Faced with the ridicule of others, Caoshang Hong paid them no mind.
When it comes to flirting, you first have to catch the other person’s attention, and then create emotional value through certain events—only then can you have a chance to take things further.
Sigh. A bunch of noobs laughing at a pro like me, and they don’t even feel embarrassed.
Others mock me for being too insane, but I laugh at them for not seeing through the world!
Just then, the last serpent pillar suddenly flashed with light, and out popped a burly muscle man with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.
Everyone looked confused: Why him?
This man’s name is Lei Wuyinuofu (Rayvinov), a representative of the Northern Kingdom, also from the Tianjiao Camp. His strength is extremely formidable, and he’s ranked right below the three great prodigies.
Why isn’t it Yuan Tianxiu?
Everyone turned their eyes to Sato Mika, who had the most experience.
Sato Mika also found it strange: “That’s not right. According to past tradition, the distribution of personnel in each minor world is based on strength. There has never been a case where two top-tier powerhouses were assigned to the same realm. The purpose is to select the eight strongest individuals, but now…”
Rayvinov looked utterly baffled and asked in less-than-standard English: “What happened? Why are you all looking at me so strangely? And why is this pillar broken?”
No one answered him.
…
Temple.
The statue of the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi had now become a seven-headed serpent—one of its heads had shattered without warning not long ago, and even the outer formation was missing a corner because of it.
The High Priest’s face was dark, his aged visage concealing immense anger and fear.
Anger, because the formation had been damaged, and the ritual he was about to perform could no longer continue.
Fear, because when he sensed something was wrong and tried to enter the secret realm to check on the situation, an incredibly powerful divine sense had knocked him unconscious.
Just then, a divine envoy came to report: “High Priest, shall we continue?”
“Stop it. Something extraordinary has appeared inside, something far beyond my ability to handle.” A look of defeat appeared on the High Priest’s aged face.
“You mean those Chosen Ones?”
“To be precise, it should be that Xia Country girl who disguised herself with a magical artifact. To be able to wield divine power on Yamata-no-Orochi’s home turf—she can only be the Mother Goddess.”
The divine envoy was shocked: “She is the one chosen by the Mother Goddess!”
The High Priest closed his eyes, his expression pained: “All that effort, wasted… all that effort…”
“And the secret realm trial?”
“Let it continue, same as every other year.”
The divine envoy hesitated: “But according to the original plan, the Junior Envoy was directly teleported into the core of the secret realm. If we follow the original rules now, it might cause discontent among the others.”
After a long pause, the High Priest suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of madness gleaming beneath them: “First, have them wait. Go summon the divine attendants.”
The divine envoy didn’t understand, but didn’t ask further—he simply obeyed.
Before long, eight divine attendants with hollow eyes, like walking corpses, arrived in the hall and stood before the High Priest.
The High Priest spoke coldly: “We raise troops for a thousand days to use them for a single moment. Our god is in peril—now is the time for you to offer yourselves.”
The eight responded in unison: “Yes!”
“Good. The missing corner of the formation will be entrusted to you.” After giving his instructions, the High Priest walked to the center of the formation, gazed at the Ame-no-Murakumo sealed by the Sword Seal Platform, and sighed: “Success or failure hinges on this one move.”
…
“Seriously, it’s been so long—why is there still no movement?” Caoshang Hong had a blade of grass in his mouth, chewing on it until he accidentally cut his lip a little.
Su Mu couldn’t help but quip: “Well, that’s literally grass on red now…”
Seeing a beautiful woman talking to him, Caoshang Hong grinned and sidled over: “This brother Su Mu here still hasn’t woken up—want me to check on him for you?”
“No need.” Su Mu raised his hand in a rejecting gesture.
Just because Sakurai Mei might hold back against Ye Qingyi because of his current identity didn’t mean Caoshang Hong would do the same.
After all, she and a bunch of “Goryeo” people had once attacked Nishimura Koshi, and she was already on the blacklist of the samurai sect. If it weren’t for the special circumstances this time, she would never have exposed herself in front of so many island nation people.
Therefore, he wouldn’t let anyone touch Ye Qingyi—especially Sato Mika. This one’s gaze was the most terrifying, and she had repeatedly suspected him precisely because he was protecting Ye Qingyi.
In the past, he would have gone out of his way to avoid suspicion. But now? Well… his undercover days were over. If they found out, so be it—he didn’t care.
Still, he was slightly touched that Sakurai Mei was actually speaking up for him, saying things like “Chiba is a loyal and devoted person” and “after all, they were in love.”
Setting everything else aside, she was a pretty good friend.
“Hey, could it be that because this pillar was damaged, we can’t proceed to the next step?” Rayvinov stroked his beard and speculated: “And Su Mu just happened to pass out—I feel like there’s a big connection between the two.”
He paced back and forth alone, his eyes darting left and right, occasionally striking a sudden look of realization and letting out a long “Ahhh.”
Since no one paid him any attention, he just amused himself.
Originally, the eight of them were divided into three factions: Blake and Weil were one faction, Rayvinov was a faction of one, and the rest were another. But because of Ye Qingyi, Weil had been sticking around Su Mu’s side.
Of course, the two had always had a good relationship—he had even helped her guard her cultivation before.
So now the situation stood like this: Blake and Sato Mika each found a spot to meditate, Sakurai Mei and Weil were pestering Su Mu to tell them the story of “Su Mu” and “Chiba Masaka,” and Caoshang Hong, bored out of his mind, was reluctantly teaming up with Rayvinov to investigate every blind spot at the scene.
Suddenly, the serpent pillar representing the Qian position gave off a faint glow and gradually returned to normal over the course of ten-odd seconds. Though the damage remained, functionally speaking, it seemed no different from the other pillars.
Su Mu’s heart sank when he saw it: What’s going on? Did that head come back to life?
Truth be told, he’d been worried all along. After all, he’d severed one of Yamata-no-Orochi’s heads. Logically, either he or Ye Qingyi should have been targeted by the serpent. But so far, nothing seemed to have happened.
Was it hesitating over something?
Then again, it made sense. He had suddenly burst out with half-god realm strength—the serpent wouldn’t dare gamble on whether he could do it again.
Almost the moment the serpent pillar returned to normal, the High Priest’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears: “Please return to your respective positions. The next round of the trial will begin shortly. There is only one rule for this round: there are no rules. The trial will end in one month.”
“Senior, my friend is unconscious for unknown reasons, and she—” Su Mu picked up Ye Qingyi and tried to ask.
“It doesn’t matter. Just place him in the Qian position.”
Su Mu did as told, then returned to the Kun position. The others also took their places, waiting for the second round of the trial to begin. This round was when the real good stuff would finally appear.
Sato Mika’s expression was full of confusion: That’s not right—why does this feel different from before?
Surely the old strategy guides haven’t become useless now, have they?
