Chapter 76: Devil’s Trick

When the cultivators at the top of the mountain had almost recovered their strength, Xie Fangwei stood in front again and said calmly: "The following is the investigation of their backgrounds. The top 20 in the Qi-nourishing stage, the top 20 in the Out-of-Body stage, and the top 10 in the Qi-inducing stage will be placed in front of the three inner disciples in order. The cultivators who are ranked later can leave or wait in place. If the cultivators in front have concealed something untrue or their backgrounds do not meet the requirements of our Penglai Sect, you can fill in the order."

Then Xie Fangwei read out the names of the top 40 in the Qi-nourishing stage and the top 20 in the Qi-inducing stage. Shi Xuan ranked 17th in the Out-of-Body stage because of his poor physique, and Yu Ruoshui was 14th. Zhou Dielan was unfortunately ranked 22nd among the cultivators in the Qi-nourishing stage, just a little short of the top 20. Ming Qingyue was ranked first in the Qi-inducing stage as expected.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Haiping was ranked 29th. Although he still didn't make it into the top 20, it was much better than Shi Xuan expected. Shi Xuan thought that he would not be able to pass the test of character before. It seems that he has made some progress in making friends these days.

The one who was in charge of checking the cultivators in the Qi-nourishing stage was a cold-faced female cultivator with a beautiful face but no expression at all. Even among the many female cultivators with outstanding looks, she was the best. At least among the female cultivators Shi Xuan had seen, only Ming Qingyue could be comparable to her in terms of beauty, but unfortunately their temperaments were completely different.

The one who was in charge of checking the cultivators in the Qi-inducing stage was the inner disciple named Bai whom Shi Xuan had seen before, while the one who checked the cultivators in the Out-of-Body stage was a male cultivator named Qin.

Ming Qingyue's background was very clear to Penglai Sect. The inner disciple surnamed Bai just asked a few questions and let her pass. Then she stood behind Xie Fangwei and looked at the interrogation of the out-of-body cultivators with concern.

The first in the out-of-body stage was a teenager named Yu Wendao, with a childish and arrogant face. Shi Xuan heard the two people in front of him talking about this guy from the sea areas of overseas countries. He broke through to the out-of-body stage when he was a little over fifteen years old. He is only seventeen years old this year. He is really a top genius. Shi Xuan can't say that he is inferior. After all, he has only been practicing Taoism for more than three years. He can only secretly complain in his heart. This is considered a top genius, so what is Ming Qingyue, who is sixteen years old and in the Qi Induction Stage.

During the interrogation, the inner disciple surnamed Qin and the cold-faced female cultivator were very strict, but what made Shi Xuan feel relieved was that they only used the lie detector. After his own experiments, the supreme method in the "Baolu" can effectively deal with the lie detector. Although the success rate is not 100%, it is also 70% to 80%, which is worth the risk.

Most of the interrogation questions are "Where are you from?" "What kind of skills did you learn?" "What was your previous experience?" "Have you ever worshipped a master?" "Do you have anyone familiar in your hometown?" "Why did you come to Penglai Sect?" and so on.

Relatively speaking, the inner disciple surnamed Qin was more strict in the interrogation, and even asked questions such as "Have you ever killed anyone?" and "Why did you kill people?"

After the petite female cultivator Gu Heyun, who ranked second in the Out-of-Body Stage, and the tall man Qi Guanyu, who ranked third, passed the test successfully, the fourth black-clothed gloomy cultivator ran into trouble. When he answered about the skills he learned, he was found to be lying by the polygraph test. After that, he had to answer that he practiced the "Bone-Dissolving and Soul-Eating Great Method", which made all the cultivators gasp. This is a well-known evil method among the side door cultivators. Although it is not well-known, the effect of practicing bone-dissolving and soul-eating true qi, and the effect of the person who is infected with the bone-dissolving and soul-eating powder, leaving only a skin bag, is enough to scare people.

This black-clothed gloomy cultivator Tian Yong naturally could not pass the test and was asked to leave the peak by the cultivator surnamed Qin. This made Shi Xuan put down the other half of his heart. Even if he lied about his skills and was found out, he would be asked to leave Penglai Sect, instead of being killed on the spot or imprisoned as he imagined.

Starting from Tian Yong to Yu Ruoshui who was ranked 14th, the inner disciples surnamed Qin could not demote any more people, because these were all cultivators with roots in the Three Islands Sea Area. They were either from a famous family on a certain island, or native cultivators who were as innocent as could be, or cultivators who were branched out by disciples of the Penglai Sect, or even the children of the three major families of the sect.

This made the inner disciples surnamed Qin feel more and more guilty the more they questioned. Thinking of the promise to Meng Yuchang, if he could not let his brother enter the sect, he would not only not get any benefits, but he would also be hated by him. If he said something to Master Meng Limeng again, his life would be extremely difficult in the future.

Finally, after the cultivator ranked 15th could not answer the adventures of these years, the inner disciples surnamed Qin were only one person away from the goal. There were still seven behind, and one more person should be demoted.

Meng Yuchang was among the outer disciples of the deacons, anxiously watching the situation in the field. Even when he had been demoted two people and was only one away from his brother, his face was livid. Perhaps Junior Brother Qin had not yet discovered that the five people in front of his brother were all cultivators from other families in the sect. If there was a problem with their family background, the Penglai Sect would make other sects laugh. Therefore, the opportunity only lies with the two ranked sixteenth and seventeenth.

The inner disciple surnamed Qin secretly glanced at Meng Yuchang and was frightened by his livid face and sharp eyes. Is it really that serious? Aren’t there several more behind him? When the sixteenth Jie Wei came up, he carefully looked at the list of cultivators behind him. This look scared him. From the eighteenth to the twenty-second, there were people surnamed Yu, Yong, and even the grandson of an elder of the inner sect. He didn't dare to offend any of them. After all, even if he dared to offend, he couldn't find an excuse!

No wonder Meng Yuchang looked so ugly. It seemed that he could only choose one of the two. The inner disciple surnamed Qin looked at Jie Wei who was walking up with a fierce look, which frightened the beautiful girl with a childlike face who was always smiling and not serious. She touched her face and didn't remember offending this uncle.

The questions at the beginning went smoothly until the inner disciple surnamed Qin asked: "Have you ever worshipped a master?" Jie Wei hesitated for a few words and then answered nervously: "I worshipped a master, but she didn't allow me to say it."

The disciple surnamed Qin was refreshed. If you don't tell me the name of your master, you can go home. Even if you tell me the name of your master, you must be a ghost because of your hesitant look. Therefore, he opened his eyes wide and shouted softly: "Who did you worship? If you can't tell me, please go back."

Meng Yuchang, who was watching, also clenched his fists lightly.

Jie Wei frowned her beautiful eyebrows: "You asked others to say it. You have to bear the blame of my master."

"Hurry up and tell me. If your master dares to come to Penglai Sect, I will bear the responsibility!" The disciple surnamed Qin became anxious.

Jie Wei smiled charmingly: "Her name is Yu Linglong."

The disciple surnamed Qin, who was about to shout "Where did she come from?", suddenly came to his senses: "Yu! Yu Linglong!" He looked at the light of the polygraph in disbelief, but it didn't turn red!

Thinking back to what he had just said, and thinking of that beautiful but hot-tempered woman, the disciple surnamed Qin really wanted to die. Master Yu only needed one purple palace thunder to blow him to pieces.

Meng Yuchang let out a long sigh. He didn't expect that this was a disciple that Master Yu had taken in from outside. No one dared to demote this person. Even his great-grandfather didn't dare to face the anger of that woman.

But Meng Yuchang comforted himself, isn't there another one, Shi Xuan? I haven't heard of him at all, let Junior Brother Qin find an excuse to demote him!

The cultivators present were even more shocked than when they were talking about the "Bone Ecstasy Art" just now. Even Xie Fangwei, who had been keeping a quiet and peaceful smile, let out a soft "huh". Only the cold-faced Thunder Lord Mo Yuan continued to sit and practice without any change in expression. Who is Yu Linglong? The world's top ten Jindan masters! And ranked second, only below the Hunyuan Patriarch! But she hasn't formed a dan for fifty years! The Hunyuan Patriarch is an old-fashioned cultivator who has formed a dan for more than a hundred years. It is said that within ten years, he will break through to the Yinhun period and withdraw from the Tianji list. By then, Yu Linglong will be the first of the world's top ten Jindan masters!

Being accepted as a disciple by such a cultivator is really a great opportunity to ascend to heaven in one step. All the cultivators looked at Jie Wei with envy and jealousy, and lamented in their hearts why it was not themselves. At the same time, they looked at Mo Yuan with eager eyes. Although this person is only ranked ninth on the Tianji list, he has only formed a dan for eighteen years and has never accepted a disciple. If he is favored by him and accepted as a disciple, it would be a dream to wake up with laughter.

Shi Xuan could only shake his head and smile bitterly when he saw the reactions of these cultivators. Opportunities can be encountered but not sought. One's own cultivation is the foundation.

When Jie Weiyi walked behind Xie Fangwei with a sly smile on his face, the Qin disciple regained his sanity and turned to look at Meng Yuchang. Seeing that he was gesturing at his neck with his hands with a ferocious face, he immediately understood what he meant. No matter what excuse he made, the next one must be demoted.

Shi Xuan took a deep breath, used the supreme method of concentrating his thoughts, and slowly walked in front of the Qin disciple. Seeing that he pinched the spell and applied the lie detection technique on himself, a white light soon appeared. If he lied, the white light would turn red.

Qin disciple knew that success or failure depended on this person, so he restrained his emotions. All these years of cultivation were not for nothing. His face regained a calm expression, and his mind was also very clear, thinking about how to induce Shi Xuan to answer questions.

"Where are you from the sea or the realm of cultivation?" Qin disciple began to interrogate with the most normal question.

"The Middle Earth Realm." Shi Xuan dared not lie on this question. He would know it after checking it out, and then he explained that Qingyue also knew it.

Shi Xuan's answer also aroused a lot of amazement, but it was not envy or fear, but surprise and ridicule. The Middle Earth Realm is a famous wasteland for cultivation, and he was not led out after breaking through to the Qi Induction Stage. Naturally, he was greatly looked down upon by the cultivators who had seen the world in the cultivation world, especially those cultivators behind Shi Xuan, who whispered and laughed at him.

"What kind of skills did you practice?" It was still a conventional question.

Shi Xuan had no thoughts and said calmly: "The Return to the True Scripture." The white light was still white light, but Shi Xuan did not dare to relax.

"Oh, who taught you? Did you worship a master?" There was no problem with the skills, it seemed like an orthodox skill, and the Qin disciple began to ask two questions in a row.

Shi Xuan answered calmly: "I worshipped a master, and the Return to the True Scripture was taught by Master Xu Chengye."

"Then where did his skills come from?" The Qin disciple asked a somewhat biased question.

"I got it by chance." These were all facts, and Shi Xuan was not afraid of being asked.

"Did he tell you, or did you see it with your own eyes?" The question of the disciple surnamed Qin was even more bizarre, and even the other disciples and cultivators beside him were confused.

"My master said it." Although Shi Xuan had a bad feeling, he still answered honestly.

The disciple surnamed Qin shouted: "That means the origin of the technique is unknown! How do you know that your master's technique was not taught by an evil heretic?! How do you know if that evil heretic has a grudge against my Penglai Sect?! How do you know that you will not be used by them in the future?!" Every sentence was a heart-piercing remark. At first glance, it made some sense, but after thinking about it carefully, you realized that it was all a pretext and an unwarranted accusation.

Even if Shi Xuan was made of clay, he would still be angry. He was slandered like this and attacked Master Xu! Just as he was about to reply, the disciple surnamed Qin had already concluded: "Your skills are of unknown origin. For the sake of my Penglai Sect, please go back."

The disciple surnamed Qin was betting that, in a situation that seemed reasonable at first glance, no disciple of the Penglai Sect would stand up for a cultivator from the Middle Earth who had no relatives or friends in the sect and whose skills were indeed unknown. As for those casual cultivators who had a good relationship with Shi Xuan, they were not qualified to speak at this time!

Ming Qingyue raised her eyebrows and was about to step forward to speak for Shi Xuan. Yu Ruoshui and Zhou Dielan also looked anxious, but they were still entangled in those groundless accusations and could not find words to defend themselves. And the inner disciple surnamed Bai also frowned and wanted to speak, but thinking that he was in charge of the Qi-inducing cultivators, it was inappropriate to rashly accuse Junior Brother Qin who was in charge of the Out-of-Body cultivators, so he hesitated there.

Meng Yuchang's face showed joy and he felt relieved. Even if there were discussions in the future, the unknown origin of his skills could not be washed away. Although the unknown origin of his master's skills had little to do with whether the disciple could join the Penglai Sect, it was better to have an excuse than no excuse.