Chen Xu held fifty bamboo strips full of questions and answers in his hand, but he quietly sighed in his heart.
In the end, he had only memorized fifty questions, yet there were a total of sixty strips in his hand.
He had overestimated himself; he should have added a little more Divine Soul to himself before.
However, Chen Xu felt a slight pressure at his brow, understanding that adding two points of Divine Soul at once should have been the most secure approach.
The child’s voice was right earlier; resisting greed is indeed a major lesson in life.
Ultimately, he had become a bit too arrogant after obtaining the Food Cauldron Celestial Book; he should take this as a warning and reflect thrice daily.
Chen Xu, holding the bamboo strips, limped toward the depths of the bamboo forest with his cane.
He guessed that, after walking a while, he might encounter Cui Yunqi and others who left the bamboo forest earlier, just as the Ugly Monkey had mentioned.
Then, after walking for half an hour, Chen Xu suddenly found his surroundings brighten.
He had stepped into emptiness!
No, it wasn’t emptiness, but rather he had directly walked from the small bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain onto an expanse of boundless water.
What a wondrous sight!
And even more wondrous was that in this world where water met sky, a lake of moonlight was unmistakably present.
Yes, moonlight.
There was no moonlight overhead, as the sky was pure and bright at the moment.
In March of spring, following last night’s rain.
This morning, all of Jichuan County seemed freshly washed, the sky a clear blue without a cloud in sight.
Yet under such a bright sky, beneath Chen Xu’s feet in this seemingly infinite expanse of blue water, was a vast pool of moonlight.
The full moon undulated with the ripples, and Chen Xu, stepping on the water’s surface, felt as though he were walking on a soft and clear mirror.
There was a subtle sensation of sinking, yet it also felt solid as if on flat ground.
With each step, the water beneath his feet would ripple ever so slightly.
Truly magnificent, beyond words to describe even a fraction of its wonder.
Walking on this mirrored water surface for a while, Chen Xu suddenly saw a few figures ahead turn around.
These individuals were all dressed in luxurious clothes, yet each had sweat beading on their foreheads and looked disheveled.
Seeing Chen Xu approaching, their eyes first lit up with apparent delight, but a moment later, their expressions darkened.
A young man in deep green brocade spoke with disappointment, "Who are you? How did you get here? How many questions did you answer correctly and how many bamboo strips do you have?"
Chen Xu, not yet understanding the situation, replied cautiously, "I am Chen Xu from Jichuan County. Naturally, I made it here by passing the first level of the bamboo forest."
Just as he spoke, a sudden wind arose over the lake in front of them.
After the wind swept by, a circular moon with an approximate diameter of two feet leapt out of the water.
Next, the moonlight, as round as a jade disc, joyfully rolled towards Chen Xu.
The familiar crisp child’s voice sounded once again, speaking with a proud tone, "Chen Xu from Jichuan County, with sixty strips, answered fifty questions, answered fifty correctly, eighty percent deducted, obtaining forty points. You may proceed forty steps further on Moon Lake."
Plop—
Ahead, the group of young men in brocade collectively widened their eyes.
One exclaimed, "What did you say? He answered fifty questions correctly? No, I don’t believe it... Ah!"
Before finishing, the water beneath his feet began to quake.
Barely a moment later, he plunged headlong into the water, unable to be caught.
Plop after plop, in an instant, the moonlit rippling water completely engulfed him.
Someone nearby bent over in panic, trying to grab him, only managing to catch a piece of fabric.
Yet, grabbing that piece of fabric also caused this person to suddenly lose control and fall forward.
"Help me... Ah!" he shouted.
The echo barely faded, yet he too disappeared beneath the water.
Only a desolate silence was left on scene; despite the fantastical myth-like setting, an unspeakable chill of looming danger was felt by everyone present.
"Hmph!" Only a light snort broke the stagnant atmosphere.
The jade-disc-like moonlight rolled and jumped, angrily exclaiming, "Fools, what are you thinking? Could my master be such a reckless killer? Imbeciles, idiots, those two were merely eliminated and have left the Star Array."
"Do you still wish to meet my master? If not, I will send you away!"
The jade disc glided swiftly over the water like a ribbon, sending waves like arrows, clearly furious.
If she had hands, one could imagine them on her hips as she glared angrily at everyone.
Ultimately, none requested to leave voluntarily.
Hearing the moonlight fairy confirm the Star Array didn’t kill, everyone subtly relaxed.
Chen Xu also quickly understood that to safely traverse this water surface, two conditions were necessary.
One relied on the score from the first level’s bamboo strips. Since Chen Xu scored forty points, he could walk forty steps on the water.
After forty steps, small palm-sized moons would appear beneath the water.
These small moons gathered at one’s feet could be scooped up by hand.
Pulling one out forms a question; answering correctly allows one more step forward, answering incorrectly results in sinking three inches into the water.
Cui Yunqi and others previously thought they would die if they sank, making them especially tense. Now, knowing life wasn’t the stake, everyone regained composure.
They cupped their hands to Chen Xu, introducing themselves in turn.
Beyond Cui Yunqi, the two remaining were named Wen Zicheng and Peng Xuan.
After exchanging names, it was Chen Xu who went first.
He had already walked twenty steps and could advance twenty more.
After twenty steps, Cui Yunqi and others didn’t fish for questions but intentionally observed Chen Xu to see what type of question he would first retrieve, and how he would respond.
Chen Xu crouched to scoop up a small moon, which leapt into the air and transformed into a bouquet of golden text.
It turned out to be a couplet. The first line read: "Three parts water, two parts bamboo, add a part of bright moon."
Those behind drew in a gentle breath; the couplet strangely matched the current situation.
Chen Xu exhaled in relief, thankful the question wasn’t hard.
After pondering a moment, he promptly replied: "Travel ten thousand miles, one thousand miles of snow, view a hundred li of great river."
The choice of words was apt, the style elegant, and the response to the couplet remarkably clever.
The moonlight elf bounced over, her crisp child’s voice jesting, "Oh, well done! You answered it so easily; go on, take another step forward."
Chen Xu stepped forward one step and then retrieved a second moon.
The small moon ascended, transforming into text: "Water with insect is turbid, water with fish is to fish, water water water, rivers lakes vast vast."
It was a word dissection couplet.
Behind, Cui Yunqi immersed himself in pondering the couplet text.