Everyone watched Yu Xiaogang brazenly gild his own face with praise, and for a moment, no one contradicted him.
Patting her chest, Ning Rongrong whispered, "Thank goodness... thank goodness Third Brother is all right. I was scared to death just now. I thought he was about to be exposed."
Dai Mubai nodded as well. Now that he thought about it carefully, Tang San had indeed made the best choice by holding back. If he had rushed into action and drawn others over, it really was hard to say who would have won.
At that moment, everyone's gaze drifted toward the other sky screen. Qian Renxue had just squeezed through the crowd, and the outline of the Primordial Sect's mountain gate was already visible through the swirling clouds and mist.
On the screen, Qian Renxue looked up at the sky, and an enormous mountain gate came into view. Strangely, however, there was a thin barrier not far from the gate.
There was no telling how large the barrier was or where it began. All that could be seen was that it was immense, as though it enclosed an entire world.
"What is that?" Qian Renxue stared at the barrier in bewilderment. She had never seen anything like it in her world.
"A barbarian is a barbarian. You don't even know what the Primordial Sect's mountain-protecting grand array is," a passerby said in disdain after overhearing her.
"A mountain-protecting grand array?" Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow, but the person clearly had no desire to say more to her and had already walked away.
Qian Renxue watched the person pass through the array without any apparent trouble and breathed a sigh of relief.
As Qian Renxue stepped through the mountain-protecting grand array, a person beside her suddenly vanished. Qian Renxue froze in place.
The people of the Douluo Continent were also astonished when they saw this. Could the mountain-protecting grand array actually eat people?
In Shrek Square, Yu Xiaogang stroked his nonexistent beard and spoke with bitter indignation. "I said long ago there was something wrong with the Primordial Sect! Earlier, the demonic path slaughtered an entire city, and they never showed themselves. It turns out they were birds of a feather all along!"
"My disciple Tang San was simply lucky to land among the ruins outside the city and not rush into such a sinister place. Otherwise, I'm afraid he too would have fallen victim to that array today!"
Flender and Liu Erlong immediately nodded, repeatedly praising the Grandmaster's keen eye for spotting that something was wrong with the Primordial Sect so early.
Qian Renxue grew even more puzzled. She decided to stand by the array and observe it for half an incense stick's time before she finally noticed something.
Only a few people vanished, no more than one or two out of ten. Most could walk safely through the mountain gate.
She thought of her Innate Level 20 Soul Power and the extraordinary innate aptitude of her Angel Martial Soul. Could it be that this array had some sort of selection process?
Gritting her teeth, she raised her foot and stepped firmly into the barrier.
The devouring and attacks she had expected never came. Instead, a cool, soothing current spread through her limbs and bones, dispelling much of the tension she had felt since crossing over. She stood safely inside the mountain gate, completely unharmed.
Back on the Douluo Continent, the people who had been cursing so vehemently a moment ago were struck speechless. Their curses stopped abruptly, and they stared wide-eyed at Qian Renxue standing safely inside the mountain gate. For a moment, the awkward silence was so complete that a falling needle could have been heard.
Before anyone could recover, a Primordial Sect reception disciple in a moon-white Daoist robe strolled over. Seeing Qian Renxue standing there in a daze, the disciple could not help frowning.
"Don't show off such a crude concealment technique on Primordial Sect grounds. Be careful, or you'll end up branded a spy."
"!" At the reception disciple's words, Qian Renxue's pupils contracted sharply. She had been exposed!
That's impossible! This is the Angel Soul Bone's transformation ability. How could an ordinary person possibly see through it?
But before she could react, the reception disciple went on in a leisurely tone, "People really are taking our Primordial Sect less and less seriously. It's not as if our mountain-protecting grand array is just for show."
"Have they all forgotten that Martial Uncle Ye gave the mountain-protecting grand array the ability to determine whether visitors harbor malicious intent long ago?"
The reception disciple shook their head, then saw that Qian Renxue was still standing there in a daze and said, "Are you here to join the sect or not? You don't really think your concealment technique is that advanced, do you?"
"That technique of yours couldn't even fool an outer disciple who just joined. Hurry up, drop your disguise, and get your spiritual roots tested. If you keep dawdling, you'll miss today's sect entrance test."
With that, the reception disciple waved a hand and turned to greet the other newcomers, paying no mind to this greenhorn from the mundane world. The disciple merely assumed she was a woman from some small family who had come seeking an immortal opportunity and had dressed as a man because she feared the dangers of the martial world.
Qian Renxue was left standing there, stiff as a stone. A surge of anger, born of shock and embarrassment, shot up her spine to the crown of her head.
She had relied on the Angel Soul Bone's transformation ability to disguise herself and infiltrate the Heaven Dou Empire for decades. Even crafty old foxes like Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi had been completely fooled by her. When had anyone ever exposed her so casually?
And it was an utterly unknown, lowly reception disciple!
But she had only just arrived and knew nothing about the Primordial Sect. She could only force her anger down and grit her teeth as she dispelled the Soul Power sustaining her transformation and removed her disguise as the male Xue Qinghe.
A head of dazzling golden hair spilled over her shoulders. Her originally heroic features softened, revealing Qian Renxue's true form: a woman of peerless beauty.
That sent everyone across the Douluo Continent who was watching the sky screen into an uproar.
Apart from the few who knew the truth, such as Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong, everyone's eyes went wide, their faces full of disbelief.
Inside the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Xue Ye shot to his feet from the dragon throne. Pointing at the sky screen, he was unable to get a complete sentence out for a long time. "This... how is this possible? My crown prince... is actually a woman?!"
The entire court erupted. Who could have imagined that the crown prince they had knelt before for so many years was actually a female spy sent by Spirit Hall?
In Shrek Square, Dai Mubai looked utterly incredulous. "Am I blind? That Xue Qinghe who put on airs as the crown prince every day was actually a woman?"
In Spirit Hall's Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu's face was so dark it could have dripped ink. He clenched his fists tightly and said nothing.
"What a pity. Qian Renxue deceived the whole Douluo Continent for so many years, only to fall at the hands of a reception disciple. That'll be quite a story to tell," Bibi Dong said with feigned regret.
Qian Daoliu snorted coldly, not even bothering to respond to her. His gaze remained fixed on Qian Renxue in the sky screen.
Before everyone had recovered from the shocking news, Yu Xiaogang suddenly remembered what the reception disciple had just said. His brow immediately furrowed as he bristled and glared.
"Impossible! The Primordial Sect is definitely being deliberately mystifying! I've studied Martial Souls all my life, from innate Soul Power to the core theories of Martial Souls. I know every strange and unusual ability inside and out."
"Let alone on the Douluo Continent, even in another world, there couldn't possibly be an array that can detect the malice in a person's heart! It's nothing but a trick to deceive people and fish for fame!"
Flender and Liu Erlong hurriedly nodded in agreement. "The Grandmaster sees things clearly after all. How could there be any means of seeing through a person's heart? It's obviously a scam!"
Just as Yu Xiaogang drew everyone's attention away, a new development suddenly appeared on Tang San's sky screen on the other side.