Chapter 45: Proper Conduct

And the next moment, he saw something even more unbelievable happen.

Only to see those formations miraculously link together, then drive those dozens of people toward the depths of the forest.

"What on earth is going on?" the green-clad youth exclaimed in fright.

Suddenly, he keenly sensed two unfamiliar auras behind him, immediately turned vigilant, and assumed a defensive stance.

Upon seeing who had come, he couldn't help but be startled.

"Dongfangxiu, Man Yue?!"

Only to see the blue-clad youth with regular features, a masculine aura between his brows, tall stature, and on his back a heavy sword sealed with cloth.

And the girl beside him wore red clothing, had gorgeous fox eyes, thin lips, and red jade tassels on her earlobes.

Dongfangxiu and Man Yue had long recognized him: "Fu Qianli, long time no see."

The green-clad youth, namely Fu Qianli, hearing this, nodded: "Yeah."

Since the sect's grand competition three years ago, he had heard that the Tai Sui Sect Elder took elite disciples including Dongfangxiu and Man Yue to the Eighth Continent for training.

Never expecting to meet again here in the Wuduan Mijing.

He had thought he would only see them at the sect's grand competition a few months later.

Man Yue stepped forward, gazing at the scene ahead: "What's going on?"

Fu Qianli shook his head: "I don't know either; I just arrived."

Dongfangxiu also stepped forward: "This should be... an intermediate formation?"

Fu Qianli crossed his arms, his baby-faced expression showing some curiosity, and said: "Fellow Daoist Dongfangxiu, have you ever seen such a bizarre formation before? These formations can actually link and even stack—it's unbelievable."

"Never." Dongfangxiu said.

Seeing those dozens of cultivators about to disappear at the horizon's edge, Fu Qianli tilted his head toward Dongfangxiu and Man Yue: "How about we go check it out?"

Man Yue curled her lips: "Aren't you afraid?"

Fu Qianli chuckled: "We've come this far; even if afraid, we must venture in—who knows what rare treasures might lie inside?"

Dongfangxiu said: "This is clearly man-made."

Fu Qianli raised an eyebrow and smiled, speaking familiarly: "Even if man-made, I believe we three can handle it."

Man Yue gave him a sideways glance.

"Then let's go in."

But just as Man Yue and Fu Qianli were about to step into the forest, a faint crying came from deep within.

Their steps halted, the playfulness on their faces vanished instantly, and they exchanged a glance.

"Something's happened!"

The three of them plunged into the forest without hesitation.

The moment they entered, the formation had already locked onto them.

Their vision was suddenly replaced by mist.

"What can a mere intermediate formation do to me?" Man Xue snorted, then swiftly formed seals with her hands and chanted an incantation.

"Heavenly Balance Palm!"

A palm strike burst out, shaking the entire mist formation violently.

Man Yue consecutively unleashed three palm seals, shattering the first mist formation outright!

The mist cleared, and Man Yue saw the other two, while Dongfangxiu said solemnly: "Although we can break formations, there are at least dozens more mist formations ahead. Proceed with caution."

Fu Qianli looked at Man Yue: "Fellow Daoist Man Yue, your cultivation has increased a lot."

Man Yue's cultivation is at least mid‑Golden Core Realm.

Upon hearing this, Man Yue curled the corner of her mouth, her gorgeous fox eyes sweeping over Fu Qianli, but she said nothing.

Suddenly, the crying from deep in the forest grew louder.

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

Faintly one could hear: "I was wrong, I dare not..."

"Go!" Dongfangxiu said in a low voice.

The three immediately headed deeper into the forest, breaking many mist formations along the way; the further they went, the clearer the crying became, until they could even make out the words.

"I shouldn't have framed Junior Brother Li; I was wrong..."

"I'll never steal again! Wuu wuu wuu!"

"They all say I'm ugly, so I secretly wrote many obscene books to slander them. Wuu wuu wuu, they don't even know it was me who wrote them! I've deeply realized my mistake—please let me go!"

Such confessions kept coming.

Man Yue frowned slightly, exchanging a glance with the two beside her.

The three were all dazed.

How strange this sounds?

Could they all have fallen into an illusion?

The three pressed on, breaking formation after formation, and soon they saw an astonishing sight.

Only to see dozens of cultivators either kneeling on the ground weeping bitterly, sitting with heads in pain, or waving weapons nonstop trying to break the formation.

"Look up." Fu Qianli almost instantly noticed the white‑clad girl standing on a tree, her face wearing a multicolored mask that refracted several strange lights in the night.

Man Yue and Dongfangxiu looked up.

The white‑clad girl also sensed their presence.

They stared at each other from afar.

In the girl's sea of consciousness came: 【Target persons Man Yue, Fu Qianli, Dongfangxiu, Awakening Value 0.】

The white‑clad girl was Yuan Yao; hearing those three names, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

She had looked at the ranking list from the sect competition three years ago; those within the top fifty included these three names.

Tai Sui Sect's Man Yue, three years ago fifteen years old, ranked tenth.

Tai Sui Sect's Dongfangxiu, three years ago seventeen years old, ranked sixth.

Heavenly Illumination Sect's Fu Qianli, three years ago thirteen years old, ranked twenty-sixth.

「Fellow cultivators, quickly save us! 」 Those cultivators waving weapons inside the formation, upon seeing Man Yue and the two others appear, immediately shouted excitedly.

Fu Qianli glanced at them, then turned to Yuan Yao and smiled, "Why does the maiden hide her face and dare not meet people?"

Yuan Yao: "……" She naturally feared being discovered.

Man Yue lifted her eyes, coldly said, "What are you forcing them to do?"

These cultivators had no obvious injuries, yet each cried bitterly, speaking out their past mistakes and then engaging in repentance and self-reflection.

At a glance, this does not look like the conduct of the orthodox sects.

Yuan Yao lowered her voice, spread her arms, "To make the cultivation world full of beauty and peace, I have them reflect on their mistakes, continually improve themselves, and then together we create an even better cultivation world!"

Man Yue, Fu Qianli, and Dongfangxiu were stunned.

Yuan Yao looked at them: "Do you want to join?"

The three: "……"

"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Fu Qianli was amused, he laughed holding his stomach, "It's been a long time since I've encountered such a pure fool."

Yuan Yao was speechless; she also felt her words were really foolish.

All blame goes to the idiot; if it hadn't made her target a hundred million people, she could have come up with such a grand plan?

Since things have already been done, there's nothing left but—

Might as well go all the way!

Seeing that the mist formation couldn't trap the three of them, Yuan Yao quickly condensed the formation seal and began to activate another formation!

"Phantom formation, activate!"