Lin Chen had barely walked away when the Token at his waist suddenly began to tremble.
He picked it up and swept it with his Spiritual Sense. His expression shifted several times.
It was a message about the sect's Newcomer Competition.
A total of three hundred and sixty people had signed up.
The rankings had already been sorted according to cultivation level.
First place, Han Bingxue, Earth Grade Spirit Root, Return to Origin Realm, first layer.
Second place, Lin Chen, perfectly balanced Five-Attribute Spirit Root, Qi Condensation Realm, ninth layer.
Third place, Jin Yuanbao, Two-Attribute High Grade Spirit Root, Qi Condensation Realm, fifth layer.
Fourth place, Wei Shuangliang, Three-Attribute Medium Grade Spirit Root, Qi Condensation Layer 5.
Seeing the message, Lin Chen was only slightly surprised.
Even with his cheat, he hadn't reached the Return to Origin Realm.
Yet Han Bingxue, who had been taken away by Green Mountain Ancestor, had reached it first.
An Earth Grade Talent was terrifying indeed!
Still, if she was only at the first layer of the Return to Origin Realm, she shouldn't be much of a threat.
He wasn't surprised by Jin Yuanbao's advancement, either.
They'd earned so many Spirit Stones. If Jin Yuanbao had still remained obscure, that really would have been bizarre.
At his rate of cultivation, by the time of the competition, he might not reach the Return to Origin Realm, but he could at least make it to the ninth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.
What surprised him was that Wei Shuangliang, in fourth place, had managed to catch up with Jin Yuanbao despite having only a Three-Attribute Medium Grade Spirit Root.
That guy had some real ability.
At that very moment, all the new disciples were staring at the message on their Tokens.
Every one of them had fallen silent.
They could understand Han Bingxue taking first place.
But what was this Lin Chen in second place?
A Five Elements Waste Spirit Root, yet he'd cultivated to the ninth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm?
It was simply incomprehensible!
An astonishing phenomenon!
Something had to be fishy!
All the new disciples, including Han Bingxue, were dumbfounded by Lin Chen's results.
Even Jin Yuanbao's eyes widened in disbelief.
"My brother Chen is actually this terrifying?"
Wei Shuangliang, in particular, was the fourth-place disciple who had previously boasted that he'd show Lin Chen "why the flowers were so red" at the Newcomer Competition.
He stared at Lin Chen's results for a full half-hour, until his eyes were bloodshot, but the rankings still hadn't changed.
"This is cheating! How could someone with a Five Elements Waste Spirit Root cultivate to the ninth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm in less than a month?"
"Then what about everything I've sacrificed? What do all the hardships I've endured to get here amount to?"
He roared at the heavens, looking almost mad.
He wasn't alone. Nearly all the new disciples doubted the results.
Some even rushed to the sect's Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion to verify them.
The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion confirmed that the message was accurate.
That only made the disciples believe it even less.
"There's definitely something going on behind the scenes!"
"Exactly! Does being the Sect Leader's disciple mean you can cheat in broad daylight? We won't stand for it!"
"Come on, let's go to Sect Leader Peak and demand an explanation!"
A huge crowd of disciples set off in a grand procession toward Sect Leader Peak.
In the end, they didn't even make it up the mountain.
Instead, they sat down at the foot of the peak and waited.
Before, it had been the elders blocking the mountain. Now, it was the disciples.
To be honest, Sect Leader Peak had never been this lively.
Just then, the Sect Leader returned with two disciples, travel-worn from their journey.
Seeing a huge crowd gathered in front of the peak, his expression immediately turned displeased.
"Bufan, go see what they want," Zhao Qingshan said, then took Jian Rushuang back up the mountain.
"Master, you're back!"
As soon as they entered the peak, Qi Ruming sensed their presence and hurried out to greet them.
"Useless thing! So many people are gathered at the foot of the mountain. Why haven't you dealt with them?"
Zhao Qingshan scolded him with a dark expression.
Qi Ruming's smile froze. He looked aggrieved. "Master, I've been completely absorbed in refining artifacts. I had no idea..."
Zhao Qingshan snorted. "That's no excuse for your negligence. Go call your Little Junior Brother."
"Little Junior Brother?" Qi Ruming looked up with a bitter smile. "He went to investigate He Yiliang's situation. He should be at the Outer Sect."
"Then why are you still standing here? Go find him!" Zhao Qingshan snapped.
"I..."
Qi Ruming opened his mouth, then lowered his head. "Understood!"
He left the peak with slumped shoulders.
After walking a long way, he slapped his forehead. "I'm such an idiot! I could've sent him a voice transmission instead of coming all the way here... Forget it, I'll go see him. Better that than getting beaten by the old man."
By then, Lin Chen had already found He Yiliang's master.
This was the cave dwelling of Outer Sect Elder Hao Youcai.
Standing outside, Lin Chen looked the place over and clicked his tongue in amazement.
"According to the sect's rankings for cave dwellings, this has to be the lowest-grade one in the Outer Sect, right?"
Standing at the entrance, Lin Chen called out loudly, "Are all the Outer Sect Elders this poor these days?"
The cave dwelling in front of him was nothing but a dilapidated thatched hut.
There was a hole in the roof, cracks in the walls, and the whole place looked ready to collapse. Even a strong gust of wind might blow it over.
Even the Green Mountain Sect, shabby as it was, had no cave dwellings like this.
Ahem!
While Lin Chen was staring at it in a daze, a cough came from inside.
A moment later, an old man in a tattered yellow robe walked out.
A ruined cave dwelling paired with shabby clothes.
This elder absolutely deserved to be called the most miserable elder in the Green Mountain Sect.
"Who are you?" Hao Youcai's face was ashen, but his eyes gleamed brightly.
Lin Chen couldn't help using his Spiritual Sense to examine him, and that was when he discovered the trick.
The man was wearing a disguise mask.
Behind it, his face was rosy and round with fat.
After seeing that, Lin Chen felt sure of his guess. "Elder Hao, I'm Lin Chen. He Yiliang asked me to come and retrieve his money."
"Lin Chen?" Elder Hao looked him over for a while before speaking. "You're the Sect Leader's Inner Disciple. Why are you meddling in Outer Sect affairs?"
"So Elder Hao knows who I am." Lin Chen took a few steps forward. "I haven't been in the sect long, but I enjoy making friends. He Yiliang is my close friend, so of course I'll do everything I can to carry out what he asked of me."
"Hmph!"
Hao Youcai snorted coldly and clasped his hands behind his back, a faint aura emanating from him.
"The business between my disciple and me is no concern of an outsider. Besides..."
He glanced down at his clothes, then looked back at his cave dwelling. "Do I look like a man with money?"
"I understand. I understand completely."
Lin Chen circled Elder Hao. "Corrupt officials, right? They ride bicycles, eat noodles, wear old clothes, and live in shabby houses..."
"What are you talking about?" Hao Youcai had no idea what he meant.
Lin Chen didn't care. He circled the dilapidated cave dwelling instead.
"Elder Hao, are you saying all this junk is yours, and that if I find Spirit Stones or treasures, they definitely won't belong to you?"
Hao Youcai's expression darkened slightly. "Of course!"
Seeing how confident he looked, Lin Chen gave a soft laugh. His Spiritual Sense instantly spread over a radius of a hundred meters.
He could see everything above and below the ground, clear as day.
Beneath Elder Hao's shabby cave dwelling lay an invisible Barrier.
The Formation wasn't particularly advanced, but spiritual power couldn't penetrate it at all.
Lin Chen's Spiritual Sense, however, slipped inside with ease.
He clearly saw a Treasure Vault beneath the Barrier.
The entrance to the vault wasn't beneath the shabby cave dwelling.
That was where Elder Hao's cunning showed.
He'd actually opened the entrance fifty meters to the northeast of the cave dwelling, in a medicinal field.
"Elder Hao, I just remembered I have something to take care of. I'll be going."
Lin Chen turned to leave, a cold smile on his lips.
After he'd walked a short distance, he suddenly turned back. "Elder Hao, He Yiliang is gone. Did you know?"
Hao Youcai's expression shifted. "Nonsense! He Yiliang went out on a mission. He sent me a Crane Message just yesterday. How could he be gone?"
He was obviously lying.
He Yiliang had been dead for more than half a month.
Hao Youcai should have heard the news long ago.
Now he was covering it up with a lie, which clearly meant something was fishy.
Lin Chen said nothing more and turned to leave.
He hid in the distance, concealing his presence, and watched Hao Youcai from afar.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the old man to change into a different outfit and sneak out.
"He Yiliang, just who is your master? Could he be the one who harmed you?" Lin Chen asked the Small Mirror.
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