How come she has to take an exam after traveling through time?
Xincong Mountain has two peaks, one shorter and one taller. After Zhou Suyao caught up with her master, she obediently placed herself behind him and naturally landed on the shorter peak.
Right in front of us stands a majestic stone archway, with three large vermilion characters "Xincong Zong" shining brightly.
Different from other memorial archways, this one has two phoenix-like birds carved on both ends, shining brightly.
Zhou Suyao couldn't help but blurt out: "Wow, so fairy! So noble!"
"...What a tasteless fellow." The master choked helplessly.
However, Zhou Suyao had no intention of arguing with her master at this moment. Her eyes were drawn to the bustling crowd in front of the Dao Sect's gate, and she was particularly fixated on a very beautiful woman.
The woman was wearing a slim-fitting blue and white "school uniform" - it was called that because the people following her were all wearing exactly the same thing. This look instantly aroused Zhou Suyao's fear of being dominated by the uniform sack school uniform.
The extremely beautiful woman walked slowly towards them, accompanied by an old man. The old man was also quite distinctive, with a snow-white, curly beard piled on his chin, which reminded her of the Santa Claus in her childhood memories. However, this "Santa Claus" was thin, not wearing a red robe, and looked like an immortal. He also didn't speak in standard English.
The old man walked over, bowed to her master, and said, "Junior brother, it's been many years since we last met. Listen to my advice, Yangming, and take in more disciples. Otherwise, when your unique skills run out of successors, I won't even be able to cry at your grave."
To Zhou Suyao's surprise, her frivolous master simply rolled his eyes and didn't bother to say a word.
The old man could only treat it as a self-indulgent plea, and turned his inquiring gaze to Zhou Suyao. His eyes seemed to see through her inside and out, frightening her so much that she shuddered and secretly shrank behind the master as a pendant.
"Oh, this little girl seems very talented," the old man said, changing the subject in a pretentious tone, "I'm really worried about our Mingluo."
As soon as he finished speaking, the extremely beautiful woman behind him stepped forward and bowed.
Even in the tense atmosphere, Zhou Suyao's first reaction was: Wow! The beautiful girl's name is really beautiful!
Just as she was about to open her mouth to strike up a conversation, her collar suddenly felt tighter at the back—she was grabbed by that cheap master again!
“Ouch…”
However, when she looked up and saw the serious look on her master's face, her neck stiffened and she shrank back.
The master nodded slightly to the old man with an expressionless face: "The evaluation time is almost here, let's go ahead. Please hurry up, both of you, otherwise you will be late and lose to my Suyao in the competition, which will be embarrassing." After that, he picked up Zhou Suyao and flew towards the highest peak.
"No way!" Zhou Suyao raged inwardly, "Master! Don't you always say that the chicken at the village entrance learns faster than me? This time you're using me as a pretext again."
But considering the master's unfriendly expression, she wisely kept her mouth shut. But when she reached the highest peak, her curiosity got the better of her: "Master, what happened to you just now?"
The master glared at her: "Mind your own business, little brat!"
"Let me take care of it, Master~" Zhou Suyao turned on the repeater mode, jumping like a little spring, "Tell me, tell me, tell me..."
The master was extremely annoyed by her, but he couldn't shake her off, so he could only fan himself and put on a vicissitudes of life: "Do you really want to hear it?"
"Yeah, yeah!" She nodded desperately.
"Okay," the master said slowly, "I'll talk to you in detail after you finish the exam."
Zhou Suyao's hopes were dashed, and she instantly wilted. She had no choice but to make a final effort, grabbing her master's sleeve and shaking it vigorously: "Master, if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have been in the mood to take the exam... Talk to me..."
Perhaps because he was completely annoyed by her, the master looked at the still early hour, sighed, lifted his skirt and sat on the ground: "Forget it, if you really want to know, I'll tell you."
"Okay!" Zhou Suyao immediately followed suit, sitting cross-legged and assuming a special posture for eating melons.
The master pretended to stroke his nonexistent beard, his eyes wandering as he shook his head. "Back in the day, I was a handsome young man from Jiangdong. I was fooled by your master's words, 'I see you have a unique character and are born with wisdom,' and foolishly followed him into the deep mountains and forests..."
"Yeah, yeah!" Zhou Suyao nodded repeatedly.
"However……"
The master had just uttered a word when Zhou Suyao's feet suddenly left the ground - the back of her collar was lifted up again!
“Ouch!”
As soon as the scream burst out of her throat, her senior brother Zhou Shanyuan, who was holding her, was quick-witted and quick-handed, and cast a silencing spell accurately.
"Mmmm!!!" She struggled in vain, kicking her legs.
The eldest brother, riding the majestic golden black tortoise, carried her, a "fearful of heights," and flew towards the summit of the test with an expressionless face. The speed was so fast, and the wind pressure was so strong, that Zhou Suyao felt her stomach churn and her vision went black.
After landing, the eldest brother released the silencing spell.
“Ugh! Big Brother, you murdered…Yue!”
When Zhou Suyao was still half-dead, lying on the rockery, his face pale and his soul out of his body, his second senior brother Qu Mingwu and his third senior brother Zhou Zonglan finally arrived.
The third brother gracefully leaped off the sword, hands behind his back, and looked at her with a silly smile: "Oh, are you suffering from the aftereffects of being 'flyed' by your eldest brother again?"
Nearby, the eldest senior brother was squatting on the ground in a posture that was extremely inconsistent with his stunning appearance, holding a bare peach branch in his arms. Upon hearing this, he looked up and asked, "Where is Master?"
"I'm downstairs reminiscing about the good old days with my old friends." The second brother interrupted, walked over to Zhou Suyao, and pointed at several of her desks. "Hey, you're back to life. The exam is coming up soon, why are you lying here like a corpse?"
"No one cares whether I live or die..." Zhou Suyao was barely breathing and was filled with grief.
In a flash, three deafening clangs erupted from a nearby boulder inscribed with the words "Wang Ling Tang." A powerful Taoist bellowed, "Exam participants, enter! Latecomers will not be allowed in! Hurry! Enter!"
The eldest brother had no choice but to pull her up from the rock, quickly put a pearl bracelet on her wrist, and urged her in a low voice: "Don't dawdle, go quickly."
He glanced at his second and third senior brothers standing together in the distance, then leaned closer to her ear and lowered his voice even lower, "Do well in the exam, and don't bring shame to the sect. If you want to know, come back after the exam, and I'll tell you."
This move really hit her vital point accurately.
Her eyes lit up: "Really?!"
"real."
"Is this melon ripe?" she asked reflexively.
“…Keep it cooked.” The eldest brother’s mouth twitched slightly.
"Great!" The gloom on Zhou Suyao's face disappeared, and she was instantly revived to full health. She turned around and rushed towards the entrance, as if the person who was vomiting all over the place just now was not her.
The eldest brother stared at her cheerful back and shook his head helplessly - this girl's acting skills were too superb, making him worry for nothing.
After passing through the huge, ripple-like golden barrier at the entrance of the mourning hall, the view suddenly opened up.
A massive semicircular blue energy barrier enveloped the area, and a number of people had gathered inside. The crowd was clearly divided, each wearing a uniform "school uniform"—clearly, these were the young disciples of the "Thirty-Two Paths" that the master had mentioned.
Zhou Suyao was looking around when a familiar figure waved at her from a distance. She squinted her eyes and saw that it was the beautiful woman named Mingluo.
Mingluo trotted over and took her hand affectionately: "Where are the other people in your Taoist temple?"
Zhou Suyao gave an awkward smile. "Actually, I'm the only freshman this year. We're known for our vast, sparsely populated, quiet environment."
Ming Luo heard this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Well, then you come stand next to me."
Following Ming Luo toward the neat formation of blue and white school uniforms, Zhou Suyao couldn't help but murmur inwardly: This Xincong Zongguang has so many disciples reaching adulthood this year, and the sect is so large. I'm afraid the dormitories will be as crowded as Liu Yuxi's "Humble Dwelling Inscription." Tsk, it's better to rule the land and be the king.
Before he could finish muttering in his heart, a little junior sister squeezed over from behind and anxiously called out to Mingluo, "Senior sister! There's a junior sister behind us who is so nervous that she's dizzy and fainted!"
Ming Luo could only cast an apologetic look at Zhou Suyao and hurriedly followed her junior sister. Zhou Suyao was left standing alone in her out-of-place casual clothes amidst the crowd of blue and white. She sighed, her legs aching, and simply squatted down, looking around boredly.
At this moment, accompanied by a low humming sound, the golden barrier at the entrance slowly closed. The last group of people walked in on time.
Their clothing was truly luxurious. Zhou Suyao's eyes immediately caught the intricate golden kirin embroidery on their sleeves. Strangely, the eyes of these majestic kirin were left blank. Perhaps they were afraid that if they opened their eyes, the kirin would ascend to heaven, along with the garments.
As she was lost in thought, the tall boy at the front of the line suddenly turned around and looked directly in her direction. His eyes held a scrutinizing and subtle sense of oppression that sent a chill through Zhou Suyao's heart.
"Do you know who he is?" A round-faced girl wearing the same school uniform as Ming Luo came over and lowered her voice, her tone filled with gossip and excitement. "He's the eldest son of the world's number one avenue—Rao Tian Dao! I heard he was born with a rare 'spiritual body'!"
Zhou Suyao nodded ignorantly, appearing to be thinking about something, but in fact, she was thinking about how much the golden Qilin embroidery could be sold for.
The barrier closed, and the new student test was about to begin. Another loud buzzing sound echoed, and in the center of the mourning hall, a massive black spirit stone, emitting an ancient aura, appeared out of thin air, slowly hovering in mid-air. An old man with white hair and beard, bearing the air of an immortal, appeared silently on top of the spirit stone. He waved his whisk lightly and chanted a mantra, his resounding voice instantly echoing throughout the entire blue barrier:
"My fellow disciples, today marks a crucial juncture in your cultivation careers. The thirty-two newly-promoted disciples will face their first trial here. After the trial, the Spiritual Path Grandmaster will assess your rank based on your performance. This rank will determine your future path of trials and ultimate achievement! I urge you all to give it your all."
The old man paused, glanced at the whole audience, and continued:
"Before the trial begins, you must each take turns touching this 'Wendao Spirit Stone' in front of me! The Spirit Stone will sense your Daoist roots and assign you appropriate trial questions! This trial will be conducted in teams of four, and the divisions are entirely at the mercy of fate!"
"Now, whoever's name is called, step forward and touch the stone!"
The first person to be called was the round-faced girl who had been gossiping with Zhou Suyao. Next came Ming Luo, and then the powerful aura of the eldest son of Rao Tiandao. Soon, the three words "Zhou Suyao" echoed throughout the room.
She took a deep breath, walked forward, and placed her hand on the cool surface of the black spirit stone.
Buzz——!
The spirit stone suddenly burst out with a dazzling golden light. The moment the strong light engulfed her vision, Zhou Suyao felt dizzy.
When I opened my eyes again, I was already in an unfamiliar chaotic space.
Beneath her feet lay a cracked, floating gray boulder, and above her head was a strange sky roiling with purple thunder. She gathered her thoughts and spotted three figures not far away. She quickly ran over and took a closer look—it was Ming Luo, the eldest son of Rao Tian Dao, and a young man with an icy aura wearing the same extravagant Qilin-patterned school uniform.
Ming Luo waved at her, and she immediately stood beside him. The other two young men, one with a disdainful look, the other expressionless, made the atmosphere as cold as an ice cellar. Zhou Suyao opened her mouth, but quickly swallowed her words.
While the huge rusty bronze door in front of her had not yet opened, Zhou Suyao quickly leaned close to Ming Luo's ear and whispered:
"Who are those two? They look so difficult to deal with..."
Ming Luo also lowered her voice and spoke rapidly, "Not only are they from a prominent background, they're also very good at pretending! The one on the left, dressed like a peacock with its tail spread out, is Qi Shuobei, the eldest son of the First Avenue. He loves asking people, 'You're always staring at me, are you in love with me?' The one with the icy face on the right is Qi Jie, the second son of their Raotian Dao. He looks aloof, doesn't he? But actually..." She paused, her tone tinged with mischief, "He's a hopeless cat lover who can't walk when he sees a cat!"
"Poof!" Zhou Suyao couldn't help herself and quickly covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking wildly from trying to suppress her laughter. "Is this true?!"
"Absolutely true!" Mingluo nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
The two young masters on the side: "..."
The corners of Qi Shuobei's mouth twitched, and although Qi Jie remained expressionless on the surface, his ears seemed to turn red suspiciously for a moment - weren't you two whispering a little too loudly?
Just then—
Boom!!!
A pale, blinding light burst out from the cracks in the huge bronze door without warning, instantly engulfing the four people. A moment later, a chilling, horrifying aura that penetrated deep into their bones surged like a tide, instantly enveloping them tightly.
A strange, elusive chanting sound, as if coming from the depths of the underworld, came from far away and approached:
"The Yin go three, the Yang go four, the Yin soldiers borrow the road, the living give way--!"
"The Yin go three, the Yang go four, the Yin soldiers borrow the road, the living give way--!"
A chill immediately ran down everyone's spine and spread throughout their body.
This... is the underworld!
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