"Are there only the two of us here?"
Xu Yi found a flimsy excuse to distract Lu Zaiye.
"Mm."
"Right, what did you encounter just now? The moment I woke up, I found myself trapped in a white space. I couldn't send any messages from there. I eventually broke through the space using a formation and escaped."
One of Xu Yi's strengths was her ability to adapt to circumstances.
Since she had decided to forget Liu Jinghong, she would not bother herself with troubles anymore.
"I encountered another me. I killed him, and then I came out," Lu Zaiye said calmly.
"Another you?" Xu Yi's tone rose. "Exactly like you? Identical in appearance, cultivation, and techniques?"
"Yes."
Lu Zaiye was not lying.
He was recounting his experience from a past trial.
After listening, Xu Yi pondered for a moment and began to analyze seriously, "It seems that everyone's situation is different. I wonder if it's random or if there's a pattern."
"I think..." Lu Zaiye had just opened his mouth when a figure suddenly popped out of the void.
"It's Xiong Zhuangzhuang! Why is he injured again!"
A look of shock flashed across Xu Yi's face, and she hurried over, expertly examining Xiong Zhuangzhuang's wounds.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang and Xu Yi appeared in the square with little time separating them.
However, his appearance was quite gruesome.
Wounds that reached the bone, bruised and swollen skin, and nearly broken arm bones.
As Xu Yi bandaged his injuries, she sighed, wondering why Xiong Zhuangzhuang's condition was always so dire every time she saw him.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang managed a weak smile, "Fellow Daoist Xu, I've troubled you again."
"Don't speak!"
Xiong Zhuangzhuang reflexively closed his mouth.
Recalling that Xu Yi had yelled at him like this last time, Xiong Zhuangzhuang inexplicably felt like laughing.
He had just parted his lips to smile when he suddenly froze. A bone-chilling killing intent enveloped him.
He felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; his blood seemed to have congealed.
Fortunately, the killing intent arrived as quickly as it left. By the time he regained control of his body, he could no longer find its source.
He wanted to ask Xu Yi, but seeing her diligently applying medicine to his wounds, he moved his lips and ultimately remained silent.
"Alright, you should rest now."
Xu Yi brushed the medicinal powder off her hands and stood up. After giving Xiong Zhuangzhuang a few instructions, she looked up and found Lu Zaiye still standing far away.
Although Lu Zaiye's expression hadn't changed from before, she just felt that he seemed to be in a bad mood.
Feeling a bit curious, she walked towards Lu Zaiye.
"What's wrong? Are you injured too?"
Xu Yi circled Lu Zaiye twice.
There were no wounds.
Lu Zaiye coldly uttered two words, "No."
"Are you angry?" Xu Yi stared at Lu Zaiye in surprise.
Lu Zaiye lowered his eyelids, "No."
"You totally are!" Xu Yi seemed to have made a significant discovery. "Your first 'no' had a downward inflection, and your second 'no' had an upward inflection. I can tell."
Lu Zaiye, who hadn't even noticed these differences himself, subconsciously asked, "Really?"
"Yes!" Xu Yi was extremely certain. She leaned closer to Lu Zaiye and whispered, "Did something else happen?"
Xu Yi was very curious about what could make Lu Zaiye, who remained unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, get angry.
Lu Zaiye didn't answer because another monstrous beast appeared.
And it was one that Xu Yi recognized.
After landing, the monkey demon cautiously rolled backward once before carefully surveying its surroundings.
"Hello there, little monkey."
Xu Yi grinned and waved at the monkey demon.
"Squeak!"
The monkey demon nearly went berserk upon seeing the two thieves, but in the end, it merely bared its teeth fiercely at Xu Yi without charging forward.
Xu Yi's smile widened.
She had noticed a dark, festering wound on the monkey demon's abdomen earlier.
Since it was injured, it naturally dared not retaliate against them.
After half a day, there were already about ten cultivators and monstrous beasts in the square.
Xu Yi surveyed the area and said to Lu Zaiye, "It's so strange. The cultivators and monstrous beasts here are all at the Nascent Soul stage. Could it be that only those with Nascent Soul cultivation are teleported here?"
"Very likely," Lu Zaiye replied.
Xu Yi's eyes lit up. "Then we can be with Shiliu and Mudan again!"
However, Lu Zaiye shook his head this time.
"Not necessarily. More than a hundred cultivators and monstrous beasts jumped down from Yangshen Qiao, and they were all at the Nascent Soul stage. But now, only a handful can stand here. This indicates that not everyone can pass the test."
This trial space had a time limit. Tomorrow was the deadline. If they couldn't pass, their only fate was death.
However, even with that said, Lu Zaiye believed that the two monstrous beasts would definitely pass the test.
This year, the two monstrous beasts had benefited greatly from following him and Xu Yi, their fur becoming glossier and their cultivation steadily improving.
If they couldn't even pass such a simple trial, they could only be called dull-witted, and their deaths would be of no consequence.
After hearing this, Xu Yi began to worry about the two monstrous beasts.
She didn't know what the consequences of failing the test would be, but seeing Xiong Zhuangzhuang's and the monkey demon's appearances, she already had an ominous feeling about this strange place.
It was more dangerous than she had imagined.
In the square, apart from Xu Yi and Lu Zaiye standing together, the other few monstrous beasts or cultivators stood separately, maintaining their own defenses.
However, there were always some audacious and wicked monstrous beasts that wanted to disrupt the situation.
A Silver Moon Howling Wolf's eyes gleamed, and it suddenly leaped up, slashing its claws towards Xiong Zhuangzhuang.
It had observed earlier that among all the living beings, this human was the most severely injured and the easiest to deal with.
Its idea was simple: by eliminating as many competitors as possible, its chances of obtaining the rare treasure would increase.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang was its first prey.
As a cultivator of the Beast Taming Sect, Xiong Zhuangzhuang had dealt with monstrous beasts for years and was extremely sensitive to their emotions.
The moment the Silver Moon Howling Wolf fixed its gaze on him, he had already sensed its malice.
Did it think he could be easily bullied because he was injured?
Xiong Zhuangzhuang sneered, tapped his storage bag, and threw out an Infernal Blast Talisman, then sent a stream of spiritual light to ignite it.
Boom!
The Infernal Blast Talisman exploded, and a large mass of flames swept towards the Silver Moon Howling Wolf.
"Wuu—"
The Silver Moon Howling Wolf dodged in panic, and in the end, with the cost of half its fur being scorched, it escaped.
It cast a sinister and hateful glance at Xiong Zhuangzhuang, then limped to a corner to lick its wounds.
Seeing this, the other monstrous beasts retracted their subtle gazes from Xiong Zhuangzhuang.
Xiong Zhuangzhuang held his head high and snorted disdainfully, but secretly felt grateful that he had met his junior sister earlier, which provided him with a defensive talisman.
However, he now wondered about the situation of his junior sister and their sect members, and if they had also been brought here.
Seeing Xiong Zhuangzhuang repel the Silver Moon Howling Wolf on his own, Xu Yi retracted the foot she had just stepped forward.
Although they were gathered together now, she didn't know what the future situation would be. It was the best outcome that Xiong Zhuangzhuang could deter those monstrous beasts on his own.
This way, even if they separated, those monstrous beasts would not dare to attack him easily.