25: To win the championship?

"Please listen to the question!"

"Ah, are we starting already? And why is there background music?"

Zhou Yan couldn't open his eyes right now, but he could definitely hear the melodious sounds of the zither and flute.

"Question: If you were a remnant soul of a demonic cultivator, pretending to be a certain Sect Master, and wanted to use this method to perform Possession on a junior to achieve Rebirth, what would you do?"

"I would… what the hell!" Zhou Yan was dumbfounded. The plot was going just fine, so why was another boss spawning?

"Hahaha, young man, don't misunderstand. This is just a reverse thinking question."

"The world of Cultivation is cruel after all. Demonic cultivators are evil, and as part of the Righteous Path, one must be even more evil than them. If you are a naive person, no matter how high your talent is, you will die young."

Zhou Yan still couldn't open his eyes, but he was certain that the guy opposite him, who was likely keeping his eyes open, was talking even more nonsense than he currently was. However, since he had no power to fight back, he had no choice but to answer along with him.

"Uh, I might set up a Legacy, where the content inside is all true, and includes my own insights and Cultivation memories."

"Once the other party sees that this Legacy is real, they naturally won't have any suspicions. And once they lower their guard, those insights and Cultivation memories can produce unexpected results."

The background music stopped for a moment, then started playing again.

Sha Fulin: "What kind of results?"

Zhou Yan: "Naturally, it would be to overwhelm their consciousness with years of accumulated insights and memories. How much experience can a junior have? After a massive influx of new memories, when they can't tell who they really are, that is the best moment for Possession."

Sha Fulin: "Oh~, you're never too old to learn. So that's how it works."

Damn it, don't act like you're about to learn it and use it right away!

It was fine before, but now this Sha Fulin was making Zhou Yan increasingly panicked, fearing that he truly was a demonic cultivator's remnant soul.

He only wanted to burn some points and barely make it into the inner sect by meeting the minimum requirements; he didn't want to lose his life.

"Good answer. Please listen to the second question."

"How do you trick the other party into following the plan you just mentioned, even when they are already on guard and suspect that you might not be a certain Sect Master, but a remnant soul of a demonic cultivator?"

"No way, are you really a demonic cultivator? You're not even acting anymore!"

Zhou Yan finally opened his eyes in panic and anger.

At this moment, what entered his eyes was a vast white space, and within the space, there were only three old men in front of him—no, to be precise, it was one old man.

He was wearing beige robes, with his hair tied up and a long beard, both black and white mixed, looking like someone who had just entered old age.

As he could see the person in front of him, his panel also appeared.

【Sha Fulin (Illusion Clone)】

【HP: 1/1】

As for the other two, one was sitting and playing the zither, marked as 【Illusion Clone-1】, and the one standing and playing the flute was 【Illusion Clone-2】.

Whether it was the panel or the mini-map icon, this "person" was a bona fide friendly NPC.

"Oh~, you can finally open your eyes?"

"A bit faster than I thought."

"Let me formally introduce myself. I am the former Sect Master of Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, the previous Immortal Master Qingxu, and now the Grand Elder Sha Fulin."

"At least that was the case the last time I updated my Clones. If that Disciple of mine outside managed to get himself killed, I should be the Sect Master before the last one, but it's roughly the same anyway."

"It's been a long time since this place was renovated. It takes a long time to run every time it's officially enabled. Since you were the first to enter, you naturally had to wait. Usually, the first person to enter for the trial can only lie down for a while, but since I was bored, I decided to stimulate you a bit and help you wake up early."

"It's not that, Senior, pretending to be a demonic cultivator to scare people is genuinely terrifying." Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his eccentric words.

If he only looked at the mini-map icons and panel information, he would still be a bit panicked. Aren't all Cultivation novels like this? Trials always go wrong—either a powerful being tries to perform Possession, or a demonic cultivator attacks. Long-term immersion in Cultivation tropes made Zhou Yan not even fully trust his own Golden Finger in this situation.

It wasn't until Sha Fulin showed his eccentric and abstract side that Zhou Yan dispelled his doubts.

This was exactly the same style as the Senior who teased him earlier, as well as the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters he had met. One look and you could tell they were from the same sect—it couldn't be any more familial.

"Then, Senior, now that I'm awake, is it time to start the trial?"

"Oh, right, right. Almost forgot the main business." Sha Fulin turned and walked backward. As he passed his Clones, he waved his hand, making the Clones change the tune, shifting from relaxed and pleasant to passionate and magnificent.

"Here, this is your trial." Sha Fulin handed over two books he had pulled out from who knows where. They looked just like the summer homework that middle and high school students used to write.

Zhou Yan took the two books. Without even looking at the content, he could tell by the appearance that there weren't many pages left.

Sha Fulin: "Your trial is to study the contents of the incomplete Cultivation Technique within a limited time. The more you learn, the better your performance will be."

"Because your words earlier touched this old man, I took out two books. You can read both, or choose one. Anyway, the more progress you add up, the better."

"Of course, I know this has some difficulty, so as long as you complete the minimum standard, I will give you both books to share with that friend of yours outside."

Zhou Yan looked at the two Cultivation Techniques in front of him. One was named River Convergence Method Sutra and the other was called 《Myriad Streams Return to Sea Art》. While he was looking, Sha Fulin was introducing them on the side.

"These two Cultivation Techniques are remarkable. One allows you to be compatible with more Cultivation Techniques, allowing you to Cultivate multiple systems simultaneously without affecting your Dao path. The other can accommodate various Spells without causing water and fire to clash or Righteous and Demonic paths to conflict."

"These are all top-tier Cultivation Techniques even within Qingxu Grotto-Heaven. If it weren't for your previous answer, which indeed gave this old man some amusement in this empty space, I wouldn't have shown them to you."

"Of course, these two are also harder than the normal trials, so I will give you extra points at my discretion." As he said this, he floated over and patted Zhou Yan on the shoulder.

Zhou Yan looked at the "Study" characters that appeared on the two books, visible only to him, and could barely suppress the corners of his mouth.

This thing could actually be learned directly on the panel. If he waited until the last moment to click "Study," couldn't he get two Cultivation Techniques that looked powerful for free?

By then, if he was judged to have failed because he only reached the entry level and didn't meet the requirements, the Cultivation Techniques would be taken back and points deducted. But he could take the two Cultivation Techniques to the inner sect and study them slowly. That would be like a fish in the sea, a bird in the sky—he could just settle down for a few years and then emerge to pull off a Trash-to-Prodigy comeback!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yan was almost drooling. Fortunately, he controlled his facial expressions well. Although his heart was fantasizing about things beyond the heavens, his face remained calm and composed. After all, he hadn't been faking being a Prodigy for nothing during this time.

Finally, for the sake of safety, Zhou Yan asked Sha Fulin one more question.

"Senior, when you first learned these two Cultivation Techniques, to what extent did you learn them?"

Hearing this, the corner of Sha Fulin's mouth crooked, which made Zhou Yan's legs go weak, almost shouting, "Welcome back, Dragon King!"

"No matter how good these Cultivation Techniques are, they are merely a means to pursue the Dao."

"For a Prodigy-level figure like me, who walks the path of the Dao as if taking a stroll, naturally, I memorized them at a glance, understood them in a breath, and reached Minor Achievement in less than half a moment."

It sounded like bragging, but looking at his proud expression, the actual effect was probably about the same. He casually complimented the old man a few times, coaxed him into a good mood, and got him to add some time.

"Heh heh heh, sorry, old man, I'm going to let down your kindness." After preparing, Zhou Yan sat cross-legged and began to flip through the Cultivation Techniques, flipping back and forth from time to time, checking the other book halfway, and occasionally nodding and frowning, acting quite convincingly. It was a bit like reliving his high school slacking days.

Outside the Secret Realm, many Disciples had already come out.

They were roughly divided into two groups: one group had already reached the high tower, and the other had not. Among them, Wang Yao stood in the group that had not reached the high tower.

This made it difficult for the Outer Sect Disciple in charge. No matter how much the deacon tried to persuade Wang Yao, he was unwilling to go over, insisting that if he didn't pass, he didn't pass, and he must go to the Outer Sect to settle down.

Those with outstanding performance could be promoted exceptionally. Just like when Zhou Yan was in the fear trial, if his performance was good, even if he died inside without reaching the high tower, he could still enter the inner sect.

Based on Wang Yao's performance, he definitely could, and no one would dare to question it.

But this Wang Yao was stubborn; he insisted on going to the Outer Sect to start from scratch. No one could convince him. When the deacon saw that he really couldn't be persuaded, he could only report it helplessly to the Outer Sect Elder, and the Elder reported it up to those on the high platform.

When they heard it, they were also very happy. After all, with Wang Yao having this mindset, his determination to seek the Dao was even more tenacious. Plus, with his special Physique, it wouldn't take long for him to rise from the Outer Sect to the inner sect. It was just right, as they hadn't decided who would take him in yet, and having the opportunity to observe him more was a good thing.

It was just that during the subsequent Outer Sect tournament, it would be tough for those Outer Sect Disciples.

After the Sect Master set the requirement allowing Wang Yao to go to the Outer Sect to settle down, the high platform returned to the atmosphere of a vegetable market, and they started to compete for Zhou Yan again.

At first, to prevent the Sect Master from intervening, they were somewhat restrained, only occasionally saying good things about Zhou Yan and how he was more suitable for their own paths, etc. Later, they started to ramp up the intensity and expose each other's shortcomings, and eventually, it developed into a shouting match. No one cared whether the Sect Master would detect anything.

The Sect Master was also puzzled. What exactly was so attractive about this kid that made them argue until they didn't even want to act anymore?

Soon, the gate of the Secret Realm lit up again, interrupting his train of thought.

"Look, it's Long Tianxing! Long Tianxing has finally come out!"

"These points, this is way too high! It seems the top of the list this time is Long Tianxing."

"He must have participated in the final trial. That trial was too difficult; I couldn't even understand it. I wasted a lot of points for nothing and gained nothing. For him to get so many points, how Heaven-Defying is his Comprehension Ability?"

Long Tianxing stood directly in front of the gate, looking imposing under the reflection of the glowing portal behind him.

The cheers and shouts from the crowd below were all taken in by him, but his expression remained calm, as if he were used to being the center of attention and cheers, treating it as nothing out of the ordinary.

Long Tianxing raised his head slightly, his sharp eyes locked onto the sky screen, seeing that his ranking was several times higher than the second place.

"Hmph, I thought there might be some pressure, but I didn't expect that guy Wang Yao to die inside. How truly boring."

"Now, I'll reluctantly go and take the champion reward that was already mine."

Just as Long Tianxing was about to look away, the rankings on the sky screen began to change rapidly. A name that was originally ranked around tenth was rising at an unimaginable speed, instantly reaching the top of the list, and the points continued to increase even as he reached the top.

Long Tianxing's calm face finally showed a trace of emotion, and he murmured: "Zhou Yan?"

The portal behind Long Tianxing emitted a dazzling light again, and another figure walked out. "Phew, this wave is stable!"