The purple-robed woman saw her Senior Sister glare at her and stuck out her tongue.
She also thought about what her own Senior Sister’s daily life in the Demon Sect was like, so she stopped her malicious questioning.
“Alright, alright, now let’s begin the program everyone has been waiting for—the Twelve Flower Gods Q&A Session.”
A woman suddenly appeared on the stage, wearing a plain elegant dress with a beautiful face, then spoke softly: “Those who answer everything correctly can ask the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion one question for free.”
At this, the two Demon Cultivators on stage exchanged glances, both looking surprised, while Mu Zhiming remained silent as ever, her two pinky fingers intertwined beneath her skirt.
“For the first question, let’s start with something simple. The ancients once said ‘blooms alone in the cold,’ also known as Ice Soul and Cold Blossom—what flower is this?”
Mu Zhiming’s expression shifted slightly as she snapped back to attention, touching the Plum Blossom Hairpin in her dark hair. Just as she was about to answer, a voice came from beside her.
“I know, I know, it’s the Plum Blossom.”
The purple-robed woman answered first, looking proud.
“Congratulations, that’s correct. But this doesn’t count as an official question—just an appetizer~”
The plain-dressed woman smiled sweetly, ignoring the purple-robed woman’s exasperated expression, and continued:
“Second question: There is a flower with extremely large petals that bloom from bottom to top, blooming throughout the entire hot summer. Yet each individual flower opens in the morning and falls by dusk, with an extremely short lifespan. What flower is this?”
The purple-robed woman was stumped this time, but the black-robed woman beside her keenly caught the keyword “opens in the morning and falls by dusk,” recalling the large red flowers planted in front of the Sect Grounds—didn’t they match this characteristic?
So she decisively grabbed the answer: “It’s the Red Spider Lily.”
The moment she said this, Mu Zhiming and the Host both turned to look at her.
Mu Zhiming’s expression was unreadable beneath her Black Eye Veil, but her hands beneath her skirt had quietly tightened around her Flying Sword. The Host, meanwhile, looked surprised and gave her a once-over:
“That’s incorrect. However, this Red Spider Lily only grows in Yong Province, which is occupied by the Demon Cult. I didn’t expect this fellow cultivator to have seen it before?”
The black-robed woman’s heart was churning inside, but her face showed nothing as she pretended to be calm and laughed it off:
“Is that so? Haha. When my Junior Sister and I came down the mountain to eliminate the Immortal… Demon Sect, we happened to visit Yong Province a few times and saw it by chance.”
In reality, cold sweat was already streaming down the black-robed woman’s back.
Perhaps her Junior Sister at the early Golden Core stage didn’t know yet, but she had already swept the Host with her Spiritual Sense.
The result was a fog.
Even she, at mid Golden Core, couldn’t see through this Host’s cultivation.
That Host was at least Nascent Soul or above.
For a mortal festival, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion actually sent a Nascent Soul expert to be the Host?
The black-robed woman found it terrifying just thinking about it, and now she had accidentally blurted out the Red Spider Lily, which only existed in the Demon Cult. She became even more terrified on stage.
“…It’s the Hollyhock.”
Beside her, Mu Zhiming withdrew her gaze, her red lips slightly parting as she spoke stiffly.
“Congratulations, correct~ Then for the next question: it changes three times a day—white as snow in the morning, turns pink at noon, and deep red by evening. It doesn’t compete with the hundred flowers in spring, blooming alone in late autumn. What flower is this~”
The black-robed woman no longer dared to speak, only wanting to be a wooden puppet and quickly finish this damn show, then get off stage to keep herself safe.
The purple-robed woman glanced at her Senior Sister, and seeing her not speaking, thought her Senior Sister had some strategy again and was about to make a big move on stage, so she joined in with wide-eyed staring.
“…It’s the Hibiscus,” Mu Zhiming continued to answer.
“Congratulations, fellow cultivator, another correct answer. Only one question remains~ These two lucky cultivators should work hard too~”
The Host smiled radiantly at Mu Zhiming, then swept her gaze toward the purple-robed and black-robed women.
It was an utterly ordinary smile, but to the black-robed woman, it carried a different meaning.
That’s right, this Nascent Soul expert must have long discovered we’re Demon Cultivators. Why else would she emphasize the word “lucky”…
But doesn’t the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion not participate in the righteous-demonic conflict? Why is it shielding a Three-Needle Flower today?
The black-robed woman’s brain spun rapidly, her smile frozen on her face as she looked at her Junior Sister beside her.
She saw her Junior Sister still foolishly smiling back at the Nascent Soul Host.
Ignorance is bliss indeed…
For some reason, at this moment, she actually felt a bit envious of this foolish Junior Sister.
“Here’s the last question~ There is a flower that, when it withers, falls whole from the stem—clean and decisive, no hesitation. It blooms in the snow~ Its alias is the Decapitated Flower. What flower is this?”
Upon hearing this, the black-robed woman drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
Damn, even the Decapitated Flower is here.
This was already an outright declaration.
No way, she had to take advantage of all these people watching from below the stage and get out of here with her Junior Sister, or else their lives would be forfeit here in a moment.
With that thought, the black-robed woman immediately grabbed her purple-robed Junior Sister’s hand and hurriedly laughed at the Host:
“So sorry, but my Junior Sister and I just remembered some important matters back at the Sect, so we’ll be going now. We’ll leave the grand prize to the Immortal Sect cultivator.”
Then, under everyone’s gaze, she dragged her Junior Sister off the stage in panic, darting into the crowd and disappearing into the Market Town in a flash.
The Nascent Soul Host watched their departure without saying a word, the smile on her face deepening a few degrees.
How boring—they ran just from being scared…
It seemed this generation of Demon Cult prodigies was nothing much after all.
“…It’s the Camellia.” Suddenly, Mu Zhiming beside her stiffly answered the final question.
“Congratulations, fellow cultivator~ You’ve answered all three questions correctly and earned the grand prize~”
The Nascent Soul Host’s gaze fell on Mu Zhiming once more, nodding with satisfaction. She then pulled a token from her pocket, tossed it to her, and transmitted through Sound Transmission:
“In the future, you may use this Token to come to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and ask three questions for free.”
Mu Zhiming gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. She didn’t know much about the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, having only heard of it a few times from her master, so she had no idea of this item’s value.
But if Liu Fuyao were here, she would surely gasp in shock.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion only granted this Token to experts at the late Nascent Soul stage, and it required considerable effort to obtain. As for the three free questions, they were priceless. The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had always upheld fair trade—whatever value of question you wanted to ask, you had to offer an item of equivalent value in exchange.
These three free pieces of intelligence could, at most, allow a powerful cultivator whose lifespan was nearly exhausted to obtain Spirit Medicine that extended their years; at minimum, they could allow a Sect to acquire a rich Spiritual Vein out of thin air and ascend to become a major Sect.
Regardless, for an Immortal Sect whose highest cultivation was merely Nascent Soul, this was something beyond imagination.
However, none of this had anything to do with Mu Zhiming.
At this moment, she only cared about the man below the stage.
She tucked the Token into her Storage Pouch and walked off the stage, taking that person’s hand and speaking softly to him:
“Wangshu… let’s go.”
The Host watched the two gradually walk away, then withdrew her gaze. She stepped off the stage and found a secluded corner, releasing her Spiritual Energy to form a faint protective barrier, isolating herself from the surrounding environment.
After doing this, she pulled out a Voice Transmission Talisman and said respectfully:
“Pavilion Master, the Token has been delivered.”
“Mmm, well done…”
In a mysterious space, a woman spoke softly, then gave further instructions.
A moment later, the mysterious woman put away the Voice Transmission Talisman, looked at the void before her, and used Spiritual Energy to form a brush. The lines trembled slightly, as if pulled by some ancient karmic force.
Finally, she sketched the figure of a man in the void.
The man had a clean, handsome face, no makeup, ordinary looks—unremarkable among a crowd of men.
Only those sword-like brows and starry eyes lifted slightly in the void, gazing upon all beings with equal regard.
“Ji Wangshu… I’ve finally found you in this life…”