The Meaning of Genius

Obviously, the "genius" rhetoric was far from enough to win over the three from the Xuanqing Heaven Sect.

To join the Xuanqing Heaven Sect and become inner sect disciples meant they were already unparalleled geniuses in the eyes of the world, far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The three of them naturally turned their gazes to Chen Baiqing, who was the captain and who had spoken normally.

After all, the two of them had arrived together.

If this Cui Hao was truly a useless weakling, then there was an eighty percent chance that Chen Baiqing had pulled strings to get him in through the back door.

Chen Baiqing didn't explain much and went straight to the point:

"Since everyone has finished their introductions, we can consider ourselves acquainted. I hope we can work together with one heart in the future."

The body cultivator, Lin Chuan, nodded with a slightly wooden expression, agreeing with Chen Baiqing's words.

Lu Lingyi smiled lightly, neither agreeing nor voicing any doubts.

"Fellow Disciple Cui's explanation is a bit too vague," Li Zhuhua said with a light chuckle. "If Fellow Disciple Cui is truly at the Golden Core realm, you should be clearer. After all, the sect's trials are not a sightseeing tour."

"Out of sect camaraderie, if we encounter real danger, we will have to protect Fellow Disciple Cui. In life-and-death situations, fatal mistakes often stem from misjudging a teammate's capabilities."

Hearing this, Cui Hao was about to speak, but Chen Baiqing reached out to stop him.

Chen Baiqing said calmly:

"Just treat his Golden Core cultivation as a dead weight. If you truly rely on him, it will cost you your lives."

Li Zhuhua pursed his lips slightly; he hadn't expected Chen Baiqing to be so blunt.

There might be some hidden circumstances, but the team roster was jointly drafted by the elders of the Outer Affairs Hall and the Head Elder.

It wasn't something that could be explained away simply as "dead weight."

In the end, Li Zhuhua could only cup his hands in a salute:

"Understood, Captain."

Having placated the three, it was time to placate her own junior brother.

Chen Baiqing cast a light glance at Cui Hao, raising her eyebrows slightly.

Cui Hao had always been exceptionally good at reading the room within the sect, so he naturally understood his Third Senior Sister's meaning: true respect had to be earned by winning others over with one's own abilities.

However, Cui Hao didn't really mind and just smiled quite freely.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Lu Lingyi finally spoke up:

"According to the usual unspoken rules, we will probably live together here for two days. Whether through sparring or chatting, we need to get to know each other a bit before carrying out the mission."

"Does the Captain have any plans?"

Chen Baiqing glanced around. There were six rooms in total, and three of the side rooms already had "occupied" signs hanging on them. It seemed the three had already chosen their rooms. The only main room here was presumably reserved for the captain by default.

Hearing the question, she replied naturally:

"No particular plans. Just relax well. Everyone likes different things, and I don't really like forcing people to do things they dislike. Everyone can do whatever they want, be it chatting or sparring."

"Of course, as the captain, if you want to know more about me, you can also come to me."

Lu Lingyi had a gentle smile on her face and nodded slightly upon hearing this:

"The Captain is quite easygoing."

Chen Baiqing smiled. They obviously didn't understand who the truly easygoing person was.

She cast a glance at Cui Hao, then stood up and headed toward the vacant main room.

It was fine to leave this situation for Cui Hao to handle now. After all, talking big came with a price, and this could serve as a lesson for him. As his Third Senior Sister, she wouldn't cover for her junior brother in everything.

If he couldn't even resolve this, she would pack Cui Hao up and send him back to their master.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Chen Baiqing pushed open the door to the main room, turned around, closed it, and made no further sound.

The gazes of the three naturally fell on Cui Hao again.

Cui Hao looked completely composed:

"Since the Captain has no plans, why don't you all listen to my proposal?"

Looking at Cui Hao's confident expression, Lu Lingyi asked with some curiosity:

"What good proposal does Fellow Disciple Cui have?"

"Life is nothing but good wine and games," Cui Hao said as he took out several bottles of wine from his spatial ring. "I learned a little game from my master called 'Truth'."

"We will play a finger-guessing game. The loser must answer a question, and the ultimate winner gets to ask it. Whatever is asked must be answered truthfully. If you can't answer, you drink a cup of wine. Naturally, questions cannot be repeated."

"This is spirit wine. As long as you don't use spiritual energy to dispel it, you will get drunk."

"Whoever gets drunk loses. And whoever loses first will have to take a subordinate role during our future operations."

Hearing this, Lu Lingyi's eyes lit up, and a sincere smile appeared on her face.

This game really had some merit to it.

Questions that were difficult to answer could be avoided by drinking, so for questions that could be answered, one naturally wouldn't bother to lie.

The punishment wasn't really a punishment, but room for maneuver.

The truth would be the truth, and it would allow teammates to learn what they wanted to know.

Questions that might otherwise seem slightly offensive could be brushed off as part of the game, preventing any damage to their harmony.

Sure enough, anyone who could join the team at the Golden Core realm must have some extraordinary qualities.

This talk of being a "genius" must have a different meaning.

Lu Lingyi decisively agreed:

"I'm in."

"Sounds interesting. Count me in too," Li Zhuhua also nodded with a smile.

Seeing that both of them had agreed, Lin Chuan also accepted.

Cui Hao placed the spirit wine on the table, rolled up his sleeves, and looked at the group with a quite confident gaze.

The four of them naturally gathered around.

They reached out their hands and began the finger-guessing game.

In just a few rounds, Cui Hao was the first to lose decisively.

The winner was Lu Lingyi.

Her gaze swept over the group, and then she looked directly at Cui Hao, asking with a smile:

"What is your relationship with the Captain?"

Cui Hao looked slightly annoyed but answered straightforwardly:

"We are senior sister and junior brother under the same master."

Having received her answer, Lu Lingyi nodded in satisfaction and reached out her hand, ready to continue.

They played another round, and Cui Hao was once again the quickest to be eliminated.

Lu Lingyi won until the end again, so she continued to press Cui Hao:

"You only have a Golden Core cultivation. Logically speaking, you shouldn't be able to join the trial team. How did you get in?"

Cui Hao still looked annoyed as he said:

"Naturally, my master arranged for me to come."

Another round.

The outcome remained the same.

Lu Lingyi's smile was gentle, but the question she asked started to cross the line:

"Then what do you think was your master's purpose in arranging for you to come?"

Cui Hao's expression shifted, and his gaze naturally fell on the wine cup on the table, but in the end, he still chose to answer:

"With my Golden Core cultivation, I'm not much of a help. It's probably because my master wants me to keep an eye on my senior sister."

Lu Lingyi's smile remained unchanged, and she naturally reached out her hand again.

Li Zhuhua and Lin Chuan exchanged a glance and also reached out, ready to continue.

"Wait!"

Cui Hao suddenly held out his hand to stop them, his gaze sweeping over the three of them with suspicion:

"Your cultivation levels are far higher than mine. Can you see my hand gestures clearly? How come I'm the first one to lose every single time?"

Lu Lingyi blinked her peach-blossom eyes lightly, serving as an answer.

"Unfair, this is unfair! Let's change the way we play."

As Cui Hao spoke, he took out several dice cups and dice made of extremely special materials from his spatial ring.

"These dice cups are crafted from Serene Spirit Stone, which isolates divine sense and spiritual energy, and are inscribed with special miniature arrays. The same goes for the dice."

"A game is only fun when there are wins and losses. How can I be the only one losing? We'll use the rolls of the dice to determine the winner."

Lu Lingyi reached out and picked up one of the sets of dice and its matching cup. After carefully examining it for a moment, she confirmed that Cui Hao was telling the truth.

The materials used were far from cheap, yet they had actually been used to craft simple game props.

For a cultivator merely at the Golden Core stage like Cui Hao to possess such an item meant his background was certainly worth digging into.

Furthermore, she naturally wanted to get a better read on the other two individuals as well.

Lu Lingyi placed the cup over the dice and replied with a soft chuckle, "Since Fellow Disciple Cui has suggested it, naturally, I have no objections."

The other two exchanged a glance before each taking a set of their own.

Seeing this, a satisfied look crossed Cui Hao's face as he placed his hand on his own dice cup.

The bait had been completely cast.

Having these dice cups, Cui Hao naturally understood that he could never win a finger-guessing game against three Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

His choice to play the finger-guessing game was a deliberate ploy to lose the first few rounds, giving him the perfect opportunity to thoroughly answer some difficult questions.

Now, he had successfully raised the stakes and threshold of the questions to such a high level.

None of them would have the thick skin to simply down a penalty drink to avoid answering when faced with a tough question.

A smile graced Cui Hao's lips as his gaze swept across the three of them.

It was time to let them understand what the word genius truly meant.