“When I was little, I learned from a dog and peed on a utility pole. Then I got bitten by a dog, and it hurt for a long time.”
“Encouraged by my friends, I conducted a human energy recovery experiment when I was seven…”
“In high school, I had a secret crush on a young, pretty female teacher.”
…
Wu Heng had thick eyebrows and big eyes. At first glance, he looked like a proper, serious person. But it turned out he had no fewer embarrassing stories than Zhuge Zhi. He successfully completed the task, but because he lacked any explosive revelations, after his last share, his Truth Points were only 5 points above 100.
Next came Ye Qingyi, Su Mo, Huo Jingshu, and Xia Qingqing.
Ye Qingyi: “I’ve worn a skirt, and a relatively short one too. The boys all said it looked good.”
Zhuge Zhi: (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ツ
Wu Heng: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
Su Mo: “A girl liked me and even wanted to marry me.”
“Huh?”
Zhuge Zhi and Wu Heng felt their brains short-circuiting. For a moment, they couldn’t figure out whether the two of them were the open-minded ones, or whether they themselves were just old-fashioned.
Huo Jingshu and Xia Qingqing had strange expressions, looking like they knew something. Their faces were full of a sense of superiority, but at the same time, they were amazed by what the others had said.
The most pitiful one was Huo Jingshu. Maybe this girl really had no secrets, or maybe she just couldn’t let herself go and speak freely like the others. By the time she finally stammered her way through the task, she had already been punished who knew how many times, even more miserably than Zhuge Zhi.
Only Xia Qingqing looked excited, which Huo Jingshu found very hard to understand.
However, just as she was about to share her secret, a prompt suddenly sounded: “Minors may not participate.”
Xia Qingqing was stunned for a moment, and her little face suddenly turned bright red. “What kind of nonsense is that? I’m already eighteen!”
As she spoke, she puffed out her chest and tugged her top tight. Huo Jingshu glanced over with her big eyes, then immediately rolled them elsewhere, the corner of her mouth curling upward without her meaning it to.
“Jingshu, you’re laughing at me too!” Xia Qingqing pressed her lips together, feeling terribly wronged.
It’s not like I wanted to grow like this. I’m underdeveloped. What am I supposed to do?
Besides, small is cute too.
The Valley of Truth didn’t give her a chance to explain. It said directly: “In consideration of humanistic care, minors shall receive fifty percent of the reward.”
Xia Qingqing would rather not have that fifty percent than be called a minor.
At that moment, an indescribable feeling appeared in all six of their hearts at the same time. Almost instantly, they felt their thoughts become much smoother, as if their talents had been changed on a fundamental level.
The ones who changed the most were Su Mo and Zhuge Zhi. Zhuge Zhi changed a lot because his multiplier was high, while Su Mo changed greatly because this boost just happened to let his mental strength, which had been stuck for a long time, break through a bottleneck and enter a wonderful realm.
Logically speaking, after mental strength reached his level, he should have opened a Sea of Spirit long ago. But because he had always suppressed his cultivation at C-rank, he had never been able to break through the shackles. That caused his mental strength to remain in an overflowing state. Now, with this opportunity, it happened to break through the chains. The chaos in his mind was dispelled, and a new world appeared.
This was where the wonder lay!
Calling it a Sea of Spirit was not quite right, because Su Mo was still in the Snow Mountain Realm and had not reached the Noble Spirit Realm.
But in history, no one in the Snow Mountain Realm had ever been able to open a spiritual world within the chaos of the mind. Therefore, it could not be considered a true Sea of Spirit either.
So Su Mo named it the Chaos Sea, meaning the beginning of chaos. It could be regarded as a transitional form before the formal appearance of a Sea of Spirit.
That said, its functions were more or less the same as a Sea of Spirit.
Su Mo closed his eyes tightly, yet everything around him was as clear as ever, even clearer than when his eyes were open.
What a wonderful thing, this spiritual perception. As expected of a Sea of Spirit that only strong people in the Noble Spirit Realm possess. It actually had such marvelous uses.
He did not dare imagine what it would be like when he later erected three soul pillars. It would definitely be so cool!
“How does everyone feel?” Su Mo said joyfully.
Ye Qingyi smiled at the corners of her eyes. “I can break through anytime, but I plan to wait a bit longer, until after the assessment is over.”
Wu Heng also couldn’t help laughing out loud. “I still have a secret I haven’t told. If I get another chance to tell one, I can definitely break through to B-rank.”
Zhuge Zhi immediately gave him a thumbs-up. “As expected of my Brother Heng. I’m much weaker. I only condensed one snow mountain. At least I’m no longer the lowest-ranked in our team. At least Jingshu is still with me.”
“I also condensed one…” Huo Jingshu answered in time.
Xia Qingqing said indignantly, “Hmph, if I had been allowed to participate, a hundred percent reward definitely would have let me condense another snow mountain too.”
Then Huo Jingshu let out another “Huh,” realizing that her understanding of spear techniques and spell techniques had also become clearer. Her whole body felt as if she had eaten an immortal pill.
Her current talent and foundation were already no weaker than Xia Qingqing’s before the boost, and about the same as Zhuge Zhi’s.
She had never been a talent-type contestant to begin with. Now that her talent had been forcibly raised, her future growth would surely advance by leaps and bounds.
Of course, this also depended on the person. If the foundation was unstable, the effect might not be so obvious. But Huo Jingshu’s foundation was terrifyingly solid. Back when Long Tianyu took her as a disciple, he had tested her basics in spear techniques. In the end, he found that, judging purely by moves, this girl had already reached first-class standards, stronger than many spear masters in the country.
This was what it meant to accumulate richly and release powerfully. Before, she had lacked an opportunity, like a warehouse packed with flammable and explosive materials. Now the opportunity had come, just like throwing a lit cigarette butt into that warehouse. The consequences would be terrifying.
They had been sucked in by the strange wind, but when they walked out, they were relaxed and full of energy.
“Look, that’s the exit of the valley.” Xia Qingqing cheered and bounced along.
Through the valley, they could see snow mountains outside piercing straight into the sky. To cross the Andes, they first had to climb over them.
This longest mountain range in the world was not something they could cross by being lazy, cutting corners, or taking shortcuts. After climbing the snow mountain in front of them, countless more would still be waiting.
Yet high mountains, steep dangers, and biting cold wind were no match for the youths’ burning passion and sword-like confidence. In their eyes, it was just a mountain. Once they climbed over it, it would be nothing more than a stepping stone on the road of life.
At that moment, Ye Qingyi suddenly said, “How about we make a bet? Let’s see who reaches the summit first. Whoever arrives last will cover everyone’s meals for half a year.”
There was no discussion, and no one called out a start. Almost everyone shot forward in the same instant. Among them, Zhuge Zhi was the most eager, even jumping the gun by 0.5 seconds.
Xia Qingqing moved her little short legs quickly and did not fall behind at all when running.
Pulling the view farther away, a drone was quietly observing everything here from the sky. In front of the screen connected to it, Yang Jie wore an auntie-like smile. “Youth really is wonderful…”
Scene after scene from the past flashed through his mind: back then, he was still in university, Nangong Xuan was the student council president, Long Tianyu was a loser in society, and he met Zhang Yuelu, who was more than ten years younger than him, for the first time.
At that time, she was still an elementary school student, adorable and cute. The moment they met, she called him big brother…
