Chapter 435: Day of Rest

Rest and fasting.

At Penglai Pavilion, such a day occurs every month; after the morning lesson, everyone must return to their rooms to meditate for three days before resuming normal activities.

Yan Buji will not do much else until he understands the oddities of this place.

Everyone dons a brand‑new Dao robe, claiming that changing clothes equals cleansing the heart, and each must be ready for three days of meditation on this day.

Yan Buji finds it odd; if they were mere mortals it would be understandable, but the humanoid restraints here clearly show signs of cultivation. A cultivator may meditate for a year or ten years, so what can three days achieve?

Despite many mysteries, Yan Buji still follows the mainstream and goes to the plaza for the morning lesson.

Three Patriarchs appear out of nowhere, seated above.

"Day of Rest, disciples, complete your practice first," says the Yellow‑robed Elder.

Yan Buji's expression hardens as he notices the three elders seemingly scrutinizing those below.

After the morning lesson, everyone falls silent.

"Feng Ji, stand up."

Someone stands up from the side, his complexion somewhat unnatural.

Yan Buji furrows his brows and looks aside.

Feng Yue signals Yan Buji from there, apparently indicating that the standing person is also an outsider like them.

The Yellow‑robed Patriarch asks, "What does it mean that where the Dao exists, the fire never ceases?"

Feng Ji trembles all over, stammers for a long while unable to utter a word, and finally, choking, bows and says, "Disciple thinks, fire..."

After his long rambling, the Yellow‑robed Elder closes his eyes to gather spirit, and those around dare not speak another word.

When Feng Ji finishes, the Yellow‑robed Elder opens his eyes and roars, "Nonsense!"

He says, reaching out to snatch the man out of thin air: "Someone like you, deceitful and unmindful of cultivation, does not belong in my Penglai Pavilion!"

"Spare me! Ah!!!"

Before Feng Ji can finish, the Yellow‑robed Elder crushes him into a blood dance, finally forming a Meat Pill and tossing it to the disciples below.

Yan Buji watches the scene, his whole body chilled.

Sure enough, the restraint is now posing lethal riddles; failure to answer means death.

The crux is that Yan Buji didn't grasp their method; a Golden Core Cultivator was crushed without resistance—this would be absurd even for a Nascent Soul cultivator, wouldn't it?

Immediately after, the Yellow‑robed Elder begins calling names.

Unsurprisingly, they are all those outsiders.

Those who cannot answer are all killed and turned into Meat Pills.

Yan Buji also notes that the recipients of the Meat Pills are humanoid restraints, some of which, excited, immediately devour them on the spot.

"Feng Yue!"

"Here, master."

"Show us, then," says the Yellow‑robed Elder.

"Yes."

Feng Yue channels his mana, gathering Azure Fire and releasing it toward the sky.

There are many subtleties; newcomers may not grasp them, but Yan Buji knows it is part of the Divine Skill Heavenly Fire descending to the world—Feng Yue may not have fully comprehended it yet, but a prototype exists.

However, the brief activation nearly drains Feng Yue's mana, leaving him dizzy, sweating profusely, and collapsing onto the ground, gasping heavily.

The Yellow‑robed Elder says contentedly, "Not bad, not bad."

"Th‑thank you, Patriarch, for the praise," Feng Yue, relieved, quickly sits down.

The other outsiders, seeing this, feel reassured.

When names are called again, the death rate drops sharply.

"Yue Jin!"

"Yes, Patriarch."

"You, perform it."

"Yes."

The task being obvious, Yan Buji manipulates flame into the air, a blue fireball materializes and falls!

The Yellow‑robed Elder nods approvingly, waves his hand to disperse the fireball: "Very good."

"Thank you, Patriarch."

Yan Buji squints, noticing something amiss.

Although the three elders follow the restraint's rules, it is clear their ranks are higher than the others'.

After the morning lesson ends, everyone returns to their quarters and begins three days of meditative fasting.

Three days later.

Everything returns to normal.

Yan Buji notices that the humanoid restraints who received the Meat Pills have changed!

The change... is like the puppets I encountered before?!

Yan Buji furrows his brow and finds Feng Yue.

"Brother Yan, I suppose you have also noticed,"

"Feng brother, you speak first,"

Feng Yue nods: "Those humanoid restraints that received the Meat Pills are gradually turning into the puppets I previously encountered here. I don't understand why they change, but it is evident that their purpose may be to devour us completely!"

Yan Buji rubs his chin: "But those three elders..."

Feng Yue thinks: "Perhaps it's because we are only at the Golden Core stage, not meeting their standards?"

Yan Buji says, "But in fact I have another question: even if they become puppets, what then? The restraints throughout this Penglai Pavilion, though we don't know who set them, already being able to assume humanoid form and possess some intelligence is already absurd."

Feng Yue understood Yan Buji's meaning and said, "I'll go ask the other Daoist friends again."

"In the end, who actually founded this Penglai Pavilion? If it was those three old Daoists, should we now run away or push through? If we intend to leave, Yan Buji thinks we should make plans early."

Feng Yue frowned and said, "Leave? Isn't Daoist friend Yan curious about the Longevity Qi inheritance of this Penglai Pavilion?"

"Curiosity is curiosity," Yan Buji glanced at Feng Yue and said, "If one's life is already gone, curiosity is useless."

Feng Yue laughed, "Regardless of how Daoist friend Yan decides, I definitely intend to stay. Not to mention the Longevity Qi inheritance, as long as we can obtain some ancient texts from these humanoid seals, we can naturally comprehend powerful cultivation techniques and spells, which is a gain as well."

Yan Buji felt that Feng Yue might still be hiding something, and of course Yan Buji himself was also keeping something concealed.

For example, he had already mastered the Heavenly Fire Falling to the World technique, which had been noticed by several humanoid seals that were testing him, yet he did not reveal it.

"Since that's the case, let's each gather information."

"Hmm, Daoist friend Yan, be extra careful."

"Daoist friend Feng, you as well."

After leaving, Yan Buji took a broom and went down the mountain to sweep, sweeping all the way to the mid‑mountain slope; several humanoid seals looked at Yan Buji, bowed, and said:

"Junior brother Yue Jin?"

"Senior brother, what brings you here?" Yan Buji squinted, smiled, and bowed in return.

"Junior brother, have you already mastered the Heavenly Fire Falling to the World?"

Yan Buji exclaimed in surprise, "How could senior brother say that?"

The humanoid seals laughed, "If junior brother has mastered it, then come to the main hall. I think the Ancestor Founder will be very pleased to see junior brother."

"So that's it."

It seems that mastering the Heavenly Fire Falling to the World grants a certain qualification.