◎ First Update: Keeping calm is key to efficiency ◎
“You may think of me as… ninety-seven peak Qi Condensation Third Layer clones, merged as one, united in body and mind—thus forming the ultimate ninety-seven-times Lin Shuang in both offense and defense.”
As Xiao Ai’s voice echoed out, a heavy silence fell over the area in front of Cave Dwelling No. 1700.
“…”
Meng Zi and Huangfu Yuan simultaneously turned their gazes to her waist… specifically, her dantian.
But the voice wasn’t finished.
“After ten years of cultivation in the Outer Sect, I’ve already mastered *** cultivation techniques, reached advanced proficiency in *** techniques, and achieved proficient level in *** techniques. As for the Return Sword and Droplet Flowing River Sword, I’ve reached entry-level…”
“?”
“…”
Huangfu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Meng Zi’s eyes widened.
Only those two sword techniques she just received under their very noses were at entry-level?
And the rest of her techniques were all proficient or higher? With some even mastered?
That couldn’t be possible.
Meng Zi frowned. He’d cultivated for so long and still didn’t dare say that any of his blade techniques had reached full mastery.
And those ugly talismans of hers… could those possibly be considered proficient?
“The *** techniques she claims are mastered or advanced… they can’t all be zeros, right?” Meng Zi muttered suspiciously.
But by now, Lin Shuang’s original voice had already vanished.
【Ding. Xiao Ai Auto-Response Reminder: These details are only accessible to teammates who’ve risked life and death together at Level III or above.】
【Access denied. Please continue nurturing your emotional bond with Lin Shuang through shared mortal peril~】
“…”
Huangfu Yuan chuckled.
Meng Zi closed his eyes in resignation.
Lin Shuang, however, remained oblivious—her gaze seemed to drift beyond them, toward the clear, unpolluted Inner Sect sky, a faint, vacant smile playing at her lips.
“Junior Brother Meng, I can answer you now.
”Huangfu Yuan lounged back on his bamboo chair. After a moment’s thought, he smiled faintly.
He lifted his outer robe to reveal twelve embroidered mustard seed pouches hanging from his belt, each decorated with symbols of a snake, a rabbit, a chicken…
With a turn of his hands, he poured out a veritable mountain of jade pill vials, covering the entire ground.
Defensive treasure cauldrons, zodiac motifs—an entire collection laid before them.
“I suppose I’m… a walking mustard seed pouch equivalent to ten peak Foundation Establishment cultivators?”
“…”
Later that night, when Lin Shuang snapped out of her daze, she found the soft couch beneath her had already been cooled by the moonlight.
She sat upright and removed the “One-Way Mirror” talisman from her body, only then noticing Zhao Keran practicing swordplay before her.
“Oh! Junior Sister, you’re back?”
Zhao Keran turned around happily, though her sword never paused. Only after unleashing three overlapping strikes did she withdraw and return to Lin Shuang’s side.
“Senior Sister, you’ve finally snapped out of it.”
Lin Shuang chuckled at her words, removed the two talisman earplugs, and tucked them into the little pouch she used for headphones, tightening the drawstring.
Being able to daydream… was a kind of happiness too.
Letting her mind wander helped restore her divine sense.
Her grandmother, the headmistress, often sat in the courtyard like that. She used to wonder what Grandma was thinking about.
Lin Shuang stood up from the couch and stretched lazily, her mind refreshed and clear. “Did you see the dinner I bought for you? Try the Inner Sect flavors.”
“I already ate everything.”
Zhao Keran was always punctual when her shift ended.
“As expected, the Inner Sect’s spiritual food is much more abundant than the Outer Sect’s, and more saturated with spiritual energy.”
“Oh, right. Senior Sister—did you and Senior Brother Huangfu do something to upset Senior Brother Meng?”
“Hmm?”
Lin Shuang turned her head, bewildered.
“No, I was listening to music the whole time. I didn’t even speak to them.”
“…”
At that moment, Huangfu Yuan, who had just stepped to the cave’s threshold to absorb some moonlight essence, paused mid-motion—then turned silently away.
So… it wasn’t him either.
[Private Transmission from Xiao Qi]
【Xiao Qi: Junior Sister Lin, did you go participate in the Inner Sect trial?】
【Xiao Qi: I was so inspired by you that I took up a service post today! An elder needed someone to pour tea. I figured… if I serve sincerely, maybe he’ll give me a bit of guidance.】
【…Once you’re back from Zhenchuan, I won’t be far behind. When Fat Burn Day comes again, I’ll definitely be ready!】
【…Junior Sister, what happened?! Why did Senior Brother Meng and the others ask me the same questions?】
【…Ah, my senior brother says it must be something you did during the Zhenchuan trial. I hope you made it through safely.】
Before bed, Lin Shuang habitually checked her unread transmissions.
Only then did she remember Xiao Qi.
Sigh… it’s all Senior Brother Xu Rui’s fault for dragging her into the elite disciple assessment and forcing her into Zhenchuan. Things were so rushed she forgot to tell Xiao Qi.
【Lin Shuang: I’m safe. Good luck—I hope you find a great opportunity once you make it into the Inner Sect. When Fat Burn Day returns, come challenge me again. I’ll be waiting.】
She smiled as she replied.
Xiao Qi, though she hadn’t known him long, was truly sincere.
He’d probably even remind her of Fat Burn Day if she ever forgot.
Grandma, is this what you meant? That sincerity will always win you good friends?
After glancing at the next day’s schedule and finding no changes needed, she chatted a bit with Zhao Keran.
Before long, they turned off the lights and drifted peacefully into sleep.
—
In the inner chamber—
Huangfu Yuan gazed at the extinguished lamp, lost in thought.
He was still polishing a treasure cauldron engraved with the twelve zodiac beasts.
The chicken is the most delicious… Too bad one got ruined today.
Even Rong Baozhai didn’t carry chicken paintings so vivid and mouthwatering.
One glance, and it stirred his appetite.
Should I return to Zhenchuan tomorrow for a new one?
“Three thousand and one spirit stones. Yes, that’s correct.”
Elsewhere, Meng Zi was counting the day’s earnings stone by stone, satisfied as he stashed them away.
“Tomorrow I’ll head back to Zhenchuan to claim the earnings from the winner’s projection rights.”
“There’ll be new deposits too… I better recount the old ones just to be safe. Hehe”
The crisp sound of clinking spirit stones filled the room.
—
At dawn the next day—
Without a word to Lin Shuang or Huangfu Yuan, Meng Zi shot out of the cave like a gust of wind.
He remained silent the entire journey to Zhenchuan.
By the time they arrived at the 3,000th level’s Rest Cavern, Lin Shuang finally sensed something was off.
But she was truly innocent—she still had no idea what had upset Senior Brother Meng so badly.
It wasn’t her, right?
With a confused yet accusatory look, she turned toward Huangfu Yuan, who was hugging a hand warmer at her side.
Huangfu Yuan: “…”
He arched his brow and returned a similarly innocent, pale smile.
Lin Shuang: “…”
“Here. Your earnings from yesterday’s viewing rights come to thirty thousand and two hundred spirit stones.”
The woman in pink robes casually tossed them a mustard seed pouch.
Meng Zi’s eyes lit up immediately. “That much!?”
Ten thousand each?
Way more than what they earned from the levels runs!
Hmm. Feeling better already, Lin Shuang thought silently as she observed him.
“Junior Brother, shall we split it now? I’ll even take a hundred less,” Huangfu Yuan offered, considerate as ever.
Sure enough, after pocketing his ten thousand, Junior Brother Meng’s expression softened visibly.
But as soon as he put the pouch away and looked back at the two of them, he snorted coldly and turned away.
Lin Shuang: “…”
Huangfu Yuan: “…”
This is serious. Even spirit stones can’t fix it.
“Senior Sister, Senior Brother!” Zhao Keran, still busy with her chores, beamed as she asked, “Do you want to check the elixir discount granted by the 1,720th-level floor master from yesterday?”
“Before we head down another level, we could stock up.”
Huangfu Yuan hesitated, gaze drawn to the chicken-themed cauldron displayed in the Many Treasures Pavilion.
A three-winged spirit chicken—painted with lifelike detail.
Its spirit captured perfectly: plump wings, tender meat, delicate bones.
Biting into it would be juicy, crisp, and tender all at once.
Why hadn’t Rong Baozhai sourced these? Xiao Bai’s instincts were falling behind…
“Hmph! What are you looking at?! One of you is Qi Condensation, the other barely Foundation Building—what pills are you buying?”
“Wasting spirit stones!”
Meng Zi scoffed, stomping toward the teleportation array without so much as a glance back.
Huangfu Yuan’s eye twitched.
Lin Shuang nodded at him reassuringly. “Let’s go, Senior Brother Huangfu. The Many Treasures Pavilion isn’t going anywhere—we can visit after we’re done.”
Make the most of your time—they didn’t suffer much material loss yesterday.
The floor master’s reward exchange isn’t urgent either.
But the Pomodoro timer waits for no one.
Lin Shuang turned to leave as well.
Huangfu Yuan pressed a hand to his brow in silence, then followed behind.
“I’ll come back for that cauldron later.”
He had walked a few paces when he stopped, turned back, and looked at Zhao Keran.
“Junior Sister, keep it aside for me.”
“…”
Zhao Keran was increasingly convinced that Senior Brother Huangfu had to be the one who obliterated ten people’s divine sense yesterday.
This obsession ran deep.
“Mhm. That set was made by the sect’s own artifact division,” the pink-robed woman said flatly. “Exclusive to Zhenchuan.”
“Bring out the other eleven later. Let’s see how long he can resist.”
“…”
[Huangfu Yuan, Meng Zi, and Lin Shuang have chosen Trial Level 2217.]
Having stewed in anger all night, Meng Zi grew even more irritated at the sight of Huangfu Yuan and Lin Shuang.
And so, at the teleportation array, in a fit of defiance he impulsively maxed out the rise to five hundred levels…
And tapped one randomly.
“Hah. Since you two are so great—one in Qi Condensation, the other barely into Foundation Building—why not go to the highest level?”
“Why waste time choosing?”
Huangfu Yuan gave a helpless, wry smile.
Lin Shuang pressed her fingers to her forehead.
[Trial Content: “Senior Brother, You Dropped Your Treasure!”]
Meng Zi: “!”
He couldn’t bear that trial name.
Lin Shuang, on the other hand, lit up.
Her first task of the day was speed training.
This level—divisible by three with a remainder of two—must be a speed trial!
“Could it be a trial where we chase after a senior brother to return his treasure?”
Huangfu Yuan’s phoenix eyes also showed a trace of thought. “Judging by the name, that seems likely.”
But the Zhenchuan elders’ trial names were like the titles of fluffy romance web novels—harmless on the surface, but deceptive at heart.
As Lin Shuang silently complained to herself and stepped into the teleportation array leading to the trial’s rest hall, she immediately caught sight of the smiling expression on the pink-robed receptionist—and her heart dropped with a thud.
The next instant, the teleportation stabilized—and the trial ground came into view.
Lin Shuang opened her eyes to see a drum tower three times larger than the Outer Sect’s administrative hall.
Hanging above the entrance was a plaque with five large seal script characters:
“Inner Sect Administrative Hall.”
“Hm?”
This time, Lin Shuang was genuinely surprised.
But soon, a familiar figure emerged steadily from within the hall.
He carried two eight-trigram swords strapped diagonally to his back with perfect symmetry.
His hair crown was centered precisely, his jet-black hair immaculately arranged.
He walked in a perfectly straight line.
“Senior Brother Xu Rui?”
Lin Shuang stared at the man who looked unmistakably like her obsessively orderly senior brother.
Strange… wasn’t Senior Brother Xu Rui supervising odd jobs with Zhou Xuanwu yesterday?
Could this level be a “scripted trial”? Was Senior Brother just playing the trial host?
She asked curiously, “Senior Brother Xu Rui, what’s today’s trial?”
Meng Zi and Huangfu Yuan both gave her strange looks upon hearing this.
The upright cultivator emerging from the hall, swords on his back, also showed a fleeting hint of discomfort.
Then he turned toward her with a gentle smile.
“You must be Junior Sister Lin Shuang?”
Lin Shuang blinked, instantly activating her Fiery Eyes, Golden Vision technique.
In a flash, she saw the man smile in exactly the same way as Xu Rui—identical in the curvature of the mouth—but he stepped forward with odd-numbered strides.
“Greetings, Junior Sister. I’ve been in the Inner Sect for twenty-one years and one month.”
“I’m Xu Rui’s twin brother—Xu Xiang.”
Lin Shuang, who possessed ninety-seven clone dantians: “…!”
Xu Xiang and Xu Rui.
An auspicious omen, as their names together form the phrase “Xiangrui”—a sign of prosperity.
One obsessed with odd numbers, the other with even.
Twin brothers with matching obsessive compulsions?
Lin Shuang had never seen it coming.
But in the blink of an eye, Xu Xiang finished his brief greeting and then stood upright, assuming a composed posture and taking five perfectly spaced steps forward.
He held up a golden beast-head token.
—Level 2217
The faint pleasure on his face made it clear—he liked the odd number.
“Junior brothers and sister, I am the temporary examiner for this floor.”
“Disciples, hear the challenge: Senior Brother, You Dropped Your Treasure.”
Xu Xiang’s recitation was rigid, his voice as serious as his brother Xu Rui’s—but his tone stiffened midway.
Even he couldn’t stomach such a ridiculous title.
But facing the trio, he soon returned to formality.
“In the past six months, the Inner Sect Administrative Office has received numerous reports from disciples claiming their spiritual treasures have gone missing—at cave dwellings, canteens, the transmission halls, and more.”
All three of them wore complex expressions.
Zhenchuan’s trial names really had nothing to do with their actual challenges.
A lifetime of scams for every poor disciple of Clearwater Sect!
“Spiritual treasures, stolen?”
Meng Zi instinctively clutched his mustard seed pouch, his voice tightening.
“I’ve heard rumors of that while on patrol. The thief still hasn’t been caught?”
He never accepted missions involving lost spirit stones. They were always cursed.
Xu Xiang nodded at him.
“Due to the increasing number of Inner Sect victims, the administration issued an investigation task two months ago. But there’s been no progress.”
“Just last night, another disciple lost a treasure worth two thousand spirit stones upon leaving Zhenchuan.”
“After consultation with the elders, today’s challenge for this level has been revised as follows—”
“You are to investigate this matter within three days. Recover the lost item or identify the thief—either outcome will count as passing this floor.”