Inner Yard, the entrance to the assembly hall.
Ye Xiaotian floated in the air, trying to make himself a head taller than the people in front of him so that he could speak with more authority.
"The Tianxuan Gate will open in the time it takes to burn one incense stick. It will open for three days. When the time is up, everybody has to get out immediately. Otherwise, nobody will be able to save you if you get lost inside."
"The interdimensional space is full of unknowns and temptations, and it's unstable, after all. Exploring it isn't something you should try to do, and you won't receive any rewards for doing so."
"Cultivate well and don't cause any trouble. Got it?" He looked at Xu Xiaoshou.
Xu Xiaoshou immediately felt dejected, thinking that he wasn't very familiar with the dean and didn't deserve such attention…
He wondered if the dean had been possessed by the spirit of Xiao Qixiu.
Mu Zixi came up beside him. She lifted her head to identify the big fat man and found that it really was her senior brother.
"You don't feel hot?" She pulled on Xu Xiaoshou's clothes. It looked like he was wearing seven layers of clothes, but judging by the feel of them in her hand, he was wearing even more layers than that.
"You don't understand..." Xu Xiaoshou shook his head and sighed.
After wiping the sweat off his forehead he continued, "You'll feel cold later."
Mu Zixi backed away a few steps. She was afraid that she might be scorched to death if she stayed too close to him.
[Despised Passive Points +1]
"What?" he thought.
"How dare you despise your senior brother?"
Xu Xiaoshou was displeased. He curled a finger and said, "Come here."
"What for?"
The little girl was quite obedient. She came over.
Xu Xiaoshou brought his nose close to her and sniffed. He immediately scrunched up his face and covered his nose in disgust.
"You smell so bad! Didn't you take a bath?"
Mu Zixi: ? ? ?
"I was locked up by our master!" she thought.
"I would've been late if I'd gone back to the spirit site and then came over!"
"And... I washed my face, okay?"
[Cursed Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1]
Xu Xiaoshou was amused. Among the people he'd met so far, only two of them, Rao Yinyin and Mu Zixi were able to continuously contribute to his Passive Points.
The former was from "flirtation" and "seduction," and the latter was due to a series of curses.
Whenever he offended the girl a certain way, Passive Points would flow his way nonstop like a flood. He'd since figured out that the way to push this girl's buttons to get Passive Points was to tell her that she smelled bad!
Xu Xiaoshou pushed Mu Zixi away. "Stay away, you dirty vampire."
Mu Zixi almost exploded with anger, but she was unable to speak with her bulging red cheeks.
"There's nothing I can do," she thought.
"I didn't take a bath!"
[Cursed Passive Points, +1, +1, +1, +1]
Zhou Tiansen approached them from behind and cautiously tapped Xu Xiaoshou's shoulder.
Xu Xiaoshou turned his head around, startled. If the guy had any more wrinkles on his face and the two dark circles around his eyes were a little darker, he could've changed his name to Elder Sang.
"What?"
Zhou Tianshen stealthily pointed at Yuan Tou, who was standing with his spear. "Look at him!"
"Yuan Tou? What's wrong?"
"He wants to kill you!"
Seeing the shock on Xu Xiaoshou's face, Zhou Tianshen figured that he hadn't wasted the last three days in vain and that the information was worthwhile.
"For sure, this guy still doesn't know he has another enemy," he thought.
"What a silly guy!"
Xu Xiaoshou was truly stunned. This big and tall...
"Did the double g pass?"
Baffled, Zhou Tiansen rubbed the back of his head.
Xu Xiaoshou shook his head, speechless.
"I've already killed a person," he thought, "And this guy came to make such a play? Why the delay..."
He didn't pay any more mind to the matter and turned his attention to the new information in his head:
[Watched Passive Points +1]
With his Sense, he noticed that the black-clad Yuan Tou was watching him and had been for quite a while. Was this guy planning to do something inside Tianxuan Gate?
"Well, I have to be on my guard and be careful, then!" he thought.
...
The stick of incense was almost out. Those present were not only the ten people who'd gotten slots to enter the Tianxuan Gate, but also many spectators, including those Inner Yard disciples who'd failed to qualify for the event.
Under the crowd's expectant gaze, Ye Xiaotian looked into the sky and saw a figure fly over from distance.
"Elder Qiao?" Xu Xiaoshou eyes immediately widened.
Wasn't this guy an elder of the Spiritual Affairs Division and a chef of roast goose? Why had such a key figure come to make such a grand appearance?
Qiao Qianzhi greeted the crowd with a smile. Without a word, he pulled out a purple array plate and tapped on the empty space.
"Buzz…"
Endless spiritual energy rolled in, making the old acacia tree outside the assembly hall give off a rustling sound. The Origin Source gathered around, making the place look like a fairyland.
A complicated arcane array pattern spread out from the empty space, and the sky-blue fog dissipated, revealing a huge black gate dozens of meters high inside the array.
The huge gate was engraved with red patterns and looked majestic. Two horns served as the door buckles. They looked like hideous beasts, and each had a golden circle in its open mouth.
The Tianxuan Gate!
Xu Xiaoshou only marveled at it for a moment before coming back to his senses. In comparison, Elder Qiao, who was able to conjure up this huge gate, obviously aroused his interest more.
He patted Mu Zixi's shoulders, but his eyes were still on Elder Qiao. "Spirit array master?"
"Wow!" The little girl grabbed her twin ponytails, a look of awe on her face.
"Really? Is Elder Qiao so powerful?"
Xu Xiaoshou: "...."
"That's my questioning tone, junior sister!" he thought.
"What the h*ll!"
Seeing the looks of astonishment on the two's faces, Zhou Tiansen wondered, "You don't know? Doesn't Elder Qiao often tinker with the array plate when he scolds people?"
"Hmm? Cursing?"
Speechless, the two turned their heads around at the same time, and six pairs of eyes met.
"I..." Zhou Tiansen reached out a hand.
He seemed to have realized something. He lowered his head, clutching his forehead in shame.
"It turns out that... you cursed me only!" he thought.
"It's insulting..."
Xu Xiaoshou was a little surprised. He'd known Elder Qiao for such a long time and had only just now found out that the old man was also a Spiritual Array Master. He'd kept this secret deeply hidden. The saying must be true: people can't be judged based on their appearances.
"Hehehe!"
The Tianxuan Gate's array was stabilized. Elder Qiao grinned and pushed the ancient, huge heavy gate open, revealing a rippling barrier.
"You can go in now!"
Everyone was eager to enter the gate. Xu Xiaoshou walked at the rear of the group.
He was still feeling a little incredulous as he looked at Elder Qiao and asked, "Are you really a Spiritual Array Master?"
Qiao Qianzhi raised an eyebrow, but he clasped Xiaoshou's shoulder and said seriously, "Don't think too much of it. This gate can be opened by anyone who has a little strength. And also, I'm not a Spiritual Array Master..."
Xu Xiaoshou was baffled for a moment, wondering if what he said was true.
Elder Qiao sighed and continued, "Spiritual Array Masters are very weak. Are you deliberately trying to insult me?
"I'm a [Grand Master]!"
"???"
Xu Xiaoshou felt his entire body go numb, but before he could figure out what was happening, he found himself thrown into the air.
"D*mn it! Let me do it myself!"
The crowd of onlookers watched with envy as the group entered the land of their dreams.
"So it turns out the Tianxuan Gate looks like this. It's not that great. I thought it would grow out of the earth and shoot straight into the clouds. To be honest... I think it looks rather ugly!"
"Yes, it's true. The palace gate in front of my house is much better looking."
"Go. Get out of here..."
Elder Qiao felt helpless while looking at these envious faces. They looked like the early summer unripe fruits: astringent and numb. Forget it, no more scolding!
He looked at Ye Xiaotian. "Should we go?"
"Let's go!"
The duo flashed, then disappeared. A few moments later, they arrived in front of a small thatched hut.
Creak!
The wooden door was pushed open, and out came the sound of arguing.
"What? You didn't warn Xu Xiaozhou? Didn't I tell you a thousand times?" It was Xiao Qixiu's exasperated voice.
"Hehe, I'm sorry. This old man forgot..."
The two walked into the cramped room with their heads lowered and closed the door behind them. The interior immediately became dim.
Elder Sang stuck his tongue out to lick the sauce on the dark-red ham and casually waved his chopsticks.
"Don't worry. That's the Tianxuan Gate, not the Spiritual Library Division. That rascal won't be able to blow the place up."
"Don't panic. It's not a big deal!"