Chapter 591: Unusual Reward

Luo Hong was speechless.

The sheer force of Lu Yang’s response struck Luo Hong like a thunderbolt, leaving her momentarily at a complete loss for words.

Since the dawn of her consciousness, she had reigned as the spirit of this secret realm; what paragon of the demon race across three hundred millennia had she not seen? Even the current patriarchs of the various demon clans had tried their hands here in their youth.

Yet no genius from any tribe had ever jolted her world quite like the young man standing before her today.

The second trial was indeed meant to test one's capacity for deception, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine someone could conjure a lie so profound that it deceived even the liar himself.

Or rather, was what he said truly a lie?

With the vast repository of knowledge at her disposal, she found herself utterly unable to discern whether Lu Yang spoke truth or falsehood.

Within the spiritual realm, the Immortal Fairy was rolling on the ground with laughter, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath as tears streamed freely from her eyes.

"I—I can't... my stomach hurts from laughing so hard, hahahaha..."

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, trying desperately to contain herself, but a single glance at Luo Hong’s bewildered reaction sent her howling with laughter all over again.

Lu Yang looked at the Immortal Fairy with a look of helpless resignation, wondering if such theatrics were truly necessary.

And as for Senior Luo Hong—to think she couldn't wrap her head around this. Was this trial not precisely about testing such boundaries?

He, Lu Yang, had always been a man who abided by the rules, ensuring he never stepped beyond their margins.

When one could perform so brilliantly within the rules, what need was there to cheat?

The parameters of this stage were remarkably simple, and the loopholes Senior Luo Hong had left behind were glaringly obvious.

For instance, there was no stipulation that the seed provided must be the one to bloom, nor was there any rule stating that the blossoming had to occur precisely on the fifteenth day.

The sole uncertainty lay in the fact that Lu Yang could not guarantee whether this layer ultimately tested honesty or deceit.

When all was said and done, the rules of the second tier were set by Senior Luo Hong herself; if she chose to disregard them, who could possibly call her to account?

Thus, Lu Yang had prepared for both contingencies, holding an empty flowerpot ready for inspection.

If honesty were the test, he would simply declare that nothing had grown.

If deceit were the test, he would bring forth the very narrative he had just spun.

Luo Hong took two deep, centering breaths, her fists clenching and unclenching, before she finally announced the result through nearly gritted teeth.

"You... pass!"

It was an undeniable truth that, in the history of the second tier, Lu Yang’s score was the highest ever recorded.

Ao Yue and the assembly of demon geniuses stared at Lu Yang in utter consternation.

Just what clan did this man belong to? In the first tier, he had anticipated Qin Feng’s ambush at the gateway of the heavenly ladder and laid a counter-trap in advance.

And now, in the second tier, he had breached the trial using such an outlandish, bizarre method.

From what corner of the world had Jiang Shishi unearthed these two eccentric prodigies?

Moreover, based on Ao Yue's understanding of Jiang Shishi, she ought to have made the exact same choice as he did in this trial. Yet the outcome completely defied his expectations—he was eliminated, while Jiang Shishi moved forward.

With the second trial concluded, Luo Hong forced herself to banish all thoughts of Lu Yang and fulfill her ordained duties.

She snapped her fingers, and a torrent of treasures rained down from above, stacking into a miniature mountain.

Luo Hong pointed toward Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Jiang Shishi, and Su Lian'er: "The four of you shall proceed to the third tier; the remainder are eliminated."

"In consideration of your passage through the first tier, each of you may select one treasure from this hoard as your reward."

"This treasure is for your personal use alone; it cannot be transferred, nor can its secrets be recounted to others."

This restriction was placed precisely to prevent the great powers of the demon race from plundering the spoils.

After all, the artifacts gathered here were enough to arouse the burning envy of even the most venerable demon sovereigns.

"By the Demon Immortals above, this is the compilation of insights left by our ancient ancestor, encompassing both the shattering of the core into a nascent soul and the Nascent Soul stage itself!" a genius of the Jade Rabbit Clan cried out, her twin rabbit ears twitching in sheer astonishment.

Luo Hong had already completed the translation of these profound texts.

"Our ancient ancestor's insights are here as well!" an exalted youth of the Qiongqi Clan shouted in disbelief.

Inscribed upon the manual were the words *Jin Shi*—the very name of the ancient Qiongqi ancestor.

It was not merely these two clans; even the heritage texts of the Nine Infants, the Taowu, and other tribes eliminated in the first tier lay scattered here like common booklets, virtually hidden unless one searched through the pile with meticulous care.

The ancient ancestors of these clans were not all half-immortals; the majority resided within the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

Yet, the Tribulation Transcendence Stage of the ancient era was a far cry from that of the present day. In antiquity, those of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage could attend the lectures of true Immortals and audit the discourses of half-immortals. What they learned and witnessed existed on an entirely different plane compared to the contemporary demon sovereigns!

Even within the same realm, the ancient demon emperors of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage held a far more exalted status in the hearts of the demon race than their modern counterparts.

Ao Yue also discovered the cultivation insights left by the ancient ancestor of the Dragon Clan, causing his heart to thud violently against his ribs.

The ancient ancestor of the Dragons bore the glorious reputation of being the foremost figure beneath the Immortals—an existence of absolute, uncontested might.

"What in the world is this? A personal notebook of an Immortal... *The Mating Records of the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit Clans*?" The Jade Rabbit genius read the title aloud, nearly dropping the volume in shock.

Lu Yang was momentarily speechless.

He recalled that this particular item was a research project conjured by the Nine-Layered Immortal to investigate the fluctuations of Yin and Yang. The Fortune Ancient Realm truly possessed an exhaustive collection if they had managed to salvage even this.

Aside from various reproductions of ancient texts, there were also heavenly materials and earthly treasures of antiquity.

There was the Longevity Grass, capable of extending one's life by five hundred years; spiritual fruits that mended deep-seated, hidden injuries upon consumption; and an array of rare herbs meant to neutralize deadly poisons.

In previous generations, there had been demon geniuses whose kin or lovers were afflicted by ancient, incurable toxins, lingering on the brink of death. Finding no remedy in the modern world, they had braved the ancient realm solely to forage for these long-extinct herbs.

No such tragedy had unfolded in the present expedition.

"These things..." The Immortal Fairy’s brow furrowed slightly as she sat upon a thick tree branch, swinging her legs back and forth.

"What about them?"

"These items don't look like things an ordinary demon clan could possibly amass."

"A good number of these cultivation insights belong to half-immortals. Ordinary half-immortals wouldn't have the face to demand such personal texts from their peers."

"And this book, *The Mating Records of the Golden Crow and Jade Rabbit Clans*, is the research fruit of the Nine-Layered Immortal. Copies were only distributed among the four of us; not even the half-immortals received one."

"Just who constructed this ancient realm?" the Immortal Fairy mused aloud, genuinely puzzled.

Lu Yang felt a sudden jolt of alarm in his chest.

The Fairy's words implied that this ancient realm was not the creation of a Tribulation Transcendence demon, nor even a half-immortal, but rather one of the four ancient Immortals themselves.

"Oh well, isn't there still a third tier? Work hard to break through; once you reach the third tier, perhaps you'll find a clue."

"And what if we still find nothing?"

The Immortal Fairy flashed a radiant, dazzling smile, her eight teeth perfectly aligned as she gave him a firm thumbs-up: "Then we'll just find a secluded spot with no one around, and this Fairy will personally interrogate that little slip of a girl, Luo Hong!"

Lu Yang silently prayed that he would find his answers in the third tier.

The demon geniuses selected the treasures after their own hearts. Ao Yue did not choose the manual left by his ancient ancestor, opting instead for a spiritual fruit capable of eradicating deep-seated internal wounds.

With that, Ao Yue and the others were teleported out of the ancient realm.

Outside the realm, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. The gathered ranks of the demon race glared with predatory hostility at the Nine Infants Clan.

To think of the Fortune Ancient Realm—a place one could enter but once in a lifetime—and they had come away with absolutely nothing, all because they listened to Qin Feng’s honeyed lies and eliminated the very core of the Demon Alliance.

Qin Feng cowered behind his clan elders, trembling violently, terrified that the moment he showed his face, he would be skinned alive by the furious crowd.

Seeing Ao Yue and the others teleport out, the Phoenix clan elder counted the heads and let out a sigh of relief; Jiang Shishi was still inside.

Jiang Shishi was on par with Ao Yue, so it was assumed that if Ao Yue were eliminated, Jiang Shishi would be eliminated as well.

The Third Senior Sister spoke in a flat tone, "You see, I told you that joining forces with us would not treat you unfairly."

The second update is at eleven o'clock.

(End of this chapter)