Among the ten interviewees, Lu Yang was sixth in line. He noticed that the people ahead of him rushed into the examiner's room and then sprinted back out, running back and forth several times. "What kind of strange test is this?"
Lu Yang was not one to sit still. The rules said not to ask the candidates about the interview content, but it didn’t say he couldn’t go out and take a look.
He turned to a nearby rogue cultivator who was resting with his eyes closed and asked, "Do you want to go outside and check it out?"
The rogue cultivator glanced at Lu Yang with disdain, gave a cold smile, and said nothing. There was no way the demon cultivators would act together; he must be trying to trick himself. No way, he wasn’t going.
Seeing the other person not respond, Lu Yang felt a bit sorry for him. He was quite handsome, but unfortunately, he seemed deaf. What if he couldn’t hear what the examiner said during the interview?
With no one paying attention to him, Lu Yang decided to step outside.
Outside was a bustling market, with vendors selling fruits, eggs, pork, and all sorts of common foods. Some set up stalls, while others pushed carts, calling out to customers.
"I'll take an apple." Lu Yang bought an apple, wiped it clean, and started eating while observing the other candidates’ actions.
Just then, the third person rushed out to see if anyone was selling potatoes. Upon finding a vendor, he quickly went back to report to the examiner.
In less than three minutes, the third person ran out again, asking the potato vendor how much they cost per pound and how many pounds he had.
Another three minutes passed, and it was still the third person, who came out to check the quality of the potatoes.
Then came the fourth person, who followed a similar process to the third, but he made four trips, showing he wasn’t as quick-witted.
Lu Yang munched on his apple, deep in thought.
...
"Next, Fang Hao." The chubby examiner called out.
Fang Hao was the same person Lu Yang had asked earlier if he wanted to go outside.
"Here!" To everyone's surprise, Fang Hao was not mute.
"You go check the market and see if there are any potatoes for sale." The chubby examiner used the same trick again.
Fang Hao hurried outside and took a long time to return, which puzzled the chubby examiner.
Just as the examiner was getting impatient, Fang Hao came back and said, "There are no potatoes for sale at the market."
"How many pounds of potatoes... wait, what did you say? No potatoes for sale?"
Fang Hao didn’t understand why the chubby examiner reacted so strongly. He nodded and said, "Yeah, I ran around the market twice and confirmed there are no potatoes."
"This is impossible!" The chubby examiner thought Fang Hao was lying, so he rushed outside, with Fang Hao following closely behind.
As soon as the chubby examiner stepped out, he saw Lu Yang pushing a cart of potatoes with a sign that read "Potatoes Not for Sale." The vendor, who should have been selling the potatoes, was happily counting his money nearby.
The moment Lu Yang saw the chubby examiner, he pushed the cart and ran. The examiner was furious. What would happen to the interview if the potatoes ran away?
"Stop right there!!"
Lu Yang passed the test.
...
"How outrageous!" The deputy leader of the sect was furious, releasing a strong and terrifying aura that shook the entire hall, causing ripples in the pool and obscuring the scene.
His carefully designed test had so many loopholes in front of these two troublemakers; it was an absolute humiliation!
The leader of the sect calmly stepped in to cover the deputy leader's aura. It had taken a lot of effort to build the hall in such a discreet location. If the righteous sect found out about this, it would be a laughingstock.
The leader advised, "Don’t get so angry. Right now, they’ve forgotten everything and only remember they need to find ways to pass the test. We are the Demon Sect, where we value resurrection and immortality. How can we kill someone over this?"
"Besides, these two have taken a different path; they are rare talents. The Immortal Sect has not had a major breakthrough for a long time, and I believe these two are the hope."
The deputy leader thought the Immortal Sect had no hope left.
The leader, somewhat excited, said, "Speaking of which, there’s this guy named Man Gu, along with Meng Jingzhou and Lu Yang. They are all from Yanjing County."
"I didn’t expect such talent to come out of a small place like Yanjing County. Calling them the three heroes of the Demon Sect is not an exaggeration. With these three heroes, our sect gains a great advantage!"
The deputy leader muttered to himself, "Gaining an advantage, isn’t that just a myth? Even a myth can’t defeat the righteous sect."
The leader shot him a glare. "You sound educated; now be quiet."
The deputy leader obediently fell silent.
...
Yanjing Branch.
Eleven stewards were doing their best to maintain the formation, while nearly a hundred rogue cultivators stood there in a daze, losing their minds as their thoughts took over the test for them.
Maintaining the formation was too boring. The stewards chatted while eating recovery pills. "Qin Yuanhao has been missing for so long; he’s probably dead."
"Definitely dead. Just don’t know how he died. I said before, that guy was always scheming, thinking he had everything under control. Sooner or later, he would anger his enemies and get taken out on a dark, windy night."
"They still haven’t found Qin Yuanhao’s body."
"Did his enemies kill him?"
"What else could it be? Could it be that his benefactor turned on him? There are no benefactors in our line of work."
"I heard that the night before he died, he was out having fun with Wang Dabazui at a brothel."
The stewards laughed quietly, their chuckles echoing.
Just as Qin Yuanhao hoped, Wang Dabazui spread tales about how they were invincible together, going in and out of the brothel.
Then Qin Yuanhao died.
So, rumors spread in the Yanjing Branch that Qin Yuanhao died from exhaustion.
Surely, if Qin Yuanhao knew about this in the afterlife, he could rest in peace.
"I wonder how many from this batch will pass the test."
Even though many people participated in the initiation ceremony, it was good if even one in ten could pass the test and successfully join the sect.
They had all been through similar tests to become stewards and knew the difficulty involved.
This time, with the deputy leader personally overseeing it, the difficulty was definitely among the highest!
"Only the branch leader knows the results." The eleven looked at the meditating branch leader.
The branch leader was also using the formation to enter the mysterious space built by the Immortal Sect, where all branch leaders could see how their respective branches were performing.
Lu Yang and the others were performing exceptionally well, making the branch leader smile widely, like a blooming chrysanthemum.
However, he was wearing a mask, so others couldn’t see how happy he was.
He excitedly murmured to himself, "If these three can pass smoothly and receive high praise from above, our Yanjing Branch’s year-end performance will definitely be among the best. If I work it right, I might even improve my cultivation level. Who knows, maybe next year I could be promoted to a wealthy area as a branch leader or even directly promoted to a hall master!"
After the three tests, the deputy leader or the leader would give the new sect members who performed well an evaluation. For example, Qin Yuanhao’s evaluation was "Demon Nature to the Bone."
The branch leader believed Lu Yang and the others would definitely receive a higher evaluation than Qin Yuanhao.
These three were clearly not good people!
(End of Chapter)