Before long, Tiantian slowly opened her eyes and was shocked to discover a “Scholar” piece laid out on the ground. She couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

This “Scholar” looked extremely exquisite, even capable of passing for the real thing.

“Oh…?” Qi Xia also lowered his head. “My gaze clearly never moved away, yet I didn’t notice the chains turning into a ‘character.’ It’s as if it was originally a ‘character.'”

After hearing this description, Tiantian felt that she had really activated her “Echo.”

It was the same when she first released her “Echo” in front of Zheng Yingxiong. She had activated her “Echo” in front of everyone. At that moment, the things she created replaced the original items. To everyone else, it was as if nothing had happened—those things seemed like they should have been that way all along.

But this time the feeling was always a bit strange, as if she had “Echoed,” yet also as if she hadn’t.

Could Qi Xia really use a “character” piece to put on this act to deceive her? But where did this “Scholar” come from?

Tiantian quickly reacted. Qi Xia had once said that the other side should have the “Official,” and it was being well protected by the other side. So this “character” couldn’t possibly be from the other side—it could only be something she created herself.

“So it really was me…” Tiantian said. “It’s a bit hard to believe. After all, I don’t know the internal structure of this ‘character,’ yet I was still able to make a replica?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded: “This shows that your ‘Echo’ is more powerful than before, so this task will proceed smoothly.”

“Okay… then I’ll hurry!” After agreeing, Tiantian nodded and closed her eyes again.

Qi Xia knew that Tiantian would be the true “surprise force” in this match, so he didn’t disturb her further, letting her train her “Echo” as much as possible. He originally wanted to enter the “River Path” from the front, but unexpectedly discovered that the door between Tiantian’s room and the “River Path” was locked.

He frowned, feeling the situation was somewhat strange. He could only ask: “Who was in the room in front of you just now…?”

“It seems… to be Lawyer Zhang?” Tiantian opened her eyes and said.

“Lawyer Zhang…?” Qi Xia nodded. He could only change routes. After confirming there was no one around, he walked in.

His speculation was simple: in this space where one couldn’t “Echo,” Xu Liunian had been the first to obtain her “Echo.”

And Xu Liunian’s intelligence and skills had nothing particularly outstanding about them, so “Echo” had nothing to do with intelligence or skill—it was only related to “experience.”

As a very senior “Echoer,” Xu Liunian possessed experience that others didn’t have. This was the reason she could “Echo” first.

So in summary, Qi Xia immediately realized that the difficulty of “Echoing” wasn’t great—it just required some additional “conviction.”

Now he had already transferred this kind of additional “conviction” to Tiantian. Now was the time to verify whether this “conviction” had taken shape.

Qi Xia pulled out that pile of chains from his pocket.

Sure enough, just as he expected, part of the chains had already fused together, crookedly forming a “character.”

“Scholar.”

Although it had the rudimentary form of “Scholar,” there was still half a chain hanging down, as if it had melted halfway and was forged into a “character,” with the remaining part not fused.

Qi Xia breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like he was doing a reverse version of “throwing out a brick to attract jade”—using a real “character” to stimulate Tiantian into making a fake “character.” But this was enough.

No one cared whether the “character” was real or fake, as long as Tiantian believed it was real.

He gently shook this fake “Scholar” piece, feeling that it was heavier than a real “character.”

It seemed that those real “characters” indeed had mechanisms in their centers, while the “character” Tiantian forged should be solid. This kind of solid “character” had no way to activate the “Phoenix-Holding-Document Platform” and probably also had no way to score points.

Qi Xia put the “character” in his pocket, feeling this wasn’t a bad thing either. Although one could tell it was fake by holding it and looking carefully, as long as the enemy wasn’t allowed to hold it and examine it closely, it would forever be real.

He opened the door and came to the “River Path,” but he didn’t rush to go to the opposite side. Instead, after confirming there was no one in the “River Path,” he moved horizontally, opening the doors of his side’s rooms one by one, as if looking for someone.

In the leftmost room, Qi Xia found Zheng Yingxiong.

“Hmm…?” Zheng Yingxiong looked at Qi Xia with furrowed brows, his gaze quickly turning cold. “What are you trying to do?”

Seeing Qi Xia walk in from the “River Path,” he was one hundred percent certain he was fake, and had even figured out where to headbutt him.

But Qi Xia shook his head and took advantage of Zheng Yingxiong’s inattention to walk straight into the room.

Zheng Yingxiong turned around and fled, pushing open the door and going straight to another room.

The two looked at each other across the door, but Zheng Yingxiong seemed to feel something was off.

“I didn’t lock the door just now. Come back.” Qi Xia said.

“Huh…?”

Zheng Yingxiong discovered the “door” indeed wasn’t locked, but he somewhat didn’t dare believe that the Qi Xia who had swaggered in from the “River Path” was actually real.

“You… shouldn’t you be behind me?” Zheng Yingxiong asked.

“The situation has changed.” Qi Xia said. “I have a new task for you.”

“What task…?” Zheng Yingxiong was stunned.

Qi Xia didn’t answer. He just stared at Zheng Yingxiong and asked: “How’s your nose…? Has your sense of smell recovered?”

After hearing this, Zheng Yingxiong sighed: “No… I originally thought it would recover after enough time, but I didn’t expect that the longer time went on, the more familiar I became with the smell here, making it even harder to sense other people’s scents.”

Qi Xia took another step forward, walking into Zheng Yingxiong’s room, and said softly: “Good. Next I’ll tell you the task content, but you must guarantee that you cannot tell this task to anyone else. Even if you die, you must let it rot in your heart.”

“Ah…?” Zheng Yingxiong was stunned for a moment and pointed toward Qinglong’s direction. “What about him…?”

“It’s fine. He’s not human.” Qi Xia said.

“Uh… okay.”

“I’m now going to tell you each person’s ‘Echo’ in our team. Memorize them carefully, and tell them that you’ve smelled these scents.”

“Ah?” After hearing this, Zheng Yingxiong felt he didn’t understand. “I didn’t smell them, but I have to say I did?”

“That’s right. This is the first part of the task.”

In a few brief sentences, Qi Xia told Zheng Yingxiong the “Echo” names of Tiantian, Chen Junnan, Qiao Jiajin, Zhang Chenze, and Han Yimo.

“Did you remember?”

“I remembered…” Zheng Yingxiong nodded. “But why do this?”

“As long as you speak very convincingly, they will truly obtain their ‘Echo.'” Qi Xia said. “There’s no ‘bell’ here, and you are the ‘bell.'”

“I am… the ‘bell’?”

“Remember, Zheng Yingxiong.” Qi Xia said. “It’s not that when someone ‘Echoes,’ the bell rings. Rather, when the bell rings, someone ‘Echoes.'”

After hearing this, Zheng Yingxiong slowly widened his eyes, feeling as if he had heard something incredible.