The rest cave dwelling, numbers 3551-3566, were exclusively reserved for Water Sect elders and competition disciples.
As the host sect, Mountain-Sea Sect had provided them free of charge.
Li Daowei still wanted to chat with Lin Shuang a while longer, but Zhao Kuran was already queuing up to get close to her.
However, Li Min blocked Li Daowei’s path.
“That’s enough. The outer sect competition has ended; don’t occupy the inner sect’s time.”
“Tomorrow’s next round is about to start. Can’t whatever you want to say wait until after the competition?”
“That’s right,” Duan Wufang also expressed dissatisfaction. “Li Daowei, even though you’ve broken through, your outer sect has already secured your rankings. We inner sect disciples haven’t achieved anything yet.”
Li Daowei: “…”.
He could only keep his mouth shut.
Li Daowei led a team of six outer sect disciples, and they were assigned three rooms.
One for the elder, and two for the disciples.
Originally, Lin Shuang was supposed to stay with Zhao Kuran.
But both inner sect elders objected, “Lin Shuang should come back with us. Being in one cave dwelling will help us build rapport, discuss subsequent strategies, and complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Zhao Kuran immediately looked gloomy.
Lin Shuang patted her head, “You can come over and chat anytime.”
Zhao Kuran immediately burst into laughter.
“You all can go rest in your cave dwelling now.”
Li Min nodded slightly at Lin Shuang and the others.
Li Daowei sighed helplessly, “Then when we return to the sect, Lin Shuang, I’ll give you your reward then.”
Lin Shuang nodded in agreement.
She wasn’t worried about rewards.
She had earned them all through her clever strategies.
The cave dwelling reserved for the three of them by the inner sect elders was in the central position, where spiritual energy was relatively the richest.
Compared to room 1700 at the Water Sect, room 3555 at the Mountain-Sea Sect was actually hollowed out into a duplex structure.
Each unit had two floors.
The upper floor had four meditation and resting rooms.
The lower floor was the reception and cultivation area.
As usual, there was a spirit-charging inscription formation at the entrance.
The spiritual energy inside the cave dwelling had to be paid for by the disciples.
Lin Shuang looked and saw that seven days’ worth had already been charged, and she nodded in satisfaction.
Meng Zi also felt he had gotten a great deal, “Why bother going shopping or to an auction? I’m just going to lie here for seven days. Don’t anyone call me.”
Lin Shuang couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Brother Huangpu, how about taking a look at the ‘Nine Thousand and Twenty-three Matters of the Abyssal River’ you bought?”
She didn’t finish speaking before Huangpu Yuan had already opened the book.
Meng Zi also sat down by the spirit tea table and lit the spirit stone candle on it.
Instantly, the room was luxuriously illuminated with spiritual light.
Lin Shuang also pressed the music player stone on the table—immediately, the fourth-tier melody “Spring Breeze Brings Success, Hooves Fly Swiftly” blared joyfully and freely throughout the room.
Huangpu Yuan held his forehead.
Although it was a good way to drown out their conversation, it was just too noisy.
Meng Zi even turned the volume to maximum, clearly reveling in the extravagant, wasteful manner of a nouveau riche.
All these items were powered by spiritual energy.
The louder and more chaotic the sound, the more spiritual energy it consumed.
He was determined to take full advantage of the free resources, displaying it to the fullest.
“Three country bumpkins from the Water Sect!”
“Hey, their sect doesn’t even have this song? They’re playing it so loud I could hear it from the cave dwelling above!”
“Let them have their fun… they’ll crash in the next round.”
“Ah, well, they’ve probably never stayed in such a nice cave dwelling in their own sect before. They’ve never heard a fourth-tier melody. Just endure it.”
“Endure? Endure nothing!”
“If they’re going to play music to annoy us, we’ll just play ours even louder!”
“Spring Breeze Brings Success, Hooves Fly Swiftly? Hmph, then we’ll play ‘When the City Gate Catches Fire, the Fish in the Moat Suffer’ at maximum volume!”
“Are the cave dwellings above going crazy? No way we’ll lose down here. Let’s play ‘Rain Beating on the Banana Leaves’ for them!”
“Bring it on! Who’s afraid? We’ll send ‘Though the Child Shows Promise, the Adult May Disappoint’ to the top six sects above!”
In an instant, the entire mountain rang with competing songs, all in different tones.
Even the elders of the twelve sects who had reached the Void-Entering stage couldn’t handle it anymore.
The elders of the Mountain-Sea Sect’s inner sect, at the Void-Entering and Tribulation-Crossing stages, were all suffering, unable to focus on their retreats.
“Which disciple is causing this chaos!”
“Hmm, the rest mountain for the competing disciples? Well, it’s not appropriate to scold disciples from other sects. Forget it…”
“As soon as the competition ends, make them leave immediately!”
In cave dwelling 3555, Lin Shuang and the others remained silent.
They hadn’t expected the sect companions upstairs and downstairs to be so talented.
It was really noisy.
But the noise was good.
They could talk freely inside the cave dwelling without worrying about any Tribulation-Crossing experts eavesdropping.
Just listening for a while would probably drive any expert crazy with twelve different melodies.
Huangpu Yuan had even blocked half of his hearing and spiritual sense, and opened the book “Abyssal River: What You Need to Know About Crafting.”
On the first page, tiny characters like pebbles appeared.
—This book only records up to layer 4000 (limited to this year’s Abyssal River Nine Thousand).
—Before a disciple reaches layer 4000, the limit is the highest layer the disciple has achieved.
Huangpu Yuan flipped to the end of the book.
—Layer 4000, not passed, cannot be viewed
—Layer 3999, not passed…
It wasn’t until page 3903 that characters slowly emerged on the blank pages.
[Wang Jian Searching for Huiniang, Layer 3903]
[Note before the explanation:
The information on this layer was written as casual notes by 23 senior brothers and sisters from the Mountain-Sea Sect’s inner sect this year.
It can serve as some reference but may not be entirely accurate. None of the 23 seniors who left notes have been the layer masters in previous years, and their scores for passing this layer were not among the top three. Please keep this in mind when reading.]
[Anonymous Senior Brother 1: This trial layer tests spiritual perception; core formation ninth stage disciples can easily solve it.]
…
Lin Shuang shook her head. This kind of clue on how to pass the trial was useless to them.
But skimming through, she paused when she saw a line in the middle.
[Anonymous Senior Sister 6: Huiniang’s tragic fate made me unable to recover from sorrow for three days, so much so that my master had to comfort me for a long time:
All the figures in the trial are puppets, all fake.
Sigh, I can only say the elder who designed this layer was too skilled. My spiritual perception was completely immersed, trembling uncontrollably…
My master said he would have me temporarily avoid the puppet trials, especially those created by this elder.]
“Clang—”
The teacup in Meng Zi’s hand fell to the ground.
The chief elder’s creation.
How big was “big”?
Not the kind of “big” that meant first in rank?
But the writing ended there, the page already full.
Huangpu Yuan reached to turn the next page, his fingertip cold, colliding with Lin Shuang’s warm index finger, which was also eager to flip.
Both of them trembled.
Because on the next page, detailed information about this person appeared!
[Anonymous Senior Sister 6: My master didn’t mention the name of this chief elder, only telling me that he has been at the late Tribulation-Crossing stage for many years. The puppet trials he created are so realistic they can be mistaken for the real thing.
Sigh, my master told me to avoid them in the future, but in the Nine Thousand Trials, every ten years they rotate. Before entering layer 9000, how can I know which trials were created by him?]
Late Tribulation-Crossing stage.
Meng Zi looked like he had encountered bad luck.
“Shh, keep reading.” Lin Shuang pulled him back.
The book continued with several vague guesses about passing the trial.
But finally, a message from a senior in the Nine Thousand Layers, seemingly anonymous, appeared.
[Anonymous Senior Brother 12: I wonder if the junior sister who left the previous anonymous message will come back to read this.
I know how to identify them.
After passing layer 6000, disciples can exchange for a book titled “How I Have Always Obtained Formation Techniques,” an anonymous elder’s notes, likely written a hundred years ago. It’s probably this elder’s personal account.]
Lin Shuang pressed her forehead.
She knew she was right—keeping diaries and notes unencrypted was a bad idea.
In the future, others would use your own notes to expose your secrets.
Too dangerous.
She needed to encrypt her diaries more carefully.
As she was thinking, Huangpu Yuan turned another page.
[Anonymous Senior Brother 12: Borrowing this scroll at layer 6000 costs 10,000 spirit stones per day.
Purchasing the original scroll at layer 9000 costs 2 million spirit stones. It’s still circulating (ha, who are we to be like the Formation-obsessed disciples of Mingzhong Sect? Formation notes are too expensive. Better to buy a genuine piece from Sect Leader Wang!).
I won’t hide anything either. Regarding how to avoid this elder’s crafted trials, telling juniors won’t hurt.
It’s not related to passing this layer, so it’s not really leaking secrets, right?
The notes exchanged at layer 6000 mention that this elder’s first major discovery was an ancient teleportation formation.
Since then, all his breakthroughs, insights, and treasures have been accompanied by great fortune.
Therefore, when he later helped design the Nine Thousand Trials, he would place teleportation formations and teleportation talismans in every puppet trial he created, as gratitude to Heaven’s favor.
(Note: This teleportation formation is not the one used to leave the trial stone layers for the rest cave dwellings. It is an essential part of solving this layer.)
Pay attention: When a teleportation formation appears, it doesn’t necessarily mean this layer was created by this elder.
However, in any trial layer he created, passing the layer definitely requires it—this is a direct quote from the anonymous elder’s notes, slightly modified by me.
If you don’t want to experience his trials, when you encounter a teleportation formation or talisman, you can just quit directly.
It’s just a failure, losing 300 layers, hahaha!]
[Anonymous Senior Sister 6: Strange, there’s no teleportation formation or talisman in Wang Jian’s layer.]
They had reached the end.
Lin Shuang and the others remained silent.
In this trial layer, as long as disciples wear the Immortal-Seeking List, they would be pulled to Wang Jian by Wang family servants using teleportation talismans.
“What about Xiao Fang from Li Village…” Meng Zi suddenly spoke up, shivering at the same time.
That copy also had a teleportation array at Xiao Fang’s door.
(Note: I used “array” instead of “formation” as it’s a more commonly used term in fantasy/sci-fi contexts for magical transportation setups. “Xiao Fang” is kept as is since it’s a proper name.)
The same elders from both sects established Zhenchuan and Yuanhe.
Could it be that the Xiao Fang layer in Li Village back then was also…
Lin Shuang coughed lightly, speaking up amidst the noisy music.
“According to what Xiao Hong said last time, many of the early elders’ trial layers have been repeatedly passed, consuming a lot of spiritual energy. The trial layers co-created by the two sects are probably not numerous anymore.”
There might be problems with the Mountain-Sea Sect, but we can’t jump to conclusions about the Water Sect without evidence.
“Before we have enough evidence, making hasty conclusions will only affect efficiency.”
“For now, let’s consider the teleportation formation as one of the judgment criteria.”
“Also, until we’re sure which elder is the problem, let’s not talk to others about it.”
She still hadn’t sorted out her own matters.
Moreover, the three of them had just excellently passed the Wang Jian layer. If rumors about abnormalities in this layer spread outside, or if they asked strange questions, they might easily draw the attention of the ‘corrupted elders’.
At that point, it would be hard to say whether the enemy’s blade would arrive faster or our Water Sect’s shield would come quicker…
Huangpu Yuan lit his index finger on fire and wrote.
—Elder Shui borrowed a hundred books from the Mountain-Sea Sect’s Elder Yue and placed them in Zhenchuan’s Ten Thousand Volumes Library.
—After we entered, we discovered the Blood-Slaughtering Formation.
Lin Shuang hissed.
Had he suspected the Mountain-Sea Sect elders all along?
Yue?
“Pu… The head of the Twelve Elders Council? The overall supervisor of this competition, Elder Yueshi?”
Meng Zi spat out his tea.
What did that mean?
Aren’t the two sects sworn enemies? Why are they secretly exchanging books?
Could our Water Sect’s Elder Shui also be problematic?
Huangpu Yuan continued writing.
Shui Qiantan (teacher)—Li Min, Duan Wufang (students)
Meng Zi: “…”.
Lin Shuang: “…”.
“Let’s just note it down for now.”
Lin Shuang nodded.
“The ‘Blood-Slaughtering Formation’ isn’t sufficient evidence on its own. But for now… well, let’s add one more vote to suspect Elder Yueshi of the Mountain-Sea Sect.”
The book might belong to Yueshi, or it might be from Elder Shui, or perhaps they just happened to obtain it by chance. Either way, it might not be related to the nine-tailed fox incident.
But considering the Wang Jian layer, it’s not unfair to temporarily mark Elder Yueshi of the Mountain-Sea Sect as suspicious.
As for our Water Sect’s Elder Shui, he might just be an innocent person who was emotionally deceived, tsk tsk.
Today, after we came out of the Wang Jian layer, except for the monitoring Wang Elder from the Abyssal River, all the senior elders from the twelve sects had left early.
It seemed they were provoked by some fake passes.
She couldn’t judge anything either.
“The Water Sect and Mountain-Sea Sect rotate elders every fifty years.”
After saying that, the fire on Huangpu Yuan’s fingertip extinguished.
“Except for the rotating elders, the rest are all in retreat. Mountain-Sea Sect’s Sect Leader Wang failed in his attempt to ascend and has been feigning illness for a long time.”
Sect Leader Wang hadn’t appeared for a while.
If Elder Yueshi of the Mountain-Sea Sect was indeed suspicious, then by the time the next elder replaced Yueshi, we might not get the chance anymore?
Lin Shuang coughed lightly, about to speak, when all the music from the cave dwellings suddenly stopped.
“What’s going on? It’s so noisy?”
A terrifying Tribulation-Crossing aura passed through the mountains.
Lin Shuang and the others immediately shut up.
Meng Zi’s sword was even trembling.
Lin Shuang pressed her head, her thoughts interrupted.
What she wanted to say and her previous train of thought.
[Little Ai No.1 (Lin): Da Bao, you still won’t tell me? You don’t know who your enemy is?]
At this point, continuing to hide will only lead to worse consequences.
The key point about the nine-tailed fox’s death lies in the authenticity of being labeled as demonic.
And later, who took her corpse… that might be the real mastermind.
Huangpu Yuan looked at her lowered eyelids across the tea table.
[Little Ai No.2 (Huangpu): The human cultivator who betrayed my mother years ago is already dead.]
Huh? How did he die?
Lin Shuang couldn’t help but look up, only to see him smirking.
[Little Ai No.2 (Huangpu): The day after my mother’s incident, he turned demonic the very next day and was jointly killed by the on-duty elders of the Water Sect and Mountain-Sea Sect. After his death, all his cultivation techniques and notes were sealed.]
Huangpu Yuan’s lips curled with heavy sarcasm.
Meng Zi: “…”.
Lin Shuang: “…”.
An elder turning demonic is a scandal.
How could the lower-level disciples ever hear about an elder being executed like that? Otherwise, how could they recruit new members?
In the past ten years, Lin Shuang listened to the cultivation world’s news every day but never heard of any elder being eliminated like this.
She had heard about several senior elders who reached the end of their lifespan or failed to break through and passed away peacefully.
Who was he?
Lin Shuang immediately took out her Little Ai recorder, where she daily recorded cultivation world news.
[Water Sect’s Annual Qingming Memorial List of Elders]
Meng Zi: “…”.
Huangpu Yuan: “…”.
Even this, she recorded?
Fastest Learning: The Information Chapter – In the information age, those who master information are destined to reach greater heights!
Lin Shuang flipped open the records, turning to the memorial entries of the inner sect elders.
Not long after, Huangpu Yuan’s gaze landed on one entry.
[Elder Yuan: Passed away during retreat]
[As a guest elder of Qingshui Sect, he dedicated several decades to the sect.
The walls of the outer and inner sect transmission halls he constructed could withstand attacks up to the Ru Xu level, benefiting countless disciples.]
Transmission Hall…
Meng Zi raised his head.
“Elder Yuan the guest elder never took disciples or taught cultivation techniques.”
Equivalent to the introduction of technical talent.
Meng Zi, unusually showing intelligence.
[Qingshui Sect has returned Elder Yuan’s remains to his ancestral home.
His alchemy chambers and retreat caves within our sect have been permanently sealed.
All of Elder Yuan’s notes and crafted magical artifacts have also been returned to the Yuan family, in accordance with his final wishes, to express our mourning and remembrance.]
[Xiao Ai No. 2 (Huangpu): The Yuan family no longer exists.]
Lin Shuang pressed her head, while Meng Zi’s mouth twitched.
Erase all traces?
[Xiao Ai No. 3 Backup (Meng): Then next, we need to find a way to exchange for the book “The Arrays I’ve Obtained Over the Years” at the six thousandth layer! Let’s see if the Tu Xue Array is written in there?]
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes flickered.
Lin Shuang, looking at Meng Zi’s words, suddenly recalled what she had wanted to say before her thoughts were interrupted by the Qiuhai aura.
[Xiao Ai No. 1 (Lin): Creating puppets requires collaboration between an alchemist and a talisman master.]
Her paper substitute dissolves in water, so it’s unusable.
[Xiao Ai No. 3 (Meng): !? ??? That the grand elder of Shanhai Sect is in charge of arrays, while Yuan Elder of Qingshui Sect handles alchemy, then is there another elder specialized in talismans?!]
Yuan Elder of Qingshui Sect assisting the grand elder of Shanhai Sect in secretly creating puppets?
He was also involved in the plot against the nine-tailed fox and was later eliminated by Qingshui Sect and Shanhai Sect after the incident.
Was he identified as the culprit by the on-duty elder, or was it a case of betrayal?
Lin Shuang raised her eyebrow, unable to continue thinking recklessly.
Otherwise, everyone becomes a suspect.
At the very least, she could be certain that Wang Jian’s layer definitely required a Qiuhai talisman master involved in the evil deeds.
Huangpu Yuan subtly took out a list of elders from his sleeve.
Qingshui Sect has 12 Qiuhai-level elders who have taught talisman courses.
Qingshui Sect has 35 Ru Xu-level talisman instructors.
Shanhai Sect has 10 Qiuhai-level talisman masters.
Shanhai Sect has 49 Ru Xu-level talisman practitioners.
Meng Zi: “…”
Lin Shuang: “…”
Goodbye, way too many!
[Xiao Ai No. 1 (Lin): Then, are there any overlaps between those who attacked your mother and these lists?]
Meng Zi’s eyes lit up.
Then he saw Huangpu Yuan, with a subtle expression, take out a list of Qiuhai elders from the twelve sects of the Donghua Region, the six sects of the Xihai Region, the three cultivation families of the Beiming Region, and the four major sects of the Nanjie Region.
The Demon King turning into a devil, plus the demon clans following him, had caused dozens of powerful human cultivators to mobilize back then.
Meng Zi’s mouth twitched.
Lin Shuang closed her eyes.
Those present at the hunt for the nine-tailed fox are suspects.
But these people might have been like the disciples who passed Wang Jian’s checkpoint, deceived into thinking killing the tiger demon was the end of everything, merely being used as knives.
Those who weren’t present at the time, hiding in their sects and directing these people to act, might be the real culprits.
Therefore, Huangpu Yuan could only investigate Qingshui Sect secretly while concealing his identity.
Because he wasn’t there at the time, he couldn’t learn the details, and those who were present, whether demon or human, are either dead or their identities are unclear.
The only known Yuan Elder, who might have betrayed the nine-tailed fox, died, cutting off Huangpu Yuan’s biggest clue.
He could only treat every powerful human cultivator as a possible enemy!
And treat the Qingshui Sect location where Yuan Elder died as the prime suspect.
For years, he hasn’t dared to relax even the slightest.
Sigh, she already understands most of the great demon’s vengeful heart.
Lin Shuang opened her eyes, gazing into Huangpu Yuan’s dark pupils.
[Xiao Ai No. 1 (Lin): So the guardian mission at Rongbaozhai back then was deliberately assigned to me by you? Because you knew I had the finger bone of the Vajra Hammer? At the time, you suspected me of possibly being one of them, transferring these finger bones back to the organization?]
Huangpu Yuan’s pupils dilated in the light.
Meng Zi spat out his tea with a “pfft.”
It couldn’t be that mission at the Prince’s Mansion where he kidnapped the Rongbaozhai shopkeeper!
In an instant, he covered his face and secretly glanced at Lin Shuang through his fingers.
Thankfully, the mission was suddenly canceled for unknown reasons.
Otherwise, wouldn’t he have to confront Lin Shuang?
Meng Zi felt guilty.
Lin Shuang lay on the table, silently gesturing.
[Now known:]
Evil cultivators are overt, while powerful human cultivators are covert, working on two fronts.
— Killing/stealing bones, is it for self-cultivation or testing the nine thousand? Purpose unknown.
[Xiao Ai No. 1 (Lin): That day at the ruined temple, the purple-robed evil cultivator who was killed was a holder of the Tianji Token.
The Tianji Token, is it the organization’s badge used secretly for trading bones?
The Tianji Token holders are likely the black forces we’re looking for, the enemies of Da Bao, and the subordinates of the problematic elders?]
Huangpu Yuan nodded. “After years of investigation, that is indeed the case.”
Meng Zi: “??”
“Which purple-robed one?”
Why are there so many things he doesn’t know!
Huangpu Yuan’s expression was unclear, but he eventually chuckled. “My junior sister is clever. But if you keep calling me that, want to go out and spar?”
“…”
“What’s this ‘Da Bao’ story!”
Meng Zi went crazy.
*
“Didn’t expect you to have taught such a disciple in the outer sect. Li Daowei, your cultivation is mediocre, and your talisman skills are also mediocre, yet you turned out to be quite a good teacher.”
Li Min was reviewing scrolls in the elder’s rest cave.
She looked at Li Daowei unhappily.
Li Daowei smiled. “This old man was just lucky.”
“Hmph.”
Li Min stood up and walked in front of him.
“What ‘old man’ are you calling yourself… Although you’re older than me, in terms of cultivation, you should still call me senior sister.”
“Now that you’ve broken through to Ru Xu, you qualify to lecture in the inner sect. I can plead for you regarding your past offense against Elder Shui, after all, I studied under him for twenty years, which should have already offset your disrespect back then.”
“You can also attach yourself to the Li family.”
Li Daowei opened his eyes and shook his head.
“Let’s talk after the inner sect competition.”
“Lin Shuang hasn’t entered the inner sect yet, so I still have to teach her in the outer sect for another day.”
“You’re not talking about that fire talisman homework, are you?”
“…………”
*
The next day, the three of them woke up from meditation or sweet dreams, all full of energy.
The three who had seemingly uncovered the elders’ conspiracy and should have been worried, acted as if nothing had happened.
Huangpu Yuan polished the Twelve Animal Spirit Cauldron once again.
Early in the morning, Meng Zi was counting the spirit stones earned from yesterday’s projection viewing of the competition disciples.
Lin Shuang, on the other hand, was sprawled on her homemade sofa cushions, having breakfast, reading novels, and getting a massage from talismans that made her tremble all over and laugh out loud.
When the drum announcing the third round of the inner sect competition sounded, the three finally emerged from their indulgences and slowly stood up.
A line of muscular immortal cranes was already waiting outside the cave dwelling, bowing their heads.
Well-trained, cultivators could control them with their spiritual sense.
Lin Shuang sat on one for the second time and still found it amazing.
In fact, she wanted to buy one to use in the outer sect of Qingshui Sect, so that wherever she went, she wouldn’t have to fly on her sword anymore.
“Ah, so happy~”
She rode the immortal crane, occasionally glancing at the scenery of the Shanhai Sect, then lowered her head to read picture books and apply seaweed face masks, finally arriving at today’s trial location—Yuanhe Jiushian.
The third round was still here.
Meng Zi took out a string of spirit stones from his spatial bag and started turning them in his hand.
Huangpu Yuan lowered his eyelids, his long index finger caressing the immortal crane.
“Arrogant.”
“Aren’t the three from Qingshui Sect getting too cocky?”
“They’re still at Yuanhe Jiushian today, right? They must be climbing another five hundred layers. The difficulty is maxed out, and the higher you go, the greater the demand on your cultivation.”
“Yesterday reached three thousand nine hundred layers, so today it should be at least four thousand three hundred layers… The difficulty from the sixth to the ninth stage of Condensing Yuan. If you’re not careful or your techniques aren’t compatible, even ninth-stage Condensing Yuan cultivators might fail at four thousand three hundred layers.”
“Ha ha ha, I’m here, the top five sects—pseudo pass!”
“Pseudo, do you even know what pseudo means?”
“Lin Shuang’s trio is the only one being arrogant, I can’t stop laughing. Could it be the top five sects that achieved a pseudo pass??”
“……”
“……”
“A disciple from Baihua Sect **enabled ‘hidden comments’.”
“A disciple from Mingzhong Sect **enabled ‘hidden comments’.”
“……Cut, you can’t play!”
Here we go again!
As Lin Shuang rode her immortal crane to the entrance of Yuanhe Jiushian, she noticed many disapproving glances from the twelve surrounding mountains where spectators watched the competition.
Is everything okay?
Didn’t she do anything?
“Lin Shuang, do you remember our goal?”
Before she and Huangpu Yuan entered Yuanhe, Li Min spoke up.
Green-robed Duan Wufang nodded, continuing, “Sweep the top three.”
Disciples from the eleven sects: “???”
Lin Shuang’s trio: “…”
They quickly urged their immortal cranes to dive into Yuanhe Jiushian.
They couldn’t take it anymore.
This wave of mockery was too strong.
[Xiao Ai No. 1 (Lin): The elder also reminded me, before entering, let’s review our plan.]
[One arrow, five birds.
Competition, climb to nine thousand, get rewards to strengthen ourselves, find the truth, and find ways to counter the elders for survival/revenge…
(Wang Jian has a heart demon, what about that one? How hard is it for a human cultivator to get rid of it? Could it be that creating the Jiushian trial is a way to contain it, similar to Wang Jian?)]
Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan looked understanding.
Yes, that makes sense.
As long as we go to more Jiushian trials, we will surely find this person’s heart demon.
Just as a thousand-mile dike can collapse due to an ant hole, as long as we uncover one or two hidden inner demons, causing Elder Qiuhai to destroy himself… is not an impossible dream.
Lin Shuang smiled happily.
Too satisfied with her goal of reaping a bountiful harvest.
“The third round of the inner sect competition begins.”
“The six sects will draw lots!”
Below the six thousandth layer of Yuanhe River, the pale-faced, long-bearded Supervisor Elder Wang presided over the proceedings, randomly determining the layer this time.
Lin Shuang secretly clasped her hands together, hoping to get a layer where she could reap a bountiful harvest.
In an instant, a stone appeared in her palm—four.
Soon, disciples from Baihua Sect, Wanseng Sect, etc., all extended their right hands: Layer 4396.
It was nearly 490 layers higher than Wang Jian’s last round, almost reaching the maximum difficulty of 500 layers.
Lin Shuang’s expression was strange.
She began to suspect that the competition draw wasn’t entirely random.
The elders had only given a range of nine layers from 4393 to 4403 for drawing.
4396, divided by 9 leaves 4.
A pill-making test?
An auxiliary ability among the nine cultivation disciplines.
Lin Shuang immediately thought of Huangpu Yuan’s Zhenhuo Zangdan… her face darkened.
No way?
So unlucky today.
“Similar to that ‘oh I’m dead’ test?” Meng Zi also finished calculating, relieved. “At least there’s no life danger.”
He was still afraid of the Qiuhai elders in his heart.
“After three rounds of point-based competition, the top three of this session will be decided!”
Elder Wang of Shanhai Sect, who was hosting, immediately activated the six teleportation arrays of the rest dragon boat.
“Go!”
[Layer 4396: Persuading Study.]
As Lin Shuang stepped into the teleportation array, the name of this layer appeared character by character.
[Encourage you not to cherish golden robes, encourage you to cherish your youth.]
Lin Shuang was slightly stunned, then happy.
Not a pill-making test, but another auxiliary cultivation ability?
Then they entered this trial layer and saw a water screen playing.
None other than Xiao Qi of Shanhai Sect appeared in the image.
“No—Senior Brother—”
The Xiao Qi in the water screen suddenly cried out in pain and rushed forward with a sword.
Lin Shuang: “??”
[??]
The projections of the six major sects, even Xiao Qi himself, were shocked and looked at the water screen in confusion.
“This is me?” Xiao Qi was bewildered.
But the screen continued.
This ‘Xiao Qi’ cried out in pain as he rushed outside the cave dwelling, only to see a vast expanse of sky and earth, with no one in sight.
He painfully struck the ground with his sword, and a white paper floated down from his hand.
—From today on, I quit Shanhai Sect and will no longer pursue the Dao.
—Junior brother, take care, practice your sword well, don’t play around, and cultivate for both of us.
—Don’t miss me. Left by Zhao Ming.
“Ahh!”
The ‘Xiao Qi’ painfully stabbed the ground with his sword again!
“Zhao Ming senior brother, why did you quit! Why!”
Outside the screen, Xiao Qi took a step back, shocked, gripping the sword wrapped in cloth in his hand.
“What joke is this, how could I stab the ground with my sword…”
[…]
[! Shouldn’t that be your concern?]
[Zhao Ming, is he the outer sect steward of Shanhai Sect who explained the competition with Xiao Ke of Baihua Sect two days ago?]
[Uh, he’s gone? Really?]
Suddenly, three pitiful and helpless figures appeared on the water screen.
One was Zhao Ming, the outer sect steward of Shanhai Sect, being taken away between two tall and muscular men, one on each side.
“Useless brat, sneaking out without permission and still stuck at the Ningyuan stage after all this time at the Shanhai Sect—what a waste!”
“Go home!”
Another was a tall figure almost submerged under dozens of large and small sea snails.
“Good-for-nothing, hurry home and continue the bloodline of our snail clan?”
“Gang Er!”
Lin Shuang, Huangpu Yuan, and Meng Zi from Qingshui Sect were startled.
Gang Er?
Mei Xin’s expression changed.
The last one was a disciple from Baihua Sect, walking away while crying.
“I’m sorry, seniors and seniors, I have to go back and inherit my billion-dollar fortune.”
A competing disciple from Baihua Sect: “…”
[Every year, among the twelve sects, countless disciples leave and abandon the Dao due to family reasons.]
[Sigh, urging you to cherish your youth… how can we sit idly by and let these disciples give up on themselves?]
[Trial of Persuading Study: This month, three disciples were taken away by their families. As their peers, quickly find them and bring them back!]
[Task requirement: Bring them back to the sect to continue their cultivation within five days, and the trial will be considered successful.]
[…!]
[…………]
Lin Shuang’s expression was complicated.
The test question can be like this?
This move’s scope reaches the upper atmosphere.
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