From the fake emperor to the concubine

Before anyone present could understand what was happening, two more cultivators from the Zheng family stepped forward and came to the man's side.

They wondered if this person also had some kind of problem, like the cultivators who had been captured before, and was there to cause trouble in secret.

The cultivator who emerged from the lotus flower immediately changed his expression upon seeing the two members of the Zheng family.

He immediately released his flying sword and looked at the two men warily: "What do you want to do? I have never done anything to wrong your Zheng family."

Then, two members of the Zheng family smiled and offered several pills, explaining in a kind tone.

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be nervous. Our Zheng family has no intention of harming you. It is just a pity that you did not pass the trial of the Cave Heaven Secret Realm."

Another person added, "Fellow Daoist, you don't need to worry too much. The screening at the entrance to the Cave Heaven Secret Realm only proves that you do not meet the requirements of our Zheng family, not that your cultivation aptitude is poor."

"These pills are a small compensation from my Zheng family for your arduous journey, fellow Daoist. Please do us the honor of accepting them."

"I see!" The cultivator's face flushed slightly. He had been somewhat resentful when he heard that he had failed the trial.

However, the Zheng family did everything perfectly, giving him ample face in front of so many people, so he couldn't say anything.

He grabbed the pills and left without looking back.

Lotus flowers kept appearing and disappearing around the gourd. Each appearance of a lotus flower represented a cultivator losing their qualification.

The Zheng family was very generous, giving out pills to anyone who was eliminated.

Even though those pills weren't high-grade, only these rogue cultivators could barely find anything worthwhile.

However, with so many people present, this single expense alone is enough to make people gasp.

This scene made those hiding in the shadows grit their teeth in frustration.

"Hmph, it's just the behavior of a nouveau riche, it's disgusting to look at."

Another person scoffed, "I think the Zheng family has no real skills; they've resorted to such low-class methods as throwing money around."

"It's because those rogue cultivators are short-sighted; they've been blinded by such a small amount of profit."

"What's the big deal? The Zheng family is just doing this to buy a good reputation. When a real crisis comes, do you really expect these people to risk their lives for the Zheng family?"

These people took turns criticizing everything the Zheng family had done, deeming it utterly worthless.

But the bitterness in his voice was impossible to suppress.

This is the confidence that cultivation families, whose lineage has been passed down for countless years, possess.

Even those hidden in this small grotto-heaven control well-known forces in Xuanzhou.

But very few people could afford to throw money around as recklessly as the Zheng family.

It's not that they lack resources, but they simply cannot accept the practice of distributing pills to those who haven't joined their sect or family.

These people condemned and despised the Zheng family's actions.

The rogue cultivators present were so excited by the actions of the Zheng family that their blood was boiling.

In the world of cultivation, the strong are respected, and almost everyone only has interests in their eyes.

When other major sects recruit disciples, countless people die or are maimed during their ceremonies.

Those who died were one thing, but those who were disabled not only lost their path to immortality, but even their livelihood became a problem.

In the eyes of those sects and families, these people were no different from ants, and no one paid any attention to them.

As for compensation?

Those high and mighty cultivators have already allowed you to join their sect; that is already an immense favor. What more could you want?
Looking across the entire Xuanzhou Continent, the only force that would distribute pills to those who fail is probably the Zheng family.

Even though these pills weren't exactly great things to them.

This attitude alone made them feel truly valued.

They may not become completely devoted to the Zheng family because of this small favor, but many have already decided that they will do whatever they can to help the Zheng family in the future.

Even cultivators who failed the qualification assessment held almost no grudge against the Zheng family.

Despite the large number of cultivators present, the Zheng family's initial move intimidated the situation.

Many people who were hiding in the crowd and originally wanted to cause trouble in the chaos did not dare to act rashly and could only obediently join everyone in queuing.

Nothing unusual happened, and the queue moved incredibly quickly.

One by one, cultivators entered through the gourd's entrance, while many others were released from the lotus flowers.

The number of cultivators attending the disciple-acceptance ceremony in front of the Zheng family's gate was visibly decreasing.

That seemingly small gourd was like a bottomless pit; no matter how many cultivators entered, nothing changed.

Nevertheless, because there were so many cultivators, they lined up from sunrise until sunset, and only then did the last cultivator finally enter the gourd.

Zheng Yi witnessed the whole scene and became very curious about the gourd.

Just as the last cultivator entered the gourd, Zheng Yi used the Yin-Yang Treasure Mirror to attach a wisp of his divine soul to the cultivator.

The reason for choosing this guy was not only because he had the lowest cultivation level among all the cultivators present, but also because Zheng Yi valued his talent for cultivation.

This guy, like his bloodline descendants, also seems to be carrying a strange restriction.

Zheng Yi even tried to touch that thing, and felt that it was like a black hole that could absorb everything. Even his divine sense almost suffered a loss.

Fortunately, Zheng Yi was experienced and stopped in time, thus avoiding a major loss.

On one hand, he was interested in this young cultivator, and on the other hand, he was interested in that strange gourd. That's why Zheng Yi chose to attach his divine sense to the other person and enter the gourd to take a look.

As Zheng Yi passed through the barrier at the entrance of the gourd, he felt an incredibly familiar spiritual energy sweep over him.

Or rather, it swept over the minor cultivator whose body it possessed.

That spiritual power was no longer familiar; it was practically indistinguishable from the spiritual energy he himself released.

This strange scene left Zheng Yi in disbelief.

According to Zheng Tianhao, this gourd has a deep connection with his ancestor, the Zheng family patriarch.

However, Zheng Yi was 100% certain that he had never made such a magical artifact.

Just as he was racking his brains, trying to recall everything that had happened after he traveled through time,

The cultivator possessed by Zheng Yi had already passed through the entrance of the gourd.

After a period of darkness, the young cultivator's eyes were suddenly filled with light.

What appeared before him was a world that resembled a watercolor painting.

The sun hangs high in the sky, amidst towering mountains.

The rocks here are bathed in a faint glow of the setting sun, and the abundance of spiritual energy here is several times greater than that of the outside world.

In the distance, dozens of birds fluttered and soared into the air amidst the mountain breeze. At any moment, several figures appeared from the mountains, engaged in battle.

The creatures they fought were strangely shaped, like abstract figures drawn by a child in ink, resembling a buffalo or a lion.

Although he looks strange, he is quite powerful.

The three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were chased so badly that they fled in a sorry state, not even daring to fight back.

Judging from the wounds on their bodies, they had obviously fought with that guy.

"Hey, those people seem to be in danger. We have to hurry and save them." The boy possessed by Zheng Yi was relatively weak. It took him a while to figure out that they were actually cultivators fleeing in a sorry state.

After figuring out what had happened, the young man was still worried about the safety of those cultivators and rushed over to help immediately.

Zheng Yi was dumbfounded. He really wanted to ask this kid, "Are you out of your mind?"
Those are all Foundation Establishment cultivators, much stronger than you. If they can't even handle these guys, how can you expect to save them?
This kid's cultivation level wasn't very high, but his speed was incredibly fast. In addition, the fleeing cultivators were also heading in the direction of the person Zheng Yi possessed.

With both sides making their own trips, they met in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The group of people, who were being chased and were in a sorry state by the monster, suddenly became alert when they noticed someone appearing in front of them.

They couldn't help but slow their pace, lest the person in front of them ambush them.

After all, in a secret realm, no one can distinguish friend from foe, so one must always be careful.

They had barely slowed down when one of them was caught up by the monster and knocked down.

The enormous mouth, which seemed to change shape like ink painting, opened and tore the man in two.

"Fellow Daoists, there's no need to worry. My name is Zhang Yunfan, and I'm here to help. Let's work together to take down this man-eating monster."

The leader, his sunken eye sockets darting around, clasped his hands in a gesture of delight and said, “Thank you for your help, fellow Daoist. We are deeply grateful.”

"We were all caught off guard and injured when we were ambushed by this person. We can't exert our full strength at all."

"Please help us hold them off for a while, so we can regroup and deal with this wicked beast."

"Good!" Zhang Yunfan slapped his back, and the sword in Cambridge flew into the sky.

After the sword was drawn, it grew three or four times wider in the blink of an eye.

The entire sword was almost taller than Zhang Yunfan, and when wielded, it looked like a door panel.

Using the momentum of drawing his sword, Zhang Yunfan spun around, swung the sword in a circle, and slapped it directly at the monster's face.

Because the sword's blade is so wide, swinging it feels more like slapping someone than cutting them.

That monster could chase Foundation Establishment cultivators all over the mountain, so naturally it wouldn't care about a mere Qi Refining cultivator.

Facing Zhang Yunfan's attack, it didn't dodge or evade at all, but opened its blood-red maw and pounced on Zhang Yunfan.

The next moment, the giant sword slammed heavily into the monster's face.

The moment the two made contact, Zheng Yi could even clearly see that the monster's face was completely transformed into another shape due to the terrifying kinetic energy of the giant sword.

Then a dull thud exploded.

The monster was forcefully slapped far away, its limbs gripping the ground, leaving several long gashes on the ground.

However, Zhang Yunfan was not far from unscathed either. The immense impact caused the tiger's mouths of Zhang Yunfan's hands to burst open, and the sword hilts were completely stained red with blood.

Half of the sword was embedded in the ground, and Zhang Yunfan was lifted up by the hilt, almost flying out of the air.

In just one encounter, both sides suffered considerable losses.

The monster got up again, swaying as if it were drunk.

Zhang Yunfan's face was pale, clearly indicating that he had suffered internal injuries.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth: "Fellow Daoists, this monster is currently at its weakest. Let's take this opportunity to kill him."

The only response to Zhang Yunfan was a gust of wind that swept up dozens of fallen leaves.

Zhang Yunfan looked back and saw that the guys who had been talking about regrouping and preparing to make another move were already far away.

Zhang Yunfan could only vaguely see their disheveled backs.

Zheng Yi chuckled coldly: "Kid, now you know how treacherous people can be, right? You kindly tried to help someone, but they only saw you as a pawn to be sacrificed at will."

Actually, Zheng Yi had many ways to warn Zhang Yunfan when these people were running away.

However, he felt that the kid was too stupid, so he didn't remind him.

Sometimes, you can only learn a lesson after you've truly suffered a loss.

Zhang Yunfan couldn't hear Zheng Yi's words. After discovering that the people had escaped, he simply took a few pills, gripped his greatsword again, and confronted the monster.

Although the monster had the upper hand in the previous exchange, it also suffered considerable losses and was hesitant to make a move, instead cautiously searching for an opportunity.

Zheng Yi discovered another advantage of Zhang Yunfan: the kid's emotions were frighteningly stable.

He kindly came to save people, but those guys immediately sold him out.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely be cursing and swearing by now.

However, Zhang Yunfan's emotions were not greatly affected after he discovered that those people had escaped.

He was only slightly surprised, but he was able to put it aside and fight the monster.

It was as if he was the one fighting the monster, and it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Furthermore, they faced a monster that could easily defeat three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

This kid wasn't afraid at all; he faced it calmly.

And he wasn't completely stupid; he didn't really want to fight this monster to the death.

You could tell from his constantly shifting eyes that this kid was also trying to figure out how to escape.

Putting everything else aside, just based on this kid's character, as long as he's not completely incompetent, he's bound to achieve something.

However, this kid had a strange restriction on him that even Zheng Yi couldn't figure out for the time being.

Just as Zhang Yunfan was figuring out how to escape, the monster's patience finally ran out.

His body suddenly transformed into an invisible mass of ink, rolling towards Zhang Yunfan like a wave.

Zhang Yunfan swung his sword, easily splitting the wave in two.

However, his attack had no effect; the wave split in two and continued to surge toward Zhang Yunfan.

The next moment, he was hit by two waves one after the other, and was sent flying, spitting out blood.

Despite landing heavily injured, Zhang Yunfan showed little sign of pain. Instead, he rolled away on the spot, quickly distancing himself from the monster that had reverted to its original form, and then turned and ran away. (End of Chapter)