18: The Fourth Disaster has arrived.

The previously noisy area outside the venue had now quieted down, as the first batch of trial Disciples had moved from the outer perimeter of the Secret Realm to the Middle Zone.

And here, they would face their first random ordeal.

The light screen was currently showing a domineering man.

It was the cultivation world's version of a domineering CEO with that superb raspy voice whom Zhou Yan had encountered before.

When the audience outside saw this person, they also shouted his name loudly: "Long Tianxing!"

As a contemporary Child of Luck, everything he did went smoothly, so naturally, he was the first person to step out of the Secret Realm's outer ring.

As the scene changed, the primeval forest of the outer ring was gone, replaced by an ordinary mountain path.

Long Tianxing's eyes, which looked like a sector chart, seemed to be covered by a layer of gauze, making his consciousness a bit hazy.

Looking at the wilderness before him, Long Tianxing didn't know why he was here, but since he was, it was like the Heavenly Walk—a grace this land deserved.

"Hmph, interesting."

Long Tianxing took every step with standard precision, maintaining an air of elegance that made the female Disciples in the audience look on with hearts in their eyes, constantly shouting his name like fans cheering for an idol.

Before long, he discovered a thug up ahead who was pinning down a young Beautiful Woman.

With a light tap of his toes, the ground beneath him cracked like a spiderweb, and in an instant, he vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was already in front of the thug. With just one kick, the thug was sent flying into a distant mountain, dying on the spot.

Seeing she was saved, the Beautiful Woman pulled her clothes together and looked at Long Tianxing with a bashful expression.

"This humble woman thanks the hero for the rescue. I wonder..."

"Hmph, move aside. I'm not interested in women."

With a domineering shock of his aura, Long Tianxing pushed away the Beautiful Woman who wanted to approach him.

As the Beautiful Woman watched Long Tianxing's receding back, her face actually flushed as she whispered to herself, "So domineering, so handsome."

Immortal Master Qingxu: "Not bad, not bad. He has a chivalrous heart yet isn't blinded by female charms. This is practically a younger version of me!"

Fifth Elder: "Go to hell. When you were taking the trial back then, you were stuck on the beauty trial for..."

Before the Fifth Elder could finish, his mouth was covered by Immortal Master Qingxu. With an embarrassed look, Qingxu gestured for everyone to continue, saying the next one was Wang Yao.

Wang Yao was impatient. His powerful physical body allowed him to rampage directly across the entire forest. If it weren't for Long Tianxing's Luck, which placed his teleportation point closest to the middle ring and made his journey smoother...

Otherwise, Wang Yao would have most likely been the first to arrive.

Just as he entered the Middle Zone, he felt a bit dazed just like Long Tianxing, as if something was affecting his consciousness.

However, he seemed to remember he was just running. He felt like he remembered something but then forgot it again. Forget it, let's just start running first.

Soon, Wang Yao returned to his rampage mode, his entire being like a heavy truck, making the ground vibrate as he ran.

On the other side, the prepared thug and Beautiful Woman appeared again, but this time, before the woman could even call for help, the thug had already turned into ketchup and splattered all over her.

"Seeing injustice on the road and drawing a sword to help, no need to thank me!"

The Beautiful Woman looked around with a dazed face, not knowing what had happened.

Qingxu: "...This... this can be considered great wisdom appearing as stupidity. Looking at it this way, his Heart-Nature is also quite good. It seems... it really is more suitable for Old Fourth."

The others offered no comment.

Not long after Wang Yao left, the next batch of Disciples arrived.

This batch was different from the previous two.

One Disciple, for his own safety, didn't act rashly. He dilly-dallied for a long time and finally decided to take a detour, only to be killed by a sneak attack from the thug.

Another was seduced by beauty; seeing the Beautiful Woman in his arms suddenly turn into a desiccated corpse, he was scared out of his wits and eventually sucked dry by the corpse.

This was only the first ordeal of the Middle Zone, yet it had unexpectedly filtered out so many people. Some of them even had decent talent, but because of this small matter, they lost their chance with the Inner Sect and could only go to the Outer Sect to cultivate.

"Oh, isn't this Fourth Brother's new Disciple?"

The Sixth Elder saw that Zhou Yan had also reached the Middle Zone. Aside from being blocked by Niu Zhiyuan for a while, his starting distance from the Middle Zone was also quite far.

In the Sixth Elder's eyes, the fact that he was only reaching the Middle Zone now showed a certain lack of ambition.

Wang Yao and Long Tianxing had high talent and didn't care about these few points. Those with low talent were more desperate to pass and wouldn't care about points either.

But this 'nobody' among the prodigies didn't strive for points to secure a good ranking, instead thinking like those ordinary Disciples about just getting the guaranteed minimum.

Fourth Brother is really unlucky this time. In a fit of anger, he chose a fellow like this, wasting a True Disciple slot for nothing.

"If this little guy doesn't pass and is left in the Outer Sect, won't you cry yourself to death, Fourth Brother?" the Sixth Elder reminded him one last time, trying to get the Fourth Elder to cross out the name before it was too late to regret.

"Rest assured, since I have already accepted him as my Disciple, the outcome is predetermined."

"Even if he fails the trial and stays in the Outer Sect, I will wait for him to successfully join the Inner Sect, and then continue to wait for him to participate in the True Disciple trial."

When the Fourth Elder said this, his mouth twitched slightly. The others thought he was just gritting his teeth and enduring. Given the Fourth Elder's personality, he would probably go into seclusion for several hundred years after such a loss of face.

No one imagined that he was actually so happy he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth down.

Fifth Elder: "That's impossible. That would be too pathetic. He was selected for the second trial as a Prodigy, yet he can't even pass this."

"You know, back then when Old Second got stuck here and was ambushed, he was still able to force his way through with his powerful strength..."

Qingxu finally couldn't take it anymore. He casually opened a spatial gate and dragged the Fifth Elder inside.

"My dear Old Fifth and I have some private business to settle. You all keep watching, keep watching." Turning back with a healthy smile, Qingxu dragged Old Fifth into the 'little dark room' like a dead dog.

The remaining people looked at each other, the corners of their mouths turning up slightly.

This matter was one of Old Second's lifelong pains. Even when no outsiders were present, he didn't allow anyone to speak of it.

When Qingxu first entered the sect, he had also experienced similar tests of justice and emotion.

In the end, he got stuck on the romance part right at the start, and even when more romance appeared later, he stayed stuck.

It was only by relying on his immense strength—since those illusion monsters couldn't kill him in one hit—that he was able to force his way through. Because of this, despite being the most talented Disciple of that year, he didn't even make it into the top three.

This time, the sky screen happened to randomly switch to Zhou Yan. It was now like a simultaneous live broadcast on two platforms, though Zhou Yan himself didn't know.

Watching the primeval forest vanish and the road ahead turn into a mountain path, Zhou Yan felt a headache.

It was a feeling similar to when he had read too much at the Prodigy rest area and the knowledge entering his brain made his memories a bit chaotic, only much more intense.

[Zhou Yan]

[Rank: Qi Refining First Layer (Pseudo)]

[HP: 1500/1500]

[MP: 100/100]

[Current Status: Heart Inquiry (Special Resource Pack, affecting current ₪¿Ӿλӿ¥þ§ȝȟ)]

"Ding, Main Quest unlocked: Clear the novice dungeon."

What happened?

Why does my head hurt all of a sudden?

Where am I?

Looking at the unfamiliar environment before him, Zhou Yan felt it was somewhat inexplicable.

He seemed to have blacked out from rage while gaming earlier. So, has he now started a new account and is preparing to go to a new server to crush some noobs?

For some reason, he felt like this game wasn't quite real, but such realism was very much in line with his kind of game.

Forget it, since I'm already here, I'll clear the novice dungeon quickly and then go crush some noobs. Right now, his pent-up hostility desperately needed a vent.

Outside the venue, whether it was the audience or the Elders on the platform, everyone looked at the screen with strange expressions. Could this person have been turned stupid by the impact of the illusion?

Why was his expression constantly changing, one moment angry, the next confused? Had the Third Elder's skills regressed?

Hearing the discussion from the crowd below, the Third Elder also got a bit nervous. It couldn't be, right? He had thousands of years of experience; how could something go wrong?

Zhou Yan didn't give everyone time to stay confused. He quickly scanned his inventory, equipment, and skill bar, and decisively turned his fashion effects to the maximum.

He didn't expect this new account to have such good-looking fashion. If he didn't max out the effects and turn it into light pollution, wouldn't that be a total waste?

His originally dark-gold eyes burst with light. Even though the audience was watching through a light screen and not experiencing it in person, when they gazed into those eyes, they all felt a sense of dread as if their privacy were being pried into.

Following that, a profound and mysterious aura enveloped Zhou Yan. If before Zhou Yan was just a handsome man with eyes that held a unique charm...

Then at this moment, Zhou Yan was like a Banished Immortal, his temperament transcendent, his eyes like the Heavenly Dao scrutinizing the mortal world, with no trace of his previous self remaining.

He looked more like a Child of Luck than even Long Tianxing.

"Hahahaha, this is it, this is it! Hahaha, this is my Disciple, mine!"

The Fourth Elder on the platform could no longer suppress the throbbing in his heart. Disregarding his dignity, he shouted loudly, using Sound Transmission to let everyone below know that this person had already been chosen by him and was destined to be a True Disciple.

However, no one was envious that Zhou Yan had been granted a True Disciple slot before the trial was even halfway through; instead, they began to envy the Fourth Elder.

A Banished Immortal as his student? What right does he have!