Bamboo Puppet Minor Trial

Over a hundred cultivators had gathered atop Green Bamboo Peak.

Green Bamboo Peak's master, Qing Huangzi, had yet to appear, but Ning Zhuo had already arrived.

It was early morning, and the daylight had not yet grown fierce.

A vast sea of clouds rolled soundlessly around the mountainside, like ten thousand cloud beasts slowly stretching their enormous bodies in sleep.

The bamboo groves scattered across Green Bamboo Peak were deep in color—not emerald, nor jade green, but warm and restrained, carrying an almost metallic, resilient chill. As the light shifted, patterns like jade flickered in and out of sight.

The bamboo leaves were extremely thin, their edges rimmed with crystalline jade light. When the morning breeze passed through, countless jade leaves brushed together with a soft rustle. It did not sound like ordinary grass and trees swaying, but rather like innumerable tiny jade chimes gently struck by the wind, merging into a clear, ethereal chorus of bamboo waves and jade chimes that washed away the clamor of the mortal world.

As Ning Zhuo admired the scenery, he sensed someone watching him.

He turned and followed the gaze, finding Ban Ji.

Ning Zhuo smiled faintly and sent a Divine Sense Transmission. "Fellow Daoist Ban Ji, I never expected we would meet here."

A trace of coldness appeared in Ban Ji's amber-like eyes as he replied through Divine Sense. "Fellow Daoist Ning Zhuo, I already agreed to postpone our spar. I never expected you to be so unable to tell good from bad as to come here specifically to make trouble for me."

"What?"

"After investigating me, did you decide that Ban Ji of the Ban Family was easy to deal with?"

"You actually wanted to intercept me in a Xingyun Minor Trial concerning Mechanism Art?"

"Hehe, what a fool's dream!"

Ning