367 Your Name (1/2)
Though Jing Jiu and Zhuo Rusui had fought in the valley and were not on friendly terms, they were still from the same sect; so they had to work as a team in the Illusionary Realm of the Cloud-Dream.
This was probably one of the reasons why the Immortal Sect Master Liu agreed to let Jing Jiu represent the Water-Moon Nunnery to participate in the competition, so the two of the strongest young swordsmen of Green Mountain could work together so that they might have a chance of defeating the Center Sect.
Zhuo Rusui didn't become the next one to pass the test, because the crowd in the building had their confidence boosted up after they found that even He Zhan's answer was acceptable; they all raised their hands.
The Green Girl looked at one person and asked, ”What does three plus sixty equal?”
That person said after some thought, ”One year.”
It was obvious that he was confident with his answer, so he glanced at the crowd proudly.
His answer was similar to He Zhan's; but if he answered three hundred and sixty, he would be considered copying He Zhan's answer. As a result, he made a little modification to the answer.
There are approximately three hundred and sixty days in a year.
The crowd thought about it, and found the answer was quite sensible.
Unexpectedly, the Green Girl said, ”Wrong. The answer should be sixty three.”
Even if the answer was wrong, how could she come up with this answer?!
The puzzled expressions showed on their faces, as they all wondered why this answer was expected.
That person paused in bewilderment, and then demanded, ”Why? You have to give us an explanation.”
The Green Girl shot him a glance and said, ”It's because you are too ugly, and I don't like you; so I don't want you to enter. That's all.”
That person was of course unconvinced. He shouted excitedly while waving his arms to protest against his unfair treatment.
Bai Zao stood by the side, and didn't interfere.
A lethal intent flashed in the Green Girl's tender eyes. Thousands of hands emerged from behind her and struck down forcefully.
A boom as loud as the thunder echoed in the valley.
That man disappeared from the building right away. As he reappeared, he had returned to the middle of the Huiyin Valley, and was knocked into a cliff wall, unconscious.
The crowd was all apprehensive with pale faces.
”Next!” the Green Girl yelled.
By now the disciples had figured that this spirit of the Green Sky Mirror didn't follow any rules regarding asking questions and judging the answers; it seemed that it all depended on her mood at the time.
Having witnessed the tragic end of that participant, the crowd in the building fell silent. Nobody raised hand for a long time. Zhuo Rusui's eyelids drooped again.
Tong Yan came out, after he had already remembered the habitual movements and clothes and decorations of all the participants.
The crowd was curious, and also cautious. The Green Sky Mirror was the magic treasure of the Center Sect; would the Green Girl unfairly ask him an easy question?
A Go board appeared in front of Tong Yan. Did she want him to play Go? The crowd was unsettled, thinking that she wanted to play Go with Tong Yan, and it was obviously an easy task for Tong Yan.
Six black Go pieces and six white Go pieces were placed on the board. They were not placed separately, but piled up. It seemed that the pile of these Go pieces could collapse when being blown by a gentle wind.
The Green Girl landed on the board. She displayed an eager expression on her face as she said, ”I can't win if we play Go. Let's play the marble flicking game.”
Tong Yan was startled. He realized that she was the little girl who played with him when he was young.
Back then he thought that she was a demon spirit on the Cloud-Dream Mountain, so he didn't dare tell his Master and Mistress about it. But unexpectedly, she turned out to be the spirit of the Green Sky Mirror.
…
…
As a white Go piece fell down, Tong Yan won in this marble flicking game.
The crowd could tell that this game was actually quite complicated even though it looked easy.
It was a very difficult task to knock off the piled Go pieces one at a time; it required the Cultivation practitioner to have extraordinary skill in controlling the force and targeting each Go piece accurately.
Moreover, his opponent was the spirit of the Green Sky Mirror.
The Green Girl squatted on the Go board and watched Tong Yan execute his last flick. She stood up disappointedly, and said, ”Okay, you won again.”
Tong Yan won the game by a small margin; so he felt a bit nervous in the end. He took a look at the little girl, turned around and walked to the rear of the building.
Zhuo Rusui took the opportunity to walk to the Go board. He said with drooped eyelids, ”I'd like to play the marble flicking game as well.”
The Green Girl was somewhat frustrated at the moment, but her curiosity was piqued when she saw someone who was even more frustrated than she. ”Why are you so disheartened?” she asked.
Zhuo Rusui answered, ”I didn't sleep well last night.”
The Green Girl thought that he wouldn't have a bright future as he was so nervous about the competition, saying, ”Okay, my question is…”
Zhuo Rusui said in a weary tone, ”I thought I already answered your question.”
It was quiet in the building.
The Green Girl finally understood what he meant after a pause. She showed a startled expression and said, ”You meant my question about why you are so disheartened?!”
”Of course,” Zhuo Rusui said matter-of-factly.
The other disciples couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the Green Mountain Sect lately.
The Green Girl was speechless, but she found that he was right that he had already answered her question. She said in defeat, ”I have to admit that you are very sharp. Go ahead and enter then.”
Zhuo Rusui sauntered toward the rear of the building.
The Green Girl flew up from the Go board and rose in midair. Seeing the scene, her frustrated mood got even worse. She thought to herself that she would give the next competitor a hard time to avenge her earlier defeat.
Jing Jiu walked over.
The Green Girl was frozen midair when she saw his face. She forgot about flapping her wings and drifted back down to the Go board.
As she came back to her senses, she asked softly with a red face, ”What…is your name?”
”Jing Jiu.”
”What a good name it is.”
Jing Jiu had passed the test.
There was an uproar in the building.
Bai Zao couldn't help but smile helplessly, and walked forward.
…
…
It was the deep end of the cliff wall in the Huiyin Valley at the back of the building. There was a stony cave on the top of the cliff wall that looked like a sky well.
Jing Jiu didn't like this kind of place, though that didn't show on his face.
The sunlight streamed down from the stony cave, shining on the ground.
A Bronze Formation of five hundred square feet was set up on the ground.
It could be regarded as a large mirror if one ignored the lines and cracks on it.
The large Bronze Mirror exuded an indescribable energy. The energy was ten-thousand times lighter than the faintest perfume, but it could be smelled plainly, or be sensed. It was extremely fresh. It seemed that anyone who smelled it would feel their body had gotten lighter. The energy was similar to when the Green Girl waved her sleeve.
The amazing thing was that anybody would perceive from such a faint odor a strong smell, much stronger than that of milk and alcohol.
This should be the Green Sky Mirror.
Jing Jiu looked at the surroundings and found there were twenty six futons in the cave.
There was a thin thread underneath each futon leading to the Green Sky Mirror.
If one observed it closely, they would find that those thin threads were actually the rivers with all sorts of boats on them.
On the boats were the boatmen, merchants, young ladies watching the scenery while holding up the curtain, a woman nursing her child with bared breasts. They were not alive even though they were life-like; it was evident that these humans were not real.
All of those who had entered earlier were meditating with closed eyes, and so was Zuo Rusui.
The faint energy they smelled earlier must be a sliver of the fairy energy leaking from the Green Sky Mirror. To cultivate in the fairy energy was something desired by every Cultivation practitioner.
Jing Jiu shot the disciple of the No-Mercy Sect a glance and sat down on a futon he chose randomly. He drew some air into his nose by bringing his palms to his nose; he inhaled the air and ascertained that it was the true fairy energy.
The Green Sky Mirror was the heavenly treasure, and it was also called the magic treasure of the fairy immortals, though it had never left this world. Accordingly, it shouldn't have such energy.
Was it possible that the Fairy Book of Longevity had been always in the Green Sky Mirror, or in the Illusionary Realm of Cloud-Dream?
That was probably why his Big Brother couldn't find it.
Thinking of all this, Jing Jiu's unsettled feeling became more obvious, and it grew even worse.
More participants came to the cave one after the other.
Bai Zao, Que Niang of the Mirror Sect, the Scholar Xi of the One-Cottage House, and that scholarly disciple of the Kunlun Sect had all passed the test.
They were all stunned when they saw the Green Sky Mirror, and then they sat down to meditate as quickly as they could.
Bai Zao didn't act this way. It was evident that Tong Yan hadn't come here before, but Bai Zao was quite familiar with the place.
As the only daughter of the Center Sect Master, she indeed had a special status on the Cloud-Dream Mountain. It seemed that she had tremendous experience of cultivating here or even in the Illusionary Realm.
As all twenty six futons were seated, the Green Girl flew in and clapped her hands.
A gust of wind rose in the Green Sky Mirror as thousands of residual hands moved together.