Page 37

The opening of the Xiaochong Mountain Secret Realm was imminent, and many sect disciples were diligently studying the rules of the realm.

Some had spent a small fortune to purchase intelligence on the secret realm and were now working overtime to memorize it, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a final exam—the calm before the storm.

Xu Ye took a look around before finally arriving at the guest quarters of the Xuanxu Sword Sect.

The first few rooms were perfectly normal; the disciples were either practicing sword forms, reading books, or idly killing time. When he reached a certain room, the young man suddenly widened his eyes in shock.

The window to the room was slightly ajar, and through the narrow gap, he caught sight of a man's profile.

The man had a pair of dragon horns and handsome, gentle features. He was speaking in a low voice to someone in front of him, his tone incredibly shy: "Miss, my name is Lin Xun, and I am a disciple of the Xuanxu Sword Sect. May I ask your name?"

No one responded to him.

Yet, he acted as if he had received a reply, lowering his head and smiling with a blush: "Is that so? What a lovely name. What brings you here, Miss?"

Then, a long silence followed.

Yet, the dragonkin named Lin Xun actually maintained the appearance of listening intently, nodding from time to time to show his agreement.

Xu Ye was puzzled. He shifted to a different angle, one that allowed him to see the person Lin Xun was facing.

At that sight, his scalp went numb.

He—he, he, he—

The person he was talking to wasn't a person at all, but a straw man with human facial features crudely drawn on it!

This was too terrifying! Why would anyone talk to a straw man and even carry on a back-and-forth conversation? Was this fellow cultivator mentally unstable? Would it really be okay for him to enter the secret realm like this?

However, it didn't end there.

Lin Xun inside the room frowned: "No... that won't do."

Xu Ye could not have known that this straw man was merely a tool Ning Ning had specifically prepared for her junior brother to practice his social skills.

He could not have known that Lin Xun simply felt that talking to thin air was too unrealistic and ineffective for training. To make it more effective, he decided to imitate the other person's actions himself.

The only thing he knew was that the mentally unstable dragonkin had done it again, repeating that nightmarish line: "Miss, my name is Lin Xun, and I am a disciple of the Xuanxu Sword Sect. May I ask your name?"

Then, Xu Ye watched with his own eyes as he paused and turned around.

He then gave a coy smile and said in a soft, gentle voice: "My name is Xiao Hua. May I ask what brings you here, young master?"

The scene was bizarre beyond imagination.

Xu Ye rolled his eyes, nearly retching from the fright.

He heard a cold laugh drift out from the room.

Lin Xun's face twisted. Before he could fix his expression, he let out a crooked, lopsided grin. "I have come to this place to eradicate demons."

Xu Ye: Damn.

Xu Ye: Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!!

This person's condition is getting worse and worse! He's already started talking to himself! Big brother, I beg you, please be normal! He's just a child, and he's really, really scared!

What is he doing! What is he doing!

There is no demonic aura in the room; the only explanation is that this guy has a screw loose.

Terrified, Xu Ye scrambled away and hurried to the front of another room.

After the heart-stopping scene he just witnessed, everything looked friendly to him now; everything looked like home.

His home now had its windows wide open, making it effortless to see the scene inside. Eager to see something normal to wash his eyes, Xu Ye lifted his gaze without hesitation—

Then, his expression froze completely.

There were four people in the room, two men and two women.

A strange odor that he had never smelled before wafted out of the room. One of the youths in white was holding a pair of chopsticks, plucking an unknown object out of an Alchemy Furnace.

—No, Xu Ye could probably guess what it was.

Cylindrical, dark brown, and radiating a bizarre aura.

How could anyone put that thing into an Alchemy Furnace?

His young heart suffered a massive shock.

Ning Ning shook her head in amazement, over and over. "It truly stuns time and captivates the masses. With this appearance, it is undoubtedly the number one delicacy in the cultivation world."

He Zhizhou suppressed his nausea and the urge to retch. "This doesn't look like food; it looks like the stuff you get after you've finished eating and digested it—have you seen Rejuvenation? It never had a youth; it was an old man the moment it was born. Just like this thing."

Qin Shu stepped back, her expression unchanging, and blurted out in a panic, "Amitabha."

Even someone as tough as her couldn't withstand such a visual assault.

Pei Ji: "..."

"Perhaps it was refined for too long, so the color is a bit dark."

Ning Ning patted He Zhizhou on the shoulder. "The taste will definitely be fine. We are the first people in the entire cultivation world to make this; it's perfectly normal for there to be a few minor hiccups."

You are certainly the first people to ever make this thing, alright.

Xu Ye trembled, really wanting to ask: Big brother, big sister, what are you even trying to achieve?

"I don't understand the point of going to such great lengths."

Qin Shu said, "How is this any different from just eating it directly? The way it is now, it completely ruins one's appetite."

Damn.

As if eating it directly would be appetizing?

Your Xuanxu Sword Sect is truly invincible.

After that, the young boy witnessed a scene that would be etched into his mind for the rest of his life.

The white-robed Sword Cultivator from the Xuanxu Sword Sect picked up the cylindrical object, her face full of conflict as she took a bite.

Xu Ye watched with her own eyes as the expression on her face shifted from initial disgust and rejection to a slow softening, gradually revealing a faint smile, and finally, an expression of unparalleled enjoyment.

That's right, she was actually enjoying it.

"Honestly, I didn't think anyone would eat this thing."

He Zhizhou slowly gave a thumbs up: "Even though it's ugly on the outside, it's beautiful on the inside!"

This isn't just a matter of being ugly anymore, okay! It's fundamentally problematic—there's something wrong with it!

Who could have imagined it.