CH 27.2

as her words fell, a ripple condensed in the air.

[lin shuang triggered old li’s contemplation.]

[rule changes:]

[1. if both the protection of the ancestral hall and fang fang are successful: the trial is passed, and the competition against team 235 is considered a success.]

[2. if the ancestral hall is destroyed: the trial fails, descend one hundred levels, and the competition against team 235 is considered a draw.]

[3. if fang fang is taken away: the trial fails, descend two hundred levels, and the competition is considered a draw.]

[4. if both the protection of fang fang and the ancestral hall fail: the trial fails, descend three hundred levels; and if the competition against team 235 fails, you will lose one of your personal cultivation techniques.]

meng zi was wide-eyed. “the rules have changed. as long as one protection is completed, we can draw with dao dong and the others?”

【…!】

【i understand! is this what she meant by ‘scoring points’? can it be done like this?】

【this junior sister is so clever! if she didn’t ask and tried to protect both li fang and the ancestral hall at the same time, and lacked the ability, the trial would have ended immediately!】

【can i also be so clever on the 5,000th level?】

texts fluttered, quickly creating a bold water ripple.

[because disciple lin shuang spoke in this projection, it is also helpful for high-level clearance.]

[the fee for watching this projection: rises to 500 spirit stones/half an incense stick.]

[the fee for speaking here is raised to 1 spirit stone/5 characters.]

【shocking!】

【…】

【close your mouth, start!】

in the projection, huang fuyuan remained silent, his phoenix eyes falling on the old man’s shoulder, seemingly lost in thought.

even when lin shuang and meng zi were interpreting the rules, he didn’t blink.

he had always thought that cultivators were absurd, sacrificing their close relatives for fame and longevity, unlike their demon race, where there was no importance attached to their kin before life and death.

but what happened in this level seemed different.

huang fuyuan looked at lin shuang with a complex expression. “how did you come up with asking him?”

lin shuang tilted her head. “understanding the mentality of the examiners, wasn’t that normal?”

the mentality of the examiners?

the elders behind zhenchuan, the pinnacle power of qing shui sect.

huang fuyuan fell into contemplation.

afterward, he smiled faintly, “junior sister, i want to go to higher levels with you.”

meng zi, carrying a large knife, was already checking the environment around the thatched cottages in the wheat fields.

hearing his words, he rolled his eyes. “senior brother huang fuyuan, let’s get through this level first. i noticed that you bought a bird and chicken cauldron, and now you’re floating away.”

“…”

huang fuyuan closed his eyes.

one day, he would have to teach this junior brother a lesson.

“our situation is still very unfavorable. the terrain here, if the wang family comes, we can only fight directly!”

meng zi, using the blade, pointed to the vast wheat fields around.

“just now, the rules showed that if we fail to protect the person and the ancestral hall, even if we lose to dao dong and the others, it seems they will blend in with the wang family who wants to snatch people.”

the old man in the village wiped the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, “dao dong? i have never heard of this name. could it be that these three are the immortals invited by the old wang family overnight?”

lin shuang and the three nodded unanimously.

“this level has been selected as the content for the competition, so there have been some changes. when ordinary disciples come in, they will represent the li family village to protect people, just like us. but this time, dao dong and the others will represent the wang family village to snatch people.”

huangfu yuan, holding the silver-threaded hand furnace, said, “in this way, it’s reasonable for both challenging parties.”

【reasonable? it’s very unreasonable!】

【that’s right, even if the rules change, as long as you protect one thing. but the three of you average in the qi condensation stage, and dao dong and the others are in the foundation establishment stage, this… it’s like hitting a rock with an egg.】

【difficult.】

【this outer disciple junior sister is so smart. it’s a pity that she encountered meng zi, who has a cultivation level that is too weak! if it were me, at the ninth level of qi condensation i could take her up to the 5,000th level together!】

【???】

【???】

【honestly, i also have some admiration for this outer disciple junior sister. in the past, when breaking through zhenchuan, our team of three could only fight head-on, but with her, maybe i could find some clever ways to pass the levels.】

【right. i wonder if the junior sister will fail on this level, will she change teams?】

the texts were full of admiration for the junior sister.

zhao keran looked up at the projection from the resting cave, full of admiration.

even with insufficient cultivation, she gained the attention and respect of some senior brothers.

senior sister, is this what you meant by focusing on oneself, and there will be returns?

zhao keran danced with both hands and feet even more vigorously.

she couldn’t fall too far behind her senior sister!

she wanted to follow her senior sister all the way forward… not lag behind and lose sight of her senior sister’s figure!

zhao keran took a deep breath, twirling as she did to match, wiping the hundred-treasure rack, and looking towards the pink-robed martial auntie who was selling caves not far away.

“martial aunt, i still have some energy left. i’ve wiped the teacup, jade tablet, hundred-treasure rack, and stone tablet.”

“what else do you want me to help with?”

pink-robed martial aunt: “…”

li dao wei!

are these the disciples you’ve taught for ten years in the outer sect?

can’t they see?

in the projection array, all the texts were worried about lin shuang.

however, with just one sentence, she made everyone choke.

she looked at the old man in front of her, then at the five thatched cottages, and spoke after some thought.

“grandpa, do you have any experts in your village who can help us defend against the attack from the wang family village?”

huang fuyuan and meng zi were stunned simultaneously.

“what? lin shuang, speak louder.”

meng zi yelled, wishing he could cover her mouth.

wooden puppets set the questions, and she expected them to help.

she actually asked the examiner for assistance!

she had such courage!

even the senior brothers and sisters watching the projection admired her.

but in the next moment, the expression of the old man, who had just been weak and helpless, crying miserably, changed.

“immortal, what are you talking about!”

sure enough… he was about to be scolded. the trials of the disciples of zhenchuan rely on themselves!

meng zi covered his forehead, not daring to look.

“i, the li family, have been here for three hundred years! we thrive and multiply!”

“of course, there are people!”

the old man spoke angrily.

meng zi: “??!”

huang fuyuan: “…”

【???!】

【…?!】

“in our li family village, from top to bottom, there are a total of three hundred people of all ages, all with the immortals!”

as li lao spoke, the atmosphere shifted.

li lao’s words implied new rules.

if casualties exceed ten percent, the three hundred warriors from the li family village would all withdraw.

they wouldn’t help them anymore.

lin shuang nodded repeatedly.

she got the essential information.

meng zi, on the side, was truly amazed. “this actually works.”

he asked the question everyone had in mind.

lin shuang smiled.

it was like a word problem; all the information in the question was generally useful. examiners wouldn’t casually add a sentence; were they that free?

she had questions the moment she entered.

if only li’s daughter was being abducted, why were there five thatched cottages on the field, and why bring along the ancestral hall?

in each sentence of the question, there was an eighty percent chance that it was related to the train of thought for solving the problem, and the remaining twenty percent could be misleading information given by the examiner.

no harm in asking.

sure enough, her guess was correct.

[li family village defends 303 people: 6 attackers from the wang family.]

【…speechless.】

【can someone who has passed this level tell us? are dao dong and the others doomed?】

but not long after, ripples appeared.

[due to the challenge battle involving disparate strengths, it cannot proceed, so there is an additional adjustment.]

[the wang family, three generations of ancestors, and dao dong, dao xi, and dao bei, are about to set off but encounter 297 bandits. they quickly agreed, preparing to invade the li family village together!]

[strength on both sides: 303 people – 303 people.]

【!】

[strength adjustment: compensation of 300 spirit stones each for lin shuang, meng zi, and huang fuyuan.]

[li family villagers, familiar with each other, caring for each other, increase in strength by ten percent.]

[wang family bandits, from all corners of the country, wary of each other, decrease in strength by ten percent.]

[if villagers’ casualties exceed ten percent, the li family village will withdraw from the battle; at that time, the bandits will take advantage of their injuries and invade the thatched cottages to rob, also withdrawing from the battle.]

[if bandits’ casualties exceed ten percent, being bold and daring, they will ignore each other’s casualties and continue fighting until casualties exceed half, then disperse.]

【hiss.】

【one can’t have casualties of more than thirty people, the other can’t have casualties of more than one hundred and fifty people. the difference…】

【as expected, zhenchuan’s warnings are not false. triggering three hundred villagers may not be a good thing.】

【…strange, but reasonable…】

【heh. i thought it was assistance.】

many were pessimistic.

only lin shuang was not discouraged; on the contrary, she exclaimed eagerly, “good!”

“now that the information for the question is all listed, i’m going to start solving the problem.”

【!!】

【???】

meng zi, who only knew to charge forward, and huang fuyuan, who just wanted to watch from the sidelines, both looked at her simultaneously.

didn’t they just have to fight?

[protection for the weak is over in three hundred breaths.]

[group 235, dao dong, dao xi, and dao bei, have arrived.]

[the battle begins!]

meng zi looked vigilant, his hand on his sword, guarding in front of lin shuang and huang fuyuan.

gazing to the west, he looked at the vast wheat fields in front of the thatched cottages. “uncle li, where is your daughter? lead us there.”

old man li chuckled, indicating that he was already 78 years old this year.

if you call him young, he’ll happily prepare to give you an extra three spirit stones later.

【?】

【…】

【hahaha, the puppet level is like this.】

meng zi’s disciple badge received a message from zhenchuan. he was stunned but quickly showed a pleased expression.

three spirit stones were also money.

lin shuang and huang fuyuan looked strange.

especially lin shuang, who just called him “grandpa.”

it seemed she was too inexperienced.

“fang fang, see what treasures dad brought you.”

old man li was elated. finding three immortals to help seemed to relieve all his burdens. upon hearing this, he led lin shuang and the others into the innermost thatched cottage he had just walked out of.

“it’s the fairy who protects you!”

a chinese pastoral dog, entirely earth-yellow, seemed to sense the owner’s scent even before entering the house.

enthusiastically running and jumping, it circled old man li, wagging its tail.

“woof—”

“hey, good daughter, have you finished the bone daddy gave you?”

old man li squatted down, hugged the dog, and pressed his head against its furry one.

【?】

【??】

【…】

the three of them were stunned to varying degrees.

“woof, woof—”

meng zi, walking at the front, almost slipped.

huang fuyuan’s eyelids twitched as he watched old man li in front of him, who was still attempting to kiss the yellow dog.

“is this… your daughter fang fang?”

“yes, she’s a year and a half old, just the right age to find a mate. that old wang family raised a scabby son, fat and ugly. even dogs within a ten-mile radius despise him. does it think it can be with my daughter fang fang?”

“pah!”

【…】

meng zi took a step back.

miss, tonight, are you coming with me?

lin shuang was speechless. the level name in zhenchuan, who came up with it? quite talented.

【i’ve been watching silently until now for this moment!】

【haha, seeing their shock is like looking at myself back then.】

【everything is arranged. only fang fang is a dog, so it won’t affect the balance of power between the wang family and the li family.】

【so that’s it!】

【what senior brother said is true. fang fang has zero combat power and zero speech, not affecting the results of the disciples’ trials!】

“ah, my old wife passed away long ago, and my three daughters got married forty years ago.”

facing meng zi’s confusion, old man li wiped the corner of his eye and answered.

“now they have their own families, and they don’t have time to come back and see me. only fang fang stays by my side. if anything happens to fang fang, this old man won’t be able to live.”

“don’t worry, immortals. fang fang is very obedient. it won’t run around. immortals just need to guard this thatched cottage and keep the wang family from coming in.”

huang fuyuan’s expression was strange. “where is the ancestral hall of the li family?”

“oh, speaking of the ancestral hall—”

old li gestured a large circle in front of the three of them.

meng zi’s eyebrows twitched.

what does this mean?

huang fuyuan seemed thoughtful.

lin shuang’s expression became serious—every prop had its use.

she turned to look outside the thatched cottage, at the vast wheat fields, and beyond the fields, the supposed endpoint of the game map—a towering mountain range.

it’s well known that rpg game maps have an end.

at the edge of the map, the character controlled by the level can no longer move forward. there is no road, and the mountains are just background decorations.

but the old man drew a circle with his finger, directly pointing toward what she thought was the end of the map.

“the li family ancestral hall is located on that mountain.”

“don’t worry, immortals just need to guard that mountain, and it will be fine.”

most people know that the mountaintop visible to the naked eye seems close, but it’s far away.

lin shuang fell into silence.

facing the old man’s identical words, meng zi pinched his brow, and huang fuyuan chuckled.

rest assured, as long as the immortals guard this thatched cottage, it’s fine.

rest assured, as long as the immortals guard that mountain, it’s fine.

but the two places are miles apart!

a foundation establishment cultivator would take half a day to fly!

if one place is attacked, the other might not be able to return in time for reinforcement.

“where is the wang family?”

huang fuyuan looked at the yellow dog chewing bones on the ground, his phoenix eyes flickering.

“the bastards of the wang family are on the west side of the mountain at the other end, about two and a half to three days away,” old li said.

meng zi understood, “they first go to the ancestral hall and then attack the thatched cottage to steal the dog.”

disciples just need to guard the first checkpoint at the ancestral hall.

but lin shuang, an efficiency expert, scheduled kings and was particularly uncomfortable with vague words like ‘about two and a half to three days.’

is it two and a half days, or is it three days?

her obsessive-compulsive disorder kicked in.

“uncle li, do you have a detailed map of the wang family village and the li family village area?” lin shuang asked.

【? i didn’t ask before, i just waited at the ancestral hall for the people from the wang family.】

【she has weak strength, just at the qi condensation stage, it’s normal to be cautious.】

【but for those at the fifth level of foundation establishment, bold guarding is enough; a map is useless.】

but just as the text floated by old li patted his sleeves.

the tattered sleeves expanded with the wind, and in an instant, he pulled out a sand table about the size of two tables from inside!

【!】

【…?】

【…………】

【hidden wind sleeves?!】

no one expected that this old man could be like water in a sponge—squeeze him a bit, and more comes out.

“i… uncle li, can’t you explain things all at once?” meng zi’s temple throbbed.

huang fuyuan fell silent.

they all gathered around to look at the feng shui sand table that the old man placed in front of lin shuang.

this sand table that old li took out was unexpectedly a spiritual treasure.

they all crowded around to see the feng shui sand table that the old man placed in front of lin shuang.

the sand table that old li took out was surprisingly a spiritual treasure.

not only did it accurately reproduce the position of the fields and thatched cottages in front of them, but lin shuang also discovered that her divine sense could penetrate into this small sand table.

various mountain and forest sceneries appeared before her like a 5d effect. with a slight movement of her divine sense, she could quickly see the small road on the other side of the mountain, incredibly realistic.

if she were to fly with a sword within it, she could even hear the simulated sounds of water from the village, the rustling of leaves, and feel the fragrance of flowers and trees coming to her.

“this is a third-grade magical treasure, the miniature landscape sand table,” said huang fuyuan, who, as the manager of rongbao pavilion, was well-informed and recognized it at a glance.

impressive.

lin shuang sighed, but after seeing the overall map, she was somewhat stunned.

river… teleportation array

river… [little fang]

river… wheatfield

river… [ancestral hall]

river… wang family village road

[wang family]… wheatfield

meng zi exclaimed, “what’s behind little fang’s doghouse? a teleportation array?”

“wang family can directly teleport to the back door of little fang’s doghouse!?” he said in shock.

he was dumbfounded.

the ancestral hall was not a necessary passage; it wasn’t the first checkpoint guarded.

as long as the wang family had no problems with their heads, little fang was the first target closest to the wang family!

teleporting to little fang’s doghouse, the people guarding the ancestral hall would be completely unaware.

if they focused on guarding the ancestral hall, they wouldn’t know their homes were being robbed from behind!

he looked at old li from the li family, almost spitting blood.

old li subconsciously slapped his head.

“you forgot again?” meng zi was speechless.

【…】

【? thirty years ago, i stayed in the ancestral hall without any problems. the wang family came directly from the front of the ancestral hall.】

【hey, i can’t help but speak up. the person in front, don’t deceive your fellow disciples!

forty years ago, i failed at this level because i believed the old man’s words. as a result, my two younger sisters and i guarded the ancestral hall mountain for three days and were directly kicked out of this level. the trial failed.

the wang family… indeed directly teleports to the back of the thatched cottage!

initially, my younger sisters and i couldn’t understand why we failed, but later, dissatisfied, we rushed to this level again that day. it was only then that the old man cried and remembered that he had dug a back door to the doghouse inside the thatched cottage, directly connected to the ancient teleportation array at the entrance of the old wang family!

i still remember it vividly!】

【…the person in front seems very excited, but i must remind you that speaking in this projection costs five characters per spirit stone.】

【…】

【but i’m different. i really guarded the ancestral hall and passed this level! the wang family, father and son, indeed had excellent stealth, but they don’t have very powerful attack techniques.】

【the junior brother upstairs said that bringing little fang to the ancestral hall would resolve the dispute, right?】

【the one upstairs, have you not suffered losses in the puppet level?】

the old man just said that as long as the immortals guard the thatched cottage and the ancestral hall, it will be fine. so, the rule of this level is that little fang cannot leave the thatched cottage, or it will panic and cause a commotion. hehe, the ancestral hall and little fang are both places to be guarded.]

【…】