11: Chapter 11 I asked you to go through the motions, and you did it like this?

The other candidates had long since completed the second stage of the assessment; fewer than thirty people had passed.

Lei Xuan ranked second with a time of forty-seven breaths; first place was another strong-willed young girl who held out for fifty-one breaths.

But no one's attention was on the leaderboard.

They were all staring at the pink archway, looking at Xu Ruyu, who had been inside for over an hour without any sign of movement.

"What's going on? That trash hasn't come out yet?"

"Could it be... he died inside the illusion?"

"It's possible! The Great Fox Illusion is incredibly dangerous. There are precedents for those with weak wills to suffer damage to their Divine Souls or even perish."

The chatter grew louder and louder.

Lei Xuan stood to the side with his arms crossed, his Face full of schadenfreude. "I think that trash has completely lost himself in the illusion, his Divine Soul obliterated."

"Elder Li, are we going to wait for a dead man forever? Shouldn't the assessment continue?"

Elder Li's brow furrowed. He looked at the archway, then at Xiao Nianyin sitting quietly on the high platform in the distance, looking troubled.

According to the rules, if a candidate does not exit the illusion within an hour, they are considered to have failed or perished. However, Xu Ruyu's status was special...

Steeling himself, he walked to the base of the platform and bowed. "Sect Master, Xu Ruyu has been in the illusion for over an hour. According to custom... should we declare his assessment a failure? Or do we need to ask Lady Qingli to investigate?"

Xiao Nianyin slowly opened her eyes. Her calm gaze swept over the archway as she said indifferently, "Keep waiting."

"Sect Master!" Lei Xuan couldn't help but shout. "It's unfair to waste everyone's time for a dead man!"

"That's right!"

"Sect Master, please make a wise judgment!"

The other candidates also chimed in one after another.

They were already jealous of Xu Ruyu, and now they were kicking him while he was down.

Xiao Nianyin's gaze turned cold as she looked at Lei Xuan. "Are you trying to tell me how to do things?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it caused the temperature of the entire square to drop suddenly.

Lei Xuan froze, feeling a cold killing intent lock onto him. It felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and even breathing became difficult.

Only then did he remember that the person before him was a decisive and ruthless titan of the Demonic Path!

"This Disciple... would not dare."

Lei Xuan gritted his teeth and lowered his head, the hatred in his heart growing even stronger.

"Those who do not wish to wait may leave now," Xiao Nianyin's voice echoed across the field. "Anyone who departs now will be considered to have voluntarily forfeited their eligibility for this entrance assessment."

The entire square fell into a deathly silence.

No one dared to move.

Was she joking? This was the decennial Disciple Recruitment Ceremony. Countless people fought tooth and nail to get in; who would give up just out of spite?

Time continued to pass.

Half an hour, one hour, two hours...

The sun gradually dipped in the west, then set, and the stars appeared.

Xu Ruyu had been inside the illusion for a full half-day!

The crowd waiting in the square shifted from their initial shock and confusion to impatience and ridicule.

"It's been half a day! Even a pig should have come out by now."

"He's definitely dead, no doubt about it."

"What is the Sect Master still waiting for? Does she really want us to wait until dawn?"

"I think the Sect Master just can't save Face. After all, he's the Disciple she personally accepted. For him to die so quickly is a real slap in the Face."

Whispers flowed through the night. Although the voices were low, how could Cultivators, with their sharp ears and eyes, not hear them?

The sarcasm on Lei Xuan's Face was almost undisguised. He wanted to see how long this ice-cold Sect Master could hold out.

Elder Li stepped forward again, his tone even more earnest this time. "Sect Master, it has been a full half-day.

No one has ever stayed in the Great Fox Illusion for this long. I fear Xu Ruyu has already... met with misfortune.

Should we ask Lady Qingli..."

Xiao Nianyin continued to rest with her eyes closed, as if she hadn't heard a word.

Elder Li sighed and retreated.

The night deepened as the moon passed its zenith.

Some candidates could no longer hold out and sat on the ground, some even starting to doze off.

Only a few were still forcing themselves to stay alert, but their eyes were also full of impatience.

The third day, as the first light of dawn appeared.

Two full days and nights had passed!

Xu Ruyu still hadn't come out.

Now, even some of the Hehuan Sect's deacons and Disciples began to waver.

Had something really happened?

Lei Xuan finally couldn't help himself and spoke up again. This time he had learned his lesson, and his tone was much more "respectful." "Sect Master, this Disciple begs your pardon.

Junior Brother Xu Ruyu has been in the illusion for over two days; this is truly abnormal.

For the sake of Junior Brother's safety, should we ask Lady Qingli to forcibly break open the illusion to check?

If Junior Brother has truly... met with an accident, it would be best to handle it early."

These words sounded high-minded, but they were actually a form of coercion.

Xiao Nianyin finally opened her eyes.

She looked at the archway, a faint trace of... confusion flashing deep in her eyes?

She could indeed feel that Xu Ruyu was still alive, and his life force was unusually vigorous—in fact, it was getting stronger?

But even she could not peer into the specific situation within the illusion.

Had some unexpected turn of events really occurred?

Just as she was hesitating whether to contact Lady Qingli—

A sudden change occurred!

Rumble—!!

The pink jade archway that had stood for three days suddenly began to vibrate violently!

The mist that had been slowly swirling within the gate was now churning frantically as if boiling!

"What's happening?!"

"The illusion has become unstable?!"

Everyone was startled and stood up.

In the next moment, under countless horrified gazes—

Crack! Crackle—!

Hideous cracks appeared on the jade archway!

The cracks spread rapidly, covering the entire archway in an instant!

"Oh no! The illusion is about to collapse!"

Elder Li turned pale with fright.

The Great Fox Illusion was constructed by Lady Qingli using a Divine Ability and was supposed to be indestructible. How could it suddenly collapse?!

Could something have happened inside that even Lady Qingli couldn't control?!

Bang—!!!

A world-shaking explosion!

The entire jade archway burst apart!

Countless fragments flew in all directions, and pink mist gushed out like a bursting dam, instantly filling nearly half the square!

"Watch out!"

"Retreat, quickly!"

The crowd retreated in a panic.

Amidst the chaos, two figures stumbled out from the center of the explosion and the thick pink mist, falling onto the ground of the square.

The mist gradually dissipated.

Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at the two figures.

Then, the entire square fell into a deathly silence.

One could hear a pin drop.

In the center of the square, Xu Ruyu was kneeling on one knee with his clothes in disarray, gasping for breath. His Face was pale, and his eyes were somewhat dazed, as if he hadn't fully regained consciousness.

And beside him...

A woman dressed in a plain white gown, with a Face of peerless beauty and an air of elegance and nobility, was sitting on the ground in a disheveled state.

Her hair was messy, and her dress was torn in several places, revealing large patches of snowy-white skin. Her Face bore a lingering flush and intense shame and indignation.

Most strikingly, behind her, nine fluffy white fox tails lay limply on the ground, some of their fur stained with...

Not many in the Hehuan Sect recognized this woman.

But the few Elders standing on the high platform, including Elder Li, were all struck as if by lightning the moment they saw her Face. They stood frozen in place, their expressions filled with unbelievable terror and absurdity.

"Q-Qingli... Lady Qingli?!"

Elder Li's voice trembled so much it was almost out of tune.

This disheveled woman, who looked as if she had just survived a "fierce battle," was actually that high-and-mighty powerhouse of the Taihu Clan, famous throughout the Cultivation World for her charm techniques, whom even the Hehuan Sect had to treat with great respect—Lady Qingli?!

Looking at her and Xu Ruyu, the shattered illusion, and the bizarre atmosphere between them...

An utterly absurd suspicion surged uncontrollably into the minds of everyone who knew her identity.

Could it be...

That the "trash" Xu Ruyu, whom they had ridiculed for two days and nights, hadn't just survived the illusion, but had actually... done it to the master of the illusion?!

Boom!

This thought exploded like a thunderclap in the minds of everyone in the know.

Elder Li's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.

The deacons who recognized Lady Qingli were also stunned, their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

The candidates and ordinary Disciples who didn't know what was going on couldn't recognize Lady Qingli, but they could see she was no ordinary person, and the situation between her and Xu Ruyu was definitely abnormal.

"Who is that woman? She's so beautiful..."

"She came out of the illusion? Could she be..."

"What happened... between her and Xu Ruyu?"

Lei Xuan was also dazed. He looked at the disheveled Lady Qingli and then at the gasping Xu Ruyu. A conjecture that drove him mad with jealousy surfaced, turning his Face ashen in an instant.

Just then—

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The sound of air being sliced rang out repeatedly!

One after another, powerful and peerless auras descended from the sky, instantly enveloping the entire square!

Dozens of figures appeared around the square, some standing in mid-air, others on the roofs of the halls.

These people were men and women, old and young, but without exception, their auras were as vast as the sea and unfathomably deep.

They wore various styles of clothing, but all had silk-tree flower patterns embroidered on their cuffs, with slight differences in color and style representing their different statuses and factions within the Sect.

The Grand Elders of the Hehuan Sect!

The true foundation of the Sect, who usually remained in secluded cultivation, had all been alerted by the commotion of the illusion's destruction!

"What's going on?!"

"Who dares to strike within my Hehuan Sect?!"

"Lady Qingli?! You are..."

The leading figure, a white-haired old woman with eyes like lightning, swept her gaze over the shattered archway, the disheveled Lady Qingli, and finally fixed on Xu Ruyu, her brow furrowed.

The scene had spiraled completely out of control.

Xu Ruyu knelt on the ground, his mind blank as he felt the terrifying pressures capable of crushing mountains.

He... seemed to have caused trouble again?

And this time, the trouble seemed to be quite big?

He instinctively looked toward Xiao Nianyin on the high platform.

Xiao Nianyin was also looking at him. In those eyes that were always calm and rippleless, a complex ripple finally appeared—I told you to just go through the motions... yet you made it like this?