Feihong Palace, where all the elders in charge of Yanshan live. In front of the main hall stands a basalt carved Taoist stele, engraved with 742 Yanshan sect rules. It is a pillar that stands tall and reaches the sky, with rusty iron chains on both sides. It is not difficult to see that this is actually an execution tool. The blood has long been blown away by wind and rain, and countless disciples have died on it.

The huge Feihong Palace is equivalent to a torture chamber full of executioners.

When Shen Yimian saw the Taoist stele, he felt a chill down his spine and subconsciously moved closer to Xie Lu.

A few people followed the Heavenly Stage disciples silently into Feihong Palace, where they were met with a chilling and sinister aura. The main hall was decorated in a very simple style, almost entirely in pure white. In the center of the hall stood a white marble alchemy furnace. When they glanced past the furnace, they saw a huge portrait of Taoist Master Yanshan covering the entire wall. The Taoist Master had a majestic face and glared, holding a sword in front of his chest with both hands, and behind him were the divine beasts, the white tiger and the blue dragon, with their bloody mouths wide open.

Shen Yimian became increasingly panicked and moved closer to Xie Lu. Noticing his movements, Xie Lu glanced at him calmly and whispered, "You have gigantic fear."

Shen Yimian looked around like a thief and moved closer to him. "I have a fear of going to prison. I haven't been here since I entered the book."

Will I be beaten?

He was weak and would be crippled after just two whippings, so he was always the one who beat others.

"Don't worry, if there is any punishment, all the blame will be mine. This body has no sense of pain and will automatically repair damage, so there is no need to worry." Xie Lu's speech became more and more literary.

Shen Yimian looked at him curiously and asked in a low voice, "If you don't feel pain, what does it feel like?"

Xie Lu pondered briefly. "This body mimics a humanoid structure. Aside from its sense of pain, its other abilities, such as hearing and vision, are far superior to humans. Furthermore, without pain sensors, it won't feel fear or flinch. This is a common use for military AI robots."

Hearing this, Shen Yimian inexplicably took a breath of cold air, "You are a military type"

"It used to be," Xie Lu said calmly, "but now it's a service-oriented one."

Shen Yimian pondered for a while and felt that this meant that the armored tank was modified into a Xiaomi su7, "Then it would be very durable."

After Xie Lu finished speaking, Senior Brother Tianjie turned to look at them and uttered a few cold syllables from his nose, "Kneel down and wait."

Several people knelt obediently before the prince, and no one dared to make a sound.

After a while, the elder came out from the inner hall.

The ancient pure white robe had a map of the Big Dipper outlined in gold thread. The elder was about forty or fifty years old, with a very long beard, sharp lines on his face, and a murderous look in his eyes.

The elder in charge sat down slowly on the sandalwood chair in front of the Daozu statue, glanced at the people in the palace, and said in a deep voice, "Where are the disciples of Xianyue Peak?"

Zuo Yan raised his head and saluted, "Disciple Zuo Yan greets the Master."

"Tell the whole story truthfully."

Hearing this, Zuo Yan tilted his head to glance at Shen Yimian, a complex look flashing across his eyes. He whispered the whole story and told her how Ji Wenxiao humiliated Shen Yimian.

This was the only thing he could do for Shen Yimian.

The elder in charge looked uneasy and asked, "Why didn't you mention anything about Ji Wenxiao humiliating his fellow disciples before?"

Zuo Yan lowered his head and said, "Perhaps there was an error in the relay."

Hearing this, the elder in charge sneered and turned to look at Xie Lu, who was standing upright. "You are Zuo Lingfeng's disciple who hurt people. What's your name?"

Xie Lu said calmly, "My name is Xie Lu."

"Thank you, Lu." The headmaster narrowed his eyes, "You are one of the nine Heavenly Rank disciples among this year's new disciples."

"yes."

Shen Yimian remained motionless, trying hard to reduce his presence.

"Don't think that just because you're a Heavenly Rank disciple, I won't punish you," the head elder said in a deeper voice. "As a new disciple, you dared to disrespect your senior brothers. This is your first sin. Not familiar with the sect rules and harming your fellow disciples is your second sin. And you committed a crime of insubordination by poisoning Master Jingshui. This is your third sin!"

The elder's voice became louder and louder, and the whole hall was echoing with his resounding words of condemnation. Shen Yimian listened with a trembling heart, and suddenly heard the elder change the subject, "Where is Shen Yimian?"

Shen Yimian opened his eyes slightly and saluted quickly, "Disciple is here."

"I heard that you are Senior Brother Zuo Lingfeng. If you don't discipline the new disciples properly, you will be held primarily responsible!"

The elder suddenly slammed the table, Shen Yimian trembled all over, and listened to him continue,

"Considering that this is your first offense, and Xianyue Peak was also at fault, I will spare you the fifty lashes and only punish you to participate in the Heavenly Stage Demon Slayer mission tomorrow. You will go with Xie Lu. You accept the punishment."

Shen Yimian's face turned pale instantly, and even Zuo Yan looked shocked.

"Master, there's never been a precedent for Yellow-rank disciples participating in Heaven-rank demon-slaying missions. Even Heaven-rank disciples might not be able to complete the mission safely," Zuo Yan said in disbelief. "Such a punishment is unacceptable..."

The head elder slowly shifted his gaze towards him, "Xianyue Peak disciple Zuo Yan, you didn't seek justice for your poisoned master and injured brother, but instead showed mercy to the culprit and punished him too harshly. I will also inform Master Jingshui about this."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zuo Yan's throat seemed to be choked and he was completely speechless.

Shen Yimian froze in place for a long time, and heard the elder in charge urging, "Shen Yimian, do you accept the punishment?"

He finally understood everything. It turned out that he was called here just to take the blame.

Zuo Lingfeng had three senior brothers, all of whom died during the Heavenly Rank Disciple mission.

The mission of the Heavenly Rank disciple was originally Xie Lu's mission. Xie Lu could naturally come back alive, but he was only at the Yellow Rank. How could he possibly complete the mission? Even if Xie Lu helped him, Xie Lu was still a new disciple after all and had no experience.

He can't go, because if he goes, he won't be able to come back. Si Wuxing, where have you been?

"Disciple accepts the punishment."

Shen Yimian was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head to look in disbelief.

Xie Lu grabbed Shen Yimian's wrist and pulled him up. "But in this case, the disciples of Xianyue Peak were the first to bully others. If my senior brother and I successfully complete the mission and return, I want Ji Wenxiao to apologize publicly to Senior Brother Shen and Zuo Lingfeng's humiliated junior brother."

I have to say, these two sentences really have the flavor of the male protagonist Long Aotian.

The elder in charge frowned slightly and said coldly, "Of course."

"Brother, let's go."

Shen Yimian watched Xie Lu pulling her hand and leaving Feihong Palace, and she didn't react for a long time.

He stammered, "You just agreed to it, what if we die?"

"No," Xie Lu raised his hand, the power on his tail ring now at 100%. "According to my judgment, the crime I committed was not a capital one. The head elder would not deliberately make things difficult for a genius with unlimited potential. Assuming no one is targeting me, the success rate of the mission is roughly 98%. Secondly, Yanshan is just a 'newbie village' on the protagonist's way through the plot, so the mission is not difficult, so my success rate is 99%."

Shen Yimian was stunned for a moment, stretched out his hand to interrupt, "Wait, what do you say Yanshan is?"

"Novice Village, as explained online, is a primary map that provides basic tutorials for novice players. It has simple tasks, abundant resources, and high security."

Under the daylight, a layer of warm shadow covered Xie Lu's eyes, and his cold eyes, as calm as an ancient well, stared at Shen Yimian quietly, as if the heavenly mission was just a trivial matter to him.

Although they were so close, Shen Yimian felt that the person in front of him was out of reach.

He had been in the world of cultivation for three years before he finally found a place to shelter from the rain. It turned out that for the protagonist, it was just the most basic novice village.

Is there still justice, is there still law?

"Otherwise, I'd better ask the headmaster to send only you," Shen Yimian pursed his dry lips and whispered, "I'm afraid I'll hold you back."

After hearing his words, Xie Lu took out a neatly woven book from his bosom and flipped open it casually. "There are only two ways to advance in Yanshan: completing tasks and the sect competition. Yellow-rank disciples can jump two levels and advance to the Earth-rank by completing Heaven-rank tasks."

Shen Yimian swallowed his saliva. It was not that he didn't know how to get promoted, but he was afraid that if he got promoted too quickly, his superiors would assign him more difficult tasks.

Xie Lu turned another page and held the book in front of Shen Yimian. "Disciples are free to form companions. As long as you and I complete the mission together, we can continue to advance together."

Above the Heavenly Rank, there is no restriction on the disciple’s identity, and they are divided into the Supreme Lord, Spirit Lord, True Man, Supreme Immortal, Spirit Immortal and True Immortal.

From the level of True Man, one can accept disciples and become the master of a peak. From the level of Spirit Immortal, one can enter the main peak and participate in all decisions of Yanshan.

Shen Yimian stared at the golden words above in a trance, then looked at the calm and composed Xie Lu, only to hear his chest pounding and his heart beating like a drum.

What a great charm, he is talking about power.

Xie Lu's voice still echoed in his ears, with an irresistible temptation, "I said, I am your golden finger, I can help you achieve your wish."

How could the villagers bear such temptation? Shen Yimian licked his lips and said shyly and quietly: "I, I want to be a real immortal."

Xie Lu was silent for a while, which was unusual for him. After a while, he spoke with some difficulty, "What else?"

Shen Yimian observed his expression and lowered his requirements, saying softly: "Becoming a Heavenly Stage Disciple is fine, right?"

"You misunderstood," Xie Lu said calmly, "I meant that your ambitions are appallingly low."

Shen Yimian: "...Who do you look down on? I want to be the head of Yanshan!"

Xie Lu glanced at him, as if he wanted to say something else, but forced himself to hold it back.

Humans cannot imagine things they have never seen.

Although this is no different from winning 10 million in the lottery, going to the convenience store and spending a lot of money but only buying 100 bags of spicy strips.