[Among these ten ordinary-grade Great Rejuvenation Pills, nine are laced with fire poison. Within the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, if you can pick out the one that's clean—then I'll consider you cleared of guilt.]
Xiao Yifeng swept his gaze across the pills.
Low-quality waste pills with fire poison often revealed blackened spots on the surface, but from visual inspection alone—none of these showed any abnormalities.
Then it hit him.
This was a trap.
This so-called "test" was deliberately set by the mysterious expert behind Li Qingran.
These pills had undoubtedly been meticulously disguised, beyond the ability of ordinary cultivators to detect.
But was he ordinary?
A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Xiao Yifeng's mouth.
He possessed an Innate Yimu (乙木) Spirit Root, one of the most ideal constitutions for an alchemist.
His natural sensitivity to spiritual herbs was unrivaled.
For some low-tier pills, he could identify the ingredients with nothing more than a sniff—
And that same sensitivity made him highly attuned to pill toxins.
His taste buds were even sharper than his sense of smell.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say: what even Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't detect, he could.
So he lifted his gaze and said evenly:
"Senior, if I can detect the fire poison, what then?"
He didn't answer right away, choosing instead to look straight toward the void behind Li Qingran—firm, calm, and without a trace of fear.
Today, he would stand tall—for Yun Zimo, for Zhang Hanxiao, and most importantly, for Junior Sister Mu Baishuang.
He'd defend the honor of Chixiao Peak!
[If you pass, I will no longer pursue the matter of Qingran.]
Xiao Yifeng wanted to question just what relationship this old freak had with Li Qingran—
How dare he use a phrase like "no longer pursue"?
But reason got the better of him.
He bowed respectfully, the edge of challenge still gleaming in his eyes.
"Senior, if I manage to detect the poison, then I request that you personally treat my Third and Fourth Junior Brothers, and petition Sect Master Wu to revoke the punishment on my Third Brother. Would you agree to this?"
Wu Duantian's face twitched.
This brat had guts—daring to bargain with a mysterious elder whose power was still unknown?
Had he eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall?
Meanwhile, Elder Qingxuan stroked his beard with pride.
He never believed Xiao Yifeng had fed poison to Li Qingran, and right now—his disciple was making him proud.
This was the kind of disciple Qingxuan Daoist raised!
Back on Earth, Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes at the prompt glowing on his phone.
A probability reading appeared next to Xiao Yifeng's name:
Chance of Correct Selection: 0%
He let out a low chuckle.
"This guy's really looking to die, huh?"
Still, if that's how he wanted it… fine.
Chen Huaian tapped the voice transmission talisman:
"Sure, no problem. In fact—I'll give you three chances. If you fail all three…"
"Then you'll eat all ten pills."
---
On the plaza of Qingyun Sect, everyone waited with bated breath for the mysterious senior's response from the void.
Xiao Yifeng, despite his bold demeanor, was sweating buckets on the inside.
He could only pray that the old monster wouldn't stoop to retaliate against a junior for a moment of arrogance.
After all, his previous words had been dangerously disrespectful.
[Agreed.]
The voice drifted down from the heavens—calm, emotionless:
[Three chances. Fail them all… and you'll consume every last one.]
Xiao Yifeng let out a subtle sigh of relief, then flashed a confident smile.
"Senior is gracious. I shall uphold my end as well."
With that, he strode confidently toward the jade boxes.
---
At first, he simply sniffed each of the ten pills.
But the deeper he got, the more serious his expression became.
From smell alone, the ten pills were completely identical.
The consistency was flawless—in cooking time, composition, quantity of herbs, even the age of the ingredients.
It was as if…
These pills had been perfectly cloned.
Wait… was that even possible?
What level of pill refinement could achieve this?
A cold chill spread through Xiao Yifeng's chest.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
---
"Elder Qingxuan… do you think he'll pass?"
Wu Duantian leaned in quietly. He didn't know much about pillcraft, but Xiao Yifeng sure looked like he knew what he was doing.
"Relax." Elder Qingxuan let out a faint snort, eyes half-closed.
"Yifeng has an Innate Yimu Root. This kind of test is meaningless to him."
Wu Duantian nodded slowly. He barely remembered the details now, but back then, Xiao Yifeng had originally been slated to join his sect division—until Elder Qingxuan intercepted him midway.
He'd been mad about it for two nights straight.
Hearing Qingxuan's words, Lu Changtian finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
After all, Foundation Establishment cultivators had near-zero ability to purge poison on their own.
If Xiao Yifeng failed and had to eat all nine toxic pills, even if he didn't die on the spot, he'd be crippled without long-term healing.
"That old freak… truly vicious."
Lu Changtian sneered inwardly, glaring at the void behind Li Qingran.
"With someone like that backing her, even if Li Qingran becomes strong one day, she'll be no different from a demonic cultivator."
Behind him, Mu Baishuang rolled her eyes but kept silent.
Clearly, they had no idea what a real demonic cultivator looked like.
A real demon wouldn't have played games like this.
They'd have made all ten pills poisonous—and watched him squirm.
---
Time ticked by.
Xiao Yifeng had stopped relying on smell.
He began licking each pill, scraping powder, slicing them open and examining the cross-sections.
The longer he worked, the paler he became.
His eyes grew more and more confused.
Then—
[Your incense time is up. Have you made your choice?]
The sudden voice made him flinch.
He swallowed hard.
His gaze swept the pills one last time…
Then settled on one with absolute certainty.
"I've chosen. It's this one."