Luo Hong: "..."
Lu Yang's answer delivered such a colossal shock to Luo Hong that for a while she didn't even know how to respond.
She had been the spirit of the mystic realm ever since her creation. Which prodigy of the demon race over the past three hundred thousand years hadn't she seen? Even the current patriarchs of the demon clans had come here in their youth to brave the trials.
Yet no matter which clan's prodigy it was, none had ever brought her a shock as immense as today's.
The second level indeed tested the ability to lie, but she had never imagined someone could spin a falsehood so thoroughly that he even fooled himself.
Or could it be that what he said was actually true?
With her existing repository of knowledge, she couldn't tell whether Lu Yang had spoken the truth or told a lie.
Inside the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy was rolling on the ground with laughter, clutching her stomach and wheezing for breath as tears streamed from her eyes.
"No, stop... my stomach hurts from laughing, hahahaha..."
She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, trying hard to hold it in, but the moment she saw Luo Hong's reaction, she broke down again into uproarious laughter.
Lu Yang watched the Immortal Fairy with resignation, thinking, *Is it really that funny?*
*And Senior Luo Hong, you're stunned by just this? Isn't this exactly what this trial was supposed to test?*
He, Lu Yang, had always followed the rules in everything he did, ensuring he never stepped outside their bounds.
If one could do exceptionally well within the rules, why bother cheating?
The rules of this stage were remarkably simple, and the loopholes Senior Luo Hong had left behind were plain to see.
For example, there was no requirement that the distributed seed had to bloom, nor was there any requirement that it had to bloom on the fifteenth day, among other things.
The only uncertainty was that Lu Yang couldn't be sure whether this level tested telling the truth or telling a lie.
In the end, the rules of the second level were spoken by Senior Luo Hong herself. If Senior Luo Hong chose not to abide by them, who could do anything about it?
So Lu Yang had prepared for both contingencies, bringing an empty pot to the inspection.
If the trial tested telling the truth, he would say it hadn't sprouted.
If it tested telling a lie, he would pull out the speech he had just delivered.
Luo Hong took two deep breaths, clenched her fists and released them, and announced the result almost through gritted teeth:
"You... pass!"
One had to admit, on this second level, Lu Yang had achieved the highest score in history.
Ao Yue and the rest of the demon prodigies looked at Lu Yang in utter shock.
Just which clan was this person from? On the first level, he had calculated in advance that Qin Feng would guard the Heavenly Ladder entrance and set up an ambush ahead of time.
Now on the second level, he had cleared the stage through such a bizarre method.
Just where had Jiang Shishi managed to unearth these two extraordinary talents?
Moreover, given Ao Yue's understanding of Jiang Shishi, she should have made the same choice as him on this stage. Yet the outcome had defied his expectations entirely: he had been eliminated, while Jiang Shishi passed.
With the second trial concluded, Luo Hong forced herself to stop thinking about Lu Yang's antics and fulfill her duty.
She snapped her fingers, and a massive shower of treasures rained down, piling up into a small mountain.
Luo Hong pointed at Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Jiang Shishi, and Su Lian'er. "The four of you shall advance to the third level. The rest are eliminated."
"Considering you have all passed the first level, each of you may choose one treasure from this pile as your reward."
"This treasure may only be used by yourself. It cannot be transferred or recited to others."
This restriction was put in place to prevent grand demon experts from seizing the treasures.
After all, even mighty experts of the demon race would covet the treasures here.
"Demon Celestial above! These are the cultivation insights left behind by our ancient ancestor, covering both stages: shattering the core to form the nascent soul and the Nascent Soul stage!" a Jade Rabbit Clan prodigy exclaimed, rabbit ears twitching in astonishment.
Luo Hong had already translated all of these cultivation insights into modern text.
"Our ancient ancestor's cultivation insights are here too!" a Qiongqi Clan prodigy cried out in surprise.
Inscribed upon the cultivation insights were the two characters "Jin Shi," which was precisely the name of the Ancient Qiongqi.
Not only those two clans, but even the cultivation insights of the ancient ancestors of the Jiuying Clan, Taowu Clan, and other clans whose members had been eliminated on the first level were stacked right here like miscellaneous books. Without browsing carefully, one would never notice them.
These ancient ancestors were not all half-immortals; most were at the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
Yet the Tribulation Transcendence stage of antiquity differed vastly from that of the present day. Ancient cultivators at that level could listen to lectures by celestials and sit in on discussions between half-immortals. What they learned and witnessed existed on an entirely different plane from modern Tribulation Transcendence demon cultivators!
Even within the Tribulation Transcendence stage, ancient Tribulation Transcendence Demon Emperors stood on a far higher pedestal in the minds of the demon race than contemporary ones.
Ao Yue also found the cultivation insights left by an ancient ancestor of the Dragon Clan, causing his heart to thud wildly.
The Dragon Clan's ancient ancestor held the glorious reputation of being the foremost existence beneath the celestials—an absolute titan of power.
"What is this? A celestial's notes: *Breeding Records of the Golden Crow Clan and Jade Rabbit Clan*?" The Jade Rabbit Clan prodigy caught sight of the title and nearly fumbled the book in shock.
Lu Yang: "..."
He remembered this thing was research Immortal Jiuchong had conducted while studying the transformations of yin and yang. The Ancient Realm of Good Fortune truly had a comprehensive collection to have gathered even this.
Aside from various transcripts of ancient texts, there were also ancient natural treasures.
For example, Longevity Grass capable of extending life by five hundred years, spirit fruits that purged lingering hidden injuries upon consumption, and all manner of detoxifying herbs.
In past generations, some demon prodigies had braved the realm specifically to search for long-extinct ancient herbs when their relatives or lovers were stricken with ancient poisons, on the brink of death with no modern remedies available.
Nothing like that was happening in this current generation.
"These things..." The Immortal Fairy knitted her brows slightly, swinging back and forth on a tree branch.
"What about them?"
"These don't look like things ordinary demons could collect."
"Quite a few of these cultivation insights belong to half-immortals. Ordinary half-immortals wouldn't have enough prestige to demand cultivation insights from their peers."
"And that *Breeding Records of the Golden Crow Clan and Jade Rabbit Clan*—that was Immortal Jiuchong's research finding. Transcripts were only shared among the four of us; even half-immortals didn't get copies."
"Just who built this ancient realm?" the Immortal Fairy murmured in bewilderment.
Lu Yang felt a jolt in his heart at her words.
The Immortal Fairy's implication was that this ancient realm hadn't been constructed by a demon at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, nor even a half-immortal, but rather one of the Four Ancient Celestials?!
"Oh well, isn't there still a third level? Work hard, and once you make it to the third level, maybe you'll find some clues."
"And what if I still can't find any clues?"
The Immortal Fairy flashed a radiant smile, revealing a neat row of eight teeth, and gave a thumbs-up. "Then we'll pick a deserted spot so this fairy can thoroughly interrogate that little slip of a girl, Luo Hong!"
Lu Yang silently prayed that he would find clues on the third level.
The demon prodigies made their selections. Instead of taking the cultivation insights left by his ancient ancestor, Ao Yue chose a spirit fruit capable of eliminating hidden injuries.
Ao Yue and the others were then teleported out of the ancient realm.
Outside the realm, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. All the demons were glaring daggers at the Jiuying Clan.
This was the Ancient Realm of Good Fortune, accessible only once in a lifetime! They had gained no rewards at all—all because they had listened to Qin Feng's nonsense, resulting in the Demon Alliance's prodigies being completely eliminated.
Qin Feng hid behind an elder, shivering with dread, terrified that showing his face for even a second would lead to him being skinned alive.
Seeing Ao Yue and the others teleport out, the Phoenix Clan elder took a head count and breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Shishi was still inside.
Jiang Shishi was roughly on par with Ao Yue in skill, so the elder had feared she would be eliminated along with him.
Third Senior Sister remarked in an indifferent tone, "See? I told you that teaming up with us wouldn't leave you shortchanged."
Chapter 592