Chapter 367: 367. Chapter 364: Entering the Xian Sect

367. Chapter 364: Entering the Xian Sect

The recruiter was a thin male cultivator; judging by his aura, he was roughly on par with Wu Hongtian, but Ding Huan was certain the man was no match for Wu Hongtian.

"What level are you as a Spirit Array Master? Are you applying to be an Array Master in our sect?" The thin man glanced at Ding Huan and spoke casually.

He had said this over a hundred times, yet not a single applicant met the Xian Sect's requirements.

"I am the top-tier Spirit Array Master in the Dao cultivation realm—nine-level restrictions cannot confine my abilities; I can even set up semi-immortal arrays."

Ding Huan exaggerated his abilities without hesitation.

Upon hearing Ding Huan's words, the thin man took another long look at him.

Although both were job applications, this kind of application differed greatly from that on Earth.

On Earth, applicants always inflate one unit of ability into nine.

Here, you simply state what abilities you possess—almost no one boasts.

Because boasting here is meaningless; your skills are verified on the spot.

"Set up a miniature array to conceal this Immortal Crystal and prevent anyone from breaking your array."

The thin man casually tossed an Immortal Crystal onto the table.

He did not specify a time limit—if Ding Huan took longer than his estimated threshold, he would immediately mark him as unqualified.

Almost the instant the thin man finished speaking, Ding Huan said: "I've set it up."

"Bang! You're here to mock the…!"

The thin man slammed his palm on the table, but only managed half the sentence before his eyes widened as he stared at the table.

The Immortal Crystal he had placed moments earlier had vanished—no one knew where it had gone. He reached out to grab it, but was immediately blocked by an invisible ripple of empty-space energy.

"Empty-space array pattern…"

Ding Huan had set up an Empty-space Array Pattern right before his eyes, and he had sensed nothing.

The thin man muttered to himself—he had struck gold. Such a talent would be fought over by every Xian Sect.

"Haha, good, excellent, extremely excellent." The thin man reached out to grab the array—but to his shock, Ding Huan's defensive array patterns merely trembled; he failed to break it with a single attempt.

Impressive! The thin man was even more delighted, raised his hand again, gathering Immortal Qi, and with a light touch, he tore open Ding Huan's array barrier, revealing the Immortal Crystal within.

Ding Huan smiled, swept his hand across his face: "Senior Xin, I actually used array patterns to disguise my appearance—didn't you notice just now?"

"Excellent. You're hired. Let me introduce myself—I'm Xin Chuang of the Baihe Xiandao, True Immortal Layer Three, and the recruitment officer for this Baihe Xiandao session."

Senior Xin knew he had recruited a true talent.

Not only had his own hand failed to break the array pattern, but he had also failed to detect the array-based disguise of Ding Huan's face.

It wasn't that he could be fooled by Ding Huan—array-based face transformation was indeed possible.

But it required profound understanding of arrays; otherwise, one could never achieve a disguise undetectable even by a True Immortal.

Ding Huan could set up arrays, but he could not disguise his face so perfectly that a True Immortal would fail to see through it—his array mastery had not yet reached that level.

Ding Huan bowed: "Thank you, Senior Xin. I'd like to ask—if I join your Xian Sect, will I be granted protection?"

Xin Chuang laughed: "If joining our Xian Sect doesn't guarantee protection, that would be a joke."

Ding Huan pointed to Chang Chang Danyi, nailed to the ground in the distance: "That woman is my friend. I came to apply precisely because I wanted to join a Xian Sect as a shield, so I could rescue her."

"She offended a ruthless figure from the Empty-Space City and was nailed to the ground. May I ask, Senior Xin, can I save her?"

"Of course." Xin Chuang answered without hesitation.

Hearing this, Ding Huan stepped to Chang Chang Danyi's side, pulled the sword from her body, and slipped a pill into her mouth.

"You're… Brother Ding?" Chang Chang Danyi stared at Ding Huan in shock—when she arrived earlier, her spiritual sense had swept the area multiple times and found no trace of him.

She had silently praised Ding Huan for his meticulousness—he must have fled long ago.

She never imagined he hadn't fled at all, and not only remained here, but had actually come to save her.

Just as Ding Huan brought Chang Chang Danyi to the Baihe Xiandao, Wu Hongtian landed before Ding Huan.

"Bold of you—destroyed my cave dwelling, and now you're openly applying here." Wu Hongtian chuckled, his True Immortal aura surging violently, instantly engulfing Ding Huan.

"Boom!" Before Ding Huan moved, Xin Chuang's True Immortal domain erupted in response—the two domains collided like two furious, raging rivers crashing together.

Immortal Qi exploded; surrounding cultivators were blasted away. Several weaker Immortal Bridge cultivators struck by the exploding Qi were severely injured.

Ding Huan stood aside—he immediately saw that in this clash of True Immortal domains, Xin Chuang was at a disadvantage, and growing weaker by the second.

Without hesitation, Ding Huan unleashed a Yellow Flower Kill into Wu Hongtian's spiritual domain.

Wu Hongtian felt a powerful vortex of killing intent slam into the center of his spiritual domain—his domain's momentum halted abruptly.

Dammit, he'd been ambushed—he'd been careless, and someone had infiltrated his spiritual domain.

Wu Hongtian, with immense experience, instantly retreated.

If he didn't retreat now, his opponent would seize the opening and strike—leaving him at grave risk.

Ding Huan wanted to take the chance and drive a spear into the man—but he held back.

It wasn't fear of anything else—he was worried about damaging Xin Chuang's reputation.

Right now, Xin Chuang and Wu Hongtian were dueling domain-to-domain; if Xin Chuang won, the news would glorify him. But if Ding Huan intervened, it would look like two against one—even if they won, it would tarnish Xin Chuang's honor.

As for his use of the Yellow Flower Kill, Ding Huan was certain only Wu Hongtian and Xin Chuang would know.

Xin Chuang exhaled in relief—he hadn't expected Ding Huan's enemy to be a True Immortal, let alone one so powerful.

Fortunately, Ding Huan's timely ambush had saved him from humiliation—and now, he could openly claim victory over Wu Hongtian, greatly enhancing his prestige.

Otherwise, a recruitment officer of a Xian Sect being suppressed by a mere insect from the Empty-Space City? He'd lose face beyond redemption.

"So it's you, Wu the Madman. You're strong, but don't cause trouble in my Xian Sect—otherwise, if our sect elders emerge, you'll never have a place here again."

Xin Chuang spoke coldly.

He recognized Wu Hongtian—a formidable cultivator who always came bearing heaps of Empty-Space Immortal Qi buds, yet never joined any Xian Sect.

Wu Hongtian had taken a blow, dared not retaliate against the Baihe Xiandao, and knew Xin Chuang well—he simply bowed and said: "Senior Xin, my apologies just now. This matter arose because Ding Huan destroyed my cave dwelling."

"Ding Huan is our sect's array master—you may leave." Xin Chuang waved his hand as if shooing away flies.

His strength was inferior to Wu Hongtian's, but his knack for showing off was no less.

Wu Hongtian sneered inwardly—if this were outside, he'd turn Xin Chuang into a corpse in an instant.

"Brother Xin, there's a saying: you can't avoid seeing each other, day or night. Could it be that Brother Xin never leaves the Immortal Sect? I'm merely asking Ding Huan a few questions—it's not a big deal."

Wu Hongtian forced down his anger and spoke again.

Xin Chuang hesitated, then said to Ding Huan: "Don't worry—let him ask a few questions. He can't harm you."

He truly needed to leave the Fourth Immortal Region frequently; angering this Wu Madman wasn't wise.

"Ding Huan, you shattered my cave—this is fact. Even though you've become the sect's array master, you must give me an explanation."

Ding Huan must die; today, making him offer an explanation gives Wu Hongtian a face-saving exit.

Wu Hongtian had always been arrogant in the Void City—if a mere ant shattered his cave and he did nothing, how could he ever walk these streets again?

Chang Chang Danyi whispered beside Ding Huan:

"Jian Zhengyan left the Void City the moment your blast destroyed Wu Madman's cave. You've angered this madman. Whether or not you're connected, if you've sat with him and spoken a word, Wu Madman will retaliate."

I suspect Jian Zhengyan won't escape—Wu Madman won't let him go. Once this is settled, he'll surely chase him into the Void."

I sneaked to your cave last time, yet he still found out. Just compensate him with something—his only goal is a face-saving exit. As long as you enter the Immortal Sect, he'll let it go."

Ding Huan nodded, then looked at Wu Hongtian:

"Your Huan-Grandpa loves smashing your cave. What can you do about it? Build your doghole well—I'll come back and smash it again next time."

In this land of the strong devouring the weak, Ding Huan knew it from the moment he arrived—he acted according to its order.

Since reconciliation was impossible, better to make it clear.

"Good. I hope you stay in the Immortal Region and never come out." To Ding Huan's surprise, Wu Hongtian didn't strike again—only spat a threat and turned to leave.

"Maybe you're right—the truth is, even after compensating him, he'll never let you go," Chang Chang Danyi sighed.

Ding Huan said helplessly: "I've just had terrible luck—smash one cave, and it's this guy's. Forget it. Since we're already enemies, no point in compromising."

Chang Chang Danyi said: "It's not bad luck—it's that this man is too tyrannical. Do you know how many caves like the one you smashed he has in the Void City?"

"He has more than one cave?" This time, it was Ding Huan's turn to be stunned.

Chang Chang Danyi sneered: "I don't know why, but this guy has built over ten thousand such caves in the Void City. He doesn't even live in them—he just leaves them there for no reason."

Ding Huan stood dumbfounded; his faint sense of guilt vanished without a trace.

Is this Wang Ba also from Earth? Does he know this place will be developed someday? Is he waiting for compensation?