Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Textbook Ran Away
At the very beginning, when Mo Cuidao took out the first two artifact-refining manuals and handed them to Ning Ri, the assembled elders merely watched with the attitude of people enjoying a spectacle...
Zhou Heng, who knew Ning Ri particularly well, was even gloating.
If you handed artifact-refining techniques to that brat, he would learn every last one of them!
But the longer they watched, the more something began to feel wrong...
Mo Cuidao was stern, yes, but he was not a fool.
If he were truly angry, there was no way he would keep stuffing manual after manual into Ning Ri’s hands.
Only then did they finally realize that something was off...
Why were you continuously pulling out entire, systematic sets of artifact-refining techniques like this?!
What exactly were you plotting???
Faced with the accusations, Mo Cuidao said in a deep voice, “You are mistaken, Elder Zhou!”
“It is precisely because this is a disciple trial that I must act impartially. He has not yet fulfilled the conditions for the trial to end, so I must continue honestly. The rules of this disciple trial clearly state that it only ends when the bandit dies or disappears from the trial-taker’s range of perception.”
“Now that Ning Ri has already subdued the bandit, if I do not honestly allow the bandit to hand over his manuals, what else am I supposed to do?!”
“Am I supposed to violate the sect rules? I cannot do that!”
“So this is something I must do!”
“These techniques are something I must give!”
“And besides, I truly do feel deeply ashamed.”
“He keeps mastering the techniques I am most proud of one after another. How am I supposed to face that? And now you still want to stop me? How could I possibly stop? You cannot stop me any longer...”
At that point, Mo Cuidao took a deep breath and twisted the corners of his mouth twice, forcibly pressing the curve down before he continued in a grave tone,
“Otherwise, my Dao heart will shatter.”
Dead silence fell over the crowd...
Everyone suddenly felt as though they had come to know Mo Cuidao all over again.
How could this bastard be so shameless?
After two seconds of silence—
Zhou Heng flew into a rage. “Shatter what? Ashamed of what? What kind of heaven-defying bullshit are you spouting? You were obviously holding back laughter the entire time!”
Below them, when the inner sect disciples saw the elders getting so worked up that they had started debating the Dao, they could not help looking at one another in confusion...
Then they, too, began whispering among themselves and holding their own seated discussions.
“That Ning Ri is really something. He has not even entered the sect yet, and already he has made two male elders quarrel over him. If Ning Ri really does like that Yang Yiyang fellow, then... it is over. He is a disaster in the form of a beautiful man.”
“That is understandable. Junior Brother Ning Ri really is rather handsome...”
“Senior Brother, mind your words. The overall situation has not yet been decided, so how is he already your junior brother? What does Ning Ri have to do with your Forge Sea Peak? Ning Ri is obviously joining our Joyous Union Courtyard...”
“Hahaha. Is your path of defying heaven to tell jokes until the Heavenly Dao dies laughing? Give it a rest. Your Joyous Union Courtyard is just a niche group of cultivators whom Ning Ri happens to respect. Junior Brother Ning Ri has the bearing of someone meant for the masses. He is not suited for a place as bizarre as yours.”
“You can take your heaven-defying nonsense and—”
At that moment, more than a dozen trial-takers who had not yet formally entered the sect had already finished their trials. As they listened to everyone’s discussion, their eyes went vacant.
W-What exactly was this sect doing?!
Why did it feel as though both the elders and the disciples were just fooling around?
Was it still possible to withdraw from the sect now?
Just then—
Bzz—
An invisible force swept across the entire area.
Elder Guan Yan spoke, his expression dark. “Watch Your Words!”
“What kind of behavior is this, making such a racket?!”
As that invisible force brushed over them, everyone immediately fell silent...
At the same time,
within the water curtain,
Ning Ri and the bandit had already forgotten heaven and earth alike.
Even while Mo Cuidao was debating with the other elders, he still did not forget to “sort out” the entire system of artifact refining for Ning Ri.
He kept handing over one manual after another...
He never stopped!
By now, with Mo Cuidao’s “angry” assistance, Ning Ri had already built up a complete and comprehensive system of artifact refining in his mind.
As long as he had sufficient materials, Ning Ri could now complete an entire, fully developed artifact-refining production chain, from building an artifact furnace, to selecting materials, to the actual process of artifact refining, to maintaining dharmic treasures, to refurbishing them, to melting them down and reforging them. There was also a great deal of miscellaneous knowledge, such as 【Secondhand Dharmic Treasure Recycling and Reuse】, 【Choosing Raw Material Suppliers and the Ten Major Sales Locations】, and 【A Discussion of Possible Career Changes for Artifact Refiners Who Fail in Their Later Years】...
What did it mean to go from a beginner to an artifact-refining magnate? This was it.
At the same time, as Ning Ri looked at the bandit, he seized every opportunity to learn like mad while his heart beat uneasily—
This was bad!
This bandit...
was Elder Mo Cuidao of the Defying Heaven Sect, was he not?!
Mo Cuidao was not a fool, and Ning Ri was even less of an idiot.
The moment he had first finished learning the fire-control incantation, Ning Ri had already started to suspect that something was wrong.
After watching the bandit produce one spell after another, if he still had not realized it by now, then there would have been something wrong with his brain.
How could this possibly be a real bandit?!
Since when could a mere Qi Refining bandit pull out this many techniques from a major sect?
At this moment, Ning Ri finally understood everything completely—
The “Heart Inquiry trial” probably had not truly ended in failure. It had most likely been a performance staged by the Defying Heaven Sect in order to make him believe that he had been eliminated.
A classic fake trial.
And after he left the Defying Heaven Sect, the crying girl by the road and the ferocious-looking bandit... those two stereotyped roles were probably the true trial. The person in charge of his real trial should have been Mo Cuidao.
At that thought, Ning Ri fell silent.
Most likely, the other party had also heard what he had just said—that Mo Cuidao had held him when he was little...
It really was embarrassing to accidentally fabricate an entire family connection out of nowhere...
Ning Ri continued thinking—
If his guess was correct, then the theme of this trial should have been righteous action.
As long as he saved the woman and defeated the bandit, that should have counted as passing the trial.
Then...
a new problem arose.
He had not only defeated the bandit, he had also robbed the bandit...
How was that supposed to be counted?
Did that mean he had passed, or failed?
Still, regardless of how the disciple trial turned out, Ning Ri cared more about the techniques.
Even after he had seen through the bandit’s identity, he did not expose him. Instead, he continued frantically learning artifact-refining techniques.
After all, this was artifact refining!
If you wanted to build a nuclear bomb by hand, was this not exactly what artifact refining was for?
Laziness was the driving force behind human progress, and greed was the ladder by which humanity climbed upward.
Ning Ri wanted to make progress far too badly!
Fortune was sought amid danger. Since Mo Cuidao was willing to let him learn, then he would learn until the bitter end.
Even if there was something wrong with the techniques, it did not matter. He had already figured out a new function of the panel—optimization!
And in any case, he had already swallowed down an entire set of artifact refining. If the Defying Heaven Sect still eliminated him after that, then with nowhere else to turn, he would go and see whether the Golden Stratagem Immortal Sect or the Spirit Creek Immortal Sect was accepting disciples...
For that very reason, Ning Ri simply kept repeating the same sentence to the bandit:
“I’ve already learned that one.”
“Give me another.”
He was even wondering whether the bandit might pull out a Foundation Establishment cultivation method next...
But just as he was indulging that fantasy, he suddenly discovered that the bandit had leapt to his feet and bolted, fleeing at astonishing speed. The aura that burst out from him had clearly far exceeded the Qi Refining realm.
Ning Ri: “?”
This was bad!
His textbook had run away!
The moment the bandit ran beyond Ning Ri’s sensory range, before Ning Ri could do anything at all, everything before his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a vast blank void.
It was precisely the waiting area he had entered before during the disciple trial.
Ning Ri’s expression changed, and a thought sprang into his mind—
This trial had probably ended!
The moment that thought landed, a tangled feeling of regret, emptiness, and wistful sighing instantly drove away the sense of fulfillment he had just felt while swimming through the sea of knowledge.
Regret... emptiness... sighs...
With that thought in mind, Ning Ri walked toward the exit. Blazing light instantly flooded his vision, and he could not help narrowing his eyes slightly. When they opened again, he had already returned to Kite Plaza.
Every gaze there landed on him.
Now that Ning Ri had become the most eye-catching young man in all of Kite Plaza, he neither blushed nor faltered. There was no particular emotion on his face either—only calm indifference, making him look almost cold and heartless.
He was already used to being the center of attention.
When he practiced the blade back in the village, he drew even more eyes than this.
The stage presence of an old artist was rock solid!
At the same time, Ning Ri did not feel particularly embarrassed inside, either.
Even though among the many gazes fixed on him, one of them was especially cold and hostile...
He could have figured out with his backside alone that it probably belonged to that Prince Liang, Liang Chengdao, whose identity he had borrowed.
He merely thought to himself that later, he would have to find Prince Liang and apologize sincerely, while another thought turned in his mind—
Really, what a mess this had become...
One trial later, he had somehow turned into Liang Chengdao and gained a family connection to Mo Cuidao besides.
Had not everyone socially died together at this point?
If the trial had been an illusion or something similar, they could have said so in advance.
Then he would not have dragged the bandit and Elder Mo into his Infinite Tsukuyomi.
The gray-robed Elder Guan Yan strode over and stopped in front of Ning Ri. Then he smiled gently and said, “Little Friend Ning, thank you for lending a helping hand. Please wait to one side. The results of the trial will be announced shortly.”
Ning Ri could not read Elder Guan Yan’s attitude toward him, so he merely saluted neither humbly nor arrogantly and said, “Yes. Thank you, Elder!”
He stopped guessing at the outcome of his trial. Whether good or bad, he would simply wait...
After saluting and thanking him, Ning Ri walked with steady steps toward where the other trial-takers had gathered, then dropped down beside Gao Hong.
Only Gao Hong could really be counted as an acquaintance.
In the distance, Zhou Heng and Mo Cuidao saw this and had originally intended to come over and exchange a few familiar words, but Ning Ri had walked too quickly, so they could only give up.
And when Ning Ri sat down, quite a few of the other trial-takers looked at him with fear they could barely conceal...
This man was far too terrifying.
Who in the world learned things like that?!
If the disciple trial had been elimination-based, then would they not all have been eliminated by Ning Ri?
Seated beside him, Gao Hong looked at Ning Ri with bright, admiring eyes. “Ning Ri, you were incredible!”
“You flatter me, Brother Gao.”
Ning Ri smiled, then lowered his voice and asked, “Brother Gao, how much of it did you see just now?”
Gao Hong was not stupid. He knew exactly what Ning Ri wanted to ask, so he replied in an equally low voice, “Liang Chengdao came out before I did. The two of us basically watched the whole thing.”
Hearing that, Ning Ri understood...
So this wave really had been witnessed from beginning to end.
Then he turned toward Liang Chengdao in the distance and offered him a friendly smile...
Liang Chengdao gave a cold snort and stopped looking at him.
...
The disciple trial had originally proceeded very quickly. It was only because of Ning Ri’s appearance that things had been delayed a little.
Now that Ning Ri was out, the results came very soon after.
The Defying Heaven Sect eliminated only one person!
That person, after being eliminated by the Defying Heaven Sect, had harbored resentment in his heart. After going down the mountain, he vented his anger by killing someone. Even after killing the bandit, he still felt it was not enough...
He had even planned to lay hands on the woman, and so he suffered a second elimination.
Killing the bandit had not been a problem, but trying to harm the woman meant his malicious intent had gone too far.
A person like that naturally could not be kept.
The disciple trial was not meant to test strength.
One had to know that among those participating in the trial, there were even several ordinary people who had not yet officially begun cultivating, and the bandits they encountered were likewise petty thieves that ordinary people could deal with.
What this simple disciple trial was truly meant to test was character.
As long as your moral character was even somewhat normal, you could pass.
So this disciple trial had nothing to do with Dao heart, wisdom, combat skill, or any of that other messy nonsense. It was simply a very basic test.
The trial itself was basic, but the trial-takers were not.
They had not expected there to be one vicious brute among them, and they had expected even less that there would also be a Ning Ri.
Ning Ri had forced the bandit to hand over manuals, and forced the rescued woman to hand over manuals too. That was one thing. But then he learned them on the spot. And learning them on the spot was one thing too, yet he still had to say that he had already learned them and force the other party to hand over more...
Because of this, even though there had been one beast among the trial-takers, everyone’s attention still could not help concentrating on Ning Ri...
...
At the same time,
the elders were discussing among themselves as well:
“Strictly speaking, the trial-takers this time were still relatively normal.”
“Ning Ri counts as normal too?”
“Of course he does.”
“Ning Ri’s methods are formidable. He is quick-witted and intelligent. While knowing how to protect himself, he also understands what matters most to him. That cannot be called abnormal.”
“Exactly.”
Then someone raised an objection. “There was already a little beast who killed people to vent his rage, and you still call that normal?”