“Oh? It seems like you are very confident in yourself?” Qi Ling-er’s words did not cause Qi Xun-er to panic at all. On the contrary, a smile of ridicule spread on her face. “If I recall correctly, you were only able to persevere inside the Lucid Lunar Lake for fifteen minutes, right?”
“Indeed,” Qi Ling-er replied without any awkwardness. “I wasn’t even able to last for fifteen minutes, but Sister Xun-er, you were able to last an hour in there. Given your talent, this test should be a walk in the park for you, right?”
“Of course. I’m just afraid that you’ll embarrass yourself!” Qi Xun-er chuckled as she walked to the center of the hall.
“Clan head, I am willing to go along with Ling-er’s request and compete with her. However, I think that Ling-er’s actions of shirking her responsibility and lying to you are unacceptable. If she isn’t able to prove herself here, I beseech you to strip her of her identity as one of the core members and imprison her.”
To strip Qi Ling-er of her identity as a core member of the Qi Clan meant taking away her bloodline, and that was an extremely grave punishment.
This was a sentence usually used only on traitors. Not only would it dishonor the individual herself, her entire lineage would be disgraced.
It seemed like Qi Xun-er was determined to do Qi Ling-er in thoroughly this time so as to ensure that she would never get a chance to make a comeback.
“Sister Xun-er, don’t you think that a bet should go both ways? If I’m going to be punished severely for losing the duel, it’s only fair for the same to happen to you,” Qi Ling-er replied.
“I’m not the one who came back from Twilight City without permission, disobeying the commands of the clan head. Even if I lose, it just means that I’m lacking practice. Why should I be punished if I lose?” Qi Xun-er harrumphed. “Besides, do you honestly think that you can defeat me with your caliber?”
Seeing how Qi Xun-er was not falling for her provocations, Qi Ling-er shrugged and said, “Don’t you think it’s a little disproportionate for you to suggest kicking me out of the Qi Clan if I fail a test of talent? I can’t help but think that you have some personal grudge. If this is not a bet, am I to take it that you are trying to make a judgement on the clan head’s behalf?”
“Audacious!” Qi Xun-er’s face immediately flushed at that accusation.
She was just about to lash out at Qi Ling-er for bringing up such a ridiculous notion when the clan head suddenly interjected. “Enough! One’s ability to comprehend battle techniques is indeed a gauge of one’s talent. Since neither of you object to it, we’ll go ahead with that.”
God Kings had a lifespan of over ten thousand years, so they had plenty of time.
Even though he only appeared to be a generation older than Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er, the truth was that there were many generations between them, such that he did not feel much sentiments toward them.
From his perspective, he did not think that Qi Ling-er’s words were very credible. However, since the latter was determined to prove herself, there was no reason he should stop her from doing so. He simply viewed it as a momentary break from work.
If Qi Ling-er was able to raise her talent, it would be a blessing for the Qi Clan. It was not as if he had anything to lose anyway.
Right after saying those words, he flicked his wrist and tossed a book over.
“This is a battle technique that I have created. I have never shown it to anyone before, so you can be assured that this test is absolutely fair.”
Then, with a snap of his finger, an stick of incense placed by the side of the room lit up, and a slight fragrance wafted around the room.
“The two of you have an hour each. Begin.”
Right after those words were spoken, the book floating in the air began flipping on its own.
Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er quickly turned their sights over and focused deeply on the books.
The book was being flipped at a rapid pace, but as powerful cultivators, they were able to process the content of the book without too much trouble. In less than three minutes, they had already finished looking through and remembering the content of the book.
Hu! Hu!
The two of them sat down and began interpreting the secrets of the battle technique.
By the side, Zhang Xuan quietly shot a glance at the book as well.
Hu!
The Library of Heaven’s Path jolted, and a new book was compiled within it.
He quickly flipped through the content before shaking his head in disapproval.
There are so many mistakes in here!
Through the Library of Heaven’s Path, he could tell that the battle technique was riddled with errors. There were almost a hundred of them inside it!
He had expected a technique created personally by a God King to be close to perfection, but right now, it was a long stretch to even call it a decent battle technique!
A thought suddenly arose in Zhang Xuan’s mind.
Did he intentionally make it this way so as to challenge them? The technique seems to be flawed in a manner that makes it incredibly unnatural and awkward to grasp…
Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er were competing to prove their talent. If one of them was able to interpret and make sense out of this flawed battle technique, that would really be concrete proof to her talent.
This sparked Zhang Xuan’s curiosity to take a closer look at the battle technique, but the sheer number of issues in it made him feel nauseated. So, he was left with no choice but to quickly clear his mind of it.
Just looking at it was enough to make him feel queasy inside!
He was simply spoilt by the Heaven’s Path Divine Art and the other perfect techniques from the Library of Heaven’s Path.
Forget it…
With a deep sigh, Zhang Xuan gathered the books around the Library of Heaven’s Path and compiled them together in order to rid the errors in the battle technique.
As this was a test for Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er, the middle-aged man could not take out something that was too advanced. It just so happened that he had gathered a huge collection of books from the Master Teacher Pavilion not too long ago, so it was not difficult for him to correct the errors.
He quickly looked at the battle technique once more and drove his celestial energy in accordance with it. Soon enough, he had already mastered it.
This is too simple.
Could this even be considered a test?
It was child’s play!
He turned his gaze toward Qi Ling-er to see how she was faring, only to see sweat dripping down the latter’s head. It felt like she was having difficulties interpreting certain parts of the battle technique, resulting in her inability to practice it.
I see… Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.
From the very start, the middle-aged man had never intended for Qi Ling-er and Qi Xun-er to cultivate the technique as it was. He wanted them to adapt the battle technique into something that was suited for their own need!
Only someone who could go beyond memorizing to integrate his web of knowledge together would be able to climb higher as a cultivator. Only such a person would be worthy of being called a genius!
As expected of someone who had lived for millenniums. He had a lot of ideas in his mind.
…
Why? Why isn’t this working? Why is nothing working at all? Is my talent really that bad?
If it’s a technique created by the clan head, he must have tested it rigorously. There’s no way it can’t be cultivated. There must be a way out of this. I must have interpreted it incorrectly somewhere.
The faces of the two ladies were scrunched tightly in frustration and anxiety.
There was simply too much at stake! Neither of them wanted to lose!
But for some reason, no matter how they examined the cultivation technique, there were simply some parts that would not connect. They were unable to construct a feasible system out of the entire battle technique, and this really baffled them. How were they supposed to cultivate something that felt so… incomplete?
Time flew by, and it looked as if an hour was going to pass very soon. Yet, the two of them were still completely lost. It felt like they were not fated with this battle technique.
“What a pity!” the middle-aged man remarked softly as he looked at the performance of the two ladies before him.
Just as Zhang Xuan had guessed, he had intentionally filled the battle technique with a lot of errors such that it was impossible to master without some modifications. Of course, he had also made sure to conceal the errors well so that normal cultivators would not be able to notice them easily, or else he would have been giving away the crux of the test too easily.
If one of them had been able to comprehend this logic, even if she didn’t manage to come up with anything in the end, the attitude she had toward learning would still have been a sign of her aptitude.
Those who blindly believed in books would never become anything great in the future.
The middle-aged man had intentionally mentioned that this was a battle technique that he had come up with to further exert pressure on the two of them, but they had fallen for those words and ended up cornering themselves in their thoughts.
Shaking his head in disappointment, he was just about to end the test prematurely when something caught his eye. With raised eyebrows, he turned his attention to Qi Xun-er.
Her previously scrunched face had relaxed considerably, and a smile emerged on her lips. It appeared as if she had finally managed to make sense out of the situation.
“It seems like Xun-er is still a notch above Ling-er,” the middle-aged man noted with a nod.
As someone who could persevere in the Lucid Lunar Lake for more than an hour, Qi Xun-er was indubitably a genius. This duel only served to further drive in that fact.
Noticing the same change, Zhang Xuan frowned. At this rate, Qi Ling-er will lose…
It was clear that Qi Ling-er was still stuck, and time was swiftly running out. If she still could not comprehend the crux of the test, she was doomed to lose.
If she loses, I won’t get a chance to see the Lucid Lunar Lake. I might even be implicated as well…
Even though he had already made a breakthrough to the Celestial God realm, from the instant he met the middle-aged man, he knew that it would be futile for him to attempt to barge into the Lucid Lunar Lake forcefully.
A God King was far beyond what he could currently deal with. Even if he could somehow amplify his strength tenfold on the spot, he would be no match for the middle-aged man.
But he could not help Qi Ling-er so explicitly either.
They were under the watchful eye of a God King, and even if he used zhenqi telepathy to communicate with her, the middle-aged man would surely notice it right away and disqualify her.
That being said, given Qi Ling-er’s personality, she wouldn’t have put herself in a dangerous position if she wasn’t confident of victory. It’s weird how she ended up placing herself in such a bad position so easily.
Qi Ling-er was a person who knew the value of preparation and planning. She was extremely thorough in whatever she did, and that could be seen from how she dealt with the sales of the Beauty Pill.
In fact, she was the one who had proposed the duel. How did she end up landing in such a position?
Perplexed, he took a closer look at Qi Ling-er, but he was not able to find anything amiss about her. She was earnestly struggling with the battle technique.
Then, he turned his sights to Qi Xun-er and willed, Flaws!
A book materialized in his head.
As Qi Xun-er was in the midst of practicing a battle technique, he could easily compile a book on her.
Zhang Xuan flipped open the book and looked through the contents.
This…
After looking through the details of the book, his forehead slowly scrunched up.
Qi Ling-er’s evaluation of Qi Xun-er’s ability was not wrong—the latter did not manage to figure out the true intention of the middle-aged man either!
What she failed to calculate was the possibility of Qi Xun-er getting external help.
It was understandable though, given that it would indeed be hard to deceive the discerning eyes of a God King, but Qi Xun-er had managed to do it.
It was through her external helper that she was able to practice the battle technique, and most likely, the external helper was none other than the famed genius that Qi Ling-er had talked about, Qi Yue!
Only a person of his caliber would be able to see through the problems of the battle technique, modify them, and impart it to another person in a way that the latter could understand.
They sure know how to work around things!
Qi Xun-er and Qi Yue had prepared beforehand in order to ensure that the middle-aged man would not notice their cheating, and to be honest, if Zhang Xuan had not used the Library of Heaven’s Path, their actions would likely have escaped his notice.
That being said, what they did was actually very simple.
Qi Yue had tamed a particularly small bug and placed it inside Qi Xun-er’s body.
The bug allowed him to communicate directly with Qi Xun-er’s soul, making it hard for a God King to notice unless he observed closely.
Through controlling the movement of the worm in her body, Qi Xun-er would be able to drive her celestial energy in accordance with the movements of the worm and eventually master the battle technique!
