At that moment, the 30 inner disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect were gathered in front of the Heritage Pavilion's chamber.
It was a wide room inside the sect's ship, which at that moment soared through the skies toward its new destination.
This time, both the 25 new inner disciples and the 5 older ones were together, all curious to find out what the so-called Soul Challenge was.
And it was the beautiful Xiao Ling, with her blue hair flowing like water, who led the group, pushing open the door to enter. Since it was a pavilion hall, there was no need to knock—just walk in.
In the great hall, like massive strange bookshelves, grids with floating bubbles protected countless jade slips filled with knowledge, all neatly and securely organized.
At the center of the room, He Ziren, the outer elder of the Heritage Pavilion, was seated cross-legged, with several books floating around him, giving him an aura of scholarly elegance and immortality. His handsome face displayed focus and seriousness as he examined the books, seemingly engaged in something of great importance.
Despite the elegant and scholarly appearance, the disciples cast strange glances at the books surrounding the elder. Normally, such objects were not used by cultivators, as they were considered inefficient. It was like someone insisting on sending letters in the modern age, where cell phones dominated communication. Though it seemed interesting, it was still strange.
And Aotian was aware of such things, but that didn't stop him from showing off through this avatar, as that was the personality he had given He Ziren.
Even with their arrival before him, the elder calmly continued reading the books, turning their pages with care and attention, without even glancing at the disciples.
The little girl, Lin Xiaoxue, who had eaten a tiger's heart and feared nothing, couldn't help but grow curious and stepped to the side, rising on her tiptoes to peek at the book's contents. But upon succeeding, her face turned red—so red it seemed steam might shoot from her head at any moment.
"AH!"
She covered her eyes with a squeal and rushed back into the crowd at full speed.
The disciples who saw the scene were alarmed and puzzled by the girl's reaction. They wondered what the elder could possibly be reading to scare that brave little girl with just one glance.
Hui Lang, the toothless old man, also knew the sect elders were rather gentle, so he wasn't afraid the elder would cause them harm. If he didn't mind them seeing the contents, then there probably wasn't any danger. So his curiosity won out too.
In his youth, Hui Lang had been impulsive, and as his strength and vitality returned, that facet of his personality also began to resurface.
Without much hesitation, raising his eyes and tilting his head, he managed to glimpse the contents of some of the books. His eyes widened slightly.
Placing his index finger below his nose, he quickly pinched it and then looked at the elder, nodding in approval.
His gaze returned to the pages, and a thin trickle of blood ran down his finger, coming from his nose.
Once again, the disciples were confused. First, the little girl ran away terrified. Now, old Hui had a nosebleed.
More and more disciples gathered the courage to look at the books, and the reactions grew increasingly varied.
Some were incredulous, others dizzy, some embarrassed, others dazed. There were looks of approval, disapproval, disgust, and even admiration.
It seemed like a true festival of expressions in that small room.
Rihai, who was already curious about the Soul Challenge—something Aotian had refused to explain, claiming she would learn about it in just a few minutes—was now even more intrigued by her peers' reactions.
She took a step to the side, focusing her eyes on the page—which was easy, since she and Aotian were at the front of the group with Xiao Ling—but her eye twitched at the sight of the contents.
On the page was a beautiful painting of a woman in a pose similar to Superman flying, with both fists stretched forward—but supported on the backrest of a chair.
So far, so good… the problem was that she was naked, with her breasts hanging downward. Behind her, an equally naked man was positioned between her legs, holding them. Her legs wrapped around his waist and extended backward.
It was obvious they were engaged in indecent acts.
Rihai was stunned, both by the absurd posture and by the fact that the elder was reading such material in public with total focus, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As she looked at the other pages floating around, she realized the one she had seen was actually among the most discreet and tame.
"Pervert..." she muttered unconsciously, upon seeing some images that genuinely terrified her with their level of perverseness.
Normally, she wouldn't be so reckless, but she was starting to feel more at ease in the sect—partly because Aotian deeply trusted it. The bizarre situation also caught her off guard, making her mutter without realizing it.
But even though it was quiet, that whisper occurred in a room full of Foundation Establishment cultivators, all with keen senses.
The disciples quickly turned, stunned.
Thinking something was one thing. Saying it out loud was a completely different matter.
Bang!
The sound came from several books slamming shut at the same time. Everyone turned toward the middle-aged elder.
He Ziren, the elder, was very handsome, with striking golden eyes, golden hair, and the red robes of an outer elder. But at that moment, his eyes were serious and narrowed, fixed on Rihai.
The books around him, now closed, flew into his arms and he hugged them, as his feet slowly touched the ground, descending from his floating meditation posture.
"Did you just call me a pervert?" he asked slowly, his voice raspy, eyes locked onto hers.
Rihai was speechless, not knowing how to react.
Gulp.
The disciples swallowed hard as they felt the tension in the air and silently prayed for Rihai.
But suddenly, defying all expectations, the elder bowed deeply before her.
"Thank you so much for the recognition!" he shouted, then rose with a serious look. "Would you like an autograph with my name? It could be worth a lot of money in the future," he asked earnestly, making everyone's eyes twitch.
Yes, the personality Aotian gave this avatar was shameless to the end.
Rihai, the target of the question, felt awkward at such a sudden change of attitude. It was the first time in her life she had seen someone bow—and an elder, no less—to thank someone for calling him a pervert.
"Uh… thank you for the gift, elder, but your autograph is very valuable. No need," she replied awkwardly, trying to decline.
"What a humble girl! But you don't need to be shy about accepting. I've already prepared many copies!" he said, slapped his storage pouch, and tossed a strip of paper at her.
Rihai, bewildered, caught the paper and saw written on it: "He Ziren, Perverted Outer Elder, was here."
"Err… thanks..." she said awkwardly, storing the autograph with a strange expression, not wanting to prolong the subject.
She then turned her eyes toward Aotian and saw him trying to hide his laughter.
'You knew he was like this!' she complained to him as she realized.
'Of course! Rihai, here in the sect, no elder would dare to do anything to you knowing you're my woman.'
He shook his head, amused, but his words soon turned serious as he looked her in the eyes.
'Do you really think I'd just stand by if someone got mad at you for saying something—and it was true, no less?'
Rihai was a bit surprised by the question and then smiled, shaking her head.
'Of course I know you wouldn't just stand there, Tian'er. That was never in question. I only complained because I thought I had accidentally offended the elder, so I panicked a little while you laughed,' she answered with firmness in her eyes, not even a little upset with him.
Aotian knew she wasn't referring to that. He just wanted to make sure, as he still had some lingering fear that she might think he'd be indifferent if an elder tried to intimidate her.
Seeing that she understood, he smiled again and turned to the elder, who was reading one of his books.
"Oh! Looks like someone finally stopped whispering," He Ziren said, snapping the book shut with a bang and looking at them.
Rihai felt slightly embarrassed as all eyes turned to her and Aotian during their sound transmission conversation, but her face quickly returned to normal as she adapted to the situation.
Unbothered, the elder turned his gaze away from them and looked at all the disciples.
"Well, I know why you're here. It's for the Soul Challenge, right? First, I must make clear that this technique drains me a bit, so to use it at the Refiner-Tier level, I can only handle 8 of you per day. The rest will have to schedule for the upcoming days."
Elder He Ziren explained, observing everyone, who gradually set aside their strange looks and focused on what truly mattered.
'So it's a technique!' the disciples reflected, finally discovering what the Soul Challenge was. Now they just needed to understand its benefits.
Rihai wasn't surprised. Aotian had already told her it was a technique.
"Elder, what does this technique do?" The one who asked was old Hui Lang, who clasped his fists and spoke politely, after wiping the blood from his nose caused by the intense images he had seen.
"It's simple. This technique can be used in combat or for teaching. You don't need to know about the combat part. What you'll experience is the teaching mode."
He spoke while storing his books in his storage pouch, then continued:
"When I apply the technique, you'll experience an illusory world where you'll face yourselves in combat, restricted to the level I set. In this case, your prize is of Refiner-Tier, so that will be the level. You won't be able to use cultivation or spells above that level, nor will your opponent. If you defeat your shadows, you'll acquire a spell that suits you along with Master-level Proficiency in it. If you lose, you'll still receive the spell, but with Advanced Proficiency."
He explained, and the disciples immediately widened their eyes, excited.
'Impressive.' Rihai was also amazed.
It should be known that learned spells also have a popular ranking that measures how well they are mastered.
The levels were:
Beginner – At this level, the spell was barely usable.
Basic – Already usable in battle.
Intermediate – The cultivator had decent control over the spell.
Advanced – High control, expressing nearly the full extent of the spell.
Master – Total mastery of the spell, even able to extract 120% of its power.
Most barely reached Intermediate level. Advanced was already a major achievement, and many didn't even aim that high.
As for Master level, it was rare for anyone to attain it. Both due to difficulty and the fact that many cultivators preferred to learn enough to use a spell well and then focus on cultivation.
It made no sense to invest so much time perfecting something that, with luck, would soon be replaced by something better. Cultivation was more efficient.
It was like that famous saying: there's no point in killing the chicken to get the eggs.
But that high proficiency was far from useless. On the contrary, it was extremely valuable. However, when faced with the choice between sacrificing years perfecting a spell or cultivating with their short lifespans, they easily knew what to choose.
It's just that cultivators weren't protagonists who could say things like, "Kids make choices—I want both!"
That's why the disciples' eyes shone fiercely. Now, with the Soul Challenge, they could finally say it.