The Top Efficiency Cultivator

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Senior Sister’s Twenty-Third Lesson

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[Wood River… Passed the 1222nd floor trial of Zhenchuan!]

[Read 100,000 volumes: Took 289 days.]

[Liu Shan, Xu Shanyun… Passed the 307th floor trial!]

[Chinese zodiac: Took 93 days.]

In the Zhenchuan trials, the first group of disciples to complete it refreshed the Zhenchuan records one after another.

The red leaderboard appeared in the air above the Zhenchuan River again and again.

All of this felt like the last straw that broke Meng Zi’s tense nerves.

Everyone had progressed so many levels!

More and more new layer masters were born.

The spirit stones left for him were getting scarcer!

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He broke through the illusion formation, angrily pushing aside the disciples blocking his way.

“Lin Shuang, Huangfu Senior Brother—”

“I’m here!”

Meng Zi was anxious and worried that the Qi Condensation-stage Lin Shuang and the ailing Senior Brother Huang fuyuan couldn’t hold on much longer.

But when he rushed to the cliffside stone bridge leading to the 841st floor, he abruptly stopped.

He saw Lin Shuang, the Qi Condensation-stage disciple, in her undamaged blue robe, looking refreshed and energetic.

As for the frail Huangfu Senior Brother, his face was slightly pale, but he looked no different from his usual self.

“???”

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“Where are Chen Sheng and the others?”

Lin Shuang’s eyelashes twitched slightly.

She was about to speak when suddenly, a vivid red blood sword sprayed out from the side of Huangfu Yuan’s pale lips.

“Cough—” Huangfu Yuan swayed, almost collapsing.

Meng Zi momentarily forgot his question, his eyes widening in alarm. “Huangfu Senior Brother!”

Lin Shuang was shaken and took three steps back.

She had almost failed to dodge this sudden blood sword.

He coughed up blood even faster than she had faked fainting in front of Senior Brother Xu Rui.

She looked at the black eyelash shadow that had fallen on Huangfu Yuan’s transparently handsome face. He seemed like he would fall with the slightest breeze.

“Did Chen Sheng and the others injure you?” Meng Zi was furious. “These two scoundrels…”

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He was about to continue, but Huangfu Yuan’s figure swayed violently, his eyes closing, and Meng Zi panicked.

“Huangfu Senior Brother, where are your pills?”

Lin Shuang opened her mouth.

First, he coughed up blood, then he felt dizzy, and now he had fallen.

She had learned how to deal with these waves of events.

Meng Zi took the jade bottle that Huangfu Yuan tremblingly took out from his sleeve and, seeing him make a three-fingered gesture with difficulty, hurriedly poured out three pea-sized pills for him to take.

“Damn it, this Chen Sheng guy, seeing the consequences of his actions, he’s run off without a trace!” Meng Zi grumbled.

Lin Shuang: …

Poor scapegoat Chen Sheng.

She looked at Huangfu Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged with closed phoenix-like eyes, and saw that his face was pale, and his black eyelashes were trembling weakly.

The robes that had just been neat were now covered in large bloodstains.

His dantian, which had just reached the first level of Foundation Establishment, was forcibly pushed back to the level of a beginner Foundation Establishment.

It was too real.

It was simply pitiable.

Huangfu Yuan blinked his black eyelashes and, with great effort, opened his eyes, revealing a weak, powerless smile towards her.

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Lin Shuang: …

She also lowered her head, returning with a weak smile befitting an outer sect disciple who had reached the Qi Condensation stage.

Huangfu Yuan’s bloodstained index finger twitched.

*

“The Master’s acting skills have truly become superb.”

In the restful courtyard, a disciple with fish scales on his forehead looked at the projection stone and shook his head repeatedly.

He sat next to Bai Yu and lowered his voice.

“He’s only using a fraction of his power, at most one strike a day.”

“Are you saying one strike from him could kill both you and me with a single punch?”

“…”

Bai Yu, with his pure eyes like water, silently looked into the distance.

The Master… Lin Shuang…

Poor Senior Brother Meng Zi, sigh.

*

841st floor.

The pills produced by the Rong Bao Shop were of guaranteed quality. After taking the pills, Huangfu Yuan recovered from the state of spitting blood.

He was back to his original combat strength, which was no match for Qi Condensation, but at least he wouldn’t die.

After assuring him several times, Meng Zi agreed to enter this level of trial.

On the 800th floor, everything below, including mountains, rivers, and streams, looked extremely small.

The mountain wind was intense, and the sunlight was dazzling.

“It’s almost noon.”

Lin Shuang reached out and saw her shadow fall straight onto her cyan silk shoes.

It was almost time for her daily meal and friendly conversations.

Lin Shuang was completely relaxed, exuding happiness and contentment as she prepared for her lunch break.

“Be careful of where you step; the cave is about to open.”

Different from the meditation cave on the 300th floor, this cave was located outside and connected to an ascending stone bridge.

Each stone step beneath her feet was carved with ferocious beast heads, with the ancient characters “841” engraved on their foreheads.

Each stroke of these characters seemed to be carved into the stone with a sharp knife, deep and sharp.

Lin Shuang took a few glances and closed her eyes on the spot. The corners of her eyes ached, and she almost shed tears.

With the Fire Eye Golden Gaze technique in operation, several sword intents unexpectedly came to life from the carved beast heads on the stones, as if resurrected, and slashed toward her.

Meng Zi strode ahead.

Huangfu Yuan walked beside her, and the shadow cast by his long eyelashes faintly brushed against her butterfly-like black lashes.

“The Zhenchuan Mountain Tower was constructed by the founding head and twelve Elders of the Clearwater Sect, just before their ascension.”

“Subsequent generations of Elders have maintained it, opening it once every ten years, with each level having different appearances and trial content.”

Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow and shifted her gaze away from the beast’s head. So, was this level created by the Elder specializing in sword cultivation?

“A trial for sword cultivators?”

Huangfu Yuan chuckled and walked up the stone steps with his hands behind his back.

Meng Zi had already erupted to the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, exerting force with his arms, and with a booming sound, he pushed open the towering dark iron gate at the end of the stone bridge.

There were also carved beast heads on the door, exuding a steady aura.

However, this beast’s head was smooth, as if it had been rubbed constantly.

There were no inscriptions of the names of disciples who had passed through this door.

Lin Shuang couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

Had no one passed through this gate this year yet?

Creak, the door swung open completely.

Lin Shuang’s Fire Eye Golden Gaze technique, operating at full speed, gave her an instant view of the entire cave.

The cave was surrounded by rugged stone rocks, the ground was covered with tiger-patterned animal skins, and all around were empty wooden racks for swords.

In the center, there was a simple pearwood table with a jade bowl about three fingers deep and one elbow wide.

Lin Shuang’s nervous expression immediately relaxed.

Not only was there no place to practice sword techniques but there was also a setup suitable for her to have lunch!

She was itching to move.

Meng Zi stared wide-eyed, feeling somewhat disappointed.

But then he let out a sigh of relief. “It’s not bad, luck isn’t the worst. At least we don’t have to fight.”

In the Zhenchuan trial, disciples entering a level didn’t know the trial’s content in advance.

They couldn’t make any guesses; they had to rely on luck.

[Current Level Trial: Oops, I’m dead.]

Lin Shuang was stunned.

In front of the stone table, the shadow of a disciple falling to the ground and coughing up blood suddenly appeared!

Upon closer inspection, this shadow was none other than the pale-faced Huangfu Yuan.

Lin Shuang and Meng Zi were dumbfounded and quickly turned to look behind them at the real Huangfu Yuan.

They found that he was still there; what was in front of them was just a shadow, so they breathed a sigh of relief.

But in an instant, two iron chains as thick as arms shot out from the stone walls.

They wrapped around Huangfu Yuan’s hands and feet, suspending him in mid-air!

Huangfu Yuan: “…”

He lowered his eyelids and let out a wry smile.

[“The path of sword cultivation is fraught with danger. One moment of carelessness can lead to severe injury or death.”]

[“Therefore, I have designed this trial: Your companion is in distress. Please sequentially place the corresponding elixirs into the stone bowl to save him!”]

[There are a total of 10 rounds.]

[In each round, if the medicine’s potency is insufficient, or if it’s inappropriate, or if it exceeds twelve breaths, it will be considered that the disciple has met his demise.]

Lin Shuang and Meng Zi simultaneously turned their heads to look at the frail Huangfu Yuan bound by iron chains.

[If a companion “meets his demise,” the trial will fail.]

[Activation method – Infuse the jade bowl with spiritual energy.]

Meng Zi took a deep breath, turned around, clenched his fists, and saluted into the air.

“Huangfu Senior, I got the highest grade in my elixir class—a C-minus.”

Huangfu Yuan: “…”

Huangfu Yuan’s face remained expressionless as he glanced at the ‘him’ in the projection, and his thin lips twitched fiercely.

Lin Shuang touched her nose.

—

“Do trials even have this kind of challenge?”

Several outer disciples who had already entered the Zhenchuan Mountain Tower looked at the projection while asking a passing junior disciple for directions to the Resting Courtyard.

“The inner disciples’ trials are quite interesting.”

Zhao Keran, who was about to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, was soon to become an inner disciple.

Watching Lin Shuang’s progress was a thrilling experience.

Although Xu Rui, a senior disciple who spent most of his time in the outer sect, felt that the trial was strange, he was knowledgeable.

“This round seems difficult.”

He looked at the projection of the bound Huangfu Yuan, his face not showing the same ease as the junior disciples.

“Among the three, Huangfu Yuan, who manages the Rongbao Pavilion and is familiar with numerous elixirs, was bound. This can’t be a coincidence.”

“This challenge isn’t as simple as it seems.”

Xu Rui, who had a wide range of experiences despite his years in the outer sect, hit the nail on the head.

Before they could discuss further, they saw Lin Shuang and Meng Zi open their mustard seed bags and take out several bottles. They sniffed them and fumbled to replace them with another bottle.

Watching the real-time broadcast, Zhao Keran couldn’t help but cover his eyes.

“It won’t work; it’s too slow!”

Twelve breaths of time!

Three breaths had already passed!

This was just the first round of the “Oops, I’m dead” trial!

—

“Darn it, we finally saved three people, and now it’s become four!”

On the 841st level, several caves simultaneously activated the “Oops, I’m dead” trial.

“Yin Cultivation overexerted and fainted? Damn, he was just a sword cultivator with external injuries in the previous round!”

“What kind of elixir is used for falling into the demonic path?”

“What elixir is used for falling into a love crisis?”

“Isn’t this absurd? They were clearly in combat; how did it turn into a love crisis?”

From the caves where this trial was activated, various curses, groans, moans, and despair could be heard.

“This is so unlucky. We thought this level was going to be simple—”

“Give up, give up, go to another level!”

“Before, at the Clearwater Altar, Senior Brother told me that whenever you encounter a trial where someone is dying, if you’re not an elixir cultivator, you should retreat immediately. There’s no way to pass it; don’t struggle!”

“I just want to know how the previous level masters passed it!”

Several groups of three entered the cave, then grumbled and came out again.

Because they were the fastest to pass the 300th level earlier, some disciples who had been following Lin Shuang and Meng Zi’s real-time challenge projections decided to turn off the projections when they saw them entering this seemingly deadly challenge.

“They won’t make it.”

“Let’s watch later; we don’t want to waste spirit stones on projections.”

Most people sympathized with Meng Zi’s group, but some kept an eye on them.

For instance, at this moment, the slightly plump Chen Sheng and his two companions were also randomly assigned to this level, as if it were fate.

Chen Sheng had been listening to his senior brother’s transmissions all along.

“Junior Brother, I’m currently watching the projection of your level’s trial. Meng Zi and that female outer disciple also chose this level!”

“This time, you can’t lose to that female outer disciple again.”