In the middle of his spiel, the glowing cultivator paused. He went to the wall and pressed a hand against it, consulting something.

Hui sweated. Uh… surely he won’t notice anything, right?

Turning around, the glowing cultivator crossed his arms. “Who destroyed my spell? Speak up!”

Hui glanced away and put his hands behind his back, examining the wall around him in detail. Surely not this small cultivator. I wouldn’t dare to break Senior’s formation. No, no, certainly not me…

Silence stretched across the cave. The cultivators glanced at one another, tense.

“So? Speak up now, or perish!” the glowing cultivator declared.

Perish? Surely he’s exaggerating. But what if he isn’t? If I don’t speak up, is this small clone’s life in danger? Even if I’m a clone, I don’t want to die!

Maybe it’s a good thing. When I first broke through, he made eye contact with me, right? I can’t be sure if he smiled or scowled, since he’s glowing so brightly, but his voice sounded reasonable. Positive, even! Should I speak up?

But what if it’s a trap? He could have been pretending to be positive, while he actually hated it! No, no. I can’t speak up. I’ll stay quiet! After all, if he knew, he would have called me out already, right? This small cultivator can only assume that Senior doesn’t know, and that’s why he’s asking us. In my first world, I dodged a great many punishments by keeping my small mouth shut and hiding in the corner! So… I’ll stay quiet, and survive.

Surviving is more important than getting a bonus, if he wanted us to break out, and it’s far better than getting destroyed, if he didn’t want it! Right, right. Staying quiet is the right choice, for sure! Hui nodded decisively to himself.

Jin Xian tilted her head and grumbled in his ear.

Hui patted her shoulder. “Stay quiet, Elder Sister. Now is not the time to stand out!”

One of the cultivators near Hui, dressed in bright colors and flamboyant as a peacock, drew himself to his full height and put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest. “I boldly shattered your barrier! It was I who broke us all free.”

The glowing cultivator stared at the man in silence.

The man wilted slightly. Still, he kept his chest puffed, and maintained a heroic expression.

Thank you, Elder Brother! I greatly appreciate you playing canary for me. Let’s see what this golden Senior does to this man! Hui thought, quietly watching the peacock-like man.

Raising his hand, the glowing cultivator beckoned the man closer. A grin spread over the man’s face, and he strode forward. “Indeed, it was I who broke through your barrier. As soon as I entered the formation, I realized that I had been tricked into a kind of twisted barrier! With a flick of my sleeve, I demolished that barrier!”

“How?” the glowing cultivator asked.

“How? How? Well, let me tell you,” the man said, sweating subtly. He licked his lips. For a moment, he hesitated, but then his eyes lit up. “With my secret barrier-breaking arts! A barrier-breaking technique was passed down to me by my master. Breaking through your barrier was like shattering rotten wood!”

“Is that so?” the glowing cultivator asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

The man nodded pompously. “Yes, indeed.”

Nodding, the glowing cultivator interlaced his fingers. “So tell me. How did your long-passed-down barrier-breaking arts manage to shatter… my illusion-based befuddling array, which was not at all a barrier art?”

The man stiffened, drawing a sharp breath.

Hui shook his head. Ah, how regrettable. I would never speak poorly of Elder Brother, but that was surely a newbie mistake. Although befuddling arrays can be barriers, this one… was not. It was more akin to an illusory realm, or a mind-effecting spell. Rather than boldly claiming to have shattered a barrier, he should have instead spoken generically of spells. It still might not have worked out, but he might have had a chance! Instead… well, what can I say? Elder Brother revealed himself.

“So? I’m waiting.”

“Well, I—that is, barriers and illusions, they…”

The glowing senior waved his sleeve, and the man went flying in a blast of golden light. Sighing, the senior turned to the rest of them. “Would anyone else like to test this Liu Guang’s knowledge of my own array? Or would the true illusion-breaker like to step forward?”

Hui licked his lips. He sent that peacock-like man away when he lied about breaking the barrier. Maybe… he really wants to reward whoever broke his array?

No, no, Hui! Don’t be ridiculous! Why would he do that? I broke his array, and I didn’t just break it, I broke it. In a way he didn’t expect or want! This can’t be good, it can’t be. Better to keep my mouth shut. He can’t throw us all out.

The other cultivators looked around at one another, confused. Hui did as well, playing along. Yes, yes. No one knows. It was merely a coincidence! Let’s move on with our lives, and—

Liu Guang raised his hand. Gold light began to build up in his palm, emanating powerful force at all the cultivators in the cave. Hui bent his knees and leaned into it, while one of the weaker cultivators at the back of the room directly toppled over and flew out of the cave.

Oh, shit! He is going to throw us all out! Dammit, if it’s come to this, then—then it’s time for this small Hui to speak up! Better for me to be thrown out than for me and Jin Xian to be thrown out together! Farewell, this small cultivator’s dreams. I’ll have to figure out another way to enter All-Heavens Sect!

Hui stepped forward. Robes and hair flying directly backward from the force of the growing golden light, he cupped his hands to the glowing cultivator. “Senior… many apologies, but it was this small cultivator who broke your illusory array. I dared not speak up, for fear that Senior would be displeased with small cultivator. Though I meant no disrespect, I was afraid that Senior might take my intervention as such.”

Liu Guang opened his mouth.

Before he could speak, Hui bowed deeper. “Ah! I acknowledge that I have transgressed, and I will accept any punishment! Still, I hope Senior can find it in your heart to forgive this small cultivator… if I would be so bold as to hope!”

“You—” Liu Guang started, reaching forward to lift Hui from his bow.

Dodging the glowing cultivator’s reach, Hui dropped to his knees and continued. “However… I do not wish for my fellow hopefuls to be thrown out alongside me. Instead, if Senior must throw someone out, let it be this small cultivator!”

Silence. Staring at the floor, Hui held his breath. Another few seconds passed.

Hui peeked up.

Liu Guang tapped his foot impatiently. “Are you done?”

Hui nodded. “I’m done.”

Liu Guang sighed. “I wish to congratulate you. The hidden part of this trial is breaking out of the befuddling array. However… I’ve never had someone break everyone out at once. How did you do it?”

Oh. He isn’t going to throw me out? Wonderful! Hui rose back to his feet and brushed off his robes. He coughed. “Er, Senior, you see… I directly broke the lines of qi in the spell. Without the lines in their proper place, the entire spell collapsed. Admittedly, it’s… er, a bit of a simple brute-force technique, without any subtlety or mysteries behind it, but… small cultivator specializes in life qi and healing, not array-breaking.”

Liu Guang raised his sleeve to cover his mouth and arched a brow. “I see.” Interesting! No wonder Sui Linli was so interested in this Xie Hao. He’s a man full of surprises! He’s clearly hiding something. Those qi lines he broke were cast by me myself, and are sixth-realm lines. A fifth-realm like him couldn’t have broken them without some kind of secret item or special technique.

Hmm… well, the contestants are allowed to have their secrets, after all! But I’ll be keeping my eye on this Xie Hao, Liu Guang thought, nodding.

Watching the Senior watch him, Hui barely resisted the urge to squirm. You see? What do you see? Ah! And what is the point of hiding your mouth? I can’t see your expression in the first place!

Liu Guang gestured Hui forward. In a firm tone that made it clear it was no invitation, but rather an order, he declared, “As congratulations, you will go first.”

Hui trembled. He licked his lips, and sweat ran down his back. Shit! Let me go last, instead! You aren’t letting me learn anything about the trial ahead of time, huh? Senior! I don’t want your congratulations!

Oh well, oh well! This way, I’m guaranteed to go before Jin Xian. I’ll scout it for her! Nodding to himself, Hui cupped his hands to Liu Guang. “Small cultivator accepts Senior’s guidance!”