Cultivate All You Want, Just Don't Ruin the Immortal World!

Chapter 5 – Do you know what it means for the Know-it-all senior to enter seclusion?

"Has Senior Know-it-all gone into seclusion?"

The Sect Master and the sect elders were quite surprised upon hearing this news.

In the past, the second round of the recruitment assessment was always handled by Know-it-all, who set the questions and graded them, and there had never been any mistakes over the years.

Moreover, Senior Know-it-all hadn't gone into seclusion for nearly a thousand years.

Why would he suddenly go into seclusion at such a crucial time?

The Sect Master pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands and exclaimed, "This is good news! Do you know what it means when Senior Know-it-all goes into seclusion?"

"It means Senior Know-it-all has gone into seclusion!" the Grand Elder blurted out.

The Sect Master couldn't help but roll his eyes.

‘With such a peculiar way of thinking, I actually recommended him to be the Grand Elder of the sect. I must have been out of my mind!’

"Wrong!" the Second Elder retorted.

The Sect Master's eyes lit up; it seemed that when it came to intelligence, the Second Elder was the one to rely on.

The Second Elder said with a pained expression, "It means the second round of this assessment can't proceed, and all those tricky questions I prepared were for nothing!"

The Sect Master was speechless. At a time like this, he was still thinking about those damned questions.

"What I meant was good news. Do you even know what good news is? Pay attention to the question!"

The Second Elder seemed to be in thought, "For those participating in the second round, it is indeed good news!"

Everyone recalled the previously extremely abstract questions and suddenly felt that the Second Elder had a point.

It's not only good for the disciples but also beneficial for the sect.

At least it won't eliminate those disciples with normal thinking.

The Sect Master rubbed his temples, losing the desire to communicate further, and directly said: "Do you remember the last time Senior Know-it-all went into seclusion, he improved our sect's cultivation techniques, greatly enhancing our disciples' cultivation speed?"

Without giving the elders a chance to speak, the Sect Master continued: "This time, Senior Know-it-all's sudden seclusion must mean he has a new inspiration and didn't even have time to inform us before rushing into seclusion."

The Grand Elder and the Second Elder suddenly realized, "So that's it!"

"Senior Know-it-all's research on cultivation theory is the best in the world. This seclusion will surely lead to a major breakthrough!"

The Fifth Elder, holding a compass, said, "Last night, I observed the stars and found that in the coming days, a key event will occur that will affect our sect's future, but I couldn't predict whether it would be good or bad. I originally thought today's recruitment would bring in an unparalleled heavenly prodigy, thus influencing our sect's future. Now it seems this key point lies with Senior Know-it-all."

"In this light, it is indeed great news for our sect!"

"So what do we do now? Senior Know-it-all's seclusion is good news, but how do we handle this recruitment?" The Second Elder still hadn't forgotten about the recruitment work he was so concerned about.

The Sect Master thought for a moment and said, "In the past, we used to give a comprehensive score based on the performance in the second and third rounds. Now that the second round can't proceed, why not directly start the third round and determine the outcome based on that? That's the only option we have now."

All the elders expressed their agreement.

"Alright, Second Elder, you're in charge of this recruitment. The standards for passing the third round will be up to you!"

"No problem!"

***

At the sect's entrance, the Second Elder's clone received instructions from his true self and announced:

"Due to an unavoidable reason, the second round is temporarily canceled. We will proceed directly to the third round of the assessment.

Young ones, prepare yourselves. The third round will officially begin in a quarter of an hour."

The crowd below immediately stopped their discussions and quickly adjusted their states.

The difficulty of the Xuantian Sect's third round is renowned throughout the cultivation world.

The three major tests of recruitment: the first round, the Spiritual Root Test, hasn't changed in a century; the second round, though the questions change, the format remains the same, with patterns to follow.

Only the third round is filled with bizarre and extremely abstract questions each year, catching people off guard.

The elimination rate for this round alone exceeds sixty percent, and even most of the lucky ones who pass don't know why they succeeded, or even what the test was about.

There are quite a few who have participated for five or six consecutive years, only to be eliminated in the third round each time.

Under such pressure, everyone present could only adjust their states and face the unknown with calmness.

"The third round of the assessment officially begins!"

The voice of Second Elder Hu Tian grew increasingly faint in Qin Yu's ears as he felt his body plummeting rapidly into a bottomless abyss.

During the fall, Qin Yu's memories began to fade away bit by bit.

In a daze, it seemed as if new memories were flooding into his mind, taking the place of the original ones.

Everyone's memories were completely altered!

***

Bang~

Suddenly, Qin Yu's vision brightened.

"Run! The monster is coming!"

An old man in hemp clothing ran past Qin Yu, shouting and yelling.

"Monster!"

The altered memories surged into his mind, and Qin Yu knew the monster was a symbol of danger, a creature that devoured people.

At that moment, a house in front was smashed, and a giant black mist-shrouded hound, as if from the depths of the Nine Nether Hell, was reflected in Qin Yu's pupils.

Qin Yu's expression turned panicked, and he turned to flee.

***

"Second Brother, introduce the third round you designed!" the Third Elderess spoke, a charming and graceful woman.

"No problem!" Second Elder Hu Tian walked to the crystal mirror.

The crystal mirror displayed scenes of people in the third round.

The Second Elder casually enlarged one of the scenes.

In the scene, a young man stood on a path paved with green bricks, and an old man in hemp clothing ran past him, shouting.

The Second Elder pointed with one hand, and the scene froze.

"Let me first introduce the story background of the third round." The Second Elder spoke slowly, his expression showing satisfaction with the level he designed.

"The story takes place in a small fishing village, where a monster appears every so often, devouring one person before leaving."

"And these lovely young ones play the role of an ordinary boy or girl in the fishing village."

The Second Elder pointed again, and the scene began to change.

A giant dog emitting black mist broke through a house and lunged at the boy.

"Oh, a Dream Illusion Hound!" The elders immediately recognized the identity of the monster.

"Indeed, only a Dream Illusion Hound can so seamlessly construct such a realistic illusory realm and easily replace the young ones' memories."

The Dream Illusion Hound is a natural creator of illusory realms, capable of traversing deep into consciousness, altering memories at will, and trapping beings within illusions.

While other divine beasts in the cultivation world are mostly rare, the Dream Illusion Hound is the opposite, with the Xuantian Sect having over a thousand of them. Though individually weaker than other divine beasts, they can unite their power as a race.

Three thousand years ago, the Dream Illusion Hound clan joined forces to trap and kill a powerful figure in the Tribulation Crossing stage within an illusion, and their strength has only grown since.

"The Dream Illusion Hound is the sect's guardian divine beast, and you actually got it to play the villain. How did you persuade them?"

"Of course, with my unique personal charm," the Second Elder said, suppressing a pained expression and maintaining a tough facade.

The scene on the crystal mirror continued to change.

The boy ran for his life, while the monster deliberately slowed its pace, wreaking havoc on the houses behind him.

The ground trembled, and the small wooden house to the boy's right collapsed, revealing a little girl in his line of sight.

"Help!"

As the boy ran closer, he saw the little girl's legs pinned under a wooden beam, unable to move.

Meanwhile, the monster was closing in rapidly, its bloodthirsty maw about to swallow the boy whole.

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan