Wait a minute, where is my master?

Junior Master heard Zhao Dabao's words and thought to himself.

"The person capable of beating the Demon Sect's Four Elders to such a state, the dishes made by their close ones must be extraordinary."

At the same time, he glanced at the two women in front of him, realizing that one was eagerly trying to eat while the other was stopping her from doing so.

"Since the dish is being fought over like this, it must taste extraordinary. I was too impulsive earlier and spoke in a rather cold tone; I wonder if Senior Jin noticed. Now this opportunity to taste-test the dishes could be a chance to bridge our relationship.

I guess Dabao has the same idea, this lad is not bad, it was worth taking such good care of him in the Secret Realm."

Hong Mei, the Sword Cultivator, had a fierce inner monologue.

Once he figured out the gist, he confidently smiled, cupped his hands in a humble gesture, and said, "It would be an honor for me, Lu Yiqian, to help Miss Yu taste-test the dishes. However, there's a saying that happiness should not be enjoyed alone. I wonder if my fellow disciples behind me could also have a try at this taste-testing?"

As soon as these words came out, Yu Yaoer, who was holding Little White against her chest, her eyes lit up!

"One two three four... fourteen, fifteen, sixteen."

Little Fish Demon silently counted the number of Blazing Sun Sword Sect disciples present with her eyes, a total of sixteen people!

Ever since she acquired the title of "Number One Chef of the Shui Clan," it had been a long time since she had so many people eating her dishes at once!

"Really? That's great! I still have a few dishes here, Lu and your fellow disciples can all help me try them. Oh, and sir, you don't like sweet and sour pork, but I have shredded meat in garlic sauce, sweet and sour batter-fried pork, and Three Fresh Food. Will you eat that?"

The excited Yu Yaoer, while taking out plates from her red jade bracelet, didn't forget about Jin Xu.

The little Taoist was currently watching Lu Yiqian and the eager Blazing Sun Sword Sect cultivators with a complex expression on his face.

Hearing Little Fish Demon's question, he decisively popped out two words from his mouth.

"Won't eat."

"Oh, all right then."

Yu Yaoer, looking disappointed, conjured a table with water in mid-air, placed all kinds of bizarre pill-shaped dishes on it, and settled the table next to the black Crystal Soul.

Then she released Little White who was pressed against her chest, and instructed, "These Taoist friends are guests, so let them eat first. After they have finished, whatever is left, you can eat, okay?"

The Husky nodded obediently at the promise of food and warmly greeted the Blazing Sun Sword Sect cultivators.

She knew that ordinary people simply couldn't get used to the dishes made by Miss Yu.

So she wanted these people to start using their chopsticks quickly so that these "man-made Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures" full of Spiritual Energy but odd flavors would all be hers!

Lu Yiqian and the cultivators, hearing Little White's warm invitation, walked towards the table made of water streams.

"It's a rare experience to taste such delicacies in the Qingmu Secret Realm trial. Right, Dabao, you should come too, don't miss out on this once-in-a-millennium opportunity."

Junior Master, thinking that Zhao Dabao was just too shy to move, dragged him over.

Fatty Zhao's chubby face wrinkled slightly. His features scrunched together. He hadn't expected to not escape after all, and why was his Junior Master so enthusiastic? It was one thing for him to eat, but why involve his sect mates too?

Didn't you secretly use your Spiritual Sense to check what's in that dish?

"Senior Jin, I... huh!?"

Junior Master Lu Yiqian wanted to exchange polite niceties, but once he got to the table and saw the stuff in the dishes, he froze.

Where are the promised sweet and sour pork ribs, batter-fried meat, and Three Fresh Food dishes?

What's this pill-shaped item drenched in sweet and sour sauce?

Is this strangely yellow-green-purple mixed pill-shaped item supposedly Three Fresh Food?

"Why do I feel an involuntary chill down my spine and cold sweat on my forehead at the sight of these dishes?"

...

Outside the black and white chess board realm.

Just as Junior Master and the others were about to succumb to the fear of testing their dishes,

the group of bald brutes from Pan Shi Valley had already chosen their entrants, distributed the waist tokens, and entered the white side of the chessboard in sequence.

The light screen above the chessboard flickered.

In the black and white colored boxes on the right side, the characters for "five" and "twenty" were displayed respectively.

"Five" represented the five teams of cultivators per side, and "twenty" naturally represented the number of cultivators.

The chessboard covered a large area and did not allow the use of magic to observe, so the writings in these two boxes were the only means for the outside cultivators to analyze which side had the advantage inside.

However, apart from the remaining bald brutes of Pan Shi Valley, the only observer outside the chessboard now was that three-inch amber-colored calf.

The loose cultivators and small sects don't need to be mentioned; their progress was not that fast.

As for the disciples of Qingmu Academy, they were the last to enter, so their progress was also slower than that of the Blazing Sun Sword Sect and Pan Shi Valley, which were also part of the Four Great Immortal Sects.

Besides, their leading cultivator took the time to save a clone of the Third Elder from the Demon Sect.

As for the cultivators from Kunlun Immortal Palace who were sent to participate in the Qingmu Secret Realm this time, they were busy catching thieves all over Qingmu City.

Speaking of the outside of the chessboard again.

The amber-colored calf, seeing that all forty cultivators had entered, spat out a proportionally scaled-down chessboard from its mouth and gently pressed it with its hoof.

A gigantic light dome rose over the entire black chessboard, and the second layer's trial of the Qingmu Secret Realm—the battle between black and white—officially began.

Actually, according to common sense, the normal process should be that after the cultivators participating in the trial form teams, they should be uniformly transported inside by the amber calf.

But since Jin Xu took his token and went straight in, followed by the cultivators behind him imitating him, the calf couldn't be bothered to stop them. After all, it was harmless, so it let them enter on their own.

After doing this, the three-inch calf glanced at the light screen above the chessboard and unconsciously swished its tail.

It looked at the pond not far away.

According to the amber calf's calculations, this trial should last at least half an hour.

So it was somewhat tempted at this moment, wondering whether to use this time to try the method of the "Heavy Waterfall" that the little Taoist had told it about.

...

Within the chessboard, the white side.

Qiu Li took his fellow cultivators from Pan Shi Valley inside and saw the light dome rising above.

The waist token he was carrying warmed up slightly, displaying a diamond-shaped Crystal Soul and twenty light points revolving around it.

He understood that this meant the trial had started.

He immediately arranged his men and began to explore the surroundings intently.

Since the Secret Realm itself suppressed the Spiritual Sense of cultivators, the suppression inside the chessboard was even greater.

Therefore, the cultivators of Pan Shi Valley explored for information manually.

After the time it takes to brew half a cup of tea.

A team of bald cultivators that had been sent out returned.

"Big Brother, the four of us went separately to inspect. There are hills and dense forests within this chessboard, and a large river that traverses both the black and white sides.

As for roads, there are three main ones. Because we were afraid to venture too deep across the river and fall into ambuscade, we didn't dare to cross over to the black side to inspect," reported the bald cultivator holding the white Yi One waist token to Qiu Li, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

At the same time, Zhao Ming, the cultivator responsible for selecting people to enter this place, also stepped forward.

Leaning close to Qiu Li, he whispered, "Big Brother, a brother noticed just now that this white Crystal Soul seems to be storing a vast amount of Wood attribute spiritual energy and Spiritual Liquid."