Chapter 71 Uncovering the Patterns of the Mystery: One Challenge After Another

"I...I don't know." Faced with Ji Mingran's sudden question and unwavering gaze, Ji Xingyang's face flushed red, his eyes darted around, and a sentence stuck in his throat for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze it out.

Since meeting at the Starry Sky level, Ji Mingran has acted normally and hasn't mentioned anything else. Ji Xingyang assumed that she was temporarily focusing on breaking through the level.

But the thing that had made him uneasy and anxious all the way finally happened. Just when he saw the exit ahead and breathed a sigh of relief.

Caught off guard by the question, Ji Xingyang panicked and stammered in response, making his words seem untrue.

On her clean, porcelain-white face, her clear, dark eyes were cold and still, devoid of the warm smile that usually rippled across them.

She seems to have really discovered something.

Ji Xingyang's heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over him. Although his mother always had a gentle smile and a bright, cheerful expression, he knew she was not someone to be trifled with. When she showed this expression, it meant she was serious, and he couldn't be fooled.

Although he didn't know much about his father's ordeal, he had gleaned some scattered information and had some guesses in his mind. However, he had promised his father to keep it a secret, so he couldn't reveal a single word.

And that's the truth; he wasn't lying.

In an instant, a thousand thoughts raced through Ji Xingyang's mind. He made up his mind and shook his head vigorously, his blond hair flying in an arc: "I really don't know, he didn't tell me."

Back then, he only returned to the Nameless Sect with a fragment of his father's primordial spirit, and then followed him to cultivate until he arrived at the Hongqi Sect, where the primordial spirit disappeared.

Although they were able to contact people, they could only hear their voices and not see any images.

He really didn't know where his father had gone.

As for the rest, he promised not to say.

"Everyone is inside the pavilion. Perhaps you'll run into him after you leave this checkpoint." Cold sweat had already soaked his back. Ji Xingyang racked his brains but decided to try to bluff his way through first: "You'll meet him then."

“That’s not right.” Ji Mingran pointed out the flaw in his words: “He’s not among the people you were traveling with.”

"This..." She had indeed discovered it! Dressing up the puppet exactly the same as the real thing couldn't fool her after all. Ji Xingyang felt despair and gave another vague excuse: "He... he went to heal his wounds and will be back later."

But Ji Mingran pressed on: "Where did he go to heal his wounds?"

"I don't know either." Ji Xingyang felt a chill in his heart. He didn't want to hide it from his mother, nor did he want to break his promise to his father. What should he do?

Not daring to meet Ji Mingran's gaze any longer, Ji Xingyang looked left and right, then forced a dry laugh and said, "Mother, I'm all grown up now, and I still have to walk my own path. I'll go ahead first."

Having said that, he leaped into the ball of light several feet away with lightning speed.

The moment his feet touched the ground, countless green spots sprouted from the ball of light. These spots rapidly expanded and grew, eventually engulfing Ji Xingyang completely.

A cluster of lights.

Faced with the choice between answering and jumping over a landmine, Ji Xingyang made his decision through action.

With one of the people he was asking questions for gone, Ji Mingran calmly shifted his gaze to Shi Jinle.

The latter had already prepared his answer while Ji Xingyang was replying, and now he raised three fingers and swore, "My sincerity towards you is as clear as day." Shi Jinle pouted, looking aggrieved, "Even if you care about other people in front of me, I don't mind. One day, you will be moved by me."

The young disciple of the Zhu family naturally did not understand who Ji Mingran and Ji Xingyang were talking about.

But Shi Jinle knew that, after all, she had personally witnessed the entire process of Ji Xingyang and Ji Mingran recognizing each other in the Realm of All Beings, and had also seen the black-robed man walking alongside Ji Mingran.

She was talking about him.

Shi Jinle looked sorrowful, with tears streaming down his face. He seemed to be greatly affected by Ji Mingran's suspicions, but he still appeared loyal to the death.

What a stubborn and pitiful little white flower.

Unfortunately, she was up against the incorruptible and upright Ji Mingran.

Ji Mingran coldly shattered the illusion: "We're not related, we've only met a few times, it's far from that. Besides, you only became particularly affectionate towards me after you learned that I was Ji Mingran of the Dingsheng Sect."

Shi Jinle explained, "That's because my master also mentioned you to me, and after confirming it, I do indeed think you are a very good person."

Ji Mingran was not convinced: "Since the first competition, the probability of me encountering you is far higher than that of other cultivators." She met you in the first illusion of the first competition, and now she has met you again in the first competition of the third competition.

She always seems to appear around me, or around people she knows.

If we're talking about fate, she and the Nihilists have known each other since childhood, but they've never met so frequently.

Ji Mingran felt that something was wrong, and this was a good opportunity to press him for answers.

The two stared at each other for a long time before Shi Jinle withdrew her gaze. She breathed a sigh of relief and said calmly, "First, I felt a connection with you, then I felt a sense of affinity. It's true that I like you, but I don't want to lie to you." She smiled and took a step to the side, her figure instantly teleporting to the ball of light half a foot away.

"See you next time." Shi Jinle blinked and smiled, "Mingran, my little sister."

A thin mist quickly rose from the ball of light, completely enveloping her.

Well, yet another person who'd rather step on a trigger orb than tell the truth.

Ji Mingran was not discouraged and continued to calmly look towards the next goal.

The young disciples of the Zhu family trembled and huddled together.

Ji Mingran suddenly laughed, "Don't worry, I'm just curious about you guys."

The young disciple of the Zhu family seemed to see a glimmer of hope, "That's right, it's okay if we don't say anything, right?"

Ji Mingran chuckled: "Of course not." She said slowly, "I asked three questions, so at least one of them should have an answer. Otherwise, I would have asked for nothing."

Did asking three questions really take you any effort? This was a question that the young disciple of the Zhu family could only keep to himself, not daring to ask aloud.

While the five were still hesitating, Ji Mingran, too lazy to wait any longer, picked up his foot and left.

Ji Mingran turned his head and saw that the three junior disciples raised their hands in unison, while the two junior disciples sat on the ball of light and raised their feet.

The bandages that almost completely covered his body were quite eye-catching.

"Alright." Ji Mingran waved his hand. "Let's go, follow me."

The round-headed young disciple of the Zhu family asked, "That's...that's all?"

Ji Mingran said casually, "Like I said, I'm just curious. Of the three questions, at least one needs to be answered."

Who can blame them for their eye-catching outfits? It's perfect for asking a question.

"Good!" The young disciples of the Zhu family cheered and quickly followed.

The boundaries of the starry sky continued to expand, with countless clusters of light flashing past before our eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Ji Mingran had returned to the pavilion.

According to the Starry Sky Challenge's instructions, she could receive a "Stay-in-Step" reward upon successful completion. However, before entering the challenge, she had only taken a small step in place. If the other participants from the same level remained in place, she would have to be fully prepared to defend against potential ambushes.

However, the expected ambush by fellow disciples did not occur, and the two figures were no longer in their original positions.

They've most likely entered the attic level.

Ji Mingran turned to look outside the fence. Unlike before, less than half of the participating disciples were still on the various floors of the pavilion. The rest had disappeared, and it was unknown whether they were still challenging the levels or had been eliminated.

Zhu Shibai and Shen Qingluo were not there either.

It seems they made the same choice as her. Rather than staying in the attic and passively waiting for ambushes from the other disciples taking the exam on the same floor, they might as well venture out and give it a try.

Ji Mingran continued looking up, and a fiery red head came into view.

Guan Wangzhen grinned and leaned on the railing, waving at her.

Ji Mingran's eyebrows widened: You're out?

This time, Guan Wangzhen understood the question conveyed in her eyes. He pointed to himself with both thumbs and proudly raised his head: That's right!

Ji Mingran lifted his left foot, held up three fingers, and made a stepping motion, while making a "one" sign with his mouth.

Guan Wangzhen looked serious as he carefully studied her posture.

Ji Mingran retracted one finger, and stepped forward with his left foot, about to stomp on the ground.

She stopped paying attention to Guan Wangzhen's reaction, withdrew the last finger, stepped her left foot directly onto the ground, and lifted her right foot off the ground.

The world spun around, and the buildings spun wildly in circles.

Feeling dizzy, Ji Mingran closed his eyes until the whooshing sound in his ears stopped before opening them again.

A new map has appeared. This time it's a thorny jungle.

It feels quite like returning to the sect's Linfeng.

"You actually figured out the pattern, huh?" A nonchalant voice rang out above him.

The two successfully reunited. Ji Mingran looked up and replied to Guan Wangzhen, "At the last checkpoint, I met disciples of the Zhu family, and they told me this."

Therefore, she was happy to take them out of the pass.

“As long as you take the same step, you will enter the same level.” Guan Wangzhen said, “It seems that after participating in the competition for so many years, the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect have summarized some competition rules. However, the specific content of each competition in the Spiritual Cultivation Competition is different every year, so it is hard for them to go to the trouble of summarizing and writing it down one by one.”

Ji Mingran asked, "How come Shi Bai doesn't know? They're all family members, after all."

“Their family rules are strict, and only the family’s participating disciples can obtain information about the competition,” Guan Wangzhen said. “Didn’t you see those five little ones? They are all very obedient, and none of them would dare to reveal any extra information.”

Ji Mingran recalled, "Their clothes were uniform, and even the bandages were exactly the same."

Guan Wangzhen also recalled, and said with a smile, "When I first met Shi Bai, he was dressed like that too. He was bandaged up tightly. That's a characteristic of the Zhu family, I guess. No Zhu family disciple is without scars. Their cultivation is extremely rigorous."

"Is that so?" Ji Mingran kept his head tilted back, finding the conversation difficult. "What are you doing up in the tree? Come down."

Guan Wangzhen nervously gripped the tree trunk: "Don't even mention it. At the last checkpoint, I encountered a procession of a hundred ghosts. I was resting when I was attacked by some ghostly thing lying in ambush under the tree. I couldn't use my magic. Luckily, I still had the talismans I had drawn earlier, but they were almost all gone. This time, I will definitely not make the same mistake again."

Ji Mingran suddenly realized: "You didn't fail the last challenge, did you?"

At the next checkpoint, the penalty for failing the challenge was to be forced to retreat 100 meters. Guan Wangzhen had already fallen off the fence, but when they met again, he was back on the fence.

Guan Wangzhen remained silent and refused to come down from the tree no matter what.

This is the default setting.

Ji Mingran had no choice but to climb up to accompany him. One of them was forbidden from using formations, and the other was forbidden from using magic.

Unlike the previous level, this level doesn't directly explain its content.

The two should stick together and observe the situation quietly.

Climbing trees has one advantage: they can see and hear everything around them, and they can spot even the slightest movement of the wind or grass.

For example, a thicket of thorns, as tall as the ancient trees, is moving about a little further away.

Ji Mingran and Guan Wangzhen exchanged a glance, and Guan Wangzhen took out a small mirror from his armlet.

Oh, isn't this the magical artifact that Guan Wangzhen used when she first met him?

It can see things a hundred miles away.

“It was a defective product back then, but Shi Bai repaired it.” Guan Wangzhen smiled and said, “Now we can not only see the images, but also hear the sounds.”

Ji Mingran leaned closer.

Regardless of the consequences, completing the competition is the most important thing.