"Huo Wen thinks his Junior Sister Liu is so talented that he forced Junior Sister Nianchu to agree to this practical combat trial." As soon as Senior Sister Lin Chan said this, Huo Wen’s expression shifted.
"Senior Sister Lin Chan..." Huo Wen tried to defend himself.
"What? Are you going to tell me you didn't seek out Junior Sister Nianchu for this trial this morning?" Senior Sister Lin Chan looked at Huo Wen with utter disdain. She hadn't felt much toward him before, but after this morning's events, looking at Huo Wen felt like looking at a complete idiot who had lost his mind.
"As a senior disciple, you actually pressured a newly admitted junior sister into participating in a practical assessment trial?" Teacher Cai looked at him for a moment in disbelief. In his impression, while Huo Wen was a bit arrogant, he wasn't the type to be so unreasonable.
"Teacher Cai, it’s not like that..." Huo Wen wanted to explain, but he didn't know how. After all, he was indeed the one who had proposed the assessment.
Seeing this, Liu Rushuang’s eyes flickered. "Teacher Cai, the matter this morning was just a misunderstanding. Perhaps Nianchu and I shouldn't go through with the trial after all."
"How can a trial be treated as such a child's game?" Teacher Cai’s face darkened.
"Exactly. To act so fickle as a direct disciple—how shameful," Senior Sister Lin Chan added. She had never liked Liu Rushuang and never planned to hold her tongue when it came to her.
Liu Rushuang’s face turned deathly pale, and panic stirred in her heart. She realized that the days where everything always went her way had changed the moment she entered the sect.
"It’s about time. Let’s head to the practical lesson." Teacher Cai led them to a Formation.
That morning, their most important lesson had been memorizing a mental cultivation method. This method was designed to stabilize one’s state of mind.
"This is the mental state Formation I told you about this morning. The result a person achieves within this Formation is related to both their state of mind and their reaction speed," Teacher Cai said, glancing at Song Nianchu and Liu Rushuang. "Regarding the bet you two made, I have no way of separating your results, so let’s just use this Formation. How about you two determine the winner based on your rankings?"
"No problem," Song Nianchu replied calmly.
Liu Rushuang hesitated for a moment before nodding.
After the group of direct disciples entered the Formation, the number of people gathering outside began to grow. Teacher Cai looked back at the disciples. He was speechless at their love for gossip. These disciples had all been notified by the other direct disciples via Jade Slip. Many in the sect were fond of watching a spectacle, and precisely because they were so preoccupied with drama, they were often less focused on their actual cultivation.
Through the images projected from the Formation, the disciples quickly locked their gazes onto Song Nianchu and Liu Rushuang.
Song Nianchu had just entered the illusion realm. In her modern life, Song Nianchu had suffered from an emotional disorder. Beyond an interest in medicine, she had felt nothing else, and she had been quite satisfied with her achievements in the medical field. Thus, inside this illusion realm, she didn't encounter regrets from her modern life. Instead, she saw the parents and brothers she had in this Cultivation World.
When these images appeared before her, Song Nianchu remained entirely in the role of an observer. She knew this was the illusion realm Teacher Cai had described. She watched curiously as her parents and brothers doted on the original owner of her body without limit, and a trace of envy stirred in her heart—an emotion she had never felt in her modern life.
She watched the family interactions for a while as an observer before quietly withdrawing. She made a vow in her heart: she would strive to improve her Healing Technique so that she could return to the Song family and save them.
"Hey, has Song Nianchu already exited the illusion realm?" someone outside asked, noticing the change in her expression.
"It seems she has. But isn't she moving a bit too fast?"
"I think so too."
The crowd then turned their questioning gazes toward Liu Rushuang...
"This... has Liu Rushuang encountered something she’s very pleased with?"
"The expression on her face right now is... a bit frantic?" one disciple said, sounding uncertain.