Duosheng Danyuan

The moment I saw the rules appear, my first reaction was not to watch the process of the rules appearing, nor to observe Zeng Yixi's reaction, but to turn my head and look at the door through which we had just entered Mingling Residence.

Sure enough, the location of the rule corresponded exactly to the location of the main door. Thus, the first floor of Mingling Residence achieved complete symmetry between all the doors.

What happened next further confirmed my thoughts.

"These rules... they seem a bit like a door?" Zeng Yixi asked, looking at the rules that weren't fully written down yet.

"Yes, and it's the same size as the other doors in Mingling Residence," I nodded.

"Hey, now that you mention it, it's true." Zeng Yixi looked back at the door beside her, then at the regular border that appeared in front of her, confirming my opinion, "It is indeed the same door as the two side doors."

"The rules are starting to emerge," I reminded them.

——Rules of the Adopted Child Residence - Two People——

Rule 1: Wandering around inside the Mingling Residence is prohibited. Disciples entering the Mingling Residence together must stay together.

Rule Two: The Mingling Residence is an important place for closed-door cultivation, and it has strict requirements on the disciples' cultivation level. Disciples below the Foundation Establishment stage are prohibited from going into seclusion.

Rule Three: New disciples entering Mingling Abode must assess their aptitude within the scenic wonders. Mingling Abode will then guide each disciple to a suitable secluded meditation room based on their aptitude. Don't worry, those traveling together will be assigned to the same meditation room.

Rule Four: The essence of the scenic wonderland is a blessed land, and one can only cultivate there with the approval and permission of the elder who oversees the hermitage.

Rule Five: The seclusion rooms provided by Mingling Residence are not for disciples to cultivate aimlessly on their own, but rather to guide their cultivation in the method of generating the elixir, while respecting their wishes. Therefore, various goals will be set within the seclusion rooms for disciples to choose from. Disciples entering the seclusion room must complete the designated goals before they can leave.

Rule Six: Illusions such as spirits, inner demons, nightmares, and strange creatures may exist within the meditation chamber. In most cases, these illusions arise from the practitioner's own shortcomings, but in rare cases, they may be caused by the meditation chamber itself. Ignoring them is the most common and practical solution.

Rule Seven: Mingling Residence provides disciples with sufficient cultivation resources for alchemy. Please use them as needed and consume them according to the plan.

Rule Eight: Spiritual practice is a personal matter for each individual, but traveling together is also a common practice. Once you enter the retreat room, please completely trust the person accompanying you. Within the Mingling Residence, you will share both honor and disgrace in your spiritual journey.

Rule Nine: Mingling Residence never prevents its disciples from meditating on the Great Dao and absorbing spiritual energy. If you encounter a bottleneck in your cultivation, please look for the problem within yourself.

Rule Ten: When an adopted child has offspring, a wasp carries them. Your parents have entrusted you, with your exceptional talents and innate spiritual roots, to the Shengdan Academy, and the Shengdan Academy will certainly not let your parents down. Inheritance is the sole purpose of the Mingling Residence.

——Divider——

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking at Zeng Yixi who was pushing the rules inward with both hands.

"Doesn't this shape look a lot like a door? I tried to see if I could push it open, but it seems I can't," Zeng Yixi explained to me after her unsuccessful attempt.

"Why don't you try pulling it open?"

"Hey, does this thing even have a doorknob?"

"So you knew." I smiled and shook my head.

"It's all your fault," Zeng Yixi said with a frown after reviewing the rules again. "It's all your fault for splitting up. Now look what happened, we violated the first rule as soon as we came in."

"If one of the rules at Mingling Residence is that you can't talk, are you going to blame me for talking to you?"

"Pshaw, how can these be the same?"

"Hehe..." pondering the ten new rules that had appeared at Mingling Residence, I glanced at Zeng Yixi and said, "Whether you're testing us or for some other purpose, it's better to stop this pointless game of playing dumb."

"...What do you mean?"

"I don't know you, so I don't know if the personality you show is a disguise or real, but one thing I can be sure of is that you definitely know when the rules are triggered."

"Oh?" Zeng Yixi, half puzzled and half curious, leaned closer to me, tilting her head as she looked at me, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Tang Anran and Qian Zhe did not violate any written rules, but they did something that went against the elders' instructions."

"so what?"

"But they were also punished for being one step ahead of the rest of us in the cultivation of the Elixir of Life."

"You mean you consider the elders' words to be part of the rules?"

"Whether the elders' words are part of the rules or not, Qian and Tang, who violated their words, are currently being punished in the same way as Chen Yu, who clearly violated the rules. Therefore, I will tentatively categorize the elders' words as 'unwritten rules'."

"What does this have to do with me knowing exactly when the rule will be triggered?"

"It's a very simple logic. During the 'Heart-Refining Purification Pool,' many people initially had their heads down, and neither Elder Jianshan nor Elder Huaizhen, who was hiding in the shadows, said anything. It wasn't until Elder Jianshan said not to lower their heads that everyone raised their heads. Why? Because the essence of rules is a warning and a constraint. Violating the rules must have consequences, which is a warning; and in order to avoid punishment, everyone tacitly began to abide by the rules, which is a constraint."

"You still haven't answered my question," Zeng Yixi shook her head, her gaze growing increasingly profound as she looked at me. "What you've said may be right or wrong. But what does it have to do with me knowing exactly when the rules will be triggered?"

"I've already answered your question. Since you haven't refuted my view on the essence of the rules, the rest is self-evident. What kind of punishment can make the rules serve as a deterrent? Naturally, it's the punishment for those who knowingly violate them. In other words, in this world of strange tales, the rules should take effect on disciples after they appear, not because they've always existed. As for why I said you must know this, it's because the ones who bowed their heads the longest in the 'Heart-Refining Pool' this morning were your teammates Xie and Tang."

"It's a very story-like reasoning, but unfortunately it's not supported by evidence, but only by three progressively deeper conjectures." Zeng Yixi pursed her lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with my words.

"In a godforsaken place like this, evidence often means sacrifice. Until someone actually dies, or even when someone actually dies, we might still not be able to find complete evidence," I said calmly.

"That's true," Zeng Yixi shook her head helplessly, then said, "But don't you think your idea is too certain? I did notice the change in the timing of Elder Jianshan's warning and the order of punishment. However, I'm not sure if there's a connection between Elder Jianshan's words and the effective time of the rules. Similarly, this doesn't mean we didn't violate the first rule of Mingling Residence. To be honest, my complaints about you just now weren't feigning ignorance; they were genuine complaints. Now, I'm afraid something will suddenly appear and make us be punished."

"It's just that I'll end up in the same situation as Chen Yu. At worst, I'll just die," I said.

"Goodness, you're so high and mighty," Zeng Yixi clapped his hands, gave me a thumbs up, and clicked his tongue, "Please, if one day I really die before you, please switch places with me."

"If death awaits us here in the future, I will accept it willingly," I said earnestly.

"..." My words completely baffled Zeng Yixi.

A moment of silence.

"So, should we go here now?" Turning around, Zeng Yixi pointed to a landscape called "Wonderland of Mountains and Rivers" behind us, inside the circular pavilion, and said to me, "But where are the elders here?"

"Among the people who took Su Wanqing away, there was a stranger. Could he be the elder guarding this place?" I frowned, pondering this in my mind.

"Hey, say something!"

"Ah, oh, let me think... The first rule forbids us from wandering around, which means we can forget about exploring any further. Then the third rule requires us to enter the 'Wonderland of Mountains and Rivers,' but the fourth rule clearly states that we are not allowed to enter the Wonderland of Mountains and Rivers without the elder's permission. Although the fourth rule mentions 'cultivation' rather than surveying qualifications, these ambiguous situations are often where wordplay comes into play... Hmm... I feel like the Wonderland of Mountains and Rivers is still dangerous."

"Tsk, I thought so too. So, are we just going to head back like this?" Zeng Yixi said, arms crossed, looking at the "landscape wonderland" that was just a few dozen steps away and feeling somewhat unwilling.

"There's nothing I can do. The elders aren't here." I shrugged helplessly and sighed inwardly, "Sigh... I was hoping to take advantage of the gap when the elders' attention was all focused on Su Wanqing to get some clues they might be guarding, but I didn't expect that their departure would make things so difficult. Why does the rule specifically mention that 'Mountain and Water Wonderland' requires the elders' permission? If the rules apply to other people in the Shengdan Academy... Elder Jianshan's words must be followed, and that should also be recorded in the rules."

"Really, where did the elders here go? Ah! Right, one of the elders who took Su Wanqing away back then was..." Zeng Yixi patted the inner railing surrounding "Mountain and Water Wonderland" before belatedly realizing where the elders guarding this place had gone.

"Sigh..." Having figured out what had happened, Su Wanqing also felt deflated and said to me helplessly, "It seems that we really have no choice but to go back."

"Hmm." I nodded slightly to Zeng Yixi, looked up to observe the gradually darkening sky, and estimated the time it would take to get from here to the Ancient Elixir Pavilion.

So Zeng Yixi and I walked side by side, and just to be on the safe side, we even held each other's wrists to prevent any accident from causing us to separate. Based on our experience at the "Purification Pool," we reached a high degree of consensus on the importance of not getting separated from each other.

"Now you can tell me, right? The secret to why you came from behind and surpassed others."

"Sure, but on the condition that you exchange your experience at the Quiet Lodge last night."

"Experience? What experience do I have?" Zeng Yixi asked, somewhat bewildered.

"Tsk," I wondered if the woman in front of me was pretending to be stupid or genuinely stupid. I patiently explained myself more clearly, "It's about your experience finding the note clue in the Quiet Abode. Why didn't anyone else find the hidden information in the Quiet Abode, but you did? That's the main thing I want to know."

"..." Zeng Yixi stopped in her tracks, remaining silent, her face darkening.