Goddess Painting

Elder Zhou Tong took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent shock in his heart. Although his voice was still a little tight, it had regained its authority:

"First test, the assessment... passed!"

Whoosh—!

The crowd erupted into a frenzy, like boiling water in a pot.

The crowd, who had been waiting to see him make a fool of himself, now looked at Qin Feng with extremely complex expressions.

regret!

What a pity!

"This child actually managed to cultivate to the sixth level of the Divine Power Realm in dire straits. If he were on any other peak, he would be nurtured as a core seed!"

"Yes, why bother guarding that dilapidated Tian Shu Peak? If it were to join my mountain, I'd even marry my daughter to it!"

"Unfortunately, one wrong step leads to another. What good is passing the first hurdle? The next two are crucial requirements; if there's no one there, there's no one!"

Everyone shook their heads and sighed.

The decline of Tian Shu Peak was not something that could be reversed by the efforts of one person alone.

Elder Zhou Tong didn't waste any words, and with a wave of his sleeve:

"quiet!"

"The second stage: the disciple quota assessment!"

Zhou Tong's voice was as cold and hard as iron:

"According to sect rules, to reopen a peak, twenty disciples with mid-grade aptitude and two disciples with high-grade aptitude must follow! Furthermore, they must be willing to sign a sect contract!"

"Qin Feng, where is he?"

Qin Feng remained calm.

He slowly turned around and waved to the disciples who had been waiting for a long time on one side of the main hall.

Twenty disciples dressed in the attire of Tian Shu Peak walked out slowly with their heads down.

It was those twenty newcomers whose backgrounds were excessively "clean".

They walked very slowly, each step feeling like it was made of lead, and no one dared to look up at the surrounding gazes. The whole group exuded an eerie, deathly aura.

Qin Feng, seemingly oblivious, smiled slightly, pointed at them, then at himself, his tone relaxed:

"Twenty mid-grade individuals, that's all. As for the high-grade ones..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the direction where Lin Zhengnan and Wang Tianyi were, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes:

"I'll count myself, and then..."

However, before he could finish speaking...

A sudden change has occurred!

The leading disciple, Zhao Ming, suddenly trembled violently.

He clenched his teeth, his face turned deathly pale, and took a big step forward!

"Thump!"

With a muffled thud, Zhao Ming knelt heavily in front of Zhou Tong, the sound of his knees hitting the stone slab clearly audible.

He gripped the ground tightly with both hands and roared:

"Elder!!"

"Disciple...disciple wishes to withdraw from Tian Shu Peak!!"

That shout was so piercing and fierce that it completely stunned the entire audience.

Before anyone could react...

"Splash—!"

As if a domino effect had been triggered, the remaining nineteen disciples all knelt down in unison!

Their movements were so synchronized, as if they had rehearsed countless times!

"We...must all withdraw from Tian Shu Peak!!"

"The future of Tian Shu Peak is bleak, and resources are scarce. We are unwilling to waste our lives on this! We beg the elders to grant our request!!"

"Please, elders, spare our lives!!"

Cries and pleas for mercy filled the air, a scene of utter misery, as if Qin Feng were some heinous demon who had driven them to the brink of despair.

Dead silence.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence that lasted for three breaths.

Immediately following was an overwhelming uproar!

"Holy crap?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Desertion in the face of battle? Or a mass defection?! This...this is too ruthless!"

"This is pushing Qin Feng to the brink! Why retreat now of all times? Isn't this deliberately making Qin Feng lose face?"

"That's so insidious! It's obvious he's been set up! Qin Feng is finished, completely finished!"

Elder Zhou Tong frowned, and his expression was rather unpleasant.

Although he enforced the law impartially, he could still see through the shady dealings.

"Are you... sure?"

Zhou Tong asked in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of warning:

"To withdraw now would be considered betrayal of the peak! Although Tian Shu Peak has not yet been established, which is not a serious crime, such a treacherous act will completely ruin your reputation within the sect! In the future, I'm afraid no peak will be willing to take you in!"

Zhao Ming shuddered, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes, but remembering the "Soul-Locking Pill" he had swallowed, and the safety of his family, he could only close his eyes and roar in despair:

"Our minds are made up!! We beg the elders to grant our request!!"

My mind is made up!

The twenty people spoke in unison, not daring to even glance at Qin Feng.

At the foot of Tian Shu Peak, Wang Tianyi picked up his newly replaced top-quality purple clay teacup and slowly scraped the tea foam with the lid, making a soft "ding-ding" sound.

He watched this scene with a smug smile on his face, like a cat playing with a mouse, every wrinkle filled with pride.

He glanced at Lin Zhengnan, who was also flushed, and the two exchanged a knowing look.

Become!

This money was well spent!

"Qin Feng, oh Qin Feng."

Wang Tianyi straightened his robes, adopting the demeanor of a wise and earnest elder, but his tone was full of undisguised sarcasm:

"You see, this is what people want."

"Nobody's a fool. A wise bird chooses a good tree to perch on. Who would want to follow you down a dead-end path in a godforsaken place like Tian Shu Peak?"

"Don't waste everyone's time."

Wang Tianyi waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly:

"Hurry up and admit defeat, hand over the peak master's token, pack your bags and get out! If you behave better, I might be able to keep a menial job for you in the sect so you can have something to eat."

Lin Zhengnan stroked his beard and sneered, his voice sharp and sarcastic:

"My dear son-in-law, one should have self-awareness."

"Without anyone's support, what's the point of being a peak leader? You're just a commander without any troops, a complete farce!"

"Let's leave now and stop making a fool of ourselves!"

Desperate situation!

To everyone else, this was a complete and utter dead end!

Twenty disciples betrayed Qin Feng in public, which was not only a failure of the assessment, but also a public execution of Qin Feng's personal charisma!

Countless gazes turned to Qin Feng, some with pity, others with helplessness.

however.

Right under the spotlight.

Qin Feng showed not a trace of panic on his face.

He stood there quietly, like a rock, completely still.

"Is the performance over?"

Qin Feng looked at the twenty people kneeling on the ground, his eyes filled with no hatred, only a faint pity.

That was pity for the chess pieces.

Immediately, he raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd to meet Elder Zhou Tong's eyes, his voice steady and powerful:

"Elder Zhou, if I remember correctly, Article Thirteen of the sect's rules states..."

"If a disciple possesses exceptional talent, their place can be filled by someone else. Specifically, it means... a higher-ranking disciple can be used to fill a lower-ranking one?"

The entire audience was stunned.

Is there such a rule?

An elderly deacon frantically searched his memory, then suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed:

"It seems...there really is!"

"That's an old rule from hundreds of years ago! It was established back then to prevent some exceptional geniuses from being unable to establish a peak due to their eccentric personalities or the inability to gather enough members!"

"But...it's just for show! Who would use high aptitude to offset low aptitude? That would be a huge loss! Besides, the conversion ratio is very strict!"

"Hahaha!"

Wang Tianyi laughed so hard, as if he had heard the funniest joke, that he almost cried.

"Qin Feng, are you out of your mind? Or have you lost your brain?"

"That's the rule! But are you familiar with the algorithm?"

Wang Tianyi stretched out his withered fingers and counted them off one by one for Qin Feng, his eyes filled with utter contempt:

"One superior-grade spiritual root is equivalent to five mid-grade ones!"

"One top-grade spiritual root is worth ten mid-grade ones!"

"You need to gather twenty mid-grade slots now. Even if you include your 'high-grade' status, it only amounts to five!"

"Fifteen more to go!!"

"That means you'll need to find three more top-grade ones!"

"and……"

Wang Tianyi's smile grew increasingly sinister:

"Even if you fill one of the two top-tier spots based on the strict requirements, we're still one short!"

"You'll need to find at least four more disciples with top-tier aptitude, inside and out!"

"You're all alone now, even a dog wouldn't look down on you, where are you going to find someone?! Are you going to conjure one up?!"

Lin Zhengnan also sneered, his eyes full of pleasure:

"Stop struggling, the more you struggle, the uglier you'll look."

"Accept your fate! You're destined to be a loser!"

Faced with the two men's frantic shouting and the pitying looks from the surrounding crowd.

Qin Feng shook his head and sighed softly.

"Your arithmetic is indeed quite good."

"But your premise... is wrong."

He turned and looked into the depths of the crowd:

"Wanqing, come out."

Late Qing Dynasty?

Which late Qing dynasty?

At that moment, Li Qingtian, who was drinking tea to calm his nerves outside the crowd, trembled and almost dropped his teacup again.

He was wondering what was going on when he suddenly felt his sleeve go empty.

Suddenly, Li Wanqing, who was dressed in red and had been keeping her head down, strode out!

She walked through the crowd like a burning flame, and amidst countless astonished and stunned gazes, she went straight to Qin Feng's side.

Then, she turned around and stood side by side with Qin Feng, a proud and determined smile on her face.

She took out a contract from her bosom that already had her fingerprints and signature on it, and presented it to Elder Zhou Tong with both hands, her voice clear and resonant:

"Disciple Li Wanqing possesses a top-grade fire spirit root!"

"I had already voluntarily joined Tian Shu Peak!"

"This is the disciple's contract; please review it, Elder!"