The first light of dawn streamed through the open gates, and the various sects began to stir, preparing to venture out in search of the array's core to break the formation.
Though their spots in this round’s advancement were already secured, who wouldn’t want to claim the most sacred stones to ensure their sect’s early advantage?
The Violet Flame Realm and the Celestial Net Sect both aimed for the ultimate victory—to conquer the Sacred Tower and command the Seven Provinces of Xuantian.
And of course, the Ten Thousand Saints Palace desired the same.
Lu Ying, holding the Divine Wood Token, was especially ambitious.
Over the past few days, the six members of the Ten Thousand Saints Palace had uncovered some clues, and they weren’t without their suspicions.
Thus, after returning last night, Lu Ying discussed with Bai Lijue and Yu Xiaoxiao, deciding to keep a close watch on the Violet Flame Realm, the Celestial Net Sect, and the Verdant Spirit Mountain during the day—observing their movements to deduce what had been discussed the previous night.
Each sect had its own schemes, but when they caught sight of the Golden Silk Veil hanging over Verdant Spirit Mountain’s quarters, their steps faltered, and they paused in unison to observe.
What was Verdant Spirit Mountain… hiding?
The Golden Silk Veil swayed slightly as Yin Xuan, his long hair flowing, was the first to step out.
A faint, relieved smile graced his lips as he ignored the scrutinizing gazes of the gathered cultivators, gliding gracefully toward the gates.
"Brother Yin, a moment," Di Qi called out. "Might I ask what your sect is…?"
"Shh." Yin Xuan closed his eyes, feigning drowsiness. "Don’t ask me. I’m asleep."
The crowd: "…"
[You can talk and walk while asleep?]
[Impressive, impressive.]
[You can never wake someone who’s pretending to sleep, hahaha!]
[This bedhead is downright disrespectful! Di Qi is speaking to him, and this is the attitude he gives??]
[Exactly! In the past, Di Qi’s status was equivalent to a crown prince! Shouldn’t there be some basic respect?]
[Wake up! The Di dynasty fell ages ago. Now it’s the era of the Seven Provinces—cultivators are equals, and strength speaks louder than titles!]
The Golden Silk Veil trembled violently as Li Zhuohua strode out, carrying a cauldron on his back with the Flowing Rainbow Sword, flanked by Shen Hefeng and Lu Jiayao—his two "guardians" (or more accurately, his chicken and pig escorts).
Di Yanran, noticing her cousin’s chilling smile from the corner of her eye, lowered her head briefly before stepping forward with a gentle expression, addressing the most approachable member of Verdant Spirit Mountain—the music cultivator. "Junior Brother Lu, could you tell us why you’ve hung the Golden Silk Veil?"
Lu Jiayao blinked once, then twice, his gaze drifting guiltily toward the ceiling. "Well, um, you see…"
Shen Hefeng rolled his eyes and cut in, answering for him. "To hide the shame, of course."
The crowd: "?"
Shen Hefeng shook his head dramatically. "You probably didn’t know, but Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin are betrothed. At their age, hormones run wild—sleeping together at night inevitably leads to dual cultivation. Tsk, family shame shouldn’t be aired in public. We’ve seen enough, but we can’t let you all witness it too. Hence, the Golden Silk Veil."
The crowd: "??????"
On the Mystic Heaven Mirror:
[Is this for real?]
[Wait, they’re that bold? Dual cultivating in front of their own sect siblings???]
[This sounds obviously fake. How can anyone believe this?]
[But this pretty-faced priest looks so innocent—his lips red, his teeth white, the picture of honesty. He doesn’t seem like a liar!]
[That’s exactly how swindlers operate! They’ll trick you without remorse!!!]
Di Yanran smiled. "Junior Brother Shen, stop joking."
"Shen Hefeng, you foul-mouthed eternal second-place!" A fiery whip lashed through the air, aimed straight at Shen Hefeng.
"Damn it, I’m first now! First! Lu Ying’s been kicked to the Ten Thousand Saints Palace, remember?!" Shen Hefeng exploded at the mention of "second-place," but since he was no match for Wen Shuangbai, he scrambled away, shrieking, "Senior Brother Yin, your junior sister’s trying to kill me! Control her!!"
Hearing this, Yin Xuan at the front instantly sped up.
Even if the sky collapsed, it wasn’t his problem.
Wen Shuangbai chased after him, gnashing her teeth. "If I don’t whip Shen Hefeng into a dried corpse today, Xie Ziyin will stay poor for five hundred years!"
Xie Ziyin, who had been lagging behind while tampering with Shen Hefeng’s fasting pills: "?"
Excuse him?
What did this have to do with him? He wasn’t the one spreading rumors.
[This is so entertaining! Fight, fight! This is exactly what I love to see!]
[Is Verdant Spirit Mountain… falling apart?]
[No idea. It looks like they’re close, sounds like they hate each other—I’m so confused.]
And so, the six of them bickered their way out.
Di Yanran stood still, watching them leave, her gaze lingering on the faint dust swirling in the sunlight where they had passed.
Her eyes darkened, and she curled her lips, turning to Di Qi with a soft voice. "Elder Brother."
Di Qi, having been repeatedly slighted by Verdant Spirit Mountain, maintained his usual gentle smile, though displeasure simmered beneath. "What is it?"
Di Yanran whispered a few words into his ear.
Di Qi lowered his lashes, then suddenly smiled. "Let’s go."
Temporary workers shouldn’t slack off, and daylight hours weren’t for staying indoors.
—
Meanwhile, the Jade Rhinoceros Valley disciples were idly walking their dog.
Today, the big black dog grew particularly excited near the village ancestral hall, rushing to a sealed dog hole in the wall, scratching and pawing as if desperate to enter.
Yu Xiaoli tugged at the leash, feeding the dog a tail-shaped treat as she hugged its belly, squatting by the wall. "What’s inside this hole? The dog always wants to go in."
"Let’s find out." Yu Qianli drew his sword, plucked a silver needle from its sheath, and inserted it into the wall.
The other end of the needle held a translucent bead.
In an instant, the scene beyond the wall materialized within the bead.
[...]
[Jade Rhinoceros Valley’s wealth knows no bounds!]
[Just how rich are they? How many treasures do they carry??]
[At this point, nothing they pull out will surprise me anymore.]
[Next year, I’m joining Jade Rhinoceros Valley’s disciple recruitment!]
[They weren’t this wealthy a decade ago. What happened in these past years…]
The Jade Rhinoceros Valley group huddled around the bead, peering inside.
What they saw was a dark, descending tunnel—an entrance to an abyss so deep it sent chills down Yu Qianli’s spine.
"It’s too dark," Yu Qianli muttered, retracting the needle. "Feels dangerous—maybe a sealed lair of evil spirits. We shouldn’t go down."
Yu Xiaoli nodded, her fluffy fox ears peeking through her hair: "Yeah, our lives are more valuable."
The other senior disciples agreed. Their mission here was complete, and now they just needed to stay safe: "Let's go then."
After restoring the area to its original state, they left with the dog in tow.
"So boring," Yu Qianli complained. "I want to go back to the valley. The Xuantian competition isn’t fun at all."
The other senior disciples nodded. "Yeah, the valley’s much better."
Yu Qianli thought of Qingling Mountain and asked, "Little Junior Sister, what do you think those Qingling Mountain folks are secretly up to?"
Yu Xiaoli shook her head, humming. "I don’t know either."
Yu Qianli: "Should we go ask?"
Yu Xiaoli: "Let’s go find Sister Wen!"
When the Jade Rhinoceros Valley group visited the chicken coop, the Qingling Mountain disciples were all catching up on sleep.
Wen Shuangbai yawned and said, "Why don’t you come back tonight and see for yourselves?"
Yu Xiaoli’s fox-like eyes sparkled. "Really? Can we?"
Wen Shuangbai: "Of course."
Whatever the golden sponsor wants, she gets.
After all, it was clear that the Jade Rhinoceros Valley group was just here for participation—the meager rewards from the Sacred Tower weren’t even worth one of their pearls.
As soon as night fell, Wen Shuangbai and her five companions rushed back to their shared quarters and started digging.
They planned to break through the ground that very night.
When the Jade Rhinoceros Valley group came to observe, Yu Xiaoli exclaimed, "Sister Wen! The Purple Flame Sect also covered their area with a cloth, and people from Heavenly Net Witchcraft and Ten Thousand Saints Palace joined them. Are they digging too?"
Wen Shuangbai wasn’t surprised.
Since they were all in the same room, discovery was inevitable.
Now it was just a race to see who dug faster.
And even if the three sects teamed up, so what?
Digging was about depth, not width.
The pit Qingling Mountain had dug only fit five people—any more and there’d be no space.
Did the Purple Flame Sect plan to dig a mass grave for eighteen people?
Wen Shuangbai chuckled at the thought and kept swinging her shovel skillfully.
Then, out of nowhere, one of the usually quiet Jade Rhinoceros Valley seniors spoke up: "I’ll help you dig. Who’s giving me a spot?"
Without hesitation, Yin Xuan stepped aside and offered his shovel to the dark-skinned senior.
The senior grinned sheepishly. "No need."
With that, he squeezed into the pit, bent down, and transformed his hands into claws. In a flash, he started digging with bare hands, his movements so fast they blurred. Within moments, the ground beneath him visibly sank.
Qingling Mountain disciples: "???"
Someone watching through the Mystic Heaven Mirror squinted—those claws looked unmistakably like a pangolin’s: ["A… pangolin spirit?"]
Shen Hefeng, who had taken an energy-boosting pill and couldn’t stop digging, turned his head in shock. "What the heck are you?"
How could anyone dig faster than him on stimulants?!
No—he refused to be second place! He’d fight for the top spot!
Gritting his teeth, Shen Hefeng swung his shovel with superhuman determination.
Li Zhuohua, seeing this, felt her competitive spirit ignite and sped up as well.
For a moment, the two humans and the spirit raced like madmen, each determined to outdo the other.
Yin Xuan, reassured, nestled back by his cauldron.
The pile of dirt above grew taller, and Lu Jiayao wailed, "Slow down! I can’t keep up—Yin Xuan’s about to be buried alive!"
Yu Qianli and Yu Xiaoli hurried over to help Lu Jiayao clear the dirt.
Yu Qianli proudly boasted, "Our Dachuan is the best at digging!"
Lu Jiayao defended his teammates: "My Senior Sister Li and Brother Shen aren’t bad either! They’ve practiced!"
Yu Xiaoli: "But they’re still not as fast as Senior Dachuan."
And so, the three of them started bickering.
Wen Shuangbai: "?"
Xie Ziyin: "?"
The two paused, exchanging glances.
Wen Shuangbai sighed. "This world has gone mad."
Xie Ziyin nodded. "Absolutely insane."
With that, they calmly resumed digging.
[???]
[Is this really the Xuantian Grand Competition?]
[Things have taken a weird turn.]
[I expected six sects fighting for survival, killing each other… but instead, they’re having a digging contest…]
[I kinda want to toss some vegetable seeds into their holes.]
[Don’t be ridiculous, fellow cultivator.]
[The faster they dig, the better—I want to see what’s underneath before lights-out!]
[Me too! Qingling Mountain, dig faster!]
[Purple Flame Sect, you’d better outpace them! You’re the best!]
[Qingling Mountain’s clearly winning—they started hours earlier and now have a pangolin on their team! Unstoppable!]
[But Purple Flame Sect, Heavenly Net Witchcraft, and Ten Thousand Saints Palace aren’t slackers either. Digging’s easy—anyone can do it!]
Then someone asked: ["Uh… what’s the Divine Evolution Temple doing while everyone’s digging?"]
An insider replied: ["Reciting sutras before bed, as usual. Amitabha."]
Everyone: ["……"]
With Yu Dachuan’s help, Wen Shuangbai’s team made rapid progress.
Soon, Yu Dachuan stopped and announced matter-of-factly, "Done. There’s a hollow space below."
Having said his piece, he returned to the Jade Rhinoceros Valley group, leaving Qingling Mountain to take over—his deed unnoticed.
Wen Shuangbai thanked him, then cautiously tapped the ground with her shovel.
Dirt and pebbles crumbled away, revealing a dark hole beneath.
Below, the faint outline of an underground palace came into view—one with a strangely familiar architectural style.
Yu Xiaoli tilted her head, tugging at her fox ears. "This looks like the tunnel we saw behind the dog hole earlier."
[So the real entrance was the dog hole all along? But Qingling Mountain led everyone astray, making them dig instead…]
[I’m dying of laughter—everyone got tricked into digging!]
[I mean, a dog hole as the entrance is pretty weird too!]
