Liu Wu’s words of refusal were all stuck in his throat by Li Yunxian’s actions.
He looked at Li Yunxian with resentment, but suddenly felt a bit uneasy inside.
Judging others by himself, Liu Wu didn’t believe Li Yunxian’s sudden increase in cultivation was as innocent as she claimed.
Nor did he believe that Li Yunxian would really just reveal the Alchemical Bath Formula so directly.
She must have given a fake one. Even if others found out something was wrong after using it, that would be a matter for later.
By then, Li Yunxian could just casually say the situation was chaotic and she was forced to do it.
Liu Wu was all too familiar with this routine.
But now that Li Yunxian directly stated she would go first, Liu Wu’s feelings changed.
…Could it be that this girl is actually telling the truth?
Then what should he do?
Liu Wu had never really intended to use the Wenxin device.
He knew he wouldn’t pass.
As one of the only two Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators in Jincheng, he’d done plenty of shady things in private, and not just things related to Li Yunxian.
He only agreed because he thought Li Yunxian wouldn’t be able to pass either.
As long as Li Yunxian had a problem, he wouldn’t have to be tested.
But now…
Liu Wu stared fixedly at Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian completely ignored Liu Wu’s gaze and walked straight to the Wenxin testing area.
The operator saw Li Yunxian’s utterly calm demeanor and maintained a peaceful expression as well.
After briefly repeating what Director Chen had just said about Wenxin, he continued, “Sit on the chair, relax, and answer the questions. Just give a yes or no answer.”
Li Yunxian did as instructed, and immediately saw the operator take out a square ring, which hovered above her head.
At first, hearing the operator’s words, Li Yunxian thought it was something like a lie detector, but… it turned out to be a magic artifact she’d never seen before.
Right after, Li Yunxian felt as if something was enveloping her whole body.
This feeling…
Li Yunxian’s eyes flickered slightly.
This thing was actually testing the Dao Heart.
Only now did Li Yunxian realize why it was called Wenxin.
She then recalled the introduction Director Chen gave about Wenxin and couldn’t help but twitch her lips.
The Dao Heart actually can’t detect those kinds of things. It’s just that if someone has done something that goes against their Dao Heart, there will be fluctuations.
If someone really committed murder, arson, or betrayed the human race, but is so rotten that they feel absolutely no guilt, this device would also judge them as having no problem.
Who came up with this? No wonder they have to explain the function to everyone before using it—it’s basically a scam.
Li Yunxian complained inwardly.
The operator had no idea that as soon as she started the device, Wenxin’s secrets had already been thoroughly exposed.
She watched as Wenxin’s glow slowly brightened, and then was surprised to find that before she even asked anything, the originally soft white light of Wenxin began to change.
It gradually took on layers of bright yellow.
“What’s going on?” Director Chen was full of astonishment.
As far as he knew, if a person had problems, Wenxin should immediately light up with a dangerous red color.
The operator also stared wide-eyed, checking again and again to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
She looked at Li Yunxian, and answered in surprise and hesitation:
“Bright yellow represents that the person being tested possesses Karmic Merit.”
“And…” The operator looked at the brightness of the yellow light, “the Karmic Merit is very high.”
Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted.
The words ‘Karmic Merit’—even ordinary people who knew nothing about Cultivation had at least heard of it.
The students from Jincheng No.1 High School were the most excited group—they always knew their big sister was the best!
“It’s definitely because our big sister gave everyone the Medicinal Bath Recipe!” The students cheered, faces full of pride.
Hearing this, the rest of the crowd also showed looks of sudden realization.
Li Yunxian was stunned for a moment too, but quickly guessed the reason.
It must be the Karmic Merit from her final sacrifice to save the world in the Cultivation World.
***
During the process of returning, Li Yunxian’s consciousness was very hazy, but she remembered feeling wrapped in a warm force.
That must have been the power of Karmic Merit.
With Karmic Merit as proof, the last trace of doubt lingering around Li Yunxian vanished, though they still needed to go through the motions.
The operator’s questions were obviously rather casual.
“Have you had any contact with the Hunters or the Other Race?” “No.”
“Did you lie about your Lingli increasing abnormally?” “No.”
“Is the Alchemical Bath Formula you gave everyone genuine?”
“Yes.”
Seven or eight questions were asked in a row, all simple and direct, with no tricks or psychological traps.
After all the answers, the ring’s light never flickered once. The operator looked at Li Yunxian with a relaxed and friendly face, “Alright, the test is over, you may stand up.”
Li Yunxian got up and habitually thanked the operator, then looked up at Liu Wu.
“Examiner Liu, now…”
“It’s your turn.” Li Yunxian stated.
Liu Wu:
Liu Wu didn’t move, a rare friendly and amiable expression appearing on his face: “Since it’s confirmed that Li Yunxian has no problems, I have no objections here…”
Li Yunxian didn’t bother listening to him finish, not interested in Liu Wu’s nonsense.
She shifted her gaze directly to Director Chen. “Chief examiner, what do you say?”
Director Chen sighed and looked at Liu Wu: “Director Liu, you won’t be asked any other questions, just go take the test.”
Liu Wu remained motionless: “There’s no need to do whatever a student says.”
Director Chen looked deeply at Liu Wu.
He wasn’t the meddling or troublemaking type, always preferring peace and harmony for everyone.
Liu Wu knew this very well.
With Li Yunxian’s talent, she certainly wouldn’t be limited to a small place like Jincheng in the future, but Liu Wu, as one of only two Foundation Establishment cultivators in Jincheng, would be working with him for a long time.
Anyone who knew Director Chen at all knew that as long as Liu Wu just went through the motions and answered some harmless questions, things would pass easily.
But… Liu Wu didn’t dare.
Director Chen saw it.
Liu Wu didn’t dare!
Why didn’t he dare?!
A thought thumped wildly in Director Chen’s heart, and his gaze toward Liu Wu grew cold.
Director Chen’s aura flared as he reached out to press down on Liu Wu, his tone cold: “As an examiner, you should set an example.”
With that, Director Chen spoke to the Special Administration Bureau’s operator, “Xiao Xu, please bring Wenxin up for the test.”
Liu Wu’s face changed dramatically as he suddenly erupted.
Although the early Foundation Establishment Stage was several ranks below the peak, since Director Chen wanted to keep things civil and wasn’t using his full strength, it wouldn’t be hard for Liu Wu to break free.
Director Chen’s hand pressing on Liu Wu’s shoulder was suddenly thrown off.
Liu Wu shot to his feet, ready to flee immediately.
Before leaving, Liu Wu didn’t forget to glare hatefully at Li Yunxian, determined to remember the face of the person who ruined him.
However, Liu Wu didn’t see Li Yunxian’s face.
He saw a sword.
A longsword emitting a cold, clear, ghostly glow, like a soul-hooking chain.
Liu Wu, who was giving it his all, had no time to cast any spells, and could only try to dodge with a sudden sidestep.
But it was already too late.
Pfft—!
The longsword pierced straight through Liu Wu’s right shoulder, pinning him firmly to the chair. The whole incident happened so quickly that everyone felt they hadn’t even had time to react.
It was as if, in the blink of an eye, a spray of blood shot high into the air.
An uproar broke out.
No one had expected that what Li Yunxian said earlier about being able to try killing a Foundation Establishment would turn out not to be an empty boast.
Even though Liu Wu had just erupted.
Even though Liu Wu was completely unguarded against Li Yunxian.
But—he was still Foundation Establishment!
A mere Qi Refining cultivator, and only at the first layer, had pinned a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator trying to escape to a chair!
Li Yunxian slowly lowered the hand she had used to execute the sword technique, not caring about the crowd’s reactions, her expression calm as she spoke to Director Chen: “Chief examiner, don’t be careless this time.”
Director Chen pursed his lips, feeling deeply embarrassed and said nothing. He pulled out a magic treasure from somewhere and thoroughly bound Liu Wu this time.
Director Chen looked again at the Special Administration Bureau’s operator, “Bring it up.”
The whole room fell silent.
At this moment, everyone realized they were about to witness something extraordinary.
The operator didn’t dare say much, quickly stepping forward.
Looking at Liu Wu, who had once been so powerful in Jincheng but was now disheveled and ferocious, the operator’s hand paused for a few seconds before placing Wenxin above him.
Wenxin floated in the air once more.
The soft white light slowly brightened for just two seconds before its color changed again.
But this time, it wasn’t like Li Yunxian’s bright yellow.
Under everyone’s gaze, a blood-red, ominous halo pulsed.
Without a single question, Wenxin had already turned red!
All the Jincheng Academy Bureau staff stared wide-eyed.
They all knew Liu Wu could be excessive at times, but people are naturally prone to greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt.
They’d only thought Liu Wu had become arrogant and a bit nasty after rising to power.
But now…
Director Chen gritted his teeth: “Demonic Path!”
“No, impossible, I’m not!” Liu Wu stared at the red ring above his head, eyes shaking, face full of disbelief, “I’m not, I just have selfish motives.”
“I haven’t fallen into the Demonic Path!”
“I can’t possibly have fallen!!”
Liu Wu struggled desperately, waving his only movable fingers, trying in vain to knock Wenxin off his head.
Director Chen looked down at Liu Wu, his expression extremely complicated—part lamenting, part understanding, part pitying:
“No wonder your cultivation hasn’t advanced at all these past ten years… You didn’t even know you’d fallen into the Demonic Path…”
As his words fell, Director Chen placed his hand on Liu Wu’s neck.
Crack.
A crisp snap sounded, and Liu Wu’s howls were abruptly cut off.
With the target gone, Wenxin’s glow returned to soft white.
The operator silently retrieved Wenxin, glanced at the lifeless Liu Wu, then at Director Chen: “Demonic Path cultivators should be dealt with by the Special Administration Bureau.”
“The Academy Bureau also has law enforcement authority over internal personnel,” Director Chen stated.
The man was already dead; there was no point arguing. The operator didn’t contest it.
After all, the strongest in Jincheng’s Special Administration Bureau was only at peak Qi Refining.
Li Yunxian hadn’t expected things to end this way, but she didn’t care about the argument between the Academy Bureau and the Special Administration Bureau. She raised her hand and flicked her fingers twice.
The sword embedded in Liu Wu’s corpse hummed, then swiftly shrank to a small sword and flew back into Li Yunxian’s hand.
“Excuse me, is there any further dispute about my results?”
Li Yunxian spoke up, completely ignoring the tense atmosphere.
The crowd:
The examiners on the panel glanced at Director Chen, then at Li Yunxian, and finally, the three of them coughed lightly.
“No objections. You may collect your classroom seat number and prepare for the culture exam.”
Li Yunxian nodded: “Alright.”
Watching Li Yunxian take her number, completely ignoring the chaos and calmly walking into the teaching building…
Among the students of Jincheng No.1 High School, someone couldn’t help but speak up.
“So cool! If I start walking like big sister now, is it too late to learn?”
The crowd:
They quietly moved aside to make room behind the speaker.
Pak!
A knuckle rapped the back of that student’s head.
No one knew when, but a teacher from No.1 High School had slipped among the students, face dark: “Focus on your exam! Don’t try to copy everything!”
The place erupted in chaos.