Xu Yi did not dwell on it for too long. Even if the great power was from her own era, she was still a cultivator at the Out of Body stage and should learn humbly.
Her fingers danced, and she quickly completed the questions on the stone slab.
The stone slab did not disappear but twisted and transformed. In the next moment, a new page of questions appeared.
Xu Yi's expression became slightly solemn, and she quickly inscribed the answers to the questions with her spiritual power.
As a result, the questions on the stone slab became increasingly profound and tricky, and Xu Yi's speed in answering them slowed down.
Sometimes, a single question would require one or two hours of thought. She was completely immersed in answering the questions, completely ignoring the three people behind her.
As for Long Haotian and the other two, their initial surprise gradually turned into numbness, and finally into expressionless faces.
If at first they could still understand the questions on the slab, by the later stages, they would feel dizzy just by looking at them.
For example, one question asked about the properties of a refining material made by merging Millennium Stone Ice Flower and Rock Burst Spider silk, plus Molten Iron Sand and Cold Crystal Mud, and what type of magical artifact it could be used to craft.
Long Haotian watched for a while, then simply gave up and closed his eyes to rest.
It was not until three days later that Xu Yi's voice woke them.
The three exchanged glances and awkwardly realized that they had all entered a state of meditation while Xu Yi was answering questions.
If Xu Yi had any malicious intentions towards them, the three of them would already be lying on the ground.
"Cough, cough." Long Haotian coughed lightly with some discomfort.
Xu Yi looked at him strangely, "I said you can go in now."
Long Haotian and the other two's eyes lit up, and they looked up.
As expected, the previously tightly shut secret realm gate had cracked open, and dazzling white light shot out from the middle.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Xu, for this. My previous promise will not change."
Long Haotian's good impression of Xu Yi increased again at this moment.
A person as young and strong as Xu Yi would earn respect wherever she went.
Xu Yi nodded perfunctorily, offering no comment on Long Haotian's words.
Long Haotian still believed that they were the dominant party in the team.
But he had never considered whether Xu Yi would give him a chance to break his promise once they entered the secret realm.
Long Haotian took a deep breath, walked to the door, and pushed it open. The dazzling light instantly illuminated the entire stone cave.
Xu Yi's eyes were stung by the light, and she instinctively closed them. When she opened them again, she found herself in a spacious room.
Xu Yi raised an eyebrow, pushed open the door, and walked out. After taking two steps, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her path.
Just as Xu Yi was about to flick out her disciplinary ruler, she suddenly stopped, carefully observing the human-shaped puppet in front of her, which looked identical to a human but had no life force, her eyes filled with amazement.
The puppet wore a simple short robe, nodded stiffly at Xu Yi, then turned and walked in another direction.
Xu Yi pondered for a moment, then followed, observing the surrounding environment.
The layout here was not much different from the most common courtyards outside the Nine Provinces Continent, with pavilions, towers, carved beams, and painted pillars.
Passing through a corridor, the puppet led her into a... refining room?
Xu Yi looked at the huge refining platform in the center of the refining room, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.
She seemed to guess what would happen next.
As expected, when she stood behind the refining platform, the puppet handed her a storage bag containing all the materials needed for one of the questions she had answered on the stone slab.
The puppet looked at her, then at the refining platform, walked to a corner, sat down cross-legged, and stared at her, as if supervising her.
Xu Yi was somewhat curious if the puppet could understand her operations.
While pondering, she channeled her palm's spiritual fire into the refining platform.
As she put the first refining material into the refining platform, Xu Yi couldn't help but think of the three people from Xuan Qing Sect, wondering if they had encountered a situation similar to hers.
How would they, who knew nothing about refining, deal with the puppets? It would be quite interesting.
With a sense of regret, Xu Yi immersed herself in refining.
As she had expected, Long Haotian and the other two encountered the same situation.
They were led to the refining room by the puppets, and they looked at the refining platform with blank expressions.
After the puppets handed them the storage bags, they held the storage bags with no idea where to begin.
Chen Tao was the most impatient and least composed among the three.
He did not know how to refine, and even if forced, he would not be able to. He directly told the puppet shamelessly, "I don't know how to refine."
The puppet tilted its head and looked directly at him, as if considering the meaning of his words.
After a period of stalemate, the puppet suddenly reached out and pointed at the refining platform.
Chen Tao repeatedly shook his head and said loudly, "I don't know, can you hear me? I don't know, I don't know how to refine, let me go."
Chen Tao did not want to entangle with the puppet and only wanted to quickly reunite with Senior Brother Long. His eyes kept looking outside the door, and he did not notice the fleeting glow in the puppet's eyes.
"Ah!"
Chen Tao cried out in pain, looked down at the arm that had grabbed him, and struggled forcefully.
However, that arm seemed to be attached to his arm. No matter how hard he tried, he could not break free. He could only be dragged by the puppet to an unknown place with tears and a miserable expression.
"Where are you taking me!"
"Let go! I can walk by myself!"
"Hey! Are you listening to me!"
Chen Tao's voice gradually weakened as he was pulled away.
...
"Senior Brother Long."
"Junior Brother Wang."
Three days later, as Long Haotian and Wang Yi'an were passively slacking off, the puppets, just like they had treated Chen Tao, grabbed them and dragged them to another place.
Both of them had tried to resist, but ultimately to no avail.
On the way, the two senior and junior brothers met, their faces wearing identical wry smiles.
Long Haotian, while being dragged, said to Wang Yi'an, "I wonder where these two puppets are taking us?"
Wang Yi'an was silent for a moment, then said, "Perhaps they will send us to reunite with Junior Brother Chen."
Wang Yi'an knew Chen Tao's temperament well. The latter would certainly not persevere to the end like him and Senior Brother Long, so it was highly likely that he had already been sent away before them.
If they went now, they could meet Chen Tao.
"Junior Brother Wang's words are reasonable." Long Haotian agreed wholeheartedly.
Thinking that Chen Tao might have already scouted the path for them, Long Haotian felt reassured, but a vague sense of unease lingered in his heart.
When he finally saw Chen Tao, he finally understood the source of this unease.
"Senior Brother Long, you're finally here."
Long Haotian stiffly turned his neck and asked Wang Yi'an with disbelief, "Is this Chen Tao?"
Before Wang Yi'an could answer, Chen Tao wiped the black soot from his face with his hand, grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said sadly, "Senior Brother Long, it's me, I am Chen Tao."
Long Haotian closed his eyes, calmed himself down, stomped his feet, and shot off towards the exit like an arrow released from a bow, his lips tightened.
Asking him, a dignified disciple of Xuan Qing Sect, to mine?
Impossible!
Half an incense stick later.
Chen Tao, holding a mining pickaxe, imparted his mining experience accumulated over the past two days to the dust-covered Long Haotian and Wang Yi'an.
The three disciples of Xuan Qing Sect began their mining endeavor.