Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Nearly a hundred disciples of the Star-Picking Tower entered in turn.

When Yi Tian stepped into the hall, everyone else disappeared, leaving only herself, with a road stretching out before her without end.

On both sides of the road stand two rows of life-sized stone statues.

They were all dressed in the robes of disciples of the Star-Picking Tower, and their expressions were all different.

It's as if this long road is only meant to display endless stone statues.

It’s confusing.

Yi Tian looked up and saw a plaque with three large characters written on it—

"Tomb of the Martyrs"

She immediately realized what these stone statues were.

Throughout the endless ages of the Star-Picking Tower, countless virtuous and righteous individuals have sacrificed themselves for it, and after their deaths, their remains were carved into stone statues and placed here.

So that future generations may remember it.

Is it only by walking this path under the watchful eyes of our fallen predecessors that we can move forward and become a direct disciple of the Star-Picking Tower?

Upon realizing that these were all stone statues of the dead, Yi Tian felt a chill run down his spine.

It was as if the surroundings were eerie and chilling.

But considering that her actions might be noticed by the elders of the Star-Picking Tower and become part of their assessment, she immediately straightened her back, bowed slightly to the two rows of stone statues, and said:

"You seniors are people of great righteousness!"

"I, a junior, am willing to follow your righteous example!"

After saying this, Yi Tian strode forward, stopping every now and then to bow in reverence.

However, the Star-Picking Tower has existed for countless years.

The stone statues displayed here are too numerous to count; after a while, the act of raising one's hand almost became instinctive.

How long will it take to get there?!

The most crucial point is that Yi Tian doesn't know what the evaluation criteria are.

How to express one's respect?

Walk with your head held high and have a clear conscience?

We still need to show our unwavering courage and determination.

While silently chanting in his heart, Yi Tian numbly raised his hand and bowed to the two rows of stone statues.

When Master Fang became a direct disciple, he wondered why the stone statue wasn't placed outside the Star-Picking Tower for everyone to admire.

Instead, it is presented as the beginning of the path to becoming a direct disciple, leading people to mistakenly believe it is part of the exam.

Her master had once given a reason—

"Heroes who are remembered in history will be remembered, but those who sacrificed themselves in silence should not be forgotten either."

"Place these stone statues at the beginning of the road."

"At this moment, the disciples are full of energy and have the strength to look at each one and bow to it. They may even think that there is something else going on and that there will be related questions later, so they carefully memorize the appearance and names of these stone statues."

"It's just a pretext for testing, to let the disciples remember it."

However, performance on this path is not included in the evaluation criteria.

"Because those who show small courtesy do not necessarily have great righteousness; those who ignore the stone statues on both sides and strut forward with their heads held high are not necessarily evil people."

"As long as there is basic respect and no intentional insult to the righteous, that is enough."

Yi Tian had no idea about these things.

As she walked forward, she would occasionally raise her hand in a gesture of respect, until she finally saw this elder who looked somewhat familiar from the past few centuries.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yi Tian continued walking forward and came to the stone statue of "He Yiqi" and bowed solemnly to it.

But behind her statue, there was another statue.

Who could this be?

Yi Tian was puzzled.

She took two or three steps forward, about to instinctively raise her hands in prayer, but upon seeing the face of the stone statue, her movements abruptly stopped halfway—

This stone statue is a depiction of Yi Tian himself!

Her face turned pale and then flushed; she felt that bowing would bring bad luck, but not bowing didn't seem right either...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Ying Mang, the Soul-Chasing Arrow, walked forward unhurriedly, completely unguarded.

With statues of righteous men who sacrificed themselves for the sect standing here, how could there be any danger on this road?

If these statues of people who deserve respect are secretly harboring strange and deadly intentions by the elders of the Star-Picking Tower... then there is no need to be a disciple of such a sect that does not respect the dead.

Until the very end.

Ying Mang also saw her own stone statue, and she raised an eyebrow and said:

"Wow! That's impressive!"

I must say, her stone statue, placed here, actually looks quite convincing.

Not only is it imposing, but it also has a lot of spirit.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Zhu Wuyao had already made up his mind.

The assessment of the disciples of the Star-Picking Tower has countless levels.

If it's just a formality, and they're too lazy to demonstrate much, it's possible that they might simply send her through one level without much effort.

Therefore, if you want to refuse Senior Sister Gu's "kindness", you have to seize every opportunity to resist the guaranteed admission!

But who knew!

Zhu Wuyao looked up at the three characters "Tomb of the Righteous Men" and sighed deeply.

Even if there were other people around—

She would never do anything disrespectful to the deceased.

How can one appear to diligently complete the assessment while actually deviating from the assessment standards, without disrespecting the deceased...?

Zhu Wuyao pondered for a moment.

She walked to the right side, carefully noted its appearance and shape, and then looked at the name and history of the stone statue, memorizing it.

These predecessors, together, have built the Star-Picking Tower into what it is today.

This should be remembered.

It can also be used to buy time.

Who knows, by the time she has memorized the names, appearances, and deeds of all the seniors, the personal disciple assessment may have already ended!

Compared to all the scheming outside, it's a rare and peaceful place to commemorate the righteous deeds of our predecessors.

Senior Sister Gu truly used divination to her advantage, while someone like me was completely manipulated by the divination results.

No wonder the Star-Picking Tower has so few people yet it can still become one of the four major sects. Fake divination cultivators and real divination cultivators are completely different beings. Even if only one person like Gu Yiguan appears in each generation, he can still support the entire sect.

Zhu Wuyao thought about what Granny Feng said more and more, and the more sense it made.

Playing against this kind of person is like being a pawn; until you've mastered the skills, you should stay as far away as possible!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

outside world.

Elder Chi's eyes widened.

Watching Zhu Wuyao recount the stories of each stone statue, he exclaimed as if he had seen a ghost:

"Even if she's faking it, that's still pretty impressive."

Elder Xiaobai then said with a hint of admiration:

"This person is quite cautious. Even though he knew he had been chosen as the personal disciple, he did not slack off at the last moment."

"It seems she really wants the position of direct disciple."

Now that Zhu Wuyao's cultivation has reached the Golden Core stage, his memory has also greatly improved. Even if he wanted to memorize something, he wouldn't need to dawdle like this. Sect Leader Fang saw through everything and said:

"Maybe she genuinely wants to remember?"

Gu Yiguan was observing the actions of his fellow disciples from the Star-Picking Tower. Only by clearly knowing what kind of person someone was could he deduce how that person would behave in different situations.

Hearing the crowd's discussion, she said:

"It's alright. These are different virtual realms. You can stay in them for as long as you like and still take the next test."

"Since she wants to remember, then let her remember."

In this way, if she does something that cannot be concealed later, and someone questions the outcome of her direct discipleship, they can extract Zhu Wuyao's actions in the virtual realm to silence public opinion.