Chapter 44, the First Trial of Water and Sky, has begun.

Zhaixinglou is located on an island in the middle of the lake, surrounded by water covered with lotus flowers.

Xiaoyao You has a particular fondness for water. Whether it's Yunmeng Marsh, where he cultivates, or the Zhaixing Tower, both are inextricably linked to water.

Perhaps it is because, in the story of Xiaoyao You, it is believed that Taiyi generates water, and water in turn assists Taiyi, thus forming the heavens; the heavens in turn assist Taiyi, thus forming the earth; the heavens and the earth assist each other, thus forming the divine.

Water is the mother of all things and the origin of the world.

They saw the laws governing the universe through water, and this led to the development of many cunning schemes.

Shen Cangyu steered the boat, pushing aside layers upon layers of lotus leaves. The stems swayed and the leaves danced wildly, like water ghosts beckoning with their clothes, clinging to the edge of the boat.

The closer you get to the Star-Picking Tower, the thicker the white mist becomes, and everything becomes unreal.

Shen Cangyu moored the boat at the shore and walked alone into the Star-Picking Tower. The candlelight inside flickered, becoming brighter the higher she went. The moment she stepped onto the rooftop platform, she looked down and saw her own reflection.

The high platform of the Star-Picking Tower is like a bright mirror, or like water, reflecting the stars in the sky, as if heaven and earth have been reversed.

Huang Menglu was sitting on the edge of the high platform. Hearing the noise, he turned around to look at her.

Perhaps because the quiz was an important occasion, she changed into Kunlun's uniform, no longer wearing her old and wrinkled clothes. She did look quite like a cool and aloof teacher, but when she opened her mouth, she didn't say anything serious.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I am an impartial elder. Even if you beg me to tell you the exam questions, I will not tell you." Huang Menglu subconsciously touched her waist, but found nothing. There was no wine pot, so she had to withdraw her hand.

Shen Cangyu simply smiled and said, "I wouldn't need the elders to give me special treatment."

She arrived at the Star-Picking Tower an hour early. Now, there were only the two of them in the tower, and no other disciples.

She walked over and sat down next to Huang Menglu, and together they looked at the reflection on the ground.

Huang Menglu suddenly had a whim and asked her, "Do you know what's above the sky?"

Cultivators have always pursued immortality and ascension. In many people's minds, ascension means flying to the sky. But is there really a world in the sky that belongs exclusively to immortals?

"Above the sky, there is probably still the sky," Shen Cangyu said.

Huang Menglu pointed to the mirror-like floor and said, "I think the sky is water. Look, this platform is like the surface of water, so isn't the sky just below the water?"

Following her gaze, Shen Cangyu looked down and saw their reflections beneath them, as if the platform were merely a thin membrane separating two worlds—one on the platform, the other below.

Is there a mirror in the sky, like this high platform, reflecting another world?

They are characters in the book, living within its pages, but outside the book lies another world. Is there perhaps another world beyond that world, one they are unaware of?

The world is built up layer upon layer. If you don't break free from it, you'll be like a frog at the bottom of a well, forever only able to see what's in your eyes.

Shen Cangyu's gaze became unfocused, as if he wanted to look through the clouds to the origin of the world.

Huang Menglu knew from her expression that she was having an epiphany again.

When the teachers of Kunlun occasionally gathered during their spare time, they would inadvertently talk about their disciples. But no matter who it was, they all spoke highly of Shen Cangyu.

Fang Bushou favored intelligent children and always complained about Shen Cangyu's stubbornness, saying that Wanqi Guixin had delayed her.

As soon as Fang Bushou spoke, they knew that the old man had taken a liking to talent and was now building momentum to announce to everyone that if Shen Cangyu ever wanted to leave Wanqi Guixin, he would be the first to snatch him away.

Huang Menglu hadn't seen Fang Bushou so anxious in many years, but she also admitted that Shen Cangyu was indeed a smart and special child.

She was special, and Huang Menglu felt very close to her.

Every time Huang Menglu saw Shen Cangyu, he had a strange feeling, as if she were shrouded in mist, and he couldn't see Shen Cangyu's face clearly.

Normally, she could tell herself that the alcohol had blurred her vision, which was why she couldn't see Shen Cangyu's appearance clearly.

But even though she didn't drink today, she found that she still couldn't remember her face.

She could only recognize Shen Cangyu when they met, but once they were apart for some time, she would gradually forget her existence.

If they had been separated for a longer period, Huang Menglu might have forgotten about Shen Cangyu altogether.

She secretly tested others, only to find that this only happened to her, not to anyone else.

Even Lu Qianhe, who also roamed freely, had not had such an experience.

Huang Menglu couldn't say whether it was her problem or Shen Cangyu's problem. But she knew that her cultivation level in the Free and Unfettered Journey was higher than others, and she could sense many things that others couldn't see.

Like a prophetic vision of the heavens, she always sensed the trajectory of the world before others.

Just then, someone leaned against Feng Xu, who was flying through the air and scaling the walls, and leaped onto the Star-Picking Tower. He landed gracefully, and before he could even feel smug, he looked up and saw Huang Menglu's subtle gaze.

He glanced behind him guiltily and saw the large gray footprints he had left on the eaves.

As the assessment time drew near, more and more disciples arrived at the Star-Picking Tower. A group of people crowded noisily on the platform, breaking the original tranquility of the Star-Picking Tower.

Lu Yuan ran to Shen Cangyu's side and winked at her.

Shen Cangyu shrugged in response.

At midnight, Huang Menglu glanced at the crowd and raised his hand.

Everyone felt a sense of weightlessness, and the scene in front of them kept spinning.

When Shen Cangyu finally stood firm, he saw a dazzling array of lights all around him, with carriages flowing like water and horses like dragons, and the sounds of gongs and drums and the aroma of food wafting towards him. This was not the Star-Picking Tower, but a night market in an unknown capital city.

The bustling night markets in the mortal world, especially in the prosperous capital, were something she had seen many of in her early years when she went out to buy goods, so she quickly adapted.

Shen Cangyu looked around at the scene. There were no other disciples present except for her. It seemed that everyone had landed in different places.

Huang Menglu's voice suddenly came from the sky, like heavenly music.

She said that this was the first test in their evaluation.

Five stone tablets are scattered in five locations throughout the capital city. They need to find all five stone tablets within four hours and press their palm prints on them in order to pass the test.

This assessment will rank participants based on the time it takes them to find the stone tablet, which will determine their ranking in the first stage of the assessment.

"The location information of the stone tablet is among the stars in the sky."

Upon hearing Huang Menglu's words, Shen Cangyu raised her head. She understood that this assessment was testing the disciples' familiarity with the star map.

Every star in the sky corresponds to a location on Earth. If they have a good understanding of star charts, they can directly see the clues.

However, even those who are not good at stargazing can still deduce the answer through mental manipulation or their own Taoist practices.

In such situations, the "All Weapons Return to the Heart" technique, which relies on force to achieve victory, is essentially useless.

Shen Cangyu suddenly felt a weight on the hem of her clothes. She looked down and met the eyes of a familiar lizard.

These are Lu Yuan's four lizard spirits, who somehow managed to cling to her clothes and follow her here. Lu Yuan used this method to make contact with her, hoping to reunite with her as soon as possible.

Shen Cangyu picked up the Four Immortals of the Lizard and placed them on her shoulder. Just as she was about to speak, Huang Menglu's voice suddenly rang out.

"In this test, you must pretend to be ordinary people, do not reveal your identities, and never allow ordinary people to use mental tricks or Taoist magic in front of you. Remember this."

As soon as she finished speaking, the first disciple was punished for using mental techniques in front of mortals, and half an hour was added to the total time when the final calculation was completed.

If they are discovered by mortals once, the settlement time will be increased by half an hour. This means that if they are accidentally exposed to mortals eight times, they will be directly eliminated and expelled from the assessment.

Upon hearing Huang Menglu's words, many disciples complained. Huang Menglu had already explained many assessment rules and requirements, and the impatient disciples were already bored, wandering aimlessly around the city searching for the stone tablet. Who knew that Huang Menglu would suddenly announce this rule, catching them completely off guard.

"Haste makes waste; a little patience is never a bad thing." Huang Menglu's voice drifted over, making one wonder if her actions were intentional.

Shen Cangyu listened to the list of punished disciples and was relieved to find that Lu Yuan and Ming Zhao were not on it.

She stood at the bridgehead, looking up at the stars. Thin clouds obscured the sky, allowing her to see only a sliver of light. Her gaze was fixed on each star, recalling their names one by one, trying to find the anomaly through elimination.

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Lu Yuan standing behind her, panting and holding his back. He said, "I finally found you. You've exhausted me."

Shen Cangyu touched his sleeve, took out a water pouch, and handed it to her.

Lu Yuan looked at the water pouch with surprise: "Why do you have a water pouch? Didn't Elder Huang disable our hidden universes?"

To be fair, Elder Huang only placed them in the illusion, while all their tools and magical artifacts disappeared. They had no shortcuts and could only rely on themselves.

“I just bought this.” Shen Cangyu pointed to the night market stalls in the distance.

Lu Yuan took a sip of water to moisten his throat, then suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, where did you get the money?"

Shen Cangyu smiled and gestured with both hands, saying, "Making money by performing."

Lu Yuan was dumbfounded: "Your 'All Things Return to the Heart'... I didn't know you had this kind of skill."

Hearing her praise, Shen Cangyu shook his head and suddenly asked, "Have you seen Mingzhao?"

"No." Lu Yuan scratched his head.

Shen Cangyu took out the paper in her hand, on which was the star map she had just drawn: "I have deciphered the clues in the star map, but to match the information in the star map to the location on the ground, I still need her Wenxin Diaolong to help."

"You deciphered the star map so quickly?" Lu Yuan exclaimed. "Luckily, I had the foresight to come find you, but unfortunately Mingzhao..."

As she spoke, her voice suddenly stopped as she stared at a small object hanging beside Shen Cangyu's robe. She initially thought it was an insect and was about to reach out to flick it, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was not an insect at all, but a small character "寻" (xún, meaning "to seek").

She raised her hand and removed the small character from Shen Cangyu's robe. There was a thin line hanging on the character "寻" (xún), like a spider's web. If you didn't look closely, you really couldn't see it.

"Isn't this the missing person notice from The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons?" Shen Cangyu recognized it when he saw the word "missing" in her hand.

Lu Yuan suddenly changed her mind halfway through her sentence: "It seems that Ming Zhao isn't so stupid after all." She even knew to place a missing person notice on Shen Cangyu.

Sure enough, they waited at the bridgehead for a short while before Mingzhao came running up from a distance, panting.

She ran very fast, and when the people around her heard the noise and turned to look at her, they couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

Shen Cangyu looked closely and indeed saw the character "疾" (meaning "illness") stuck to Mingzhao's legs.

"We've finally found you!" Mingzhao sighed.

Just as Shen Cangyu was about to hand her the star map, a celestial voice suddenly rang out.