Chapter 33: Slacking Off, Day 33
Everyone stared blankly at Wen Ying, falling into silence and stunned bewilderment.
Some even rubbed their eyes hard, confirming they weren’t mistaken.
Wen Ying didn’t mind the attention.
What she cared most about was the crowd before her.
Wen Ying thought she had indeed arrived at the Xun Xian Sect’s forbidden area.
But…
Looking at the scene before her, which resembled a group of elementary school students on a field trip, Wen Ying found it hard not to suspect something.
Was this really not a group tour?
But the others thought completely differently from Wen Ying.
“Wen, Senior Sister Wen, what was that just now…?!” Xu Tongtong, her eyes wide and her mouth agape in surprise, was the first to speak.
“Just now?” Wen Ying thought back.
Was she referring to the fact that her sword got stuck in a tree branch?
Well, it was indeed a bit embarrassing.
“Ah, maybe I wasn’t paying attention to the road,” Wen Ying replied.
“Huh?” Wen Ying’s answer left Xu Tongtong completely confused.
What did Senior Sister Wen mean?
Before Wen Ying could say anything else, several mission prompt boxes popped up before her eyes like a message bombardment.
[“True Eldest Daughter Story” Mission 2: Eliminate the suspicion of luring Wen Meng into the forbidden area!]
[“Fake Eldest Daughter Story” Mission 2: Eliminate the suspicion of luring Feng Si Xuan into the forbidden area!]
[“No-CP Upgrade Stream Male Lead Story” Mission 1: Eliminate the suspicion of luring Long Mu Sheng into the forbidden area!]
Following that, because Wen Ying hadn’t done anything, allowing the protagonists to enter the forbidden area, a bunch of “mission failed” prompt boxes popped up.
The scene made Wen Ying feel like she was back in school, when the counselor assigned a task, and everyone in the group replied “received,” with their phones constantly dinging.
Indeed, this forbidden area, which Wen Ying had never entered before, had extremely high utilization; basically, every disciple would be tricked into this forbidden area once.
In this respect, Wen Ying could understand.
Every sect would have such a forbidden area that others were not allowed to enter.
And every protagonist had to enter the forbidden area once.
Based on the system’s past bugs, Wen Ying also anticipated that the mission of several people entering the forbidden area might be combined.
Because world overlap was a bug, during the overlap process, there would often be similar tasks from different stories, which, according to slight variations in the actual situation, would have a “combining like terms” effect in time; this wasn’t the first time.
But…
Wen Ying hadn’t expected…
That a whole class of disciples would come this time.
The number of protagonists here was so large that even without Wen Ying’s initiative, through her passive skill, mind reading, she easily learned what had just happened.
The reason why Feng Si Xuan and Long Mu Sheng entered the forbidden area was similar to Xu Tongtong’s; their swords had been tampered with.
As for Wen Meng, she was originally practicing the levitation talisman today, but she didn’t know that her cinnabar had been tampered with beforehand, causing her to be navigated to the airspace above the forbidden area when she tested the talisman.
Fu Shuang Xue, on the other hand, heard Xu Tongtong’s scream and rushed over on her flying crane.
Feng Si Xuan, Long Mu Sheng, Wen Meng, and Fu Shuang Xue rushed to the airspace above the forbidden area from all directions at an extremely fast speed, and so—
With a “bang,” the four collided.
In other words, a serious “sword disaster” occurred in the airspace above the forbidden area.
And the location of the forbidden area happened to be in the center of the Xun Xian Sect. Many disciples flying swords would inevitably pass by here.
Thus, more disciples, unable to control themselves, collided with the four in the center of the “sword disaster,” further expanding the “sword disaster” and eventually turning it into a “sword jam.”
Finally, everyone’s true energy could no longer support them to continue flying swords, and they all fell into the forbidden area.
Upon falling into the forbidden area, they startled the tree demon. The tree demon was extremely powerful, and even when everyone resisted together, they could only barely hold their own.
Wen Ying: “…”
In the modern world, there are car accidents; in ancient times, there were carriage accidents; in the world of cultivation, there are sword disasters – makes sense.
Car accidents can lead to traffic jams, so sword disasters can naturally lead to sword jams; it still makes sense.
However, one thing was very wrong.
The timing didn’t match.
Wen Ying released a small amount of true energy to investigate.
Sure enough, the time flow rate in this forbidden area was different from the outside world.
She had indeed unlocked a new and interesting map.
Wen Ying was in a good mood and was quite interested in flicking away the thick stack of mission prompt boxes one by one.
“Senior Sister Wen, be careful—”
Feng Si Xuan’s warning reached her ears. Wen Ying turned her head, her flicking motion still continuing habitually: “Hmm?”
Feng Si Xuan’s voice stopped abruptly.
Her mouth was half-open, but she couldn’t say another word.
“Hmm?” Wen Ying made a questioning sound again.
Why did she feel like she had just flicked away more than just mission prompt boxes?
Mission prompt boxes should be very light… the things she just flicked away had a little weight.
Wen Ying looked back.
There was nothing there.
Ah…
Wen Ying remembered.
There seemed to be a tree demon with its arm cut off by her just now. It probably tried to attack her and was accidentally flicked away.
It wasn’t that Wen Ying didn’t notice the tree demon’s aura, but she couldn’t pay attention to every aura that posed no threat to her.
If she really had to pay attention to everything, she would need to have the ability to do a hundred things at once.
Not only the auras of the disciples nearby, but also the auras of many small animals around.
Everyone was stunned again.
This time, they were completely shocked.
If Wen Ying cutting off the demon’s arm just now was merely because they had been fighting the demon for so long, and Wen Ying’s insignificant strike happened to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
And as for floating in mid-air… maybe it was because they had been fighting for too long, exhausted, and their eyes were blurry.
But now, they clearly saw Wen Ying flick away the powerful demon with a single finger.
The demon didn’t even have time to let out a scream before flying far, far away…
How was that possible!
Senior Brother Fu, Junior Sister Wen, Junior Sister Feng… they were all once-in-a-century cultivation geniuses. Although they were common in Xun Xian Sect, their cultivation level was far beyond the reach of their peers! They had been entangled with the demon for a long time and could only barely fight it to a standstill; they were even showing signs of weakness due to the rapid consumption of true energy, while the demon was getting stronger and stronger…
“Wen Ying, what, what exactly did you do?!” An incredulous disciple asked, dumbfounded.
“What did I do?” Wen Ying thought for a moment, “I flicked my finger?”
“Impossible!” Another disciple denied, “Even if an elder came, they couldn’t flick away the sixth-order ferocious beast just now with just one finger! You’re lying!”
Wen Ying felt that she should affirm this disciple.
At least, his judgment was completely correct. The tree demon just now was indeed a sixth-order spirit beast, a common inhabitant of the Green Mountain Valley.
To have this kind of accurate judgment was rare.
“Ah, that,” Wen Ying looked at her finger, “I didn’t mean to, it was just a coincidence.”
If she had known that the tree demon would come crashing in, she wouldn’t have flicked away those mission prompt boxes.
A coincidence…
Could it be that there was some mechanism they didn’t know about in this forbidden area…
The mist around them silently grew thicker.
While everyone was contemplating, a shout suddenly erupted from the crowd.
“Everyone, look closely! That’s not Wen Ying, that’s the Exam God!”
Hearing the shout, everyone looked up, and saw—
Standing in front of them wasn’t Wen Ying, but a deity with a golden aura and a beauty that didn’t seem to belong to the mortal world!
“It’s the Exam God! It’s the Exam God!”
The noisy sound spread among the crowd. Although no one had ever seen the legendary “Exam God,” they seemed certain that the person in front of them was the Exam God.
Everyone clasped their hands together and spontaneously worshipped the Exam God.
At this moment, Wen Ying, who was being worshipped: “…”
Wen Ying recognized the mist in the forbidden area.
During her previous reincarnation, she had visited an abandoned city occupied by spirit beasts, named “Wish-Fulfilling City”.
The city lived up to its name, because a special mist filled the city, allowing people’s imaginations to become visible illusions, which is called “wish fulfillment”.
Therefore, after one person had this thought, and with more and more people agreeing, they all regarded Wen Ying as the legendary “Exam God”.
Even those protagonists, although not worshipping, obviously regarded Wen Ying as the Exam God.
Perhaps to compete with each other on who was more devout to the Exam God—of course, it was to receive the Exam God’s protection during future exams—not knowing who started, the simple clasped hands turned into kneeling worship.
As a sea of heads knelt down, some felt that kneeling wasn’t enough and began to kowtow.
When most people started kowtowing, some started kowtowing louder, as if the louder the kowtow, the more the Exam God would favor them in future exams.
Hearing the “bang bang bang” sounds coming from everywhere, Wen Ying’s eardrums were a little uncomfortable.
The kowtows of cultivators were much more powerful than those of ordinary people.
Even the ground began to shake.
Wen Ying sighed and shook her head.
Internal competition is not good.
Just as the disciples were still kowtowing enthusiastically, the ground suddenly began to crack.
“Boom—”
With a loud bang, the ground beneath the disciples’ feet cracked, turning into piles of rubble.
The disciples barely had time to react before they fell into the ruins.
So, internal competition is not good.
Wen Ying shook her head again.
That’s right, because the disciples kowtowed too hard, they knocked the ground down…
“Wow—Exam God, save me—”
Screams for help came from the disciples, but after a while, they gradually subsided.
They found that they were fine.
At most, they had eaten a mouthful of dirt while shouting for help, and when they stood up, the rubble only buried their legs.
The forbidden area was worthy of being a forbidden area, it was truly magical. On top of the original land, there was another layer of land suspended in the air, so what had collapsed just now was only the upper layer of land.
When the disciples came to their senses, they found that the Exam God had disappeared.
Not only that, but the group of talented disciples had also disappeared.
Obviously, geniuses were worthy of being geniuses, and gods were worthy of being gods. When the ground collapsed, they knew to avoid it.
Unlike them, they only knew how to shout and scream, and they only realized that nothing had happened after eating a mouthful of dirt…
…
As the disciples thought, the “Exam God”, Wen Ying, had indeed dodged.
But she didn’t dodge far, only floating in the air above the forbidden area.
The layer of soil suspended above the forbidden area was called “spiritual soil,” dug from Green Mountain Valley.
Its existence was to nurture the spirit beasts around, including the tree demon.
These spirit beasts could only survive on the spiritual soil.
And now, these disciples… had also benefited from misfortune.
With the spiritual soil collapsed, the tree demons and other spirit beasts could not come to this place, which was equivalent to forming a natural protective circle.
All they had to do was wait for the elders to come to rescue them.
As for the protagonists, they would naturally go to various places in the forbidden area to hone their skills, just as in the original plot.
Although entering the forbidden area was plotted by Wen Ying, the second female lead, the plot of entering the forbidden area couldn’t just highlight the second female lead’s wickedness.
Entering the forbidden area, either there would be a miraculous encounter, or they would fight monsters and level up, or it would enhance their relationship.
But none of this had anything to do with Wen Ying.
She was just thinking, since she was already here, she might as well have some fun.
Because, just now, she had completely confirmed her thoughts.
This forbidden area, located in the center of Xun Xian Sect, seemed to only occupy the size of a main building from the outside, but upon entering, one would find that this forbidden area was actually a pocket dimension.
A mustard seed containing Sumeru, that’s roughly the idea.
Inside the pocket dimension, not only was the area surprisingly vast, but the time flow rate was also different from the outside world.
And this pocket dimension… was man-made.
The person who built it had painstakingly collected various soils, animals, plants, and even mist from various places.
It was almost like—a large wild animal and plant ecological park!
Thinking about it this way, the numerous disciples entering the forbidden area really did resemble elementary school students on a field trip…
For example, the place where the disciples were currently located was similar to the “Green Mountain Valley Ecological Area,” perhaps the builder thought that the mist of Wish-Fulfilling City and the Green Mountain Valley environment were a good match, so he also brought the mist here.
Indeed, it was very beautiful.
When the ferocious beasts did not pose a threat to the observers, they could naturally discover the beauty belonging to the cultivation world—as it was for Wen Ying.
Besides the “Green Mountain Valley Ecological Area”, there were a dozen or so other areas.
Unfortunately, the builder didn’t completely finish the construction.
On the right side, there was a large empty space… and a house.
When appreciating an ecological park, don’t rush.
Wen Ying wasn’t in a hurry, anyway, she could enter and exit at any time later, so she could enjoy it slowly.
She decided to go and see the house first.
There must be something unusual about this place.
…
When Wen Ying got closer, she found that there were several glittering golden characters hanging on the house.
[Ecological Park Management Office]
It really was an ecological park!
Could there be a manager here…?
Wen Ying pushed open the door and saw an old grandfather sitting inside.
“Hello, may I…” Wen Ying had just opened her mouth to speak when the old grandfather suddenly jumped off his seat.
With tears in his eyes, he lay on the ground, stretching his neck towards Wen Ying, and said, “Grandma, you’re finally back!”
Just as the old grandfather uttered these words, the door was pushed open by another person.
He clearly heard what the old grandfather had said and was so startled that the small booklet in his hand fell to the ground.
“Wen… Senior Sister Wen, you… you are this… old grandfather’s granddaughter?”
The visitor was the small disciple who had bought the second-hand meal earlier.
His mouth couldn’t close from shock: “Senior Sister Wen, how old… no, how long have you lived?”
Wen Ying: “…”
If being hugged by the ragged little black earlier was stimulating, then being hugged by a white-haired old man with a long beard who was lying on the ground calling her grandma today could be described as terrifying.
“Old man, you… you get up first and talk…” Wen Ying reached out to help the old grandfather up.
She suspected that it might be because the old grandfather had stayed here for too long, too lonely, and might even have hallucinations…
“Grandma, how can you still not recognize me with me in this position?” The old grandfather was still tearful. He waved his limbs, “I’m your grandson!”
“Pfft!”
The small disciple couldn’t help but laugh.
It wasn’t his fault, the key was that the scene was really…
Weirdly funny, funny in a weird way.
Even the word “absurd” couldn’t encompass the strangeness of the scene.
Little… grandson…
Wen Ying thought it couldn’t possibly be the literal… meaning.
So, who exactly was the old man in front of her?