ASER - Chapter 155
Chapter 155: Star Realm
Although it was an interstellar feudal empire world, the film and television cultural sector was developing quite well. Currently, the television drama circle was particularly fond of stories about grassroots, innocent heroines who counterattack and put others in their place. This seemed to be a way to appease the populace under the suppression of imperial power, but the underlying implicit setting was usually that this innocent heroine was also of royal or noble blood, having ended up among the commoners due to various bizarre reasons.
After several waves of formulaic 'you ignored me today, but tomorrow you won't be able to reach me' face-slapping tropes, the focus was mainly on the male lead making a grand entrance each time, trampling over a group of people to support her, and ultimately achieving a magnificent turnaround when her true identity was revealed like a trump card.
When A'Diao was young, she had seen such mindless dramas in Zhang San's general store. Although her precocious younger self thoroughly despised and criticized their logic, she was naive back then, and life was too hard. All she thought about was making money (though she still thinks about making money now). She had even had such beautiful dreams—for example, a noble and immensely wealthy male lead, assassinated and falling from the sky gravely injured, would be saved by her. He would then gift her a huge sum of money before succumbing to his injuries and dying.
But reality was harsh. After growing up, she only managed to achieve the following kind of counterattack.
Yesterday, you despised and plotted against me. Today, seeing my fist makes yours clench, but, hey, you just can't hit me, can't hit me, can't hit me!!!
Isn't that infuriating?
A group of clan heads were about to die from anger, barely maintaining their composure through decades of feigned dignity. It wasn't just them; even the principals and high-ranking officials of top institutions like Kyoto Academy were silently watching Jiang Zhou.
This old fellow Jiang Zhou was actually quite something.
Under the burning gazes of some seniors in the Academy Alliance who held higher positions than him, he stubbornly insisted, "Ah, our A'Diao is just straightforward. To prevent these devices from being found by those Lushan teachers who create obstacles for the examinees through destruction and schemes, she even went to the trouble of running around to hide the devices. It's truly been hard on her. How unlike other students who only think about their own exams. Look at her, only concerned with sacrificing herself to contribute to others. Those who don't know might think she's a candle spirit incarnate. Under confinement, she didn't even eat breakfast."
After a pause, he added, "Several portions, in fact."
Yes, several portions indeed.
The Principal of Kyoto Academy said slowly, "So, she's actually your student, not Qu Jiangnan's, right?"
Such shamelessness, just like him.
Jiang Zhou was taken aback. "No, no, she's definitely not my disciple. She's Qu Jiangnan's. How could I be so fortunate?"
Although the master-disciple status was important, self-preservation came first.
However, A'Diao had finished climbing 5000 steps and wasn't tired at all. Even without the influence of gravity, her stamina hadn't depleted? The height of each step wasn't low.
Jiang Zhou felt that if he climbed under the same conditions, he would probably collapse.
He was old. The efficiency of cultivating one's physical frame was inherently lower than that of young people. This was one of the reasons Lushan Academy selected people under 25 years old; the initial Golden Development Curve theory was no joke.
But there had to be a limit, right?
"She just took something out of her backpack, something to drink. It's estimated to be something for stamina recovery, the kind those teachers use for themselves. You were looking down drinking tea and didn't see it," the Qingzhou Academy Principal reminded him.
"Eh?"
So, that backpack was truly a BUG.
Committing robbery at least once in life was quite necessary.
Because A'Diao's stamina was undepleted, while the Seventh Prince and others had their best stamina in the early stages. The further they went, the more they were affected by gravity and had to continuously fight off the pursuing stone statues. Not even a donkey would be worked this hard. His face had paled considerably, and sweat beaded on his forehead. The higher he climbed, the more difficult it became, and his speed was far from what it used to be. A few hundred steps were harder than anything.
If he was like this, let alone others. They were basically panting heavily, collectively cursing Lushan Academy as beasts in their hearts.
Later, the hardworking Seventh Prince finally made it up in the examination area. He took a breath, his gaze swept around, glanced at the ground, and through the microscopic perception of his eyes, quickly determined the direction Chen Adiao had first taken... Was he going to check other directions for any missed opportunities?
No, he chose a direction that didn't correspond to any device location. After slipping into the forest, he held his breath and moved at the fastest speed he could muster.
The audience was still very concerned about this first-placer. After all, he was an imperial prince, and all the civil and military officials of the court were watching. A few high-IQ members of the Seventh Prince's think tank understood his choice as soon as they saw it, their eyes lighting up in unison.
After a while, the Seventh Prince found the lake.
His expression was very unsightly, and he subconsciously leaned against a nearby tree for support.
The audience's expressions were complicated: The Seventh Prince was still incredibly strong, he actually found it? But what could he do? It was a lake!!!
Such a large lake.
The Seventh Prince must be about to vomit blood, look, he's even leaning on a tree.
From Dantai Sheng +5555555!
Xie Jingyu rubbed her temples. "The Seventh Prince exploited Chen Adiao's psychology. If she had also deciphered the map, the first device she would look for would definitely be the closest one. He also predicted and speculated on Chen Adiao's possible actions, such as relocating the device. If she relocated it, she would definitely have gone towards the second device, and then observed which places along the intermediate route were easiest to hide and hardest to find—thus, he found the lake."
But so what?
That cunning Chen Adiao had anticipated your anticipation—even if you could find the place, with such a large lake, did you know where she threw it? This person's strength was not insignificant; she could throw it far. To find it, one would have to search underwater.
Under confinement, even innate physical perception was limited underwater.
Clearly, this lake was prepared for the Seventh Prince.
This Chen Adiao deliberately did it to delay his progress.
Then give up and look for the second device?
"But from his current position, there are three devices at roughly the same linear distance. He has no way to accurately choose which route Chen Adiao would take next, or how she would throw the device. Choosing incorrectly would mean wasting time, so..."
On the Duanmu Clan's side, a forty-year-old man whose features somewhat resembled Duanmu Qingyang's, but was much, much older, was actually her brother. She was a child born late in her parents' lives, doted on by everyone, and since the Duanmu family was not blessed with many descendants, she was even more precious. Therefore, this elder brother, old enough to be her father, had arrived early.
This man was clearly not a simple character either. Based on the mural images on the screen, he had also calculated the device locations by now, but he was obviously much slower than the Seventh Prince and the others. Not only because he was calculating from the outside, but also because they had long since entered society, their minds and thoughts preoccupied with too many other things. When faced with such specialized matters, they were not as systematic as those taught in schools.
But what he had calculated now was enough to predict the Seventh Prince's next move.
Sure enough, with a splash, the noble Seventh Prince, his face cold, jumped into the lake.
Brother Duanmu raised an eyebrow, glanced at Zhao Ritian in a distant section of the audience, and cursed inwardly: This little dog Zhao has such good luck. This Chen Adiao is an oddball, truly extraordinary, to actually fancy such a scumbag? Or perhaps there's a special cooperative relationship between them, a close one, using this relationship as a cover. Unexpectedly, their family's marriage contract with the Zhao family hasn't been completely dissolved, and people like Lan Shan know about it.
So, what exactly was their relationship?
Brother Duanmu glanced at the couple, Zhao Yi and his wife.
Were these two scheming and plotting this?
Zhao Yi and his wife, taking the blame yet again: "?"
The group of strategists in the Seventh Prince's think tank all had one thought—this Chen Adiao had better perform exceptionally in the upcoming aptitude and martial combat assessments. Otherwise, once the Lushan examinations ended, she wouldn't survive a day in Kyoto.
After the Seventh Prince went into the lake to search for the device, examinees were still climbing the four stairways.
Gradually, some who had an advantage in physique or choice of stairs began to approach the 5000th step.
But at this moment, A'Diao was already standing in front of a device.
Beep... Time +3 hours.
"Test ABC aptitudes now?"
A'Diao: "Sure."
So the device opened its hatch, and A'Diao went inside.
Sitting in the mysterious, deep blue space of the device, she saw brilliant stars and densely packed spiritual pattern lines resembling the meridians of a human body.
"How long will this test take?"
"Probably about..."
As the device spoke, the spiritual pattern lines on the wall detached from the surface and began to move automatically, one by one landing on her skin, adhering to it, and penetrating.
Before this, Toilet asked, "Should we summon the two spiritual clusters?"
A'Diao had already summoned them.
She didn't believe her aptitude was already unparalleled in heaven and earth. Before coming to Kyoto, she had been quite arrogant, but seeing the actual assessment results of people like the Seventh Prince, plus nearly being ambushed and killed by that mysterious Star Realm cultivator in the park, she had been frightened and realized there were always stronger people out there.
Who knew if there were other Star Realm cultivators hidden besides this person.
So, apart from her bloodline issue, which required long-term planning and prevented her from acting rashly for immediate gratification, these aptitudes should be tested as needed.
Testing with both spiritual clusters, she had originally thought it would be a process like the academy tests—being buried alive or something.
None of that was needed.
Kyoto's equipment was several levels more advanced than the academy's, and Lushan's equipment was several levels more advanced than Kyoto's. So it turned into these spiritual pattern lines appearing, and just as the device said "Probably about...", less than twenty seconds had passed.
The results were out.
"Results are out. Submit to the leaderboard data, or keep it in the wristwatch?"
A'Diao: "?"
Her heart skipped a beat. So fast, are you weak or am I?
Her body felt nothing.
A'Diao looked at the results with trepidation.
A: 420 points, B: 430 points, C: 320 points.
Uh, this score... is it okay?
Toilet: "I don't know. Compared to those from the southern and northern sea regions, it definitely crushes a large group, but it's hard to say in Kyoto. Qu Jiangnan said Baili Xianyun's ABC scores back then were 200, 230, and 240 respectively. So you're much higher than her."
A'Diao said coolly, "Don't forget, that was a long time ago. Everyone's aptitude is being refined, especially those from noble backgrounds. Their methods and intensity of refinement wouldn't be worse than mine. Of course, I'm definitely stronger than her this time, after all, her mental body aptitude is far inferior to my current self, but she's not my target."
"And every time one advances to the Forbidden Master's Transcendent Realm, Glimmer Realm, and Star Realm, there's a significant improvement. Let's not even talk about hidden Star Realm cultivators; just those at the Glimmer Realm already have an advantage over me in this aspect. Sigh, it's so frustrating."
Every time A'Diao thought about it, she wanted to drag out the Chen family's ancestral tablets and curse them, but she immediately chose for the device—do not submit for now.
Toilet: "Hmm?"
A'Diao: "I'm shy."
Actually, she wanted to see their scores first. If many were better than her, she wouldn't submit yet, giving them a sense of her being mysterious and capable of crushing everyone. If her scores were decent, then... she'd farm a wave of Mental Power.
How could Toilet not understand? But it played along, "You're not shy; you're proper, steady, and considerate of the bigger picture."
The audience couldn't see what was happening inside the device. When A'Diao came out and no scores were displayed, how could they not know what was going on?
Damn it, she's being sly again!
And after A'Diao finished testing, she indeed put this device... into a crevice in the ground below, even gathering some leaves and sweeping them down.
Those who didn't know would think she was burying a corpse.
At this moment, many people were puzzled. This was the last device; was she not even leaving one for Song Ling and the others?
Did she have no concept of 'her own people'?
Indeed, she didn't. A'Diao lacked such a concept; her way of thinking was somewhat different.
If there was suppression, everyone should be suppressed together. If they couldn't seize opportunities even under such non-targeted suppression, how could such people be worthy of being in my group?
But if one thought according to Song Ling's mindset: A'Diao had diminished the advantages of all potential rivals, so those who were originally at a disadvantage now had an advantage. Because they were inherently weaker and couldn't come up in the first batch, they naturally wouldn't be able to grab a device. Now that the first batch of people couldn't find the devices, the time they wasted conveniently offset the time the weaker ones had fallen behind, so it naturally helped them.
Anyway, right now... the Seventh Prince was already approaching the device that had been thrown far and buried in the mud at the bottom of the lake.
A'Diao left quickly. Where was she going? To find the second stage assessment? She had the biggest advantage now.
However, no.
Because the second stage was about bloodline. Even if she strapped a rocket to herself, she wouldn't gain an advantage. Nor did she think Lushan Academy would play the same trick twice—the bloodline assessment definitely wouldn't rely on devices. Based on her understanding of the early generation literature, most of them seemed to be based on inducing awakening in specialized scenarios, requiring a certain amount of time. Like the mental body aptitude test, it was rather cumbersome and time-consuming. Someone like her with zero bloodline could only offset her bloodline disadvantage by destroying the testing scenario, but doing so would likely violate the assessment rules.
Currently, she hadn't damaged the instrument; she had only deliberately lifted it while 'embracing' it the first time to see if it could be moved, deciding to change its position only after confirming it was possible. But this trick would be hard to use a second time, so after comprehensive consideration, she gave up.
Choose to stay?
Where to go?
She slipped into the dense forest, plucking some leaves as she moved.
The audience watched, slightly puzzled.
On the Zhao family's side, Third Master Zhao paused, muttering, "Is it a call of nature and she has no toilet paper? So she's..."
Before he could finish, he saw an incredibly handsome young boy glaring at him angrily.
Third Master Zhao: "?"
However, after seeing the two madams of the Chen family, he looked around, his eyes visibly brightening. He specifically went over to Zhao Yi and his wife to inquire about the origins of those two women.
He looked as if he had taken a fancy to them.
Xie Jingyu frowned and glanced at Third Master Zhao. Zhao Yi's gaze swept over.
These two from the Chen family were too eye-catching. This Chen Adiao had offended so many people; even with Lushan's protection preventing direct action against her, but...
"They are from the Chen family of Danzhou. Third Uncle, please conduct yourself with dignity."
"【□□】? Oh, oh, alright..." Third Master looked regretful and walked away, muttering.
But Xie Jingyu suddenly sent a voice transmission to Zhao Yi: "I take back what I said before. He's not a profligate son."
She was specifically reminding them.
If there was an alliance with Qu Jiangnan and Xiao Jin, a genius like Chen Adiao would surely already be one of the alliance's associates. The more she stood out, the more easily she would be targeted.
And the way a profligate son like him viewed the essence of problems was—often, the dirtier the methods, the deeper they reached into the soul.
Meanwhile, the head of the Qu family was privately discussing with other family members.
"Looking at this person's current behavior, it's clear she won't cooperate with our Qu family. The Chen family is small and simple. That Chen Adiao may seem to have a distant relationship with her family, but she's young after all. Having left home at a young age, she must have some lingering attachments, especially with her personality. Even if there are no feelings, she would hold grudges and retaliate. No matter what results she achieves in the exam, as long as we can lure her out of Lushan Academy's protection and make her make a mistake, we'll have a reason to kill her, and Lushan Academy won't forcibly protect her."
"Big Brother, your meaning is?"
"【□□】... Doesn't the Third Prince have a taste for this? Take a video of these two women's appearances, and send it to him through a more natural channel, preferably using the routes planted by the Crown Prince's side."
Three examinees emerged consecutively from the four stairways. The first were from stairway number three; surprisingly, Baili Huayue and He Sijian came out one after another. Later, the others from different stairways also appeared around the same time.
Xie San, who had a somewhat roguish air, came up leaning against the wall, wiping sweat from his forehead as he ascended. He then greeted the man who came up after him.
"Brother Ink Water, together?"
Mo Yuwo had a very low presence. It was unknown why, but despite his outstanding appearance and temperament, he was like a silent gourd. Even after scoring second in the literary exam, he looked like a dejected veteran cadre who had failed, as if he might melancholically jump into the river the next second.
But Xie San predicted this person was very strong.
Mo Yuwo glanced at him and said in a muffled voice, "No, thanks. You already have true allies anyway."
Then he slowly entered the forest alone. Xie San raised an eyebrow, smiled, and looked back at Baili Huayue and the other.
Baili Huayue said amicably, "The Seventh Prince has probably already successfully found several devices. I wonder if he left any for us. Good luck to you both."
He Sijian was noncommittal: "To each their own methods."
Xie San: "I hope we don't meet in front of the same device."
Five minutes later, they all knew they wouldn't encounter such a situation.
Where's the device? The device! Ah!!!!
The map they'd nearly gone bald figuring out was useless, useless, useless.
Duanmu Qingyang and others who came up later reached the designated locations, but basically only saw grass and trees on the ground, no devices. Their first reaction at that time...
It must be her.
Had the Seventh Prince successfully cracked it then?
The top ten from the literary exam had now basically grasped the secrets of the terrain, but it had all been rendered useless by someone.
Now, while sending Mental Power to A'Diao, they began to prepare to search for devices or consider other approaches.
At this moment, more and more people were entering the forest.
But the Seventh Prince had already emerged from the water.
He didn't make much noise, nor did he bring the device up. Instead, he pressed it deeper into the mud.
But the audience couldn't see the results.
So, had His Highness the Seventh Prince also hidden his results?
Leaping onto a tree, the Seventh Prince used the foliage to conceal the water stains on his body, then quickly departed.
After two or three minutes, suddenly, a voice from a loudspeaker was heard from the direction of the four stairway entrances.
"Anyone there? Hello, hello, hello, anyone there? Selling device coordinates, selling device coordinates!"
"You can't lose out, you can't be cheated! One coordinate location for ten thousand remains. Limit one per person. A total of 14 coordinates, single-use only, single-use only, useless after one use. Come and buy, first come, first served."
"Brothers and sisters, are you there, are you there? Your little sister A'Diao is here to bring you warmth..."
Whether it was warm or not was unknown, but Baili Huayue, who maintained an elegant facade, had fire in his eyes at this moment. He was already on the verge of physical and mental collapse after climbing 5000 stairs, and had been rushing excitedly through the forest searching, holding his breath, only to find... this!
Damn it!
Many people shot out of the forest with a whoosh.
At this moment, the people coming up the stairs were from the third wave, a very large number, including Song Ling and others. Seeing A'Diao holding this big sale, they were both astonished and noticed some examinees' expressions changing, seemingly considering other methods.
Song Ling silently moved her wrist.
Swish!
After He Sijian exited the forest, he sprinted directly towards A'Diao. But from behind and to her side, Qiao Liushui, who was below the stairs, had a glint in his eyes and launched a sneak attack from the rear.
A'Diao, squatting on a tree branch like a monkey, a second before she was about to be kicked off by this person, lowered her center of gravity. The resilient branch bent down and then sprang up. She did a backflip and stomped mid-air.
The sole of her shoe landed on the back of his head.
Thwack!
Qiao Liushui was kicked to the ground.
Stamped on both sides of his ID card, huh?
He Sijian suddenly frowned and retreated decisively, leaping back onto another tree. He squinted at A'Diao, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
Once might be a fluke, but to counter-KO Qiao Liushui twice in a row with such advance prediction, this was no longer a matter of physical combat skills.
He could tell that this Chen Adiao was not skilled in combat.
But... her five senses were terrifying. She could discern everything based solely on the fluctuations of surrounding sounds, even with her mental body and spiritual power sealed.
Therefore, unless people like them attacked her en masse, or someone like the Seventh Prince, whose physique and combat power far surpassed theirs, came to KO her, there was little chance of taking her down.
Since he couldn't take her down, He Sijian naturally wouldn't waste his effort, nor would he want to be the one to stick his neck out.
If he could see the trick, others naturally could too. Baili Huayue and Qu Hanchuan, who had been eager to make a move, suppressed their impulses and exchanged glances.
At this moment, more and more people were climbing up. Panting heavily, they were startled to see a group gathered here, thinking they were about to be kicked down. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Just as they breathed a sigh of relief, the chubby Zhao Foshou cautiously told them that all the devices had been hidden by Chen Adiao.
Nangong Zhuolie was about to explode with anger. "Chen Adiao! Are you looking for death?!! I..."
He wanted to curse more, but Hu Zhegu, with whom he had clashed before, covered his mouth with the back of his hand. The latter said with a smile, "Since Miss Chen is willing to sell the locations, that's for the best. How do we trade? Will you tell us here? Or perhaps..."
A'Diao lifted her eyelids slightly and said indifferently, "You couldn't outplay me after several rounds of games, so don't try this tactic on me. Thinking of surrounding me while chatting? With my reaction speed, can't I just jump and escape?"
"Do you know where the Seventh Prince is? He has already found a location on his own. By now, he should have finished testing. Do you think he'll come back to settle scores with me, or is he, like you, calculating the gain or loss of ten thousand remains?"
She squatted on the tree, devoid of any ladylike image, munching on dry ration biscuits taken from the teacher's backpack like a monkey, and continued, "Do you know why the first is first? You have to admit there's a reason they're first. Look at you all, so stingy about ten thousand remains. Isn't Lushan worth it?!"
Holy hell! Damn you!
Everyone suppressed their anger, but they also extracted a lot of useful information from her words.
The devices could be found, but one needed the Seventh Prince's ability. Even with ability, the Seventh Prince had paid a time cost. Moreover, Chen Adiao hadn't traded with him, clearly to control his time. As for them... her coming to trade, was it really to 'bring warmth'?
Comparing it like this, it seemed to be true.
But was ten thousand remains a lot?
Actually... many people could afford it.
"You can talk to them later. I'll buy one location. I'll definitely send the payment after we get out." Duanmu Qingyang was the most decisive, settling it without another word.
Everyone was astonished. Uh, this Pearl of Kyoto was truly unconcerned with trivialities.
A'Diao was also surprised.
"Come, come, Sister Duanmu is indeed generous! Come over, I'll give you the coordinate location."
Duanmu Qingyang really went over. Others weren't actually afraid of losing ten thousand remains, but rather worried about being tricked by this person again. After all, this person's moral standards... weren't very high.
"Hold out your hand."
Duanmu Qingyang glanced at her and held out her hand.
A'Diao raised her hand, took out a rolled-up leaf from her pocket, and placed it in her palm.
"Given the misunderstanding between us, I'll give you a discount. Just 9999 remains will do. One of those remains counts as the price for the interim. Take care, Sister. I wish you a pleasant test and a great start with your ABCs. Go, go, go!"
So inexplicably cute and sweet, just because she made money off me?
And Zhao Ritian is only worth one bone?
Duanmu Qingyang: "..."
Her mood was a bit complicated.
"Thank you." Out of courtesy, Duanmu Qingyang took the leaf and left.
When the others saw this, they were immediately tempted.
Surrounding her was impossible; defeating Qiao Liushui in one move was a deterrent.
So, next.
"Me, me, me! My family is rich! Little sister, I'll buy!" Zhao Foshou hurried over and casually asked, "Can I buy out the rest at a 20% premium?"
Damn it, that fatso! The others were already somewhat agitated, and hearing this, they immediately became anxious.
Baili Huayue had already come over.
A'Diao: "No, I must bestow my favors evenly upon my ex-wives."
Everyone: "..."
Damn your grandpa!
Baili Huayue came to buy. After buying, he seized the time to leave, but gave A'Diao a deep look.
Afterward, Xie San, He Sijian, Hu Zhegu, Nangong Liehe, and others with some family wealth all came to buy. Basically, everything was sold out within a minute.
This included imperial kinsmen like Dantai Yu. Although not a prince, he didn't lack ten thousand remains.
"That's right! Isn't Lushan worth it? Let alone ten thousand remains, if I weren't so smart and capable, and like you, painstakingly deciphered the map only to not find the device, forget ten thousand remains, I'd even be willing to dig up my ancestral graves!"
Of course, it's your ancestral graves being dug up, not your own grave.
A group of people felt a pang in their hearts, their faces turning green, especially Baili Huayue and others who had initially been happy about deciphering the map.
Even the audience's fists clenched. Just as the examinees could barely suppress the urge to attack her, this person raised her voice and added, "Angry? You should be angry, because I'm about to go to the second level."
"Goodbye, ex-wives."
Swish, she nimbly jumped into the forest.
"Is she doing this on purpose? Is she actually planning to move the devices again?"
"Can't be. The remains haven't been given to her yet. She wouldn't go that far."
"That's true. Let's go, quickly!"
The group exploded into action, rushing into the forest one after another.
Those who bought leaves went to find the coordinates, lest they be preempted. Those who didn't buy, following the route of 'if you have no money for development, rely entirely on brainpower,' prepared to search on their own.
Song Ling glanced at her wristwatch time and thought to herself: A'Diao has always been meticulous in her calculations. For her to waste time like this, either she received a time reward related to the Nurturing Pool, or the loss of one hundred and forty thousand remains was deliberately meant to overshadow any benefit she might gain from the bloodline assessment.
So, was her bloodline really that hopeless, to the point where she was solely focused on making money?
However, there was one device left that she hadn't sold, the one the Seventh Prince had found. He should have finished testing by now. Since he hadn't made a move against A'Diao, it showed that the Seventh Prince was patient and unwilling to waste time. This also meant these devices couldn't be damaged; otherwise, A'Diao would have done it long ago.
It was still in that place, but it had definitely been handled a second time by the Seventh Prince.
As Song Ling thought this, she also entered the forest.
In the forest, the locations for all 14 devices had been sold. Duanmu Qingyang had opened her leaf earlier, saw the numbers scratched onto it with a twig, and quickly found the place.
She didn't see it.
Fortunately, she saw it after parting the bushes.
This person was true to her word; it was indeed effective.
Duanmu Qingyang suddenly had a thought—if she had known, it would have been better not to decipher it and just buy the information from Chen Adiao. Such a clever, cunning, and shameless person...
Uh, was she actually looking forward to taking a shortcut by relying on others?
Duanmu Qingyang had a strange expression. When she started the test and the spiritual pattern lines entered her body, another thought surfaced in her mind as her results were being measured—so, if she could have sold all of them to one person in one go, shifting the risk of offending other examinees and using a borrowed knife to kill, why didn't she do it? Why insist on selling these locations individually?
But the leaf was indeed effective, so... was she really 'bringing warmth'?
At the edge of the forest, the river current was swift. Amidst the sound of splashing water, an examinee holding a leaf walked deeper into the forest and quickly found the spot. Seeing nothing in front of him, he frowned, a hint of vigilance in his eyes.
This Chen Adiao is so cunning... Could there be an ambush?
He was very alert, but soon saw scrape marks on a tree trunk. Someone had jumped up there.
He moved aside slightly, avoiding an angle where he could easily be attacked by someone above, then looked up—a large device was wedged in the branches of a tall banyan tree.
It's really there?
She really did give the coordinates.
That made sense. He had already rushed here at top speed, while that Chen Adiao was still over there selling coordinates just now. She couldn't possibly have caught up to him, let alone set up an ambush, so...
He relaxed and jumped directly onto the tree. As soon as he reached the branches, he smelled a strange odor.
A faint, fragrance?
Where would a banyan tree get a floral scent?
He glanced sideways and saw a bouquet of flowers placed on top of the device.
Like an offering on a grave.
The colors were quite pretty, but the floral scent was a bit... overpowering.
Not good!
When he felt his head becoming a little dizzy, he hurriedly jumped down from the tree.
But just as he jumped down.
A dark figure suddenly shot up from the nearby river.
Holy hell!
The audience had been waiting to see his test results. Then they saw the flowers, saw his expression change, saw him hurriedly jump down, and then suddenly saw this dark figure.
A series of unexpected events culminated in them not even getting a clear look at the dark figure's true appearance before they saw it move at an extremely terrifying speed, leaving afterimages with each step, these afterimages like lines. It happened in the instant this examinee jumped down, before he had even landed and regained his balance.
The dark figure darted past him, and aimed at his head... Bang!!!
A stone smacked him on the head.
With a thud, the person fell to the ground.
Armor zero, anti-armor zero, he could only rely on his physique for a little defense. But the head was the most vulnerable, with little flesh and difficult-to-train bones. Even the current A'Diao wouldn't dare let her skull be injured.
This person was the same.
So he was smashed to death by her stone.
Dead?
Not dead. She controlled her strength.
She specifically hit a knockout acupoint. The acupoint was heavily struck; it would take a long period of recovery before he could move, and it would even be difficult for him to maintain consciousness.
But he stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, a deeply sinister and fierce look in their depths.
The attacker, not at all noble-looking and soaking wet, squatted down like a brutal, perverted killer. She tossed aside the blood-dripping river stone, took out a sharp stone flake, and pinched the unconscious examinee's chin. Her actions were brazen, yet she also seemed somewhat afraid of him, saying with a trembling, guilty tone, "I have no choice. After all, you are an imperial kinsman. How could I afford to offend you? But I've already offended His Highness the Seventh Prince. My father is, after all, a subject. If I act so insubordinately, wouldn't I implicate him? It's too treasonous. So I must do something for His Highness the Seventh Prince."
"After all, a collateral imperial kinsman like you, Brother, living so unscrupulously, disguising your Star Realm cultivation as low-grade Glimmer Realm, spanning an entire major realm—that's too terrifying. I'm so afraid you'll go on a killing spree during the martial combat assessment."
His biggest secret exposed, he was shocked!
Staring at her.
The audience was also shocked!
Star Realm? Star Realm cultivator?
The various think tanks of the Imperial Clan, as well as some princes and high ministers, all looked towards the Imperial Kinsmen's side. The members of the Imperial Kinsmen looked completely bewildered.
"Even if you disguised your breathing and level of exertion, unlike those teachers, when you jumped from the 5000th step to the zero-gravity section... only those with super-strong physiques like the Seventh Prince, and Star Realm cultivators, have a constitution with inherent systemic stability. Otherwise, everyone would stumble a bit to adapt to the different gravity, but you didn't. That's right, I was squatting in the forest watching you all... every single one, including you."
Even she had to adapt for a moment back then, but this person was incredibly smooth, yet pretended to be struggling. A'Diao instantly became certain that this person was that Star Realm cultivator.
Damn dog, really knows how to pretend, A'Diao thought to herself at the time.
His pupils trembled, and the audience's scalps tingled.
So, her selling coordinates was entirely to ambush him! Perhaps when she sold it to him, the location was already chosen.
"The coordinate given to him must have been this large banyan tree downstream, definitely next to the river. So even if he left first and she was behind, she could use the river's current from an upstream position to reach the location faster than him, then hide by the river. And the poisonous flowers on the tree were prepared long ago."
"She intended to ambush Dantai Yu from the very beginning."
Lan Shan, in deep thought, recalled the Star Realm cultivator from the Black Mountain Auction House.
On that day, this Dantai Yu was there. He said he went to pursue Duanmu Qingyang and caught up later. If a Star Realm cultivator was skilled in speed or had a teleportation talisman, it indeed wouldn't be difficult to create an alibi.
But no one suspected him in the first place, as this imperial kinsman appeared to be only at the low-grade Glimmer Realm on the surface.
"It is said that the Imperial Kinsmen submit to the Imperial Clan, regarding the main lineage as destiny. For you to lie dormant like this, it's hard not to make people speculate. Plus, the incident at the Black Mountain Auction House some time ago, that was you, right? Such a dangerous person, even if my father were here, he would want me to suppress you for His Highness the Seventh Prince. But you won't die. I, Chen Adiao, have always been merciful."
"So..."
She severed the tendons in Dantai Yu's limbs, then grabbed one of his ankles and dragged him, wide-eyed and unable to move, quickly towards the riverbank... and then directly threw him in.
With a splash, like a corpse, he was swept into the river section, carried away by the current, and soon disappeared from sight.
And she turned her face, clapped her hands, revealing an unremarkable, slightly delicate appearance.
If you say she's bad, you can't quite say that either.
A Star Realm cultivator, so sneaky, it's terrifying. It just so happened that this stage had confinement. If she could take the opportunity to KO a Lushan teacher and snatch a backpack, why couldn't she design a plan to suppress a super-strong Star Realm examinee?
Of course, a KO wasn't possible.
Because she couldn't cripple him, nor could she kill him. She could only deal with him temporarily like this. If he was lucky, he would recover his mobility downstream and start the exam. If he was unlucky, he would miss the assessment.
But no matter what, this would at least take a few days.
The worst outcome would still halve his score, and at the very least, his time in the Nurturing Pool would be infinitely compressed.
So... beautifully done! For the Imperial Clan, for the powerful nobles, for the Daoist sects, and even for the geniuses from humble backgrounds, she had curbed the results of an overwhelmingly monstrous talent.
It was all for the Seventh Prince. I've worked so hard.
A'Diao looked up towards the sky, as if looking towards the numerous spectators... was she?
Obedient and reserved, harmless to humans and animals, and even a little worried.
Then she stealthily slipped back into the forest like a cat.
She was going to the second level now; she had to quickly tell the Seventh Prince this good news.
But as soon as she turned around, she saw a person standing in the forest, watching her like a ghost.
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