Chapter 85: I Like Nangong Suihou (25,000+ words)

Yu Sui didn't sleep for long; she woke up half an hour later. She patted her face to wake herself up and looked at Mei Liangyu standing at the cave entrance.

Xue Mushi was neither too far nor too close to them, within the range where the strange fire could monitor living things. They just didn't know if their senior brother would be able to detect them at such a distance.

After pausing for a while, Sheng Fei and Zhong Lishan continued their journey.

Zhong Lishan and the others knew Mei Liangyu very well. They weren't confident that he wouldn't fall down with them, especially since it was for Yu Sui's sake. Sheng Fei had nothing to say. After waiting for a while, they decided to go ahead and meet up with Kong Yiyi and the others, and have Nian Qiuyan perform a divination.

If Mei Liangyu hadn't been eliminated, she would have tried to contact them, and the first person the Farmer's Voice Transmission Beast contacted was Cang Shu.

The cliff is too deep and will disrupt the flow of the five elements. If we take a detour, it will probably take two or three days.

In this situation, the best option is to first find Nian Qiuyan, who can accurately predict the results.

Noticing the movement behind her, Mei Liangyu turned around: "Awake?"

Yu Sui nodded, rubbed her eyes, and got up.

Mei Liangyu asked again, "Slept for so long?"

"I'll sleep for three days and three nights after we leave the Dragon Slayer Cave." Yu Sui covered his face and yawned, his eyes still a little misty. "Senior brother, I didn't advance in my cultivation while I was sleeping."

Mei Liangyu said "Oh," and nodded, "Then you can try again next time."

The two walked out one after the other. As they walked, Yu Sui asked, "If a master at the thirteenth level or a saint-level person bestows a blessing, can it also bless others to advance in rank?"

“The foundation that masters emphasize is the connection between ‘name’ and ‘reality.’ Whether the name comes first or the reality comes first depends on the situation. Like what you’re talking about,” Mei Liangyu glanced at Yu Sui walking beside him, “is called Daydream. In the dream, you can directly advance to the level of a saint, but when you wake up, you have to face reality.”

Yu Sui pretended not to understand and said, "I just like living in a dream world."

Mei Liangyu smiled and said slowly, "When you pass the Dragon's Throat 'Three Thousand Forks,' you'd better rein in these thoughts. Being immersed in illusions and unaware of reality is also a kind of fork in the road. If you can't get through it, you won't reach the Dragon Head Ye Pool."

"Is it a trial similar to an illusion?" Yu Sui asked curiously, "Do we have to pass three thousand levels?"

She struck up a conversation with Mei Liangyu, enticing her senior brother to answer the question, while secretly signaling Xue Mushi to go ahead and wait for a chance encounter.

"You can call it an illusion, but it won't bewitch you based on your existing life story. Instead, it will give you a different life story. Maybe you're not doing well in reality, but you can do well on the three thousand paths."

Mei Liangyu said, "It will give you what you can't get and what you want most in your heart, and give you a new life, but it will also test your morality and goodness. No matter what school of cultivation you follow, the test of your character is necessary and the most important thing."

Yu Sui asked, "Is it necessary to do good in order to pass the test?"

That's an interesting question.

Mei Liangyu retorted, "Do you think it's acceptable to do evil?"

“Good and evil aren’t absolute either.” Yu Sui looked down at the mountain path beneath her feet. “How many people in this world can guarantee that they have maintained good intentions from birth to death and have never done any evil deeds, big or small?”

Mei Liangyu nodded, her expression indifferent: "That is reality, and the academy's trial has already made a choice for you. It is to ensure that you maintain good intentions from birth to death."

Whether anyone can actually do it is another matter, but I do agree with the Legalist view that human nature is inherently evil, so people spend their whole lives learning and restraining themselves, learning to maintain good intentions and restraining their evil thoughts.

Yu Sui's pupils reflected the scattered pebbles on the ground.

Some forms of malice are hard to control.

In extreme situations, people always ask: Why me?

Of the millions of people in the world, why me?

Mei Liangyu said, "The academy's various assessments and trials have clear standards, especially those related to illusion. There's no need to distinguish between right and wrong; just choose to do good."

Yu Sui was stunned: "Senior brother, isn't this a bad idea? Those trials related to character and temperament are practically useless."

"I'll only tell you how to get points from the academy." Mei Liangyu glanced at her coolly. "As for your cultivation mindset, that's your master's job. I'm just your senior brother, I'm not responsible for teaching those things."

Just considering that Yu Sui was able to evade assassination attempts for over ten years, and despite the hatred and conflicts within her family, she was still able to pretend to be foolish and cheerful and live to this day, so her character can't be too bad.

Besides, if he taught everything, what would be the point of having a master?

Yu Sui then asked the same question about the three thousand forks in the road: "Do I absolutely have to go through it?"

Mei Liangyu said, "You are a disciple of the Ghost Daoist School, and this is your ultimate trial."

Just as the two finished speaking, they saw Xue Mushi standing on the opposite bank of the river, completely soaked.

Xue Mushi emerged from the morning mist and stood on the riverbank, staring blankly at the two people walking side by side on the opposite bank. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly raised an arm and waved to Yu Sui and the other person.

Yu Sui: "..."

This silly entrance was actually quite normal and fitting for Xue Mushi, perfectly in line with his personality.

But now he's a eccentric and aloof fortune teller.

Mei Liangyu glanced at Xue Mushi, then at Yu Sui beside her, her brows twitching slightly. You could say this Taoist disciple had a strange temper; at first glance, he certainly did.

"That looks like Xue Mushi," Yu Sui whispered.

“It’s not just a possibility,” Mei Liangyu said. “It is him.”

Yu Sui waved to Xue Mushi, who still pretended to be stupid. He shouted to the two of them from across the riverbank, "Can we cross the river using the Bagua Life Technique?"

Mei Liangyu said, "Okay."

Yu Sui then shouted back loudly, "Senior brother said it's okay!"

Xue Mushi crossed the river using the Bagua Life Technique. Yu Sui was explaining to Mei Liangyu that he had fallen into the river during a fight. He had learned his lesson from the experience and was afraid to cross the river easily.

Mei Liangyu looked at the two people in front of him, stroked his chin, and said, "We've found them all."

Yu Sui asked Xue Mushi, "Why are you all soaking wet? Didn't you take shelter from the rain?"

“The rain from last night hasn’t stopped yet. I was afraid that other Rank A disciples might fall down as well, so I kept moving around to avoid encountering them.” Xue Mushi pursed his lips and continued naturally, “I used divination to avoid dangerous places.”

Mei Liangyu looked him over and said, "Then you can use divination to see if there's any shortcut down here."

Xue Mushi: "Okay."

The understanding Yu Sui said, "Is it okay? How are you feeling right now? Why don't you rest for a while and then try again?"

"It's alright." Xue Mushi shook his head, and the copper coin in his hand flew out and hovered in the air beside him.

Mei Liangyu was just saying it casually, after all, Su Tong had previously praised Xue Mushi for how accurate his divination was, but he had never witnessed it himself.

Although disciples of every school know a little about divination, they basically only divine things related to themselves, and it's already considered good if they can get three-tenths of the truth. Divining for others is just mysterious and unpredictable.

The masters of divination are the pinnacle of the art, followed by the Taoists.

Therefore, no matter how capable Mei Liangyu was, he would not do the divination himself, but would wait and see what Xue Mushi would do.

The copper coins suspended in different positions trembled and hummed. One of them flew back to Xue Mushi's palm after making a cracking sound, and then another one, until only one copper coin remained.

"This way," Xue Mushi said, pointing to the copper coin floating in the air.

Mei Liangyu led Yu Sui with him without saying anything. Divination methods vary, and the result is what matters.

On the way, Yu Sui changed the routes of the other disciples in the vicinity, leading them here. If only she and Xue Mushi survived the fall off the cliff, it would arouse suspicion.

People won't easily believe your "luck"; there will always be all sorts of strange analyses to suggest that it's not a coincidence.

Yu Sui attracted only Lone Wolf disciples, or pairs of two, and although it took some time, Mei Liangyu managed to deal with them all.

He had just advanced to the tenth realm and wanted to practice his skills.

Yu Sui was also able to observe his senior brother's strength openly and closely.

Mei Liangyu was indeed misled by the disciples brought by Yu Sui's alteration of the terrain, believing that they were not the only ones who survived the fall, since they could later use the Five Elements Qi and other Class A disciples could also survive if they reacted quickly enough.

The cave entrance, hidden in the jungle, was pitch black from the outside, and its destination was unknown.

Xue Mushi entered the cave, lit a fire for illumination, and looked at the pebbles on the ground, saying, "This is a famous rock used to ask for directions."

Neither he nor Yu Sui knew any of the Nine Schools of Famous Arts. Although Yu Sui could transmit formations, he couldn't use them in front of his senior brother, so he could only turn his head to look at Mei Liangyu.

Mei Liangyu didn't need them to say anything; he took it upon himself to activate the teleportation array.

Guided by his five elements, the pebbles rearranged to form an open stone gate.

Crossing the stone gate leads to the tenth section of the dragon's belly.

Emerging from the teleportation portal in the tenth section of the dragon's belly, one is greeted by a sea of ​​flowers. Unlike the drizzling rain in the ninth section, here the sun shines brightly, and the flowers are a riot of colors, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Yu Sui said softly, "It doesn't feel easy to walk here."

“Illusion,” Mei Liangyu said. “Don’t look at it too much. Rely on daytime astrology.”

With a wave of his hand, a star map appeared above, with the four constellations connected in a line, pointing in different directions.

Just as Xue Mushi was about to step forward, Mei Liangyu stopped him: "Take a good look at what's under the flower before you go."

The Void Constellation was separated out, and the Void Constellation Star General, the Frost White Python, flew out from it. Its enormous body swam rapidly through the sea of ​​flowers, crushing the flowers and grass while also exposing the black Gu worms hidden beneath them.

"Let's go to a place without Gu worms." Mei Liangyu walked in front.

Yu Sui didn't want these troubles, but she couldn't change some of the natural scenery. If she wanted to take a shortcut from the bottom of the cliff to find Sheng Fei and the others, she had to pass through this teleportation point.

The poison was potent, capable of eroding the five elements. The Frost White Python cleared a path, but it was tainted by too many poisonous insects and shattered in no time.

Mei Liangyu would then summon it again, and this cycle would continue until they emerged from the sea of ​​flowers.

The teleportation point to the eleventh section of the dragon's belly is not far away, just at the end of the sea of ​​flowers.

However, those without real strength have already perished in the sea of ​​flowers, and only a few can reach the end.

At this moment, Mei Liangyu stared into deep thought as he looked at the dark cave entrance before him.

It only takes half an hour to cross the sea of ​​flowers, and the teleportation point is at the end, leading directly to the eleventh section of the dragon's belly. Isn't that a bit fast?

At this rate, it seems he'll arrive at Dragon's Throat sooner than Zhonglishan and the others.

"Senior brother?" Yu Sui, who had already entered the cave, turned around and saw Mei Liangyu standing at the cave entrance, looking at him with confusion.

Mei Liangyu looked at Xue Mushi behind Yu Sui: "I haven't walked this road before."

Xue Mushi said, "There are many teleportation points in the Dragon Slayer Cave."

That's true. Every teleportation point that is now widely known was discovered through countless trials by former disciples.

Xue Mushi also used the power of divination, as he didn't think Mei Liangyu could find any suspicious points in this matter.

As long as I answer with a cold and expressionless face.

"I wonder where Third Brother and the others are. Should we go ahead to look for them or turn back?" Yu Sui asked at the opportune moment.

“No need to look for them, we’re fast, just keep moving forward.” Mei Liangyu withdrew her gaze from Xue Mushi and stepped into the cave. “As long as your divination is correct, I can contact them through the communication beast and have them take the same path.”

This way, no one's time will be wasted, and Zhong Lishan and the others who are walking behind will actually be safer.

Having witnessed Xue Mushi's divination abilities, Mei Liangyu had to admit that she had underestimated him before.

Yu Sui glanced at the distribution of disciples inside the Dragon Slaying Cave. They were not the fastest; the fastest group of disciples had already reached the twelfth segment of the dragon's belly, and the next step was the dragon's throat.

She glanced at the teleportation portal of the twelve sections of the dragon's belly. Many red dots were stopped there, some of them two or three people huddled together, keeping their distance from each other. They didn't seem to be from the same team. Although they were all exposed, they didn't fight.

Day six of the Dragon Slayer Cave challenge.

The twelfth section of the dragon's belly is the portal to the dragon's throat.

Before me was still the dark, rocky cave entrance, beyond which lay a shallow sandy beach. Waves were lapping against the shore with the morning breeze, the sea shimmering. In the distance, several warships were slowly sailing, resembling a scene of armored soldiers and dragons among fish.

There were about twenty or thirty Class A disciples on the beach, each in their own group, some with two or three people, others with three or five.

However, these were all scattered outside the cave. The only three Class A disciples who could stand at the cave entrance were Kong Yiyi, Nian Qiuyan, and Cang Shu.

The closest Class A disciple to Kong Yiyi was only eight steps away.

At this distance, a simplified landscape pattern composed of pebbles is visible on the ground.

The top-tier disciples who can arrive here at this time are all quite strong, and they are all working in small teams, which can make up for the shortcomings of one-on-one combat.

It is precisely because everyone is quite strong that the stalemate has lasted for so long.

Nian Qiuyan laid out an eight-diagram formation at the cave entrance. After entering the formation, you can take seven steps at will, but if you do not exit the formation by the eighth step and encounter Kong Yiyi, you will surely die.

Kong Yiyi, a top-notch military strategist, combined with Nian Qiuyan's divination formation, Cang Shu's Gu poison, and her beast control, blocked the cave entrance all night, preventing anyone from passing through.

As dawn broke, Nian Qiuyan squinted and said gently, "It's a new day, time to cast three more divinations."

"Don't you dare take up any more spots." Bai Duo, a disciple of a famous family waiting on the left, rolled his eyes and pointed at Nian Qiuyan. "If you hadn't put Kong Yiyi in the eighth step, and you were there, I would have knocked your head off."

He was clearly quite angered by Nian Qiuyan's divination formation.

His forte was still military strategy.

With the help of disciples of military strategists, one can truly achieve the feat of defeating a thousand troops single-handedly.

Everyone knew that Nian Qiuyan only performed three divinations a day.

The weaknesses are obvious, but it is not easy to overcome them.

Kong Yiyi turned to look at Bai Duo, a disciple of a famous family, and arrogantly raised her chin, pointing at him with a vacant look, saying, "You talk big without batting an eye. Why don't you try entering the formation and see who knocks whose head off?"

Bai Duo snorted coldly and withdrew his hand, saying, "Let Nian Qiuyan fight me."

Kong Yiyi said, "I'll let you fight me."

"Why should I fight you?!" Bertholdt said bitterly.

Kong Yiyi put her hands on her hips, the silver ring on her wrist slipped back and made a soft clinking sound, but she was not flustered: "Why did Qiu Yan fight with you that year?"

Bo Duo stomped his foot in anger: "His divination formation has blocked us all here. If we don't fight him, who should we fight?"

Kong Yiyi: "I don't care."

Nian Qiuyan laughed and said, "Calm down, it's just an academy trial, there's no need to get so angry."

Upon hearing this, the others couldn't help but glare at Nian Qiuyan.

This divination formation looks simple and unassuming, but once you enter it, after taking seven steps, you will be unconditionally controlled by Nian Qiuyan on the eighth step. During your seven steps, the formation will extract all your five elements and gather them into Nian Qiuyan's hands.

Therefore, in the eighth step, your life and death are entirely in Nian Qiuyan's hands.

The reason Kong Yiyi was assigned to guard the eighth step was because the opponents before them were all top-level disciples of the eighth or ninth realm. They could cooperate to break through the formation, and Kong Yiyi's armor formation and weapon control could maximize the power of the formation, making it impossible for any of them to pass.

But some of them were able to get through the battle.

The disciples of the Ghost Daoist sect find it easiest to pass through the Eight Trigrams Formation.

The Ghost Daoist's soul control and seven senses allow them to evade the mechanism of the divination array that extracts the five elements' energy. Unfortunately, the Ghost Daoist has fewer disciples compared to other schools. Although there are some powerful and promising individuals, they are few in number.

Besides Mei Liangyu, there are only three other disciples of the Ghost Daoist school who can break through the Eight Diagrams of the Autumn Goose Divination Formation.

Although these three were not as famous as Mei Liangyu, they were quite skilled in the art of ghost magic. However, Mei Liangyu knew too much, and his powerful fellow disciples paled in comparison.

Coincidentally, all three of them had been eliminated earlier and were now outside cursing at the Dragon Slayer Cave.

The remaining twenty-odd Class A disciples had considered joining forces to attack, but they were all competitors. What if someone attacked them in the process?

Without trust, there can be no cooperation.

Even if they wanted to cooperate, Kong Yiyi and Nian Qiuyan would argue and sow discord between them.

Nian Qiuyan's explanation to the public was: "The divination formation only blocks people, it does not harm them. After the rest of our team arrives, we will go to the Dragon's Throat together, starting from the same point. Before that, no one will suffer any losses."

As long as you don't reach the eighth step in the formation, nothing bad will happen.

A fight would only prolong the stalemate between the parties, and neither side could easily eliminate the other.

Some teams thought this was good, so they kept their distance from everyone, resting or getting food on the edge, and some even went fishing in the sea.

Some teams felt this wouldn't work; what if Yi Qiuyan went back on her word and then left some kind of divination formation to stall for time after the others arrived?

Disciples of renowned masters like Bai Duo tried every means to provoke Nian Qiuyan, urging him to stand up and fight, and to deal with this troublesome fellow who knew how to cast divination spells.

Several female disciples looked at Kong Yiyi with pitiful expressions, calling her "Sister Yiyi" or "Little Sister Yiyi" from a distance of a few steps, and coaxing her with sweet words to stop guarding the formation at the eighth step.

Kong Yiyi turned a blind eye and said, "I won't listen."

Liao Xue from the Yin-Yang School wiped away her tears and said, "Sister Yiyi, we will definitely wait for you at Longhou after we finish the battle before we leave. I keep my word."

Kong Yiyi raised her hand and pointed at the disciples of the Ming and Legal schools, saying, "You will repeat the testimony of the Ming and Legal schools again. If it is false, you will be sentenced to lightning punishment by the Legal school on the spot."

Liao Xue turned and threw herself into another person's arms: "You girls from military families are all too cruel!"

Cang Shu was leaning against the edge of the stone cave, yawning. Several of his junior brothers and sisters were also trying to play the victim with him, crying and saying that they would die if they couldn't get the Heavenly Secret Technique by reaching Yechi.

He wanted to say that he should just die, since he could be eliminated without lifting a finger, but then he remembered Shi Yuezhen's warning that saying such things could easily make enemies. So he swallowed his words and started staring blankly into the air, ignoring everyone else's cries and complaints.

Some people also tried to break through the formation, but after entering, they felt the oppressive feeling brought by the mountains and rivers. They felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and couldn't withstand the loss of the five elements' energy, so they quickly retreated and gathered together to seriously study how to break the formation. They would ask Nian Qiuyan a few questions from time to time, creating a very friendly academic atmosphere.

A tiny, reddish-brown communication beast climbed onto Cang Shu's shoulder, slid down his neck to his ear, and told him the message from Shi Yuezhen.

Upon learning that Mei Liangyu had fallen off a cliff and his fate was unknown, Cang Shu blinked, turned around and walked towards Nian Qiuyan, telling him and Kong Yiyi about it.

Kong Yiyi puffed out her cheeks, not expecting this turn of events. She lowered her voice and said, "Why would Meimei jump down after that? Isn't that a sure way to die?"

Cang Shu said slowly, "Save his junior sister."

That's why Kong Yiyi was puzzled: "Is he that kind of person?"

Cang Shu then said, "Is that so?"

Kong Yiyi recalled Nangong Sui's appearance and the fact that she had eaten with Xing Chun and herself a few times. She had a good impression of Nangong Sui. After thinking about it carefully, she suddenly realized and said, "I understand. Meimei likes Nangong Sui."

Nian Qiuyan smiled and said, "He really likes his junior sister Nangong Sui."

His feelings about Nangong Sui's divination were not negative. Xing Chun also said that he often saw her running to the Yin-Yang Five Elements field to open star charts and military formations. She transformed from a mediocre practitioner into a low-level sorcerer and diligently studied the path of cultivation.

Aside from his close relationship with Gu Gan and being the heir of the Nangong family, which is opposed to the Zhongli family, there's nothing wrong with him.

Mei Liangyu didn't care about the former, Zhonglishan didn't care about the latter, and Nian Qiuyan and the others wouldn't care either.

“He wouldn’t have jumped if he wasn’t absolutely sure.” Cang Shu paused for a while before adding, “He’s not that reckless.”

Kong Yiyi's understanding of liking was clearly different from Nian Qiuyan's understanding of liking, so she retorted: "He can't always maintain absolute calm and rationality. After liking Nangong Sui, it's understandable that he would do such a thing in a moment of emotional impulse."

Cang Shu looked at her with a blank expression.

Kong Yiyi raised her elbow and nudged Nian Qiuyan: "Explain it to Cang Shu again, he doesn't seem to understand."

Nian Qiuyan shook her head and said gently, "Meimei is most likely still alive."

After he finished speaking, he began to perform the first divination of the day.

Nian Qiuyan held the black sacred wood divination stick in her hand, her fingertips slowly tracing its surface from bottom to top. Wisps of golden light appeared and vanished in an instant on the black stick; Nian Qiuyan gleaned some information from the light and paused at the top of the stick.

"They're still inside the Dragon Slayer Cave." Nian Qiuyan glanced back thoughtfully at the teleportation array. "They seem to be ahead of us."

"How is that possible?" Kong Yiyi's eyes widened. "He fell off the cliff in the ninth section of the dragon's belly, without even passing through the teleportation array."

Nian Qiuyan said, "Wasn't that Taoist diviner also falling down with us? In the Dragon Slaying Cave, crisis is also opportunity. The newcomers will have better luck than us."

Kong Yiyi rolled her eyes, glanced at the disciples outside, and whispered, "Why don't we go over and take a look first?"

Nian Qiuyan also quietly replied to her: "Then the situation got out of control."

[Author's Note]

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!