A scream that changed pitch suddenly came to an abrupt end.

“Rice bucket (NT: slang for ‘useless person’)! What’s the use of just being able to see a broken bead? There are plenty of people with beads!” The elder finally couldn’t hold back, his face turning as dark as a pot bottom.

The sect leader’s fingers, which had been rhythmically tapping the armrest of his chair, suddenly stopped, and the entire hall fell silent, becoming even more oppressive: “Dark beads circling around the hand...?” He repeated softly, showing no expression, making it impossible to tell if he had thought of something.

After a while, he spoke again, “Can’t we find anyone in the city now?”

The disciple stammered, “After that black-clothed person stirred things up and alarmed the snake in the grass, those who haven’t been found are probably hiding for now. I estimate…”

“Hmm.” The sect leader waved his hand and said, “You can leave.”

As if granted a pardon, the disciple hurriedly bowed and left.

Once only the elders remained in the hall, the sect leader said, “Hong Jun, go gather all the new disciples in the sect. Hong Xian, you send out letters to the other sects, notifying them that the trial assembly next month has been moved up to five days from now.”

“This… moving it up nearly a month suddenly, we must have a reason, right?” Elder Hong Xian hesitated.

“Just say—” The sect leader pondered for a moment and pursued, “Our sect has fortunately obtained a recipe from the Medicine Ghost. The pills produced have astonishing effects. After a hundred years, this pill is finally ready. We want to take advantage of the trial assembly to sincerely invite all sects to come and taste it together. At that time, the other sects will certainly be suspicious and will have to send more people to see what’s going on.”

After saying this, he didn’t offer further explanation and let everyone disperse.

*

In the secret realm, a few people saw the ink-washing pool ripple a few times before returning to clarity and calmness.

“Trial assembly?” Yu Xian touched his chin and repeated.

“Oh, that’s how it is, ancestor.” Lin Jie hurried over to explain, “This trial assembly began over a hundred years ago. Because the restrictions in the world have become more and more numerous, the disciples recruited have become more and more varied, and the connections between sects have lessened over time, giving it a somewhat isolated feel. To prevent each sect from sitting idly and gradually declining, a trial assembly is held every ten years, with each sect’s elders bringing new disciples who have joined within that decade. It serves as a form of exchange between sects and allows them to see the gaps between their own disciples and others, thus encouraging their disciples to practice diligently. Because Hengtian Sect has almost been the dominant one in recent years, the trial assembly has always been hosted by Hengtian Sect.”

Yu Xian nodded, “I see. We had one back then too, but there was no Hengtian Sect at that time. I didn’t expect them to take it all on now.”

“Have there been any deaths or injuries during the trial assembly?” Bai Ke asked.

“Every time, each sect almost has casualties, but it’s usually just one or two, which the sects find acceptable,” Lin Jie replied.

Jun Xiao frowned, “Isn’t the trial just a matter of sparring with each other, stopping at a point? How could there still be deaths or injuries?”

Lin Jie shook his head, “This trial assembly isn’t primarily about competition; instead, it involves placing the new disciples from each sect into Wanchao Valley, which is fraught with dangers. Whichever sect’s disciples come out first counts as having won.”

“There are so many tricks that can be played here!” Aunt Pang’s voice interjected. For the past few days, she had been recuperating in the secret realm and had been appearing in her original form for comfort. Thus, what everyone saw was a large, plump peony shaking a couple of times and babbling sentences, creating a rather bizarre scene... Everyone still found it hard to confront the fact that Aunt Pang was a peony; after all, apart from being plump, there were almost no commonalities between the two to make people associate them together.

Just as they were talking, the mirror ocarina on the eaves began to buzz again, signaling that the notice for the disciples to gather had arrived.

Bai Ke and Lin Jie greeted everyone before making their way through the bamboo forest back to the small courtyard, just in time to intercept the disciple's summoning order.

Lin Jie tore down the summon talisman, igniting a small fireball with his fingertips to burn the dark yellow paper clean, then he led Bai Ke towards the square in front of Hengtian Hall.

When they arrived, they saw a dense crowd of heads. The disciples under each elder were orderly arranged, standing in neat rows in the square, their robes fluttering, giving off the aura of a large sect. Lin Jie guided Bai Ke to stand in the row of disciples under Elder Hong Xian, but this positioning seemed to be quite significant; it was unclear if it was arranged according to the time of their entry into the sect. After ensuring Bai Ke stood at the back of the line, Lin Jie hurriedly walked forward a few rows and took his place.

“Are you a new disciple?” The one standing in front of Bai Ke, who had just exchanged greetings with Lin Jie, was a somewhat petite disciple. Bai Ke couldn’t see his appearance clearly, but judging by his voice, he didn’t seem very old. His voice carried a hint of youthful awkwardness, and the tone was gentle to the point of being a bit soft.

Bai Ke usually preferred soft-spoken individuals, so he felt no aversion towards this disciple. He didn’t pretend to be deaf or mute; instead, he nodded and replied, “Sort of.”

“No wonder I haven’t seen you before. Are you a friend of A Jie? If you encounter any issues in the future and A Jie isn’t around, you can come find me; just call me Meng Xi.” Meng Xi seemed to be talkative, chatting on and on with Bai Ke.

Bai Ke smiled lightly in response, just as he was about to introduce himself in return, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet tremble for some unknown reason.

The tremor was too sudden and not very strong; in that moment, Bai Ke even thought it was just a moment of dizziness that made him unsteady. Then, the previously quiet square erupted into buzzing discussions.

“Eh?! Was it me who lost my balance, or did the ground shake? Did you feel it?” Meng Xi rubbed his forehead and asked Bai Ke.

“I felt it too.” Bai Ke frowned, clearly unsure why the ground suddenly shook. He had learned a little about Hengtian Sect's recent situation through the ink-washing pool in Junxiao’s secret realm, realizing that there were many unstable factors. So when he realized the ground truly trembled, his first reaction was “not good!”

In fact, he unconsciously voiced those two words.

“Ah? What’s not good?” Meng Xi was a bit confused and continued to utter to himself, “But it does feel a bit off. After all, places like ours are typically under restrictions and formations. We shouldn’t feel ordinary earthquakes at all. Could it be that someone outside accidentally triggered the restrictions of Hengtian's boundary?”

His thoughts clearly echoed those of many disciples from Hengtian Sect. Amid the buzzing discussions, words like “restrictions” and “formation” could be frequently heard. However, Bai Ke had an instinctive feeling that something was wrong.

While everyone was chattering away, a calm yet somewhat aged voice resonated across the square, clearly amplified by magic: “What’s the fuss! It’s just a tremor, is it worthy of your fear? The sect leader has already sent someone to investigate the surroundings—”

Before the voice could finish, Bai Ke heard a startled cry not far ahead: “Heavens—what is that!”

With this exclamation, more voices erupted: “To the west! Look at the sky!” “It’s a dark mass!” “Good heavens, it’s coming—ah—”

A scream that changed pitch suddenly came to an abrupt end.

Bai Ke turned his gaze toward the sound, and what he saw was not a dark mass, as described by the other disciples, but rather a huge, tangled mass of spiritual entities. They shaked and clamored silently, and Bai Ke could even see a particularly ferocious face emerge from the mass, opening its mouth and extending its hand to envelop the nearest Hengtian Sect disciple. In the blink of an eye, that disciple was left as nothing more than a pool of blood, devoid of any spiritual energy, vanishing from Bai Ke's sight and returning to silence.

“Form the formation!” Bai Ke vaguely heard Qin He shouting. But the crowd in the square had already descended into chaos.

“Xiao Bai!” Lin Jie pushed through the turmoil to reach Bai Ke, pulling Meng Xi along with him.

After seeing that thing, Bai Ke suddenly grabbed Lin Jie and Meng Xi, firmly declaring, “Let’s go!”

The elders and the sect leader of Hengtian Sect clearly did not expect such a sudden turn of events. After a moment of shock, they quickly scattered to arrange a formation, shouting at the disoriented disciples while executing their movements, “What are you dawdling for?! Have all those years of training been for nothing?!”

It was evident that the disciples of Hengtian Sect were not all useless. However, the years of peace had left them with little real combat experience. After being shouted at by the sect leader and elders, they quickly reacted, beginning to unleash all the spells they could summon toward the mass of black clouds.

But that black mass was not easy to deal with. It seemed to be torn apart by invisible hands into several groups, then it swept through the crowd at a speed that left no time for response.

The elders' formation began to take effect, creating wind vortexes from their gathered energies that stirred the air, making it difficult for anyone to keep their eyes open. The groups of black clouds were sliced to pieces by the cutting winds. However, this didn’t significantly weaken the clouds; they dispersed into the air, their forms shifting and flickering, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. They would latch onto any disciple who resisted weakly, wrapping them up like a whirlwind before quickly targeting the next.

Pools of blood dotted the ground, and the scattered disciples’ robes soaked in it, creating a horrifying scene.

Bai Ke and Lin Jie had made rapid progress under Junxiao’s guidance in the secret realm, advancing much faster than the average disciple. However, even with their quick progression, it was impossible to jump to a much higher realm in such a short time. These entities were already quite troublesome for the sect leader and elders of Hengtian; let alone for the three of them. Thus, they had to abandon any thought of resistance and prioritize escaping.

But they still underestimated the speed of these fragmented spiritual entities—or rather, they overestimated their own ability to escape.

Uncertain of which among the three looked the most appetizing, as soon as they extricated themselves from the chaotic crowd, avoiding the randomly thrown talismans and formations, they turned around and confronted three groups of spiritual entities.

Bai Ke almost watched helplessly as a grotesque face opened its mouth in a terrifying manner, approaching him, ready to envelop him in an instant.

 

Translator : DarNan