Chapter 12: The Unexpected Bounty

“Great Immortal, our clan lives on spirit fruits. We’ve never done anything to offend heaven. Please judge fairly!”

Lin Feiyuan had his sword against the demon beast’s neck again. It was the first beast he’d ever caught alive, and he hadn’t expected it to talk so much. Taking the beast core was their top priority.

“You’re full of lies! There are plenty of bloodstains in your cave!”

The two demon beasts denied it flat out. They told Lin Yaoyao that what they saw wasn’t blood, but the juice of a spirit fruit, a red liquid that looked like blood.

The beasts had deliberately placed it at the cave entrance to scare off other tribes.

Gu Mingchun went over to check it personally. It really wasn’t blood!

So the two beasts hadn’t lied. Lin Yaoyao came from modern society. She had never held the power of life and death over another being. The experience gave her no satisfaction at all. It only left her with a heavy sense of guilt.

“I don’t care what you eat. Our job in the trial tower is to kill demon beasts and take their cores.”

Lin Feiyuan couldn’t be bothered with their excuses. Passing this trial was the whole point of the trip.

“Third Brother, let them go. We’ll think of another way to get the cores!”

Lin Yaoyao tried again to persuade Lin Feiyuan to spare the beasts. She was ready to lead everyone out of the cave.

But Lin Feiyuan wouldn’t hear of it this time. He stood rooted to the spot.

“Yaoyao, don’t let these beasts fool you. Even if we don’t kill them, someone else will.”

Markings for demon beasts on the map were disappearing one by one. Lin Yaoyao knew Lin Feiyuan was right. But watching living creatures vanish before her eyes, she couldn’t simply look away.

“Third Brother, we cultivate to protect the righteous path. Not to oppress the weak and harm the innocent.”

“Yaoyao, don’t be soft-hearted. Killing demon beasts is protecting the righteous path!”

The two siblings each stood their ground, neither willing to give in. They went back and forth, and Lu Yan’er couldn’t get a word in. Gu Mingchun was the quiet type to begin with.

The group of four was about to fall apart.

“Here! Great Immortal!”

The four of them turned to look at the beasts. No, they were looking at the beast cores in the two demon beasts’ hands.

“This…”

Lu Yan’er was stunned, her mouth hanging wide open.

The two beasts weren’t holding one or two cores. They were holding a big pouch full of them.

“Great Immortal, every year, members of our clan are killed. Many die from their wounds. These cores were left by our dead clansmen. We have plenty more. If you need them, we’ll give them all to you. Please, spare the ones who are still alive.”

The two demon beasts offered the cores willingly. No bloodshed, and they could still pass the second trial. The four of them were overjoyed.

“With these cores, we’ll definitely pass!”

Lu Yan’er was delighted. She hurried over and took the cores, afraid the beasts might change their minds.

Lin Feiyuan never expected it to end this way. If he had given in to impulse and killed those two beasts, he would have gotten at most two cores. Thanks to his sister’s intervention, he now had this many cores without lifting a finger.

Gu Mingchun took the cores from Lu Yan’er and checked them carefully. They were genuine.

When the cores reached her hands, Lin Yaoyao felt awful. She was like a robber who barged into someone’s home, took their things, and the owners were grateful she hadn’t killed them. It was absurd.

Seeing Lin Yaoyao accept the cores, the two demon beasts were filled with gratitude.

In the beasts’ eyes, trading the dead for a way for the living to survive was a very good deal.

With so many cores, Lin Yaoyao’s group left the trial tower ahead of time.

When the submission time came, disciples lined up to hand in their cores. Lin Feiyuan was eager to go forward, but Lin Yaoyao pulled him back.

“Third Brother, no rush. We’ll submit later!”

Lin Feiyuan didn’t understand her intention. But after what happened in the trial tower, he had learned one thing. Listening to his sister Lin Yaoyao was never wrong.

Lin Yaoyao sent Lu Yan’er and Gu Mingchun ahead to scout how many cores the other disciples had turned in.

Before long, Lu Yan’er came back beaming. She whispered in Lin Yaoyao’s ear.

“Yaoyao, Senior Brother Fang Jun’s group has the most right now, thirty-five cores. We have way more than they do!”

Lu Yan’er was proud of herself. She never thought she’d have a chance at first place. It felt like a dream, so she asked Lin Yaoyao to pinch her.

Lin Yaoyao pinched Lu Yan’er’s arm hard. Lu Yan’er jolted.

“Ouch!”

Lin Yaoyao told her to take another look and find out how many cores the twentieth-ranked group had.

By then, the disciples with cores had nearly all submitted. Gu Mingchun reported the rankings from first to twentieth.

Most of the top ten were personal disciples of the academy elders. Their core counts were far ahead of everyone else’s.

Lin Yaoyao had Lin Feiyuan’s group turn in sixteen cores, and her own group turn in thirteen.

Lu Yan’er pouted, confused. They clearly had so many cores. Why not turn them all in?

“Yaoyao, if we turn in all of them, we’ll take first place.”

First place? Lin Yaoyao shook her head helplessly. Lu Yan’er was too naive.

If two blockheads took first place, those geniuses would kick up a storm. The academy elders wouldn’t accept it either. If things got out of hand, the results might be voided, and they’d have worked for nothing.

“Yan’er, if someone told you my third brother ranked first in this trial, would you believe it?”

Lu Yan’er shook her head at once. She understood right away and obediently handed in the cores exactly as Lin Yaoyao had asked.

When the second trial rankings came out, the academy disciples were in an uproar.

It turned out Lin Yaoyao and Lu Yan’er ranked exactly twentieth, one core ahead of the twenty-first group.

“Those two blockheads got so lucky!”

Lu Yan’er was about to argue back, but Lin Yaoyao threw an arm around her and shouted.

“Oh my god, Yan’er, we’re so lucky!”

Lu Yan’er had no choice but to keep quiet and nod with a wry smile.

Lin Feiyuan and Gu Mingchun’s group ranked seventeenth. There was less controversy around them, since Gu Mingchun had some real skill. As for Lin Yaoyao and Lu Yan’er, everyone treated it as dumb luck.

Those who passed the second trial would take the third three days later, paired up at random for duels. Only the top ten would qualify to represent the academy in the Tianxuan Secret Realm.

The last trial tested raw strength. With everyone watching, there was no room for luck. Lin Yaoyao followed the principle: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.

The group of four gathered in Lin Yaoyao’s courtyard. She planned to hold a strategy meeting, a “brainstorm” for them.

As Lin Yaoyao had requested, Chunyu prepared the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in advance.

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