"What should I do after I go inside?" Lu Ye asked. Since Bai Lu said there's no danger in this secret realm, there should be no fighting involved.

Bai Lu, with a mysterious smile, responded, "You'll know once you're inside." Saying this, she gave Lu Ye a slight push and reminded him, "Oh, and put away your saber."

Reluctantly, Lu Ye retracted the Boulder Mountain Saber, pushed open the grand door, and stepped into the Divine Conch Hall.

The moment he stepped in, Lu Ye found himself engulfed in darkness, so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. It was an absolute darkness, so profound that even someone like him, a Constellation, couldn't perceive anything. When he tried to extend his Mental Consciousness, it only reached a few feet around him.

There seemed to be a strange power within the Divine Conch Hall, greatly suppressing his abilities in various ways.

Even so, he didn't panic because Lu Ye indeed didn't sense any dangerous presence.

While he was looking around, suddenly his vision filled with flickering lights, first one, then two, three... and then a whole expanse!

In an instant, Lu Ye felt as if he were standing among the stars, the mass of glowing points like countless stars.

These flickering lights were of various colors: white, green, blue, purple, and gold, with white being the most and gold the least.

The multicolored lights danced around him like a swarm of fireflies, swirling in the air.

Lu Ye watched in curiosity, unable to discern the nature of these light points. He raised a hand to grab one, but it skillfully dodged him, like a playful maiden.

The large swarm of lights danced for a while before some of them broke away, floating in front of Lu Ye. These points of light gathered and merged, soon materializing into something resembling a long flute in front of him.

Lu Ye was slightly puzzled, unclear about what was happening.

Bai Lu mentioned that as long as he passed the trial here, there would be benefits, but now Lu Ye hadn't encountered any trial, yet a flute made of light points appeared before him. Could this be the benefit?

He wondered what was so marvelous about this flute.

With that thought, he reached out, and the flute landed in his hand, feeling warm and smooth like a jade flute. At the same time, with a slight vibration, a message appeared in Lu Ye's mind.

Play!

Suddenly understanding, he realized this was the trial.

But how could he play a flute? Since coming to the Nine Provinces, he had been struggling to survive and cultivating in the upper realm; he hadn't touched anything so refined.

His friends weren't experienced in this either.

But since it was the trial in the Divine Conch Hall, he could only brave it head-on.

Although not versed in it, Lu Ye at least knew how to hold the instrument. He held the flute horizontally, placed it at his lips, and gently pressed down on the holes with a few fingers.

Slightly blowing into it, a piercing sound erupted, his fingers moving clumsily over the holes without any coordinated rhythm.

The moment the flute sounded, the light points swarming around him seemed as if struck by lightning, momentarily freezing.

Lu Ye knew he was unlikely to pass this trial, so he abandoned all pretense and produced random notes.

The light points, seemingly intelligent, couldn't stand the cacophony, as another batch separated, and the flute in Lu Ye's hand dissipated as the points converged again, constantly transforming.

Then, before Lu Ye, a blurry figure appeared, looking vaguely human, yet indistinct.

This figure held a flute, gently playing it, and the melodious tune immediately reached Lu Ye's ears. Strangely, as the sound played, the flow of spirit force within Lu Ye's body suddenly accelerated.

A shock ran through him; the flute's music... could actually enhance combat power!

If a cultivator's spirit force flowed more quickly, regardless of the secret techniques used, or in close combat, their power would surely increase.

He instantly understood; his attempt was so poor that these light points couldn't bear to watch and were demonstrating it to him, giving him a temporary lesson.

He closely observed the figure's flute-playing posture and the rhythm of the finger movements, committing it all to memory.

After the melody ended, the figure vanished as the flute reappeared in front of Lu Ye.

Lu Ye grabbed the flute once more, and following the demonstration he had just seen, began to play.

Compared to his earlier disorganized attempt, this was noticeably more pleasant, though still awkward and disjointed. As Lu Ye played, light points kept flying away, and by the time he finished a piece, more than half had disappeared.

Lu Ye thought he played decently, unsure why the light points seemed so disdainful.

Bai Lu had said this place was interesting, and indeed, for those skilled in music, it was so, but for him, it was uninteresting, especially if the trial was musically inclined, as he couldn't hope to pass.

The flute suddenly dispersed into the previous light points but didn't vanish; instead, it began transforming once more.

Lu Ye watched quietly, guessing that the trial wasn't over yet.

It was a bit torturous; although the trial posed no danger, Lu Ye would rather have a battle with the Skeletal General in comparison.

Before long, a two-stringed erhu appeared before Lu Ye...

Perhaps due to his prior experience, this time, without waiting for Lu Ye to attempt, a blurry figure emerged, playing a stirring tune as a demonstration for Lu Ye.

Just like the flute sound earlier, the melody of this erhu surprisingly also has the effect of enhancing battle strength.

Lu Ye reluctantly picked up the erhu, and mimicked the shadowy figure's posture to play a segment.

As expected, the light spots around became even fewer...

The erhu transformed into light points, wriggling and metamorphosing for the third time, and shortly after, a pipa appeared in front of Lu Ye.

Just like before, a vague shadowy figure appeared, lightly plucking, the simple instrument producing a captivating melody.

By the time Lu Ye finished playing the pipa himself, there were very few light spots left around.

Seeing the pipa disintegrate into light spots, wriggling and transforming once again, Lu Ye's eye twitched.

The first three tests involved blowing, pulling, and plucking...

Is this fourth test about singing?

What kind of nonsense tests are these? He's now seriously suspecting Bai Lu is getting back at him, the merfolk are all so talented, entering this Divine Conch Hall, passing these tests shouldn't be a problem, but for someone like him, a combat cultivator accustomed to fighting, entering here is sheer torment.

If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have come.

The issue now is that he doesn't know how to get out, because there's no apparent exit anywhere around.

Under his tormented gaze, the light spots transformed into a shadowy figure, but this time, it was more defined than before, with all basic contours except for the face.

It was clear that the shadow was a well-proportioned female, a member of the Merfolk Race, because her lower body was shaped like a fish tail, she gently opened her mouth, and a melodious song softly flowed out.

Lu Ye felt a headache coming...

This ridiculous Divine Conch Hall should be renamed to Blowing, Pulling, Plucking, Singing Hall.

But quickly, Lu Ye noticed something amiss, because the female was not only singing but also gracefully dancing, and her dance was utterly beguiling.

As she sang and danced, Lu Ye's face was as dark as a pot's bottom.

It's one thing to blow, pull, and pluck, and even just singing would be fine, but asking him to sing and dance simultaneously? That's utterly impossible!

Considering his majestic position as Lu Yiye of Nine Provinces, doesn't he have any self-respect?

The shadow completed her song and ceased dancing, reverting to light spots, Lu Ye knew it was his turn now, previous shadows always demonstrated first, then he would imitate.

But this time, he absolutely would not imitate!

He just stood quietly, not moving at all, believing that if he couldn't pass the test, he could surely leave.

But waiting turned into a full day's length, and though he didn't move, the light spots circling around him had no other response, as if they were quietly waiting.

Lu Ye, reluctantly, could only walk around, hoping to find a way out.

After searching for a while and finding nothing, wherever he went, the light spots followed, as if refusing to let him leave unless he participated in the test.

Lu Ye understood that this test required his participation, regardless of whether he could pass.

Glaring resentfully at the few remaining light spots, Lu Ye cleared his throat, glancing around apprehensively, afraid someone might be watching nearby, then he began singing loudly.

He had no idea what he was singing because the shadow's song was sung in the merfolk language, which was extremely hard to pronounce; he hadn't had systematic learning, so he couldn't sing it right. Trying to imitate it was obviously unpleasant.

Mumbling and humming a bit, the light spots swirling around suddenly vanished without a trace.

The world was quiet...

Lu Ye found himself in a realm of endless darkness, no trace of light.

"Let me out!" Lu Ye shouted.

The test was undoubtedly a failure, and if he failed, he thought he should be allowed to leave, yet there's no sign of escape.

He felt abandoned here.

Despite shouting several times, there was no response, and Lu Ye's eyes twitched slightly, could it be he had to sing and dance once?

He had only sung, but hadn't danced yet.

If this was the reason he couldn't leave, it would be difficult. Although there was no one around, Lu Ye really didn't want to do it, fearing it might become a dark secret he could never forget, becoming a mental block.

But upon careful reflection, Lu Ye started to doubt; this is the secret realm of the Merfolk Race, surely many merfolk have been here, and in terms of skills, one human definitely couldn't compare to the talented merfolk. By comparison, he probably failed every test.

However, the merfolk's talents must vary, they couldn't all adhere to the highest standard; otherwise, merfolk who could leave wouldn't be many.

So Lu Ye pondered, perhaps it was enough to pass just one test?