Meng Qi found its gaze amusing and couldn’t help but reach out to rub its head. “What’s with that look?” Although she knew the little guy couldn’t speak apart from making some cries, she still asked with a smile, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sure enough, the little white tiger made a few cries, its azure eyes fixedly staring at Meng Qi.
“What’s wrong with it?” Puzzled by the tiger’s odd behavior, Meng Qi glanced at her Five Spirits Cauldron.
The Five Spirits Cauldron leisurely swayed its round body, indicating that it didn’t know either.
“Alright,” Meng Qi waved her hand, not dwelling on it, “We should head to the next room.”
As she spoke, she saw the Five Spirits Cauldron swiftly fly behind her, hovering in front of a wooden sign.
“Eh? What’s this? How did I miss it before?” The wooden sign was right beside the path Meng Qi had taken. The Five Spirits Cauldron swayed again, and the little white tiger joined in, its blue eyes showing a hint of scorn.
“The last three, and only one can be chosen,” Meng Qi read the words on the sign. “Complete one of the challenges to pass this test.”
After Meng Qi finished reading, the Five Spirits Cauldron swayed again. At the same time, she felt a sense of pride from the natal cauldron. Apparently, it was pleased with itself for discovering something important for its master.
“Well…” Meng Qi cleared her throat, “The challenges here are quite interesting,” she remarked.
Both the Five Spirits Cauldron and the little white tiger primordial spirit stopped and stared at Meng Qi, seemingly dumbfounded.
“And who knows if this wooden sign isn’t deceiving us,” Meng Qi continued. “In the first challenge, a voice tried to persuade me to give up. Before the second challenge, another voice was instigating conflict with the Drunken Dragon Grass. Now, if this third challenge is just testing my medical skills, it seems a bit too simple.” Meng Qi explained to the still dumbfounded cauldron and tiger.
“So let’s first see what’s in the next two huts,” Meng Qi mused, as if talking to herself, but also as if addressing the two. “Maybe this sign is trying to deceive us too. If I really leave, it might directly declare my failure in the third challenge and force me to start over.”
As she spoke, Meng Qi suddenly thought of the various patients she had encountered in this third challenge. Since it was a test, the patient’s symptoms covered a wide range of types: external injuries, internal injuries, poisoning, harm from beasts…
There were cultivators and ordinary people.
Men, women, children, and even pregnant women.
It was like an encyclopedia of diseases.
And there were some rare and complex cases that were seldom seen in the Three Thousand Worlds.
For Meng Qi, this third challenge was more of a reward than a test. She was like a fish in water, totally in her habitat. If she didn’t have to continue climbing the Ten Absolutes Mountain, she would even be willing to stay here for a year or half. However, her unwillingness to follow the sign’s instructions wasn’t just because she didn’t want to leave. From the very start, she had noticed there was something subtly odd about the Ten Absolutes Mountain. Each time, there were always those mysterious voices, subtly leading them astray.
That’s why Meng Qi decided not to follow the wooden sign’s instructions. Even if she was doing a challenge from the Ten Absolutes Mountain, she should follow her own heart.
With her thoughts clear, she walked more confidently towards the second-to-last hut.
…
At the same time, at the foot of the Ten Absolutes Mountain, Sikong Xing and Chu Tianfeng were staring at each other in disbelief. The fiery red fox girl glanced at Chu Tianfeng, then at the silent Qin Xiumo, and finally at the rest of the group including Pei Mufeng standing nearby. In the end, unable to hold back, she turned to Li Che and Xue Chengxuan. “Is the third challenge for medical cultivators that difficult?”
Li Che scratched his head: “The last three are indeed tricky, but before entering the final challenge, there’s a wooden sign clearly stating you can choose one to complete and pass.” His face suddenly reddened. “I went into all three to check and eventually chose the easiest one.”
“We did the same,” Sikong Xing nodded vigorously. “For the final three tests, you just need to complete one.”
“Yes,” Xue Chengxuan also said: “I chose one of them too.”
“Could it be that Meng Qiqi…” Sikong Xing frowned slightly, “didn’t see that wooden sign?”
“Heh—” The girl in yellow beside Xue Chengxuan suddenly chuckled. “Maybe she just hasn’t passed the third challenge yet. With so many patients inside, even if you follow the rule to choose one hut from each side of the road, it still took me thirty-six hours to get out.”
The girl in yellow was Xue Zichen. She continued, stretching her body: “Even my brother took thirty hours, and he’s one of the best medical cultivators who can enter here. That Meng Qi, coming from a small sect with limited cultivation and experience, even if… even if…”
Xue Zichen bit her lower lip slightly. “Even with Senior Lin Yan’s recognition and inheritance, how much could she have learned in just a few months? So it’s normal for her to be slower, right?”
Sikong Xing gave her a sharp look.
“Am I wrong?” Xue Zichen retorted, not backing down. “Besides, I came out less than half an hour ago. We also need to rest. What’s the rush? Don’t you know the abilities of your friend?”
“Hmph.” Sikong Xing couldn’t be bothered with this girl. This Xue Zichen seemed to dislike Meng Qiqi. Although it wasn’t obvious, there was subtle hostility in her words.
“What are you snorting about? You—ah…!!!” Xue Zichen’s words were cut off. The grassland, which had been calm just a moment ago, suddenly started shaking, emitting a thunderous rumble.
“What’s happening?!” Sikong Xing leapt up. As far as she could see, not just the grassland but also the distant peaks of the Ten Absolutes Mountain were trembling as if a great change was occurring. “Meng Qiqi hasn’t come out yet, could something have happened to her?” She became genuinely worried.
Chu Tianfeng’s complexion also changed, and he instinctively looked at Qin Xiumo.
The black-robed youth said nothing and instead turned to Yan Xuan. As the son of the Sect Leader of Jingyuetian, Yan Xuan was probably the most knowledgeable about the Ten Absolutes Mountain here.
“You guys…” Yan Xuan looked up at the sky, speaking with a hint of shock: “Look there!”
Everyone looked up. All cultivators already in the grassland at this moment also joined them and stared at the sky. There, a long rainbow, almost spanning the horizon, stretched from the Ten Absolutes Mountain in their direction.
“What is that?” Sikong Xing asked urgently.
“I…” Yan Xuan shook his head, muttering: “I don’t know. Anything that happens inside the Ten Absolutes Mountain has never been known…”
“Look!” Sikong Xing suddenly jumped up, pointing at the rainbow, “Isn’t that Meng Qiqi?!”
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