Becoming a leader of the immortal path begins with sowing the seeds of inner demons.

Across the cliff is a wide, flat road, lined with shady trees on both sides.

People came and went on the road, dressed in different clothes and of different ages. No one knew where they came from, but they all headed in the opposite direction from Lu Ming and his companion, eventually disappearing into the mist behind them.

The entire road was unusually quiet; only the sound of their footsteps could be heard.

"Sister Lin." Having just asked Lu Ming's name, Xu Ran, feeling she had lowered her status, looked around warily and whispered, "What do you think this test will be about?"

Lu Ming shook his head.

He had been observing ever since the first pedestrian appeared.

Half an hour has passed, and hundreds of people have already passed by him.

Everyone's movements were stiff, their expressions blank, like crude wooden puppets.

They are not even the same species as the two of them...

The two walked for an unknown amount of time, and just as they were getting used to their surroundings, the scene before them suddenly changed, and they found themselves on a long street.

Vendors hawking their wares on both sides of the street, strolling pedestrians, children playing... in this scene of everyday life, everyone's actions and expressions are just like those of the pedestrians from before.

The scene appears lively, but it is actually lifeless.

"Sister Lin!" The sudden change startled Xu Ran.

He instinctively channeled his inner energy to protect his entire body, reaching into his robes to touch something. "This...this must be an illusion. Don't be afraid, I have a barrier-breaking talisman!"

"..."

Lu Ming watched as the talisman Xu Ran threw fell to the ground like a leaf, and closed his eyes helplessly.

Xu Ran awkwardly picked up the talisman, about to explain and save face, when he suddenly froze on the spot.

Lu Ming suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze unusually serious, because a voice had appeared in his mind.

Within one hour, lead your fellow disciples to find and kill the evil cultivators and spies hiding in the city.

A city? In such a short time?

Lu Ming's eyes twitched, and he quickly leaped to a high place, using his Qi Observation Technique to look around.

The entire space is dotted with pavilions and towers, and the distant boundary is faintly visible in the clouds and mist.

Under the Qi Observation Technique, spiritual energy emanates everywhere, making it impossible to distinguish between cultivators and mortals.

Helpless, Lu Ming could only land back on the ground and stare blankly at the scene before him.

Since the investigation method failed, there must be another solution.

"Sister Lin, behind you... behind you," Xu Ran suddenly said nervously.

Lu Ming immediately turned around and saw ten men and women dressed in the attire of the Jade Flower Sect bowing to him, looking as if they were waiting for his orders.

Their movements and expressions were no different from the pedestrians just now, except that their eyes were more lively.

If Lu Ming hadn't developed a habit of carefully observing unfamiliar things after becoming a demon, he wouldn't have noticed this detail at all... his eyes?!

A sudden inspiration flashed through Lu Ming's mind. He quickly turned his head and scanned everyone on the street with his eyes.

Children, vendors, pedestrians, servants... Lu Ming observed them quickly and memorized each one.

He quickly noticed that something was wrong.

Everyone's behavior follows a pattern, except for the young man in blue robes who sells wine on the street corner; he always steals a glance at me.

The action was very quick, almost instantaneous.

But that's enough!

The next second, Lu Ming flashed behind the servant, picked him up, and brought him back to the front of everyone.

"Remember this, look for something like this." Lu Ming pointed to the servant's darting, panicked eyes. "Once you find it, bring it back to me."

The ten cultivators nodded in unison and transformed into streaks of light, flying away one after another.

Xu Ran was stunned and asked admiringly, "Sister Lin, how did you figure that out?"

Lu Ming casually released moonlight, binding the servant like a silkworm cocoon, and said indifferently, "Eyes."

"Eyes?" Xu Ran hurriedly looked at the servant, her eyes stinging from staring, and finally discerned something. She asked in surprise, "Sister Lin, how did you come up with that?"

"intuition."

"..."

Xu Ran was speechless. Looking at Lu Ming's exquisite and beautiful profile, she could only sigh inwardly.

With such beauty and exceptional talent, how come I never seem to have such good fortune...?

After an incense stick has burned, the light returns.

Each cultivator was carrying a person in their hand, including men, women, and children.

After confirming that everything was correct, Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction, waved his hand, and the moon line, sharp as a knife, sent the heads of all the evil cultivators and spies flying high into the air, their bodies turning into white light and dissipating into the air.

"Is it over?" Xu Ran looked around expectantly, but after a while, the scene remained unchanged, so she looked at Lu Ming in confusion.

"Sister Lin, it seems we didn't catch all the people?"

Lu Ming frowned slightly and ordered, "Go look again."

None of the cultivators moved; they all stood there, dumbfounded.

Upon seeing this, Xu Ran's expression turned serious. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Sister Lin, including the one you just caught, we've caught a total of eleven people."

But we have twelve people now, could it be... that the number of spies corresponds to our number?

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming subconsciously looked at the several cultivators present.

The voice said that they should lead their fellow disciples to find and kill the evil cultivators and spies hiding in the city.

But it didn't say that spies wouldn't be hiding around.

"Sister Lin?!" Xu Ran felt a chill run down her spine from the stare and instinctively took a few steps back. "You don't suspect me, do you?"

Sister Lin, you know me.

How could I possibly be a spy?

"It seems like we've only known each other for a short time," Lu Ming said, carefully rolling up his sleeves.

Watching Lu Ming slowly close his long, slender fingers, Xu Ran silently swallowed.

He had personally experienced Lu Ming's strength.

Without using magic or internal energy, he could be easily lifted up.

If I can't explain this, I'll get punched...

"Sister Lin!" Xu Ran hurriedly said, "I really am Xiao Xu, the Xiao Xu who is afraid of snakes... Because I couldn't get into Zhongzhou, I was afraid of losing face, so I said I didn't want to go. Actually, I missed it terribly and was sad about it for a month. I also have a slight fear of heights!"

Sister Lin! Sister! Don't hit my face!

Seeing Lu Ming take a step forward, Xu Ran panicked completely, covering her face and speaking rapidly, afraid that she would be forced to withdraw from the selection if she got punched.

But after waiting for a long time without the pain coming, Xu Ran mustered up her courage and opened her eyes.

Lu Ming stood in front of the group of cultivators and said coldly, "Squat down, spin around, raise your hands, do a handstand."

The ten monks executed each instruction flawlessly, their movements perfectly synchronized.

There were no abnormalities.

"Sister Lin," Xu Ran cautiously approached and said, "Could this be the last person, and we need to go to the city to find them ourselves?"

Just like you did at the beginning?

Lu Ming did not respond, his mind rapidly flipping through the memories.

In reality, spies are always perfect.

But this is a selection process, and spies should be different from cultivators of the Jade Flower Sect in certain aspects.

In Lu Ming's mind, the scene flashed by rapidly, as if the rewind button had been pressed.

Slaying spies, crossing cliffs, the crowd in the square, the first round of walking the mountain path, receiving jade tokens before climbing... jade tokens?!

Lu Ming's eyes lit up, and he pulled out the jade token, asking Xu Ran, "What about yours?"

Xu Ran was taken aback, quickly took out the jade token, paused for three seconds, and then said in a daze, "Sister Lin, you mean...?"

Lu Ming nodded, pointed the jade token at the ten cultivators, and said coldly, "Take out the jade token."

All nine people took out their weapons at the same time. One of them had a cold glint in his eyes and was about to fly away.

"Trying to run?!" Xu Ran sneered and leaped to grab the spy.

But halfway through the leap, he suddenly noticed a moon-white line quietly appearing beside him.

The other end of the thread was tied to the spy.

Lu Ming suddenly turned around and forcefully pulled the moon line with an over-the-shoulder throw, pulling the spy back and slamming him heavily in front of Lu Ming.

Just as he was about to struggle, he saw a fist rapidly enlarging in front of him.

boom!

After a loud bang, the ground shattered into pieces.

Xu Ran's face twitched as he watched, feeling inexplicably relieved.

Fortunately, Sister Lin possesses both intelligence and strength. If it were someone strong but brainless, Sister Lin would probably be begging herself not to die right now...

"Senior Brother, take a look at this."

High above the Jade Flower Sect, Chen Mo opened his eyes and saw Liu Zhenshan walking out of the void with a book in his hand, looking strangely as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"What happened?" Chen Mo took the book and saw Zhou Jiangyuan standing on the street, grabbing the collar of the Yu Hua Sect cultivator and beating him while shouting, "Tell me! Are you a spy?!"

say!"

Punch after punch, smashing the puppet like a leaf falling in the wind.

"...Whose child is this?" Chen Mo was dumbfounded.

"That cultivation genius from the Zhou family," Liu Zhenshan sighed. "After Master came out of seclusion, he went there and specifically mentioned her when he came back."

It is said that she has a firm Daoist heart and, without having cultivated herself, can use her consciousness to contain Yang energy, indicating that she will surely be a promising talent in the future.

But senior brother, it's not that I'm jealous of talent, but is it possible that her consciousness... was actually damaged by yang energy?

"Could our Jade Flower Sect possibly want someone like that?"

Chen Mo took a deep breath and asked, "What did Master say?"

"Master...is very satisfied." Liu Zhenshan's expression was unusually strange. "He said that a cultivator must have this kind of unwavering and fierce will."

And she happened to find the hidden spy we had identified, so we passed the test.

"Did any mortals get hurt?" Chen Mo's expression returned to normal.

"No, it was her teammate. She quit when she was on her fifth game." Liu Zhenshan sighed. "When we went to pick her up, the girl was almost having a breakdown. She had to take several calming pills to come back to her senses."

"...Since no mortals were harmed, we pass." Chen Mo made his decision, then asked, "What about the others?"

"Most of them were rejected." Liu Zhenshan's expression turned serious. "Master is right. Some cultivators, after being cultivators for a long time, do indeed look down on mortals."

Many people didn't even think twice before massacring the city, only to have their souls scattered by the resentment of the mortals we had stored there. It took Senior Brother Zhang a lot of effort to bring their souls back.

However, there are still some who perform well, such as Lin Yue, who is meticulous and skillful, and like Zhou Jiangyuan, she has a pure yang physique.

Both trials were rated as top-tier.

The rest were just so-so; they just searched the city diligently, finding only one or two by the end.

"It's alright, they're all promising talents," Chen Mo said calmly. "Otherwise, what would we be for?"

"You're right, senior brother." Liu Zhenshan bowed and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you with the third match."

"Okay." Chen Mo stood up and looked down at the square.