She had practically infiltrated the Profound Heaven Sect! Even a place holding sect secrets like the scripture library had let her, Tang Yao, slip inside.
Profound Heaven Sect, rest assured! She would carry the art of talismans to greater heights!
While the elders gave their instructions, Sect Master Duan watched silently from behind. Suddenly, he spotted Jiang He in the crowd. He remembered that she belonged to the Jiang Household and was his eldest disciple's younger sister, so he had held rather high hopes for her.
But Jiang He's character, as shown in the recording stone just now, had indeed been lacking. Sect Master Duan sighed and shook his head.
Naturally, Jiang He saw Sect Master Duan shake his head and sigh too.
A surge of shame immediately rose in her heart. She gritted her teeth and lowered her head without a word...
"Congratulations on completing the second trial, everyone. Now, let us begin the third trial for new disciples!" Sect Master Duan's voice rang out. The surroundings instantly fell silent, and everyone held their breath to listen.
"The third trial is a secret realm points battle. Each Demon Beast you kill earns you two points. Crush someone else's identity token, and you inherit half their points. Anyone whose token is crushed will be eliminated!"
Sect Master Duan smiled and paused. "Twenty copies of the talisman you drew earlier, all of the same grade, will be made for you to use in the third trial. Of course, you may also use your own, but they must be talismans you drew yourself, not ones you purchased or received from others. If the secret realm detects you using a talisman you did not draw yourself, you will be eliminated."
Before anyone could wail, Sect Master Duan swept his hand, and the original examination grounds vanished.
Everyone stood in a pure-white spatial realm, with a huge red vortex shimmering before them. The vortex portal faintly radiated scorching heat.
"Everyone, the trial begins once you step through the portal! After it ends, you may exchange your points for the rewards you want at the Exchange Pavilion! Good luck!" Sect Master Duan did not appear in the pure-white realm. Only his voice echoed there.
Chu Song came up beside Tang Yao and whispered, "You only have those twenty Ice Flame Talismans, right? If you run into danger inside, come find me. I have plenty of talismans in my Storage Bag. They're all low-grade, but they'll still come in handy!" With that, Chu Song followed the crowd into the vortex.
Sure enough, when out and about, comrades were the ones to rely on!
But Tang Yao planned to coast through this round. If she placed in the top three again and actually became a personal disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect, wouldn't the Azure Cloud Sect's elders storm the Tang Household...
She dared not imagine that scene.
She would enter the secret realm, find somewhere to hunker down, then crush her identity token when the time came and happily leave as an inner disciple. Then she would enter the scripture library, learn a few talismans, and once she had mastered them, head straight to the Luo River Sect, that pill sect, to set up a talisman stall outside its gates!
Pill sects had money too, and they were squishy!
Setting up a stall outside their gates to sell life-saving talismans would practically bring in bushels of gold every day. Tang Yao positively bloomed with delight, her steps toward the portal growing ever firmer.
After a dizzying whirl-
The surrounding temperature abruptly rose, and scorching waves of heat rushed at her. Tang Yao steadied herself and looked up. Everything around her was fiery red. Lava flowed through cracks in the rocks nearby, bubbles swelling and bursting from time to time. Even the trees were charred black, their leaves flickering with firelight.
This wasn't a secret realm. This was a sauna!
Everyone had been placed at random locations. Tang Yao looked around, found a secluded rock, wrapped herself in ice Spiritual Qi, and slipped inside, ready to lie flat in bliss!
She could even peek outside now and then. Two or three other disciples had landed in this area, and without any discussion, none of them tried to snatch one another's identity tokens.
It was only the beginning, and nobody had any points. Crushing someone else's identity token would be a waste of time and effort.
A fox wreathed in flames darted out and lunged at a female disciple. The disciple hurriedly threw out several talismans before she managed to drive it back.
Before Tang Yao could watch any longer,
a small fire lizard suddenly crawled into her hiding place, its eyes fixed on her as it flicked its tongue.
Just her rotten luck.
Tang Yao gripped the only Ice Flame Talismans she had, ready to respond. An Ice Flame Talisman instantly dispersed into a chain of cold flames. The flames coiled around the fire lizard like an ice python, and the lizard struggled fiercely, spewing flames at Tang Yao without any pattern.
She twisted away from the flames in a few quick moves. Before long, the fire lizard was lifeless. Tang Yao crouched down to inspect it. What a pity. Its grade was too low; it had no beast core.
On the leaderboard, 65th place, Tang Xiaocao: 2 points.
After checking the leaderboard, Tang Yao poked the fire lizard and sighed. Why did you have to come bother me?
The fight had also attracted a female disciple up ahead. After wavering for a while, she took a deep breath, walked over to Tang Yao, and successfully crouched beside her, blending right in.
Tang Yao turned her head and saw a pretty young woman crouching timidly beside her. She was a little bewildered.
Was she here to coast too? A kindred spirit?
Embarrassed by her stare, the female disciple lowered her head, her voice softer than a mosquito's buzz. "Senior Sister Xiaocao, my name is Lan Ling. May I stay with you? It's so hot around here, and it's... cooler beside you."
Tang Yao noticed that they all seemed to like calling her senior sister. Perhaps the sect determined seniority by strength. Having someone around would liven things up too.
"Sure! I was pretty bored here by myself!" Tang Yao was rather happy to have company, especially a cute girl. But surely she wasn't looking to team up with her? She was just a salted fish.
"Mm, Xiao Lan, I'm just slacking off in this trial."
Lan Ling looked puzzled. "Senior Sister, what does slacking off mean?"
Tang Yao explained earnestly, "It means coasting! I'm not planning to kill any more Demon Beasts this time. If you came to team up with me, that probably won't work."
Lan Ling did not quite understand why Tang Yao had chosen to slack off this time when her score had been so far ahead.
She intended to persuade her. After all, if Tang Yao could maintain her standing, she would undoubtedly become a personal disciple.
Seeing Lan Ling's expression, Tang Yao clearly guessed what she wanted to say and hurriedly spoke. "Don't worry, Xiao Lan. All of this is part of my plan!" With that, she patted Lan Ling to indicate that everything was fine.
Since Tang Yao said so, Lan Ling did not try to persuade her further. In truth, she wanted to do that slacking-whatever-it-was too. She had always been somewhat frail and had not even reached the tenth floor in the first trial. Now that it was so hot here, she might as well stay with Senior Sister Xiaocao. It was much more comfortable.
So, hoping to liven up the mood, Lan Ling took Tang Yao's hand and started sharing gossip. "Senior Sister Xiaocao, you top three are all so friendly! It's not just you letting me stay beside you!"
"On my way here, I heard that Senior Brother Chi Wang snatched Senior Sister Xiaohua's identity token. Everyone thought Senior Brother Chi Wang would crush it, but he didn't!"
"Senior Brother Chi Wang said he was strong and would keep it safe for Senior Sister Xiaohua. He said it was safest with him!"
Lan Ling recounted the story rather excitedly, looking as though her ship had just sailed.
Was there a possibility that only Chi Wang could beat Chu Song? Could anyone else snatch it from him?
But perhaps everyone had interpreted that behavior as flirting?
Again, a ship could be obscure, but it couldn't be cursed...
There was definitely something wrong here. She had to go take a look, but bringing Lan Ling would be too dangerous. Her stamina wasn't very good either.
"Xiao Lan." Tang Yao suddenly spoke, interrupting Lan Ling's exclamations.
Lan Ling looked at Tang Yao in slight confusion, only for her to pull out ten Ice Flame Talismans and stuff them into her hands.
Now, holding a pile of Ice Flame Talismans, Lan Ling looked even more bewildered.
"Take these Ice Flame Talismans. The icy chill they give off will help you feel better." Tang Yao stood and dashed in the direction Lan Ling had come from, turning back to instruct her, "Stay right here. When you have nothing to do, use your own talismans to attack a few little Demon Beasts and scrape together some points! I'm going to find Xiaohua now. I have something urgent to see her about!"
"Senior Sister Xiaocao! This is too many! I don't need this many Ice Flame Talismans!" Lan Ling watched Tang Yao vanish like a puff of smoke. There really were more good people than bad in this world. And having good stamina really was great. Just look at that speed. She wanted to cry but had no tears.