“Look, another person has perfectly passed the first stage of the illusion!”

Just as the Falling Cloud Valley crowd was buzzing with discussion, someone suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

“It’s Lin Zhen!”

“He also realized there was something wrong with the beauty before him!”

The next moment, an extremely astonished voice rang out again.

“And Wang Luchuan—he did it too!”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the scene within the water mirror.

In the image, Wang Luchuan, acting out of character, had a face full of righteous indignation as he rescued the damsel in distress. He quickly noticed something amiss and, without hesitation, ended her with a single strike of his blade. His performance could be described as perfect.

Seeing this scene, many people wore expressions of suspicion, their gazes drifting almost imperceptibly toward Yin Qingyuan, standing below the water mirror.

Big Qi and Lin Zhen were one thing, but Wang Luchuan was the nephew of an Elder from the Entry Pavilion. And this recruitment assessment for new disciples was almost entirely orchestrated by Yin Qingyuan himself. This was interesting…

If Yin Qingyuan had leaked the questions from the illusion array to Wang Luchuan in advance, wouldn’t it have been effortless?

Although participants entering the illusion array would have their recent memories erased, forgetting they were taking an assessment, there were still potential loopholes.

If Wang Luchuan had known the specific content of the character test several months prior, the memory block would be rendered useless.

Of course, all the cultivators present were shrewd individuals. Suspicion was one thing; no one would be foolish enough to bring it up publicly without solid evidence.

Yin Qingyuan naturally sensed the unusual glances directed his way from all sides. His brows immediately furrowed tightly, a flash of gloom crossing his face.

According to Falling Cloud Valley’s sect rules, all newly joined disciples had to serve as laborers in the Outer Sect for a period to temper their bodies and hone their wills.

However, if Wang Luchuan, relying on his dual spiritual root talent and outstanding performance in the character assessment, could get the sect to make an exception for him, he could skip this step entirely, saving at least a year.

Therefore, he had indeed leaked the questions to Wang Luchuan in advance. He had originally hoped his nephew would make a stunning impression during the assessment, using this opportunity to allow him to enter the Inner Sect directly.

Unexpectedly, things didn’t go as planned. Two other newcomers with exceptional character suddenly appeared, causing Wang Luchuan to not shine as brilliantly as imagined.

After all, three people tying for first place versus one person standing alone made a world of difference…

Just as Yin Qingyuan’s mind raced with thoughts, Bai Xirou gave him a thoughtful glance, a trace of barely perceptible dissatisfaction flickering in her eyes.

……

Inside the illusion array.

Qi Yuan walked along the small path, feeling quite relaxed. Along the way, he had basically figured out the pattern of this illusion array and no longer felt as constrained as he did initially.

The next moment, he spotted a bundle on the ground ahead. This silk bundle was brightly colored and placed right on the path travelers would take, making it exceptionally conspicuous. Anyone who wasn’t blind could spot it from far away.

Another test.

Thinking this, a slight smile touched his lips as he quickly walked toward the bundle and picked it up.

Upon opening it, he found it packed full of shimmering low-grade spirit stones—roughly fifty or sixty pieces by the look of it.

As the saying goes, wealth can sway men’s hearts. This pile of gleaming spirit stones before one’s eyes indeed delivered a visual impact. Especially for those new to immortal cultivation paths, it was incredibly tempting.

But for Qi Yuan, normally he couldn’t be bothered to bend down and pick up such low-grade spirit stones with their sparse spiritual energy, even if they were scattered on the road.

As a Holy Scion of the Supreme Mystery Sanctuary, Qi Yuan’s monthly stipend alone was one thousand high-grade spirit stones. Each high-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for one hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and each mid-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

“It seems this test is about human greed. But trying to tempt me with a mere fifty low-grade spirit stones is rather stingy,” Qi Yuan muttered casually. Still, he put away the bundle and slung it over his back.

Although these low-grade spirit stones in the bundle were practically worthless in his eyes—akin to dirt—since things had progressed this far and set such an atmosphere, he might as well continue playing along with this act.

Soon enough, an elderly man with white hair came hobbling hurriedly from the other side of the path. He looked ancient and frail—so shaky that half his body seemed already buried in yellow earth.

Upon closer inspection, his eyes were also extremely cloudy; he was actually blind.

Seeming to hear Qi Yuan’s footsteps, the old man quickly stopped and asked urgently:

“Young man, have you seen a bundle?”

Qi Yuan smiled slightly and countered with a question instead:

“Old sir, since you can’t see anything at all… how do you know I’m a young man?”

The old man was momentarily taken aback by this question before replying calmly:

“Although this old man cannot see… my hearing is exceptionally sharp. The footsteps of young people are light and vigorous; I can tell just by listening.”

Qi Yuan didn’t waste words either and said directly:

“I did indeed find a bundle just now… but you must tell me what’s inside it so I can confirm whether it belongs to you or not.”

Without hesitation, the old man said, “There are fifty-five low-grade spirit stones inside!”

But Qi Yuan shook his head. “Oh… sorry… looks like this bundle isn’t yours then.”

The old man immediately grew anxious.

“Young man… how can you be so dishonest? This place is desolate wilderness; besides me… who else would have dropped a bundle here? Please hand over my bundle quickly… I will surely reward you handsomely.”

Qi Yuan’s expression remained unchanged as he spoke:

“I just counted them myself… there are clearly only fifty low-grade spirit stones inside… yet you claim there are fifty-five? Are you trying to swindle five more out of me?”

Hearing this, the old man’s face showed sudden understanding, and he hurriedly said, “Yes, yes, yes! Fifty is fine too! Consider those other five as payment for your help!”

“What kind of person do you think I am?” Qi Yuan said with an angry expression on his face. “I am Big Qi! I’ve always conducted myself openly and aboveboard—standing tall between heaven and earth! Would I covet your few measly spirit stones?”

“Feel for yourself how many spirit stones are actually inside.”

As he spoke, he shoved the bundle into the old man’s hands, indicating for him to open and check its contents himself.

The old man hesitated briefly before slowly reaching out, opening the silk cloth, taking out each stone, and counting them one by one.

Soon enough, the old man put down the last stone, his entire face flushed red with excitement.

“Young man, see? You miscounted! There really are fifty-five pieces inside! Now can you return them back?”

Qi Yuan rubbed his nose and chuckled lightly.

“Seems like I really did miscount… but now I know for sure that bundle truly isn’t yours after all… you should go back where you came from.”

Then he reached out and snatched the bundle easily back into his own hands.

The old man’s joyful expression instantly froze, anger rising in his voice.

“How dare you lie through your teeth like that?! That bundle is clearly mine!”

Qi Yuan shrugged his shoulders and spoke indifferently.

“Do you know… there exists a thing called palm prints in this world? Everyone’s palm prints are unique.”

“Originally, there were a pair of fresh muddy palm prints on the outside cloth, clearly left by the owner. Your hand is obviously smaller than those prints, which is highly suspicious.”

“To confirm again, just now I sprinkled a layer of fine dust over the cloth. When counting the stones, you naturally left an even clearer set of prints.”

“Comparing the two sets of patterns, they are completely different, definitively proving the bundle was never yours to begin with!”

With that, he ignored the stiff-faced old man standing there, slung the bundle over his shoulder, turned, and walked away to go find the real owner.

Not long after, Qi Yuan found the NPC—no—the actual owner in a secluded corner far from the main path.

“So that’s how it happened. I never thought my casual remark while searching would be exploited by someone else. That despicable old scoundrel is simply too vile.”

The speaker was a middle-aged man dressed in steward attire, looking at Qi Yuan with eyes full of gratitude.

“When he asked what I lost, I answered I lost a bundle containing fifty-five spirit stones. I thought I could get a helper to search; I never imagined that old codger secretly memorized the details to use to impersonate me.”

“Fortunately, young brother is sharp-eyed and retrieved my bundle. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known how to explain matters back at the mansion.”

“My Young Master cultivates in a nearby immortal sect. Recently he has been stuck, unable to break through his realm. This bag of stones was painstakingly gathered by the Master to fund his cultivation…”

After a lengthy, formulaic dialogue, the middle-aged man bid farewell and departed.

Before leaving, he reminded Qi Yuan once more: if he ever needed assistance, feel free to seek him out.