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

Pinglan Mountain.

Elder Liao was instructing his disciples:

"This trip to the secret realm will be led by my senior brother, Elder Qian. The sect has investigated it and found that there is no place where we need to fight or kill, so it is not considered dangerous."

"In that case, all of you should try it out in the Sword Trial Realm recently and see if you can get a good ranking."

"It's good to broaden one's horizons."

A disciple at the head of the table stepped forward with clasped hands and said:

"Master, the news has been received by all the peaks recently, and the Sword Trial Realm has become lively again after a long time."

"Not to mention Senior Sister Wu Ya under Elder Qian's tutelage, let's talk about Tang Ming on the main peak of Qingyun Mountain, who has recently been frequently entering and leaving the Sword Trial Realm."

“During the time you were in Tongzhou, I also went to test my sword.”

"But ranking only eighth is truly shameful."

This person's name is Han Ge.

He was Elder Liao's most outstanding disciple and also the senior disciple of Pinglan Mountain.

Although he said he was "ashamed", there was a hint of pride in his expression, because ranking eighth in the Sword Trial Realm was a very good result.

Qingyun Gate is surrounded by numerous large and small mountain peaks.

While it wasn't quite like the open and covert struggles and subtle hostility between the Juque Sect, there was still a sense of competition to see who was superior.

After all, he was a sword cultivator, and naturally had a competitive and warlike spirit.

After hearing Han Ge's seemingly humble but actually self-satisfied words, Elder Liao did not offer much praise.

Ranked eighth, to be honest... that's not bad.

However, being complacent about being "eighth place" is not the mindset a sword cultivator should have.

Elder Liao didn't say anything.

Because Han Ge needs self-satisfaction, pride and spirit at this time, if his arrogance is dampened too early, it will be detrimental to the progress of his sword cultivation.

But I just couldn't bring myself to praise it.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and simply nodded.

His gaze shifted to another person standing at the front, and he asked:

"Fu Yu, have you been to the Sword Testing Realm?"

The woman called "Fu Yu," Elder Liao's second-ranking disciple, shook her head upon hearing this and said:

"I don't want to go. I sense danger on this trip to the secret realm."

Elder Liao was somewhat at a loss for words.

Fu Yu is his second proudest disciple.

Because this person has an exceptionally keen sense of perception, during a fight, she is able to discern things with her ears and eyes, and her spiritual awareness is sharp enough that even the slightest change in spiritual energy cannot escape her notice.

This trait is extremely advantageous in swordsmanship.

Fu Yu always manages to find the perfect opportunity to strike and always senses the lurking dangers.

That's precisely why!

Fu Yu doesn't draw her sword easily!

They will only fight with others when they are absolutely certain of success.

From the time he began practicing until today, Fu Yu has never lost a fight.

Because the situation was destined to fail, she was nowhere to be seen...

This gave Elder Liao a huge headache. Where could he find such a sword cultivator? How could such excellent talent be wasted like this...?

He didn't underestimate Fu Yu's talent, but he still asked tentatively:

"We are sword cultivators after all, and we should face difficulties head-on a few times."

"Why don't you go to the Sword Trial Realm first and get a ranking? If you don't want to go, you can give up your ranking?"

"Don't go."

Fu Yu flatly rejected her master's suggestion.

Upon hearing these two words, Elder Liao was furious, but fortunately, the other disciples stepped in to smooth things over:

"Master, we're still here!"

"That's right! Let's go and make Pinglan Mountain proud, and get a good ranking!"

"Hehe, Master...why don't you release Zhu Wuji? One more person means one more force!"

These disciples did not have a good relationship with Zhu Wuji.

The reason for speaking well of him at this time is because Zhu Wuji is the weakest.

Let's all go to the sword-testing platform together, at least there'll be someone at the bottom.

If my wishes are not fulfilled...

What if I end up at the bottom?

Seeing his disciples joking and laughing below, Elder Liao was about to glare and get angry when his divine sense detected something.

Elder Liao tilted his head slightly, gazing towards the direction of Zhu Wuji's courtyard—

What kind of trouble is this kid up to now?

They're all such a handful!

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 is currently "playing dirty tricks".

She is digging a tunnel.

The shovel in his hand is no ordinary object; it's a tool used specifically for tomb raiding in the cultivation world.

When Zhu Wuyao saw this item in the black market, he vaguely felt that it was somewhat familiar. Wasn't this the same thing that was in his storage bag in the Liquanjie Mine back then?

It's said to be a ground squirrel.

This was the only way to smuggle items that would make it easy to escape into the mine. Unfortunately, that senior's spiritual power was sealed, so in the end, no one could open the storage bag.

It remained there until she was arrested.

When Zhu Wuyao saw this pointed shovel on the black market in Tongzhou, he immediately took a liking to it—it was an escape tool that an old hand always carried, and it couldn't be wrong!

And here it is, we're using it now!

The barrier set up by Elder Liao was a sphere that not only covered the air but also sealed off the ground.

If someone were skilled at digging graves and drilling holes, with the "Flying Scorpion Shovel" in Zhu Wuyao's hand, they could calculate based on experience where the most force was applied and the weakest point of the barrier. With just a few shovelfuls, they could create a gap in this not-so-careful barrier.

However, Zhu Wuyao had no experience in digging up graves.

Nowadays, digging holes can only be done by guessing.

Zhu Wuyao was not skilled in earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique that allows one to escape through earth). Fortunately, he had the Flying Ring in hand. He could shovel out excess soil and then use the Flying Ring to transfer it elsewhere.

She was, after all, a nun.

Therefore, it is not necessary to transmit all the soil; just leave a small opening and slightly adjust the pressure.

Zhu Wuyao dug the tunnel at an extremely fast speed.

Elder Liao's attention was drawn to the fact that Zhu Wuyao had dug to the very bottom and was trying to break open the barrier.

Seeing that this place was not suitable, Zhu Wuyao did not hesitate and continued to climb up the barrier in a spiral motion.

During the time Elder Liao was watching Zhu Wuji, he actually managed to dig out the gap by sheer luck!

"Humph!"

Elder Liao snorted coldly.

The laughter and playful chatter of the disciples in front of him abruptly ceased; they all fell silent, behaving themselves with remarkable obedience.

He thought he had said something wrong and angered Elder Liao.

Little did they know, Elder Liao was secretly cursing Zhu Wuji in his heart—

They're just being cunning and sly; they're nothing but petty tricks!

Elder Liao's evaluation of Zhu Wuji dropped another level. Just as he was about to withdraw his divine sense and avoid seeing it, he saw Zhu Wuji crawl out of the cave and take out a robe.

Zhu Wuji covered his face, looking left and right until he was sure no one was paying attention to him, before sneaking off down Pinglan Mountain.

Ok?

What is this going to do?

Elder Liao was somewhat puzzled, but he didn't pay much attention to it. It was just a trip to Dongji City for drinks; there was no point in trying to change him.

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 was well aware that everything he had just done had been under Elder Liao's watchful eye.

Who knows how they'll be cursing "Zhu Wuji" now?

There's nothing we can do about it; she didn't do it on purpose...

They couldn't break through the barrier in a grand manner, yet they still had to leave the barrier, and the method had to be in line with Zhu Wuji's "character." After thinking it over, they couldn't come up with any other decent way.

Those who achieve great things are not careful about the little things.

Besides, it was Zhu Wuji who was being scolded, what does it have to do with Zhu Wuyao!