Not If, But When

Just like how it was with Zhao Yunxiao, Gu Qiansi started her challenge at the easiest Level 1.

But one obvious difference between Gu Qiansi and Zhao Yunxiao was that the former did not appear nearly as cocky as the latter.

Unlike Zhao Yunxiao who had kept his hands clasped behind his back at Level 1, Gu Qiansi faced the wooden puppets with seriousness right from the very start.

However, she did not incorporate any movement techniques either, relying purely on her senses and physical ability to avoid the puppets.

"I have a question, Senior Martial Brother Zhao," Lu Zhiying asked without taking her eyes off of Gu Qiansi.

"What is it?"

"Between you and Senior Martial Sister Gu, who is the stronger one?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course it is me," Zhao Yunxiao answered without hesitation.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"What if she does better than you here?"

"That will be due to luck."

Lu Zhiying narrowed her eyes at Zhao Yunxiao for a moment, then turned her attention back to Gu Qiansi.

"I see," Lu Zhiying replied monotonously.

"Junior Martial Brother Tian, Level 2 please!" Gu Qiansi called out at this point.

Just like Zhao Yunxiao, Gu Qiansi was currently at the Intermediate Essence Gathering realm.

At their current cultivation level, the duo naturally had no problem dealing with the Hundred Puppets Array at the lowest difficulty level.

But when the difficulty level was raised to Level 2, Gu Qiansi started utilising movement techniques as well.

The approach she used to tackle the array was very similar to that of Zhao Yunxiao, and naturally so as well.

The two of them had been challenging the Hundred Puppets Array together for years by now.

All this time, not only had they been watching each other in action, they had also been constantly discussing about possible strategies, trying to come up with the most effective tactics they could employ to tackle the array.

While their talents might not necessarily lie in the same areas, their cultivation levels were the same.

This made their discussions of strategic and tactics far more productive, just that they had to tweak the conclusion slightly in order to apply it to themselves.

With her use of movement techniques, Level 2 of the Hundred Puppets Array did not prove to be a problem for Gu Qiansi either.

Before long, she took a deep breath and called out to Tian Luoyang, "Level 3 please, Junior Martial Brother Tian!"

In response, the puppets sped up just like how they had for Zhao Yunxiao.

Once again, Lu Zhiying was rendered incapable of keeping track of the positions of the puppets when they hit their top speed.

Zhao Yunxiao had no such issues, and started to pay closer attention to Gu Qiansi and the puppets in order to see if there was anything that they had missed previously.

At the same time, he also started counting down in his head.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

Thunderous collisions sounded out one after another as Gu Qiansi repeatedly used the Immovable Shell to slow down the puppets, paving the way for her to escape from tight situations.

"Don't force yourself if you can't hold on any longer!" Zhao Yunxiao called out all of a sudden.

"Is Senior Martial Sister Gu struggling?" Lu Zhiying asked in surprise.

While she could tell that Gu Qiansi was slowly getting cornered by the erratic movements of the wooden puppets, Lu Zhiying thought that she could still last a little longer.

But from Zhao Yunxiao's comment, perhaps she was wrong?

"Shut up, Zhao Yunxiao!" Gu Qiansi's sharp reply caused Lu Zhiying to be further confused.

"Senior Martial Brother Zhao, you shouldn't try to distract Senior Martial Sister Gu just because she is about to last longer than you in the array..." Tian Luoyang berated from within the hut, his gaze carrying a slight tinge of despise.

"Who's worried about that? I was genuinely concerned about her," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged shamelessly.

Lu Zhiying: "..."

So cultivators can be this disgraceful as well.

"Urgh!" Gu Qiansi's groan caused Lu Zhiying's heart to skip a beat.

Despite have raised her arms to defend against an elephant puppet that had slammed into her side, Gu Qiansi was still sent tumbling to the ground, directly putting her in the path of several other puppets.

"Stop!" Gu Qiansi shouted out after realising the situation she was in, and Tian Luoyang reacted immediately.

One of the puppets actually came into slight contact with the fallen Gu Qiansi by the time it came to a stop, showing just how close it had been for her.

Thankfully, it was only akin to a gentle touch.

But just the slightest of delays and she would have inevitably suffered from another heavy strike!

Huu-!

Gu Qiansi understood that it was a close shave as well, and could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

"How long did I last at Level 3?" Gu Qiansi asked while picking herself up from the ground.

"You improved as well," Zhao Yunxiao answered.

"Yeah, but how long did I last?"

"More than twelve minutes."

"How long exactly?"

"...Twelve minutes and thirty-one seconds," Zhao Yunxiao mumbled softly.

"Heh, I love that look on your face right now," Gu Qiansi said with a smirk. "I win this time!"

Zhao Yunxiao had lasted twelve minutes and sixteen seconds earlier, meaning that Gu Qiansi lasted a quarter of a minute longer than he did.

It was not a big difference, but it was a difference nevertheless.

"I guess it is a lucky day for Senior Martial Sister Gu today?" Lu Zhiying asked.

"I guess it is a lucky day indeed," Gu Qiansi continued to smirk.

Zhao Yunxiao: "..."

Just you wait, I will definitely beat you next time!

"Let's go wash up, we have a long day ahead of us," Zhao Yunxiao tried to change the topic.

"Sure," Gu Qiansi did not expose him for that, merely smiling smugly at his awkward response.

However, Lu Zhiying was not having that.

"Wait! There's still me!" Lu Zhiying raised her hand. "I want to try as well!"

"You?"

Both Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi looked at her in surprise.

"Is it possible? Or are we running out of time?" Lu Zhiying asked.

"Well, time is not exactly the issue here..." Gu Qiansi replied hesitantly. "But even the lowest level of the Hundred Puppets Array is meant for those who have at least entered the Foundation Building realm. Since you are still unable to tap on world origin energy, it might be a little too difficult for you..."

"It's okay, I will just give it a try. If I really can't do it, then I will just come out quickly!" Lu Zhiying assured. "Anyway, it will stop as long as we call for a stop, right?"

"This..." Gu Qiansi turned to Zhao Yunxiao for his opinion.

"If Junior Martial Sister Lu is so curious, why don't you let her give it a go? After all, it is always fastest to learn by experience," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.

With that, the focus of today's session would also no longer be him losing to Gu Qiansi, instead becoming how Lu Zhiying got crushed by the array.

Of course, that was definitely not his main reason for agreeing.

"All right, but only to have a taste of it," Gu Qiansi finally agreed. "You have to call for a stop the moment you feel like you can't handle it anymore, otherwise you might get seriously hurt."

"Is Senior Martial Sister Lu going next?" Tian Luoyang asked in confusion.

He was born in the sect. But throughout his long eleven odd years of life, he had never seen anyone challenge the Hundred Puppets before they had even formed their spiritual meridian root!

"May I?" Lu Zhiying asked excitedly after having obtained consent from Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi.

"Well, technically there are no rules barring you from doing so, but are you sure?" Tian Luoyang asked out of concern. "Like Senior Martial Sister Gu mentioned, you can get hurt."

"It's okay, I'm used to getting hurt!" Lu Zhiying patted her chest in assurance. "Since there is no problem, let's start then!"

With that, Lu Zhiying excitedly entered the Hundred Puppets Array, even skipping along as she made her way to the centre.

"Is this really a good idea?" Gu Qiansi asked.

"Some people won't learn without experiencing a bit of pain," Zhao Yunxiao shrugged.

Gu Qiansi: "..."

At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao was wondering about something else.

Did Lu Zhiying just say that she was used to getting hurt?

If that was true, just what kind of life had she been leading before joining the Black Tortoise Sect?

"Let's concentrate on the present," Gu Qiansi's words broke him out of his thoughts.

Zhao Yunxiao looked at Gu Qiansi in surprise, at the same time feeling a chill running down his spine.

It seemed that she had picked up on the same thing that he did, and was even to go further and guess his thoughts from there.

Sometimes, he really suspected if this Gu Qiansi had the ability to read minds.

"Junior Martial Brother Tian, please start the array!" Lu Zhiying waved excitedly to Tian Luoyang.

Tian Luoyang shot one last glance over at Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi.

Only when they nodded back in response did he finally take a deep breath and channelled his essence energy, driving it into the controls.

"Ah, whatever! I'm activating the array, so be careful!" Tian Luoyang cautioned.

The spirit stones along the fence glowed, and the golden emblem of light appeared on the ground once again.

With that, the puppets started moving, and the three watching nervously held their breaths.

All four outer disciples present felt their hearts beating faster, but Lu Zhiying's was the only one doing so due to excitement.

She started turning her head constantly, making sure that she had full awareness of the positions of the puppets in her surroundings.

Her eyes sharpened and her ears twitched a little.

Her feet tried to feel for every bit of vibration coming from the ground.

At this moment, she was trying to rely on all her senses, not just her sense of sight that she was so used to.

Unlike her seniors, Lu Zhiying did not have the ability to tap on world origin energy or essence energy, which made it far more difficult to sense her surroundings.

However, Lu Zhiying was not intending to let that be her excuse for failing.

"Behind you, watch out!" Gu Qiansi shouted in caution, and Lu Zhiying reacted instantly.

In fact, one could even argue that she moved before Gu Qiansi had shouted.

It was a casual sidestep at the very last moment, easily getting out of the way of a charging rhino puppet.

Not just that, but she also moved only at the very last moment, just before the rhino puppet was about to crash into her.

"Hmm?"

Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi immediately furrowed their brows.

This movement of Lu Zhiying's... why did it seem so familiar?

Even before the rhino puppet had fully passed her, Lu Zhiying had already begun her next move, combining a series of sidesteps and skips to skirt around another puppet approaching from the front.

Once again, she moved just before colliding with the puppet, as if she had been aiming for that exact moment to begin with.

[Xuanwu Fist Art – Invisible Snap]

Thud-!

"Ouch! Haha wow, that really hurt!" Lu Zhiying laughed after punching a deer puppet that had sneaked up on her from behind, slowing it down just enough for her to get out of the way.

"This is...!" Gu Qiansi looked towards Zhao Yunxiao with shock in her eyes.

"That's right," Zhao Yunxiao nodded solemnly. "Seems like Junior Martial Sister Lu is copying what we did earlier. Not just that, but she is even modifying the moves accordingly, adapting them to fit herself."

"Is that possible?" Gu Qiansi had to suppress a gasp after getting confirmation from Zhao Yunxiao. "What kind of unbelievable learning ability do you need to have in order to replicate something after seeing it just once?"

Even though the evidence was laid bare before her, and she had also gotten affirmation from Zhao Yunxiao, it was still difficult to believe that such a thing truly was happening.

At this moment, she could not help but recall what Zhao Yunxiao said a few days ago – that Lu Zhiying was talented and was born different from them.

Back then, she had been pleasantly surprised by this remark, thinking that this new junior martial sister of theirs might stand a chance of becoming an inner disciple in the future.

Becoming an inner disciple was the goal of all outer disciples, so to claim that someone had a good chance of becoming an inner disciple was already considered a very high assessment of the person.

At the same time, Gu Qiansi still had her reservations about that assessment as becoming an inner disciple was no trivial matter.

After all, there was a reason why so many outer disciples wanted to be elevated to inner disciple status yet failed to achieve exactly that.

But now that she had personally seen Lu Zhiying in action, Gu Qiansi's perspective could not help but change.

From the looks of it, unless Lu Zhiying ended up being absolutely horrendous with her energy control and capacity, she becoming an inner disciple was no longer a matter of if, but only a matter of when!