Chapter 18: Hidden Plot
After Feng Zhun died, Feng Shi asked for his remains and sealed them in the token of Four Hundred and Ten.
Feng Zhun’s parents were just ordinary people who had spent half their lives proud of their son’s cultivation. If they learned their son was gone…
Feng Shi planned to follow Feng Zhun’s wish.
Feng Shi ended the afternoon competition in the shortest time, then returned to his residence.
The room originally full of people was quiet and cold. Feng Shi entered meditative cultivation on his own bed.
When he opened his eyes again, the sky was already dark, and the room was dim.
Feng Shi lay on his side on the bed, watching the asparagus fern outside the window swaying like a ghost shadow. In the cold air, there was only his own messy breathing.
The next day, Feng Shi got up early in the morning and arrived at the new examination venue.
After the screening of the previous two days, only a few hundred people remained at this moment, all silent and ready for battle.
Feng Shi saw that black figure at the very front at a glance.
At this moment, that person was smiling and talking to the people beside him. Not sure what was discussed, a sarcastic smile spilled onto his face.
The third test, testing mental state, was an illusionary realm.
Disciples with unsteady Dao hearts or distracting thoughts would be eliminated in this round.
Not only that, today, the various elders and Immortal Lords of the Chongshan Sect, as well as their disciples, were all present to select disciples to their liking.
As soon as Feng Shi entered the venue, most people recognized him and started whispering sideways.
Feng Shi lowered his head, standing at the end of the line, still clearly feeling several burning gazes landing on him.
On the high platform, Shen Songhe sat beside Qiu Changzhou, his gaze falling on Feng Shi.
This person had shadows of himself and another person, but his temperament wasn’t like his; instead, it was like… another person…
Moreover, in just a short year, he could go from Qi Refining to the peak of Foundation Establishment… and his cultivation method path was very similar…
In this year, what exactly did he do to have such a huge change?
Shen Songhe’s long, slender fingers tapped twice on his knee, his emotions unclear in his dark eyes.
Chongshan Sect issued a stone crystal to everyone. Everyone only had to use spiritual energy to activate it to enter the illusionary realm.
Getting the stone crystal, some people activated it directly, while others hesitated repeatedly.
Feng Shi looked at the black stone in his palm. Just as he was about to activate it, his peripheral vision suddenly caught that black-clothed man secretly crushing the stone crystal issued by the sect and taking out another piece from his sleeve.
【Congratulations Host, Hidden Plot triggered:
Plot Summary: Demon Race Elder’s third son, Yan Cheng, in order to show his strength and win his father’s trust, secretly infiltrated the Chongshan Sect, attempting to take the opportunity to disrupt the sect’s order.
Now, the Host will have the following choices: A: Expose the other party in public B: Ignore it, let nature take its course C: Choose to observe secretly and collect evidence.
Among them, completing options A and C can obtain extra rewards, but carry a certain degree of risk.
Please choose one as soon as possible, Host.】
Feng Shi tightened his grip on the stone crystal in his hand, his gaze fixed tightly on Yan Cheng.
Originally not knowing the other party had such an identity, he was indignant. Now that he knew, he became exceptionally calm instead.
“Choose C.”
If he exposed the other party in public now, the other party very likely would have time to destroy evidence and then deny it to death. There were too many variables; it was almost equivalent to gambling.
【Option C selected. Please complete the side mission as soon as possible, Host. The duration is one month. If overdue, the mission becomes invalid.】
Feng Shi nodded. Taking one last look at Yan Cheng, who had already fallen into the illusion, he also activated the stone crystal in his hand.
After a brief blindness, only a vast expanse of white remained before Feng Shi’s eyes; there was no so-called illusionary realm.
“What’s going on?” Feng Shi asked Qingqing.
【Because the Host’s identity is special, it’s inconvenient to reveal to outsiders, so the System has automatically mosaiced the content~】
Feng Shi understood.
Illusions are born from the heart. There were so many pairs of eyes watching outside this illusion. As a soul from another world, the things in his heart were indeed inconvenient for people to see.
Looking at the empty space before him, Feng Shi walked two laps and soon broke away from the illusionary realm. The speed was unprecedented.
Exiting the illusion, the light of the stone crystal in his hand dimmed. Feng Shi lifted his feet to bypass those cultivators sitting on the ground still immersed in the illusion, walking slowly to the foot of the high platform.
Next was the real test for him to enter the inner sect.
Above the firmament, floating clouds were dense. The immortals in white clothes fluttered, sitting on the high platform overlooking everyone.
Feng Shi knelt in front of the high platform, his waist straight. No one announced him, so he spoke himself: “Sect Leader, Elders, disciple Feng Shi comes to pay respects to a master.”
The people on the stage seemed to finally react at this moment. Expressions were subtle or ugly.
Only after a moment did an elder open his mouth to ask him: “Are you willing to join my sect?”
Regardless of what Feng Shi had done before, the strength he displayed this time could not be ignored.
Feng Shi’s expression didn’t change. He kowtowed and performed a grand salute to that person, saying respectfully: “Many thanks for Elder’s kindness, but disciple wants to go to Yihe Peak.”
As soon as his voice fell, Qiu Changzhou over there had already slammed the table and stood up, raging: “Don’t you even think about it!”
Ignoring his words, Feng Shi turned his body to kneel towards Shen Songhe, kowtowing and shouting loudly: “Disciple will only bow to one Master in this life! Begging Immortal Lord Yubai to accept this disciple as an apprentice!”
On the other side, several disciples who had just extricated themselves from the illusion looked at this scene with confusion: “Although Immortal Lord Yubai is indeed a rare beauty in the three realms, he can’t really teach disciples anything. Why is there still someone who can’t see the situation clearly and insists on taking him as a teacher?”
“Who knows, maybe just an admirer of the Immortal Lord.”
Another black-clothed man crossed his arms and sneered: “What do you know? This guy was originally Shen Songhe’s disciple. Later, because he committed an offense against his superior and intended to humiliate his own Master, he was kicked to the outer sect by Qiu Changzhou. Didn’t expect his cultivation to increase greatly in the outer sect, and he came to seek mastership again. Truly unrepentant.”
The speaker was exactly Yan Cheng, arrogantly calling the Sect Leader by name.
Hearing this, those two disciples looked at the seemingly honest and well-behaved Feng Shi kneeling on the ground with shock.
Didn’t expect this person born obedient and looking like a pure kid to be a lecher behind the scenes!
Feng Shi didn’t know how others evaluated him. Raising his head, his gaze met Shen Songhe’s, kowtowing constantly: “Please forgive disciple, Master. From now on, disciple will definitely cultivate well to repay Master’s kindness!”
Two people stood beside Shen Songhe: Xiao Yuhui and Cao Ni.
At this moment, Xiao Yuhui showed an unbearable look, while Cao Ni looked at Feng Shi with an unclear expression.
After becoming an Elder, Shen Songhe had only accepted three disciples. First, most cultivators were bent on making progress and few were willing to choose a master with poor aptitude. Second, Shen Songhe himself didn’t want too many people around him.
Among the three disciples, two were picked up by him. Only the youngest disciple, Feng Shi, was raised by his side since childhood.
Feng Shi thought, maybe the reason the other party was willing to speak for him and spare his life before was because of this relationship.
Don’t know why, but Feng Shi felt no panic in his heart at this moment, as if deep down he was sure the other party would definitely agree to him.
He kowtowed incessantly. Even when a bloody wound was knocked onto his forehead, blood soaking his eyebrows and eyes, he didn’t stop.
Qiu Changzhou flung his sleeve with a violent temper, turning to say anxiously to Shen Songhe: “Junior Brother, don’t be soft-hearted! Such a person with wolfish ambition definitely cannot stay by your side!”
“Sigh! I shouldn’t have listened to you back then. I should have crippled his cultivation and kicked him out of the immortal sect, preventing him from coming to find you again today!”
Shen Songhe’s attitude was starkly opposite to his, sitting quietly and upright.
He hadn’t expressed his stance from beginning to end. Slightly lowered eyelashes covered the emotions in his pupils. On the face carved like cold jade, only the moist red lips were still vivid.
Feng Shi wasn’t in a hurry either, kowtowing one by one. His slender white hands pressed on the ground, stained with dust and splattered tiny blood beads.
Shen Songhe’s gaze was indifferent, seemingly caring about nothing, seeing nothing in his eyes. But only those familiar with him knew that at this moment, he was lost in thought.
He was looking through the person on the ground at another person.
Other disciples woke up one after another. Seeing this, they first looked at each other in dismay, then after hearing the rumors, all sighed endlessly.
As time passed, disciples who successfully passed the illusion were almost all assigned to suitable elders. Only Feng Shi remained, kneeling relentlessly.
Overhead, the scorching sun was high. The elders on the high platform also left one after another.
Shen Songhe didn’t choose a new person as his disciple. He got up early and left. Qiu Changzhou went with him, giving Feng Shi a fierce glare before leaving.
When everyone was gone, on the huge mountain peak, as far as the eye could see, only Feng Shi remained alone.
He had long guessed that wanting to come back this time definitely wouldn’t be this easy. So even with such a result, Feng Shi didn’t lose his composure, kneeling firmly.
Several days later, on the empty high platform, a person suddenly leaped down.
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