Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had no idea what was happening in the outside world. Disguised as geniuses of the Demon Race, they officially entered the second layer.

The second layer was fragrant with flowers, blooming in profusion, and everywhere lay beautiful scenery.

It was an endless flower garden, and within the garden, a graceful figure knelt on the ground, inhaling the fragrance of the flowers.

Noticing everyone’s arrival on the second layer, the figure stood up and welcomed them with a smile and applause.

"Everyone, welcome to the second layer. I am the Spirit of the Secret Realm, and you can call me Luo Hong."

The Spirit of the Secret Realm exists only in Secret Realms created by those at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, not a life form but more like a predefined magic spell.

However, this magic spell, imbued with ample experience, could mimic the thinking patterns of life.

The Primeval Secret Realm was an ancient one, and when announcing the rules at the first layer, it used modern language because the Spirit of the Secret Realm, Luo Hong, was learning.

In the absence of the Secret Realm’s master, the Spirit of the Secret Realm held the highest authority.

"Greetings to our senior."

Although everyone knew she was a magic spell, no one dared to overtly treat Luo Hong as merely a spell, and they paid their respects earnestly.

"It seems this generation is still quite polite."

Luo Hong, unaffected by their politeness, clapped her hands gently, and a flower pot, along with a seed, fell on top of everyone’s head.

"The first layer tested your combat strength, the second your character."

"The challenge of this layer is very simple: you must grow flowers."

"The seeds you hold are of the Moonshadow Flower, which when in bloom resemble a stunning beauty dancing in the moonlight, a feast for the eyes."

"The Moonshadow Flower takes fifteen days to complete its growth cycle. All you need to do is to make it bloom within this period, and you shall pass this level."

"The more vigorously the flower grows, the higher the evaluation."

"Mind you, during this time, you must not use any magic spells, Spirit Treasures, or other cultivator methods."

"Also, you may not converse with each other; you must grow the flower independently."

Seeing the tension among the crowd, Luo Hong added with a smile, "Don’t be too nervous; the Moonshadow Flower is easy to care for. It takes root and sprouts as soon as it touches soil."

"Fairy, have you ever heard of the Moonshadow Flower?" Lu Yang asked stealthily.

"I have heard of it, indeed. The flower is quite beautiful and popular. If you haven’t heard of it, it must be extinct by now," she replied.

The rules of the second layer seemed simple, alas he could not discuss them with Old Meng.

Jiang Shishi cradled the flower pot, planting the seed in the soil, loosening the dirt, and watering it carefully, yet the Moonshadow Flower showed no signs of sprouting.

Jiang Shishi frowned, instinctively wanting to consult with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, but remembering the rule against discussing, she gave up the thought.

She began to recall the rules over and over, pondering if she had missed anything.

"What would Lu Yang do if he were in my place..."

...

Fifteen days swiftly passed, and the day of evaluation arrived.

The geniuses of the Demon Race and the two pure-blooded Humans lined up, waiting for Luo Hong’s assessment.

One standing at the front was Su Lian’er of the Fox Clan.

Clothed in white, Su Lian’er’s beauty was stunning as she held the flower pot, looking pitiful.

The flower pot was empty.

Luo Hong frowned, "Where is your flower?"

Tears streamed down Su Lian’er’s face, compelling onlookers to wipe them away.

"The flower was growing very well, but I have inherited the beauty of our ancestors that can overshadow the fish and outshine the moon. As soon as the Moonshadow Flower bloomed, it withered away at the sight of me."

After staring at Su Lian’er for a long while, Luo Hong finally let out a long breath.

"Let it be, you pass."

Next was Jiang Shishi.

The Moonshadow Flower in Jiang Shishi’s pot bloomed beautifully, captivating all who saw it.

Luo Hong nodded her approval, signifying a pass.

Then came Ao Yue.

Ao Yue’s pot, too, was empty, without a trace of the Moonshadow Flower.

"Where’s your flower?"

Ao Yue cupped his fists, respectfully saying, "I must inform my senior, I have not grown a flower."

"Give me a reason."

Hearing this question, Ao Yue straightened up and smiled, "Senior had mentioned at the very beginning that the second layer of the test was to assess integrity. In my opinion, the seeds given to us by senior couldn’t grow Moonshadow flowers. This challenge tests our honesty!"

"...You have been eliminated."

"Why!" Ao Yue was frantic; he felt he should have been able to pass.

Luo Hong sneered coldly, "You still have the nerve to ask why. Indeed, I gave you all cooked seeds that couldn’t sprout flowers, but who told you that this round was testing for honesty? The Human race is cunning and shameless. Does the Demon Race still talk about honesty? Can your honesty defeat the Human race?"

"This round tested lies."

"Although the lie told by the little girl from the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan was crude, she did lie, so I consider her to have passed."

"What about Jiang Shishi? How did she grow a Moonshadow flower?"

Luo Hong continued to sneer coldly, "Didn’t you listen when I laid out the rules earlier? I said to make a flower grow in the pot. When did I say you had to plant the seeds I gave you?"

Ao Yue was left speechless by her words; when he thought about it carefully, indeed that was the case.

Not just Ao Yue, but all the Demon Race geniuses following him were holding empty pots, shamefully hanging their heads.

They all thought Luo Hong was testing for honesty.

Jiang Shishi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this; fortunately, she had imitated Lu Yang’s way of thinking, carefully studied the rules, and understood what Luo Hong wanted.

The Demon Race geniuses lined up behind Ao Yue were unsurprisingly eliminated one after another, and Luo Hong walked all the way to Meng Jingzhou before stopping.

She examined Meng Jingzhou from head to toe, intrigued by his active performance in the first round.

"Where’s your flowerpot?"

Meng Jingzhou was empty-handed. Forget the flower, he didn’t even have a pot.

"Please come with me."

Meng Jingzhou gestured for Luo Hong to follow him to a place brimming with Moonshadow flowers that looked extraordinarily beautiful.

Meng Jingzhou’s pot had its bottom removed, encircling the most lush cluster of Moonshadow flowers, like a fence.

Meng Jingzhou, somewhat embarrassed, scratched the back of his head, smiling so wide it reached his ears, "Ah, I’m really embarrassed, I don’t know what happened, but my flowers just grew so much they broke a hole through the pot. As you can see, this is the result."

"I remember you said, senior, that the more vigorously the flowers grew, the higher the evaluation, right?"

Luo Hong: "..."

I did say the more vigorously the flowers grew, the higher the evaluation, but this is just ridiculous.

It was blatantly obvious that he’d seen through the challenge being a test of lies and started spouting nonsense.

"You’ve passed."

The last one was Lu Yang, and his flowerpot was completely empty—no flower, not even soil.

"It’s empty, you haven’t passed..."

"Wait a moment," Lu Yang raised his hand to interrupt.

"The condition for passing was to make the flowerpot sprout a flower within fifteen days, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then I have passed."

"Where’s your flower?"

Lu Yang pointed to the flowers all around the garden, confidently saying, "During these fifteen days, I have been transplanting the flowers from the garden into the pot and then moving them out again, replacing them with another batch, then moving those out too."

"All the flowers in the garden can be considered to have grown from my pot."

"If senior doesn’t believe me, you can check the roots of all the flowers in the garden; they definitely have dirt from my pot on them."

Luo Hong: "..."

The condition for passing wasn’t specified as the fifteenth day, it was the fifteen days since the start of the competition.

Luo Hong herself hadn’t realized there was this loophole in the rules.

"That’s not right. The second layer’s test was to see whether you possess the quality to lie," Luo Hong tried to make a comeback for herself.

"Right, I just made everything up on the spot."