"Senior, the Book Spirit, has entered seclusion?"

Upon hearing this news, the sect master and the elders were all quite surprised.

In the past, the second round of the recruitment exam had always been handled by the Book Spirit, and it had never been known to falter. Moreover, the Book Spirit had not entered seclusion in nearly a thousand years. Why, then, was it closing itself off at such a critical moment?

The sect master pondered for a moment before clapping his hands, exclaiming, "This is a good thing! Do you all know what the Book Spirit’s seclusion means?"

"It means that the Book Spirit is in seclusion!" the eldest elder blurted out.

The sect master couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

‘How did I ever recommend this guy for the position of Sect Elder? I must be losing my mind!’

"Wrong!" the second elder retorted.

The sect master’s eyes lit up. Looks like he still had some brains on this matter.

The second elder sighed deeply, "This means that the second round of the recruitment exam cannot continue. All of my carefully crafted questions are useless now!"

The sect master was speechless. Was he still thinking about those damn questions?

"I said it's a good thing! Do you understand what that means? Pay attention to the question!"

The second elder paused, suddenly understanding. "Well, it is a good thing for the disciples taking the exam," he said thoughtfully.

Everyone present recalled the abstract and difficult questions from before and suddenly realized the second elder had a point.

It wasn’t just a blessing for the disciples, but for the sect as well.

At the very least, they wouldn’t be screening out those with normal minds.

The sect master rubbed his brow in frustration, clearly losing patience with the conversation. "Do you remember last time, when the Book Spirit entered seclusion and improved our sect’s cultivation techniques, greatly increasing the cultivation speed of our disciples?"

Without giving the elders a chance to speak, the sect master continued, "The Book Spirit must have had a sudden inspiration this time. It didn’t even have time to notify us before rushing into seclusion."

The eldest and second elders both nodded in realization. "So that's why!"

"Indeed, the Book Spirit's research into cultivation theory is unparalleled. This seclusion must lead to a major breakthrough!"

The fifth elder, holding a compass, spoke up, "Last night, I studied the stars and noticed an upcoming event that will influence the future of our sect, though I can’t tell if it’s good or bad."

"I thought today’s recruitment might bring us an unparalleled genius, but it seems the key moment is in the Book Spirit’s seclusion."

"It seems this will be a great boon for our sect!"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Then what should we do now? The Book Spirit’s seclusion is a good thing, but how do we handle the recruitment?" The second elder, still focused on his recruitment task, was concerned.

The sect master thought for a moment and replied, "In the past, the second and third rounds of the exam were used to assess the disciples comprehensively. Since the second round can’t proceed, we’ll skip straight to the third round, and their performance there will determine their fate."

"It looks like that’s the only option."

All the elders agreed.

"Alright, Old Second, you’re in charge of this recruitment. The standard for passing the third round will be set by you!"

"Leave it to me!"

At the entrance to the sect, the second elder's avatar, receiving instructions from his true self, announced:

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, the second round has been canceled. We will now proceed directly to the third round."

"Everyone, get ready. The third round will begin in fifteen minutes."

The crowd immediately stopped discussing and adjusted their mental state.

The third round of the recruitment exam was infamous throughout the cultivation world.

The first round, the spiritual root test, had remained unchanged for a hundred years. The second round, although the questions varied, followed a consistent format. But the third round—every year, the questions were bizarre and abstract, impossible to predict.

The failure rate for the third round alone exceeded 60%, and even among those who passed, most didn’t even know how or why they had succeeded. Some had participated in the test year after year, only to fail again and again.

Under such pressure, everyone could only adjust their mindset, preparing for anything.

"The third round officially begins!"

The second elder’s voice faded as Qin Yu felt his body rapidly plummeting downward, falling into an abyss that seemed to have no end.

During the fall, his memories began to blur, and strange new ones started to take their place.

Everyone’s memories were being altered.

Bam!

Suddenly, everything in front of Qin Yu became clear.

"Run! The monster is coming!"

An old man in tattered clothes screamed as he dashed past Qin Yu.

"Monster!"

The altered memories surged within him, and Qin Yu knew that a monster was something dangerous—something that would eat people.

At that moment, the house ahead of him was smashed, and a massive, black mist-covered dog, looking like it came from the hellish realms, appeared before his eyes.

Panic flooded Qin Yu’s face as he turned and fled.

"Second Brother, give us a rundown of your design for the third round," the third elder asked. She was an elegant, older woman with a graceful demeanor.

"No problem!" The second elder, Hu Tian, walked up to the crystal mirror.

On the mirror, the scenes of the third round appeared.

Hu Tian casually zoomed in on one of the images.

The image showed a young boy standing on a small cobblestone path, as an old man in ragged clothes rushed past him, shouting in panic.

The second elder clicked a button and froze the scene.

"I’ll give you all a brief introduction to the background of the third round," he said, his tone slow and satisfied, clearly proud of the challenge he’d created.

"The story takes place in a small fishing village, where a monster appears every so often. After devouring one person, it leaves."

"The little ones will play the role of an ordinary boy or girl in this village."

The second elder clicked again, and the image changed. A black mist-covered dog, a hallucination beast, broke through a building and charged toward the boy.

"Ah, the Dream Phantom Dog!" All the elders immediately recognized the creature.

"Exactly! Only the Dream Phantom Dog could create such a vivid illusion and easily alter the memories of the participants."

The Dream Phantom Dog was a natural illusionist, able to traverse the depths of consciousness, altering memories at will and trapping beings in illusions.

While other divine beasts in the cultivation world were rare, the Dream Phantom Dogs were the opposite. The sect’s numbers had exceeded a thousand, and while each individual lacked the power of other divine beasts, their collective might was formidable.

Three thousand years ago, the Dream Phantom Dogs had trapped a Tribulation Stage expert in an illusion, and their strength had only grown since.

"These dogs are our sect’s guardians, yet you’ve enlisted them to play the villain? How did you convince them?"

"Of course, with my personal charm," the second elder replied, suppressing the pain of spending so many of them.

The scene in the mirror continued to change.

The boy fled, while the monster intentionally slowed down, destroying houses behind him.

The ground shook as a small wooden house on the boy's right collapsed, and a young girl appeared before him, trapped under a beam.

"Help!" she cried.

The boy rushed toward her, but as he neared, the monster came charging at him from behind.