Wait a minute, where is my master?

Since he was planning to enter the Qingmu Secret Realm, the little Taoist naturally wouldn't engage in a battle unprepared.

On his way here, he had already meticulously inquired about the matters needing attention within the Secret Realm from the Old Dean of Qingmu Academy.

The Old Dean, too, was meticulous about every detail, answering every question posed.

He even gave Jin Xu a Token, saying that upon reaching the fourth layer, one could directly use this Token to exchange for sap from the Che Liang Wood.

But now, this first layer that Jin Xu was seeing seemed somewhat different from what the Old Dean had described.

As the little Taoist was pondering, the fluttering cyan light sphere once again repeated the rules in its neutral voice.

"I choose the 'A' level challenge."

Jin Xu's pleasant voice rose in the Secret Realm, and upon hearing this sentence, the fluttering cyan light sphere stopped, and then started spiraling, revolving around the little Taoist.

As it spun, scents of cyan-purple powder continuously drifted out from the light sphere, falling evenly onto Jin Xu and disappearing without a trace.

After the little Taoist had spoken, he closed his eyes and quietly awaited what would come next.

After five breaths.

Jin Xu opened his eyes to see the cyan light sphere was still performing its spiral dance, and a shade of confusion appeared in his eyes. The Old Dean had told him that after choosing a challenge level, his consciousness would be transported to a fictitious illusionary world where the challenge of the first layer would unfold.

But he had been waiting for quite a while now, and his consciousness was still clear, while the cyan light sphere seemed to be sprinkling powder over him like seasoning meat with cumin. What did this mean?

"Is it planning to marinate me thoroughly before sending me off to the challenge?"

The little Taoist scratched his head in confusion, somewhat at a loss.

The challenge of the first layer of the Qingmu Secret Realm was actually very straightforward and brutal.

In summary, the content of the challenge was essentially to save others.

If a cultivator chose the 'D' level, they only needed to save someone once to pass, while 'C' level required saving someone ten times.

And so on.

The highest 'A' level challenge required saving others a full one thousand times.

Of course, there aren't that many people in the Qingmu Secret Realm for you to save, so this challenge must take place within an illusion.

Normally, the moment a cultivator entered here, their consciousness would fall into the illusion, mistaking themselves to be within a pure white space.

The next step is to choose the level of challenge, temporarily erase memories, and be thrown into various scenarios of saving people.

In the end, cultivators who completed the challenge would be granted the "Immortal" rule by the Secret Realm. With this rule, cultivators would have five chances to avoid death within the first layer of the Secret Realm, and after these chances were exhausted, they would be directly sent out of the Qingmu Secret Realm.

Although the process of this challenge is tedious, it's not very difficult. This is because most cultivators can successfully complete it, as the scenes of saving people generated in the illusion initially feature images of people close to you, and the events are all positive.

It is only during the last three hundred times that unfamiliar faces start to appear in the challenge of the illusion.

By that time, most cultivators will have developed an instinctual reflex to save others in their subconscious, although there are a few who are extremely cold-blooded and selfish.

When it comes to the last three hundred saves, they are directly eliminated and sent out of the Secret Realm.

However, no matter the outcome, the test of this first layer is based on the premise that the cultivators can successfully enter the illusion.

As for our little Taoist Jin Xu, his Spiritual Sense was too vast, so the illusion created by the enforcing power of the Qingmu Secret Realm's rules simply couldn't affect him.

Therefore, the challenge of this layer just got stuck at Jin Xu.

...

Inside the Qingmu Secret Realm, atop a high cliff.

A small gray-white flower appeared out of nowhere, gently swaying in the wind.

Not particularly large, it had nine petals, all of a gray-white color, with a faint sweet scent lingering among its stamens.

It looked utterly harmless.

However, the rapidly withering grass within a ten-meter radius of it proved that this was not as benign as it seemed.

"Alas~"

A childlike sigh drifted in from the wind.

The Nine Deaths Soul Flower transformed into a small child just over one foot tall.

She looked around at the withered grass dying because of her presence, and a look of desolation and loneliness surfaced on her little face.

The Nine Deaths Soul Flower harbored kindness, but her very nature was that of deadly poison. Unless she encountered Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Treasure Medicines of a similar realm, wherever she went in the Qingmu Secret Realm, the surrounding vegetation would suffer.

After sighing, the Nine Deaths Soul Flower stood still. With a wave of her gray-white little hand, a screen of light emerged before her.

"Everyone, I've reached the first layer, and I've already sent the Plant Spirits with the Red Dust Mushroom's spore powder to find that little Taoist, but he still can't enter the illusion. What should we do?"

The small child, standing just over one foot tall, said with furrowed brows and a worried face to the screen.

As a Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Treasure Medicine like her usually lived in the fourth layer of the Secret Realm. Especially the Nine Deaths Soul Flower, given her own poisonous nature, would not easily leave the Qingmu Blessed Land of the fourth layer, even when the Secret Realm was open, unless there were special circumstances.

Her extraordinary trip here today was all because of Jin Xu.

Whether one could pass the trial of the first layer of the Secret Realm was one thing, but whether the trial was allowed was another matter entirely.

In the eyes of the Nine Deaths Soul Flower, a Taoist like Jin Xu, who seemed utterly devoid of Spiritual Power, would be in great danger on the first layer without the protective "unyielding" rule.

Therefore, she had to find a way to ensure he could properly undergo the trial.

If he passed the trial, then everyone would be happy. If not, the Nine Deaths Soul Flower could use the power of the rules to send him out.

This was to prevent him from being endangered for no reason and losing his life.

"What, that person can resist the spore powder of the Red Dust Mushroom? Could he be a high monk practicing Buddhism?"

On the other side of the screen, an ink-gold lotus flower floated in mid-air, expressing its surprise.

"Da Lian, what nonsense are you talking about? That person's attire clearly shows he's a Taoist. Little Soul, you didn't give him some expired robe powder, did you?"

A small child with "whiskers" on its face squeezed into the screen, first rebuffing the ink-gold lotus flower's comment before turning to address the Red Dust Mushroom outside the screen.

Upon closer inspection, the whiskers on the little child's chin were actually the roots of some plant.

"Little Lin, the spore powder I produced yesterday is new, not old,"

A delicate little voice came in response, softly defending itself.

"Hmm, that shouldn't be right."

After hearing from the Red Dust Mushroom, the small child displayed a puzzled look, deep in thought while tugging at the whiskers on his face.

"Alright, enough, don't argue. Hurry up and help me think of something. If that little Taoist can't enter the illusion, he won't be able to pass the trial, and if he can't pass the trial, he won't be under the protection of the 'unyielding' rule. When the other Cultivators enter later, he'll be in danger."

The little face of the Nine Deaths Soul Flower was full of urgency as she implored her companions to come up with a solution quickly.

"Hmm, how about asking Mushroom to personally go to the first layer and try? Her spore powder is never as powerful as her actual self,"

The small child offered a suggestion after breaking off his fifth whisker.