The nine-coloured deer ran between the clouds and the moonlight. The inky hair of the woman on her back drifted through the air freely as if she was in thought. Just like that, the two of them seemed to merge into the moonlight.

  The nine-coloured deer looked back and said, “Softwood, I know you admire that kid a lot, but a Green Jade bookmark is far too precious!”
Ruan Yaozhu smiled. “Didn’t he say he was borrowing it from me?”
“Hmph, just because he’s borrowing it from you doesn’t mean he’ll return it. Even if he does return it, it’s for the sake of sucking up to you so that you can take even better care of him in the future. I’ve seen plenty of people like that before.”
Ruan Yaozhu said in surprise, “How’s that possible? He has such a great cultivation, yet he still pities a group of small beggars. Others offend him, yet he does not resort to violence. Even when he killed a tree, he felt lament and grief. On top of that, he clearly knew White Deer country was connected to me, yet he still flew into a fury, teaching that incompetent ruler a lesson at the risk of offending me or even the Myriad sect. Despite all of that, he did not kill him in the heat of the moment either. How can someone like that be a person that you speak of?”
“I’m just making a small comment, and you go lecturing again. Don’t you find yourself annoying?”
Ruan Yaozhu said, “Am I wrong?”
The nine-coloured deer shook her head. “Alright, alright. Reason is always on your side, and I can never understand your thoughts with my limited capacity.”
Ruan Yaozhu said in thought, “Do you hate him? But didn’t you say he has the bloodline of the qilin? You should be liking him instead! Sigh, the qilin is the beast of paramount benevolence. No wonder he possesses benevolence like that.”
“Hmph, I just knew you’re a heartless little girl. You’ve been thinking about kicking me aside and finding a qilin as a mount all this time, haven’t you?”
Ruan Yaozhu covered her mouth and laughed. “Yeah, except he’s not a qilin, unfortunately.” She suddenly realised her words were a little strange, which made her blush slightly.

  The nine-coloured deer sank into her thoughts and said, “Strange. Apart from the aura of the qilin, he seems to have other auras, yet they don’t resemble the auras of a human either. It makes me feel a little uneasy. Sigh, if he really is a qilin, then I’d have nothing to worry about. However, he still is a human after all. Bloodlines are just bloodlines at the end of the day, while human nature is still human nature. You shouldn’t be out to harm, but you need to be wary of others, especially with those stinky men. You have no idea how many bad thoughts go through their minds. I’m only pouring some cold water on you right now, just in case you get too happy and get deceived without even realising it.”
Ruan Yaozhu smiled. “Shouldn’t you be happy when you encounter someone like that? There are far too many bad people in the world. If good people are still wary of one another, refusing to trust one another, just how sad would that be? I’m willing to trust him, even if he’ll disappoint me one day.”
The nine-coloured deer said, “I have no idea what to do with you, but I will keep an eye out on him for you. If he even dares to disappoint you, I’ll never spare him.”
“Then I’ll have to trouble you. I’m sure we’ll meet again very soon.” Ruan Yaozhu smiled as she stroked the nine-coloured deer’s neck. As if she had just remembered something terrible, she furrowed her brows. “The entrance test this time seems to be hosted by senior brother Le Tian.”
The nine-coloured deer immediately developed an interest. “Hah, it’s that old gambling addict. It’s going to be interesting now.”
Ruan Yaozhu sighed. “Yeah. The entrance test seems to be Black Water bay’s Magnetic Field mountain…”
“Oh, there! And Le Tian is in charge too! The people taking part in the test are in trouble this time. They’re going to be turned into gambling paraphernalia!”
“Turn around, Jiu’er. We’re going to Magnetic Field mountain. I want to try again to change senior brother Le Tian’s mind. The entrance test affects the future of the entire Myriad sect. How can he use it for gambling?”
“You’ve tried to change his mind ever since you’ve joined. It’s already been a thousand years now, and you’re still not giving up?”
“Whether he listens is up to him. Whether I try to change his mind is up to me.”
“Sigh, what a piece of wood, and a hollow one at that!”
The nine-coloured deer shook her head helplessly, turning around and galloping off towards the west.

  ……
Making his way through the pitch-black caves, Li Qingshan felt like he had returned to the underground caves of the World of the Nine Provinces again. The intense disruption from the magnetic field influenced the powers in his body and even the operation of the small world.

  However, he was not underground right now. Instead, he was making his way through a mountain. He could still remember what he had seen when he gazed at this mountain from above just recently.

  A great, black mountain that stretched for dozens of kilometres extended towards the ocean like a twisting dragon. There was not the slightest hint of vegetation on the mountain as if it had been forged from black iron. The remaining part of the mountain vanished into the bay, even turning the seawater black. That was why it was called Black Water bay.

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  However, the name of the mountain was not actually Magnetic Field mountain, but Black Dragon mountain.

  Magnetic Field mountain was only a term of reference, just like how mountains formed from rocks were called rock mountains and mountains that were abundant in copper ore were called copper mountains. Magnetic Field mountain also produced a certain kind of ore—magnetic ferrum. The arcane treasures and weapons forged from it possessed the ability to pierce protective energies around the body, so it was an extremely valuable kind of ore.

  However, mining the ore was not an easy task. The magnetic field would leave cultivators as feeble as mortals, and they could not even use their soul senses to search around.

  The Myriad sect clearly knew exactly how to make use of these “trainees”. The details of the test this time was to make it from one end of the mountain to the other, all while collecting as much magnetic ferrum as possible.

  They had to make it to the designated area within three days, and they would pass as long as they handed up a piece of magnetic ferrum. Afterwards, they would become a glorious “errand-runner” or “servant”.

  However, when the direct disciple called Le Tian provided them with information, it was filled with ill will.

  Back then, over a thousand people had already gathered in the clearing before the mountain. There were people of all genders, ages, and cultivations. Some had already waited there for an entire month now. The day of the test was growing closer with each day, but they never saw anyone from the Myriad sect.

  Li Qingshan suddenly raised his head. There was a flash of golden light in the sky, and it rapidly expanded.

  With a boom, sand and rocks were thrown into the air as the ground shook. A three-legged golden toad descended from above.

  Li Qingshan raised his hand to block the sand and grit. Gazing out, he met a pair of long, thin eyes, basically spilling with smiles. They almost squinted until they were two slits, such that Li Qingshan could not even see his eyes. He was not even sure whether this person was looking at him or not.

  However, Li Qingshan felt like he was paying close attention to him.

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  “I’ve made you all wait, fellows. I am in charge of the testing this time. My name is Le Tian. Remember, it’s not the ‘yue’ from music, but the ‘le’ from happiness. If you can pass this test, then you can refer to me as senior brother Le in the future.”
The man sat on top of the three-legged golden toad. He had a pair of long, thin eyes, a hooked nose, and thin lips. He wore three rings on each hand, all of various styles. He even wore a golden necklace around his neck, and he was dressed in an extremely tasteless silk gown. He was adorned with jewels, but he did not even try to make them match, so he seemed like a foolish son of a rich landlord trying to put all of his possessions on display.

  However, Li Qingshan had a feeling that Le Tian was definitely a Human Sovereign and far more dangerous than any of the fifth heavenly tribulation cultivators he had seen before, whether they were Si Long, Ruan Yaozhu, or that sovereign Li from the Hungry Ghost realm.

  But this is clearly the first time we’ve met, so why is he paying so much attention to me? Have I given myself away, or am I just deluding myself?

  “Croak!”
The three-legged golden toad opened its mouth and let out a thunderous cry, almost bursting everyone’s eardrums.

  Le Tian said with a smile, “Alright, please hand over your bookmarks, everyone who’s taking part in the test. If anyone has any gold to feed my darling, I’ll thank you too.”
The cultivators all gathered over, tossing the bookmarks into the golden toad’s mouth. The Black Wood bookmarks were the most plentiful, amounting to almost a thousand. There were over a hundred Yellow Bronze bookmarks and over twenty White Silver bookmarks. The Green Jade bookmarks were the fewest, amounting to just a few.

  Every single person who went up to hand in their bookmark garnered everyone’s gazes, but Li Qingshan felt like someone was spying on him. Ever since he arrived in the Human realm, he seemed to always have that feeling, which was absolutely horrible. Once he entered the Myriad sect, he would definitely find the way into Ruin’s End quickly and increase his cultivation at the same time.

  There were clearly quite a few wealthy people among the cultivators. Many of them actually took out a vast amount of gold from their sumeru rings to feed to the golden toad. Le Tian smiled and thanked them all, which left them flattered. Towards the end, everyone would offer a bit of gold, regardless of how much it was. Those without any would even borrow some from the people around them.

  However, to Li Qingshan, this guy had just been smiling from beginning to end. He submitted his Green Jade bookmark and wanted to leave.

  Le Tian suddenly asked, “Hey kid, you don’t have any gold?”
“Sorry about that. I don’t.”
Li Qingshan smiled gently and amiably, such that he seemed completely innocent. He was certain he was in someone’s crosshairs now, but the reason left him wondering. He could only say that since there were strangely good people like Ruan Yaozhu, there would be many strangely bad people too, and the latter would often completely exceed the former in numbers.