When Chi Muyao woke up, Xi Huai was no longer in his room. He didn't even know when Xi Huai left, but his exit had been so quiet that Chi Muyao slept through it.

He looked down at his clothes first and made sure they were tidy before getting out of bed and cleaning himself using the Simple Washing Technique.

After finishing washing up, Chi Muyao also checked his Qiankun bag out of caution.

He found something unfamiliar within the Qiankun bag and quickly took it out for a look.

Inside was the bag of spirit stones, the one Xi Huai gave him before. After inputting his spiritual energy to check, he roughly estimated there to be about five thousand inside. Chi Muyao had never saved up so many spirit stones in his life.

Like a poor person who had become rich overnight, he was afflicted with a pervasive fear of losing his newfound wealth. 

The Qiankun bag also contained a set of enchanted vestments and boots. The enchanted vestments were silvery white with complicated patterns embroidered on them. The shoulders, cuffs and hems of the vestments were embellished with aqua blue. The belt was inlaid with light blue gemstones that could increase defence. Overall, the clothes looked luxurious and beautiful.

This was even a set of enchanted vestments that could recognise an owner. He just needed to input his spiritual energy and the vestment would listen to his commands from now on. He would be able to take them off and put them on at any time, which was extremely convenient. 

After taking a look, Chi Muyao couldn't help but say, "Wow." Further demonstrating how much of a country bumpkin he was.

They were so beautiful that he couldn't bear to wear them. This kind of highly defensive enchanted vestment was very suitable to wear during tribulations. However, even Xi Huai's enchanted vestments were ruined by the lightning tribulation last time. It would be a shame for such beautiful vestments to be scorched by a lightning tribulation. 

While he was examining the enchanted vestments, Yi Qianxi arrived at his door and called for him, "Shidi, have you gotten up yet?"

Chi Muyao hurriedly put everything back into the Qiankun bag. He walked out quickly and said, "Yes."

"Let's go then. My spiritual artefact is only average in terms of speed so we should head over early." 

Today was the start of the extra credit exams. 

Chi Muyao registered for the formation test, so he needed to line up early to enter the formation.

The formation test location was in the trial place of the Nuan Yan Pavilion, which was quite far away from the third house. That's why Chi Muyao needed Yi Qianxi to escort him over.

On the way to the trial place, you could see the Ninety-nine Glazed Glass Pagoda from a distance.

The fog of early morning had yet to dissipate. The Ninety-Nine Glazed Glass Pagoda seemed to emerge out of the haze of white mist and green forest, towering majestically above its surroundings.

A gentle wind blew, causing the bamboo forest to dance. The fog visibly rippled, as light as the faint clouds by the horizon. For a moment, it was impossible to tell where the boundary between the sky and the earth was, for everything glittered white.

Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi landed together. After regaining their footing, they looked around and found that many disciples had already gathered here.

Most of the disciples who came here so early were those who came to take the exam. The ones that were just here to spectate would only begin to arrive two days later.

While everyone was in the mood to chat with one another during registrations, now people kept to themselves and rested in various places. 

Chi Muyao saw Xi Zihe in the sea of people, but he didn't go over to say hello because he was with Han Qingyuan. 

This pair of male and female leads really were inseparable.

Yi Qianxi pointed to the Ninety-nine Glazed Glass Pagoda and said, "See the ninth floor? It's a good bit wider than the others."

Chi Muyao nodded. "En, I see that."

"After you clear the ninth floor, we'll be able to see your progress during the exam. The middle is the formation space you'll be entering, and the wide circle are the spectator stands. We'll be able to see there how all of you break through the formation. If you're not back after two days, I'll go there to watch you." 

“En. Okay.”

"Still, safety first. If you're seriously injured or can't hold on, come out. Although I heard there aren't any deadly formations inside, but one unlucky dude once broke the exam formation in a way that made it deadly and died inside."

Although Yi Qianxi knew that Chi Muyao had the healing power of the Colourless Yunni Deer, the divine senses of high-ranking seniors would occasionally sweep through during the exam. It would be troublesome if Chi Muyao's ability were to be discovered.

Therefore, Chi Muyao would have to use medicated powder first if he were to be injured, then secretly and slowly heal his wounds later on.

Chi Muyao was quite surprised to hear that. He replied, "Looking at it from another perspective, if he was able to break the exam formation into a killing formation, then he was actually just an unlucky genius." 

"I can't believe you said that. Instead of being a genius, it's more that he overestimated himself and broke formations indiscriminately." 

"Actually, in the eyes of other people, I'm also overestimating myself." 

"You're different because you have the ability. You just need to make it to the third floor to earn enough points. We don't need to be the best, we just need to get the pill that helps with core formation!" 

Chi Muyao was cheered up by his little shijie. "En, I'll work hard!" 

Chi Muyao gave his spirit pet bag to Yi Qianxi. "Shijie, help me look after Qiuqiu. It's had a hard time after we came to the Nuan Yan Pavilion. It hasn't had a chance to come out for many days now. Take it out for a fly at night."  

"Okay, leave it to me. I'll take good care of this fat bird."

"It doesn't like people calling it fat."

"But it is fat. It's almost too fat to fly." 

Chi Muyao smiled and said nothing.

It wasn't long until he saw Mu Ren arrive on scene, along with Ming Shaoluo and her entourage.

Ming Shaoluo first glanced at Xi Zihe after landing, her eyes full of resentment. Obviously, there was still no progress between her and Xi Zihe. On the contrary, the relationship between the two was getting worse and worse due to her spoiled rotten temper. 

She resentfully glared at Xi Zihe, feeling that he was a heartless person. Her feelings were genuine, but the only one he saw as kind was Han Qingyuan. 

She noticed Chi Muyao a moment later. A cunning look came over her eyes as she came over to Chi Muyao and said, "Chi-shidi, if you don't mind, you can enter with us into the formation later. Maybe we'll be transported to the same array and be able to help each other out." 

Both Chi Muyao and Yi Qianxi didn't have a high opinion of this group of people. Basically, their impression could be summed up as: unreliable teammates. 

It was probably safer to break formations alone than to team up with them. They might actually turn out to be the biggest safety hazard.

What were the identifying characteristics of a second female lead?

Their preference for finding seemingly mediocre female leads to make themselves look better in contrast.

And what would be the fate of a second female lead?

Instead of appearing better in contrast, they'd become a stepping stone for the female lead and be haggardly defeated.

Yet even after having her face slapped, she would feel it was unfair and channel all her resentment for being ridiculed by others onto the female lead and continue to conspire against her.

So since Ming Shaoluo didn't want her relationship with Xi Zihe to continue to worsen, she turned her attention from Han Qingyuan to Chi Muyao, which was truly terrible for him. 

Ming Shaoluo's character was very stable. In fact, she was the most like her counterpart in the original novel out of all the main characters after Chi Muyao's transmigration. 

Xi Huai was the character who changed the most drastically. A perfectly good villain was now going around doing good deeds.

And unlike others who would do good deeds without even leaving a name, his good deeds always caused a ruckus in the entire cultivation world... What on earth was that all about? 

Chi Muyao naturally refused, "No thank you. I'm afraid of holding you all back." 

He only said that to be polite, but these people took him at his word. Mu Ren even said, "We know, that's why we offered to take care of you. You should accept it if you know what's good for you." 

Chi Muyao looked away, unwilling to give them a second glance. "Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment.” 

Mu Ren gave Chi Muyao another look before leaving with a shake of his sleeves.

The Ninety-nine Glazed Glass Pagoda was already very huge to begin with. After the test-taking disciples entered the formation present in each small room, the space within would further expand under the effects of the formations. In fact, it could even become an endless world within which the eye of the formation was very far away.

In principle, everyone should be working through the test on their own. However, because of how many people would be attempting the first floor together, many would be transported into the same formation they needed to break through.

That's why some abused the system. 

If they were lucky and met up with someone in the same group who managed to break through, they could share in the spoils and advance as well. And if they could muddle their way to the third floor and receive points? Why wouldn't they? 

The formation you were transported to was random.

However, some disciples in the Nuan Yan Pavilion, after many years of participating, had gradually worked out some patterns. For example, the third person to head in and the sixteenth were likely to end up together. 

This way, they could work out a plan before entering the formation and meet up inside sooner or later.

This was why Ming Shaoluo wanted to drag Chi Muyao along as a foil for herself.

Chi Muyao deliberately avoided them, hiding far away.

Yet at this moment, Chi Muyao met a youth who looked fourteen or fifteen years old with Foundation Building stage cultivation.

His smoky-blue enchanted vestment looked extremely elegant. The lack of defensive gemstones and other things being plain suggested he wasn't a disciple from a prominent clan.

His hairstyle was like a jellyfish, what with his braided sideburns. There was even a bell tied to one of them. The bell seemed unremarkable, but there were extremely intricate carvings of nine bats, none of which repeated, on its surface.

He had an excellent face with eyes that ended slightly raised. His entire person radiated a stern aura. There was a sense of carelessness as he looked around at the teams forming, as if he wanted to avoid others as well. 

Their eyes happened to meet as they both looked away.

Chi Muyao was shocked to see him and quickly recall his gaze like he hadn't seen anyone. It wasn't the person he recognised, but the bell. 

Unexpectedly, the youth still noticed him. The corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile. "Little Gege, you're so beautiful!"

Being spoken to this way made goosebumps rise all over Chi Muyao's body. He bit the bullet and answered, "You're too kind."

 "Little Gege, you—"

Before the youth even finished speaking, Chi Muyao replied politely again, "Since you don't seem like Nuan Yan Pavilion disciples, calling me a cultivator friend is fine." 

After all, no one you deigned to call 'Little Gege' tended to meet a good end... 

"Oh..." The boy raised his eyebrows and smiled.

The youth looked at Chi Muyao again, his eyes lingering on Chi Muyao's forehead for a long time.

Even though Chi Muyao had hidden his deer antlers...

This made Chi Muyao even more unsettled.

The youth spoke to himself again, "How beautiful."

Chi Muyao didn't know what he was sighing about this time. 

The youth only left when the line to go into the formation gradually thinned, "Then I'll be leaving first, little cultivator friend."

"En." Chi Muyao nodded.

The youth walked in without further ado. 

Chi Muyao grew distracted for a moment as he watched the youth enter. Why was this person here so early on in the plotline?

He didn't remember this person having a part here... 

But when he thought about it from another perspective, Chi Muyao realised that technically he didn't have a part here either. 

He headed into the Ninety-nine Glazed Glass Pagoda.

The interior of the Glazed Glass Pagoda wasn't opulent by any means. There was only a small confined space when you walked in. There were no doors here, only an arched stone wall on which birds and beasts were carved, as well as cloud lotus platesThese are lotus plates from the Tang Dynasty - not cloud lotus, but let's all imagine these gorgeous plates look something like the inserts on the doors....

When he stepped into the circular clearing, an array diagram appeared on the floor made from Hanbai jadeThese are purportedly Hanbai jade floor tiles.. The teleportation array activated, sending him into the exam formation.

He was probably the last person able to come in to this formation test. The cultivators that were already here all looked at Chi Muyao. Several sighsSahl: I legit thought they were sighing because he's so beautiful. Turns out I'm the only stan* here - they are sighing in annoyance.
*Apart from you guys of course! drifted out from the crowd once they saw who he was.

Chi Muyao was a little ashamed so he just kept to himself and stood to the side. Coincidentally, he saw Mu Ren when he looked up. 

Seeing that everyone around him ignored him in favour of Mu Ren, Chi Muyao silently walked around appraising the formation, secretly making calculations with his hands.

However, Mu Ren turned around and viciously snapped at him, "Don't walk around all willy-nilly. You might mess up the layout of the formation.”

The other cultivators who worshipped Mu Ren followed his lead and said, "That's right. Someone getting carried like you shouldn't mess things up. Just stand there and don't do anything.”

 "You're actually pretty lucky to randomly land on this team. You must be cultivating your luck.”

Not only was Chi Muyao not angry, he replied with a slight smile, "Then everyone here is quite lucky too."

That shut them all up. Compared to Mu Ren, they really were not much better than Chi Muyao, meaning they didn't have the right to make fun of him.

The formation extra credit exam had nine levels of difficulty. This was only the first floor, meant to acclimate cultivators to the Ninety-nine Glazed Glass Pagoda's mechanisms and ease them into the higher levels.

From his preliminary observations, Chi Muyao determined this was the Yunchui Myriad Sword Formation.

This formation had been altered specifically to negate its lethality, but in actual battle it could definitely pack enough power to kill people without a trace. Quite a dangerous formation to be featured in the first level of the formation test.

Chi Muyao liked to read various miscellaneous books before his transmigration. The Yunchui Formation was mentioned in one of them, 'The Art of War of the Eight Arrays after the Wind'.

According to the book, the land in the northeast was where the Gen resided. The Gen were mountains, and from mountains and rivers emerged clouds, forming cloud formations. The Yunchui Formation was a combination of eight formations and twenty-four others, forming the six main Gen, shocking soldier door formations. The main door formation was the door of evil.

The Yunchui Myriad Sword Formation built on this formation and changed the soldiers to swords at a 1:1 ratio.

The sword formation would be invisible at first thanks to the concealing clouds within. Then, it would soar like a bird, the clouds concealing all as swords fell down, in a completely unpredictable pattern. 

Mu Ren kept glancing around his surroundings. Then he ordered, "Everyone retreat and stand in the following locations. The position of Sundance and the three auspicious doors, Open, Rest and Life...

He had only said half before he suddenly realised something and looked at the Sundance position. Chi Muyao had long since been standing there, like he had been waiting for them to come.

This surprised Mu Ren and made doubts appear in his heart. Could it be that Chi Muyao really did have some learning in this area?

Chi Muyao was the last to enter the formation, but the first to stand in the correct position. Could it be that he used even less time to observe than Mu Ren? 

Mu Ren was not the only one secretly surprised. The other people who sighed or mocked Chi Muyao before also took notice. 

Their expressions changed, but they tried their best to suppress it because of how embarrassing it would be otherwise. They tacitly decided to pretend like they hadn't noticed anything. 

A thought that passed through all their minds: It was just coincidence, right? 

In the cultivation world, many cultivators specialise in either spell-craft or the way of the sword. After all, these were both ways to improve your own strength. 

Those who study formations were either extremely talented individuals who had the spare time to improve themselves, or people with mediocre aptitudes who could only rely on external factors like formations to protect themselves in times of danger.

People like Yu Yanshu were the former.

And Chi Muyao, along with most of the people in the formation, were the latter. 

As for Mu Ren, he dabbled in formations in order to make up for the fact that he didn't have a single-element spiritual root. He strived to be the best at everything and to prove himself, thus pushing himself to his limits. 

You couldn't exactly distinguish these three groups based on the amount of effort they put in. All that could be said was that formations levelled the playing field. Here, only your degree of understanding and intuition mattered. 

In the novel, the male lead didn't have good enough aptitude so he also relied on formations a lot in his early days. Then, he accumulated many treasures of heaven and earth and became someone to be reckoned with in the cultivation world.

However, it was only human to admire the strong. Under these test conditions, everyone unconsciously felt that Mu Ren was the strongest. 

Chi Muyao didn't fight or scrabble. He listened to Mu Ren's commands and co-operated well the entire time.

Although the formation was domineering, this didn't mean it was beyond their capabilities to handle.

As everything proceeded in an orderly manner, changes suddenly occurred in the formation. The myriad swords scattered like raindrops, falling to the ground. 

Mu Ren looked to the sky and ordered, "The Six Directions of Tianren!"

Chi Muyao, however, suddenly spoke, "No, Tianxin of Polaris!" 

In the stormy conditions, every second counted. Everyone subconsciously listened to Mu Ren's commands. The formation changed again, the myriad swords falling into disarray and coming from all directions.

The sound of thousands of swords moving together and cutting through the air made people tremble.

The cacophony created by the mighty sword formation was like thousands of killing intents, all aimed at their vital points.

If they broke the formation in the wrong way, it would only grow more dangerous. 

Since the formation changed so quickly, life and death could be determined in an instant. 

Of course, the swords used in the test formation were actually illusions. When they struck a cultivator, that cultivator would be considered 'dead' and teleported out of the formation, bringing an end to their test.

Seeing that there had been a mistake made with the formations, some cultivators panicked. Two were struck by the illusions and disappeared just like that. 

Mu Ren paused at the sight.

Chi Muyao stopped listening to his commands. He quickly retrieved a spirit stone from his Qiankun bag and held it between his fingers. As his eyes traced the ever-changing formation, he said, "Don't just stand around! We'll use a formation to counter this formation. I'll stand on Tianxin, Mu Ren on Tianzhu. Everyone else, stand in the positions of the nine stars.”

With that, he quickly threw the spirit stone, which landed exactly where it should. 

By this time, everyone knew that Chi Muyao had been right. Mu Ren made a mistake. No one was questioning Chi Muyao now. They all assembled into position.

Chi Muyao quickly glanced around before saying, "An Earth element for Polaris.”

The cultivators did as he said, but they still couldn't counter the formation.

Chi Muyao ran out of patience and said to Mu Ren, "Earth and Wood spiritual roots complement each other. They can do great things if used correctly, so why not use them?" 

He didn't say any names, but Mu Ren knew Chi Muyao was talking to him. He gritted his teeth and stopped trying to disguise himself as a single element spiritual root, giving his all to breaking the formation.

The formation was successfully broken. The small room returned to being silent, with only the array mechanism before them.

The formation needed some key things to activate, like spirit stones or spiritual energy.

 A specific catalyst was also needed, three swords in this case.

Chi Muyao made a point to go examine the formation even after the test was over. He planned to glean some insight from it. 

Mu Ren walked behind him with clenched fists and quivering lips that remained silent in the end.

Chi Muyao noticed him and spoke first, "This exam is supposed to be done individually. The fact that they all came in and decided to rely on you put you under tremendous pressure. It's more than normal for you to then make errors in judgment. Actually, your choice wasn't bad, just not as efficient as my approach because it caused the formation to become more dangerous. You would've still been able to break through eventually." 

This was a very courteous way of addressing Mu Ren's mistake. After all, the mistake he made was one that could be recovered from. There was just a better choice he couldn't think of in the heat of the moment.

"I..." 

Mu Ren was a person unaccustomed to being treated with courtesy. He would know what to say in times of confrontation, but for now he was at a loss for words. 

And Chi Muyao didn't wait for him to respond. After all, he had never cared about these things, nor had he taken these people to heart.

To him, these people were nothing more than a group of naive children.

Now that they had broken the formation, they would go their separate ways to accomplish their own goals.

Chi Muyao walked over to the formation teleportation stone. Just before he put his hands on it, Mu Ren finally spoke, "I misjudged you." 

The expressions of the other cultivators in the room weren't much better. Some were upset, some were ashamed. Some were unwilling to look at Chi Muyao at all.

It was obvious these people were ashamed to have not recognised Mount TaiIn other words - Chi Muyao's epic awesomeness..

"Why would you say that?” Chi Muyao smiled. "You just rushed to conclusions about me without getting to know me."

With that, he placed his hands on the teleportation stone. His figure disappeared into the sky as he was transported into the next formation.

Mu Ren seemed to have been struck by lightning. It took him a long time to come back to his senses. 

The other cultivators didn't dare to speak too loud, but he seemed to hear someone muttering as they left, "This is all you can do, huh.”

He felt ashamed in the eyes of other people. His hands clenched and loosened before finally tightening into fists.

There was a complicated mix of emotions in his heart.