Lu Renyi had not expected to turn his head and see a group of splendidly dressed elders surrounded by a ring of guards. They did not look easy to provoke.
He could not approach them yet. Lu Renyi drew back his foot and turned into a corridor to one side, only to find people approaching from that direction too.
He had planned to lower his head, pretend he knew nothing, and slip past them. Then he saw the guard beside the elder remove his mask, revealing Ke Qi's face.
Lu Renyi: ...
An ominous premonition suddenly arose in his heart. Lu Renyi changed direction again.
"Oh?"
Ke Qi noticed the figure flashing past over there. He blinked, abruptly intrigued.
The Grand Elder heard him and turned his head in confusion.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, Grand Elder. I only noticed that the people ahead seem to be the Fifth Elder's group. There are quite a few of them. They probably left together through the rear entrance just now."
Ke Qi had drawn the identity of the Grand Elder's personal guard. In reality, he was the Grand Elder's nephew and enjoyed his deep trust.
His team's mission was to protect the Grand Elder from assassination by government agents during these ten days. Conversely, another team must have drawn a mission to assassinate the Grand Elder.
Ke Qi had originally found it uninteresting and planned to grab any two people he knew and ask them about it. But after seeing Lu Renyi just now, he changed his mind. Perhaps this was an opportunity to probe Lu Renyi's true capabilities.
"Nothing but a disorganized rabble. What difference will traveling together make? Do those government assassins truly think they can infiltrate this place and kill us?"
The Grand Elder looked down on the others for traveling together and protecting themselves with large groups of guards. He waved, indicating that Ke Qi should leave.
"Go on ahead. I'll find the others and travel with them. I want to see whether they truly believe our Church can be overthrown by those inferior people!"
The Grand Elder strode off in a fury before Ke Qi could even voice the insincere attempt to stop him that he had prepared.
Fine. Ke Qi did not want to keep following the Grand Elder anyway.
Ke Qi walked toward the place Lu Renyi had just left, looking left and right and studying the area for quite a while. As expected, he found no trace.
Just as he prepared to give chase, the watch on his wrist flashed red. Apart from showing the locations of his teammates, the watch served only as an alert. A red flash meant someone on his team had exposed their identity, been killed by an NPC who noticed something was wrong, and been forcibly eliminated.
Less than five hours after the start, his team had already achieved a one-person reduction.
"Useless."
Ke Qi abandoned his plan to find Lu Renyi. Amusement was important, but the mission was the priority now. They had originally said that with him serving as personal guard, even if he could not win, he could take the Grand Elder and flee.
But unexpectedly, the Grand Elder disliked having anyone constantly follow him. He was extremely confident in his own strength and looked down on people who wished they had hundreds of guards.
Even Ke Qi had been allowed to use his ability to take the Grand Elder away just now only because his identity included the blood relationship of uncle and nephew.
Ke Qi turned and looked at the remaining teammates' locations on his watch, then walked over quickly. After turning two corners, he saw Xie Qin and Jian Yi standing there, studying something on their watches.
"Hi. Are you looking for Student Lu Renyi?"
Ke Qi spun his mask in one hand and put on his usual playful grin, showing none of his earlier irritation.
Xie Qin glanced at him. When he noticed the mask in Ke Qi's hand, he realized the source of the strange feeling he had experienced during the meeting.
"You were the personal guard beside the Grand Elder? No wonder that ability looked so disgusting to me."
Ke Qi and Xie Qin had never gotten along, even as children. The Ke family's sordid affairs were disgusting enough to repulse even an uninvolved passerby, while Xie Qin's family was comparatively simple, with an elder brother above him to shoulder the burden.
The two had different temperaments and could not play together, but their social circles were similar, they were close in age, and both stood far ahead of their peers. Inevitably, people compared them. As time passed, they naturally grew sick of each other.
Xie Qin despised Ke Qi's facade, while Ke Qi thought Xie Qin was an idiot whose brain had been ruined by hot blood.
Jian Yi did not understand the grudge between them and contentedly served as background. She waved to Lin Shubei and Qi Yue, who had just passed by, signaling the captain of the guard to call them over.
With two Church members and an elder's personal guard present, the captain of the guard did not dare say much. He bowed respectfully and ordered Lin Shubei and Qi Yue to go over immediately.
Only after he left did Lin Shubei and Qi Yue breathe a sigh of relief and stand on either side of Jian Yi.
Lin Shubei watched Xie Qin and Ke Qi compete to see whose eyes could open wider and asked in utter confusion.
"Are they having a staring contest?"
"Xie Qin and I were watching to see where Lu Renyi was running. Ke Qi came over and asked whether we were looking for Lu Renyi, and then the two of them ended up like this."
Jian Yi briefly summarized what had happened, then spread her hands and glanced at Lin Shubei and Qi Yue.
"So do you know what's wrong with Brother Lu? He was coming this way a moment ago, then suddenly started moving like this."
Jian Yi raised her watch to show them the movement of the red dot representing Lu Renyi. It darted left and right at such speed that it looked as though someone was hunting him down.
"Brother Lu stopped."
Qi Yue pointed excitedly at the red dot that had finally stopped. But the watch showed only their positions, not a map, so they had no idea where Lu Renyi had gone before stopping.
Xie Qin and Ke Qi had already ended their staring contest. They came over and studied the place where Lu Renyi had stopped.
The rapport Lin Shubei, Jian Yi, and Qi Yue had built over many years took effect at that moment. One exchange of looks was enough for them to know what the others were thinking.
Lin Shubei: Are those two actually close or not?
Jian Yi: They probably have a love-hate relationship. Look, even the way they think right now is nearly identical.
Lin Shubei and Qi Yue instinctively turned to observe Xie Qin's and Ke Qi's expressions. They truly did look alike, both frowning as they gazed down slightly at Jian Yi's watch.
Qi Yue: What does a love-hate relationship mean?
Jian Yi offered no explanation and merely patted Qi Yue's head with benevolent affection.
"You're not even on our team. Why do you care so much about our teammate?"
Xie Qin had reached no useful conclusion. He had gone straight into the meeting upon arriving and had not visited anywhere else yet. Unable to guess what place Lu Renyi might choose to stay, he could only turn his fire on Ke Qi first.
"I have no interest in your team. I'm very interested in Student Lu Renyi."
Ke Qi had previously asked Jiang Yan about Lu Renyi and learned nothing. He then sent people to investigate. When the results perfectly matched the student records, his interest only deepened.
Lu Renyi was not entirely unknown, and his strength was impressive enough to earn Jiang Yan's high regard, yet no one at the academy knew anything about him. Even the people in his own class paid him no attention.
Even Xie Qin had approached him of his own accord, so Ke Qi had no choice but to pay attention. Xie Qin's arrogance was carved into his bones. It was nearly impossible for him to approach anyone voluntarily, and his mind probably could not even conceive of networking. Xie You must have told him to do it.
After all, Xie You was a precognition type. He could not possibly set up his own younger brother.
Ke Qi could disguise himself and conceal his presence because he possessed an ability, but he himself was exceptionally conspicuous. Lu Renyi was precisely the opposite.
That was why Ke Qi sincerely wanted to team up with Lu Renyi. Perhaps learning how to avoid attention from him would let Ke Qi advance his own ability even further.
He could also discover what was so special about Lu Renyi that Xie Qin had obediently approached him on Xie You's instructions. Unfortunately, Lin Shubei and the others had beaten Ke Qi to it.
"By the way, our team's mission is to protect the Grand Elder. Student Lu's current position happens to be beside the Grand Elder's lounge. Is your mission to kill the Grand Elder?"
Ke Qi mentioned his own mission without the slightest reservation. Lin Shubei and the others wore different expressions, making it impossible to tell whether they believed him.
"Thanks. We'll go kill the Grand Elder right now and make your mission fail."
Xie Qin believed that Ke Qi was telling the truth. Ke Qi preferred watching a spectacle to lying and was madness incarnate. If Xie Qin truly went to assassinate the Grand Elder, Ke Qi might even help keep watch.
Ke Qi kept smiling as though he could not feel Xie Qin's hostility.
"It seems your mission isn't to assassinate the Grand Elder. If it were, Student Xie Qin would probably have attacked me already."
Xie Qin rolled his eyes and refused to speak.
"I'm only reminding you that Student Lu hasn't moved for a long time. Even inside a room, remaining that still generally isn't possible."
"Considering that the Fifth Elder's lounge is right beside the Grand Elder's, if you don't hurry over, you may see your watches flashing red. I shouldn't need to explain what that means, should I?"
Lin Shubei and the others naturally knew what it meant. Lu Renyi might have been discovered and eliminated from the trial ground.
Lin Shubei's and Qi Yue's identities remained restricted, so they could not freely come and go. Only Jian Yi and Xie Qin could go there.
"You want to split us up?"
Xie Qin had known and competed with Ke Qi for years, so he understood him exceptionally well. Ke Qi had definitely said this to lure Xie Qin and Jian Yi away. Lin Shubei and Qi Yue could not keep following them, so their group would be scattered again.
"Who knows? Either way, you have to go take a look, don't you? Give Student Lu my regards."
Ke Qi waved to the four of them and watched them leave with a smile.
Xie Qin gritted his teeth. Even though he knew Ke Qi might be deceiving them, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Lu Renyi's position moved, but he still seems to be within that room. He should be safe and hasn't been discovered."
Jian Yi could not directly predict what they would encounter next. It would consume too much of her power, and if they met someone along the way, she would become a burden.
"Why is he moving around in there? If he'd come to meet us earlier, none of this would be a problem."
The thought that Ke Qi might have tricked him soured Xie Qin's expression. As he went with Jian Yi to find Lu Renyi, he had already decided to post a photograph of Lu Renyi in slave clothes on the official website after they completed the mission.
Elsewhere, Lu Renyi, the object of their concern, stood inside a room and wondered how to escape the illusion laid over it.
After winding through the floor and learning the locations of its rooms, he had noticed two people standing guard outside one particular room. They wore masks identical to Ke Qi's.
That suggested the person inside was also important. But just as Lu Renyi prepared to approach, he discovered a transparent barrier blocking his path. The two guards also looked over.
Helpless, Lu Renyi could only retreat to the neighboring room and consider whether his own illusion could pass through the barrier. Just as his hand instinctively reached for the door beside him, he found no solid support.
The next instant, he fell to the floor. When he looked up, he discovered that he was standing inside the room. It resembled a lounge and contained every kind of furniture.
"Host, I was just about to tell you not to stand there. This is the Fifth Elder's lounge. The Fifth Elder is an exceptionally powerful illusion-type ability user. With your current psychic power and ability level, you can't directly break through the illusion he placed over this room."
Lu Renyi reached out and patted the dining table before him. Its appearance and texture both felt real.
"I never expected to see the highest realm of illusion inside a trial ground. This trip was worthwhile."
He knew it was an illusion but could find no evidence that it was one. Over time, that would create an impasse from which he could no longer escape.
According to the ancient texts, illusion had three realms.
See mountains as mountains, and water as water.
See mountains not as mountains, and water not as water.
See mountains still as mountains, and water still as water.
Unlike descriptions of other ability types, which focused on the ability user, these three realms described the experience of the person trapped within the illusion.
In a simple illusion, the captive knew it was an illusion and knew they had to break free. In a complex illusion, the captive neither knew it was an illusion nor realized they needed to escape. But someone with a resolute mind could still break free after noticing even one inconsistency.
The highest realm of illusion should let the captive know it was an illusion, yet use an utterly lifelike reality to disrupt their mind and make them worry that they might not be inside an illusion at all. Given enough time, they too would become part of the illusion.
Lu Renyi understood what the System meant. The Fifth Elder had to be an exceptionally powerful illusion-type ability user.
"Did anyone enter this room in the original plot?"
"No. The Grand Elder's room is next door. The protagonist and the others have no need to take the redundant risk of entering this room."
Lu Renyi, who had taken that redundant risk: "Hahaha. I'm terribly sorry for being so reckless."
Whatever else might be said, the illusion really was exceptionally lifelike. If the System had not told him, Lu Renyi probably would not have distinguished it immediately.
"Host, don't act rashly. Breaking through the illusion directly with psychic power is unrealistic. The Fifth Elder is a Level-Eight ability user with extremely powerful psychic power. The instant anything unusual happens here, he'll know."
Lu Renyi fell silent for a moment, then asked with difficulty.
"I've been in here for so long. Do you think the Fifth Elder knows?"
"Of course he knows. He's already bringing people here."
The System did not know whether Lu Renyi was happy or upset. It only knew that after answering honestly, Lu Renyi began walking around and fiddling with the decorations.
"Host, stop touching things and hurry up and find the illusion's exit."
Lu Renyi pursed his lips and continued rummaging around.
"Isn't that what I'm doing? Besides, you said I can't beat him at my current strength, and he's bringing people with him. That makes escape even more impossible."
"You still can't sit around waiting for death, Host! What if they catch you, realize something is wrong, and force you out of the trial ground? Your score will affect the protagonist's group!"
"According to the plot, they place second in this practical assessment. If you're eliminated, it's all over!"
The protagonist's group had the highest priority. If anything went wrong on Lu Renyi's side, it would affect them too. The plot would change, World Stability would worsen, and the higher-ups would hold the System accountable.
Conversely, if Lu Renyi remained beside the protagonist's group and became an unstable factor who might affect them at any moment, the System would spare no effort to help him in order to preserve stability.
Lu Renyi had been wondering how to make the fullest use of that fact. The timing was perfect, like being handed a pillow the moment he grew sleepy.
"Thanks, System."