Chapter 10: Secretly…

Chapter 10: Secretly...

"Ah, the Senior Brother is strung up at the mountain gate again."

"How did he manage to anger the Immortal Venerable this time?"

"That was quick—I figured the Immortal Venerable only just got through his Heavenly Tribulation a few days ago, so he'd give him more time to run wild!"

In the valley of Celestial Spirit Mountain, the rustling of the trees blended with the hushed whispers.

At the entrance of this valley stood a massive peach tree, which had grown for tens of thousands of years. Its girth and height no longer seemed like those of a peach tree anymore. It bloomed once every three hundred years and bore fruit once every six hundred years.

In years when it neither bloomed nor fruited, it just looked like an absurdly huge dead tree. As a result, few people realized this peach tree was actually the Celestial Spirit Sect's mountain gate.

Today, though, a young man—young at least in appearance—was strung up in the branches of that peach tree.

The young man had a handsome face, sharp sword-like brows, bright starry eyes, and a pair of long, straight legs. He was the kind of promising young man that anyone, male or female, young or old, couldn't help but praise.

Unfortunately, no matter how handsome a guy was, having his neck twisted at a ninety-degree angle made him look absolutely horrifying. And being strung up on a tree that looked like a withered husk only made it creepier.

If anyone stumbled into this area by accident, they'd definitely think Celestial Spirit Mountain was a place of great misfortune.

But inside the Celestial Spirit Sect, everyone was clearly used to this sight by now.

Only the spirit beast servants who didn't have to take exams bothered to discuss why. The sect's disciples didn't even give it a second glance, just hurried between the library and their dorms.

They still had exams to study for!

And if they did badly, they might end up strung up on the mountain gate themselves.

—There's no such thing as a secret that stays hidden. Plenty of people already knew that the one who scored worst last time was their Senior Brother. They weren't sure if him getting strung up had anything to do with it, but putting in extra effort couldn't hurt.

That was exactly why Gan Tang was so surprised to see Xiang Rong.

"Penalty... copied exams?" Gan Tang asked.

The papers she had weren't all bought—some were copies she'd done as a penalty for other people. Gan Tang had finished copying them ages ago, but between the Foundation Establishment breakthrough and the sect-wide exam, she'd completely forgotten to give them back to Xiang Rong.

Xiang Rong had never come to ask for them either, so Gan Tang figured he didn't need them anymore!

Gan Tang instinctively glanced toward the mountain gate. "You still need them now?"

"I do, I do," Xiang Rong said, being polite in a way he'd never been before. "If you think the price isn't fair, I can refund you for those papers."

His politeness toward her wasn't because she'd reached Foundation Establishment—Xiang Rong dealt with disciples of all cultivation levels all the time and couldn't care less about Gan Tang's accomplishment—but because Gan Tang had gotten herself "registered" with the Tireless Immortal Venerable.

Zhou Hui clearly knew about Gan Tang's situation and had quietly given his approval. If anything happened to Gan Tang now, both he and Mo Xi would be in trouble, so Xiang Rong had no choice but to treat her with respect.

Besides, Xiang Rong had his own little scheme: "Actually, I'd be fine refunding you the whole amount. Can I copy your answers instead?"

"...I don't really want to sell my answers," Gan Tang said hesitantly.

As the source of the rumor that "exam papers hold the secrets of heaven," tons of people had come to buy papers from Gan Tang before, and she'd never sold a single one. Besides her agreement with Xiang Rong to keep the paper contents confidential, she also didn't think she was qualified to guide anyone—not misleading them would already be a win.

Gan Tang didn't want to sell to Xiang Rong either, so she tried to reason with him: "You've handled so many papers—you must have seen the contents, right? The Immortal Venerable never repeats a single question. If it's just for the sect exam, I think past papers can only serve as a reference for question types—there's no way he'll use the exact same questions."

Xiang Rong, however, rubbed his hands together and grinned: "No need to sell, no need to sell. I just want to soak up some of your luck."

"My luck?"

"Exactly. You got your hands on those papers and successfully reached Foundation Establishment—clearly your luck is solid. If I soak up a bit of it, maybe I'll get a decent score on the sect exam," Xiang Rong said.

"I don't think it has anything to do with luck," Gan Tang said reluctantly, but since Xiang Rong had gone this far, she still handed over her papers. After all, Gan Tang was genuinely grateful to Xiang Rong—even though those papers had nearly cleaned out her wallet back then, they'd helped her reach Foundation Establishment. Besides, compared to what papers cost now, what she'd paid back then was practically a steal.

Xiang Rong was thrilled to get the papers from Gan Tang.

He examined the contents carefully, tucked them safely into his storage pouch, said goodbye to Gan Tang, and—true to his word—didn't sell the papers to anyone. Instead, he headed for the inner sect.

But Xiang Rong didn't do what he usually did—striding in boldly and acting like an inner disciple just because his sister was one.

He cautiously turned a corner and, like some lecherous scoundrel, snuck along a secluded path and climbed into his sister's private room.

Unfortunately, this scene was caught by none other than Mo Xi—the very person they feared most.

"What the hell is that guy up to?"

*

Mo Xi wondered, but he felt a little thrill at having caught his subordinate red-handed.

Originally, Mo Xi had just stepped out for some fresh air.

Lately, in his eagerness to impress his master, he'd taken on way too many tasks, and the pressure was crushing. But what annoyed him even more than the tasks was that the area around the Wordless Palace he was supposed to renovate happened to be one of the most study-heavy spots in the Celestial Spirit Sect, second only to the library.

Now, stepping into the Wordless Palace, no matter how remote the corner, you'd see people reciting texts, solving problems, or frantically copying notes.

In all his years in the Celestial Spirit Sect, Mo Xi had never seen the disciples work this hard—it was like they were about to face Tribulation Transcendence tomorrow.

The master hadn't even promised any rewards for good scores, so why bother so much?

Mo Xi thought with dissatisfaction.

With his personality of never lifting a finger without some profit, he naturally thought all this effort was completely pointless.

But humans are easily swayed by their surroundings, and Mo Xi hadn't cultivated to the point of being completely unmoved by external influences. Especially when he looked up and saw a bunch of people working hard, being the only one not studying made him feel incredibly out of place.

And Mo Xi couldn't stop them or chase them off.

—Not only did Qu Qianxing forbid it, but the papers and practice questions in those people's hands were all sold at Mo Xi's orders through the Xiang siblings. He couldn't very well sabotage his own business.

Stuck in that bizarre atmosphere, Mo Xi finally felt like he couldn't take it anymore. He handed off some miscellaneous tasks to other disciples and slipped over to Xiang Yi's place, intending to check the account books—even though he had a system, holding the physical ledgers felt more familiar—to calm his nerves.

But before he could even get to the ledgers, Mo Xi spotted Xiang Rong sneaking around suspiciously.

Mo Xi's interest was immediately piqued.

It wasn't that he cared about sect discipline—he even thought that rule was way too restrictive—but as someone who loved pulling little schemes himself, like repels like. Mo Xi hated others doing shady things behind his back, especially when it involved the Xiang siblings, whom he considered his servants.

Driven by even darker thoughts, Mo Xi didn't immediately call out to Xiang Rong. Instead, he activated several artifacts that suppressed his aura and concealed his form, then quietly trailed behind him.

Xiang Rong had no idea. He nimbly climbed through the window of his sister's private room.

Xiang Yi had been waiting in the room, secretly doing heaven knows what. Hearing the sound, she instinctively hid whatever was in her hands. When she turned and saw it was her twin brother, she let out a relieved breath.

She lowered her voice and asked, "Got it?"

"Got it," Xiang Rong replied, keeping his voice low. "The exam papers of the better outer sect disciples are all here. But I'd still recommend Gan Tang—her reaching Foundation Establishment isn't for nothing. Her papers are actually easier to understand than those of several inner disciples, because she not only summarized the question types but also categorized them."

With that, Xiang Rong pulled a thick stack of exam papers out of his storage pouch and asked Xiang Yi,

"You got yours?"

"Not bad—I got hold of Senior Brother Guan's exam papers, the one who's banned from ordering takeout," Xiang Yi said. "Although Senior Brother Guan's cultivation level isn't high among the inner disciples, his papers are the easiest to understand, and the copied material also includes extra knowledge that isn't in the textbooks."

"Good job," Xiang Rong said, suppressing his excitement.

But Mo Xi, outside the window, wore a knowing look:

Ah-ha! So these two really are secretly selling exam papers behind my back!

Although Mo Xi had authorized the Xiang siblings to sell the papers, he took a hefty cut. Especially recently—he wanted to impress the master, so he'd taken on the task of renovating the Wordless Palace, but he hadn't gotten any funds from Qu Qianxing, so he had poured all the spirit stones earned from selling exam papers into it, leaving almost nothing for the Xiang siblings.

On top of that, Mo Xi also treated the outer and inner disciples differently.

Catering to the spending power of the two groups, he put together several different versions of exam paper collections, trying to squeeze out every last spirit stone from the Celestial Spirit Sect disciples.

But the worst part was that Mo Xi knew exactly how shady his actions were.

Therefore, Mo Xi didn't trust his two subordinates at all, and even suspected that, given how he squeezed them, they might secretly break his rules to make some money on the side.

Now the Xiang siblings' sneaky actions seemed to prove Mo Xi's suspicions.

Should he warn them?

Mo Xi was pondering this when his attention was drawn to what the two were doing inside the room.

He saw that after exchanging the extra exam papers, the Xiang siblings didn't copy, organize, and price them like they did with previous "merchandise"—instead, they carefully studied them.

They even whispered to each other:

"Perfect, let's go over those questions we couldn't solve before!" Xiang Rong said. "Then we'll look at similar question types in Senior Brother Guan and Gan Tang's papers."

"Alright." Xiang Yi nodded and took out what she'd just stashed away.

It turned out to be a handmade notebook, densely filled with handwritten notes, almost rivaling the ledger that Xiang Yi treasured. But instead of numbers, it contained random bits of knowledge that couldn't earn spirit stones, which Xiang Yi had never cared about before.

Now Xiang Yi held the notebook and asked seriously, "Which of the following demon beasts frequently appear in the shallows near Yuanhai? A, Bo Yu; B, mirage demon; C, He Luo; D, Gu Diao."

"Gu Diao."

"What category of demon creature does Gu Diao belong to?"

"Bird... no, it lives in water, right? I remember I got this wrong last time too," Xiang Rong frowned. "I guess it's a fish?"

"Are you sure?"

"Let me think again." Xiang Rong raised his hand, his entire face scrunching up.

His expression wasn't that of someone pondering a monster unrelated to his life, but rather one that could bring him a fortune at any moment.

Mo Xi took in this scene, utterly astonished:

Wait, I got it wrong? These two aren't cooking the books—they're—

"You two have been secretly studying all along!"

Mo Xi burst in through the window.