Translator: 549690339
“`
Li Xiaobai spoke honestly and straightforwardly, with a naive look on his face.
“Li Dabai? Do you know Li Xiaobai?”
The guard glanced at Li Xiaobai, a flicker of scorn and disdain flashing in his eyes.
“Never met him, I’m from a village, just arrived in Central City today.”
Li Xiaobai shook his head repeatedly, appearing as someone who had not seen much of the world; seeing this made the guard even more dismissive.
“What brings you to Central City?”
“I’m here to participate in the Three Sects’ competition, to become a hero, to win glory for our village!”
Li Xiaobai’s eyes showed determination as he spoke out loud, drawing a wave of contempt from the surrounding cultivators.
The guard was actually amused and handed the register to Li Xiaobai.
“Register here, may your hero dreams come true.”
Li Xiaobai carelessly wrote ‘Li Xiaobai is amazing’ in bold characters on it, and said with a grateful expression, “Thank you, sir. I will certainly live up to your expectations and take first place in the Array Formation Sect’s competition, to win glory for our village!”
“Off you go, off you go.”
The guard, impatient, waved his hand indifferently, gesturing for Li Xiaobai to pass.
The crowd continued to surge forward. To the bystanders, this was just another routine inspection, nothing noteworthy.
However, the head guard in charge felt something was amiss.
“This man is called Li Dabai, differing from Li Xiaobai by only one character. Could there be some deceit involved?” the leader asked.
“Rest assured, my lord, I have already inquired with the brothers at the South Gate. That Li Xiaobai’s method of sneaking into the city was very simple: he pretended to be an enemy of Li Xiaobai and then claimed he could easily beat him, thus gaining the guards’ trust and slipping through the check.”
“But now with the lord here, I believe that youngster wouldn’t dare to come and go through the city gates so freely.”
The guard said with a smile.
“Hmm, good job, quite thorough. You’ll get a reward later.”
The leader said.
“Thank you, my lord!”
…
Qi Sect, in front of the mountain gate.
Li Xiaobai plodded along with a bitter look on his face, his misfortune dissuading the disciples from any desire to question him, as no true prodigy would ever look as dispirited as he did.
Once he put on the Human Skin Mask, not only was his appearance no longer outstanding, but his aura also began to emit a vibe of decadence, not fitting at all with the prodigy who had created an uproar in the Three Sects.
The competition at the Array Formation Sect was unlike that of the other two sects.
The Array Formation Sect was famous for its Formations, and the competition involved testing the cultivators’ understanding of Formations. There were various ways to pass through a Formation: one could locate its weak points and break it, or one could find the Gate of Life and pass through.
There were a total of ten Formations, with the first three being Maze Formations, the middle three being Trap Formations, and the next three Slaughter Formations. As for the last Formation, no one knew its nature; no one had ever successfully reached that point, and aside from the Sect Master of the Array Formation Sect, no one knew what kind of Formation it was.
The trials of the Formation did not follow any particular order; cultivators who had arrived earlier were already inside attempting to solve them.
Within the foremost Maze Formation, countless figures were busy, seemingly searching for the key to the formation and a way to break it.
These were the cultivators whose understanding of Formations was mediocre at best, unable to solve even the first Formation.
There were also many cultivators outside giving pointers, as though they were appraising the Formations while exchanging methods to safely navigate them.
“`
Looking around, Li Xiaobai spotted many old acquaintances—the Three Sects’ Sect Masters, and numerous Elders were all gathered here. Clearly, they were keeping an eye on Array Formation Sect, to prevent any unexpected counterattacks from them.
It had to be said, their judgment was very accurate, yet even with their knowledge, they could not guard against his Human Skin Mask.
With the mask on, nobody would recognize him. Today, having achieved his goal three times over, he was determined to make the entire Central Province remember the name Li Xiaobai.
Amidst his thoughts, a voice reached him.
“You there, yes, you, come over for a moment.”
Li Xiaobai followed the sound and saw a young lady, with another woman standing beside her, who seemed to have a somewhat unfriendly look.
“What business might you fellow cultivators have?”
Li Xiaobai reverted to his honest and awkward demeanor and said with slight trepidation, eliciting even more disdain from the eyes of the young ladies.
“You look like you’re here to participate in the Qi Sect’s grand competition. My sister and I have already found the critical points of the first two Formations, but we need a third person to break them. Are you interested in joining us?”
The leading young lady said.
Li Xiaobai was a bit surprised; one could team up to break a Formation? Then whose ranking should it be counted for, in the end?
His first reaction was that these two young ladies wanted to trap him. He couldn’t help it; along the way, he had been tricked too often, and such a straightforward invitation seemed like a trap no matter how he looked at it.
“That means you’ll profit. Looking at your dumb and silly appearance, you probably can’t even get through the first Illusion Array, can you? Just do as we say obediently, and we guarantee you’ll make it through the first two Formations.”
The other young lady spoke with an air of impatience.
“Sister Tian Hui, let’s find someone else, shall we? This guy looks like such a loser; he might mess things up for us!”
“Little sister!”
The leading woman scolded, then turned to Li Xiaobai with an apologetic face, “My little sister is blunt but means no harm. You needn’t take it to heart. If you have plans of your own, we won’t bother you.”
“It’s nothing. Given the chance to win without effort, I would naturally be most willing. My name is Li Dabai. How may I address you young ladies?”
Li Xiaobai chuckled.
“Heh, who’s going to tell you their names? Focus on the task, and don’t ask what you shouldn’t!”
The young lady was still hostile in her tone.
“My name is Tian Hui, and this is Wanying. We apologize for any rudeness, and we hope you can forgive us.”
Tian Hui said, and the truth was she wasn’t optimistic about Li Xiaobai. However, since there was no one else around, she had no choice but to rely on him.
“That’s fine, lead the way,”
Li Xiaobai said indifferently.
“Tsk, quit pretending; you look like such a washout!”
Wanying’s eyes flashed with contempt. They were native Disciples of the Array Formation Sect, hailing from a prestigious background. Some country bumpkin dared to posture in front of them—if it weren’t for the need for a third person’s help, she would have already taught him a lesson.
Tian Hui said nothing and led the way at the front. She had the key to the Gate of Life of the Formation, and the path she took perfectly avoided the illusions within the Formation.
Li Xiaobai observed the surroundings with some amazement—it was his first time encountering an Illusion Array. The area was shrouded in gray fog, with occasional shadowy figures flitting by; anyone who touched it would be trapped in an Illusionary Realm.
However, the path Tian Hui chose avoided all the gray fog and did not fall into an Illusionary Realm.
Li Xiaobai couldn’t help but admire, “Truly skilled, taking the optimal path and avoiding any contact with the illusions. The Array Formation Sect’s grand competition indeed has hidden talents.”
“A bumpkin is just a bumpkin. Our Sister Tian Hui is an Inner Sect Disciple of Array Formation Sect and has participated in the grand competition three times. She’s very familiar with these initial Formations, and this time, she’s sure to score a good ranking!”
“You bumpkin, just follow closely and don’t wander off. The Formation can be very dangerous!”