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Chapter 17: Do You Not Like Him? Just Say Whether You Like Him or Not

Chen Moqing watched the snow-white little beast trembling with laughter, and sent him a secret transmission: "You can hear him talking to a certain existence?"

Cang Shun: 【That existence has no physical form, I can't hear its voice, but I could hear this fool say some funny things】

Chen Moqing's fingers lightly pinched that fluffy little paw: "Could you tell me?"

Cang Shun then repeated those two sentences from earlier, and let out a mocking laugh: 【Stay away from him anyway】

Chen Moqing's expression showed no surprise, calmly stroking the soft fur beneath his palm.

——As expected.

He had previously suspected that this little junior brother had a special existence by his side, secretly 'helping' him.

He hadn't expected this Demon Emperor to be able to hear the exchanges between them. Could that existence be similar to him?

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes slightly. Cang Shun met his gaze and immediately understood the look in his eyes, declaring loudly: 【That kind of thing is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Benzun! They are nothing but evil spirits and demons, none of whom can escape Benzun's eyes】

Chen Moqing said with practiced indifference: "Truly worthy of being the wise and mighty Demon Emperor, Your Majesty."

Cang Shun let out a satisfied grunt and sprawled contentedly on his arm, soft fluffy fur spilling down.

Xiao Jibai glanced at them without a trace, thinking to himself that this useless little spirit cat was quite interesting, and so was this person—treating a useless thing like a treasure and even bringing it up the mountain. He feared that later it wouldn't even be able to climb half the steps.

"Why does this mountain staircase get more and more tiring to climb..."

After only a few dozen steps, some people were already unable to lift their feet, drenched in sweat.

Xiao Jibai flicked open his folding fan and smilingly stepped past that person: "Excuse me."

Enjoying the envious gazes of the crowd, he strode up the long steps with great strides, and glanced back occasionally, his eyes showing a slight flicker of surprise.

That Qi Refinement cultivator of meager strength, holding the useless spirit cat, had actually kept up with him, trailing just one step behind.

Xiao Jibai walked backwards, tapping his palm with the fan bone: "Brother, you're quite impressive!"

"Not really," he heard that person say flatly, "I used to go up the mountain to chop wood often."

"......"

Xiao Jibai turned his head, amused inwardly—such a quiet-looking person, yet it turned out he was a country bumpkin.

But this was only the first half. He hadn't even exerted himself yet. Soon enough, these country folk wouldn't even be able to see the hem of his robe.

Xiao Jibai swung his long legs forward, and under the wide eyes of those behind him, he crossed two steps at once, bounding up just like that.

The mountain path grew sparse with people. The snow-white little beast landed lightly on the ground, treading along the rough stone steps, its slender tail sweeping past that person's soft robe hem with a seemingly careless flick.

The wind passed through the forest, the leaves swayed, and dappled tree shadows scattered across the young man's figure. Those dark eyes, reflecting a faint gleam of light, were calm and focused.

Each step of the mountain staircase held a faint trace of array path resonance. The higher one climbed, the deeper the array path resonance grew, and for some, the heavier the pressure became.

Chen Moqing's boot soles stepped lightly onto the stone steps. This time, he sensed the specific flow and veins of the array path resonance.

A great formation lay buried beneath this towering mountain.

He took another step forward, his divine sense spreading out, carefully perceiving the spiritual vein pathways and arcane power structure of this great formation. Before long, a sense of familiarity arose—the same feeling that had appeared when he was studying talismans.

As expected, the talisman path and the array path share the same origin and can mutually connect.

Chen Moqing repeatedly simulated and rehearsed in his mind, attempting to reconstruct it through the means of the talisman path. At this moment, the long mountain staircase had become a form of cultivation in itself.

The higher he climbed, the lighter and faster his steps grew, and the more unhurried his stride became.

With each step he took, the array path resonance began to flow across every stone step he crossed. The stone steps trembled faintly, the forest leaves rustled, the mountains hummed in silent resonance, and the great formation within the mountain seemed to rouse from a long slumber, opening its ancient eyes.

A gentle breeze brushed past his hair and lifted the hem of his flowing robe. Within Chen Moqing's ink-lake eyes, the towering green mountains had transformed into countless flowing spiritual vein pathways, threads and wisps of golden light drifting and weaving, converging toward a single point—there lay the formation's eye.

Beyond the cloud-piercing mountain gate of the Wanhua Sect, someone let out a surprised "oh."

"The great formation left by the Founding Ancestor has actually responded! It seems the sect is about to gain another array path genius!"

The near-noon sunlight broke through the canopy, warm enough to draw fine beads of sweat at the brow. At first, Xiao Jibai had been composed, fanning himself at leisure, but gradually the smile at the corner of his mouth grew increasingly stiff, his steps quickened more and more, and he kept turning his head to look at the person walking alongside him.

"System, hey System! This isn't right!" If the system had a physical form, he would have grabbed it by the collar and shaken it hard, "I have the Lightness Pill you gave me, I could walk ten thousand li as though on flat ground. So what's going on with him! Can't you make him slow down a little?"

"Host, what others gain is not what you lose."

"Speak plainly!"

"Today's points have been used up. Unable to exchange for items."

"Are you serious, System? You're just going to watch me get overtaken by a woodcutter?!"

"Host, don't sell yourself short. Keep it up!"

"Of course I know I'm capable! If my true body were here, I'd have left everyone in the dust long ago, but right now I'm only a clon! Damn it, no one's going to think that surpassing my clon means they're stronger than me, right?"

The more Xiao Jibai spoke, the more agitated he became, rambling on and on. Of course, he was certain no one else could hear a word of it.

【So noisy】

【You are not allowed to go too close to him】

【A piece of trash like this can enter your old sect? So your sect just collects rubbish】

【You are not rubbish, so they would not take you】

Chen Moqing smiled, and reached out toward the snow-white little beast hopping up the steps one by one on its little legs, catching the small fluffy ball as it leapt into his palm.

On the next step, he strode forward again, effortlessly passing Xiao Jibai, who was pushing himself with all his might.

Xiao Jibai: "......"

"System! System, look at him!!"

After howling at the system who knows how many times, Xiao Jibai suddenly noticed that he had caught up again with the person who had been ahead of him.

The other party seemed to have finally tired, breathing slightly more rapidly, steps slowing down.

Xiao Jibai's eyes lit up, and he raised his fan: "Friend, this won't do at all. The road ahead is still long, you must keep up the effort!"

With that, he took the steps two at a time, quickly pulling ahead and leaving that person far behind.

Chen Moqing watched his retreating figure, then unhurriedly stepped back and began observing the great formation beneath his feet in reverse.

A deep, resonant toll of a bell shook through the mountain forest, startling flocks of birds from the peaks.

Before the mountain gate of the Wanhua Sect, Xiao Jibai stood with hands on his hips, gleefully telling the system: "I knew it. It's still me who comes out on top!"

He was the first to complete all the mountain steps. A good while after him came the second, the third... and it was not until several dozen people later that the Qi Refinement cultivator slowly climbed up to the mountain gate, still holding that useless spirit cat.

Xiao Jibai laughed inwardly, waving his hand: "Friend, I'm over here!"

The Qi Refinement cultivator raised his eyes and gave him a slight nod as a greeting.

Xiao Jibai could not suppress the smile tugging at his lips, thinking to himself that he was simply too strong—look how thoroughly he had crushed that person's spirit, leaving him without even a word to say.

Several hundred thousand people had begun climbing the mountain steps before dawn. By the time the sun dipped in the west, fewer than a thousand remained.

"Not bad. All of you have array path aptitude. Now line up one by one for the bone root assessment."

Before the mountain gate, three Wanhua Sect cultivators came out carrying test instruments, and the crowd split into three lines. Xiao Jibai's eyes darted around, and noticing that the Qi Refinement cultivator was holding his spirit cat in another line, he squeezed into the neighboring line, positioning himself roughly side by side with him.

【Why does he keep staring at you】

The voice of a certain Demon Emperor seemed somewhat displeased.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes, still speaking through secret transmission: "You don't like him?"

【Don't like him】Cang Shun said:【I can see you don't like him either, so why not let Benzun kill him?】

Chen Moqing said: "It won't work."

【Oh? It seems you have already killed him once before】

Chen Moqing did not reply. Cang Shun understood this as tacit confirmation. Two seconds passed, then he said with great displeasure: 【He's staring at you again!】

Chen Moqing said leisurely: "Does the Demon Emperor dislike him because he keeps looking at me?"

Cang Shun fell silent at once.

For a long while after, the snow-white little beast was quiet as a log, not uttering another word.

"Four spiritual roots, lower grade, pass."

"Two spiritual roots, no cultivation aptitude whatsoever, pass!"

In the blink of an eye, just under half of the three long lines had gone through, yet not a single person had shown even a decent set of spiritual roots. The cultivator in charge of the testing knitted his brows tightly, until the next young woman shrank forward nervously, and the instrument suddenly emitted a glow.

"Six spiritual roots! Upper grade! Accepted!"

A sect cultivator immediately stepped forward to receive the young woman, whose face was written with shock, and led her through the mountain gate under the envious gazes of the crowd.

"Brother, brother."

Behind Chen Moqing, a young man tapped him softly.

"Could we swap places?"

Chen Moqing stepped aside, and the young man gratefully moved forward a step, saying: "My name is Chu Luo! Thank you, brother!"

He struck up a conversation with this same-aged person who seemed easy to talk to. They had barely chatted for a moment when the snow-white spirit cat in the other's arms glanced at him.

Chu Luo immediately felt a chill crawl up his back, as though a cold breeze had blown in from somewhere, and he gave a shiver.

Thinking nothing of it, he continued chatting with Chen Moqing as before.

Cang Shun raised an eyebrow slightly.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes, his gaze meeting the Demon Emperor's in midair. After a few seconds, Cang Shun raised an eyebrow again, then wordlessly turned his head away, flicked his tail, and put on an expression of complete indifference.

"Five array path spiritual roots, upper-middle grade, eligible for acceptance."

Seeing the glow radiating from the instrument, Chu Luo was overjoyed and turned to clap Chen Moqing on the shoulder.

"I passed! Brother Chi, I'll wait for you up ahead!"

【Are you two close?】

Cang Shun stared silently and fixedly at Chu Luo's hand, and spoke his first words after a long silence.

Chen Moqing did not reply. He stepped forward, simultaneously channeling the Withered Wood Spring Revival Decree, slightly altering the aura of the talisman path spiritual roots within his spiritual sea.

"Not bad, also five array path spiritual roots, accepted."

Chen Moqing passed through the mountain gate. Chu Luo had not gone far, and upon seeing him immediately jogged back: "I knew you could do it!"

He had barely finished speaking when a burst of exclamations erupted from behind.

Before Xiao Jibai, the cultivator testing aptitude widened his eyes: "Eight... eight!"

"After so many years, a world-shaking genius with eight spiritual roots has appeared in Qingluan Prefecture once again!"

Xiao Jibai's lips curved upward, and he told the system: "Keep it low-key, act with restraint, eight roots is enough. If I revealed my eleven array path spiritual roots, wouldn't that just frighten them to death."

"Come to think of it, my senior brother has twelve sword path spiritual roots, unmatched by anyone before or after, and I only have eleven. That's not fair."

"Hey System, why don't you send me one of those lucky gift bundles, and help me piece together twelve while you're at it."

As soon as he finished speaking, an installment plan spanning six hundred periods popped up before his eyes.

"Alright, forget I said anything. My senior brother is already dead anyway."

He confidently stepped forward—and then the whole person suddenly slammed down onto the ground face-first.

Everyone stared in stunned silence. Xiao Jibai lifted a bruised and swollen face, scrambled to his feet: "Haha, it's fine, I'm fine!"

"Someone sabotaged me!!"

He shouted at the system.

"No killing intent was detected just now."

"...Someone must have done it on purpose! A genius like me is always the target of heaven's envy and man's resentment!"

Xiao Jibai raised his sleeve and wiped his face, and the bruising and swelling had already returned to normal.

Even so, he could still feel a great deal of whispering around him. Those mediocre people must be laughing at him out of jealousy. He crossed through the mountain gate with a cold expression.

The moment he passed through, he spotted that Qi Refinement cultivator with unremarkable spiritual roots saying something to his spirit cat, and a brilliant smile broke across his face again: "Friend, we meet again!"

The Qi Refinement cultivator raised his eyes, gave him an indifferent nod as before, then lowered his head to pet his spirit cat.

Xiao Jibai's smile faltered, and for some reason he felt a little displeased.

Chen Moqing sent a secret transmission to Cang Shun: "Just now he said something, and you seemed quite angry."

【When was Benzun angry?】Cang Shun let out a grunt. 【Benzun would never bother caring about a fool like that】

Chen Moqing: "Don't touch him."

The moment those words fell, Cang Shun coldly narrowed his demon eyes.

【What, is he truly such a dear old acquaintance that you must spare him at every turn?】

Chen Moqing glanced at the fuming snow-white little beast, raised his eyes with perfect composure, and said nothing.

Cang Shun: "......"

He had tacitly admitted it again!

The snow-white little beast's fur bristled slightly, puffing up into one big fluffy mass. It raised its fuzzy little paws and batted at the hem of that human cultivator's robe, one pat after another.

Having been so thoroughly wronged, and yet he still wanted to spare those people out of old sentiment! What, were all the old acquaintances who appeared going to turn out to be some beloved senior brother or junior brother of his?!

...How could someone be so attached to the past when it came to others!

The snow-white little beast was so furious its fur was getting tangled, batting that sleeve back and forth—and then, that sleeve lifted gently, brushed over the soft fur, and quietly gathered him in.

A slender hand came to rest among his fluffy coat, carrying a faint fragrance, and he heard that clear, pleasant, unhurried voice: "Not so."

"I simply hope you don't finish him off entirely, leave him for me to deal with personally."

Cang Shun: 【...Oh】

So that was how it was.

The snow-white little beast was gathered within the folds of that wide, flowing robe, that slender hand stroking over his head one pass after another. He lay completely still, curled into a small ball of fluff, his fur falling soft and smooth.

"Brother Chi, your cat is really well-behaved," Chu Luo watched with an itching heart and reached his hand over—

Cang Shun glanced at him.

It felt as though sharp claws had raked across the back of his hand—a sharp burst of pain. Chu Luo yelped and clutched the back of his hand, wincing through gritted teeth, yet when he looked there was not a single scratch on it.

Chen Moqing: "Sorry, he's a bit fierce and doesn't like being touched."

Chu Luo quietly shuffled further away, cradling his hand: "So he only likes being pet by Brother Chi."

Cang Shun: "......"

Chen Moqing calmly pressed down on a certain Demon Emperor, whose fur had bristled up again.

Outside the mountain gate, the spiritual root testing was still ongoing.

"Five... hmm? You have body path spiritual roots!"

The Wanhua Sect cultivator looked helplessly at the broad, powerfully built man before him: "I'll send you to the Body Sect next door, that place is an excellent destination for body cultivators."

The man said in a low, muffled voice: "Immortal, I want to study array cultivation!"

The cultivator chuckled: "You? Alright. You can still cultivate the array path without array path spiritual roots, it's just that your cultivation speed won't match those who have them, and you'll inevitably be left behind."

"Anyone with cultivation aptitude may choose any path of cultivation, except in one situation: if one once had spiritual roots that were then crippled, that path can never be walked again."

"What heaven bestowed but could not be kept is forsaken by heaven, so cherish your body path spiritual roots well."

The cultivator waved his hand: "Someone take him away."

A swift wind swept through the mountain forest, the sea of trees surging like waves, and a figure came treading through the air. The cultivators of the Wanhua Sect behind the mountain gate bowed in unison: "Elder!"

It was a face Chen Moqing was not unfamiliar with—the person who had bid on his Thunderstrike Talisman at the Jinyin Pavilion a few days prior: Duan Ya.

"I heard a genius with eight spiritual roots has appeared?"

Duan Ya descended before Xiao Jibai.

"You must be the one who resonated with the great formation left by our Founding Ancestor?"

Xiao Jibai smiled with confidence: "Indeed!"

Duan Ya clasped his hands behind his back: "Very good. From today onward, you shall be my final disciple."

Xiao Jibai scratched his face: "Uh, if I may ask, Elder, what is your cultivation level?"

"Insolent!" a nearby Wanhua Sect cultivator said, "Elder Duan is the younger brother of the Grand Elder himself! His standing is of the utmost distinction, how dare someone like you speak so presumptuously!"

Duan Ya waved his hand with a genial expression: "Let it go, one cannot be faulted for what one does not know."

Xiao Jibai complained to the system: "Isn't this just someone riding on connections? Whatever, with talent as extraordinary as mine, what do I need a master for anyway. At least following him means I'll live well."

So he bowed with a radiant smile: "Master!"

Duan Ya let out a leisurely "mm," his gaze sweeping casually over the others, and came to a slight pause when it landed on Chen Moqing.

"This demon beast of yours is quite unusual."

He said only that one line and nothing more. Yet everyone present caught the implication—it was a request to hand it over.

Chen Moqing: "Thank you for the compliment, Elder."

He then held the snow-white little beast with complete indifference, showing not the slightest intention of loosening his grip.

Cang Shun looked up at him and blinked.

The cultivator behind Duan Ya spoke up again in sharp rebuke: "You haven't even entered the sect yet, and already you show such disregard for propriety!"

"Heh, no matter," Duan Ya said with a mild smile, "Just let him follow Elder Yun then, they seem rather alike in temperament."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator's smile also turned peculiar: "As Elder Duan instructs! You should thank the Elder, he has arranged quite a destination for you."

Xiao Jibai flicked open his fan with a smile. Chu Luo beside him seemed about to say something, then lowered his head.

Duan Ya departed with Xiao Jibai, and just before leaving, he tossed back a parting remark with an ambiguous smile: "You have all passed the aptitude test, yet you are not yet official disciples of the sect. There will be another test in three months, and those who fail to meet the standard will all be expelled from the sect."

【I see this sect also collects rubbish】

Walking along a narrow mountain path, Chen Moqing heard Cang Shun's unhurried, indifferent voice.

He calmly patted that little head: "The number one sect in Qingluan Prefecture naturally has its own depths."

Cang Shun raised his chin and pressed down on the back of his hand.

【Just now, if you had handed me over, you would not have offended that Elder】

His gaze drifted to one side, his tone sounding thoroughly casual.

Chen Moqing: "Has the Demon Emperor forgotten that there is still a contract between us?"

Cang Shun visibly froze for a moment, and instinctively gripped his hand, remaining silent for a full half cup of tea's time before remembering to let go.

【So, when you refused those people earlier, it was because of the contract?】

This time, the low voice in his ear had clearly dropped even lower.

Chen Moqing lowered his eyes and looked calmly at the snow-white little beast whose ears had drooped slightly, meeting those gently downcast demon eyes.

He said: "Earlier, when you disliked others looking at me, was that also because of the contract?"

Cang Shun: 【......】

The snow-white little beast seemed to suddenly freeze, motionless, staring blankly with wide round demon eyes.

Two seconds passed. It looked left, then looked right.

Then, with a completely unbothered air, it lifted Chen Moqing's sleeve.

With a completely unbothered air, it crawled inside, leaving only its fluffy lower half sticking out.

Heard nothing.

Chen Moqing: "......"

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