“Wow, you’re so lucky. There were demonic beasts that were actually taller and bigger than three-storied buildings in my evil spirit array. Many people died inside, and they couldn’t kill that thing at all. Fortunately, I ran fast…”
The candidate who was greatly traumatized didn’t calm down for a long time. He froze for a while and suddenly burst into tears. “They are dead, so many people are all dead. Wahhhhh, it’s so horrifying ah. They’re dead, dead.”
A disciple in white came up to comfort him, “It doesn’t matter. Everything in there is an illusion. Even if they are killed by monsters, they will be sent back directly to Jade Ocean City. Those who come out alive will come here, and their lives will be safe.”
The examinee cried while saying blankly, “But what if they were killed by someone who also went into the evil spirit array!”
The white-robed disciple was stunned. “Then they’re dead.”
The examinee was dazed for a moment. He sat down on the ground with a pale face, soulless.
Many people gasped in horror.
The disciple in white sighed and patted that examinee on the shoulder, giving comfort. Then another disciple in a black robe came over and spoke coldly, “This happens every year. Some people arrogantly think that they can only come out after killing all the others. However, there is no such requirement at all for Primary Ranked illusion arrays.”
The white-robed disciple looked at an examinee with a green ticket with complicated eyes. “It’s good that it’s not him.”
Another disciple said coldly. “Even if it is not him, there will still be others. It seems that this year’s disciples are not peaceful.”
Killing people in the evil spirit array would turn one’s leaf ticket red. This kind of character would not be rejected by Myriad Dao Academy, of course, but the sect also wouldn’t let them enter the four main courtyards — East, West, North and South.
They had their own places to go, and those places were almost always the envy and longing of Myriad Dao Academy’s other disciples. Perhaps they might be able to ascend to heaven in a single step.
But most disciples were still unwilling to interact with such people.
After all, they were terrifying.
Yan Tianhen searched the whole ship, but didn’t see a single familiar face. After looking for someone to inquire about it, he realized that in reality, whichever evil spirit array someone entered was entirely up to chance, and the transport ship they landed on was also random.
A total of 64 large ships had come to Jade Ocean City to receive people, and each ship could accommodate 500 people. However, in reality, each ship had only 120 people — from disciples to examinees — including 100 examinees and 20 disciples.
They would have to be very lucky to be assigned to the same ship.
Obviously Yan Tianhen didn’t have such luck.
However, Yan Tianhen was not in a hurry to find someone. Most of what he was thinking in his heart now had nothing to do with the examination content but was more important than the assessment, such as Lin Zhizhi.
When Yan Tianhen first picked up Huarong Sword Immortal, he said that he couldn’t remember anything but his name, which didn’t seem to be fake. Obviously, Huarong Sword Immortal didn’t plan on continuing to hide his true identity after seeing Wan Miantang, so… that’s because Wan Miantang brought him a feeling of peace of mind.
Yan Tianhen somehow felt unhappy in his heart.
In fact, from the very beginning, when he first saw Huarong Sword Immortal, he felt a sense of familiarity, which was why he brought a strange woman with him and was very kind to her.
Yan Tianhen slowly lowered his eyelids, blocking the gaze in his eyes.
Others couldn’t see through Huarong Sword Immortal’s identity, but for those who truly loved and admired him, how could they be easily deceived by shallow appearances? It’s just that the very idea was too strange, and Yan Tianhen couldn’t be certain.
In the evil spirit array.
Wan Miantang straightened out the information revealed in the conversation between him and the mayor, and threatened the mayor kindly before driving the person far away, then closed the door and looked at Lin Xuanzhi with a slightly heavy expression.
Wan Miantang frowned slightly. “Huarong Sword Immortal, why are you dressed like this?”
Lin Xuanzhi, who appeared here, was not ashamed of his present attire at all. He looked at Wan Miantang indifferently. “I was injured and poisoned when I was chasing the vicious beast that escaped its prison. I can’t use my cultivation for the time being and was also chased by my enemy, so I could only dress like this to avoid them temporarily.”
“Enemy?” Wan Miantang frowned. “Who is it? Are they powerful?”
“They’re naturally powerful. Otherwise, why do you think I had to dress like this?”
Wan Miantang listened to him explaining everything so simply and lightly, and knew that things were not actually so simple. However, Lin Xuanzhi really was flexible. If it were him, he probably wouldn’t be able to do this.
But Wan Miantang thought, The reason I can’t do it is because I haven’t come across a moment where my life is at stake.
In the face of life and death, what does crossdressing matter?
Wan Miantang asked a few more questions about Lin Xuanzhi’s enemy, but they were all downplayed by him. Since Lin Xuanzhi was unwilling to say it, Wan Miantang would not bother to ask a clear question.
Myriad Dao Academy was situated in the sea, and there was a prison within the sea, where heinous vicious beasts and great villains were held. A few days ago, a man-eating vicious beast escaped from the prison, and Myriad Dao Academy sent many resident cultivators to eliminate the evil. He just heard that the vicious beast was mentally sound and had a high capacity for cultivation, and actually escaped from Myriad Dao Academy successfully.
As for what happened after that, Wan Miantang was unclear.
At this time, Wan Miantang was nervous for a moment and asked, “What happened to the vicious beast now?”
“Half-dead, and should have been subdued by the cultivators who had hurried over.”
Wan Miantang breathed a sigh of relief.
When the vicious beast appeared, he happened to have something to do and was outside, so he didn’t participate. In fact, as the dean of the East Courtyard, he had the obligation to participate in the round-up.
As long as Huarong Sword Immortal moved to help, then everything was good.
Wan Miantang looked at the “woman” in front of him, who didn’t look unnatural at all, with admiration. “Many thanks.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s wave a hand lightly. “You need not say these words. I let you know only because you don’t have a loose tongue.”
Wan Miantang’s lips twitched, then he smiled. “I thought it was to send away the disciple just now.”
Lin Xuanzhi said, “Both.”
Wan Miantang and Lin Xuanzhi had met several times. When they played chess, sparred with swords, or discussed meditation techniques, they could find common ground, so they had a good impression of each other. Wan Miantang especially wanted to make friends with Lin Xuanzhi, so now that he knew Lin Xuanzhi’s little secret, he naturally wouldn’t spread this information.
Wan Miantang asked, “Who exactly was that person just now? You were transported in together with him?”
“He is going to enter Myriad Dao Academy in the future, and his name is Gu Tiantian. If he enters the East Courtyard, I will rely on you to take care of him.”
Wan Miantang was taken aback. “He can actually make you open your mouth to ask for protection on his behalf?”
“Not necessarily asking for protection.” Lin Xuanzhi said lightly, “I can protect him by myself, but I just want to make his future journey smoother.”
Wan Miantang was really shocked now.
For many years, Huarong Sword Immortal had never asked about worldly affairs and only ever sought immortality. He had already been in closed-door cultivation on Penglai Island for seven years without coming out. But when he left seclusion this time, he actually expressed his intention to care for another person so bluntly. How could this not surprise people?
Wan Miantang pondered who exactly Gu Tiantian really was, and he couldn’t figure it out, so he simply asked, “This is a fake name?”
Huarong Sword Immortal glanced at him. “Yes, but as for his real name, let’s talk about it again when he is willing to tell you.”
Wan Miantang thought in his heart, You really are protective of this calf.
But his mouth replied, “If he wants to come to my East Courtyard, I will naturally welcome him, but which path does he cultivate?”
“He cultivates the alchemist path.”
“Ah.” Wan Miantang was a little disappointed. “If alchemists want to have a better future, to tell the truth, it’s better to go to the West Courtyard.”
Among the West Courtyard’s divisions, the Alchemist Division was the most incredible. Bai Qiuyan, the most powerful alchemy disciple in all four courtyards of Myriad Dao Academy, was from the West Courtyard.
In there, the teacher configuration was also the strongest, and the student lineup was also very strong. Almost all alchemy disciples wanted to go to the West Courtyard. The East Courtyard was the typical “the Dao Division is strongest, while the Alchemist and Craftsman Divisions are slightly weaker.” From the teachers to the students, those in East Courtyard’s Alchemist and Craftsman Divisions were lazy and seemed like they had no energy, which really attracted the contempt of the West and South Courtyards.
As for the North Courtyard, they had always been so aloof and cold that they didn’t even bother to sneer at others.
Wan Miantang said it from a very considerable point of view, but he didn’t expect for Lin Xuanzhi to say without any worry after hearing that, “It’s precisely because I value your East Courtyard’s undisciplined and free habit of letting the students develop at will without pushing them that I feel the East Courtyard is most suitable for him.”
Wan Miantang wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Is my East Courtyard actually like this in the eyes of Huarong Sword Immortal?”
Huarong Sword Immortal glanced at him. “Isn’t it?”
Wan Miantang, “…”
It really is.
Wan Miantang became happy.
Huarong Sword Immortal continued, “He doesn’t need too much restraint. He knows how to develop himself.”
Wan Miantang sighed. “With your help, even if he is a piece of mud, and even if he is in a muddy predicament now, none of that will matter. Why don’t you directly accept him as a disciple?”
“I have no teacher-disciple affinity with him, and I don’t want to push him to the forefront of rumors.”
Wan Miantang stared at Lin Xuanzhi. “I’m getting more and more curious about his identity.”
“You’ll know before long.”
Wan Miantang didn’t say more, but instead changed the subject, “It’s not difficult to crack this evil spirit array, but is there anything Sword Immortal wants to take out?”
The world inside the evil spirit array was real, so naturally, one would be able to take out some items. It’s just that the reality of these worlds were based on certain rules different from that of the outside world, and items couldn’t be taken out casually.
For example, there was an evil spirit array before where if one wanted to take out spiritual plants from that world, they must first water it with the blood of a local demonic beast. Otherwise, even if they took it out, it would still turn into bubbles in the outside world.
The reason Lin Xuanzhi stayed here was surely not just because Wan Miantang couldn’t send him away.
Lin Xuanzhi said, “I want to find out the relationship between the Northern Wild Wolves and the ghost infants. The Northern Wild Wolves are growing restless on the North Land’s border, killing many people. Since this small world is related to the Northern Wild Wolves, we might as well explore it for a few more days, so as to find a way to resolve the Northern Wild Wolves’ siege in the North Land.”
To put it bluntly, small worlds were just creations made by powerhouses on the outside. They would always reflect some part of the outside world.
