Immediately after Su Yang ended his sentence, the disciples started running around the entire Outer Court in search of the three rocks hidden by Su Yang that could potentially change their life forever.
"I cannot believe you would use this kind of method to pick whoever gets to cultivate in the Celestial Pond. I will never get used to being shocked by you at this rate." Liu Lanzhi said with a bittersweet smile on her face.
"Life is not always about choices, as there are moments where you can only rely on fate," Su Yang responded with a calm expression.
"Anyway, you have two hours to get ready for our journey to the Xie Family. I will stay here." Su Yang then said to her.
"Un. I will leave it to you," she nodded before leaving him alone.
Once Liu Lanzhi was gone, Su Yang sat down and began to cultivate in silence. Meanwhile, the disciples that refused to participate returned to their own business, allowing the other disciples more room to run around.
The cafeteria, the library, any open areas, in-between the cracks on the floor— the disciples searched every nook and cranny their eyes gazed upon in the Outer Court. However, even after 30 minutes of searching, none of the disciples have returned to Su Yang with the rock in their hands.
The disciples even began to wonder if Su Yang really hid the rocks in the first place.
"Do you think the Sect Master is only playing with us, and he doesn't want anybody to cultivate in the Celestial Pond?" One of the disciples asked the others.
"Why would he do that? That makes no sense," said another disciple.
"Yes, but the Sect Master's entire existence doesn't make sense, so…"
While the group of disciples was chatting with each other, someone suddenly shouted in an excited voice, "I found it! I found one!"
"What?!"
The disciples around this person immediately turned their heads to look at the lucky disciple who'd managed to find the first rock.
"Where did you find it, Junior Sister Chen?" The disciples quickly surrounded her and bombarded her with questions.
"How could you possibly find it here? I had searched through this spot over a dozen times and I didn't find anything!" One of the disciples exclaimed, voicing his doubts.
"It's true! It was right here!" Disciple Chen said as she pointed at the floor right beside her.
"…"
The other disciples looked at her with frowns on their faces.
"Are you making fun of us, Junior Sister? If the rock was laying out in the open on the floor, why didn't the other disciples see it when they searched this place before you? Even someone visually impaired wouldn't miss it!"
"That's right! I walked through this exact spot just a minute ago and I didn't see the rock on the floor!"
Faced with so many doubtful gazes, the female disciple could only show a puzzled expression on her face, as she had no reason to lie to them.
"I am not lying! I really found it here! If you don't believe me, then don't! I am going to the Sect Master right now!" Disciple Chen said before she pushed the crowd away and ran to Su Yang.
The other disciples decided to follow her to see whether she really found the real rock or was only faking it.
"Sect Master! I found one of the rocks!" Disciple Chen ran up to him with her hand waving in the air.
Hearing her voice, Su Yang opened his eyes to see a cute young lady standing before him with an ordinary-looking rock on her palms.
Su Yang took the rock off her hands and looked at the word 'Su' engraved onto it.
"Where did you find this?" he asked her with a mysterious smile on his face.
"Right outside the Cafeteria, Sect Master…" she said with a nervous face, as she was worried that he might not believe her because of what the other disciples had said to her.
"I see… Okay, you pass." Su Yang said to her a moment later, dumbfound her and the other disciples.
"W-What is going on, Sect Master?! How come we didn't see any rock at where she found it when we searched?! This doesn't make any sense!" One of the disciples there decided to ask him.
"Like I'd said from the beginning. Your fate will determine whether you are destined to find the rock or not. I don't know how else to explain it to you." Su Yang shrugged his shoulders, leaving the disciples speechless.
However, it was not as though they could argue with him, the Sect Master. Thus, they swallowed their anger and returned to looking for the remaining two rocks.
"Are you curious, or should I say puzzled why only you'd found the rock when the others couldn't?" Su Yang asked her after the other disciples left.
"Yes, Sect Master," she quickly nodded her head in response.
"The rock was in plain sight when I found it, but the other disciples did not believe me," she explained to him.
"That's because I had hidden the rocks inside a concealment formation that would reveal itself at random times for only a brief moment, and you'd happened to see it when that happened. Like I'd said, it was pure coincidence that you found it… It was fate." Su Yang explained to her with a smile on his face.
"A concealment formation? No wonder why the other disciples didn't see it…" Disciple Chen sighed in relief after realizing the truth.
"Anyway, you have a little over an hour to prepare for the journey," Su Yang said to her a moment later. "Come back here once you're done with your preparations."
"Yes, Sect Master!" The disciple bowed to him before running back to her home to prepare for the journey.
Once Disciple Chen left the scene, Su Yang closed his eyes again and returned to cultivating in silence.
Meanwhile, the other disciples continued to search for the rocks like rats squeezing into every nook and cranny in search of food.
