That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Chapter 78 Suanni

This again?

Lin Zhifeng's head was spinning after hearing this.

These dragon brothers are truly brothers! Of the four dragons they encountered, three already had a penchant for pulling people up into the sky.

What? Are human resources in the heavens so scarce right now? That shouldn't be the case! The threshold for ascension from the lower realms is so high. If you're short of people up there, can't you relax the ascension requirements a bit?

Lin Zhifeng thought: It's impossible for me to agree. But what excuse to use to refuse is the problem.

If the reason isn't strong enough, it might seem like you're ungrateful. You might anger the person in front of you, and then you'd be in deep trouble.

Having no other choice, Lin Zhifeng had to use his missing sect leader father as a shield once again.

He said respectfully, "I am honored by your kindness, senior, and I should not refuse. However, I have my reasons. To tell you the truth, when we passed through the first level of the pagoda, Senior Qiuniu also expressed that he did not mind my crudeness and wanted to take me to his residence to be a steward."

Lin Zhifeng is using Qiuniu to suppress Pulao, meaning that since I didn't go when your older brother invited me, you should give up on that idea!

Then Lin Zhifeng repeated the same trick he used to deceive Qiuniu to Pulao.

It was nothing more than the same old excuse: "My father has been missing for many years. How can a son not go looking for him? Perhaps he has encountered danger and is currently suffering somewhere, waiting for me to rescue him. Naturally, I must stay in the lower realm and cultivate diligently. I will go to find him when I am stronger. Therefore, I can only disappoint your kindness, senior."

As it turns out, bringing out Qiuniu (a mythical bull) did work.

Qiuniu, the eldest brother, usually took good care of his younger brothers. Although the brothers were all competitive and didn't respect each other, they all listened to Qiuniu to some extent.

Pu Lao said, “It’s kind of you to be so filial, I won’t force you. Go back and take care of your affairs as soon as possible, and ascend to heaven quickly. If you can ascend within a hundred years, we’ve only been in heaven for less than a year, so I shouldn’t have forgotten you. When that time comes, you can come and find me, and I will protect you.”

After saying that, Pulao took off a miniature bell-shaped pendant hanging from his belt and handed it to Lin Zhifeng, saying, "This is for you as a token, so that we can recognize each other when the time comes."

Lin Zhifeng quickly accepted it, saying, "Thank you, senior."

This bell-shaped pendant, also made of bronze, is a miniature version of the large bell on the ground. Not only is its shape a perfect scale replica of the original, but even the scriptures that no one could recognize before have been copied. More importantly, this small pendant is also a magical artifact with a bonus to all types of magic resistance.

Lin Zhifeng was overjoyed; he had really struck gold this time. However, he skillfully controlled his facial muscles and didn't show his happiness on his face.

Longquan and the others were already incredibly envious just from seeing that he had obtained the token from Pulao. If they knew that the token was actually a high-level magic artifact, what would they think?

He quickly put the pendant into the system's inventory, deciding it was best not to risk testing human nature. Although he had the powerful Ding Mo with him, he should be fine, but avoiding trouble was still the best option.

Pulao also wanted to finish his investigation as soon as possible and go home. So he stopped making things difficult for them, readily revealed the exit, and sent everyone away quickly.

"This is the shortest level I've cleared since entering the tower!" Longquan exclaimed as he walked towards the exit.

Lin Zhifeng laughed and said, "Didn't Senior Pu Lao just say he had just returned from listening to the Buddha's teachings and probably hadn't had time to go home yet? Looks like he's in a hurry to get off work, and we're just lucky to have caught his eye. Haha..."

After hearing this, everyone can understand Bulao's feelings.

It's said that a day in heaven is equivalent to a year on earth. Basically, this tower needs to be reopened every fifty years or so. It's like the nine sons in heaven have to come down every two months to act as "proctors," and unpaid ones at that! Anyone would get impatient with that!

Amidst laughter and conversation, the group quickly arrived at the exit and headed up the stairs to the fifth floor.

If nothing unexpected happens, the guardian of the fifth floor should be the Suanni.

Legend has it that the mother of the Suanni was a lion, which is why the Suanni's appearance is closer to that of a lion. It prefers stillness to movement and has a particular fondness for fireworks. It is the mount of Manjushri Bodhisattva.

Based on the information he had, Lin Zhifeng deduced that this level should be an easy question, a sure thing.

His reasoning was: the Suanni is the mount of Manjushri Bodhisattva, a divine beast with Buddhist nature. How could it possibly make things difficult for them?

Besides, this preference for quiet over activity is, to put it bluntly, just "lazy," isn't it?

He's too lazy to even move, let alone make things difficult for them. Maybe he'll just throw out a random question, and they'll pass if they give a quick answer.

This time, everyone gently knocked on the door knocker a few times, then pushed the door open. One by one, they entered the fifth floor of the pagoda, preparing to face the test of the Suanni.

Compared to the previous four floors, the fifth floor of the pagoda is not very large, and looks more like someone's living room.

The floor was covered with a thick, white plush carpet.

In the very center of the carpet was a wooden table with only an incense burner on it, containing a stick of incense.

The incense was lit. Because there was no wind inside the tower, the smoke rose straight up.

Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that behind the table lay a mythical beast covered in long, blue fur.

Regardless of color, if you only look at its appearance, this mythical beast is very similar to the male lion that Lin Zhifeng saw in the zoo in his original world, except that this one has two dragon horns on its head.

Another difference is that its tail isn't long and thin like a lion's, with only some peach-shaped hairs at the end. The tail of the creature in front of us is a thick dragon tail, covered not with hair but with fine, dense scales.

To be honest, the shape and material of this tail don't match the body of the mythical beast at all. If it weren't for the matching color, the disharmony would be enough to drive someone with OCD crazy.

However, the mythical beast's fur was incredibly smooth, shimmering with a soft blue light. It made one want to reach out and feel whether the fur was as soft as cotton or as smooth as silk.

Needless to say, the one soundly asleep is none other than the examiner of the fifth floor—Suanni.

The "examinees" didn't dare to breathe loudly, fearing they might wake the Suanni and have it swallow them whole in a fit of rage.

Such a huge mythical beast must have a bad temper when it wakes up.

Everyone tiptoed back and quietly settled down in the lobby.

Everyone's had a tough time these past few days, practically working non-stop to get here. Now that the "examiner" is asleep, let's all take this opportunity to rest!

I wonder what the incense that Suanni lit was made of; the scent was faint. At first, it didn't seem like anything special, but the longer you smelled it, the more pleasant it became.

Everyone had planned to meditate while waiting for the Suanni to wake up. But unexpectedly, they all fell asleep as well.

When Lin Zhifeng woke up, he realized he was dreaming.

He woke up from his dream, but even after waking up, he was still in a dream.

Fortunately, even in his dream, Lin Zhifeng remained vigilant. Therefore, he didn't lose himself in the dream, and clearly knew who he was, where he was, and what he was doing.

After waking up from his dream, Lin Zhifeng began to look around at his surroundings.

He lived in a very small room. From this, it's not hard to guess that the person in his dream was of low status and position.

He got out of bed, tidied himself up, and put on the coat that was draped over the chair.

The outer garment turned out to be a monk's robe, which greatly surprised Lin Zhifeng.

He was startled and hurriedly touched his head. Hmm, thank goodness! His hair was still there.

It seems I haven't been ordained yet; I'm probably just a servant in a temple, or a pilgrim temporarily staying here.

Lin Zhifeng was hesitating whether to go outside for a walk when there was a knock on the door.

Lin Zhifeng took a deep breath to calm himself down before walking over and opening the door.

A young boy dressed in a monk's robe walked into the house, shouting, "Little Linzi, you're so slow to open the door this time! Let me guess what naughty thing you were doing in the room just now."

Lin Zhifeng chuckled and said, "I was sleeping just now and you woke me up. I got dressed and came to open the door. Why are you complaining that I'm too slow?"

Lin Zhifeng followed the visitor back into the house and sat down.

The person who came was a younger version of Longquan.

I just don't know if this Longquan is a dream version of the real Longquan, or just an NPC in this dream.

If it is the former, then it is clear that Longquan was unaware that he was in a dream.