Qin Yu packed up his things. He walked out with the many other participating cultivators who were staying at the inn and stepped onto the main street, headed towards the assigned departure meeting point. But strangely, a good number of cultivators he encountered along the way were black and blue, as if they had been brutally beaten up. Strange, was there some group event that occurred last night?

The competition was about to occur yet they still had the thought to mess around with these things. Indeed, the cultivators within the Land of Divinity and Demons really knew how to play! Qin Yu shook his head, no longer paying attention to this. It was just that when he occasionally looked around, he felt that there was something lacking in the crowd. He didn’t think he would have a mistaken feeling about this, so he furrowed his eyebrows and thought. After a moment, he suddenly realized what it was. There wasn’t a single person wearing a black robe in the crowd!

This was strange. During the registration yesterday, while there weren’t many people in black robes, there were still some of them. How come everyone had changed their outfits today?

The rules of the competition didn’t seem to have any stipulations regarding this.

As he was thinking about it, Qin Yu soon arrived at the meeting point where everyone was waiting to begin. He didn’t need to wait for long. The supervisors of the competition began to hand out timers to the cultivators. These things were quite simple, completely like their name. Their only use was to calculate time.

This was because only cultivators that passed through the wilderness within a day would have the qualifications to participate; otherwise they would be forced to return. Qin Yu received one too and was given a stringent reminder to take good care of it. The timer was in the shape of a small hourglass. When the departure signal was sent out, the sand would begin to flow, lasting for just one day.

Of course, this thing might seem simple, but it actually wasn’t at all. During the previous Youth Alchemy Competitions held by the Southshine Nation, there were people who tried to tinker and modify the hourglass. But no matter how exquisite their methods they were easily discovered and their deposit was lost. That was a loss of 30,000 spirit stones. If one had to make a guess, then maybe all of the officials in the Southshine Nation were hoping that the participating cultivators would try some small tricks. If so, their profits would be huge!

“Everyone, please prepare yourselves. Entry into the wilderness will begin in one hour. If you need to form a team please do so now.” After the official reminded everyone, the open space outside the city suddenly turned into a chaotic jumble of sounds.

“Brother Xu, Brother Wang, hurry up a little. The five of us are the perfect number for a group.”

“We are a four man group with good offense and defense, urgently looking for a speed-based fellow daoist. If you join us your safety will be guaranteed.”

“Are there any high defense earth-attribute fellow daoists available? Our group of ultra-high offense sword cultivators is just waiting for you to join!”

That’s right, while passing through the wilderness, one could form a team.

The Southshine Nation officials had combed through the wilderness before the competition began in order to ensure there weren’t any powerful monster beasts left that surpassed the limits of resistance the competitors could offer. But, this didn’t mean that there weren’t any dangers.

The goal of the competition was to unearth hidden geniuses, not to have talented young cultivators run into the mouths of monster beasts and become food. If they formed a team, their safety would rise drastically. Of course, the maximum number of people allowed in a team was five. Otherwise if dozens or hundreds of people traversed the wilderness together, there wouldn’t be any challenge at all, nor would this serve to eliminate anyone.

Oh, that’s right, this current hurdle was called the Wilderness Trial.

Qin Yu hesitated. He didn’t know anyone here and he wouldn’t necessarily feel safer if he formed a team. After thinking over the situation, he felt it might be safer if he just headed off on his own. If he was a little bit more careful, then with his current cultivation there shouldn’t be any problem at all. As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a loud cry of pleasant surprise in his ears. “Big brother, it’s you!”

Qin Yu turned and saw Little Fengfeng running over to him, her face full of ecstatic delight. He furrowed his eyebrows. He had been wearing black robes yesterday so how did this girl recognize him all of a sudden?

“Hey! We really do have some fate together. I was in a hurry to leave yesterday but then I remembered that I forgot to ask you for your name, and I’ve been worrying about how to repay you for the spirit stones.” As she spoke she pulled out her handphone. “Big brother, come on, let’s add each other. I’ll transfer the money to you.”

Qin Yu maintained his composure and pulled out his handphone. As she was busy tapping her handphone, he lightly asked, “How did you recognize me?”

“That’s easy. I just used my nose.” Little Fengfeng had a prideful expression. “My nose is quite fierce. As long as I smell them, whether it is a person or object, I will never forget them, no matter how much time passes.”

Qin Yu relaxed a little. If it was like this then there wasn’t anything to worry about. At this time, a cold humph sounded out, “Fengfeng, stop speaking so much!”

A man spoke up. He had black hair, wore white robes, and had a face like a star. If Qin Yu had to rank the most beautiful men he had ever seen in his life, this man would definitely be amongst them. His expression was cold yet noble. He clearly had a considerable background.

“Cousin, can you be more polite? This is the big brother that lent me spirit stones yesterday. If it weren’t for him, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to register.” Little Fengfeng glared at him. Her fingers tapped on her handphone several more times and then she looked up and smiled. “Alright, 50,000 spirit stones will soon be arriving in your account.”

Qin Yu shook his head. “I didn’t lend you that much.”

Little Fengfeng lifted her head with pride. “Big brother helped others with good intentions, so you should definitely be rewarded. Moreover, I’m not lacking money at all, so you should just take it.”

The handsome cousin had an ill complexion. He had listened to Little Fenfeng describe yesterday’s events and originally thought this man was harboring ill intentions. But now, as he saw Qin Yu accept 20,000 more spirit stones and still remain calm, he faintly sneered inside, confirming his guess.

This person most likely knew his cousin’s identity and purposefully drew close to her. Hehe, he had seen this sort of thing far too often. He wanted to marry into his family and leap into the skies with a single bound? Dream on!

“Fengfeng, you have already returned the spirit stones. Let’s go.” If the man didn’t even give Qin Yu a chance to respond, what tricks could he still play?

Qin Yu could feel the hostility coming from the handsome cousin as well as the other man and woman behind him. He approximately guessed what the situation was and he wasn’t angry at all. He cupped his hands together and said, “Then, farewell.”

He turned and walked away.

This actually left the handsome cousin startled. He thought to himself, ‘was I overthinking things’? But in the next moment, his complexion darkened and he gnashed his teeth. What a good plan of ‘loosening the reins to grasp them better’!

He watched as his overly favored and spoiled little cousin bounced over and caught up to him. “Big brother, are you alone? We just happen to be missing one more person to form a team.”

Qin Yu was grabbed by his arm. He couldn’t help but stop. He said, “Forget about it.”

“Big brother, have you promised someone else already?” Little Fengfeng blinked her eyes, looking pitiful and sad.

Qin Yu had a headache. “Well, I haven’t yet…”

“Good. Then I welcome big brother to join. With you in my group, I can rest assured. Otherwise, if that foolish cousin of mine led the way, I really would be scared.”

The handsome cousin had dark lines etched down his face. He clenched his teeth and roared, “White Fengfeng, shut up for once!” He took several heaving breaths and then sneered, “Our group just happens to be missing an assistant wet nurse. If fellow daoist isn’t one, please don’t waste our time.”

“Black Beibei, you should be the one to shut up! Big brother is my benefactor and if you dare to not let him join our group, I will go back now and tell father and mother that you were the one who forced me to run away from home!”

Ss –

Black Beibei sucked in a breath of cold air. He was shocked by how vicious this little girl could be. For an outsider she had only met twice, she actually used such a killing blow on him!

Could this little girl be lovestruck? Shit, this couldn’t happen, this absolutely couldn’t happen. If this were true, then his uncle wouldn’t even need to do anything; his aunt would tear him to pieces. Don’t panic, don’t panic, let me figure out the situation. It was too early to make such assumptions; maybe she only has a good impression of him. If I forcefully push this brat away, that would likely stir up the rebellious nature of my idiot cousin, and that would only make things harder to deal with. No, why don’t I just bring him along with us? With my eyes watching him like a torch, what sort of waves could this brat cause?

Moreover, looking at his cultivation, he was at most at the third or fourth level of Nascent Soul. Once they entered the wilderness he could look for an opportunity to cause this fellow to suffer a loss or two and disgrace him in front of everyone. His cousin would surely lose interest in him then. Hehe, I really am a genius! No wonder they call me the most respected, handsome, intellectual, carefree, and majestic man in the world!

Ah…wait, something seemed to be wrong…after thinking for a moment he suddenly froze, and his gaze swept over his naïve cousin’s face. Indeed, there was some stiffness in his expression. He howled inwardly with sorrow, ruthlessly glaring at White Fengfeng. You damned girl, you actually dared to call out my real name. Didn’t you know this is the ultimate taboo? I’ll remember this!

Black Beibei coughed and put on a face as if he didn’t know anything. He said, “On behalf of your helping my young cousin here, I will allow you to join. But, the wilderness is different from other places and danger can emerge from any corner. You need to be more careful, otherwise if something were to happen, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Qin Yu was crestfallen. How come it seemed as if he had begged to join or something? These people clearly didn’t even ask him before arbitrarily making the decision for him. He had the mind to turn them down, but White Fengfeng was already cheering out loud, grabbing onto him tightly and pulling him forwards.

“Wilderness, this Fengfeng is coming!”

A warmth spread up his arm. Qin Yu never thought that this young and delicate little girl would have such unexpected skills. After a momentary daze, he was already dragged far forwards in the front. When he regained his composure and looked at her cheerful appearance, he hesitated and swallowed up the words of rejection he was about to say.

Aiya, whatever, whatever. It was just one day of time at most, so he might as well endure it.

If Black Beibei knew Qin Yu’s current thoughts, he would absolutely have gone crazy. But even if he didn’t, his complexion was already ugly. Behind him, the purple-robed man looked as if he had eaten something sour. “Brother Black, are we just going to watch on as Miss White is deceived by this person? Humph, I can see he isn’t someone good with just one glance!”

The woman beside him also wore a purple dress. She felt that her big brother’s words weren’t too right, and that young fellow’s attitude did seem quite likable. But as she thought about this some more and how this was related to the person that her brother liked, she decided to stand on the same side as him. She earnestly nodded.

Hearing the words Brother Black, Black Beibei felt his heart twitch. An indescribable feeling rose up in him, soon transforming into annoyance. It was all this bastard’s fault. If it weren’t for him, how could his cousin have gone crazy to begin with? Moreover, she had even blurted out his incomparably shameful name that they had both agreed to never mention ever again.

Clenching his teeth, Brother Black said, “Don’t worry. Once we enter the wilderness, there will be plenty of opportunities waiting for us. I will teach him that no one who offends us will have a good life!”

The big brother was overjoyed. “Brother Black, don’t worry, I will do my best to assist you and make sure Miss White sees this brat’s true colors!”

The little sister gripped her fists. “Big Brother Black, me too!”

Beibei walked away. He looked up towards the skies at a 45 degree angle, not letting the tears drip down his cheeks.

Black your sister! Black! You’re black, your entire family is black!

...

“Big brother, I haven’t asked yet, but what is your name?”

“Baoyu, what a great name, it perfectly suits big brother.”

“Big brother, when the competition ends, how about coming home with me to play? I’m certain my father and mother will like you.”

The chattering little girl was so happy she fluttered about like a butterfly. Qin Yu wanted to inform her that the fake name he gave was Baoyue, not Baoyu or anything girly like that! However, it was only an alias and they would only be together for a day, so there was no need to correct her.

[*Baoyu means precious jade.]