided.]
So fast that it caused discomfort as if someone was pressing their head down.
Lin Shuang stepped forward and picked up the broken ink brush Huangpu Yuan had dropped to the ground.
A fifth-tier magical artifact.
“If we kill the tiger demon, it means we believe your story that your Dao heart is pure and all your sins were caused by the tiger demon’s illusions.”
“I kept wondering before why, despite the Wang family’s high reputation in the city, you seemed so confused and lost. That kind of behavior looked inferior and instead raised suspicion—why would you do that?”
Lin Shuang stared down at Wang Jian’s terrified eyes.
“But now I understand.”
“Because the Immortal Summons List could bring you wave after wave of cultivators searching for Huiniang.”
“You watched them investigate repeatedly, suspect repeatedly, and destroy the tiger demon in the painting.”
“In other words, you saw your own clean self outside the painting over and over again, and all the mistakes were someone else’s.”
“Your previously collapsing Dao heart thus stabilized.”
“These cultivators who tore down the Immortal Summons List were nothing but tools you used to deceive yourself and solidify your Dao heart.”
“If you lie long enough, you start to believe it yourself.”
“Especially when so many others believe you too.”
Eventually, Wang Jian ended up deceiving even himself.
“These cultivators thought they had recovered Huiniang’s corpse and completed the bounty mission. But in reality, they merely traveled within the painting. Once completed, you simply paid them the reward and transported them outside the eastern city.”
“They wouldn’t suspect anything, thinking you were just too grief-stricken to continue speaking with them.”
Lin Shuang inhaled, “This also explains why our group displayed the Immortal Finding Poster so prominently, and why the Wang family servants were so delighted.”
“Because before you, many other cultivators had already come, but all failed. To the servants, all those previous people who took the challenge failed to find Huiniang and then disappeared for no reason.”
“The servants thought this task was difficult, and seeing our three of us so confident, naturally assumed we were stronger than the past failures, hence their joy.”
Meng Zi uttered in realization, no wonder the servant hurriedly tore open the teleportation talisman and led them into the bridal chamber.
As Wang Jian listened, tears of blood streamed from his eyes.
[His consciousness sea trembled… his spiritual awareness shattered inch by inch.]
Meng Zi also understood, “So that’s why the Immortal Finding Poster was worth two points.”
Because the Immortal Finding Poster was one of Wang Jian’s methods to rid himself of his own heart demons.
Drawing countless cultivators into the eastern city and deceiving them was one part of his scheme.
[So this round’s scoring wasn’t arbitrary after all. Oh, I wrongly blamed the elders who set the questions.]
[Yes, you can always trust the Nine Thousand Trials—everything has a reason.]
“Viewed this way, disciples who falsely passed were aiding evil! Ah, sorry poor tiger demon—it was actually aiding Wang Jian! The more people who believe in his painting, the more they help cleanse his tainted Dao heart!”
“Ah… this question was too realistic. I didn’t feel like this was a puppet trial at all. What’s going on?”
“Could this actually be a real event from the outside world? It’s making me feel uncomfortable.”
The scroll in Wang Jian’s hand turned to ashes as his spiritual awareness shattered.
Two skeletons appeared on the bridal bed.
One was small and delicate, the other larger and broader.
Both had tailbones of different lengths.
Lin Shuang’s eyelid twitched instantly.
[Congratulations, two out of three answered correctly. Huiniang is inside the painting.]
“Wang Jian, you beast! Huiniang wrote so many notes, every word was about you!”
Meng Zi glared at Wang Jian.
“Are you even human anymore?”
The trial was too realistic, Wang Jian too despicable!
Huangpu Yuan shifted his gaze away from Wang Jian, lowered his eyes, and stared at the green bricks on the ground.
His lips pressed into a tight line.
“Hahaha…”
Wang Jian laughed hideously, closed his eyes, “Just kill me already!”
Lin Shuang glanced at Huangpu Yuan, then looked back at Wang Jian.
“If what you said earlier is true, most of what Xiaofeng said was just your heart demon.”
“So Huiniang never sent you letters, and the real Xiaofeng probably didn’t either.”
“You yourself were the one who interpreted Huiniang’s notes as letters.”
Wang Jian glared, “No… it wasn’t me!”
[Third question: Reconstruct the entire story line. Two out of three answered correctly.]
[Lin Shuang correct. Meng Zi correct.]
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes twitched.
Meng Zi looked astonished.
[Indeed, all the clues you received were fabricated by Wang Jian.]
Meng Zi widened his eyes, “Despicable!”
Then he let out a huge sigh of relief, a look of joy crossing his face, “So I actually got it right.”
[…]
[…]
Lin Shuang nodded, looking at Wang Jian with disdainful irony.
“After Huiniang’s death, you discovered her handwriting.”
Pain flickered across Wang Jian’s eyes.
“It was then you realized, she had no one else in her heart but you.”
“Perhaps it started when she asked you to paint the ‘Two Tigers Fighting’ picture, or maybe after she persuaded the tiger demon to accept you and began interacting closely with him—that’s when your doubts about her began, and you started following her…”
“That’s why she kept seeing you everywhere, and gradually felt fear. In her diary, how she addressed you changed from ‘My Lord Wang’ to ‘He.’ That ‘He’ was you.”
“When she looked at you with panic and fear in her eyes, you couldn’t take it anymore,” Lin Shuang stared at Wang Jian, “you thought she had betrayed you. Perhaps one day, when she happened to be with the tiger demon, you killed them both.”
“But when you saw Huiniang’s handwriting, you realized—”
Lin Shuang paused, looking at Wang Jian’s expression of despair.
“She loved you far more than you ever imagined.”
“Pity you realized it too late.”
Lin Shuang closed her eyes briefly, unable to bear looking at the shattered bones on the bed.
“This became an unshakable knot in your heart—if this handwriting wasn’t Huiniang’s secret notes, but a letter meant for you, letting you know how deeply she admired you, you wouldn’t have harmed her.”
“Ahh!”
Meng Zi struck his palm with his fist.
“So all of this was Wang Jian’s lie to make up for his regrets?”
Lin Shuang nodded.
“Pouring his emotions into the painting, projecting his heart demons into the painting, and also placing his desires and regrets within it.”
She looked at Meng Zi with satisfaction.
They had almost failed to pass this round.
Thankfully, at the crucial moment, Meng Zi had actually answered the third question correctly.
Cold sweat.
“The Shanhai Sect and the Hundred Flowers Sect both received fragments of your letter from April, while letters from other months were all destroyed.”
“This indicates that your reply letter from April carried the strongest spiritual fluctuations.”
“Huiniang’s notes from that month mentioned fear of you, which made you write the forged reply in April with great excitement. The grade of the April letter was elevated.”
“I will treat you well every day as if it were our first meeting” was a response to Huiniang’s April diary entry expressing fear.
Not a reply to the forged letter saying, “Come pick me up tomorrow, will that be okay?”
Lin Shuang took a deep breath, looking at the dying Wang Jian, whose consciousness sea had been pierced. His pupils were unfocused, trapped in endless fear and terror.
His last layer of self-deception had been torn away.
“That’s right.”
Blood tears flowed from Wang Jian’s eyes, and blood droplets seeped from his body.
“If only Huiniang had told me earlier, hadn’t hidden everything in her heart, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Lin Shuang turned sideways, stepping back in disgust, “Your own baseness has nothing to do with others. You never deserved her.”
“You never truly understood her. You were just indulging in the pleasure of her admiration for you.”
“The moment that pleasure vanished, you turned vicious. You looked at Huiniang and felt something was wrong.”
Her suspicion, traced back, all started from the anomaly in the letter.
It showed that Wang Jian had never truly understood this poor fox demon.
So even later, when he forged her handwriting, there were countless inconsistencies.
His character was despicable and filthy.
His reply letter, Xiaofeng’s delivery—all were just imagined excuses he made afterward to absolve himself of guilt.
[Disgusting!]
[As cultivators, we must eliminate such despicable evil cultivators!]
“I see now. This trial rivals even the five-thousandth layer. I understand everything now.”
In the projection, Wang Jian spat blood profusely, and all the scrolls in the room turned to ashes.
The attached spiritual energy dissipated, and his spiritual awareness was gone.
[His consciousness sea is completely shattered.]
[They answered all three questions correctly. Indeed, Wang Jian is gone.]
[The questions were just a playful representation of the trial—Qingshui Sect pulled out Wang Jian’s heart demon and showed him the entire truth… Wang Jian’s past deception of himself and the heavens, his cultivation of spiritual awareness to break through barriers, backfired.]
[So never be complacent, never recklessly damage your Dao heart!]
As Wang Jian lost his life, Lin Shuang finally felt that Huangpu Yuan’s agitation had slightly eased.
But not by much; he was still quite abnormal.
Lin Shuang forced herself not to look at him.
At this moment, the two skeletons on the bed disappeared, and a kind-faced, gentle tiger youth and a soft-eyed, water-like fox demon girl slowly appeared.
With Wang Jian’s death, all the paintings in the room released the bound, broken spiritual awareness.
The two condensed spirits turned their gaze towards Lin Shuang and the others.
Their eyes filled with tears as they bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Immortal and Immortal Lady.”
“Free our spirits.”
As they spoke, their forms gradually blurred and faded away in the crimson-lit bridal chamber.
“Wish the three Immortals a smooth journey, may your cultivation be unimpeded.”
[Qingshui Sect’s Huangpu Yuan, Meng Zi, and Lin Shuang found Huiniang, allowing her shattered soul to return to the heavens and earth. Score: 100.]
[Qingshui Sect’s three members scored a total of 270 in this round, becoming the top scorers in a hundred years.]
[Ranked as the 3903rd layer lord of Yuanhe!]
[Related rewards can be collected at Yuanhe’s stop.]
[Justice prevails!]
[Sigh, I hope these two spirits can be reborn in their next lives and never meet evil people again… Wait, this is a puppet trial. What’s wrong with me? I forgot again, this isn’t real.]
[Sad. For the tiger and fox spirits, and for Qingshui Sect.]
[?]
[This round, Qingshui Sect took first place and even defeated my Shanhai Sect’s layer lord… My Dao heart feels a bit unsettled.]
[…]
[……………]
“Deservedly so, Senior Sister!”
Zhao Keran, eyes red, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, sniffling.
“But this trial was just too pitiful. How could the elders set such a tragic question? I cried so much…”
“Wuwuwu, it’s so sad, it’ll affect my cultivation later.”
Zhou Xuanwu: “…”
In the next moment, the projection of Lin Shuang and the others disappeared from the scene, entering the teleportation formation.
But after the projection faded, Lin Shuang turned around within the twisted teleportation energy.
In the ruins of the eastern city after their success, she seemed to catch a glimpse of Huiniang and Li Wei, faintly visible.
In their eyes, as they were freed, there seemed to be tears of blood.
Sad yet grateful, they gazed from afar toward the direction of the departing teleportation formation.
Their gaze passed through her, bypassing Meng Zi.
As if it had landed on Huangpu Yuan behind them.
Lin Shuang activated her fiery eyes, silently sighing.
As the teleportation formation was about to reach Yuanhe’s stop, she grabbed Huangpu Yuan’s trembling ink-black hair.
“If this continues, it might not be concealable anymore.”
“Senior Brother Huangpu, are you really not going to tell me and Senior Brother Meng about your story?”
Just like Wang Jian’s heart demon, his greatest obsession—was the words Huiniang never got to say.
Although she believed Wang Jian didn’t deserve it and the fault wasn’t Huiniang’s, Lin Shuang always felt that critical information would be too late to discuss in an emergency.
“Phew, tired… Hmm? What did you say, Lin Shuang?”
Meng Zi leaned on his sword and sat inside the teleportation formation.
His spiritual awareness was heavily drained, and now he just wanted to lie down drowsily.
Huangpu Yuan silently turned around, opened his spatial bag, and showed Lin Shuang.
Lin Shuang took a peek and saw the alchemy furnace belonging to the corpse in purple robes.
“…”
Threatening her?
This great demon!
Lin Shuang’s eyebrow twitched.
“Actually, I cheated just now.”
With this sentence, Lin Shuang made Meng Zi widen his eyes and Huangpu Yuan pause mid-motion of returning the spatial bag to his sleeve.
“Eh?” Meng Zi leaned on his sword, “Don’t joke around! Yuanhe’s Nine Thousand said we’re layer lords! Cheating? Impossible!”
“This round I relied heavily on external information. Without that, I couldn’t have guessed the whole story.”
Lin Shuang looked at Huangpu Yuan.
Huangpu Yuan remained silent.
“You’ve been acting off since entering this trial.”
Lin Shuang didn’t retreat at all.
“Senior Brother Huangpu, you were once seriously injured, but your spiritual awareness wasn’t damaged, maintaining a high level of spiritual cultivation, right?”
Meng Zi opened his mouth, “So?”
Huangpu Yuan’s dark pupils looked at her, his voice like gravel, “Junior Sister, think carefully about what you’re saying. Broken teleportation formations and dead cultivators aren’t unheard of.”
Meng Zi: “…”
Lin Shuang fell silent.
His voice was hoarse because he hadn’t spoken much during this trial.
It wasn’t uncommon for teleportation formations to break and for cultivators to die.
His presence was even lower than Meng Zi’s, differing from his usual trial state.
Agitated.
He knew that when he saw the tiger demon holding the dead Huiniang, it wasn’t murder, yet he still remained agitated.
Even when he saw Wang Jian die and the fox spirit attain rebirth, he didn’t calm down.
If not for his emotional fluctuations, she wouldn’t have been able to immediately determine that Huiniang had died long ago.
Nor would she have determined that the painting was made with real fox demon blood.
“Fine, if you don’t want to speak, then don’t.”
Lin Shuang raised her hands.
“Then I’ll speak…”
Huangpu Yuan immediately raised his hand.
But Lin Shuang was faster. Amid the twisted teleportation energy, she activated a reverse mirror talisman and a silence seal…
“Don’t speak, listen carefully to the lyrics from my 108th spiritual awareness channel!”
“?!”
In an instant, both her odd and even-numbered spiritual awareness channels began singing.
“…”
Only those nearby could distinguish between the odd and even.
Only the odd-numbered spiritual awareness sang—
“Nine”
“Thousand”
“Trials”
“Have”
“Questions”
“Sacrificial”
“Bones”
“Spirit”
“Soul”
“Made”
“Into”
“Test”
“Questions”
“Under our feet is probably a trial formation made from bones and souls.”
Meng Zi initially felt annoyed, but by the end, the sword on his shoulder slipped off.
In an instant, Huangpu Yuan’s black pupils turned into vertical lines, blood spilling from his eyes.
He slammed a palm onto the teleportation formation, shattering several teleportation runes!
His overwhelming fury surged wildly in an instant!
Yes.
She was right!
The moment he stepped into this level, he sensed the lingering souls of the fox clan.
The 3,900th floor housed the fragmented spirits and remnants of the Condensed Fox Clan and half-step cultivator tiger demons.
Then, could his mother and the elders of the demon clan be on the 9,999th floor?!
Human cultivators!
Human cultivators—
With Meng Zi’s eyes widening in shock, Lin Shuang quickly pulled out a thick stack of fire talismans from Yunyang Sect.
In an instant, she stuck them onto Huangpu Yuan’s wildly growing silver-red hair trailing on the ground as he raged.
Just like foil used for hair-straightening treatments, she rolled each strand into them.
Not even a hint of the hair’s original color at the tips was left exposed.
“…”
Huangpu Yuan, still trembling with rage, lowered his blood-red gaze to look at her.
“Actually, maybe part of me is also inside the 9,000 trials,” Lin Shuang replied earnestly, meeting his gaze.
Huangpu Yuan’s crimson eyes flickered with shock.
Meng Zi: “…”
“?”
“!?”
What the hell.
Damn it.
For a moment, he didn’t even know which part was more shocking!
Why don’t they all come at once?!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage