The two senior sisters exchanged glances.
Was that it… they were dead?
Previously, when they thought of Ye Fan chanting incantations, they had merely dismissed it as an exaggeration, never expecting it to actually happen!
That's right!
They now believed Ye Fan had done it.
After all, besides Ye Fan, they couldn't think of anyone else it could be.
Good heavens!
He solved it without even showing his face.
This felt a bit like immortal techniques, didn't it?
Whether Ye Fan was an immortal or not, they didn't know, but in their hearts, he was already infinitely powerful!
"Junior sister, we should probably leave here first," Zibing suggested after regaining her senses.
Regardless of how powerful Ye Fan was, if they stayed any longer, they were afraid they'd be gagged by the stench…
After the two senior sisters left, a figure emerged from the air.
He was a retainer of the Great Liang Kingdom, commissioned by Liang Dekui to keep an eye on Wu Poxie.
When Wu Poxie made her move earlier, he had prepared to intervene.
After all, Wu Poxie's actions were already compromising the fairness of the competition, and coupled with her trespassing into the competition's secret realm, she deserved to be apprehended without question.
However, before he could act, the previous scene had unfolded…
This retainer was utterly stunned!
He was absolutely certain that there were no other fluctuations of true qi earlier, meaning no other cultivators had made a move.
Wu Poxie was dead just like that?
A pile of bird droppings had disgusted her to death?
I watched for so long, only to see this?
The retainer felt his mind short-circuiting…
Liang Dekui, in the imperial palace, was experiencing a similar mental short-circuit.
He had witnessed the entire process.
His worldview had also somewhat collapsed…
When Wu Poxie's true form was revealed after her death, he recognized her.
He knew Wu Poxie, a cultivator at the second level of the Void Glimpse realm.
But the problem was, for a cultivator at the second level of the Void Glimpse realm, wasn't this way of dying a bit too peculiar?
She was probably unprecedented in history!
After snapping back to reality, Liang Dekui quickly channeled a stream of true qi into the crystal screen.
The image began to rewind, returning to the moment Wu Poxie entered the cave.
Liang Dekui channeled another stream of true qi, and the image turned into slow motion.
Then, Liang Dekui stared intently at the crystal screen, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.
A quarter of an hour later.
After several rewinds and slow-motion replays, Liang Dekui finally discovered a faint golden glint flashing on the bird droppings.
There was indeed something wrong!
"Your Majesty," a figure emerged from a portal of light; it was the retainer from earlier.
The retainer recounted what he had heard.
This was because the crystal screen could only display images and not sound.
"Ye Fan?" Liang Dekui quickly grasped the key point.
"Does Your Majesty know this Ye Fan?" the retainer asked curiously.
"This Ye Fan is an interesting person," Liang Dekui murmured.
As for Ye Fan's two senior sisters, he didn't dispatch any more guards to protect them.
After all, with Ye Fan present, he didn't need to interfere further.
After the retainer left, Liang Dekui sat on the sofa, frowning.
The appearance of Wu Poxie had sounded an alarm in his heart.
Initially, he had expected it to be some restless ministers, but he hadn't anticipated it would be the Zhenxie Sect.
No matter how much he and the ministers bickered, it was still an internal court matter.
Even if each faction had cultivator retainers, they were still a minority.
If someone colluded with a cultivation sect, the nature of the matter would change!
This was clearly a violation of unspoken rules!
Calculating the time, Little Nine was about to turn 16.
Could it be that they knew about that matter?
He had hidden it so well; it shouldn't be possible…
Thinking of this, Liang Dekui's brow furrowed even tighter.
That matter was like a mountain, weighing down on Liang Dekui to the point of suffocation.
The moment of life and death for the Liang family, and indeed for all of Great Liang, was rapidly approaching…
Half a month later.
Ye Fan and Liang Rujing were sheltering in a cave from the rain.
[Maze entrance will open soon…]
The long-lost system voice echoed.
Ye Fan immediately became alert!
What new trick was this damned system up to?
"Huh?" Liang Rujing walked curiously to the cave wall, "Ye Fan, look, it's glowing here."
Ye Fan instinctively turned his head to look.
A faint golden light emanated from the cave wall.
Ye Fan cursed inwardly, grabbed Liang Rujing, and bolted out of the cave.
"Huh? Ye Fan, why are you running…"
Before Liang Rujing could finish speaking, their figures were swallowed by the golden light.
Inside the underground maze.
Zibing and Ziqing cautiously advanced.
The first round of hunting demonic beasts had ended, and with the points they exchanged from demonic cores, they had just barely squeezed into the second round.
And this second round of the maze was the true start of the competition!
What difficulties they would encounter was completely random.
They might trigger some strange traps while walking, or a powerful demonic beast might leap out.
With a single mistake, they could be eliminated.
As expected.
They hadn't gone far before a burst of golden light erupted ahead.
The two senior sisters braced themselves, quickly gripping their weapons.
As the golden light dissipated, two figures appeared within their sight.
"Junior Brother? Ninth Princess?" Ziqing was bewildered, "How did you get here?"
"Be careful, Junior Sister," Zibing pulled Ziqing back a few steps, her expression still extremely vigilant.
Some mental-type demonic beasts could transform into human likenesses, taking advantage of a cultivator's relaxed guard for a surprise attack.
"Junior Brother," Zibing said, "Who is our Master? What are his characteristics?"
Demonic beasts within the competition's secret realm were usually not too monstrous. Even if they could transform into familiar appearances, they couldn't read a cultivator's memories.
"True Master Ziyun," Ye Fan replied nonchalantly, "His characteristics are that he is very concerned about his appearance, likes to extort money, claims to be tight-lipped, often likes to play Mahjong with people, and refuses to pay when he loses…"
Ye Fan spoke for over a minute straight.
The two senior sisters nodded.
Confirmed, they were their own people!
A wave of emotion washed over them.
Junior Brother had traveled such a long way specifically to protect them!
He was simply too thoughtful!
"Two Senior Sisters, where is this?" Ye Fan asked with concern.
"This is the second stage of the competition, the underground maze," Ziqing explained to Ye Fan, who seemed unaware, "The maze has five floors. Successfully defeating the final guardian beast means clearing the stage."
"The first cultivator to defeat the guardian beast will receive a token and a large number of points," Senior Sister Zibing added. "Others will earn points based on their performance within the maze, participating in the final overall ranking."
"I know that," Liang Rujing boasted. "Even if you had very few points before, as long as you are the first to defeat the final guardian beast, the points you receive will allow you to directly rank first!"
Ye Fan nodded, suddenly enlightened.
He was already cursing inwardly.
This damned system was too cunning!
First, it dragged him into the trial secret realm, and now it was forcing him to participate directly!
This was not a good omen!
Today, it forcefully pushed him into the cultivators' struggle; tomorrow, it might brazenly seize control of his body!
At that point, he could only watch helplessly as he became a puppet, cultivating desperately.
The result would be the same as his previous 99 lives!
The thing he feared most had finally happened!
Ye Fan was not afraid of death.
He had lived for so long, he was already tired of it.
But he didn't want to die like a puppet tool.
It felt like an ordinary person getting married and having children, then working tirelessly to earn money to support the family.
Although it was hard and tiring, it was also happy.
Then, after working hard for more than half a lifetime, he suddenly discovered that a ranch had been opened above his head!
Even the children were not his!
No, no, no.
It was even more absurd than that!
Before you even got married, you would be notified.
No matter who you married in the future, after marriage, a ranch would be opened above your head, and the children would have nothing to do with you.
Then, with a light tone, they would say:
"Go on, go earn money and support your family."
What kind of feeling would that be?
Damn it, there was no feeling at all!
It would be better to remain a bachelor!
Ye Fan felt he had to find an opportunity to kill himself as soon as possible!
He absolutely could not let the damned system succeed!
Since he was already here, Ye Fan had no choice but to accompany his two senior sisters.
The underground maze was dim, with weak oil lamps appearing only at long intervals on the walls.
Ahead, it was pitch black, like a terrifying mouth waiting for Ye Fan and the others to fall into its trap.