The huge three-legged golden toad sat on the beach, glistening under the sunlight and immediately drawing over everyone’s attention.

  Li Qingshan opened his eyes wide and saw a familiar figure, the “princess emeritus” sitting sideways on the nine-coloured deer’s back. She looked back at him and nodded with a smile. She seemed to be in a very good mood.

  Don’t tell me she’s specially come for me? Sure enough, my charms are irresistible!

  Li Qingshan thought in a very narcissistic manner. He recalled the feeling of being watched and quickly reflected on everything he had done in Magnetic Field mountain. He felt like he had not done anything tyrannical that completely defied standard morals, which gave him some relief. He had been praised as a good person by her after all. Even for him, he refused to let down those who had a good impression of him.

  Apart from her and Le Tian, there were three other men he was unfamiliar with. Looking at their demeanor, they must have all been Human Sovereign direct disciples too. He did not understand how a measly entrance test had managed to draw over so many “important figures”. On top of that, their gazes were basically all gathered on him. That definitely was not a false impression.

  Su Tong’s eyes were filled with surprise as she looked at him. She thought, Don’t tell me these direct disciples have all come for him? She could not help but pull a little further away from him, slowing her steps.

  This was a huge misunderstanding. Li Qingshan had been the central figure to both gambles, and he had also won much appreciation from the direct disciples with his extraordinary performance, so the gazes of the gamblers obviously seemed to be deep with other intentions.

  With Li Qingshan in the lead, the group of people winded over to the beach, arriving before the three-legged golden toad again.

  “Congratulations on passing the entrance test and becoming members of our Myriad sect, everyone!” Le Tian stood high up on the three-legged golden toad’s back and spread his arms with a smile. “Now, please place the magnetic ferrum you’ve collected in the three-legged golden toad’s mouth.”
With a thunderous croak, the toad opened its mouth.

  Li Qingshan made his way over first, tipping all three baskets of magnetic ferrum into the three-legged golden toad’s mouth.

  Su Tong followed close behind, only to see Li Qingshan place down his baskets, approach the direct disciples, and ask, “Why have you come?” Her heart could not help but jerk, becoming even more certain in her speculation. If it were not for the fact that he knew people in the Myriad sect, how could he treat them like that? They were all Human Sovereigns that had undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation after all!

  Unbeknownst to her, Li Qingshan’s personality was just like that. Even when he faced Demon God Qiongqi, he refused to bow down and submit.

  The direct disciples were not surprised by this. Regardless of whether this kid was good or wicked, he definitely was not a coward. In particular, the appreciation in Ren Aoyou’s eyes became a little heavier.

  “I was a little worried about you.”
Ruan Yaozhu smiled. Her tone was natural and mild, yet also seemingly slightly shy. She had not expected him to directly walk over and talk with her either.

  Li Qingshan was touched. Even with all the difficulties in the world and all the wicked people scattered around, there would always be people like her with a heart of gold. He said earnestly, “Thank you!”
Ruan Yaozhu shook her head gently. “I just came to take a look.”
It was completely impossible to tell that this was a conversation between cultivators that differed by two major realms. Instead, it was exactly because they felt like equals that Li Qingshan felt particularly touched. He thought, Perhaps someone like her should practise the Qilin’s Conventions of Longevity instead.

  “I’ll pay you back once I get my bookmarks!”
The nine-coloured deer felt extremely complacent inside. She could not help herself anymore, saying with great generosity, “No need, kid. You can just treat the Green Jade bookmark as a gift from us.” Now, she found Li Qingshan particularly pleasing to the eye too. They had made a fortune with that gamble. As for a single Green Jade bookmark, that was just cheap change now, not enough to garner her interest.

  Ruan Yaozhu patted the nine-coloured deer and grumbled, “Jiu’er.”
“No, I’ll definitely return it.” Li Qingshan looked towards Le Tian. “Senior brother Le Tian, may I ask when I can collect my bookmarks?”
“Since it’s a debt you owe to junior sister Ruan, I’ll pay you right now.”
Le Tian calculated the sum and took out three Green Jade bookmarks, seven White Silver bookmarks, and a pile of Yellow Bronze and Black Wood bookmarks.

  “Just three?” Li Qingshan said in surprise.

  He had truly worked his ass off inside Magnetic Field mountain to collect all that magnetic ferrum, only to get two Green Jade bookmarks in the end. That was just a little far too little. Surely Le Tian was not ripping him off?

  Le Tian smiled. “What were you thinking?”
Ren Aoyou said, “Kid, Green Jade bookmarks are the most precious bookmarks in the Myriad sect. Do you think it’s that easy to obtain them?”
Only now did Li Qingshan realise the value of Green Jade bookmarks. He glanced at Ruan Yaozhu deeply and thought inside, Oh no! I said I would win people over by virtue, but I didn’t even succeed a single time this time. It all fucking ended up with me fighting. Instead, I’m almost going to be won over by virtue by someone else right now.

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  Ruan Yaozhu shifted her gaze to avoid his shining eyes. She gently extended her hand. “Alright, return it then!”
Li Qingshan placed the Green Jade bookmark in her palm and said solemnly, “You are a good person.”
“Li Qingshan, where are you from?” Leng Yuan suddenly asked. He was stern, ready to judge him.

  Li Qingshan’s heart tightened. This was the last question he wanted to answer. He smiled. “A very, very distant place. May I ask for your name, fellow?”
“Leng Yuan. I’m responsible for the safety and security of the Myriad sect. Please answer the question truthfully. If you’re afraid to answer it, don’t tell me you’re hiding ulterior motives?” Leng Yuan’s gaze became even colder, like an icy abyss.

  Li Qingshan also replied sternly, “Sorry, but this is a matter of my privacy. Once I understand the rules of the Myriad sect, I will cooperate with you to the best of my ability according to the rules.”
Even the nine provinces had a treasure that could detect lies like the xiezhi’s horn, so the Human realm probably had plenty of methods for that. On top of that, lies would always come with holes, which would take even more lies in the end to patch them up. As a result, unless he had no other choice, he refused to lie.

  Leng Yuan was taken aback as if he had never expected him to decline to answer his question in such an elegant way.

  Ruan Yaozhu and Pi Yangqiu both smiled, while Ren Aoyou laughed aloud. “Leng Yuan, you’ve found an opponent this time. Kid, I admire you more and more!”
Leng Yuan said, “I have my eye on you.”
Li Qingshan nodded with a smile and stopped talking to Ruan Yaozhu, turning around and returning to the crowd. Su Tong and the other cultivators’ gazes towards him were almost filled with worship. Just how prominent and important were direct disciples after all?

  At this moment, the two brothers emerged from the mountain too. Seeing this, they immediately gave up on the thought of revenge. Instead, they were slightly worried whether Li Qingshan would hold onto a grievance against them.

  Very soon, everyone’s magnetic ferrum ended up in the mouth of the three-legged golden toad, and Le Tian announced the results of the test.

  “First place, Li Qingshan. Second place, Su Tong. Third place, Nie Xiuwu.”
Nie Xiuwu was the fair-skinned gentleman among the brothers. Originally, he had handed up exactly the same amount of magnetic ferrum as the dark-skinned fiend, but in the end, he fished out a grape-sized piece of magnetic ferrum from his sleeve and surpassed his elder brother, Nie Xiuwen, which immediately made his face darken a little more. If it were not for the presence of the direct disciples, he almost would have attacked him on the spot.

  TL: The names of the brothers is an oxymoron. The fair-skinned gentleman is called Nie Xiuwu, while the dark-skinned fiend is called Nie Xiuwen. “Wu” refers to martial might, while “wen” refers to scholarly knowledge. This disparity is often drawn during an assembly of the Chinese court, with military generals and scholarly officials, while the “ideal” Chinese leader is said to possess both characteristics, both the courage and might of a military general, as well as the wit and talent of a scholarly official. In this case, the dark-skinned fiend is supposed to be a representation of brute force (and thus might), while the fair-skinned gentleman is supposed to be a representation of scholarly elegance. However, their names contradict this.

  Pi Yangqiu said to Ren Aoyou, “What’d I say?”
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  Ren Aoyou sneered. “Did you win?”
Pi Yangqiu smiled. “At least I’ve won against you! Apart from the result, victories are very important to a gambler too.”
Everyone boarded the ship, but Li Qingshan was stopped by Le Tian. “Congratulations, junior brother Li. You’re a formal disciple right from the moment you joined.” He smiled away like an old fox staring at a plump rooster.

  Li Qingshan could clearly sense his ill intentions, so he simply spoke his mind, “Is there anything you’d like to tell me, senior brother?”
Le Tian said, “Junior brother, you really are straight to the point! I’m a person that doesn’t have a lot of interests. I just like to gamble. In particular, I’ve taken a liking to your gambling nature, so I want to have a gamle with you!”
As if they had anticipated this already, Ren Aoyou and the other two were all intrigued.

  Ruan Yaozhu furrowed her brows. “Senior brother Le!”
Le Tian said, “Junior sister, you can criticise me for turning the entrance test into a gamble, but this is a private gamble between me and junior brother Li. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
RuanYaozhu could only look at Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan could not bring himself to let her down, but he was far too curious about the details of the gamble.

  “Sigh, I’ve never been one for gambling! But since it’s senior brother Le, I ought to show some respect, don’t I? May I ask you what you would like to gamble on?”
Le Tian smiled even more widely. “You’re not far from becoming an inner disciple now, and if you take one step further, you’ll be a direct disciple. Why don’t we gamble on when you’ll become a direct disciple?”
“Oh? How long do you think I’ll take to become a direct disciple, senior brother Le?”
“That’s difficult to say. It might be very soon, or it might be never. This is where the joys lie in gambling.”