"That's right, we've already reached the third stage," a direct disciple spoke up. "Junior Sister Liu, you spent very little time in the second stage?"
Liu Rushuang's expression looked terrible at that moment.
She didn't know how to reply.
Foolish as she was, she finally realized that she had wasted far too much time in the first stage.
As a result, she had missed the second stage entirely.
Thinking of how indulging the illusion realm had felt, Liu Rushuang glared at Song Nianchu with rage in her eyes.
It was all this bitch's fault.
If not for this family of bitches named Song,
how could she possibly have missed the second stage?
Seeing the shifting expressions on Liu Rushuang's face, Song Nianchu guessed that the reason Liu Rushuang had stayed in the illusion realm for so long probably had something to do with their Song family.
After all, having received the original owner's memories, Song Nianchu knew all too well just how deep Liu Rushuang's hatred for the Song family ran.
To be precise, her hatred for the original Song Nianchu ran very deep.
"The entrance to the third stage has opened..." An entrance suddenly appeared within their line of sight.
The entrance and circumstances of each stage were slightly different.
Song Nianchu glanced at the entrance and stepped right inside.
The entrances were different, but the content of the trial remained the same.
Especially for the direct disciples who had been to this Trial Formation before.
Once inside, they immediately and familiarly set off to look for flying blood flame insects.
New disciples could also read what they needed to do in the third stage from the Jade Slip.
The group of disciples soon used their Spiritual Power to scan the surrounding flying blood flame insects.
The third stage also had a time limit.
Once the time was up, the formation would eject them.
The direct disciples needed to find flying blood flame insects within the allotted time to exchange for points.
In the end, rankings would be determined based on points.
Song Nianchu was also scanning for flying blood flame insects with her Spiritual Power.
The Jade Slip contained picture introductions of the flying blood flame insects.
Their task was to capture the blood flame insects alive.
"Is it really that simple?" A new disciple remarked dismissively after reading the introduction.
Upon hearing this, a senior disciple let out a cold sneer: "If it were that simple, would it still be defined as a trial?"
"Is there something different about this place, I wonder?" Zhuang Yue stood nearby and asked humbly, not too proud to learn.
"I don't know either, but in my impression, blood flame insects are just too hard to catch," the senior disciple replied while locking onto nearby blood flame insects with his Spiritual Power.
Another senior disciple chimed in, "That's right. Besides, blood flame insects are extremely cunning; they always escape before we can even get close, and they're covered in barbs. Catching them alive is no easy task."
"How many did you guys catch before?" Having heard this, Zhuang Yue also felt that capturing these blood flame insects probably wasn't an easy feat, and grew curious about how many blood flame insects these direct disciples had caught in the past.
Little did he know that Zhuang Yue's words made the senior disciples' expressions look rather unpleasant.
Zhuang Yue: "..."
Fine then. Judging by the expressions of these senior disciples, their results in capturing blood flame insects alive were probably not very good.
Not reopening old wounds was also a form of good manners.
Sensibly, Zhuang Yue stopped asking.
The other disciples locked onto the direction of the blood flame insects and scattered in various directions.
Of course, Liu Rushuang's few simps followed right by her side.
"Junior Sister Liu, I sense quite a few blood flame insects to the northwest. How about we go over there?" Simp Number One suggested.
"I sense them in the northwest as well. This time, we must find a way to capture the blood flame insects alive."
"Are the points for blood flame insects higher than the magical beasts in the second stage?" Thinking about how she had missed the second stage, Liu Rushuang felt somewhat anxious.
She didn't know how many magical beasts Song Nianchu had dealt with in the second stage.
Judging by the bloodstains on her, it should have been quite a few.
She could not afford to lose to Song Nianchu.
"The points for blood flame insects are higher than those of the magical beasts in the second stage," a disciple answered.
"I missed the second stage..." Liu Rushuang wore a look of regret and sorrow. "I didn't take care of a single magical beast in the second stage, and Nianchu and I have a wager..."
The simps all understood such an obvious hint.
"Junior Sister Liu, if I catch any blood flame insects, I'll give them to you..." Simp Number One offered.
"I'll give them to you too..." Simp Number Two also stepped forward.
"This... wouldn't that be improper? After all, this is a bet between Nianchu and me, and I'm afraid whatever you give me won't count..." Liu Rushuang wasn't sure if it would count either.
However, regardless of whether it would count or not, she would grab the benefits first and figure it out later.
"You didn't say during your bet that this wasn't allowed, so it doesn't violate the rules," Simp One spoke up.
The others immediately nodded in agreement: "That's right, nobody said it wasn't allowed. We will work hard to get all the blood flame insects for you."
Hearing these words, a flash of smugness crossed the bottom of Liu Rushuang's eyes.
She became even more proactive in searching for blood flame insects.
The other disciples also began hunting down the blood flame insects.
Zhuang Yue and Fu Wenxiu were likewise locking onto the blood flame insects.
As it happened, both of them ran into Song Nianchu.
Hesitating for a moment, Zhuang Yue caught up to Song Nianchu and asked, "Junior Sister Nianchu, can we team up with you?"
"No need," Song Nianchu refused flatly, then continued moving forward.
These blood flame insects were simply too fast.
None of these direct disciples had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage yet.
They couldn't fly on swords at all.
Coupled with the fact that these blood flame insects had extremely strong sensory perception,
the moment there was any fluctuation of Spiritual Power, they would simply fly away.
At first, Song Nianchu hadn't noticed this.
Logically speaking, the strength of the blood flame insects wasn't all that high.
There was no way she shouldn't be able to catch even a single blood flame insect.
Yet why was it that every time she went to chase a blood flame insect, the target would immediately detect it and fly away a step ahead of her?
Today's trial was entirely centered around mental cultivation methods.
Song Nianchu stood in place, pulling out the mental cultivation method she had memorized and reciting it in her mind once more.
"What is Song Nianchu doing?" Someone noticed that Song Nianchu had been standing in place without moving for quite a while.
From behind, Zhuang Yue and Fu Wenxiu looked at Song Nianchu in puzzlement.
They had no idea what she was actually doing.
"Could she have given up?" People outside asked doubtfully.
"She chased the blood flame insects several times, and every time they flew away ahead of her. She probably thinks these blood flame insects are too difficult and doesn't plan to chase them anymore, right?"
"Actually, when dealing with magical beasts in the second stage, Song Nianchu was quite fierce. Her points from back then should be enough."
"If Liu Rushuang catches a few blood flame insects in the third stage, Song Nianchu might lose."
"Blood flame insects are too hard to catch. However, the point exchange is also higher than the first two stages. If those direct disciples really give the blood flame insects they catch to Liu Rushuang, then Song Nianchu is bound to lose."
Hearing these remarks, Lin Chan's expression turned quite unpleasant.
Huo Wen, however, lacked any tact as he bounced around in front of Lin Chan: "Senior Sister Lin Chan, when we were making our bet this morning, nobody said that Junior Sister Liu couldn't accept help from others."
"Huo Wen, do you know what you look like right now?" Lin Chan asked, looking coldly at Huo Wen.
"What do I look like?" Huo Wen retorted.
"Like a completely out-of-mind, super-sized idiot," Lin Chan sneered coldly, "and the kind of twisted, venomous villain with a warped mindset."
Huo Wen: "..."
"Senior Sister Lin Chan, I can forgive you for going crazy like this just because Song Nianchu is about to lose," Huo Wen said angrily. "However, I must also ask you to face reality."
"Are you so sure your Junior Sister Liu is bound to win?" Lin Chan felt somewhat uncertain inside at that moment, but that didn't stop her from stepping all over that pair of utter idiots, Huo Wen and Liu Rushuang.