Chapter 1415 - Absolutely Brilliant

The Heavenly Dragon Sect still had to keep up the appearance of harmony in front of the gathered powers. No matter how strained things had become, the Lingqiong Clan technically remained a branch of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. They had only withdrawn from internal management, not severed ties completely.

"Grant them seats," said the elder in charge. He produced several dozen chairs, cleared a separate section, and invited the representatives of the Lingqiong Clan to sit.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie continued climbing, and he had almost reached the two-hundredth step. At that moment, two men appeared ahead of him before he could draw close.

"We're disciples of the Ironblood Gate. We're here to congratulate Young Master Liu on this joyous day. We prepared a couplet, but only the first half. You'll have to match it with the second half to complete it," the two youths said.

Most trials on the Auspicious Cloud Stairs took eccentric or playful forms and rarely touched on cultivation itself. Nearly everyone present had a higher cultivation than Liu Wuxie, and if they asked a cultivation question and he answered it, they would be the ones losing face.

That would be the same as admitting they were inferior to Liu Wuxie in comprehension of cultivation. For that reason, they preferred to pose strange riddles and clever games instead.

"Please, go ahead," Liu Wuxie replied with a light smile, signaling them to begin.

"Tip the stroke up, and it reads 'old'; drop it down, and it reads 'exam.' The old set the tests for greenhorns; the greenhorns stumped the old," recited the youth on the right, presenting the first half of the couplet.

The theme suited the occasion perfectly, implying that Liu Wuxie was still a newcomer, yet already capable of stumping many from the older generation.

Everyone lowered their heads, silently pondering how they might compose a matching line of their own.

"Add one stroke to a person, and it reads great; add two strokes, and it reads heaven. Heaven may be vast, but human emotions outweigh heaven," Liu Wuxie replied without much deliberation.

Before the crowd could even react, Liu Wuxie had already given his answer and completed the couplet.

"Young Master Liu is truly a man of great talent. What a brilliant reply! We hope that Young Master Liu climbs smoothly to heaven," the two youths said as they bowed and stepped aside to send Liu Wuxie on his way.

Liu Wuxie returned the bow with a slight nod, then continued up the stairs. He had already finished a third of the climb, and everyone remained absorbed in his answer.

"What a prodigy!" exclaimed the palace lord of the Nine Dragon Palace, unable to help wondering how glorious it would be if such a genius had arisen from their own sect.

Though the question had nothing to do with cultivation realms, it still carried traces of dao. That alone showed that Liu Wuxie's grasp of dao had reached a level that even old antiques like them could only sigh over.

"Prodigy is an understatement. He's a monster! He's proficient in everything, from music and chess to calligraphy, painting, alchemy, blacksmithing, talismans, and spiritual arrays. How could he possibly attain his current level in all of them, even if he started cultivating from his mother's womb?" the abbot of the Comet Temple said with a wry smile.

An ordinary person could cultivate two, perhaps three mythical arts at best. Yet Liu Wuxie displayed proficiency in dozens of mythical arts and a vast range of disciplines. Someone like him was almost unheard of under the heavens. The Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain had not seen a talent like this in centuries.

By now, Liu Wuxie had completed two-thirds of the climb, answering every question he encountered along the way. Only the final third remained, and he knew that three more trials still waited for him there, each far from simple.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect had vetted the first seven trials in advance to ensure no one deliberately made things excessively difficult for him. However, the various forces drew lots to decide the final three trials. Whoever drew a lot gained the right to set a trial in Liu Wuxie's path.

Liu Wuxie maintained his calm pace, and an old man stepped out in front of him, his expression dark and severe. Even from a distance, Liu Wuxie felt immense pressure rolling from him and knew that an actual test had appeared.

Even so, he would not suffer any real loss even if he failed the question. At worst, others would mock him; he would still walk away intact.

"The planet lord of the Jianmu Star congratulates Young Master Liu for finding a renowned master," the old man said, his identity catching Liu Wuxie off guard.

Liu Wuxie recalled that back in the ancestral talisman, he had encountered a youth named Yi Shuifeng, a prodigy from Jianmu Star. That prodigy had died in battle, and news of his death had already spread back to Jianmu Star.

What Liu Wuxie didn't know was that Yi Shuifeng had been the disciple of this old man's disciple.

"Thank you for your wishes, senior," Liu Wuxie replied politely, even as he sensed a faint hostility from the planet lord.

"Young Master Liu, I wonder if you remember a youth by the name of Yi Shuifeng?" the planet lord asked.

Liu Wuxie frowned and quickly drew that face from his memory. Back then, he had rushed to save Vanya, and Yi Shuifeng had blocked his way. In the end, Liu Wuxie had killed him with a single palm.

"I do," Liu Wuxie replied with a nod.

"Since that's the case, do you know in whose hands he died?" asked the planet lord, deliberately pressing him. He clearly knew Liu Wuxie had killed Yi Shuifeng, yet still asked the question on purpose.

"I naturally do," Liu Wuxie replied. With so many eyes on him, he had no intention of telling a lie.

"I have a question today. You could've chosen to kill him and not at that time, but why did you choose the former?" asked the Jianmu Star's planet lord.

Yi Shuifeng had been dead for a long time, and for the planet lord to drag up this old matter now was no different from launching a provocation at the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Under those circumstances, Liu Wuxie had done nothing wrong in killing Yi Shuifeng.

If Liu Wuxie had been weaker, he would have been the one to die in Yi Shuifeng's hands instead. The planet lord was clearly making things difficult for him on purpose. If Liu Wuxie stated that Yi Shuifeng deserved death, the planet lord could seize the chance to brand him bloodthirsty and unworthy to become the sect master's disciple.

If he answered that Yi Shuifeng did not deserve to die, the planet lord could then accuse him of slaughtering the innocent. Either way, Liu Wuxie would walk straight into the trap, and he had no apparent choice at all. It was a vicious gambit.

This question would have caught almost anyone off guard. Even if Liu Wuxie chose to remain silent, the Jianmu Star's planet lord could interpret that silence as tacit admission that Yi Shuifeng deserved his fate, thus branding Liu Wuxie as a bloodthirsty butcher.

On any other day, that label might not have mattered much. But today was Liu Wuxie's apprenticeship ceremony, and everything that happened here took place before the entire astral domain.

Sun Xiao broke out in a cold sweat on his junior brother's behalf. He didn't know who Yi Shuifeng was or who had killed him, but from the exchange, he could tell that the Jianmu Star's planet lord was deliberately trying to corner Liu Wuxie.

The crowd began whispering among themselves, quietly recalling the scene of Yi Shuifeng dying in Liu Wuxie's hands. Only then did everyone fully understand the context.

That day, Liu Wuxie had led the giant clan to save Vanya, only for Yi Shuifeng to intercept him with a group of experts, attempting to seize the golden runes from him. Liu Wuxie had killed them instead. Several disciples had witnessed the entire incident from afar and recorded it.

"What is this Jianmu Star's planet lord trying to do? Yi Shuifeng asked for it, and no one can take responsibility for his death. If they had to blame anything, they would blame his foolishness," many people muttered, openly siding with Liu Wuxie as they recognized that the planet lord was picking a fight.

If anyone else had stood in Liu Wuxie's position that day, they would have chosen to kill Yi Shuifeng as well.

"Young Master Liu, please answer my question. Should he be killed or not?" The Jianmu Star's planet lord pressed on, ignoring the whispers around him. The atmosphere tightened as all eyes locked onto Liu Wuxie, waiting for his reply.

"Before I answer your question, can I ask one of mine?" Liu Wuxie said. "If you can resolve my doubt, then I will naturally answer your question as well."

Everyone immediately grew curious about what Liu Wuxie intended to ask.

"Go ahead," replied the Jianmu Star's planet lord.

Even Jian Yiming turned his head for the first time and looked toward the foot of the mountain.

With tens of thousands of gazes bearing down on him, Liu Wuxie's expression remained calm, showing not the slightest trace of panic. The composure he displayed under a planet lord's pressure earned him the silent admiration of countless spectators.

"Those who love others will, in turn, attract love; those who respect others will also receive respect. Senior, can you tell me what that means?" Liu Wuxie asked with a smile, narrowing his eyes as he looked straight at the Jianmu Star's planet lord.

Those words immediately stirred an uproar. Everyone knew that this phrase carried a second half.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Exclamations rose from all sides, and many people could not hide their admiration for Liu Wuxie's counterquestion.

The Heavenly Dragon Sect's upper echelons had worried for him only moments ago, yet now they could only stare blankly at his effortless reversal of the situation.

"He's quick to react," Chi Heng said as he watched Liu Wuxie. He had been ready to intervene and dissolve the trial to save Liu Wuxie from embarrassment, but it seemed he no longer needed to. With a single question, Liu Wuxie had already resolved the planet lord's challenge.

"Senior Brother Liu is truly a model of our generation," commented the Heavenly Dragon Sect's true disciples, their eyes full of admiration as they looked toward him.

Even Jian Yiming and Song Siqi from the Grand Unity Sect fell into deep contemplation, while only Pei Hong remained confused.

"What does that mean?" Pei Hong asked his senior brother. He couldn't understand why everyone was so impressed with Liu Wuxie, and this single-mindedness was exactly why people called him the Sword Maniac.

Pei Hong had given his entire heart to the sword and paid little attention to worldly matters, so he naturally fell short of Song Siqi in this regard.

The Jianmu Star's planet lord's face turned unsightly. He had never expected Liu Wuxie to respond like this.

"Those who love others, in turn, invite others to love them; those who respect others also earn respect. Those who kill will, in turn, meet their own deaths, and they bring such outcomes upon themselves," Song Siqi whispered.

Since Yi Shuifeng had tried to kill Liu Wuxie and seize his golden runes, he could not blame anyone for dying as a result.

Liu Wuxie had never explicitly said that Yi Shuifeng deserved to die; instead, he skirted the issue with a brilliant answer. The spectators all felt that this was the best possible response under the circumstances.

Hua Feiyu gave a slight nod, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Since Liu Wuxie could reverse such a dangerous situation so effortlessly, it would truly be hard for anyone to corner him in the future.

Those questions had been sharp, and Liu Wuxie would prefer that they ask him about cultivation instead. But with his cultivation only at the Primal Origin Realm, it would have been laughable for Earth Immortals to seek his guidance on dao.

"I wonder if senior is satisfied with this answer?" Liu Wuxie kept his smile as he looked at the Jianmu Star's planet lord, not revealing a hint of resentment.