Chapter 296

Chapter 296: The Last One is a Fool

"A little brother by himself?"

"Who is your little brother? I might soon become your senior brother, uncle, or even grand-uncle," Li Hui joked casually.

"Don’t be so arrogant. I’m taller, stronger, and older than you. Should I still call you brother?" The boy was tall and thin, on the verge of adulthood.

"Well, call me brother, and you won’t lose out. Here’s a gold ingot for you." Li Hui pulled out a typical gold ingot for rewards, making the thin boy grit his teeth angrily. After a moment, he coldly replied, "What do I care about you? My surname is Cheng, and my given name is Hongyi. May I ask where your immortal hometown is, little brother?"

"You’re the one who’s the little brother." Li Hui rolled his eyes and said, "Cheng is the royal surname of Dalong, with princes named Hong. So, are you the prince of Dalong?"

Cheng Hong’s cold smile faded. He had forgotten that part and was simply focused on tearing off his dragon robe but couldn’t change his name. Before entering the cave, he wanted to gather information about his opponent but found this kid was not easy to engage.

While they spoke, Wen Shaobao and Li Changtian arrived.

The two of them didn’t exchange words with Li Hui, their faces grim as they went to examine the clauses. Meanwhile, more and more people gathered outside the cave entrance.

Li Hui spotted Xia Tianguan, Yuan Xiao zhuo, and Huang Tongliang. The unreliable guy stood obediently next to a young girl, making eye gestures and mouthing, "This is my sister, the mother of tigers, very powerful. She has been watching me from morning till night, not allowing me to drink with the brothers."

"That’s right!" Li Hui thought, "With you? Calling each other brothers over a drink is bound to lead to trouble if you aren’t careful."

Xia Tianguan, taller than Cheng Hong, squeezed over and asked with a smile, "Hey, handsome brother, you arrived early. You seem to have a good grasp of things. Can you tell me about these clauses?"

"Three points: don’t stick your neck out, keep your mouth shut, don’t touch what shouldn’t be touched. As the saying goes, fools have their blessings, and you’ll definitely get points."

Hearing this, Wen Shaobao scoffed and mocked, "Nonsense! We cultivators should charge forward bravely. Start plotting against others before even entering the cave? How ridiculous to say ‘fools have their blessings.’ In the future, we will all be fellow disciples, and such behavior is disgraceful. If I get the chance, I’ll make sure you lose your entry qualifications."

"Hey, Wen, come at me if you dare. Don’t mock my brothers!" Huang Tongliang, even more agitated than Li Hui, jumped out.

Li Hui raised an eyebrow: "You think you can be the leader before even entering? Want to step on others to elevate yourself? Fine, I’ll give you that chance. If you can make my score zero, you can leave the Haotu Sect. Haha, if you can’t, watch out for me reducing your score to zero. Don’t come crying later."

"You…" Wen Shaobao was taken aback, and the Long-browed Fiery Monkey perched on his shoulder looked nervous, its fiery eyes seemingly seeing something very frightening.

Li Hui grinned at the Long-browed Fiery Monkey, startling it into screeching.

At that moment, a loud and impatient voice boomed, "Everyone is here! You must enter the cave immediately and make room for others."

Seventy groups of forty-nine people stepped into the cave entrance, causing ripples underfoot. Once they realized, they found themselves standing on a small high platform, with six paths descending downwards, indicating that one group was without a path.

"Quick, follow me! The clauses say the last group will have a score deduction of one hundred percent," Cheng Hong waved his hand. His group responded in unison and ran.

Xia Tianguan nodded at Li Hui and followed his companions.

On Li Hui’s side, Wen Shaobao seemed ready for confrontation, clearly determined to waste a hundred points on him.

The woman in palace outfit, Cheng Yuhuan, stepped forward to mediate: "Why bother, Shaobao? Fighting among ourselves will only lead to mutual harm. The other groups will thank you, and the points become increasingly important as we progress. Not putting in effort now will affect our assessments for entry."

"Am I going to end up in a mutually destructive situation with him?" While Wen Shaobao held this arrogant posture, Li Hui walked to the edge of the high platform and turned back with a smile, "The clauses never said we couldn’t jump down. See you below."

With that, the wind howled as the youths who had just stepped onto the stairs were taken aback, watching as a figure fell straight down, vanishing in an instant.

Li Hui felt the wind swell around him as he floated down gently, suddenly sensing something. When he checked the sign, he saw he had gained one hundred points.

Just as he surveyed the area, a loud crash echoed as Li Changtian violently fell from above, pulling his legs out of the rubble.

In a moment, Cheng Yuhuan and Luo Xiuna also fell, rotating their forms to counteract the force. Luo Xiuna, adorned with numerous accessories, exclaimed, "I got points! I have sixty points now."

"Ah! I only have forty points," Cheng Yuhuan’s expression changed slightly.

When Ma Rongsheng and Qian Pingzhang landed, only Ma Rongsheng received twenty points, while Qian Pingzhang ended up with nothing.

Though Wen Shaobao was reluctant, all six from his group jumped down, making it utterly embarrassing for him to remain on the high platform. To his utter fury, he shouted with a darkened face, "Deductions? You took twenty points from me? Why?”

Li Changtian spoke coldly, "Innovation belongs to geniuses, copying is for the mediocre, and in the end, there are fools."

"What did you say?" Wen Shaobao unsheathed his long sword with a clang, only to find Li Hui already selecting a path and swiftly walking away. Cheng Yuhuan and Luo Xiuna exchanged glances, hurriedly quickening their steps to follow. To them, it didn’t matter whether one was genius or mediocre; what mattered was to earn points.

They left the high platform and entered a hall a hundred zhang away.

Three beams of sunlight streamed down from above, illuminating a red fruit tree in the center of the hall. The seven didn’t move; the clauses clearly stated that picking the red fruit would incur severe penalties—three hundred points for each fruit taken.

After a moment of thought, Li Hui stepped forward and plucked three red fruits from the tree.

"Hahaha, country bumpkin! You’ve never had red fruit before, yet you picked three!" Wen Shaobao laughed heartily, then questioned, "Do you really have enough points to accept the penalty?"

Li Hui ignored him and turned to leave.

Li Changtian hesitated slightly and picked two red fruits from the tree. Cheng Yuhuan and Luo Xiuna exchanged hesitant looks; following Li Hui’s lead, each took one, feeling they couldn’t handle more.

Ma Rongsheng and Qian Pingzhang both shook their heads, thinking these guys had lost their minds.

Wen Shaobao wouldn’t dare waste points and proudly declared, "With this, I’ll have the highest score in our group."

Li Hui moved quickly, exiting the hall and entering a long corridor.

The clauses stated that picking the red fruits incurred severe penalties, and having taken three, his score dropped from eleven hundred points to two hundred.

Not long after, he arrived at a wall hung with green vines. Without a word, he crushed the red fruits, letting the juice drip onto the ground, causing three green vines to quickly turn red and shimmer.

Li Hui devoured the fruits that had lost their juice and pulled away three red vines. He walked to the side of a pond and tossed the vines in. Shortly after, bubbles began to rise from the pond, and nine golden carp surfaced, appearing tipsy.

"Wow?" Cheng Yuhuan jogged up, astonished, then exclaimed in delight, "You can fish for golden carp this way! The clauses state each golden carp is worth two hundred points!"

Li Hui gathered the nine golden carp, thinking, "This is just the beginning! The task line is growing more complicated! With these golden carp, I can go fish for the dragon turtle now."