Chapter 43 Assessment: "I also want to join the Alliance."
Fang Bushou really doesn't know what's so good about the "All Things Return to the Heart" place, since everyone wants to go there.
Even knowing that the Kunlun Sect Leader's teachings were based on the principle of "all things returning to the heart," Fang Bushou still dared to say such things openly. After all, all Daoist practices are neither superior nor inferior; it's simply a matter of different paths of faith chosen by individuals.
Their gathering in Kunlun was simply because the Kunlun Immortal Lord had befriended various immortals in the past, and had enclosed Kunlun as a blessed land so that immortals from all walks of life could cultivate together.
Although there are many disciples in the Wanqi Guixin Sect, only a few are known by name. The other disciples are just ordinary people, and if they did not possess some martial arts skills, they would look no different from ordinary mortals.
What's so good about "all things returning to one's heart"?
Fang dismissed it with disdain.
But both disciples insisted on pursuing the "All Things Return to the Heart" method, as if they were competing with each other. He had no choice but to end the topic with resentment: "The next class will be the time to test your learning outcomes during this period."
After hearing Fang Bushou's words, Mingzhao couldn't help but ask, "Is the final exam coming up so soon?"
She remembered getting information from her senior classmates, who all said the final assessment would be a year later. But only a few months had passed, and she still had so many mental techniques to learn. If the assessment started now, she would be doomed.
"It's not a final exam, just a regular quiz," Lu Yuan said, waving her hand. As a student who had repeated a year, she was very familiar with the progress of these courses.
Sure enough, Fang Bushou continued, "The next class is the mid-term exam. You must arrive at the Star-Picking Platform before midnight tomorrow. The winner of the exam will receive a 'Spirit-Building Platform,' which took Xingxiang Hall a hundred years to refine. The Spirit-Building Platform is a rare spiritual medicine that greatly enhances the inner core. One spiritual medicine is equivalent to ten years of a cultivator's cultivation, and it can also enable those without an inner core to grow one."
Fang Bushou said his last words while looking at Shen Qingyan.
Shen Cangyu frowned upon hearing Fang Bushou's words.
She had inquired and found that the rewards for the past few class quizzes were nothing more than mental cultivation manuals, calming incense, or magical artifacts. Those rewards were not particularly valuable, but they were presentable and suitable for disciples at this stage.
She had guessed many kinds of rewards for this assessment, but she never expected the Spirit Building Platform.
The Spirit-Building Platform is a rare medicinal herb. Having worked in the Rare Treasures Workshop for so long in her previous life, she knew better than the other disciples present how rare this herb was.
Its materials are hard to come by, and its refining method is even more demanding. The disciples of Xingxiang Hall refined the Spirit Platform according to the ancient formula, consuming materials like flowing water. It took them a hundred years to accidentally refine this version.
She thought the disciples of Xingxiang Hall would keep such a precious elixir for her own use, but she never expected them to take it out as a reward for a regular disciple test.
It's such a waste.
Moreover, among so many people present, only Shen Qingyan lacks an inner core. If we were to say who this medicine is most suitable for, it would undoubtedly be Shen Qingyan.
With it, he could directly grow an inner core and stand on the same level as them again.
This is unbelievable... Is this the power of the protagonist's halo?
Shen Cangyu couldn't help but wonder, judging from the development of the plot of the novel, could it be that in the end, Shen Qingyan will really take the top spot, take the elixir, and have a smooth life from then on?
She glanced at the plot to the side, and sure enough, Shen Qingyan didn't realize the value of the Spirit Building Platform. After hearing the news, she happily said to the system, "This is great! With this medicine, I don't have to memorize anymore! The Alliance members explained the method of inner alchemy to me several times a few days ago, but I still couldn't learn it. With this medicine, they won't have to worry anymore."
Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance)?
Shen Cangyu frowned as she looked at the term. She had never heard of any alliance or guild in Kunlun in her previous life. What was this? Could it also be something formed under the influence of Shen Qingyan's protagonist aura?
Lu Yuan patted Ming Zhao's table and asked, "Ming Zhao, my older sister said she's going to make barbecue. Do you want to come to Zhong Sheng Lin and eat with us later?"
Mingzhao blinked: "Evening meal?"
She hesitated for a moment: "I already have plans with other people, and I can't refuse them. Let's have dinner together another time."
Lu Yuan let out a regretful "Ah!" and asked, "Who is it?"
Mingzhao said softly, "They are friends I met when I was in the outer sect... We have a good relationship and get together whenever we have time. However, our Wenxin Diaolong sect's Ximo Mountain is quite far from theirs, so I rarely attend their gatherings. But this time they took turns inviting me, so I couldn't refuse them and had to accept."
Shen Cangyu suddenly spoke up: "The Tongmenghui?"
Mingzhao was startled and looked at Shen Cangyu: "How did you know?"
This dinner party happened to be organized by the Tongmenghui (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance), so she couldn't refuse.
Not long after they entered Kunlun, this group of disciples who had just come from the outer sect received an invitation from the Tongmenghui.
The members of the Alliance were all once outer disciples of Kunlun. In each generation, a few people who entered the inner sect through the disciple competition would join the Alliance. The disciples gradually gathered year after year, and today, they have accumulated a great many disciples.
The members of the Tongmenghui were scattered across various Taoist sects. Although they had different beliefs, they came from similar backgrounds and helped each other on a daily basis.
Mingzhao was among them and received their care. Although she rarely contacted them on ordinary days, she had to participate in such large gatherings out of respect for the organization.
Although she didn't have much contact with them, she was still a member of the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance), and she had to make time to connect with everyone.
However, the members of the Alliance always seemed to harbor hostility towards other inner disciples. When she communicated with them, she always felt terrified, fearing that their words would be relayed to the ears of other disciples and elders of Kunlun, and that they would be expelled.
She hadn't expected that Shen Cangyu also knew about the existence of the Alliance. Could it be that the Alliance's actions were too high-profile and had already reached the ears of their inner disciples?
Shen Cangyu said, "I also want to join the Tongmenghui."
Mingzhao: "Huh?"
Shen Cangyu wasn't a native disciple of Kunlun, so theoretically she seemed to meet the requirements for a member of the Tongmenghui, but...
Mingzhao recalled the elders' high praise for Shen Cangyu, and then thought of the disciples of the Tongmenghui who cursed the elders every day. If they got together, they would probably cause a huge uproar.
After Mingzhao's earnest persuasion, Shen Cangyu finally gave up her plan to bravely storm the Tongmenghui. Mingzhao promised her, "If they say anything important, I will definitely tell you first, don't worry."
Upon hearing Mingzhao's words, Shen Cangyu finally nodded.
Of course, she had no interest in the Tongmenghui; she just wanted to have another informant keep an eye on Shen Qingyan for her.
It's not easy to list all the details of the novel's plot. She was afraid that the plot might conceal some important information, causing her to miss clues and allowing Shen Qingyan to turn the tables.
She is determined to take first place in this classroom assessment.
*
Shen Cangyu followed Lu Yuan to the Forest of All Beings. As soon as they entered the Lu family courtyard, Shen Cangyu saw the Great Fox Immortal lying on the roof.
Although the Great Fox is a fox, it has some cat-like habits. For example, it likes to sleep on the roof and beams, and at night it runs around frolicking everywhere. During the day, it likes to find a sunny spot to take a nap, and no matter how many times you call it, it will ignore you, at most wagging its tail to indicate that it has heard you.
But every time Shen Cangyu came over, the fox spirit who had been sleeping with his head down would open his eyes, walk over silently, and snuggle up beside them to listen to them talk.
“Look, it’s starting to stick to you again,” Lu Yuan said, pointing at the Fox Immortal.
The fox spirit glanced at Lu Yuan, said nothing, but yawned and lay lazily beside Shen Cangyu, its tail slapping the ground intermittently.
At first, Shen Cangyu didn't understand why the fox spirit liked to stick to her. Later, she thought about it again and realized that perhaps the white tiger she had killed had ended up in the fox spirit's belly, causing the fox spirit to reminisce about that delicious meal whenever it saw her.
The fox spirit wasn't clinging to her; he just wanted to get some food from her.
Lu Sheng placed the sliced meat on a plate and looked at Shen Cangyu. Lu Yuan set out his plate and also looked at Shen Cangyu, his eyes shining.
Shen Cangyu finally understood; these two had also come to beg for food from her. No wonder Lu Yuan had been pestering Shen Cangyu in class to come to the Forest of All Beings for dinner—it turned out he was craving her cooking.
Shen Cangyu marinated the meat slices and then placed them on the heated stones. The meat slices sizzled as they hit the stones, constantly splattering oil. The aroma and heat wafted out.
This stone-grilled meat dish was something Shen Cangyu learned when she was buying goods in the mortal realm. She had only ever seen it in the mortal realm; there was no such dish in Kunlun.
She added a lot of marinade and spices to the meat, which were rarely seen even in Kunlun. After all, spices are palatable, but for cultivators, they are more harmful than beneficial. After eating a meal, they would need to spend a long time cultivating to expel the impurities and turbidity carried in the meat.
But the common people don't care about all that. For them, nothing is more important than eating. As for the foul air, they'll deal with it after they've finished eating.
Shen Cangyu placed the roasted meat on a plate and handed it to them. Watching their satisfied expressions, she simply smiled and took a sip of the millet porridge in her bowl.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Lu Yuan asked, looking at her.
Shen Cangyu shook his head.
In the past, she wouldn't have had so many concerns and could eat whatever she wanted. But now that she's focused on cultivation, she has to consciously control her diet; she just wants to grow faster.
"So you're just here to be our cook..." Lu Yuan looked at her, the food in his mouth was delicious, but it lacked a bit of flavor.
“You’re becoming more and more like Pei Wenjing,” Lu Yuan said.
Shen Cangyu was taken aback.
She hadn't realized it before, but now, looking back, it really was true. She didn't know when it started, but she had somehow found herself following in Pei Wenjing's footsteps, walking the same path as him.
However, she wanted to become stronger in order to gain the power to fight against the transmigrators.
What about Pei Wenjing? What exactly does he want?
“Speaking of which, they have had a very fruitful trip. It is said that they have wiped out several Wuliangsheng and also tracked down the whereabouts of the mastermind behind Wuliangsheng,” Lu Sheng said. “They should be back soon.”
Hearing Lu Sheng's words, Shen Cangyu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that as long as her senior sisters made a move, even Wuliang Sheng could be easily dealt with. Indeed, the reason they had struggled and been in such a sorry state when dealing with Wuliang Sheng was simply because they were too weak.
“Once you finish the assessment, they will be able to reach Kunlun,” Lu Sheng said.
Upon hearing the mention of the assessment, Lu Yuan couldn't help but look at Lu Sheng: "Sister, you and Elder Huang are close. Has Elder Huang revealed the content of this assessment to you?"
Shen Cangyu asked curiously, "Is Elder Huang the proctor for this assessment?"
“Of course,” Lu Yuan winked at her, “The Star-Picking Platform is Elder Huang’s territory. Since our assessment location is the Star-Picking Platform, Elder Huang must be the invigilator.”
That makes sense. The disciples gathered for the assessment at midnight. If it were a regular assessment, there would be no need to schedule it for this time.
Unless the place where they are being tested is a dream.
Huang Menglu used the Taoist techniques of "Free and Easy Wandering" to lure them into a dream, creating a scene out of thin air for them to be tested.
As Shen Cangyu pondered, he suddenly frowned.
But is the body in her dream her own in this life, or in her previous life, or even the original her before the time traveler arrived?
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