Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

The huge advantage brought by the "Flying Leg" technique didn’t last long. The crowd soon arrived at the first real obstacle.

It was a wide, suspended platform where the racetrack came to a halt. Ahead of them stood over a dozen identical wooden doors, all lined up.

A faintly glowing paper talisman was stuck to each door. Above them all hung a sign with a line of text written on it: "A Glimmer of Hope."

Seeing this setup, the whirlwind afterimages at the lead runners’ feet gradually faded.

Lin Qingfeng and some of the other participants deliberately slowed down, falling back to the second group to watch the show. Meanwhile, those desperate to be in the lead group didn’t hesitate at all, simply picking a door and ramming straight into it.

"THUD!" "BANG!" "OW!"

A series of dull thuds and pained cries rang out. The runners slammed into what felt like an invisible wall and were flung back by a powerful recoil. Some landed flat on their backs with their limbs in the air, while others clutched their foreheads, seeing stars. The "doors" they had crashed into, however, hadn’t budged an inch!

Only then did Lin Qingfeng casually jog with the second group through the one real door. As he passed the fallen runners, he shook his head in feigned disappointment. "Tsk, tsk. Young people are so impulsive. Haste makes waste, you know."

Afterward, Lin Qingfeng sent a message to Su Ling’er via his Communication Stone.

[Lin Qingfeng]: Junior Sister, did you understand the meaning behind my actions?

’Huh...? This involves me? What am I supposed to understand... Is Senior Brother... testing me?’

She looked at the poor saps still ramming into the doors, then at her senior brother who had passed through with ease, her mind racing.

’I have to come up with a grand, impressive explanation that fits the Demonic Sect’s... no, wait, that fits the Guixi Sect’s dignified image!’

[Su Ling’er]: Senior Brother! I... I think I’ve had an epiphany!

[Su Ling’er]: The sages of old would "toss a stone to test the path." Could your action be the legendary "testing the Dao with one’s own body"? You’re letting these fellow cultivators use their own experience to see through the illusion of this "Glimmer of Hope"!

[Su Ling’er]: This is to temper their character, to make them understand that the Great Dao is fraught with peril and cannot be tread blindly! This is the great wisdom that brings salvation to all!

After sending the message, Su Ling’er couldn’t help but blush. ’That bootlicking was way too heavy-handed!’

[Lin Qingfeng]: Well said! This is "everyone for me, and then everyone for me again!" As long as they all work together, they can pave the way for my grand future!

Su Ling’er’s mouth twitched as she read his reply.

Su Ling’er: ’...I knew it. Senior Brother, you’re... rotten to the core! Forget it... As long as you’re happy, whatever you say goes.’

The contestants passed through the gauntlet of doors and continued up the stairs, soon arriving at an even stranger platform.

This platform had no stairs leading up from it—only a wooden launching device that resembled a seesaw. Diagonally above the launcher was a higher level of the racetrack. Clearly, this was an optional shortcut.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Qingfeng dodged a hand trying to grab his waistband from behind, stepped on the end of the launcher, and was flung high into the air. He traced a perfect arc before landing on the platform above, the entire motion as smooth as flowing water.

The runners right behind him quickly followed suit. Some managed to leap successfully onto the platform, but others, due to mistakes in force or angle, didn’t get enough height and fell onto the stairs below, where they had to start climbing and waste precious time.

The unluckiest ones were launched completely sideways, their bodies tracing a parabola through the air accompanied by a long "AHHH—!" before they plummeted toward a cushioned platform placed below the racetrack specifically to catch them.

THUD! A runner landed face-first on the wooden platform. He immediately performed a kip-up, seemingly uninjured thanks to some kind of cushioning. Brushing the dust off his clothes, he started cussing up a storm.

"What kind of genius designed this thing? The launch angle is completely off! I demand a do-over!"

Another runner who had also fallen landed beside him, looking frustrated. "Stop yelling. You’re the one who messed up the angle and force. Damn it, I was so close to making it."

Su Ling’er flew toward the platform on her Wooden Sword, preparing to ferry these eliminated contestants back to the ground. ’I don’t feel like the Holy Daughter of the Guixi Sect right now,’ she thought. ’More like the ferryman on the Yellow Springs Road, responsible for guiding the eliminated souls.’

’Seriously, Senior Brother! If you’re going to design a catapult, could you at least build a staircase leading down? Was it really to save a little on materials? As if my Spiritual Power is free!’

The audience below watched as people occasionally fell from the sky, erupting in thunderous laughter and discussion.

A broad, burly butcher pointed at the sky and roared with laughter. "That’s hilarious! I thought they wouldn’t fall! Look at that posture, just like one of those big clumsy moths in my backyard!"

An old martial artist next to him stroked his beard and analyzed with a straight face, "Not at all, not at all. This is the principle of ’that which is too rigid is easily broken.’ It seems that while these ’God-Speed Runners’ are fast, they lack stability. Their control over their strength is ultimately a step behind!"

However, as the contestants climbed higher and higher, the audience on the ground could only see blurry little black dots. Many felt there was nothing left to see and began to yawn, preparing to leave.

But who was Lin Qingfeng? How could he allow his meticulously designed "grand reality show" to lose its audience? An urgent message shot into Su Ling’er’s ear via the Communication Stone.

[Lin Qingfeng]: Junior Sister! Quick! Use the Real-Time Memory Stone! Link it with the one I just threw up there and broadcast the race to the crowd below! Hurry! Get the atmosphere going!

Su Ling’er froze.

’A broadcast?’

She glanced at her hands, one busy guiding her sword to retrieve people, and felt troubled.

[Su Ling’er]: S-Senior Brother, but I still have to rescue people... My left hand is for grabbing people, my right hand is for Sword Control. If I have to divide my attention to provide commentary... I’m afraid I won’t have the strength. It would be bad if I dropped someone.

She had intended it as a polite refusal, but Lin Qingfeng took her seriously and gave her a reply that filled her with despair.

[Lin Qingfeng]: Oh! You don’t have the strength? This is a cultivation bottleneck!

[Lin Qingfeng]: Think of the Thousand-armed Guanyin! One hand offers salvation, another offers guidance. Isn’t this a perfect reflection of your current situation? Isn’t this the nascent form of your future Great Dao as a ’Guide’?

[Lin Qingfeng]: Don’t be afraid! I believe in your potential! Push yourself! You can do it! It’s settled!

[Su Ling’er]: ...

Su Ling’er stared at the Communication Stone, wanting to cry but having no tears.

’Senior Brother, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? I’m at the Foundation Establishment Stage, not the Third Prince Nezha! I don’t have three heads and six arms!’

[Su Ling’er]: Wait... I... Can I take back what I just said?

[Lin Qingfeng]: I know you’re just being modest! Say no more! The path of the Great Dao does not allow for retreat! The time has come to test your enlightened heart! I have already transmitted the ’Commentary Sutra’ to your Divine Sense. You just need to enlighten the masses! Once this is done, your name will surely be recorded in the sect’s book of merits! Hurry, hurry, hurry!!!

Su Ling’er: ’If you want me to work, just say so! Don’t dress it up as a test of my Dao heart!!! Ugh... I shouldn’t have said anything!!!’

...

Resigned to her fate, Su Ling’er took out a Real-Time Memory Stone from her storage pouch. She channeled her Spiritual Power, and a giant screen of light unfurled in the sky outside Anhe City’s south gate, clearly projecting the intense competition from high above.

This Immortal magic had an immediate effect. The townsfolk who were about to leave were instantly captivated. They all looked up, gasping in amazement.

"Look! There’s a picture in the sky!"

"Immortal techniques! These are truly the techniques of Immortals!"

On the screen of light, the remaining contestants had reached an even more perilous area: a single-plank bridge suspended in mid-air. Below the bridge was a sticky pink substance, and giant beams were sweeping across the bridge at astonishing speeds. The consequences of being hit were self-evident.

The burly butcher was bent over with laughter. "HAHAHA! Look, Fairy! That fella thought he could fly, but someone yanked him down! What do you call that? Isn’t that just plain stupid?!"

Su Ling’er’s eye twitched uncontrollably. ’That’s not stupid, that’s... utterly insidious! They’re even pulling on people’s pant legs?!’

But as the official commentator for the Guixi Sect, she absolutely could not laugh along with the audience! She had to maintain the prestigious image of the competition!

She cleared her throat, forcibly suppressed her laughter, and began spouting dignified nonsense. "Ahem... I must disagree with your assessment, sir."

"The contest for the Great Dao is inherently cruel. With powerful enemies blocking your path and petty schemers tripping you from behind, this is a true reflection of the Cultivation Realm!"

"Though that fellow cultivator who was pulled down has unfortunately been defeated, he has used his experience to teach us a profound lesson—"

"On the path of Cultivation, one must not be overly ambitious! Not only must you look where you’re going, but you must also constantly be on guard for daggers in the back!"

"This, too, is an extremely precious form of the ’Dao’!"

The entire audience was stunned into silence by her explanation.

The burly butcher scratched his head. "Huh? So... getting your pants pulled is also a form of Cultivation? These... these Immortals sure are sophisticated!"