“Junior Sister Pei, why did you submit your exam so quickly? I didn’t even have time to share my answers with you.”
“No need, I’ve finished writing.”
“What?” Feng Yudie looked admiringly surprised and quickly began flattering, Junior Sister Pei is amazing! You can answer even such difficult questions?”
At this moment, Xiaotian, who was floating beside Feng Yudie, hurriedly spoke, 『Yudie, what she wrote is exactly the same as what I read to you.』
“What?”
Exactly the same?
Feng Yudie looked puzzled, and at that moment, two wrinkled hands landed on her and Pei Lengxue’s shoulders.
Wang Shouren followed them, looking at them with a stern expression.
“Both of you…”
“Ah, Elder Wang,” Feng Yudie asked with a smile, “where are we going next?”
Wang Shouren’s mouth twitched, and he asked through clenched teeth, “Did I not remind you when you entered the examination room not to cheat or engage in fraud? Your qualifications could be revoked for that.”
“Ah?” Feng Yudie shrunk her neck, “We didn’t cheat at all~”
“Then why are your answers exactly the same as Pei Lengxue’s?! Mr. Qi was furious just now and mentioned using the ‘Heart-Questioning Cauldron’ on you!”
Upon hearing this, Pei Lengxue also felt somewhat surprised.
Didn’t she write according to what her Senior Brother taught her before? Why are Feng Yudie’s answers the same as hers?
Could it be that Senior Brother told Feng Yudie as well? When? Did they spend time alone together?
“Elder Wang, we really didn’t cheat,” Feng Yudie quickly defended herself and Pei Lengxue.
『To be honest, you are cheating, but Pei Lengxue isn’t.』 Xiaotian sighed helplessly, 『You relied on me for the answers, while she wrote hers on her own. Although I don’t know why she came up with that answer.』
Seeing Feng Yudie’s expression, Wang Shouren paused, then furrowed his brows and looked at Pei Lengxue, asking, “Pei girl, did she really not share the answers with you?”
“Absolutely not.” Pei Lengxue snapped back to attention and quickly replied with a hand gesture.
“Let me remind you, you cannot lie before the Heart-Questioning Cauldron. It can reveal the truth,” Wang Shouren confirmed once again, his brows furrowed, “Did you cheat or not?”
“Absolutely not! The answer truly came from me.”
“Phew—”Wang Shouren let out a breath, nodded, and said, “Alright, both of you remember, you must tell the truth before the Heart-Questioning Cauldron. No half-truths.”
Both nodded.
Then, Wang Shouren led the two of them back to the center of the examination area in front of Qi Baishi.
By now, Qi Baishi had prepared the “Heart-Questioning Cauldron.”
It was a giant cauldron big enough to stew both Pei Lengxue and Feng Yudie together. The cauldron was inscribed with a totem of a green dragon playing with a pearl, giving it a majestic appearance. Just getting close to the cauldron, Pei Lengxue and Feng Yudie could feel a scorching sensation, as if they were standing in a blazing fire.
“You, come forward and stand in front of the cauldron.”
Qi Baishi cast a cold glance at the two of them, then stood up, indicating for Pei Lengxue to step forward.
“Yes.”
Nervously swallowing, Pei Lengxue walked to the front of the cauldron and stopped.
Then, Qi Baishi picked up a golden pen in his right hand, swirled his sleeve, and a drop of ink fell on the eye of the green dragon carved on the top of the cauldron.
In the next moment, a long green dragon flew out of the cauldron, circled in the air twice, and hovered in front of Pei Lengxue. The dragon’s eyes, ablaze with flames, locked onto her gaze.
In an instant, Pei Lengxue felt as if she had been hit by a petrification spell and couldn’t move. The green dragon in front of her gradually grew larger, becoming so huge that it blocked out the sky and obscured her vision.
At this point, she could actually be questioned.
However, Qi Baishi intentionally waited for a while.
The imposing aura of the dragon from the Heart-Questioning Cauldron was not something that anyone could withstand. Even some Foundation Establishment stage cultivators would unconsciously tremble in their legs when facing the green dragon. Most cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage would be scared to the point of begging for mercy, taking days to recover.
Qi Baishi thought that if Pei Lengxue couldn’t endure it, she would confess soon, saving him the trouble of using spirit stones to question her. However, Pei Lengxue’s reaction surprised him.
In the first instant, fear and panic appeared on Pei Lengxue’s face, but she quickly suppressed them with her willpower.
Such mental strength was extraordinary.
Qi Baishi stroked his beard, nodded with a slight smile, and then spoke, “Did you cheat?”
“No.”
Qi Baishi glanced at the green dragon, seeing no response, he furrowed his brows and asked again, “Did you come up with this answer on your own?”
“No… I didn’t.”
“Did you see this answer in a book?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know?”
“It… was taught to me by my senior brother verbally.”
After finishing her sentence, Pei Lengxue’s face had turned a bit pale.
Qi Baishi glanced at the green dragon, confirming that Pei Lengxue wasn’t lying, and decided not to ask further. He could tell that if he used the Heart-Questioning Cauldron on her again, she might faint straight away after the next question.
With a wave of his sleeve, the green dragon immediately returned to the cauldron.
After the green dragon disappeared, Pei Lengxue took several steps back, covering her chest and taking several deep breaths to recover from the influence of the dragon’s aura.
Qi Baishi walked up to her, nodded slightly, and said, “Your senior brother taught you this?”
“Yes, he made me memorize the answer,” Pei Lengxue honestly replied, “However, I have some difficulty understanding this answer…”
“Who is your senior brother?”
“My senior brother is named Ye Anping.”
Qi Baishi was taken aback, “… Who is Ye Anping?”
“He’s my senior brother.”
“… …”
Pei Lengxue got a bit too nervous. After all, it was her first time speaking to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Wang Shouren stepped forward to explain, “Sir, he’s the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect.”
“Ah…” Qi Baishi nodded in understanding and silently noted down the name.
Then, after a moment of thought, he took out a bottle of pills from his storage pouch and handed it to Pei Lengxue.
“Consider this bottle of pills as compensation from an old man.”
“Elder, you really don’t have to– um– that…”
“Coincidentally, you’ve reached the Peak Qi Refining stage. These pills will be beneficial for your Foundation Building.” Qi Baishi smiled, stroking his beard, and added, “Take it. Do you refuse an old man’s goodwill?”
“Ah…” Pei Lengxue stared at the pill bottle for a while and finally cautiously extended her hand to take it. She blushed slightly and nodded, “Thank you, Elder, for your generosity.”
Qi Baishi nodded and then had a whimsical thought. He used his spiritual sense to scan Pei Lengxue, intending to give her some guidance on her cultivation.
However, when he saw Pei Lengxue’s spiritual roots, he became slightly puzzled.
—These are Water-Wood-Earth trinary spiritual roots?
—But why do these three spiritual roots look so peculiar? Water and wood are too dominant, while earth is being suppressed.
Pausing for a moment, Qi Baishi asked, “You have trinary spiritual roots?”
“Yes, I have Water-Wood-Earth trinary spiritual roots.”
“How old are you this year?”
“… Fourteen years old, I’ll be fifteen in a few months.”
“Fifteen years old, and you’ve already reached Peak Qi Refining?”
“Ah…” Pei Lengxue pursed her lips and shook her head, slightly puzzled by Qi Baishi’s questions. She replied, “Yes.”
“… …”
Qi Baishi fell silent. It was rare for him to see a cultivator with trinary spiritual roots progressing so rapidly. Usually, this was achieved either through being born into a prestigious family with ample resources or by using certain rare techniques to accelerate growth.
However, the Hundred Lotus Sect couldn’t possibly have enough resources to expedite the cultivation of a trinary spiritual roots cultivator.
So, if it wasn’t some special opportunity, then there might be something unusual about Pei Lengxue’s spiritual aptitude.
Moreover, this Ye Anping person seemed to be quite an exceptional young man as well.
After pondering for a moment, Qi Baishi patted her shoulder gently and said with warmth, “Go and rest well. The selection trials tomorrow will be quite demanding. Shouren, arrange a better place for them to stay.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Shouren raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Sir, all the cultivators participating in the trials are staying in the common lodging today. Is this not against the rules?”
Qi Baishi squinted at him, repeating, “Better, place.”
“… Yes.”
