Li Qingxian was staring at the two giant children at the city gate when he heard someone call his name.
"Ye Han!" Not far away, Songg Baige waved to Li Qingxian and hurried over with his group.
"How did you get pulled in here?" Wang Buku asked, looking at Li Qingxian with pity.
Behind them, the gazes of Luo Jing, Jin Yuan, Luh Gaoming, Qiu Ye, and the others held a mixture of pity and expectation.
Li Qingxian walked up to them and said helplessly, "Uncle Zhou signed me up. He meant well, wanting to let me decide for myself whether to participate in the Seventh-Grade event. Who knew these Deceit bastards would drag me in too."
"Watch your mouth!" Songg Baige said sternly.
Li Qingxian shrugged. "I’ve been afflicted by Deceit before. Talking about it at a time like this won’t change anything, so it doesn’t matter. The key question now is, is this a Deceitful Land, or the Myriad Phenomena Map? If it’s just a Deceitful Land, that’s one thing. But if we’re inside the Myriad Phenomena Map, and this is the Myriad Phenomena Cyan Cloud Examination, with the two overlapping... then we’re in big trouble."
"This *is* the Myriad Phenomena Map," Wang Buku said, pointing at the city wall. "The surface of those walls is forged steel, covered in rust. Neither Qii Country nor any other place has walls like these. They’re a hallmark of the Myriad Phenomena Map and the Underworld."
"I see. In other words, this Cyan Cloud Examination is combined with a Deceitful Land. So we’re afflicted by Deceit while taking the exam. A double blessing, then?" Li Qingxian asked.
Everyone nodded helplessly.
"You’re a Fate Master. This time, we’ll have to rely on you," Jin Yuan said quickly with a smile.
The others also forced smiles.
"Yes, Ye Han, we can only truly rely on you this time. Look at us—we have all sorts of statuses and can do all sorts of things, but we’re completely clueless when it comes to Deceit and Fate Skills," Songg Baige said with a sincere expression.
Li Qingxian nodded. "I have no interest in being your leader, but since our lives are at stake, I will take the responsibility. Those who are willing to cooperate with me, stay here. But you must follow my orders—and remember, I mean *orders*. You can question, you can consult, you can discuss, but if you disobey... in the best-case scenario, you’ll be kicked out of the group. In the worst-case, you’ll be dealt with. Anyone who disagrees can leave now."
There were twenty-four people present. This included the six Li Qingxian was familiar with—Songg Baige, Wang Buku, Luo Jing, Qiu Ye, Jin Yuan, and Luh Gaoming—as well as seventeen of their friends.
Everyone shook their heads.
Qiu Ye said, "We all know you’re a Fate Master, and we’re well aware of your strength. Killing an Eighth-Grade Demon Cultivator in a single move is something none of us could do. Some people here might not respect me, but no one disrespects you. An Eighth-Grade Aoshou is inherently stronger than an ordinary Seventh Grade. Ask anyone here—if we took the Eighth-Grade Cyan Cloud Examination right now, who among us could possibly achieve Three Super Armors?"
The group once again shook their heads helplessly.
"Alright, gather around." After speaking, Li Qingxian tossed out his right hand, and a Sound Insulation Talisman activated, sealing off the area. From a distance, it looked like a faint mist, preventing anyone from reading their lips.
The group drew closer, forming a circle. Each of them had to hold the left hand of a burden.
The "burdens" were giggling and chattering away, discussing which games were fun as if they were completely oblivious to the group.
Li Qingxian said, "There are many types of Deceitful Lands. The ones I’ve encountered before were mostly smaller ones that required strict adherence to certain rules. But the core of this Deceitful Land is most likely just playing games. Of course, these games are bound to have a twist and will be extremely dangerous. To be more specific: follow the game rules, and survive. Understand?"
The group nodded lightly.
"However, while we’re trying to survive, we also have to consider: what is the Cyan Cloud Examination testing us on here? We are, after all, here to participate in the Myriad Phenomena Cyan Cloud Examination, right?"
The group nodded lightly again.
Li Qingxian sneered. "Right? Bullshit! You people will climb up any pole you’re given. If this were a normal Myriad Phenomena Cyan Cloud Examination, we could all rely on our own skills, and survival wouldn’t be an issue. But this is a Deceitful Land. And in a Deceitful Land, there is one and only one goal: survive! Don’t do anything that gets in the way of survival. That means don’t think about the Cyan Cloud Examination, don’t look for Treasure, and don’t try to beat anyone else—unless it helps us get out of here alive."
The group laughed awkwardly, but they had to admit he had a point.
Wang Buku nodded. "Ye Han is right. From now on, we have to completely forget about the Cyan Cloud Examination, treat this place as a pure Deceitful Land, and focus only on how to stay alive."
Li Qingxian said, "At a time like this, it’s impossible to expect everyone to be completely selfless. However, since we’re going to be a team, we must at least agree not to harm or backstab one another. Therefore, I’m going to establish a grand contract that includes all twenty-four of us. If you’re not willing, you can leave now."
No one left.
"Good. I will establish the contract now."
With a flick of his right hand, a table, writing materials, and Talisman Paper appeared before Li Qingxian.
"Well, I’ll be..." Songg Baige muttered under his breath. The others, however, breathed a collective sigh of relief. With Li Qingxian around, they were definitely safer than they would be alone or with anyone else.
Li Qingxian picked up the brush, thought for a few seconds, then handed it to Songg Baige. "I’ll dictate, you write."
Songg Baige couldn’t help but smile, then quickly covered it with a light cough as he took the brush.
Once the contract was written, Li Qingxian cast a spell on it. Then, everyone infused their Inner Qi into the Talisman Paper, pressed their handprints onto it, and added their marks. Finally, the contract burst into flames, and the pact was sealed.
Li Qingxian looked down and asked the little girl, "Fangfang, it’s okay if we enter the city a little later, right?"
Fangfang tilted up her chubby, round face and smiled. "As long as you enter the city before 7:00 AM, it’s fine. There are advantages to entering early, and advantages to entering late."
"Thank you, Fangfang." Li Qingxian smiled and pinched Fangfang’s little cheek. The deadline was 7:00 AM.
"You’re welcome, Brother Ye Han." Fangfang’s little face turned slightly red.
The others looked on thoughtfully.
Li Qingxian looked at the group and said, "The first thing is to treat the person next to you as a friend. Have any of you finished the ’find a friend’ game?"
Everyone shook their heads in unison.
Songg Baige tried to explain, "It was our first time being afflicted by Deceit. We all panicked. Our minds and bodies went stiff, let alone trying to play a game."
Li Qingxian sneered again. "When they were just chattering away about games, did any of you bother to listen carefully?"
Everyone looked embarrassed, except for Wang Buku, who said, "I heard most of it."
"Better late than never. Go talk with them," Li Qingxian said.
Everyone hurriedly started chatting with the children beside them.
While chatting with Fangfang, Li Qingxian listened in on the other conversations, recording everything in his Spirit Platform.
The children wouldn’t say anything besides their names and things related to games, completely absorbed in playing.
Even so, the group managed to glean some important information about the games.
Fangfang was slightly different from the other children. She was more attached to Li Qingxian, genuinely treating him like an older brother, much to the surprise of the others.
Li Qingxian spoke again. "One person can only do so much. Even if you don’t understand Deceitful Lands, you must have heard some legends. So I suggest you share all your thoughts—and I mean *all* your thoughts—and anything related that you can think of. I’ll compile everything and make a basic assessment of this place."
Everyone began talking at once, throwing out all sorts of facts and ideas.
Li Qingxian recorded each piece of information in his Spirit Platform using Magic Text.
Finally, Li Qingxian began his summary.
"Anything is possible in a Deceitful Land. I can only say that based on my own experience, the knowledge of a Fate Master, and all of your input, I’ve summarized a few of the more likely possibilities. But this doesn’t mean I’m absolutely correct. And even if I’m correct at the start, it doesn’t mean things won’t change later..."