Outside the Li Shi Secret Realm, a small group of robed cultivators stood together, whispering among themselves about the two new "scholars" who had just been assigned their first trial.
Among them, a young woman called Ling'er pouted in visible frustration as she sidled up to her senior sister.
"Senior Sister," she complained, "aren't you being a little too harsh on them? They've only just become scholars! Their memories are still unstable after the purification ritual, and yet you expect them to, in a single day, find demonic cultivators—and then persuade those same demons to abandon their sect and join the righteous path? Isn't that impossible?"
The older woman, calm and elegant in her bearing, merely tilted her head and asked mildly, "Impossible?"
"Of course it is!" Ling'er burst out, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Their memories of the demonic sect were completely erased! Even if they had spies, contacts, or old connections there, they've forgotten everything by now!
Under those conditions, how could they possibly find a demonic disciple—unless they walk straight into the demon sect's own territory? And even then, they'd have to convince one of those people to forsake evil and join us! Do you realize how hard that is? If luck isn't on their side, they could search for a whole month and still find nothing!
And what if something happens to them while they're wandering alone in demonic lands? They could be captured—or worse, killed! Senior Sister, why would you assign such a cruel task? These two are talented enough to have passed the scholar's initiation. If they die before their journey even begins, won't the sect be forced to intervene?"
Her senior sister listened patiently to the tirade, an unreadable half-smile forming on her lips.
"Junior Sister," she said at last, "do you know what mission I was given during my own initiation trial?"
Ling'er blinked. She had never heard that story before. "What was it?" she asked curiously.
Her senior sister did not keep her guessing.
"The same task," she replied. "To bring back three demonic cultivators—and make them renounce evil."
"Three!?" Ling'er gasped. "Even finding one who's willing to join the righteous path is nearly impossible—and you had to bring back three?"
Her senior sister nodded calmly, then asked, "And can you guess how many I actually brought back?"
Ling'er thought for a moment, raised her hand, and guessed hesitantly, "Five?"
Her senior sister shook her head. "Ten."
"Ten!?"
Ling'er's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"How in the world did you find that many demonic disciples? And why would they ever agree to join the righteous sect? Back then, we hadn't even discovered this secret realm yet! Were there really that many willing to abandon the demonic path?"
Her senior sister's smile deepened. "Do you know how I managed it?"
Ling'er tilted her head, her mind a blur. No matter how she thought, she couldn't come up with an answer. Finally, she resorted to her favorite tactic—clinging to her senior sister's arm and pleading in a soft voice, "Come on, Senior Sister, tell me! Don't keep me guessing!"
Her senior sister paused for a heartbeat, then spoke slowly, her tone flat and quiet.
"At that time, I went alone… into a demonic stronghold."
"I found a demonic cultivator and asked if he was willing to join the righteous path."
"He said no. So I killed him."
"Then I asked the second one the same question."
"He also said no. So I killed him too."
"And so it went. After I'd killed more than a dozen, one of them finally said yes."
"After that, the rest all agreed as well."
"I brought them all back to the sect, forced them to abandon their demonic techniques, and made them cultivate Li Shi Jue."
"Once they practiced Li Shi Jue, their path to the demonic sect was forever severed."
"In the end, they did renounce evil and return to righteousness, didn't they?"
Ling'er stood there, completely dumbfounded.
She had never imagined that her senior sister's method would be so… brutally straightforward.
Who cared whether those men were sincere or not? The only question was: had they joined the righteous path?
Still, Ling'er couldn't help but frown again.
"Senior Sister, you're different from them!" she protested. "You're the legendary Dao-Seeking Physique! When you joined the sect, you were already at the late Qi Refining Stage—no one in that realm could match you! But those two just now—they're only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining! They don't even have the strength to approach a demonic stronghold, let alone one without a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding it!"
"What are they supposed to do?"
Her senior sister's tone remained utterly calm. "Everyone has their own path, Ling'er. If, by this time tomorrow, neither of them has brought back a single person, then it simply means their strength and will are still far below my standard."
"And if that's the case, how could I possibly entrust them to enter the secret realm?"
Ling'er blinked in stunned silence.
Only then did she realize—the true reason her senior sister had assigned such a harsh mission was not to punish them at all, but to test whether they had the strength and resolve required to enter the secret realm itself.
A creeping sense of dread filled her heart.
She glanced up hesitantly. "Then… if both of them fail, who will enter the secret realm instead?"
Her senior sister answered without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You, of course. I've seen your strength with my own eyes. Better you than two useless men."
Ling'er's shoulders slumped immediately, like a balloon losing air.
She hadn't expected that, after all that reasoning, the burden would still fall squarely on her own shoulders.
Now, she could only pray silently in her heart—pray that one of those two men might succeed, that at least one of them would bring back a demonic disciple who was willing to renounce evil and embrace righteousness.
Time slipped away, minute by minute.
The darkness of night faded. Dawn broke through the clouds, scattering golden light across the mountains.
By then, the two who had departed the day before had yet to return.
The longer Ling'er waited, the heavier her heart became.
If it were her, could she have done it? Could she, within a single day, bring back a demon who truly sought redemption?
She shook her head silently. No.
And just as that thought crossed her mind—
A faint sound of footsteps came from the forest nearby.
Ling'er's head snapped up, her eyes widening as she stared into the trees ahead.