Actually, Murong Bili blushed because he saw the smile on Shen Zhiwei’s face.
However, this didn’t make him feel happy at all. Shen Zhiwei seemed overly concerned about Mo Rubai.
Didn’t he say he didn’t take disciples? Wasn’t Mo Rubai Realizer Muzhi’s junior brother?
Why would Shen Zhiwei smile when mentioning him?
Feeling somewhat sour inside, Murong Bili said, “Husband, once I enter the Azure Firmament Sect, I’ll be your person. Can you please…”
“Can what?” Shen Zhiwei looked at him with displeasure. “Address me properly. Since you are Senior Brother’s disciple, you are considered my junior.”
A bolt from the blue!
Murong Bili had completely forgotten about this detail! If Shen Zhiwei was his elder, didn’t that mean there was no possibility left between him and Shen Zhiwei?
Yet if he didn’t enter the Azure Firmament Sect, there would be even less of a possibility between him and Shen Zhiwei!
“Why the long face?” Shen Zhiwei looked at Murong Bili with complicated emotions. If this person weren’t one of Mo Rubai’s “wives,” he probably would have made friends with him.
After all, this person was good-looking, and looking at him was a feast for the eyes.
“Th… there seems to be something crawling onto your wrist!” Murong Bili stepped back two paces in terror. “It’s, it’s a snake!”
“Acheng, what’s wrong?” Shen Zhiwei perplexedly stroked the little snake’s head.
“It—it—it’s yours?!” Murong Bili was shocked. “Shen Zhiwei, your spiritual pet is a snake?”
“Master!” Acheng glared angrily at Murong Bili. “His scent is so stinky, Acheng’s nose feels uncomfortable!”
Hearing this, Murong Bili’s face turned green. “This is incense! What does a snake like you know?!”
“Hiss!” Acheng flicked its tongue at Murong Bili, slithered off Shen Zhiwei’s body, and tried to crawl onto Murong Bili…
“Ahhhh, don’t come over here!” Murong Bili turned and bolted away at top speed.
Shen Zhiwei thoughtfully watched Murong Bili’s retreating figure. If this guy dared to pester him again, he could just let the snake loose.
“Master!” Acheng was shocked, raising its tiny head to ask unhappily, “Does he not like me? I’m so nice, how could anyone not like me?”
Shen Zhiwei looked at Acheng speechlessly. There were plenty of people who didn’t like snakes.
“Where is my little master?” Acheng quickly forgot about Murong Bili and looked pleadingly at Shen Zhiwei. “I want my little master.”
“In five days, you’ll naturally see him.” Shen Zhiwei lowered his head, reached out, and scooped Acheng back.
Five days later, the sect grand assembly proceeded on schedule.
Although the seals between the Demon Clan territory and the Azure Mystery Continent had run into some issues, the sect leader had dispatched people to reinforce them ever since the council concluded that day. On the surface, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Naturally, the grand assembly continued.
The Azure Firmament Sect’s grand assembly was held once every five years, with three elders acting as trial supervisors each time. In truth, their role was to enter the mystic realm to protect the disciples’ safety. Not a single elder was willing to do such a grueling chore.
Naturally, Shen Zhiwei was unwilling as well, but he had no choice but to go. The grand assembly was the most crucial turning point, and Mo Rubai would truly grow through this event.
Only this time, the trial supervisor had changed from Yuan Jiangning to Shen Zhiwei; goodness knows what might happen.
Although the trial grounds were merely located in the back mountain of the Azure Firmament Sect, there was a barrier there that opened only once every five years, connecting to a mystic realm rumored to be a burial ground from ten thousand years ago—the very birthplace of gods and demons.
Naturally, that place did not belong to the Azure Mystery Continent; a minor world simply didn’t possess such a profound heritage. Yet, this barrier happened to be situated right inside the Azure Firmament Sect.
Truly, the heavens favored them.
As for why good fortune had descended upon the Azure Firmament Sect? Naturally, it was because the sect harbored a Mo Rubai.
With a cold expression, Shen Zhiwei listened to the disciples below chattering and boasting about the Azure Firmament Sect’s heritage, finding it exceedingly dull.
At that moment, Shen Zhiwei felt two gazes. One could be completely ignored—coming from Murong Bili—while the other came from Mo Rubai.
Standing below the platform, Mo Rubai stared straight at him with an unblinking gaze. This was a blatant provocation. Although Shen Zhiwei couldn’t kill him, that didn’t mean Mo Rubai could provoke him with impunity. Thus, meeting Mo Rubai’s gaze, Shen Zhiwei curled the corners of his lips in a cold sneer.
Why… why did this person have to smile so brightly at him? Mo Rubai immediately looked away, his heartbeat accelerating out of control.
Realizer Lingzhi was wearing the robe unique to the elders of the Azure Firmament Sect today. It was predominantly dark black, bordered with strands of gold thread, and embroidered with a golden dragon soaring through white clouds on the cuffs…
That wasn’t the main point. The main point was that the collar of this robe was thrown wide open, allowing every single disciple present to see the large expanse of fair skin across Realizer Lingzhi’s chest.
Truly lacking in decorum!
Because the trial robes for the sect’s elders were all styled this way, elders avoided wearing these “indecorous” garments unless absolutely necessary.
Moreover, only the male elders’ robes were designed like this.
Compared to the disciples’ ordinary blue-and-white attire, because of this chest-baring, flesh-revealing outfit, even fewer people were willing to act as trial supervisors.
Shen Zhiwei, however, felt no such thing. After all, in his past life, shorts and short sleeves were everywhere on the streets.
“All disciples heed my command! A total of one hundred inner and outer disciples are participating in this trial. Among the top thirty, if any are outer disciples, they will be directly promoted to inner disciples; if they are inner disciples, they will receive an immortal-grade magical treasure!”
The gap between inner and outer disciples was overly stark, yet no one questioned it.
This was simply because those fifty-eight individuals were all proud favorites of heaven—excluding Mo Rubai and that Murong Bili whose only asset was a pretty face.
After Shen Zhiwei simply announced the rules, the barrier directly ripped open.
Shadow after shadow transformed into beams of light and rushed inside. Only after everyone had entered did Shen Zhiwei and the other two elders leisurely follow.
One of the accompanying elders was a disgruntled-looking white-bearded old man called Realizer Nuyan (Blazing Wrath), while the other was a plain-looking woman whose face was hard to remember even at a glance, called Realizer Lanyan (Ripple/Clear Waves).
Shen Zhiwei thought of the line of poetry “The sparkling ripples on clear days are wonderfully fair,” though it probably had no relation to this name whatsoever.
Looking at them, Shen Zhiwei felt quite heavy-hearted. These two inconspicuous elders would perish during this sect grand assembly.
Should he save them? Or rather, how was he supposed to save them?
“Lingzhi,” Realizer Lanyan handed a fire-starter to Shen Zhiwei. “You have an ice spiritual root, so using fire is somewhat inconvenient. There are plenty of good things in the mystic realm; take this. Whenever you want to eat something, just light a fire and roast it.”
Meanwhile, Realizer Nuyan tossed over a small packet. “This is salt. Food without flavor or taste isn’t even worth eating.”
“Thank you.” Looking at these two items, Shen Zhiwei felt a slight stirring in his heart.
[Three-Eight, I want to save these two people. What do I need to do?]
Three-Eight drawled lazily, [Simple. Just send women to Mo Rubai.]