Chapter 5: Behind the Scenes

Chapter 5: Behind the Scenes

Rumors like this always get more ridiculous the more they spread.

And as they spread, they naturally take on a full story with its own logic, making it a pain to debunk—even the people involved might start believing the hype.

Take, for example, Xiang Rong, who had been peddling the exam papers.

Xiang Rong rushed into the Inner Sect's Tianyi Workshop and, upon seeing his twin sister Xiang Yi, demanded:

"Why didn't you tell me the exam papers contained hidden truths?!"

Xiang Yi swayed on her feet at his words. She turned her head, turning red with irritation, and shot her twin brother a glare: "What hidden truths?!"

"You're still keeping this from me? I've heard everything!" Xiang Rong said. "The Immortal Venerable planted hidden truths in your Inner Sect exam papers, wanting to find a chosen one, and that's how Gan Tang hit the jackpot and achieved Foundation Establishment!"

As Xiang Rong said this, he was practically beside himself.

He wasn't jealous of Gan Tang—he just felt that he had sold so many exam papers for peanuts, and lost out big time.

Xiang Rong said with anguish: "Do you know how many more spirit stones we could have earned?"

Xiang Yi didn't know anything about hidden truths. Listening to her brother was like he was talking in riddles, but with things as they were, she didn't dare ask more.

She just wanted to shut him up: "Shut up! I never told you to sell them at all! I only asked you to find a few people to help copy them!" Even as she said this, she wasn't looking at Xiang Rong, but nervously glancing toward the seat of honor at the front of the hall.

"That's why I..." Xiang Rong had wanted to say more, but seeing how uncomfortable his sister looked, it suddenly clicked. He followed Xiang Yi's gaze and looked forward, only then did he notice there was someone else in his sister's room.

It was a kid of fourteen or fifteen, really cute, especially with his pair of round, different-colored eyes—one an ordinary brown, the other a glassy pale gold, bright and innocent, like a young kitten.

At this moment, the boy was curiously observing the twin siblings before him with those clear eyes, like a kitten watching a feather toy.

Xiang Rong met such an innocent and trusting gaze, yet his knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground.

"Jun... Junior Mo," Xiang Rong called out guiltily, "I, I was just kidding."

Xiang Yi also piped up: "Yes, my brother is just an idiot."

"That's understandable," the boy said with a grin. "Twins, huh? Sharing a womb, one always gets less nutrients and turns out a bit dumber."

"..." The Xiang siblings kept their heads down, not daring to make a sound.

But the boy was unwilling to let it go. He pressed Xiang Rong: "What's this about hidden truths you mentioned just now?"

Cold sweat broke out on Xiang Rong's forehead: "It's, it's all just rumors..."

"I want to hear it." The boy said with a hint of a pout.

He started sweating even more, but he didn't dare lie: "The rumor says that although the Immortal Venerable failed his tribulation that day, he gained insight into heavenly secrets, and that's why he gathered the disciples for an exam, to pick a chosen one. But the Inner Sect... uh, instead it was an Outer Sect disciple who got it and broke through to Foundation Establishment."

"Ooooh~~" The boy hummed.

"Of, of course, it's all just rumors!" Xiang Rong looked at this boy, and his brain suddenly kicked back in. He explained in a panic, "So many people took that exam, and none of them seemed to have any enlightenment. Besides, I know the Outer Sect disciple who achieved Foundation Establishment—she was already on the verge of breaking through, she just hit the right timing! Even if there really were some heavenly secrets, the Lord Immortal Venerable would surely think of his direct disciple first."

"Hmph." The boy snorted lightly, but the smile on his face deepened slightly.

Seeing this, Xiang Rong let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The boy then asked: "But from the way you were talking, those papers sold pretty well?"

Xiang Rong's cold sweat broke out again: "It's, it's okay..."

It wasn't just "okay"—they'd sold like hotcakes.

Ever since people discovered that Gan Tang had used the "Immortal Venerable's Secret Papers" to achieve Foundation Establishment, the Outer Sect disciples had gone out of their way to get their hands on the exam papers. It wasn't just Outer Sect disciples either—even the sect's servants and laborers wanted to get their hands on a copy, treating the papers like Foundation-building Pills, as if just doing them would guarantee a breakthrough.

Xiang Rong had raked in a fortune from this. The reason he had come running to Xiang Yi's place to kick up a fuss was simply to expand his business:

—After all, the Immortal Venerable had put out so many sets of exam papers! If he could get his hands on all the Inner Sect exam papers and sell them as a bundle, he could earn even more.

That was Xiang Rong's plan, but who would have thought this "big shot" would be here.

Though, it made sense—the Outer Sect was kicking up such a fuss, the Inner Sect would surely have heard the news by now.

Xiang Rong thought to himself.

Xiang Yi had clearly had the same thought. She discreetly pinched Xiang Rong's arm and said to "Junior Mo": "But we're not selling the papers anymore! We never planned to sell them in the first place, right?" She glared at Xiang Rong.

Xiang Rong didn't want to, but he didn't dare show it: "Yes, that's right."

"Junior Mo" watched the twin siblings' wordless exchange with great interest, then smiled: "Why not sell them? I was just about to say—since everyone outside wants them so badly, just give them what they want."

"But—"

"Junior Mo's" expression darkened: "Or are you saying that you think spreading my senior brother's exam papers all over the place is a good thing?"

"No, I didn't!" Xiang Rong defended himself, sweating buckets. "I know where to draw the line! Apart from the papers that leaked out when I first had people copy them as a punishment, everything I sold afterward was only Inner Sect exam papers. So the papers of Senior Brother and yours that are out there were all leaked by those people who were copying as punishment—it has nothing to do with me—"

"Idiot!" Xiang Yi grabbed her brother's arm and said to "Junior Mo": "I understand! I'll have my brother and others try to get exam papers from other Inner Sect disciples, and sell way more of them, far and wide!" Until they completely drowned out the original batch of papers, so that even if someone tried to investigate, they wouldn't be able to trace the source.

Xiang Rong caught on too. He added: "The spirit stones earned from selling the papers—you get seven... eight... nine... you get ninety percent, I get one, waaah"

"Junior Mo" nodded at last.

This time, Xiang Rong actually started crying.

But "Junior Mo" wasn't done yet: "As for that disciple who broke through—"

Xiang Rong's stomach dropped.

He stammered: "Gan, Gan Tang is a very stubborn person. She, she won't tell anyone! In fact, with so many people looking for her now, she hasn't shared any of the papers she bought from me with anyone."

Unfortunately, "Junior Mo" paid no attention to his explanation and instead zeroed in on the important part: "That disciple who broke through is named Gan Tang?"

Xiang Rong's heart sank.

Xiang Rong's mouth moved, and then, ignoring Xiang Yi's desperate pinching of his arm, he tried to say something. But before he could actually speak, what was behind "Junior Mo" made his eyes widen.

It wasn't just him—Xiang Yi looked terrified too.

"Junior Mo" had no idea. He flashed his adorable smile again:

"What's with those expressions? Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone. Actually, I want her to help with the 'business' we just talked about. After all, papers sold by the 'Chosen One' herself are the real deal!"

"And what if she doesn't want to help?"

"Junior Brother Mo" smiled sweetly. "Who could possibly say no to me?"

After saying this, he suddenly felt something was off. The Xiang siblings shouldn't have the nerve to question him, and the voice that had asked the question seemed to come from behind him—and it sounded way too familiar.

"Junior Brother Mo" went rigid on the spot.

But laughter came from behind: "Xi'er's got some real confidence in himself!"

"...Master."

Junior Brother Mo—no, Mo Xi, the youngest disciple under Zhou Hui—slowly turned around, and sure enough, saw the silver-haired youth standing behind him, radiant as moonlight, making the flashy youth beside him look like a peony bathed in moonlight.

"Second Senior Brother's here too..."

Mo Xi said flatly. He couldn't muster a smile for these two—seeing them was like Xiang Rong seeing him; it just made him want to cry.

The master's self-discipline went without saying.

Mo Xi didn't dare look him in the eye.

Second Senior Brother Qu Qianxing was also the last person Mo Xi wanted to catch him in the act.

Because out of all the senior brothers and sisters, Qu Qianxing was the biggest nag.

Take right now, for instance—Qu Qianxing was staring at Mo Xi in shock.

He and Zhou Hui had watched an outer disciple break through to Foundation Establishment in the library, and after hearing the outer disciple had broken through by doing inner sect exam papers, they wanted to find out who'd leaked the inner sect papers. But instead, the master had led them straight to the youngest junior brother.

Yes, the "genius" who outsourced his punishment copying and even charged a fee for it was none other than Zhou Hui's youngest disciple:

Mo Xi.

At first, Qu Qianxing hadn't figured out what his goody-two-shoes junior brother was up to, but once the full picture clicked, his gaze turned furious:

"Mo Xi, you actually had someone else do your assignments for you?"

Mo Xi's whole body went stiff.

But at a moment like this, he'd never admit it, even if it killed him.

Mo Xi's eyes welled up almost instantly: "I didn't... Second Senior Brother, you know full well I've been reviewing exam papers with you every day lately!"

Qu Qianxing thought about it, and it was true—which made Mo Xi's behavior even harder to believe:

"Then what the heck are you doing?!"

"...I, I didn't," Mo Xi faltered. "I just wanted to make some money, s-so I agreed to help the senior brothers copy exam papers."

His words were half truth, half lie.

Mo Xi had indeed been diligently reviewing exam papers, but that was just to suck up to Qu Qianxing.

As for the punishment copying, Mo Xi just didn't want to do it.

Mo Xi mainly figured he didn't need to.

His talent was naturally high—he'd hit perfect Foundation Establishment at thirteen, his cultivation was almost on par with Fourth Senior Brother's, and he was sharp and quick-witted. So "pointless repetitive work" was what Mo Xi hated most, which was why he'd had the Xiang siblings pass his homework off to outer disciples.

Of course, the "good little junior brother" would never do such a thing.

Mo Xi flat-out refused to admit what he'd done.

Luckily, Mo Xi was never dumb enough to do something this bad alone—he dragged plenty of people down with him. Knowing his Second Senior Brother, once enough people were involved, Qu Qianxing wouldn't zero in on him alone.

Qu Qianxing did latch onto the key point in Mo Xi's words: "'Senior brothers'?"

But this time, Mo Xi didn't try to defend himself.

He just stared at Qu Qianxing with those big, watery cat eyes, looking stubborn as hell.

Behavior like that would get anyone else a beating, but even Zhou Hui had to admit his youngest disciple was genuinely adorable—even a gesture that annoying looked cute and pitiful on him.

—Well, if he and his sister hadn't been so easy on the eyes, they wouldn't have nearly been sold as top-grade cauldrons back then.

Unfortunately, the overly blunt Qu Qianxing fell for it.

Qu Qianxing himself had a gorgeous face, but he hated his own looks, refused to use them to his advantage, and never realized his junior brother was using his appearance to play cute.

Mo Xi acting like this had to have some other reason.

With that thought, Qu Qianxing's heart softened, and he stopped grilling Mo Xi.

"Even if you don't tell me, you think I wouldn't find out?" Qu Qianxing said with his mouth, but his eyes had already landed on the Xiang siblings: "Whose exam papers did you guys get?"

"Th-there were a few senior brothers' papers..." Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi broke into a cold sweat. Naturally, they didn't dare rat out Mo Xi, and they had to run through other names in their heads before picking out a few unimportant ones: "..."

But their hesitation made Qu Qianxing unleash the pressure of a Golden Core cultivator:

"Spill it! How dare you sell inner sect exam papers!"

That alone showed how biased he was.

He let Mo Xi off the hook and pinned the whole exam-paper-selling crime on those two disciples.

But Qu Qianxing had always been like that—in his heart, his own junior brothers came before other inner disciples, and inner disciples ranked above outer ones.

Xiang Rong couldn't answer. He was scared of Mo Xi, let alone the pressure of a Golden Core cultivator.

Luckily, at that moment, something propped him up and easily brushed away the terrifying pressure.

"Alright, Qian Xing," a gentle voice sighed. "It's not that big of a deal."

"But, Master..." Qu Qianxing furrowed his brow.

Mo Xi's eyes were still red, but his ears perked up.

He was confident he could handle his biased Second Senior Brother, but when it came to his master, he had zero confidence.

In theory, someone at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage knew everything, but from Mo Xi's experience, he'd found that as long as high-level cultivators were still human, they had weaknesses—they weren't all-powerful.

Mo Xi was actually a little recklessly curious about his master's limits.

—Based on past signs, Zhou Hui was actually way easier to deal with than Qu Qianxing; his strictness was mostly aimed at himself.

Zhou Hui seemed ready to let it slide: "I never said you couldn't give inner sect exam papers to outer disciples."

"But they're selling them!" And they were selling the master's own exam papers! Qu Qianxing ground his teeth.

Zhou Hui curiously glanced at the Xiang siblings and asked, "How did they sell?"

Earlier, Mo Xi had asked the same question, and Xiang Rong and Xiang Yi did not think the Immortal Venerable's inquiry carried the same meaning as Mo Xi's. Yet they could not ignore a question from a Tribulation Transcendence Stage expert.

"R-really well," Xiang Rong said reluctantly, "almost everyone wanted a copy of the exam paper."

"A commendable thirst for knowledge." Zhou Hui smiled.

"Master!" Qu Qianxing exclaimed, "That doesn't deserve praise!"

Mo Xi, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief, figuring the master probably wouldn't make a fuss over it.

But then Zhou Hui spoke kindly:

"Since everyone is so eager to learn, let's hold a big sect-wide exam."