Governess Zhang's aning was simple. She wanted to find Tang Xiaoxue a secure arrangent while there was still ti, as a precaution.
Those who accomplished great things throughout history had always been willing to overlook minor details. n who were wholly focused on their ambitions tended to neglect the bonds of family. With Tang Xiaoxue's birth mother absent, there was no one to advocate properly on her behalf.
It was also possible that her birth mother didn't particularly care about her either.
And even if Tang Xiaoxue achieved so cultivation progress, what of it? Cultivation was like rowing upstream. Stop advancing and you fell back. A young girl without her family's financial support, how far could she go on her own?
Li Qiuchen understood the concern, but couldn't bring himself to agree with it.
Even if things happened exactly as she described, and Boss Tang t with so misfortune outside, Li Qiuchen was not about to seize the Tang family's assets and toss Tang Xiaoxue out to fend for herself.
n had more than just ambition. They also had a sense of responsibility.
And I am exactly the kind of man with a strong sense of justice and a genuine sense of responsibility.
You've simply never encountered one, which reflects a certain narrowness of experience.
Li Qiuchen said nothing of this to Tang Xiaoxue. The young miss spent her days happily eating, drinking, and playing, and had no need to think about such complicated things.
After three days of intensive closed-door study, Li Qiuchen launched his challenge against the illusory realm trials once more.
By this point the third-round results for his cohort had also co in.
It was essentially a complete rout.
Chen Nangsheng and Tang Xiaoxue had only achieved second-class ratings. Hu Caiyi had been eliminated outright.
The third round of illusory realm trials, which was also the final threshold before formally setting foot on the cultivation path, had exceeded everyone's expectations in its difficulty.
Those who had been ntally prepared fared sowhat better. But a good number of students, just like Li Qiuchen, had suffered a complete collapse of composure and an explosion of emotion on the spot.
Liu Huai'an's speculative spirit stone business ground to a halt halfway through.
Those who had failed couldn't recover in the short term, and the rest were so shaken that they had completely lost the courage to attempt another challenge.
After consoling the weeping and distressed young Miss Hu, Li Qiuchen presented himself before Master Qin.
"You're ready?"
"Your student is ready. I can draw the slip right now."
Master Qin gave a small nod, acknowledging Li Qiuchen's determination.
Li Qiuchen walked forward and drew a bamboo slip at random, holding it up to read.
Three characters again. Rice Congee Festival.
When Liu Huai'an saw Li Qiuchen return from Master Qin, he couldn't help saying with a sardonic laugh, "Brother Li's courage is certainly admirable, though there really isn't any need to push yourself this hard. Why not rest a while longer? Spirit stones aren't cheap. How can you afford to keep spending them like this?"
Li Qiuchen nodded. "Brother Liu makes an excellent point. Spirit stones are indeed expensive, which is precisely why this ti, I intend to pass with three first-class ratings."
Liu Huai'an's expression darkened.
In his assessnt, this person had been driven to a kind of madness.
First place wasn't sothing you just kept. The higher you climbed, the harder it beca.
Burning through money to chase that empty distinction. Who knew what kind of family fortune could sustain this kind of waste.
He was probably dipping into his young miss's private funds, and when the owner ca ho and demanded answers, there would be nowhere left to hide.
But the rebuttal to his assumptions ca with startling speed.
At morning reading the very next day, Liu Huai'an saw the second slip in Li Qiuchen's hand.
"You... you already passed?"
"Purely by luck."
Li Qiuchen smiled modestly.
No need to ask about the score. Having the second slip in hand ant the previous round had been a first-class rating.
Another three days passed, and a new rankings board was posted in the classroom.
Chen Nangsheng and Tang Xiaoxue, who had both received second-class ratings in the third round, wasted no ti and imdiately launched their second attempts, each earning a first-class rating.
First place was still Li Qiuchen.
Two first-class ratings.
Liu Huai'an ground his teeth.
What he found even harder to accept than his own failures was watching people around him succeed with what appeared to be effortless ease.
What gave them the right to earn first-class ratings as easily as eating and drinking?
There had to be sothing going on behind the scenes. There absolutely had to be.
Li Qiuchen couldn't be bothered thinking about what Liu Huai'an believed. They weren't close to begin with. Did he have to take the man's feelings into account when deciding whether to pass a trial?
His sole objective right now was to charge at a first-class rating in the third round.
This ti he had prepared himself comprehensively on every front.
He would win.
The first two rounds had been cleared so quickly they had barely drained him at all, and after only half a day's rest he was back in front of Master Qin.
This ti, Li Qiuchen drew the slip Five Lotus Manor.
Hold on. That na rang a bell.
He seed to recall Senior Sister Yanzhi ntioning at so point that Five Lotus Manor was where you could learn the proper use of the wayfaring copper coins.
By now Li Qiuchen had accumulated five wayfaring copper coins, and even without anyone explaining it to him, he had a general sense of their function.
They were a specialized prop for illusory realm trials. Using one allowed you to receive a useful clue from an NPC inside the illusion, thereby increasing the exploration score.
That was the basic application.
After studying the Returning Changes, you could also use a wayfaring coin for divination and work out answers through your own calculations.
The latter thod was more effective, but not sothing that could be learned quickly. Li Qiuchen's current understanding only scratched the surface.
"Five Lotus Manor?"
Seeing the change in Master Qin's expression, Li Qiuchen felt a jolt of alarm.
Sothing was wrong.
He hadn't drawn the worst slip again, had he?
"Would you like to exchange it?"
The blood drained from his face. No!
Li Qiuchen couldn't bear to hear those words, and quickly asked, "Master, didn't you say last ti that only Embracing Stone Academy could be exchanged?"
"That is true. But this slip is the opposite of Embracing Stone Academy. For you specifically, it may be too simple to provide any aningful tempering of the Dao Heart."
Master Qin shook his head. "I honestly can't tell whether your luck is good or bad. Either the most difficult or the easiest..."
"I didn't exchange the last one, and I won't exchange this one either!"
Li Qiuchen refused without hesitation.
Was he supposed to have so kind of masochistic streak? He had already tasted the worst thing there was. Why should he be denied a taste of sothing pleasant?
He wanted to see exactly what this too simple actually looked like.
Master Qin made no further effort to persuade him, and simply waved a hand. "Off you go. Sa place as before."
The third slip's destination was not outside the county school but within one of the inner hall's private chambers, where a special chanism was required to activate the trial.
Based on the previous experience, these illusory realms were not necessarily locally constructed. They could be set in the Central Continent or anywhere else.
In other words, the earlier trials had been offline instances. This one was connected to the main server.
...
[First-Grade Illusory Realm: Five Lotus Manor]
[Entry Restriction: First-grade illusory realm cleared, two consecutive first-class ratings achieved]
[Maximum Participants: 1]
[Current Participants: 1]
[Background: A scholar traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations misses his inn and loses his way in the mountains, stumbling upon a grand estate deep in the hills.]
[Trial Rule 1: You may not disclose the contents of this illusory realm to other participants.]
[Trial Rule 2: You may not re-enter once you have left.]
[Additional Notes: None]
[Creator: He]
Having learned his lesson from the last painful experience, Li Qiuchen's eyes went imdiately to the creator's na. A single character again.
Lord He?
What was that about Lord He?
Lord Luo blessed and protected, Lord He a good man whose life is safe and sound, wasn't that it?
Excellent. This one was settled before it even began.
Then he turned his attention to the background description.
Remarkably familiar. Didn't this look almost exactly like Ning Caichen walking into Lanruo Temple?
Good. The question type was familiar too.
Then he looked down at his own appearance.
At so point without him noticing, he had been dressed in a worn and shabby long robe. He was holding a walking stick, and a scholar's book chest was strapped to his back.
Wait. Was he the scholar?
He wasn't an outside observer this ti. He could actually inhabit a role within the illusory realm?
He looked ahead. A large, ancient manor house stood before him, its great doors firmly shut, two red lanterns hanging at the entrance swaying gently in the night wind.
Remarkably familiar. Let
check for a couplet... none. Which ant the manor's owner wasn't particularly literary.
Behind him was dense fog. Forward only, no going back.
Li Qiuchen composed himself and walked up to knock on the door.
No response from within. Complete silence.
He tried again with a bit more force.
After a long wait, light footsteps finally approached from inside.
The great doors opened a sliver, and a small, charming head poked through the gap.
It was a young maidservant in blue, with her hair in two bunches.
"Who are you looking for?"
Li Qiuchen followed the background description and gave a clasped-hand bow. "This student is traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations. Getting too eager on the road, I missed the inn and lost my way here. I humbly request the young lady's assistance in asking the manor's master whether they might allow
to stay one night."
The little maidservant blinked, and then giggled. "You must be quite simple-minded, scholar. Lost your way in the dead of night and stumbled onto a solitary manor, and you just knock on the door without a second thought. Aren't you afraid this might be a haunted house?"
What haunted house announces itself as a haunted house?
Li Qiuchen nearly broke, and had to remind himself repeatedly not to lower his guard just because this slip seed simpler.
"Is this truly a haunted house?"
"Yes."
"Please don't tease , young lady."
"Who jokes like this in the middle of the night?"
Is there any chance of having a normal conversation here?
Li Qiuchen took a deep breath and asked with genuine curiosity, "What happens to a living person who stays in a haunted house?"
The maidservant said seriously, "The manor is full of female ghosts. They draw in yang energy from n. Scholar, please don't walk into trouble."
Female ghosts. Well, that changes things considerably...
No. Stop. What do you an that changes things?
"If I may ask, is there any way to sleep here for the night without disturbing the female ghosts of the manor?"
"There is."
The maidservant in blue thought for a mont and nodded. "I am also a ghost of this manor. If you agree to be my husband for one night, and soone encounters you, I'll say you're my husband, and they won't co to bother you."
What? This is actually a plot point?
Li Qiuchen had a fairly good understanding now of why they said Lord He's was good for a person.
More than just good for a person. The man had a genuinely benevolent heart.
Among all these brutal and maddening illusory realm trials, he had left behind this one small warmth.
"If I beco your husband for the night, you won't draw my yang energy?"
"Well, I'd naturally have to draw a little. But my cultivation is shallow, so I can't do what the older sisters do and drain you completely. The most that would happen is you'd wake up tomorrow morning a bit stiff and sore."
No matter. I had health-restoring ginseng tea before I ca.
"Or if you have money, you could pay instead."
Wait, so it's not pay to have your yang energy drawn. It's either one or the other? Li Qiuchen was mildly disappointed.
He searched his pockets. This outfit had absolutely nothing in it.
Impressively broke. Quite an achievent, really. Unclear how this person had made it this far in life.
A thought struck Li Qiuchen, and he produced one of the wayfaring copper coins from his storage bracelet. "Is this the kind of money you're after?"
"Yes, yes, exactly!"
The maidservant in blue lit up with delight, her face breaking into two little dimples. "Money is welco here. Please co in, honored guest!"
[NEXT CHAPTER]
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