Chapter 196 The Outrageous Truth
Everyone outside watched as the small red snakes twisted and turned, and then the Xuanwu stake they were wrapped around moved to a new position next to the group of people.
The group looked up and were overjoyed to find that there was no one on the Xuanwu pillars.
Everyone was dissatisfied and wanted to take their place on the Xuanwu stake, so the group below quickly started fighting.
The fight was extremely fierce, with some people even being thrown into the vicinity of the Xuanwu pillar.
However, not long after, they all screamed, and then one by one they turned into golden light and disappeared.
The disciples outside who had been kicked out of the competition: "..."
This scene is so familiar!
As they watched as those people were sent out one by one by the formation, and even appeared around them in a daze, many of the disciples who were kicked out felt a sense of shared misfortune.
Oh no, this is absolutely terrible!
Those people probably didn't even understand what happened before they were kicked out.
A group of people who shared the same fate almost wanted to hug each other and cry.
"You still say you didn't cheat, and you didn't protect the Northern Ridge Holy Land?" The Black Serpent Sect Master's eyes were dark.
"Don't rush, haven't we already shown you?" The Holy Lord of Beiling was quite frank.
It wasn't their fault in the first place!
"What's going on? Those little snakes around the Xuanwu stake are actually stealing the wooden plaques?" A sect leader saw this scene and immediately asked.
The others then turned their attention to the Xuanwu stakes and, sure enough, discovered that several small red snakes around the stakes were stealthily moving, each time they moved precisely to steal the identity tags from the people.
Using the Xuanwu stake as cover and the human bodies as concealment, the small red snakes soon took away several identity tokens, and several golden lights shone again next to the Xuanwu stake.
"I remember when we set the competition rules together, we didn't seem to allow these red snakes to steal the disciples' identity tokens. Isn't this against the rules?" Sect Master Taiyun frowned deeply.
"The Xuanwu Formation is an ancient formation. If we really use these Xuanwu stakes to deal with those disciples, they will have no power to resist at all," an elder said solemnly.
Only the Holy Lord of Beiling secretly curled his lip: "Before you make your judgments, could you take a closer look at those red snakes around the Xuanwu Stake?"
After listening, those people observed carefully again and found that it seemed that only the small snakes on the three Xuanwu stakes moved on their own.
Moreover, these red snakes seem to be slightly different sizes. Although they look similar overall, there are still subtle differences.
"These red snakes are actually the disciples in disguise!" The Crimson Moon Sect Master suddenly realized something and stared intently at the image displayed on the Qiankun Mirror.
"It is indeed very possible, and the movement of those three Xuanwu stakes is also irregular, unlike the surrounding Xuanwu stakes." Sect Master Yaoguang also noticed the difference.
Although these Xuanwu pillars may seem to follow no set pattern on the surface, they actually contain hidden rules.
This rule is very clear to anyone involved in formulating the competition.
"It's hilarious. So you keep blaming the cheating and cover-up on the Northern Ridge Holy Land and demanding an explanation, but it's just a clever scheme by those disciples."
The Crimson Moon Sect Master sneered.
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
The little black snake nodded repeatedly, agreeing with everything his wife said!
"Who told you to be less skilled? If I had such a clever disciple, I'd probably be laughing my head off by now," the Fifth Elder chuckled.
Moreover, he felt relieved and even his breathing became much smoother.
Who told these people to even suspect the Southern Spirit Sect before, when their sect hadn't done anything at all!
It was those disciples who caused this trouble. What does it have to do with their Nanling Sect?
Wait a minute, maybe there really is a connection!
The Fifth Elder suddenly remembered the voices from before, and after taking a closer look at the three small snakes, his expression suddenly turned strange.
At this moment, the Holy Lord of Beiling smiled, and the Qiankun Mirror in his hand turned again. The small snakes on the Xuanwu stakes suddenly changed and turned into their original forms in the mirror.
Lan Yue, with her chubby little face and a touch of baby fat, and Yun Xi, whose calm expression still revealed her young age, clutching a handful of wooden plaques.
Finally, there was Yuan Shuo, who had no expression on his face and was looking down at something.
Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that it was also a wooden identity plaque.
Everyone: "..."
"How is this possible?" the Black Serpent Sect Master suddenly exclaimed.
"That's an ancient formation. How could those people possibly eliminate the red serpent and disguise themselves as that?"
A thousand years ago, during a demonic invasion, the Northern Ridge Holy Land used the Xuanwu Formation.
Although the formation was incomplete, it still played a significant role, even trapping two demon generals inside and buying them a lot of time.
How could those three children, who are only ten years old, possibly do these things while the Xuanwu Formation is in operation?
"What if these Xuanwu stakes they're entangled with are also fake?" the Northern Ridge Holy Lord suddenly asked.
"The Xuanwu Stake is fake? How is that possible?" The Taiyun Sect Master also didn't believe it. If the Xuanwu Stake could be destroyed so easily, then it wouldn't be an ancient formation.
The Holy Lord of Beiling silently rubbed his forehead: "Didn't you all notice that there are 803 Xuanwu stakes inside the Qiankun Mirror?"
When he first unfolded the Qiankun Mirror, he showed these people an overhead view of the Xuanwu Formation. He noticed the difference then, but he never explained it.
I can't believe it took these people so long to figure it out, and they still don't believe it.
"I remember that the Xuanwu Formation has a total of eight hundred Xuanwu stakes. This number was passed down from ancient times and cannot be changed." Only then did the Taiyun Sect Master recall the information about the Xuanwu Formation.
"so..."
"So these three Xuanwu pillars are also fake!" the Northern Ridge Holy Lord said helplessly.
"They certainly can't control the Xuanwu Formation, but if they erect three fake Xuanwu stakes on it, and then transform into the form of a red snake, secretly moving the Xuanwu stakes with them, do you think it's possible?"
Hearing the words of the Holy Lord of Beiling, everyone suddenly realized.
There are a total of eight hundred Xuanwu stakes in the Xuanwu Formation, which contain the laws of heaven and earth. But if you pretend to be a few yourself, it doesn't seem to make any difference.
Since it's not real anyway, the Xuanwu Formation won't react.
It's like adding a few stones to a formation. What kind of formation is so crazy as to kick everything out of its domain?
After learning the reason, everyone's faces turned pale and then red.
The expressions on the faces of the Black Serpent Sect Master and the Taiyun Sect Master, who had just started the commotion, were quite interesting.
"Hmph, they're just trying to take shortcuts. I'll see what they do in the next match!"
"Not every match in the upcoming games will be easy to slip through!" the Black Serpent Sect Master gritted his teeth.
The Taiyun Sect Master's face also turned somewhat green.
Three days passed quickly.
As the final moment arrived, golden lights shone from within the Xuanwu Formation, transmitting the message to all the disciples who had persevered to the end.
Lan Yue and her friends were among them.
These past few days, Lan Yue has kept a very low profile. She rarely even goesssip, focusing all her attention on how to obtain other people's identity tokens.
Persistence pays off; at the last moment, each of them clutched more than three hundred identity tokens.
Just before being teleported outside, Lan Yue hurriedly gave half of her identity token to Yun Xi.
Yunxi trusted her completely and subconsciously took the wooden plaque, which was then passed on in the blink of an eye.
The little girl looked somewhat confused.
Only Lan Yue kept her achievements and fame hidden.
She was certainly not the type to sacrifice herself for others or act with great righteousness; it's just that in the original story, the female lead had already won first place in the competition.
Moreover, only the winner of the competition can choose the very important cultivation technique for her, the Nine Heavens Profound Spirit Technique.
This technique can help the female protagonist awaken her bloodline, making her stronger step by step.
Moreover, and most importantly, the first place winner in any competition always receives more attention from others.
If it weren't for maintaining the precarious main storyline, Lan Yue would have long since given up and become a nobody, and wouldn't have participated in any competitions at all.
Therefore, it's best for her to keep a low profile.
However, once outside, Yunxi, finally realizing what was happening, glared at her angrily.
"Lan Yue, you..." Before Yun Xi could say more, the manager of the Beiling Holy Land had already announced the number of wooden plaques they had obtained.
Yunxi's vision went black.