Although she had no idea why so many people had suddenly collapsed, Le Gui, out of courtesy, locked onto the few Hehuan Sect senior disciples at the center of the incident. “Senior sisters, are you alright?”

The disciples opened their mouths, only to spit out blood.

“…That doesn’t look like ‘alright’ to me,” Le Gui muttered awkwardly. She couldn’t do anything to help, so after thinking for a moment, she added with great sincerity, “Then you should get some rest and drink plenty of warm water.”

Di Jiang’s lips curled in amusement.

Just moments ago, the atmosphere around him had been tense and oppressive, but now he looked entertained. It truly lived up to his reputation for being unpredictable. The Three Realms Trial Tournament had been held many times before, yet for the first time, the people seated on the viewing platform found it an unbearable experience. If their disciples weren’t competing below, they would have already turned and fled to get as far away from this lunatic as possible.

While those on the platform suffered, Le Gui wasn’t faring much better.

The tournament was set to begin in just a quarter of an hour. The disciples of each sect had already taken their places on the battle stage, leaving Le Gui as the only one still standing below. She kept glancing between the stage and the VIP platform, back and forth, until even the Seer Mirror couldn’t stand it anymore.

“The people seated above are the leaders of the Ten Great Sects and the Emperor of the Immortal Realm. In recent times, due to abundant spiritual energy, ascension has become easier. Five of the ten sects belong to the Immortal Realm, and five remain in the mortal world. Right now, only six leaders are present. The other four must be the unfortunate ones Di Jiang killed,” the Seer Mirror spoke rapidly. “By the way, the second person from the left with the mustache is Zhao Wuyou, the sect leader of Wangtian Sect. He’s the one who betrayed your friend. Strange… I thought he was dead.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Le Gui asked, glancing at Zhao Wuyou before looking back at the Seer Mirror in confusion.

The Seer Mirror grew impatient. “I’m saying all this to get you to stop gawking at them! The tournament is about to start! Why haven’t you gotten on stage yet?”

“…I wasn’t looking at them. I was looking at His Lordship,” Le Gui replied in exasperation.

The Seer Mirror snapped, “And why are you staring at him?!”

“You idiot! The stage is over two meters high! I can’t climb up there! I was hoping he’d take the hint and give me a hand!” Le Gui grumbled.

The Seer Mirror: “…”

It had placed a restriction on Le Gui, so to outsiders, she only appeared to be muttering to herself with her head lowered, though they couldn’t hear what she was saying. Di Jiang, however, could hear her loud and clear—and he really wished he hadn’t.

As the start of the match drew closer, Le Gui grew more anxious. “Hey, can you help me up?” she asked.

“I am just a mirror,” the Seer Mirror responded with an unnatural calm, as if it had become numb to the absurdity of her existence.

Le Gui knew she couldn’t count on it. Seeing that Di Jiang also showed no intention of helping, she randomly grabbed a nearby spectator. “Hey, friend, can you lift me up there?”

The bystander looked at the obviously mortal Le Gui and asked, “What do you need to get up there for?”

 Le Gui: “Oh, I signed up.”

“You? A mere mortal? Signed up?” The onlookers were in disbelief.

Le Gui silently extended her hand. As the competition approached, all participants had a lotus-like mark appear on their palms. Seeing her mark, the crowd was stunned for a moment before bursting into outrage. “I’ve spent a thousand years cultivating and still didn’t get a spot, yet you, a mere mortal, have the chance to compete?!”

“Maybe I was just lucky.” Le Gui put on a fawning smile. “Can you lend me a hand?”

“No!”

Le Gui: “…”

Jealousy truly made people irrational. Failing was already painful, but seeing someone far less qualified succeed was even more infuriating. Le Gui asked several people for help, only to be rejected every time. Left with no choice, she scanned the competitors on stage, looking for a familiar face.

She didn’t find a friendly face, but she did spot a familiar one.

Le Gui never expected to see Yaoyao at a time like this. Yaoyao clearly noticed her too, but after a brief moment of eye contact, she coldly averted her gaze.

Le Gui: “…”

[Damn it! Like hell I’d throw myself at her cold indifference!]

“Are there any contestants who haven’t stepped onto the stage yet?” The young host of the first round folded his hands properly before him and asked, “If you don’t step up now, you’ll be disqualified.”

Le Gui: “…Were you looking at me when you said that? Why don’t you just pull me up there?”

The young host flashed a gloating smile.

Le Gui: “…” This world was full of heartless people.

Before she left, Di Jiang had assured her that she would take first place. But Le Gui wasn’t optimistic. She had imagined countless ways she might fail… but not once had she considered failing simply because the trial platform was too high to climb.

Time ticked away, and the shadow on the sundial slowly shifted. Everyone was waiting to see her make a fool of herself. Le Gui glanced once more toward the spectators’ area and, without warning, locked eyes with Di Jiang’s pitch-black gaze.

Di Jiang’s lips curled slightly. His expression carried an unmistakable message of amusement and threat: Try getting disqualified and see what happens.

Le Gui: “…”

[Screw this! I quit!]

Just as she turned away in frustration, a clear, youthful voice suddenly called out, “Le Gui! I’ll send you up there!”

A slender young man rushed in front of her. He had clearly run over in a hurry—his heavy breaths carried a hint of pain, his brow furrowed slightly, and beads of sweat dripped from his temples. Yet his eyes shone brightly, like two small lanterns, brimming with energy.

Le Gui blinked. For a second, she thought she saw a deity… No, there were actual deities present, yet not one had offered to help her. Compared to them, Li Xingqiao was even better.

Seeing that she wanted to speak, Li Xingqiao feared there wasn’t enough time. He quickly formed a hand seal and sent her onto the platform. His cultivation was only at the Qi Refining stage, so even moving a single person left him unsteady. Le Gui landed on the stage but lost her balance and tumbled forward.

Laughter erupted around her. Some of the senior sisters who had been watching also wanted to laugh, but their injuries were too severe—grinning only made the pain worse—so they had to sit quietly.

“Le Gui, you got this!” Li Xingqiao clenched his fists, mimicking her encouragement style.

Le Gui grinned. “If I win, I’ll treat you to a meal!”

Her voice was loud, breaking through the sound restriction placed on the mirror barrier, making it easy for those on the spectators’ platform to hear.

Zhao Wuyou couldn’t help but chuckle. “A mere mortal? She probably pulled some strings just to get a spot in the competition, and now she actually thinks she can win?”

“Maybe she’s pretending to be weak before revealing her true strength. Young people these days love wasting effort on pointless things,” another person commented.

Zhao Wuyou scoffed. “A mortal with no spiritual roots pretending to be strong?”

As they chatted idly, Di Jiang’s gaze remained deep and unreadable, fixed not on Le Gui but on the young man below her.

“Your Lordship, what are you looking at?” To keep the demon lord in a stable mood—and to prevent the immortal and mortal realms’ finest disciples from suffering—the Emperor of the Immortal Realm found it necessary to engage in conversation with him from time to time.

…Even if the communication was completely one-sided.

The Emperor didn’t expect a response after asking, but to his surprise, Di Jiang lazily replied, “Just looking at a promising candidate for demonic cultivation.”

A promising candidate for demonic cultivation?

Everyone on the viewing platform instinctively followed his gaze—only to see nothing at all.

By then, Li Xingqiao had already rejoined the crowd, where his senior brothers immediately scolded him for helping Le Gui, calling her a fraud. Since she had yet to deliver the promised reward, they had once again labeled her a con artist. However, they didn’t hold it against Li Xingqiao, assuming he had also been deceived.

Lowering his head, Li Xingqiao accepted their reprimands in silence. Only after they finished did he whisper softly, “She’s the first friend I’ve ever made.”

His voice was so quiet that no one heard him.

On the platform, all ninety-six contestants had finally assembled, waiting for the trial bell to ring.

“Is there any special meaning to the number ninety-six?” Le Gui asked in a hushed voice.

The Seer Mirror replied, “Each of the three realms has fifty jade tokens available. The Demon Realm never participates, so at most, there are a hundred contestants. This time, a few are missing—likely because their jade tokens were taken or they failed to sign up in time.”

…If all the immortal and mortal realm participants had shown up, wouldn’t that mean one hundred and one people were competing this year?

[That would be like announcing to the world that I’m the Demon Realm’s representative!]

The Seer Mirror, as if reading her thoughts, mocked, “Which is why I said you’re lucky.”

Just as Le Gui was about to retort, a shadow suddenly fell over her. She instinctively looked up and saw Yaoyao standing before her with an expressionless face.

Gone was the Wuyou Palace uniform—her long hair was now tied in a high ponytail. The current Yaoyao carried an air of cold detachment, making her feel distant and unapproachable.

“What do you want?” Le Gui looked at Yaoyao warily.

Yaoyao frowned. “Why are you here?”

“I’m here for the trial tournament,” Le Gui lifted her chin. She had clearly ignored her earlier, yet now she was acting as if she had just noticed her.

Yaoyao sneered. “A mere mortal, joining the trial tournament?”

“Why? Only cultivators are allowed?” Le Gui shot back. She still hadn’t forgiven Yaoyao for poisoning her back then. Sure, she had forced her to take the antidote every day, allowing her to survive, but without the poison in the first place, she wouldn’t have needed an antidote at all.

Yaoyao seemed to run out of patience and frowned. “The competition is about to start. It’s not too late for you to leave now.”

Le Gui’s rebellious nature flared up. “Why should I leave? Not only will I stay, but I’ll take first place!”

Her bold words drew the attention of those around her. Some with less restraint outright laughed.

Yaoyao didn’t bother arguing. Instead, she moved to push Le Gui off the stage.

Le Gui panicked and scrambled to dodge. “The first trial forbids attacking other contestants!”

“The match hasn’t started yet. It doesn’t count as breaking the rules,” Yaoyao said and lunged again.

Le Gui kept dodging frantically.

Though Yaoyao’s cultivation was far superior, the trial platform was too small. She had to be careful not to hurt others while trying to deal with Le Gui, which limited her movements.

As the competition was about to begin, Yaoyao’s expression darkened. She flashed forward, grabbed Le Gui like a helpless chick, and prepared to toss her off the platform.

“Dong… dong… dong…”

The competition’s starting bell rang.

Yaoyao’s movement halted mid-air.

Le Gui wriggled free and taunted, “Hah! If you keep bullying me, you’ll be breaking the rules!”

Yaoyao took a deep breath, her face cold as she released her grip.

Le Gui plummeted toward the ground. She barely had time to brace for impact before she landed lightly.

That’s it?

She blinked in surprise, then quickly put on a smug look.

“I’ve seen reckless people, but I’ve never seen someone so eager to die,” Yaoyao mocked expressionlessly.

Le Gui thought for a moment, then spat toward her and ran off.

Yaoyao: “……”

The bell’s final chime echoed as the sky split open, revealing an array of magical weapons from dozens of sects. Lights of all colors shimmered as the weapons charged up.

They were preparing to fire.

Once fully charged, the weapons would unleash a barrage of attacks. Contestants had to avoid getting hit, as five strikes meant elimination. The assault would continue until only half of the participants remained standing.

“The attack formation seems different from before,” a disciple who had participated in previous tournaments frowned.

Someone else, seemingly more informed, smirked. “You wouldn’t know, but to push us to our limits, the sect leaders agreed to increase the intensity. If someone takes five hits, they won’t just be eliminated. They’ll suffer serious injuries.”

Le Gui had been blatantly eavesdropping. The person speaking scoffed. “For us, it’s just serious injuries. But for a mortal? That’s a death sentence.”

The only mortal in the tournament blinked and quietly shuffled toward an empty corner.

“Aren’t you nervous?” Seer Mirror suddenly asked.

Le Gui glanced up at the viewing platform. Di Jiang had somehow dozed off again.

She answered calmly, “Why should I be? You’ll protect me.”

“Who said I would?” Seer Mirror retorted.

Le Gui: “?”

“I’m just a mirror,” Seer Mirror emphasized.

The light from the weapons grew brighter, illuminating the entire trial stage. Every contestant had already activated their defensive barriers—everyone except Le Gui, who still stood there, ‘talking to herself.’

“Didn’t you say you’d protect me?” Le Gui asked.

“When did I ever say that?” Seer Mirror countered.

“When Li Xingqiao’s board couldn’t hold three people, and I said I’d throw you away, you told me His Lordship had you follow me to protect me,” Le Gui reminded him.

“Did I?” Seer Mirror asked.

Back then, he had merely posed two questions: “Do you think my master had me follow you for no reason? Do you think I can only answer questions?” He had never actually promised to protect her.

Le Gui: “……”

Right. He never said he would protect her.

The glowing light above grew blinding. In the crowd below, Li Xingqiao watched Le Gui with growing anxiety. His gaze silently asked her: The attack is coming, why aren’t you doing anything?

Realizing she had fallen for Seer Mirror’s trick, Le Gui’s heart sank as she looked up. Di Jiang had woken up at some point and was staring at her with unreadable eyes.

[He’s not going to help me either.]

That thought struck her like a heavy stone, making her heart shrivel like a dried-up apple.

“Le Gui! Le Gui!” From below, Li Xingqiao called out urgently. “Don’t just stand there!”

Le Gui blinked slowly and met his worried gaze.

Li Xingqiao’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly said, “Maybe… maybe you should come down.”

“The first trial has already begun. She can’t leave just because she wants to,” someone commented. “She needs to take at least three hits before she can admit defeat and step down. But a mortal? She probably won’t even survive the first hit.”

Li Xingqiao grew even more anxious. He moved to rush onto the stage, only for others to hold him back.

“Young people are so emotional,” a high-ranking cultivator commented from the viewing platform.

Another followed up, “He’ll be heartbroken soon enough once the trial begins.”

Hearing that, the others chuckled.