Duosheng Danyuan

"Hey! I know you don't like me, but don't make this kind of bullshit joke while the sect leader is in seclusion!" Elder Jianshan was roaring inside Huaizhen's primordial spirit.

"Whether it's a joke or not, you'll know once you come and see for yourself," Huaizhen replied calmly to Jianshan.

"***! Fine, if I find out you're playing me, I'll skin you alive, you old pervert!" Huai Zhen's nonchalant tone only fueled Elder Jian Shan's anger, and his powerful combined strength nearly shattered the communication jade between the elders of Sheng Dan Academy.

"Jianshan, don't be so temperamental."

"Jianfeng? How come you're here too..."

"Me who cherishes true knowledge."

"What?! Huaizhen even called you that? Does that mean he really wasn't lying to me?"

"What do you mean I really didn't lie to you?" Huai Zhen said irritably in the Yuan Shen transmission. Inside the Refining Heart Hall, his physical body even rolled its eyes. "I not only notified you and Jian Feng, but I also notified Jian Chen, Qing Yue, and Qing Feng. Of course, I didn't dare to knock on the sect leader's door directly. I only told Xuan Yi, the sect leader's true disciple."

"No way..."

"I didn't believe it at first either." The voice of the middle-aged man who had taught the Core Formation stage disciples yesterday also rang out in the telepathic communication, "However, judging from Huai Zhen's entourage, it seems he can't fake it."

"Qingfeng, don't belittle me like that. Do you think I'm some kind of spoiled brat who can't tell what's important?"

"Yes," the elders replied in unison via telepathic communication.

"..." Huai Zhen was so angry that she simply stopped talking.

"No rush, just wait a few more minutes, and everything will be clear," Qingfeng said.

"I'm still at the outer sect. I have some pills that I haven't finished refining. I'll be there in a bit," Jianfeng said.

"Outer sect? Then we can't wait for you. After bringing Su Wanqing along, we must set off for the Old Profound Palace immediately." Qingyue, who had been silent all along, suddenly said.

"The Old Xuan Palace? That's fine too. We'll meet there then," Jianfeng said.

"Where is Jianchen?" Huaizhen asked.

"Never seen it before." "Don't know."

"Damn, is he still sleeping?" Huai Zhen said speechlessly.

"Shouldn't Jianshan know?" Qingfeng said.

"Damn it, where is he?" Huai Zhen cursed irritably in the telepathic communication.

"I've arrived."

The voice transmitted from the primordial spirit and the voice in reality intersected. Elder Huaizhen turned his head to look at the door and found that Elder Jianshan's figure had already appeared.

"You arrived quite quickly?" Elder Huaizhen stood up and smiled.

"Is it her?" Elder Jianshan didn't even glance at Huaizhen. From the moment he entered the Refining Heart Hall, his gaze had never left Su Wanqing.

The undisguised scrutiny made Su Wanqing tremble and cower, trying her best to protect herself with her arms.

"Yes, it's her." Elder Huaizhen nodded and said.

"Where is Gu Changfeng?" Finally, Elder Jianshan's gaze shifted slightly from Su Wanqing and landed on me.

What an exhilarating sword fight! Unsurprisingly, I started trembling uncontrollably.

"Nothing has changed. Apart from those three disciples and Su Wanqing, nothing has changed," Huai Zhen said.

"snort."

No one spoke anymore.

After a while, two more people walked in from outside the Refining Heart Hall. One was the middle-aged scholar we had seen yesterday when we audited the Core Formation stage course, and the other was someone we had never seen before.

"Qingfeng, Qingyue, you two arrived pretty quickly too," Elder Huaizhen chuckled.

"How dare I be slow?" Qingfeng adjusted his glasses, his eyes fixed on Su Wanqing.

"A leisurely person like me is naturally faster." Qingyue smiled at Huaizhen, then glanced at Jianshan, seemingly unconcerned about Su Wanqing.

"Let's go, let Jianfeng go directly to the Old Xuan Palace."

"Where is Jianchen?" Qingyue asked.

"Never mind him." Jian Shan said, finally turning his gaze to the remaining nine of us. "Go to Yangyuanzhai for your meals, and then return to Jingxilu on your own. The afternoon classes at Lianxintang are canceled. Those who are ambitious can go to Minglingju to cultivate."

"That's enough, get out of class is over." Elder Huaizhen waved his hand and smiled at us.

"Su Wanqing".

"Yes."

"Come with us."

"..."

Su Wanqing trembled and glanced at Lin Xu. Lin Xu sighed, but simply gripped her hand tightly, as if to encourage her. Then, Su Wanqing glanced at me. I looked at her, then glanced back at the rules on the wall, wanting to remind her to remember them.

"Hurry up, do you want all of us elders to wait for you?" Elder Jianshan frowned.

"Jianshan, don't lose your temper with her. If Huaizhen is right, it won't be long before her status is above yours," Qingyue said with a smile in the telepathic transmission.

"That's decades from now," Elder Jianshan said coldly.

"Yes..." Su Wanqing nodded to me, then turned back to give Lin Xu a meaningful look, stood up, and followed the group of elders out of the Refining Heart Hall.

Su Wanqing and the elders quickly disappeared through the entrance of the Refining Heart Hall. We stared at the half-closed door in silence for a long time.

"Sigh... Let's go." I sighed and said to Lin Xu.

"Where to?" Lin Xu looked at me, his eyes full of exhaustion.

"Yangyuanzhai, we'll talk about the rest there." With that, I stood up.

"...Okay." After a moment of silence, Lin Xu nodded.

—The Gap Between Myriad Realms—

"Oh dear, this batch of souls are all dead. Oh dear, how come this batch is all dead too? Honestly, I thought there were quite a few that could have survived..." Holding Lin Shu's soul lamp, Wan Qing lay on the transparent silk blanket, crossed her legs, and muttered.

"..." Although Lin Shu kept his eyes closed and remained silent, the slight furrow between his brows revealed his thoughts—he really wanted to beat Wan Qing up.

"Hey Rinshu, I've been watching this place for almost half a year now, haven't I? There are at least 800,000 to 100,000 souls dead in these soul lamps, and I haven't seen a single one that seems promising! What kind of lousy trial is this? Can anyone even pass it?"

"The purpose of the trial is to allow the right people to pass it; that's the rule," Lin Shu said in a deep voice, his back to Wan Qing.

"The right person... Good heavens, with your screening efficiency, I really don't know when this will be done. You really don't get tired, sending so many worlds, so many crumbling souls into this soul lamp. With this free time, you should go into seclusion and cultivate."

"Hehe." Rinshu said with a forced smile.

"Ugh, this is so boring. I might as well go wander off to some other world and have some fun."

"Get out of here..." Rin Kaname prayed silently in his heart.

Ignoring Wanqing's harassment, Lin Shu opened one eye and gently ran his right index finger across the Rebirth Lamp in his hand. He had two of these lamps, and he had given one to Wanqing to deal with her constant harassment. The one he gave her contained unselected souls.

The soul lamp in his hand was the carefully selected experimental subject.

"A peerless genius who can enter the Old Profound Palace on the second day? Interesting... It's a pity that the Life Pill Academy is gone, otherwise even if you failed here, I would have considered sending you to the Thousand Phases Realm. Alas... In the end, you are just a seed, no matter how beautiful you are, you will never bloom."

Thinking this, the demonic energy around Rinshu slowly flowed into the soul lamp in his hand.

——Old Xuan Hall——

Riding on the clouds, Su Wanqing followed the four elders and quickly passed through the layers of buildings inside the Shengdan Academy, arriving at a mountain range.

"We've arrived," Qingfeng said.

"Hmm." Elder Jianshan echoed, manipulating the clouds beneath their feet to bring them to the ground.

Su Wanqing swallowed hard, mustered her courage, and looked around. Apart from the somewhat dilapidated palace in front of her, there were only towering trees all around, making it impossible to discern any direction.

"—Squeak—" After pushing open the heavy door, Elder Jianshan glanced back at Huaizhen and was the first to enter the hall.

Immediately afterwards, Huaizhen also went inside.

"Let's go in," Qingyue said with a smile from behind Su Wanqing.

"...Yes." Su Wanqing responded softly. Even though she was extremely unwilling, she still followed Elder Jianshan's steps and walked into the hall.

Watching Su Wanqing enter the Old Xuan Hall, Qingfeng and Qingyue exchanged a knowing glance. Qingyue followed Su Wanqing forward, while Qingfeng followed further behind, closing the door of the Old Xuan Hall.

The old Xuan Hall was large and spacious. When you first entered, it was a bit narrow, just enough for two or three people to walk side by side. The further you went, the darker and more empty your surroundings became, and you couldn't see the boundaries of the hall.

The crisp sound of five people's footsteps echoed in the old Xuan Hall, accompanied by an inexplicable chill, which made Su Wanqing's timidity resurface.

"Don't be afraid, no one here will hurt you." Qingyue noticed Su Wanqing's unease and comforted her with a smile.

"Is that so?" Elder Huaizhen turned around, looked at Qingyue at the back of the group with amusement, and said to Su Wanqing, "In the Shengdan Academy, the person you need to be most careful of is this guy. He's a beast in human clothing."

"Heh, you charlatan, you'd better shut up." Qingfeng mocked beside Qingyue.

"Hmph." Elder Jianshan snorted dismissively when he heard Qingfeng say that.

Su Wanqing listened to the elders bickering back and forth, naturally not daring to interrupt. As she had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, her primordial spirit was complete. With just a little attention, she could remember everything she had seen and heard since leaving the Refining Heart Hall. She would tell Gu Changfeng and Lin Xu about it when she returned to the Tranquil Rest House. There was no rush to seek confirmation from the elders.

Suddenly, Elder Jianshan, who was at the front, stopped, and the other three elders also stopped and began to look around.

Su Wanqing didn't dare to look around. She just stood there, surrounded by the four elders, without even raising her head.

"Alas... Is there anyone left who can still breathe?!" In the center of the hall, Elder Jianshan suddenly stomped his foot and roared angrily, causing the entire Old Xuan Hall to shake precariously.

"Tsk, I thought some blind rat had sneaked into this place again, but it's you. Jianshan, it's been so many years, and you're still as audacious as ever!" In the dim light of the hall, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly appeared. These eyes were frighteningly large, and in Su Wanqing's eyes, they were definitely not human eyes, but rather resembled the eyes of a water demon from the Cthulhu legend.

"Elder Chishong, I didn't expect you to still be so energetic. Junior Qingyue greets the Supreme Elder." Qingyue stepped forward from behind the crowd and performed an ancient salute towards the blood-red eyes in front of her.

"Wow, the young ones from the Qing generation, I never expected to see you again. It's really not easy." Elder Chishong's attitude softened noticeably upon hearing Qingyue's words, and his originally crimson eyes dimmed slightly.

"I never expected to see you again, Elder Chishong," Qingyue replied with a smile.

"Stop with the empty pleasantries. We didn't come here to see you in the first place," Elder Jianshan sneered.

"You brat, what exactly do you want?" Elder Chishong turned his gaze to Jianshan again, but this time, there was no longer any violence in his eyes.

The reason is simple: from the moment Jian Shan and his group stepped into the Old Xuan Palace, Chi Song, as the Supreme Elder stationed in the Old Xuan Palace, had already discerned the cultivation level of these people by using the formation set up by the second head of the Sheng Dan Academy.

Huai Zhen, as always, was just a slacker, only at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage; Qing Feng and Qing Yue had already crossed the threshold of the Divine Transformation stage, achieving a combined body with the help of the elixir energy transformed from their internal organs; but Jian Shan... Elder Chi Song couldn't tell his cultivation level, and his roar and pressure on him just now were only to find out what level this brat had reached.

"Speaking of which, what about those two brats, Jianfeng and Jianchen? Have they already been refined by Jianshan?... If that's the case, does that mean Jianshan is really at the Mahayana stage now? Then it's no wonder he's so arrogant." Elder Chisong thought to himself as he looked at Jianshan, who showed no fear of him whatsoever.

"I'm not here today for any particular reason, but to inform you guys who are nearing your graves." Elder Jianshan said, turning back to put his hand on Su Wanqing's shoulder, grinning as he continued, "Our Shengdan Academy has produced another peerless genius, a figure comparable to the first sect leader, a prodigy who can draw upon the three souls on his very first recitation of the 'Enlightenment Sutra'!"

"What did you say?!"

Several voices suddenly rang out from all around the hall.