Firewall?

"So what? That little girl is a menial disciple. Her aptitude is clearly nothing special." The old man snorted.

The young man merely smiled without speaking.

In the entire Azure Origin Sect, no one cared less about a disciple's spiritual root aptitude than his master, did he?

He was clearly delighted to have found a promising seedling, yet he insisted on putting on an act.

Having broken through the illusion realm, Bai Lan began reviewing this incident with the system.

"Host, do you think I should install some kind of firewall?" The system began questioning its existence.

It was a system! A system! How had it been fooled by an illusion realm from the cultivation world?

It was over. The host was definitely starting to doubt its professional competence.

Bai Lan shook her head. "A firewall won't make you smarter. Don't waste your effort."

System: "..."

A system quietly shattered.

After waiting in place for a moment, Bai Lan saw a Foundation Establishment stage martial uncle emerge from the hall.

He was precisely the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator who had overseen her match against Long Aotian today.

"Junior Niece, your temperament is quite good. During the match today, you also displayed comprehension far beyond that of cultivators at your level." The man spoke with a smile, his gaze upon Bai Lan full of admiration.

"By retreating in order to advance, you learned your opponent's moves in merely a few dozen exchanges and turned the tide of battle. If I am not mistaken, you simultaneously wielded five kinds of spiritual power to cast spells in that match?"

Wasn't that right?

She had reloaded the save over and over, watching Long Aotian's swordsmanship dozens of times from beginning to end.

Even if her brain had been completely useless, after the same set of moves replayed before her dozens of times, she could still imitate a cat by drawing a tiger and learn a few moves.

"You overpraise me, Martial Uncle. I did indeed use five Mystical Techniques of different attributes simultaneously in battle, but they were only low-grade Mystical Techniques. They are hardly worth mentioning."

The young man's eyes smiled. "Many cultivators with five spiritual roots wallow in self-pity because they are called useless spiritual roots. You are different from them."

Wasn't that right?

Five spiritual roots were exactly what she wanted.

"So, regarding the generous gift Martial Uncle mentioned earlier..." Bai Lan was not so dazzled by the young man's barrage of praise that she lost her wits. She got straight to the point without the slightest hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Bai Lan was so direct, the young man shook his head and laughed. "You are straightforward indeed. Naturally, you will not be denied your benefits. Come with me."

After speaking, the young man turned with his hands behind his back and led Bai Lan inward.

"My name is Ji Feng. You may call me Martial Uncle Ji." The young man spoke with a smile.

Ji Feng? A scene from Long Aotian's storyline flashed through Bai Lan's mind, and following Ji Feng's name, she swiftly located that particular segment.

Perhaps protagonists were born with rebellious bones. If they did not have an experience of becoming enemies with the world and being hunted across it, they were unworthy of being called protagonists.

Both Long Aotian and Bai Ling had a period later on where they betrayed the Azure Origin Sect.

In Long Aotian's script, after he betrayed the Azure Origin Sect and was placed on the wanted list, there was an Azure Origin Sect sword cultivator who held that wanted order and chased him across the world, hacking at him all the way.

That man was called Ji Feng.

Bai Lan's eyes instantly lit up.

From a protagonist's perspective, anyone opposing the protagonist was a villain.

But from a villain's standpoint, anyone opposing the protagonist was an ally, wasn't he?

As long as you had a grudge against Long Aotian, we were good friends!

As Bai Lan pondered, she had already followed Ji Feng to the upper level of the pavilion.

"Master, I have brought her."

Bai Lan raised her head and looked at the middle-aged man seated above, drinking tea.

White hair, black robes, a dignified expression, and an air of righteousness around him.

Was this the Core Formation stage cultivator who had discovered traces of the system in the previous cycle? Bai Lan's eyes flickered.

"This is the current Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, True Lord Lingxiao." Ji Feng introduced him to Bai Lan.

Bai Lan cupped her hands in salute. "True Lord Lingxiao."

"No need for such formality." True Lord Lingxiao smiled and waved his hand. "Though you are a menial disciple, you have been in the sect for several months. You should know what the Law Enforcement Hall truly represents."

Law Enforcement Hall = Azure Sect's built-in police station.

She had seen through it already.

"Do you wish to join the Law Enforcement Hall?" True Lord Lingxiao seemed to ask casually.

Bai Lan fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "But the Law Enforcement Hall is not somewhere one can join merely by passing through two illusion realms. If there are any trials or requirements, True Lord, you may as well speak plainly."

The girl's expression was earnest.

True Lord Lingxiao and Ji Feng exchanged a glance. Their expressions froze for a moment, then True Lord Lingxiao suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

"Since that is the case, I shall speak plainly. The disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall deal in bloody work, fighting and killing. Most of the time, they must be prepared to slay cultivators of the same level alone, or even kill cultivators whose cultivation exceeds their own." Ling Xiao's tone turned solemn. "Thus, the conditions for joining the Law Enforcement Hall are very simple. You have already passed the first trial. The second trial is this: with Qi Refining stage cultivation, you must personally kill a Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivator."

Bai Lan's gaze abruptly sharpened.

Did everyone in the Law Enforcement Hall play this big?

Killing a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator across realms while at the Qi Refining stage was their assessment target?

Those two illusion realms just now had merely been appetizers.

By that standard, wouldn't the strength of every disciple who made it into the Law Enforcement Hall be heaven-defying?

"Well then, do you have the courage to try?" True Lord Lingxiao asked with a smile. "Life and death are decreed by fate, opportunities lie in Heaven. If fear fills your heart, there is no need to force yourself. Simply follow your true heart."

"If fear filled my heart, I would not have come to the Law Enforcement Hall for this appointment of my own accord." Bai Lan smiled lightly. "Before I reach Foundation Establishment, I will bring back the head of a Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivator."

"Good!" True Lord Lingxiao clapped and laughed. With a sweep of his long sleeve, three Wooden Boxes appeared before Bai Lan.

"As the generous gift for passing the illusion array, you may choose any one item from these three Wooden Boxes and take it with you." Ling Xiao looked at Bai Lan with a smiling gaze.

Bai Lan perked up.

Here it came, here it came.

The delightful reward-collection segment after clearing a stage.

Under normal circumstances, this was when one gambled on luck.

Children of Destiny were usually favored by the Heavenly Dao Rules. Even in a one-out-of-three choice like this, they could generally pick the best reward.

As for everyone else, that was harder to say.

Though Bai Lan had no luck, she had a cheat.

She could choose all three boxes once, then reload the save and select the item that suited her best.

She decisively saved.

Then she accepted the first Wooden Box and opened it.

It was a divine ability, Myriad Thunderous Might, high-grade earth rank. It seemed to be one of Long Aotian's skills.

Bai Lan shook her head slightly and reloaded the save to choose again.

The second Wooden Box contained... a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.

For a Qi Refining stage cultivator, this pill was indeed a rare and precious treasure that could only be encountered by chance. One pill was worth ten thousand Spirit Stones, and a superior-quality Foundation Establishment Pill was something with a price but no market.

But rather than choose this Foundation Establishment Pill now, Bai Lan would rather learn alchemy herself.

By then, she could refine a hundred or so of them, and eat Foundation Establishment Pills like boiled eggs with every meal.

This reward was not worth it.

Shaking her head again, Bai Lan decisively reloaded the save and finally looked toward the third Wooden Box.

Inside was still a divine ability manual, called the Azure Dragon Spear Art.

It was actually a spear art?

Bai Lan looked somewhat surprised. Didn't she happen to have an unused long spear in her Storage Bag?

The Soul Severing Spear could grow through bathing in blood. The more battles it experienced, the greater its power became.

Bai Lan had been worrying over not having a suitable divine ability to use with it. Among weapons such as spears, swords, bows, and sabers, the spear was the one she was least familiar with.

Precisely because of that, Bai Lan wanted even more to try learning it.