Wait a minute, where is my master?

In the temporary pavilion of the second layer of Qingmu Secret Realm.

The little bull, transformed from Gathering Spirit Grass, swished its tail and lowered its head to explain to the little Taoist the essence of the challenges in the first and second layers of the secret realm.

"You know, the Qingmu Secret Realm is divided into four layers, each with different challenges.

And each layer's challenge actually has one essence."

"For example, the core essence of the first layer is simply a word: 'benevolence'.

Only, the Nine Death Soul Flower may have a somewhat simplistic understanding of benevolence.

That's why the realm it oversees has the 'undying' rule as a feature, and the illusory challenges are merely the monotonous act of saving people."

The "mutated" little bull swished its tail once more, stealing a glance at Jin Xu's expression, then continued, "As for the essence of the challenge on this second layer, at its core are the words 'righteousness' and 'propriety'.

The division into black and white factions aims to assess the behavior of Cultivators within the same camp; unexpectedly, there's an anomaly like you who shattered the Crystal Soul of the white side with a single strike.

By the way, in the black and white battlefield, if a Cultivator covets the spiritual energy and spiritual liquid within their side's Crystal Soul, and attempts to exploit a loophole in the rules, they will also be directly expelled from Qingmu Secret Realm."

The little bull, with its body made of Gathering Spirit Grass, spoke and sighed lightly, then raised its eyes to observe the little Taoist's expression once more.

Jin Xu had been staring at the screen of light above Little White's head, and after listening to the other's words, he seemed thoughtful and touched his nose.

He thought that the challenges of Qingmu Secret Realm were somewhat clever, but lamented that in his state, free from the interference of illusion, he probably wouldn't be able to experience them.

He nodded slightly to the little bull, raised his hand, and pointed to the screen of light above the Husky's head, asking in puzzlement, "Excuse me, does the illusionary challenge she is experiencing now also partake in the aspects of 'righteousness' and 'propriety'?"

Above the screen of light, Little White was shown going through her experiences in the illusionary world.

The little bull, created from Gathering Spirit Grass, heard the little Taoist's question, lifted its bowed head, and looked towards the screen only to be taken aback.

"Cough, this illusionary challenge is generated based on the inner desires of the Cultivators themselves, mainly testing whether the Cultivator can forsake what they desire for the sake of their friends, but as for your friend's situation... I really haven't encountered anything like it before."

The conjoined Gathering Spirit Grass, which had overseen many second-layer challenges of Qingmu Secret Realm, was also somewhat startled while looking at the screen above the Husky's head.

Usually, Cultivators facing similar challenges in the illusionary world desire more powerful magic items, pills to increase their cultivation, or potent cultivation techniques, and so forth.

But what's the deal with the group of Wolf Demons and dog demons appearing in front of this short-haired grey girl in the screen right now?

...

Within the illusionary challenge of the second layer.

Little White was also quite puzzled at this moment.

She remembered that she was outside the pavilion waiting for the temple master, but suddenly he called them in and said something about getting Qingmu Points from the second layer's challenge, asking if there was something they wanted to exchange.

Things were quite normal up to this point.

But when he presented the exchange list, Little White became confused.

First on the list was the Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart Fruit, exchangeable for one hundred and five Qingmu Points.

Yet, why were the second and third items a Wolf Demon Clan and a dog demon clan? And their combined exchange points also amounted to one hundred and five Qingmu Points?

Though the Husky loved to recruit followers and harbored the inner desire to replace her old man and become the new Clan Leader of the Snow Wolf Clan, she knew how to prioritize and was aware that one of the temple master's main purposes for staying for the second layer's challenge was to obtain the Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart Fruit.

So Little White didn't say much else, she simply told the little Taoist to exchange for the Benevolent Heart Fruit, deeming Brother Jiang's daughter's salvation more important.

However, after the Husky said this, the amber bull not only strongly advised her to reconsider, but also directly summoned the Wolf Demon Clan and the dog demon clan.

"Why not inspect the goods first before making a decision?"

As a result, about a hundred canines from the demon beast family abruptly appeared outside the pavilion.

And as they appeared, they all shouted in unison.

"The ten-year pact has come to pass, we welcome the return of the Wolf King!"

Husky now felt even more confused.

She remained silent for a moment before lifting her left hand and "smack" slapped her own face.

This was not for any reason other than the momentary hesitation she had felt when she heard that slogan!

...

Outside the illusion trial.

The voices could be heard through the light screen.

So when the little Taoist heard the phrase "The ten-year pact has come to pass, we welcome the return of the Wolf King," he first froze, then placed his hand on his forehead.

This was his fault; if Jin Xu hadn't been bored enough to tell Husky those skewed tales of the Dragon King, that phrase would never have appeared in her illusion trial!

Meanwhile, the ox formed from the Gathering Spirit Grass next to him smacked his lips after hearing the phrase and whispered, "That line isn't bad, quite domineering indeed. But ten years is too short, it should be something like a hundred thousand years to make more sense."

The little Taoist heard the other's muttering and thought to himself how unrelated all this was!

At that moment, inside the illusion, Little White, having slapped herself, firmly resisted the temptation to become the "Wolf King."

She successfully passed the trial.

Husky was the first to open her eyes.

She sniffed and the first thing she did upon opening her eyes was to turn her head toward Jin Xu and the little ox transformed from the Gathering Spirit Grass, then looked around as though searching for the now-disappeared pack of wolves and dogs.

"Temple master, I think I just entered another illusion. Oh, and who is this rabbit with horns on its head beside you? Where did that amber-colored calf go?"

Little White had been searching for a few moments for the wolf and dog packs when she seemed to suddenly realize something and spoke up to the little Taoist.

"...What you just experienced was the second layer of the Qingmu Secret Realm trial. Ahem, and it's not a rabbit, it's that amber-colored calf from before."

Husky, being Husky, had astonishing remarks just as she left the illusion.

The little Taoist first gave the calf an apologetic smile, then hurriedly explained to Little White.

Upon hearing her temple master say that this half-black, half-white creature with a unique horn and long ears before her was actually the amber-colored calf from earlier, Husky couldn't help but gaze at it curiously.

The "variant" calf, unperturbed by such remarks, instead asked Jin Xu,

"This friend of yours is from the Snow Wolf Clan, right?"

"Yes, she is."

"Hmph, no wonder then."

"???"

"Just what kind of impression did the Snow Wolf Clan leave in the Nine Provinces Realm? Why do things that are offensive and strange seem normal when it comes to them!?"

The little Taoist was silently complaining in his heart.

The "variant" calf then spoke up again.

"Hey, you from the Snow Wolf Clan, stop staring at me. You've successfully passed the second layer of the illusion trial, and you were willing to give up what you desired for a friend. Now you can come over here and pick out a reward."