ASER - Chapter 157
Chapter 157: Useless!
Compared to families like the Qu, Baili, and Duanmu, aptitude was naturally super important. However, the upper limit of innate aptitude couldn't be changed unless some mutation occurred. The process of "washing" or refining aptitude, though, could be worked on. The Lushan Trials were limited to those under 25 years old precisely because young people's aptitudes were easier to "wash"—that is, easier to excavate. In reality, for these lofty powerful clans, imperial kinsmen, and even Daoist sects, their greatest advantage was still their bloodline.
Because bloodline signified the legacy of powerful ancestors. Aptitude, on the other hand, was something where a qualitative change could occur from the sheer volume of tens of billions of people. The most outstanding geniuses were screened from countless regions across the states and provinces of Tang Song. So, it was normal to see some top geniuses emerge from commoner backgrounds or middle-class groups, some even surpassing the aptitudes of their own clan's disciples.
The most important thing was still bloodline; their advantage lay in bloodline.
But… they hadn't expected such a drastic change after the ABC aptitude rankings were refreshed. Many people were stunned when they saw the list, then frowned.
First Place: Xiong Chumo, ABC — 666, 666, 666.
Second Place: Mo Yuwo, ABC — 656, 600, 680.
Third Place: Shi Qing, ABC — 640, 620, 650.
Fourth Place: Zhao Foshou, ABC — 600, 600, 600.
Following them, from fifth to seventh place, were Dantai Sheng, Wen Shaoyao, and Wanqi Jian'ai respectively.
That's right, the Seventh Prince, Dantai Sheng, had submitted his results and ranked fifth.
Only fifth.
He was widely acknowledged as the one who could win from start to finish, yet he had stumbled in the ABC assessment.
Eighth place was Chen Adiao, with an average of 555.
But ninth and tenth place were Cao Juanzhi and Xia Sanlu, respectively. These two were also oddballs, especially Cao Juanzhi.
Cao Juanzhi: 520, 520, 520.
Xia Sanlu: 500, 500, 500.
Thus, the top ten in the ABC rankings were temporarily fixed.
In this round, the quantitative change from the grassroots had produced a qualitative victory. Geniuses who emerged from a population of tens of billions, initially hidden and nurtured by various high-end academies, their true aptitudes perhaps unknown to anyone but their respective principals. But today, in the Lushan Academy examination, despite the congregation of nobles and the profound blessings of ancestors…
Miracles arose from the common people.
A lazy, obese fellow who wanted to give up just climbing stairs had actually suppressed all the prodigies. Was he a figure of the moment?
No, he was as weighty as Mount Tai!
Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!
"We commoners are still the most formidable!"
"Awesome!"
"More than half of the top ten aren't from noble, official, imperial, or sect backgrounds! They're us!"
"More than that, the top three are all commoners!"
"Whatever so-and-so, whatever blah blah blah, whatever Chen Adiao, none of them can beat us!"
The audience was stunned by this ranking, but soon, a massive wave of cheers erupted. Many men, old and young, jumped up and whistled.
In their eyes, even A'Diao was categorized with the nobles and officials, seeming distant. This Lushan assessment felt like an internal selection for the royalty and powerful nobles, which left a somewhat sour taste in their mouths.
But they hadn't expected the ABC assessment to give them such a huge surprise.
So, is there strength in numbers after all?
It's unknown how many people watching the broadcast realized this point at that moment.
In fact, no matter how strong the kingdom was, it was because its people were strong.
It was because its tens of billions of people were strong.
Although they hadn't expected to be so thoroughly surpassed, the powerful nobles were also stirred. However, seeing the audience's atmosphere, they didn't show anything for the time being.
Class conflict was a landmine not to be touched in the current societal changes.
The awakening of the common people's self-awareness was also the key concern for the royalty in recent years. Look, the Seventh Prince was surpassed, and those strategists didn't dare to make a sound.
Over at the Academy Alliance, the group of principals eyed each other with displeasure.
Jiang Zhou said with a hint of sarcasm, "Still mocking me, heh, you big brothers are truly impressive!"
Whatever he did, A'Diao had developed on her own stealthily; he had no idea. Jiang Yena, however, was someone he had hidden, but that was a normal operation. Who could blame him when the Ye clan had been exterminated? If it were public, who knew if she would be assassinated.
Compared to these academy principals who scoured the entire country for geniuses to monopolize them, he, Jiang Zhou, was practically a paragon of virtue!
Faced with his mockery, the academy principals remained stone-faced and silent.
Making a fortune quietly, after all.
Look now, the top talents were still in the hands of their academies.
Chen Yang leaned against the balcony, his eyes shining. "They're all so amazing... truly terrifying. But my sisters are also amazing."
Aptitudes that emerged from tens of billions of people. His two sisters, one in the top thirty, one in the top ten.
Awesome!
Although Xie Yuqing was also happy, she wasn't entirely witless. She said with some worry, "Actually, we need to look at the overall ranking... What about the bloodline trial?"
She was asking Xu Zhaoyin.
Xu Zhaoyin looked up from her book. "Strength and weakness are predestined. Why dwell on things that human effort cannot reverse? Besides, didn't you hear what A'Diao said later? If there's a pit on a known path, naturally, one avoids it, takes a detour, and continues forward."
Xie Yuqing couldn't stand her detached attitude towards worldly affairs. "Then you don't care about little Ye?" she said, dissatisfied.
Xu Zhaoyin didn't speak, merely flicking a fallen peach blossom petal from Xie Yuqing's shoulder. "The children of our family have never needed elders to plan their futures."
After a pause, she, still cautious, patted Chen Yang's head with a touch of affection and indulgence.
"Except for Yangyang."
Chen Yang: "?"
Xie Yuqing: "..."
However, just then, the bloodline space erupted.
By now, everyone in the pool had soaked for about an hour on average. The longest was the Seventh Prince, who had shown no fluctuations. But after others had soaked for a full hour, bloodline totems began to appear one after another.
Bloodline power surged and coursed, forming totems of various sizes above their heads – some exquisite and elegant, others powerful and fierce. All sorts of tigers, leopards, and birds of prey could be seen, as well as swords and blades, and even some special instruments like astrological compasses or the forms of spiritual entities.
At this moment, in the audience, the parents of the Tian Zhongxiang siblings were also present. The father was explaining to his younger son the knowledge he had crammed from the internet over the past six months.
"Bloodlines are divided into three types: Beast, Weapon, and Spirit, each with its own advantages. You can't judge strength or rank by category alone. But since there's a bloodline assessment, there are naturally scoring criteria. Bloodline strength is determined by two points: purity and compatibility. If purity reaches 80%, even if the bloodline type is just a mouse, it's stronger than a tiger with 10% purity. Then there's compatibility, which is the degree of fit with one's aptitude and talent type. For example, if a person is of the mental type, and her awakened bloodline happens to be a fox skilled in enchantment, or a bell that can bewitch hearts, or a special bewitching spirit that can lure and disguise – that's compatibility. It can allow her to unleash extraordinary power. Conversely, if this person is of the mental type but awakens a hammer... then..."
The five-year-old younger brother nodded, saying adorably, "Then it's 'game over'."
Father Tian: "..."
Indeed, it was 'game over'.
One-third of the 13,000 people had not yet come up, but the pool was already crowded. As bloodline totems awakened densely, let alone the audience, even the examinees in the pool couldn't clearly see each other's bloodlines. The pulsating power of the bloodlines was too strong. Having grown accustomed to having all their powers sealed, they were suddenly hit with such transcendent power and couldn't adapt. However, they weren't blind; they could still see some of the more powerful totems.
Because initially, totems emerged in groups, but as bloodline power grew stronger, powerful totems quickly suppressed the others.
Under this suppression, they became prominent.
The bloodlines of the Baili, Qu, and other families were clearly much stronger than others; even Baili Xianyun's presence made others feel suffocated.
The Baili family's was the Heavenly Star Lone Wolf, and the Qu family's was the Three-tailed Sly Fox.
Both families followed the beast bloodline path, but with ancestors providing a strong foundation, their powerful bloodlines naturally made them superior.
At this moment, basically eight or nine out of ten of the powerful bloodline totems in the blood pool originated from the imperial kinsmen, powerful nobles, and Daoist sects.
Looking at the bloodline ranking list, thousands of names refreshed. In the first fixed wave, the top thirty... were all them.
The overall leaderboard was updated accordingly.
First place became... Qu Hanzhou.
He even suppressed Baili Huayue. His Three-tailed Sly Fox had a purity of 60% and compatibility of 66%.
Don't look down on these numbers, as if it's just a passing grade of 60.
Actually, it wasn't. Looking at the continuous stream of rankings, there were plenty of noble disciples with purity around 10%.
As for the examinees from commoner backgrounds, their bloodlines naturally came from their ancestors, but their ancestors were much more mediocre, far from comparable to these dukes and marquises. If their ancestors were Grandmasters or Spirit Kings, while yours was merely in the Transcendent Realm, how could they compare?
It was like trying to reach the moon by climbing a ladder.
Therefore, if their ancestors weren't Forbidden Masters, most of these ordinary examinees wouldn't have bloodlines, unless there were extremely specific circumstances, such as some mishap during birth, or being influenced in the womb and fusing with some treasure, which could also become a type of bloodline.
Of course, for a family like the Chens, whose bloodline was cursed, it was as if their ancestral graves had been dug up, struck by terrible misfortune.
So A'Diao left, but other examinees could more or less gain scores from these bloodlines.
However, most people's bloodlines couldn't be changed, nor were they stronger than these ancestrally inherited bloodlines of the powerful nobles, so their scores were predictable.
Qu Hanzhou had made a comeback.
"The Qu family... the Qu family still has something to them." The Baili family head certainly knew that in terms of personal ability and intellect, his son was far superior to Qu Hanzhou. But in terms of the bloodline bestowed by their ancestors, the Qu family truly stood on higher ground.
This couldn't be helped.
However, the Baili family head also knew that when it came to bloodlines, not comparing with the imperial kinsmen, among the dukes, marquises, and powerful nobles, there were others no weaker than the Qu family.
For example...
Boom!!! A sudden change occurred!
In the giant circular blood pool, in the upper left corner, a verdant jade Jianmu tree rose from the ground. One tree birthed myriad phenomena, and amidst these phenomena, flowers bloomed on vines, splendid and radiant.
That emerald and crimson aura enveloped Duanmu Qingyang, who stood in the water. Her pupils gradually took on a celadon-green glow, mystical and clear.
In the upper right corner, a five-meter-long giant axe, dripping with blood, hovered, spewing rolling black smoke, wreathed in flames, emitting a burning sound.
Below it, Wanqi Jian'ai's figure was thin and his face pale, appearing so out of place. Clearly, he found this inherited, berserk blood axe of his family hard to accept, but this was his bloodline, powerful and bloody.
In the lower left corner, a Heavenly Wheel Mirror floated, emitting an eerie mirror light. Xie San looked at the mirror and sighed softly. A demon-revealing mirror, huh? He actually preferred direct combat.
In the lower right corner, Hu Zhegu calmly looked at a partridge bird on his head.
It was ugly, incredibly so, uglier than a plucked, boiled chicken.
But.
It was of the mental type, capable of easily assisting him in attacking peers with his spiritual body.
Four great totems manifested. Terrifying, wasn't it?
Baili Huayue and Qu Hanzhou's scores were immediately suppressed, but the ranking hadn't stabilized yet when a peach blossom tree shot up from the ground.
The dashing Cao Juanzhi sighed at Duanmu Qingyang and others, fellow acquaintances from ducal manors, "I'm a bit envious of your talents; they're all quite useful. My peach blossom talent... feels like it's useless for anything other than being a flower-picking thief. It's too depressing."
Such green tea talk. If Chen Adiao were here, she would definitely battle him for three hundred rounds.
Despite what he said, everyone saw his bloodline talent climb to first place.
Yes, surpassing the original first, Hu Zhegu.
However, simultaneously, three other people quietly broke into the top thirty relying on their bloodlines.
Although most examinees' attention was on Cao Juanzhi's "improper" peach blossom bloodline, their gazes towards the Cheng Yuan State Duke Manor were no longer quite right.
Were his ancestors flower-picking thieves?
But many also noticed that Cao Juanzhi's peach blossoms, while dancing, all inexplicably drifted towards one spot.
Over by Han Zhuo, a Twin Fish talent, entangled with blood-fire and cold qi, manifested.
These two fish leaped about, extremely agile. The air around them seemed to turn into a pool, with a liquid-like wave-like sensation. It was initially quite good.
Han Zhuo's score also broke into the top twenty.
The underage young marquis's ancestors were truly supportive!
Awesome!
The Han clan members were just rejoicing when they suddenly saw all the peach blossoms of Kyoto's number one romantic young lord heir drifting towards their own 15-year-old young marquis.
Twin Fish playing with Peach Blossoms.
The scene was very romantic and beautiful.
It's just...
Damn!!
Elder Han was somewhat distracted and inexplicably sent a voice transmission to the family head, "My Lord, did our ancestors also pass down some kind of passive scumbag-attracting constitution?"
First Zhao Ritian, now Cao Juanzhi.
Why was the young marquis's life so bitter? He was clearly supposed to have the male protagonist's script, but now he was entirely playing the role of a stunningly beautiful female supporting character disguised as a man.
Too difficult.
The Han family head: "..."
The people in the spectator stands fell silent.
Bloodline, ah, this was something one could never catch up to. And no amount of "washing" would help; it was a meal bestowed by one's ancestors.
"Unless one creates it themselves, but how is that possible? The bloodline advantages of the peerless prodigies of the first generation, spanning thousands of years, were established by their ancestors and passed down through generations. If it were truly that easy, the Tang Song Nation wouldn't have only five great ducal manors, and the Daoist sects wouldn't be suppressed by the four major sects..."
The previously excited commoner spectators suddenly quieted down. An invisible pressure permeated the vast spectator area. People like the Tian family parents also fell silent.
Their children were once considered geniuses in Danzhou, envied by countless parents there. But now, at the national-level genius competition, they could only watch others bask in glory.
But this was the reality of the world. Just like their parents' generation, their ancestors were mediocre, they themselves were mediocre, and while this generation of children was slightly better, an immediate counterattack was impossible.
In a world of power with tens of billions of people, those who ultimately rose to the top... still depended on the screening of time.
At this moment, everyone thought the situation had basically stabilized, unless the royalty manifested. But unexpectedly...
Stunningly beautiful roses bloomed one after another, silently releasing a desolate, icy aura. Because they were too beautiful, others couldn't ignore them and turned their heads in unison.
They saw Xu Ye, standing silently in a remote corner of the pool, close only to Xiao Du and the others. Her waist leaned against the edge of the pool, arms crossed. It was unknown what she was thinking; she seemed somewhat distracted. It was precisely while she was distracted that her bloodline activated.
The blood pool naturally released water vapor, shrouding everyone in a mist. But on her side, because the cold qi was too intense, she appeared even more desolate and frosty. Perhaps sensing everyone's direct gazes, she looked over, her eyes carrying a chill that could turn one to ice—cold, stunning, and ascetic.
The color of the ice-snow roses immersed her in a breathtaking beauty. Below her, the rippling blood water spread out in circles. When the rose petals fell, layers of frost even formed on the blood water.
Too beautiful, so beautiful that even Dantai Sheng was stunned.
At this moment, the smart screen was also being its usual self, specifically zooming in on this scene... on the largest screen.
Tens of thousands of spectators suddenly had their eyes cleansed.
Holy crap!
Such stunning beauty!
Who was it that said Shen Huajing was the most beautiful before? My heavens...
It was just that Yin Canghe, gloomy as a ghost with a coffin totem, and Xiao Du, with a bloodied knife totem, were a bit of an eyesore beside her.
Such unparalleled beauty, who could possibly match her?
By the way, her bloodline score, with 72% purity and 75% compatibility, had shot up to sixth place.
Surpassing both the Qu and Baili families.
Everyone fell silent.
At that moment, the examinees: "?"
The spectators: "?"
Across the two different spaces, inside and outside the examination venue, the thought frequency of these tens of thousands of people was basically identical. Even Dantai Sheng thought the same thing.
1. Is Chen Adiao his biological daughter?
2. Is Xu Ye her biological daughter?
So, to sum it up... by what virtue or depravity had the outrageous Old Dog Chen been cuckolded?
Considering that both of the Chen family's sons couldn't cultivate and were 24K pure cultivation good-for-nothings, well... um... well...
Jiang Zhou felt a despicable excitement: Well, cuckolded by both? My god, how tragic.
Hahahahahaha-hic!
If Chen Ran were watching, would he cough up blood?
Chen Ran didn't cough up blood; he was still busy with official duties in his office.
Was it because he had no time to watch? No, it was because he didn't dare to watch.
The more impressive his two unworthy daughters became, the more arduous he felt his fate was, and the more easily his mentality would collapse.
Even the smart system said he should stay away from his two daughters; saving his life was paramount.
Chen Ran touched the quick-acting heart-saving pills in his pocket, sighed, and resolutely refused to watch the competition broadcast.
Only work can help me reach a higher level!
The principal of Kyoto Academy didn't have such sordid thoughts. After all, he was already in his eighties or nineties and didn't harbor the same jealousy towards Old Dog Chen that other men might. Instead, he thought of a possibility. Out of understanding and curiosity about bloodline curses, he personally went to Jiang Zhou's private box and asked Xu Zhaoyin across the railing.
"Madam Xu, could your ancestors perhaps..."
How intelligent was Xu Zhaoyin? How could she not know what others were speculating? It didn't matter to her, but the other party was the principal of Kyoto Academy, whose status was higher than even Xiao Mieluo and the others. So, she politely said, "My ancestor, Xu Daoren, was considered a rogue Daoist cultivator. Later, he led some Daoist cultivators from our family to participate in the Huqiu Campaign. All of them died in battle, leaving only the old and young in the family. My lineage was passed down by my great-grandfather. To avoid retaliation, we lived in seclusion for many years, but declined over time, eventually turning to commerce."
There were too many battles three hundred years ago, and the Huqiu Campaign was considered one of the ten most tragic. However, the name Xu Daoren was not insignificant.
Jiang Zhou was shocked. "Xu Daoren?? That was one of the First Generation Top 100 Golden Prodigies! When he broke through to the Star Realm, the surrounding stars shone brilliantly, and his aptitude was recognized by the Spiritual Dao, directly acclaiming him as one of the thirty Extreme Star Realm cultivators of the first generation."
Holy crap, the Xu family has such a prominent background?!!! No wonder Xu Zhaoyin is so outstanding!
However...
The principal had a realization. "No wonder, no wonder your daughter could escape the bloodline curse. It's because she inherited Xu Daoren's bloodline."
Xu Zhaoyin didn't pay much attention to the others' reactions, only saying faintly, "Ah Ye is still far inferior compared to my ancestor, but it can be considered luck. Human lives are full of ups and downs, always subject to fate. It's just a matter of generations."
The Kyoto principal was somewhat surprised, stroking his beard and exclaiming, "Xu Daoren had a good family tradition. Though he himself perished, his descendants are outstanding, carrying on the legacy for three hundred years like this. Not bad, not bad at all. It's already much better than the fate of those peerless prodigies whose lineages were broken. In truth, many talents should have remained in this world, what a pity."
War was the greatest culprit, but this couldn't be said here.
The royalty was present.
A sudden change occurred.
"Look! The rankings have changed again!"
First, they saw a massive, sealed ancient book with the characters "Dantai" written on it.
A royal totem spanning thirty meters in width appeared, suppressing the entire field. All other totems bowed their heads...
And Dantai Sheng also opened his eyes at this moment. Tiny, mysterious golden totem characters swirled in his eyes. As he spread his hands, totem characters climbed over every inch of his body. Pulsations emanated from him, making it difficult for everyone in the pool to breathe.
Including geniuses like Xiong Chumo, who had initially risen through their ABC aptitudes. Now, they were all knocked off their pedestals, completely suppressed on the bloodline ranking, and thoroughly surpassed on the overall leaderboard.
First in bloodline.
First in overall score.
Dantai Sheng was still number one.
The royalty had to be number one.
And the powerful nobles, imperial kinsmen, and Daoist sects all returned to the top thirty of the rankings.
The order of strength was restored.
On the first level of the pagoda, Song Ling, in a crevice, was in no hurry to leave. She was looking at the totems on the stone wall of the crevice.
Huh?
If this Thousand-Hand Guanyin Pagoda was the Lushan Headmaster's transcendent spiritual plant body, why were there so many dense totem patterns left here? It didn't seem related to the exam.
Then it must be an opportunity.
Could it be that the exam also included luck? Those with good luck received opportunities specially left by him...
Song Ling was both surprised and felt that this opportunity couldn't be missed.
Coincidentally, she could understand these.
A'Diao had no idea what was happening below. Anyway, she glanced at the leaderboard. She was quite concerned, but also very frustrated.
"I was only handsome in first place for three seconds, and now my overall rank has dropped to over five hundred. Damn it!"
Clearly, the bloodline score weighting was not low, so her zero points had dragged her score down infinitely.
At this time, many spectators were also watching her, because the smart system was focused on her. Moreover, the Seventh Prince and others had already begun to leave the second level and head this way.
However, just as A'Diao cursed, her vision suddenly went black.
What was that?!!
The audience was also startled. A'Diao had just stepped out of the third-floor staircase into the corridor when her ankle was suddenly entangled by something snow-white. With a whoosh, she was dragged out of the corridor, and then—splash!
She plummeted into a terrifying, infinite void!!!
Heavens!
Xie Yuqing was so scared she knocked over her coffee. Fortunately, the smart screen followed her down. After falling for about two to three hundred meters, plop!
She landed on a giant spider web.
Before she could react, zzzzz, countless spider webs sprayed her into an old cocoon.
In just seven or eight seconds, a white "zongzi" appeared on the spider web.
Everyone was discussing animatedly. The principal of Kyoto Academy hadn't left either and was coincidentally sitting with Jiang Zhou and the others, drinking tea, eating desserts, and chatting, while also comforting the Chen family members.
"That's an Illusion Heart Demon Spider. It has an enslavement totem on its back. It should be enslaved by a Lushan expert and used to test mental bodies. However, mental bodies are quite complex. Individual testing can be done by certain mental-type special experts, but with so many examinees, Lushan Academy uses a rather special method. This should be the Sealed Cocoon Illusion Realm Technique, designed to drag them into an illusion realm and test their mental body aptitude through the intermediary Illusion Heart Demon Spiders."
"Don't worry."
So that was it.
Everyone finally understood.
So, Chen Adiao was now the first person to enter the illusion realm.
Not long after, the Seventh Prince Dantai Sheng also came up, and the result was...
It didn't matter if you were a prince, everyone was dragged down!
The third was Qu Hanzhou. When he fell, he saw two cocoons already below.
One after another, examinees were caught off guard and dragged by the giant spider spirits onto the spider webs below.
Song Ling finally reached the second level space. Twelve hours had passed since the exam began. She wasn't in a hurry. After walking in alone, she happened to see a person emerge from the pool and ascend the stairs to the third trial. The figure from behind... seemed to be...
At this time, the smart screens were all locked on the third trial, the mental body examination. The audience couldn't see their situation here at all.
Song Ling withdrew her gaze and began her own test. Her strength wasn't in bloodline, but judging from her ice-fire mental control, it should be decent. However, the main focus was definitely on mental body aptitude, so she was just going through the motions. But standing alone in the pool at this moment, she thought: I wonder how A'Diao is doing? And why is there such terrifying pulsating power remaining in this pool now?
Was it left by the people before, or by that one person just now?
So many big fish.
At this time, although the audience was focused on the mental body test, they thought they would have to wait a long time because of the illusion realm. Unexpectedly, it only took about the time to order takeout and eat a meal.
Swish!
Someone's cocoon broke open.
It was Qu Hanzhou. He had passed.
The old cocoon tore open. He raised his hand and saw the score noted on his wristwatch.
Mental Body Aptitude: 180 points.
"Is 180 for mental body considered very strong? With scores of five or six hundred before, I feel 180 is too low."
"You country bumpkin! Mental body points are the hardest to get, with the highest value. Otherwise, why would it be separated from ABC as D? It's essentially another system. If not, Lushan wouldn't need to employ such a grand design."
"I think 180 points are worth more than the combined six or seven hundred points from ABC. You have to know, the Qu family's Three-tailed Demon Fox inherently leans towards mental-type abilities. No wonder this Qu Hanzhou escaped so quickly; it's probably related to his bloodline talent. Look, what's he going to do?"
Qu Hanzhou's escape was indeed related to the demon fox's abilities. The demon fox bloodline's talent skill included illusions, and his own immunity bug was too strong, so he was the first to break free.
Seeing the score of 180, he couldn't say if he was satisfied or not, because it had been tested long ago. But mental bodies were very difficult to improve, basically unchanged from before.
Now that he was free, was he going to the Nurturing Pool?
No, he had something to do.
Qu Hanzhou carefully leaped among the dense, countless spider webs.
The audience realized.
"He's going to attack other examinees! Is he looking for someone?"
"Is it Baili Huayue? Or those ranked ahead of him in the overall standings? Or..."
Soon, they figured it out.
"It's Chen Adiao!"
"My heavens... it really is her. The person most likely to be retaliated against?"
"The conflict between the Qu family and her probably isn't just from within the exam. I reckon it's because..." Some people at the center of power hesitated, glancing towards where the Qu family members were.
But it had to be said, Qu Hanzhou was truly decisive.
He immediately looked for Chen Adiao upon leaving the illusion realm. But how did he know her original position?
A fifty-fifty chance?
What if he made a mistake and found the Seventh Prince?
At this moment, Qu Hanzhou stopped in front of a cocoon. A dagger appeared from his sleeve, and he stabbed fiercely at the old cocoon!
Of course, he wouldn't make a mistake. The hardness and weathering of the cocoon shells varied. Chen Adiao, who had gone down earliest, was right in front of him!
Seeing A'Diao about to be attacked, Xiao Jin and the others were all startled.
No one could save A'Diao.
This Qu family was ruthless enough.
But... just then.
Bang!!!
A black figure moved from not far away with uncanny speed, easily traversing the highly resilient spider webs, and finally delivered a fierce kick to Qu Hanzhou's back.
Who was it!
Qu Hanzhou was almost kicked into the abyss below. He hastily grabbed a spider web and leaped back, seeing the other person dressed in black, with a melancholic, pale face, staring at him with ice-cold eyes.
"Mo Yuwo?"
Qu Hanzhou also saw the two separate names on the leaderboard. He was below, with 180 points, while Mo Yuwo... had 290!
Damn!!
Qu Hanzhou was shocked! A full 110 points higher than him?
How was this possible!
What was the background of this Mo Yuwo?
At this time, the audience also marveled. Indeed, bloodline was the privilege of the powerful nobles, but mental body aptitude was mostly not hereditary; it also depended on fate.
This Mo Yuwo was clearly one of the "big fish" Chen Adiao had mentioned.
Mo Yuwo didn't respond at all, tapped his foot, and swiftly lunged to attack.
At this moment, one person after another broke free from the illusion realm. Seeing the two fighting, the newly awakened Hu Zhegu and Che Jingyan exchanged a glance and rushed to attack the nearby cocoons!
This was the setup; Lushan allowed those who exited the illusion realm first to have the privilege of suppressing other examinees.
This was also inspired by Chen Adiao.
Hehehe!
Serves you right for coming out late!
At this moment, they didn't even know the identities of the others; they just attacked the nearest ones!
If not an ally, then an enemy!
By suppressing you, the value of our scores will increase!
Che Jingyan struck a cocoon and found that it couldn't directly harm the examinee, but... a halo of light flickered on the cocoon.
"It's working! It will affect their illusion realm assessment!"
"Attack!!!"
The examinees who had finished began to frantically attack the white cocoons of nearby examinees. Naturally, some were affected and couldn't escape, but others finished their assessment before being attacked.
Join in?
The newly awakened Duanmu Qingyang glanced at her wristwatch and found that Mo Yuwo was still first on the mental body aptitude list, Qu Hanzhou second, and Hu Zhegu and the others below them had scores in the hundreds.
Mental body aptitude was indeed very difficult; abundant resources were of no use.
As for herself and Xie San, the two exchanged a look.
The scores refreshed. They had both surpassed Qu Hanzhou, ranking second and third with mental body aptitudes of 220 and 210 respectively.
But both had a premonition that this round belonged to those with mental body talents, and its value was even higher than bloodline. Looking at the current overall ranking calculation, Mo Yuwo's rank was rising rapidly, as were theirs, directly surpassing Qu Hanzhou by a large margin.
And Hu Zhegu and the others clearly knew this, so they began to attack other examinees.
However, Duanmu Qingyang and Xie San clearly didn't want to take this path. It wasn't that they were afraid of offending people; among so many examinees, many were descendants of families within Kyoto that had alliances with their own. They couldn't just stand by and watch.
Essentially, Hu Zhegu and others came from Daoist sects, whose direct lineage circles were relatively narrow. But the Duanmu and Xie families had far too extensive connections and could easily be affected on a large scale.
They could only fight back!
For this reason, the two had allied early in the assessment.
The audience watched as this group started fighting fiercely again, causing the dense spider webs to sway. The other examinees...
This Lushan setup was so brutal.
But it was exciting!! Fight, fight, fight! Let them fight!
At this time, the mental aptitude score list had refreshed several times, but the environment was too dangerous. No one had time to look; they were all afraid of being attacked and knocked into the abyss below.
Damn! Was Lushan doing this on purpose? There was no way up!
The fighting escalated, more and more people got involved, and more and more examinees broke free from the illusion realm. Since they couldn't find a way up, they could only...
Suddenly, Qu Hanzhou, while dodging Mo Yuwo's attack, shouted, "Mo Yuwo, I just wanted to hit Chen Adiao a bit! What's your relationship with her that you have to oppose me?!"
After speaking, he deliberately ran towards A'Diao's location.
With this, everyone knew where Chen Adiao was.
Well... Duanmu Qingyang only felt dozens of black shadows flash before her eyes, a dark mass of people rushing over.
And that was just from her side.
On the other side, Che Jingyan, Nangong Liehe, Baili Xianyun, and everyone else who had been tormented and thrashed by A'Diao, now rushed over as if their lives depended on it.
Exam? Exam my ass!
Their bloodlines were already ruined. As long as Chen Adiao's mental body aptitude assessment was also ruined, she would forever be barred from the Lushan assessment!
However, at this moment, Xu Ye, Xiao Du, Tuoba, and others also woke up and directly met the charge! The Tian siblings were extremely fierce; after all, they excelled at combat and were even more formidable than others. Tian Zhongxiang executed a close-quarters waist-wrap tail-whip... swish! An examinee was forcefully thrown down, screaming. Tian Zhongye, tall and imposing, also lifted a person with both hands and threw them down.
"Let me make this clear. We may not match your aptitude, but if you dare to mess with our boss, let's all die together!" Tian Zhongxiang sneered. "Don't forget, these spider webs have a load limit. If the fighting gets too intense, we all go down."
"Yes, die together!"
Tian Zhongye shouted gruffly!
"Oh, the little ants are getting feisty. Quite touching, actually. But I'd like to see how you stop all of us."
"Everyone, Xiong Chumo and these people haven't woken up yet. If their mental body aptitude is also very high and surpasses the advantage of bloodline, then we..."
Qu Hanzhou's words were very meaningful. On the other side, Baili Huayue didn't speak, but he, along with Baili Xianyun and the Nangong brothers, representing the powerful nobles, formed a force and continued to attack other cocoons.
In fact, it wasn't just to deal with these prodigies from commoner backgrounds; internally, weren't they also...
At this moment, Cao Juanzhi woke up.
The leaderboard refreshed.
First, Cao Juanzhi, 520 points.
Everyone: "!!!"
Are you for real!!!
The strongest romantic genius.
Cao Juanzhi had just awakened. Seeing the scene before him, he scanned the people who hadn't yet awakened, including the Seventh Prince, Xiong Chumo, and other strong opponents, both overt and covert. Suddenly, he smiled. "So the fight has already started? In that case? Why not be more direct?"
He suddenly shot up, drew his waist knife, and slashed at a spider web.
Snap!
A strand of the spider web broke, and the entire web system teetered precariously...
It was over.
This shaking forcibly awakened a large portion of the examinees.
Among them was... the Seventh Prince Dantai Sheng.
As soon as he woke up and saw the scores, his heart chilled slightly.
His mental body aptitude was inferior to Cao Juanzhi's. Now, Cao Juanzhi had already caught up to second place in the overall ranking, only a little behind him.
Were there others among the remaining people with even higher mental body aptitude?
Without a second word, his fingertip pulled at a spider web... Rip!!
Holy crap!
The Seventh Prince was going to eliminate everyone else!
More than half of the spider web cluster tore apart. Just as it seemed about to break completely, a large group of spider spirits suddenly emerged from the wall above, spewing spider silk to repair the breaches and also attacking the examinees.
A dark, oppressive mass. The group that had been scheming and maneuvering instantly panicked. But basically, all the examinees' cocoons had split open. Whether interrupted or emerging early, this wave had essentially all exited the illusion realm.
Some might have been interrupted, their faces pale, their spirits listless. Before they even knew what had happened, they were bitten by a huge spider spirit.
Xiong Chumo screamed in terror, "Ahhh! Damn! Huajing, save me!"
The awakened Shen Huajing frowned, suddenly flipped onto the head of a spider spirit, and leaned down to whisper in its ear.
The audience all heard this mysterious whisper... The next second, this spider spirit turned its head, let out a cry, and the other spider spirits instantly fell silent.
Spirit communication language?
This Shen Huajing was extraordinary.
Dantai Sheng's eyes flashed. He asked Shen Huajing, "Did you control them?"
Shen Huajing frowned. "It wasn't me."
Huh? Everyone was confused, but at this moment...
"Qu Hanzhou!" someone exclaimed.
Qu Hanzhou moved quickly, soon reaching A'Diao, who was currently unguarded.
Mo Yuwo, Xu Ye, and the others saw this and were suddenly alarmed, rushing over together.
But it was too late.
The dagger stabbed down fiercely.
Chen Adiao was too great a threat; she had to be crippled!
Qu Hanzhou's eyes were filled with ruthlessness.
But... Crack!
The spider cocoon split open. As it did, everyone felt their heads spin slightly.
Never before had anyone's awakening had such an effect.
Even the Seventh Prince and Cao Juanzhi staggered. But as soon as they regained clarity, they saw a pale hand from within the cocoon grab the blade of the dagger.
Barehanded blade catch.
A'Diao, her eyes open, glanced at Qu Hanzhou. Without a word, she seized his throat with one hand, snatched the dagger with the other, and with a series of swishes, stabbed him seven or eight times in the abdomen.
Each stab went in and out, like stabbing a watermelon.
Everyone watched, their hearts pounding in their chests.
Five seconds later, A'Diao, treading on spider silk, held the neck of the possibly dead Qu Hanzhou with one hand. Blood gurgled from his stomach. A'Diao herself was drenched in hot blood, even her face splattered with steaming fresh blood. Her expression ferocious, she slowly looked at the crowd, then glanced at her wristwatch.
"It seems, as I expected, in terms of mental body, none of you are a match. Relying on bloodline, only two of you could suppress me. You're all really useless."
The leaderboard was right there, stark naked.
Mental Aptitude List, she was the freaking NO.1!
Overall List, she had counterattacked from over five hundredth place to third!
Only Cao Juanzhi and Dantai Sheng were ahead of her.
With zero points in bloodline, she still fought her way to third! Tell me, are you guys incompetent or what?
That's right, you are incompetent!
Everyone: "!!!"
Resentment mental power surged wildly!
"However, I'm also very afraid you'll counterattack and kill me in the fifth trial, so..."
A'Diao's pupils glinted mysteriously. She smiled faintly at the crowd, then her lips moved slightly.
Spiritual communication.
Cao Juanzhi and Dantai Sheng's expressions changed drastically. The one who could truly control the swarm of spiders was her!!! Shen Huajing could only control one.
And the score on the wristwatch was...
First Place: Chen Adiao, 888 points.
First by a landslide, a terrifying score, a terrifying mental body. You would even subconsciously think: no matter how many big fish were still hidden, probably no one could surpass her.
Because this score was truly too terrifying.
She could actually bypass the confinement and directly communicate spiritually with these spider spirits. No wonder she hadn't woken up; she must have been working on spiritually conquering these spiders.
Damn!
Run!!!
Dantai Sheng and Cao Juanzhi turned to jump towards the wall, but it was too late.
Spider silk shot out madly from behind...
Three minutes later, Tuoba and the others looked on, trembling, at the examinees hanging in mid-air.
Even Dantai Sheng was not spared.
After all, His Highness the Seventh Prince had said before, reality is reality, exams are exams; he was broad-minded.
Now, including those like Cao Juanzhi who wanted to cut off others' futures, and those who had attacked her or others before, basically five or six hundred people, all became floating "zongzi."
Not a single one was left out.
Duanmu Qingyang and the others, who had luckily not been attacked, felt a lingering fear and remained silent.
But their gazes towards A'Diao were veiled and wary.
This person was too terrifying.
Yet, inexplicably, they subconsciously thought: such a terrifying person didn't deal with me. Does this count as being in the same camp?
Most of those from the southern region had survived. Yin Canghe and the others had complex feelings: Well, the feeling of clinging to a powerful thigh doesn't seem too bad, because watching these awesome Kyoto prodigies being hung up like zongzi is too satisfying!
A'Diao pressed her temples, seeming to be in discomfort. Clearly, controlling these spider spirits also came at a price.
But... the two people ranked ahead of her were also hanging there, yet she didn't say it was for herself, but for "everyone."
"What are you waiting for? I can only hang them for one day, making their Nurturing Pool time one day less than yours. For your sake, I've paid a great price, possibly even shortening my lifespan. Just remember it in your hearts, and don't forget me after you get out. Of course, I don't mean to ask for compensation from you; I purely want to be friends with you. So, let's forget about resources like skeletal remains and spirit cores. It's not easy for anyone."
"There are still many examinees coming down, and quite a few big fish among them. This is our advantage now, and below must be the Nurturing Pool. Aren't you going down?"
She was rather gentle and easy to talk to at this moment, and she had also brought them an advantage, as if they were truly one family.
Forget about giving money, really? How much?
The remaining examinees had mixed feelings, but Shen Huajing and others didn't have a bad impression of A'Diao.
Vicious, yes, but also genuinely strong.
Yin Canghe: "How do you know?"
A'Diao: "Guessed. We'll know if we try."
Then, before Yin Canghe could react... Bang!
A'Diao kicked him in the butt.
The person went down.
After a while, in the silence, they all heard a splashing sound.
Everyone heard the sound of water.
There really was a way.
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