Chapter 47: Vote-Begging at the Deadline, Desert Trial

Lingxi always grew drowsy at the sight of long-winded case files. Having traveled thousands of miles over the past few days, she had essentially been on a date with the God of Dreams.

When she finally opened her eyes again, the dense crowd around her was keeping a respectful distance. One by one, they wore bizarre expressions, occasionally shooting her sideways glances.

An ominous sensation welled up in her heart. Lowering her gaze to inspect her attire and appearance, she nearly lost her mind.

A redwood coffin exuded the pungent scent of tung oil, a white brocade quilt covered her body, and her hands were crossed neatly over her abdomen, presenting an image of supreme serenity.

With a sudden, carp-like spring, Lingxi sat upright, causing the surrounding onlookers to scatter instantly.

Terror flickered in the disciples' eyes. Their hands hovered over the hilts of their spirit swords, though under Luochen’s smiling gaze, they hesitated and ultimately failed to draw their blades.

Early in the morning, pushing a wheeled coffin along with the lid left open—it was bizarre beyond words, and to top it all off, the corpse had just come back to life.

Good grief, this was sacred territory of the immortal sects; did corpses actually rise from the dead here?

Resting one hand on the edge of the coffin, Lingxi gazed mournfully at Sui'an, who was the one pushing it.

Sui'an wore a look of utter solicitude. "Junior Sister, you're finally awake. How is it? Did you sleep comfortably?"

"The coffin is made of premium material. Remember to keep it safe; next time, just wake me up directly," Lingxi said, grinding her back molars.

"No worries, just consider it a little surprise gift prepared by your senior brother."

Lingxi pressed her lips together, her fists slowly tightening. There were moments when she genuinely had the urge to beat someone up.

Luochen patted her head, amused by her tiny expressions. "It's fine. Seeing how nervous everyone is about the selection trials, I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere. Besides, nobody was crowding us—look how wide the road is. The effect was pretty good, wasn't it?"

The surrounding disciples rolled their eyes all the way to the heavens. Daring not to speak their minds, they silently reaffirmed the label of "eccentrics" attached to Danbo Peak.

Whose good-natured folks livened up the atmosphere like this?!

With a coffin leading the way, their journey had been entirely unobstructed.

On the spirit platform, disciples from other peaks had been waiting for a long time. Seeing that the opening time for the teleportation array was fast approaching with still no sign of anyone from Danbo Peak, the disciples watching from below broke into lively discussions.

"Why hasn't anyone from Danbo Peak arrived yet? Could it be they're too scared? After all, aside from Bing Cang whose cultivation regressed to the Qi Condensation stage, their peak doesn't even have a single fighter at the Foundation Establishment level. How on earth are they supposed to play a team cooperation match?"

"You must be a newly entered disciple this year, right? In the second round of selection trials, human wit and moral character are valued far more than raw martial prowess."

Although there is a clearance battle at the very end, it's not entirely impossible for them to make the final roster."

"Then how is the score calculated here? It's not like gathering spiritual plants or collecting demonic cores—can the scoring stele really be that sensitive?"

"It's simple. Look over there, there's a water mirror. The performance of every single disciple is presented simultaneously before the viewers' eyes. The Grand Competition follows this exact format."

A ten-zhang-tall, irregular, thin crystal screen stood directly ahead, its outline radiating a gentle spiritual glow. It was divided into sixteen sections of varying sizes, with the central screen occupying the prime C-position, much larger than all the others.

Luowu looked at the high-end, atmospheric, and upscale water mirror, while bleeding silently in his heart.

Such a massive piece had cost several million top-grade spirit stones, but in order to observe the performance of seed contestants from all angles at any time, he had ultimately spent a huge sum to purchase it.

Green light flickered on the teleportation array to the right of the water mirror, occasionally emitting a beep.

Cold sweat beaded on Luowu's palms. He stretched his neck to scan the surroundings, yet still no one appeared. He checked his communication jade slip repeatedly, but not a single reply had come through.

Thinking of Luochen’s completely unreliable tendency to just go with the flow, he genuinely suspected that everyone on Danbo Peak had forgotten all about the trial.

With a heavy sigh, he raised his hand, preparing to announce the beginning of the second round and gather the inner disciples from the sixteen peaks who had made the trial roster.

Just then, the sound of wooden wheels rolling echoed through the air, and the disciples of Danbo Peak made a dazzling entrance.

Resting one hand on the edge of the coffin, Lingxi flipped her body sideways and vaulted out.

"Good morning, everyone! A coffin, a coffin, close the gates and make a fortune! This is a blessing sent to everyone from our Danbo Peak, and we hope you like it. Your support is greatly appreciated!"

Showing her little tiger teeth with a butterfly hairpin fluttering atop her head, she greeted the onlookers with a beaming smile.

The shock in the eyes of the spectators transformed into delight, giving rise to thunderous applause as many waved their arms in her direction.

For this round of advancement, aside from the elders giving stage-by-stage scores on their team performance, there was also a jade slip voting segment designed to enhance the audience's immersive experience. The ones with the highest composite rankings would win.

The Immortal Alliance conducted the Grand Competition this way to balance their budget, since watching the competition required purchasing tickets, after all.

Luowu had decided to emulate this—not to sell tickets, but to further test the stress resistance and expressive capacity of the inner disciples, preparing them for the future Grand Competition.

"As expected of Junior Sister Ling, she can even think of such a method to solicit votes. But there is one thing I must remind Junior Sister: even if the observing disciples are willing to vote, it still depends on your performance scores!"

Seeing Gu Jiuyuan frown slightly, Shen Zimo shook his folding fan and smiled faintly, offering a remark that sounded like a reminder but was thoroughly laced with mockery.

Lingxi returned his smile, then turned toward the audience, raising her fist to boost morale. "Senior Brother Shen had a minor disagreement with us over a trivial matter. But I believe that with everyone's support, Danbo Peak will break through the encirclement!"

Before Lingxi could continue shouting slogans to canvas for votes, a gentle stream of spiritual energy coiled around her waist and swept her toward the teleportation array.

Bing Cang and the others flew in immediately afterward, having been kicked over by Luochen.

Seeing that Lingxi was still standing outside the teleportation array, Sui'an gave her a tug, and the four of them tumbled headfirst into the array together.

The green spiritual light dissipated, and a pillar of snow-white light surged from the ground, soaring straight into the firmament with unstoppable momentum, instantly eclipsing the radiance of the morning sun.

Robes of various colors spun in a spiral within the pillar of spiritual light, gradually shrinking until they vanished into the horizon.

The crowd shifted their gazes in unison, locking their eyes onto the massive water mirror screen.

The central screen was the first to light up, revealing the inner disciples of Danbo Peak pulling their heads out of the sand and spitting out mouthfuls of grit with drooping heads.

The elders exchanged glances, their attention converging on Luowu.

Even if Danbo Peak had managed to snatch first place by sheer luck last time, the central position shouldn't be squandered on a bunch of useless disciples.

What entertainment could possibly come from watching a bunch of good-for-nothings practice running away?

Luowu gave a dry cough, his gaze flickering slightly with evasion. "It's purely a random allocation. Once the vote counts and stage scores come out, the image locations will update automatically."

Finding it difficult to say anything further, the others refrained from commenting and fixed their eyes back on the imagery, silently cheering for their own respective teams.

Beneath the blazing sun, the sand dunes reflected a golden-white brilliance, rolling on in endless undulations to stretch into the distance where they met the sky.

Countless poplars stood firm amidst the yellow sand, their withered branches motionless in the face of the wind, silently awaiting travelers.

After spitting out a few more mouthfuls of sand, Lingxi stared at the scene before her and lost her mind.

Last time it had been an ice and snow world, and this time it was desert survival.

If it's not a harsh environment, you simply won't choose it, will you?!

Not far away, a blur of black shadows came rushing faintly into view. Yellow sand filled the sky, and roar after roar echoed without end.

"Oh no, it's Flaming Lions! Run!" A white gleam flashed in Wen Jue's eyes. Disregarding the sand clinging to his clothes, he grabbed Lingxi's hand and bolted.

Seeming to have sensed something, the Flaming Lions flashed a look of greed in their eyes, their massive bodies shooting forward like arrows loosed from a bow as they raced wildly toward Lingxi and the others.