Faced with his master Wu Wei Daoist's concerned and questioning inquiry, Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat, but his brain operated at an unprecedented speed.
This was a crisis! But at the same time, it was an opportunity to display his cultivation in the "Dao of Stability"!
He absolutely could not let his master know that the source of the disturbance was their Lesser Peak. Otherwise, with his master's inability to keep a secret, if he let it slip, the consequences would be endless.
Before the already "enlightened" Yue Qingqian beside him could speak, Lin Fan had already taken the lead. An expression that perfectly blended terror, lingering fear, and a hint of relief instantly appeared on his face. His acting skills were so exquisite that they would put even the best actors of the mortal world to shame.
"Master! You've finally come out of seclusion! You have no idea, your disciple was scared to death a few days ago!" He rushed to his master's side, his tone carrying a perfectly pitched tremble.
The Wu Wei Daoist saw his eldest disciple's state and was immediately three-tenths convinced. He quickly asked, "What exactly happened? Tell me quickly."
Lin Fan began to describe vividly, "That day, Junior Sister and I were cultivating normally in the courtyard. Suddenly, a huge roar came from the back mountain, and the whole ground started to shake! Then, we saw a... a sky-blotting black serpent fly out from the direction of the back mountain. The pressure, the demonic aura—your disciple has never seen such a terrifying sight in his entire life!"
As he spoke, he shivered as if still shaken by the memory.
"That great serpent circled above our sect for a long time, as if looking for something. My first reaction was that we absolutely could not be discovered by it! I immediately pulled Junior Sister and hid in the tunnel we had dug, and I activated all the arrays on our peak to their maximum! We just hid inside, not daring to breathe."
"Later, it seemed the great serpent didn't find what it was looking for. It roared a few more times in the sky and then flew towards our direction. It was a close call; the serpent's head was at most only a few hundred yards from our peak! Fortunately... fortunately, it seemed to be just passing by and didn't notice our small, shabby peak at all. It just flew past and went back to the back mountain."
Lin Fan's story was nine parts truth and one part fiction, rich in detail and logically flawless. Most importantly, it perfectly matched his usual timid and cautious persona.
Yue Qingqian, at his side, was now in complete admiration of her senior brother's adaptability. She immediately understood Lin Fan's intention and quickly went forward, tugging on the Wu Wei Daoist's sleeve and adding in a tearful voice, "Yes, Master, it was so scary! If Senior Brother hadn't reacted quickly and pulled me into the tunnel, we might... we might never have seen you again! The life-saving methods Senior Brother taught me really work!"
As she spoke, she even squeezed out a few crystal-clear tears. Her pitiful appearance of being overly frightened would evoke sympathy from anyone who saw it.
The performance of the senior brother and junior sister was flawless and perfectly natural.
"Sigh..." The Wu Wei Daoist looked at his two "traumatized" disciples, and without a shred of doubt, he completely believed their story. He was both relieved and gratified.
He patted Lin Fan's shoulder and said with approval, "Fan'er, you did the right thing this time! I usually say you are too cautious, but when it comes to such major issues, being a little cautious is always good! As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!"
He then lovingly stroked Yue Qingqian's head and comforted her, "Qingqian, don't be afraid either. It's all over. With your master and senior brother here, we won't let you suffer such a fright again."
Lin Fan and Yue Qingqian exchanged a look, both seeing a silent understanding of a "plan well executed" in each other's eyes.
A crisis that could have upended the entire Sky Profound Sect was thus lightly brushed over by them.
After comforting his two disciples, the Wu Wei Daoist finally remembered the other official business for which he had come out of seclusion.
He cleared his throat, his expression turning a bit more serious. "By the way, there's one more thing to inform you about. In three months, it will be our Sky Profound Sect's decennial 'Sect Grand Competition'."
"Sect Grand Competition?" Lin Fan's heart sank. A new, ominous premonition welled up in him again.
"That's right," the Wu Wei Daoist nodded. "This competition is mainly for the new disciples who have joined in the last ten years. It's to test their cultivation progress, hone their combat skills, and more importantly, to select the truly talented for special nurturing."
He looked at Yue Qingqian, a hint of expectation in his eyes. "According to the sect's rules, each of the nine main peaks must send at least one new disciple to participate. Qingqian, as the only new disciple of our Lesser Peak in this generation, you have been automatically registered by the sect."
This news was like a bolt from the blue, striking Lin Fan hard.
The Sect Grand Competition?
What kind of place was that? It was the largest whirlpool of trouble and a karma-blender where all the geniuses, all the troublemakers, and all the hell-raisers of the entire sect gathered! Letting his ridiculously talented junior sister participate in such an event was tantamount to throwing a lit piece of charcoal into a barrel of gunpowder!
He immediately spoke up, trying to find a loophole, "Master! This is absolutely unacceptable! Junior Sister has only been here for three months. Her cultivation is still shallow, and her temperament is not yet stable. In the competition, fists and feet have no eyes. If anything were to happen to her, what would we do? Can we... can we apply to the sect to withdraw?"
"Nonsense!" the Wu Wei Daoist glared at him. "The Sect Grand Competition is a grand event of the sect with strict rules. How can you withdraw just because you want to? Besides, you can't grow a towering tree in a greenhouse. How can one become great without experiencing storms? I'm not expecting Qingqian to get a high rank. Participation is what matters. Going to see the world and experience the atmosphere will be beneficial for her future cultivation."
Seeing his master's non-negotiable expression, Lin Fan knew there was no room for discussion on this matter.
After sending off his satisfied master, Lin Fan's face in the courtyard was so gloomy that it looked like water could drip from it.
This was definitely the biggest survival crisis he had encountered since he had transmigrated! It was even more serious than the Yao King showing up at his door! Because he could deal with the Yao King with a flick of his hand, but he could not easily defy the sect's rules.
Yue Qingqian was also worried. But she wasn't worried about getting injured in the competition. She was worried that if she accidentally... won, exposed her talent, and brought endless trouble to her senior brother, then she would become the sinner of Lesser Peak!
"Senior Brother..." she walked to Lin Fan's side and asked in a small, apologetic voice, "What... what should I do?"
Lin Fan took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and in his usually lazy eyes, a light of unprecedented wisdom, as if planning a world-shaking battle, burst forth.
He looked at Yue Qingqian and said in an extremely solemn and serious tone:
"Junior Sister, things have come to this. We only have one path to take."
"From today until the start of the Sect Grand Competition, I will conduct one-on-one secret special training with you at the highest level!"
"Remember, the goal of our special training is not to win, and certainly not to get some damn ranking! Our sole objective is—how to be cleanly and tidily eliminated in the first round of the preliminaries in the fastest, most inconspicuous, and most reasonable way possible in a Sect Grand Competition full of masters!"
These words were deafening and subverted all common sense.
Yue Qingqian was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes erupted with a light of admiration even more brilliant than any time before.
As expected of Senior Brother! Even something like "how to lose a match perfectly" was considered with such foresight and thoroughness! This level of mastery was simply out of this world!