Chapter 43
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43
A few days later.
Tunnel No. 3.
Lee Hyun lay comfortably on the ground, gazing up at the map tacked to the ceiling.
On the map, the Twin Heavens Society’s Vein Cultivation Seats and communication outposts were marked in different colors.
Did Black Marten investigate the Twin Heavens Society entirely on his own initiative?
If the Black Sun Bureau considered the society a serious threat, they wouldn’t have sent just a single early-stage Foundation Establishment Insect-Bonded Warrior to ambush the Society Leader.
A local branch likely assigned him a preliminary probe, or Black Marten expanded the scope of his investigation alone to claim all the credit…
The Twin Heavens Society had never raided an Insect-Rearing Courtyard, nor had they smuggled any of the Heavenly Yang Kingdom’s Life-Bonded Insects. All they had ever done was siphon off a sliver of spiritual qi from the spirit veins.
The Twin Heavens Society’s presence was negligible.
Still, if Black Marten reported in regularly, several Vein Cultivation Seats and members might already be compromised.
I’ve shut down what needed to be shut down and dispersed the members. For now, there’s nothing to do but scale back our activities and wait.
Just then, a faint buzzing reached his ears.
Bzzzz—
The sound drifted from the small stone chamber attached to the storage room.
“Already?”
It had only been five days since he’d sealed the Fluffy Bees—the ones that ate the Meridian-Softening Jade Silkworms—into their jars.
They woke up before I could even find an insect control inheritance. Don’t tell me… did these little guys break through to Foundation Establishment before I did?
Swish.
Lee Hyun headed toward the stone chamber.
Inside the small stone chamber, three granite jars sat spaced apart from one another.
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz—
The hum of beating wings resonated continuously from within.
Taking care not to harm the Fluffy Bee inside, Lee Hyun carefully collapsed one side of a jar’s wall using the Soil-Softening Technique.
A flash of golden light shot out through the breach.
The creature darted in a swift circle around the chamber before coming to an abrupt halt, hovering directly before Lee Hyun’s eyes.
In appearance, the Fluffy Bee had not changed at all. Alternating bands of gold and black still patterned its round, fuzzy body.
It stared at Lee Hyun for a moment, then settled gently onto the back of his hand.
“Seems you remember me.”
Lee Hyun lightly stroked the bee’s head with his index finger.
The bee did not pull away, twitching its antennae back and forth.
He broke open a section of each remaining jar using the same method.
Bzz! Bzz!
Two streaks of golden light soared into the chamber.
Both looked virtually identical to the first. One landed on his other hand, while the last circled lazily above his head.
“At least they haven’t turned feral.”
Lee Hyun examined their auras one by one.
They had definitely grown stronger. However, their spiritual power lacked the qualitative leap required to be called Tier 2 spirit insects.
“Is it because the three of them split a single Tier 2 spirit insect? No, even if one had eaten it whole, there was never any guarantee it would advance. Still, they’ve definitely grown stronger, but…”
Just then, the abdomen of the Fluffy Bee on the back of his hand twitched slightly.
“Hm?”
The next instant—
Pfft!
Swoosh!
A tiny projectile launched at terrifying speed.
Thwack!
Something white struck and embedded itself in the granite wall.
Lee Hyun’s gaze slowly drifted toward the stone wall.
A small hole, a knuckle deep, had been bored clean into the granite. Inside, a small white clump—evidently the Fluffy Bee’s droppings—steamed faintly.
Lee Hyun looked down at the Fluffy Bee on his hand.
Having relieved itself, the creature looked noticeably more comfortable.
Immediately after, the other two bees swiveled around.
Pfft-pfft!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Crack! Thud!
Two more white bullets embedded themselves into different sections of the stone wall.
Lee Hyun inspected the three holes one after the other.
“This kind of power… is about what I produced when I first learned the Yang Metal Formula…”
A direct hit could injure an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
Lee Hyun gave the Fluffy Bees a rather complicated look.
The very first change they displayed after consuming the larva of a Tier 2 spirit insect was strong, hyper-velocity dung.
Lee Hyun brought the three empowered bees back to where the rest of the swarm was kept.
Bzzzzzz—
Several dozen Fluffy Bees took to the air all at once.
They circled the three mutated bees, seeming to inspect their scent.
Chirp. Chirp-chirp.
As if waiting for this moment, the three buzzed their wings with tremendous force.
Whoooosh!
A sudden gust flared out, blowing the surrounding bees backward.
The three mutated bees flew in formation, taking a lap around the cavern.
One landed briefly on another bee’s head before taking off again, while another bumped an approaching bee away with its rear.
Tumble.
The displaced bee rolled across the ground.
It buzzed up in indignation, but the mutated bee had already flown far ahead.
Soon after, as the three mutated bees took the lead, the ordinary bees fell naturally into line behind them. The golden swarm traced several loops through the air.
Fortunately, they showed no inclination to attack or devour their own kin.
Even the bee that had just been shoved was now dutifully following behind the trio.
Has their hierarchy within the swarm risen? It’s fine for now… but will it still be fine if they evolve into Tier 2 spirit insects later?
If they truly grew into Tier 2 spirit insects, their intelligence would increase, but so might their ferocity.
Times like this make me regret not belonging to a great sect. Even without going all the way to the Myriad Insect Sect in the Chang Kingdom, the Scripture Pavilion of any major sect would at least have basic inheritances on insect control…
Lee Hyun suddenly thought of White Owl.
“The Crimson Sky Sect…”
Lee Hyun checked inside his storage pouch.
Inside were jade boxes containing the Bone-Tempering Powder he had made long ago to disguise his bone age.
Hmm…
Just then, one of the mutated Fluffy Bees settled onto the back of his hand once more.
Lee Hyun looked down at the little creature.
An insect control inheritance… And what else do I need? A Foundation Establishment Pill, its pill recipe, and superior inheritances on alchemy and spirit-plant cultivation…
Most of what he currently needed was very likely to be found within the Crimson Sky Sect.
I was already planning to put the Twin Heavens Society’s activities on hold for a while anyway… This works out nicely.
* * *
Five years later.
Roughly four thousand li east of the Crimson Sky Mountains.
Eastern Earth Kingdom, Baekha Market.
A subtle herbal fragrance wafted from a small alchemy room in the Fire Origin Pill Pavilion.
Fwoosh—
A Tier 1 mid-grade pill cauldron glowed crimson with heat.
Before the cauldron sat a man who appeared to be around thirty-five.
He had a short beard on his chin, and his skin was somewhat rough and weathered, like that of a man who frequently traversed the mountains foraging for medicinal herbs.
His name was Lee Dong-sam.
When he first appeared in Baekha Market five years ago, he introduced himself as a thirty-year-old rogue cultivator at the 7th layer of Qi Refining.
His story was that after his master, an obscure rogue alchemist, passed away a few years prior, he had inherited the man’s teachings and cauldron. Lacking spirit stones, he had wandered until finally settling down in Baekha Market.
Over the past five years, Lee Dong-sam had worked as an alchemist for the Fire Origin Pill Pavilion, crafting high-demand pills such as Fasting Pills.
He traded with the herb merchants of Baekha Market and occasionally ventured outside with local rogue cultivators to hunt demonic beasts.
Three years ago, he broke through to the 8th layer of Qi Refining.
The owner of the Fire Origin Pill Pavilion had gifted him a bottle of cheap spirit wine to celebrate his breakthrough, and nearby rogue cultivators had come to remember the name Lee Dong-sam.
Clatter.
Lee Dong-sam extinguished the flames, lifted the cauldron lid, and divided the freshly refined Blood-Staunching Pills into two jade bottles.
As he stepped out of the alchemy room, the owner of the Fire Origin Pill Pavilion was waiting for him.
The pavilion master was a gray-haired cultivator at the 9th layer of Qi Refining. Though past seventy without ever attaining Foundation Establishment, his sharp business sense and keen eye for people had allowed him to stably run this modest pill pavilion in Baekha Market.
Taking the jade bottles, he checked the quantity and quality of the pills, clicking his tongue.
“Your talents are wasted in a place like this…”
“Haha, I’m quite content here.”
The pavilion master stowed the bottles of Blood-Staunching Pills into his storage pouch.
“Do you know that the Skilled Practitioner Selection is taking place soon?”
“The Skilled Practitioner Selection?”
“Indeed. Some call it the Rogue Cultivator Selection. It’s the examination where the Crimson Sky Sect recruits external rogue cultivators…”
* * *
Two months later.
Lee Hyun paused in his tracks, looking toward the distant sky.
An unbroken expanse of softly glowing clouds stretched across the horizon.
The clouds drifted slowly along the mountain range, swirling in eddies here and there. At times, they surged upward like flames; at others, they billowed out in great curls, resembling smoke rising from a colossal pill cauldron.
Beneath them, the faint silhouettes of peaks, both high and low, came into view.
It was the Crimson Sky Mountains.
There’s still a thousand li to go, and yet…
Spiritual light flickered in Lee Hyun’s eyes.
A complex mixture of energies intermingled within the clouds. Even from this vast distance, the spirit vein of the mountains exerted a subtle influence.
“As expected of a Tier 4 spirit vein.”
As he drew closer to the Crimson Sky Mountains, the road grew increasingly crowded.
A mortal couple holding their child’s hand.
An elder of a cultivator clan leading a dozen younger members.
A small sect with a flying boat packed full of children.
Qi Refining rogue cultivators carrying various low-grade magical artifacts.
In the skies above, flying boats large and small advanced in the same direction.
Some flying boats bore entire pavilions tens of zhang in length upon their decks, while others were shaped like massive birds or fish.
Different emblems and flags fluttered from each vessel.
When a cultivator clan’s flying boat with jade balustrades passed by, escort cultivators in matching long robes flanked it atop cloud-shaped magical artifacts. There were rogue cultivators sitting cross-legged atop gigantic red gourds, and pairs of cultivators riding together upon a single beam of sword light.
Lee Hyun walked among the ordinary rogue cultivators, blending into the crowd.
Starting roughly a hundred li from the Crimson Sky Mountains, shops and inns began lining both sides of the broad thoroughfare.
Proceeding a bit further, massive ramparts revealed themselves.
Crimson Sky Immortal City.
The walls towered far beyond anything found in mortal cities.
Thousands filed in and out of the city gates. While some were mortals, the vast majority were cultivators, members of cultivator clans, and outer-sect disciples of sects.
Inside the city, pill pavilions and spirit material halls stood row upon row.
It looks to be a market managed by the Crimson Sky Sect.
The grand boulevard stretched straight toward the mountain gate, with carts laden with medicinal herbs constantly passing through. The flying boats of external merchant companies touched down one by one upon an expansive stone terrace on one side of the city.
North of Crimson Sky Immortal City.
In the vast plaza leading up to the mountain gate, a massive crowd had already gathered.
In the sprawling central area, children under fifteen stood in long lines; their numbers alone easily exceeded a thousand.
Rogue cultivators who had already stepped onto the path of Qi Refining were guided to a spacious area on the eastern side of the plaza.
There, too, hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators were lined up.
A large placard hung above the entrance.
[Skilled Practitioner Selection]
Below it hung smaller placards for each discipline.
[Alchemy]
[Spirit-Plant Cultivation]
[Formations]
[Artifact Crafting]
[Talisman Making]
[Beast Control]
[Medicine]
[Insect Control]
[Combat]
Among them, the placards for Insect Control and Combat clearly looked newly made.
Has demand for insect control and combat risen? It might be because of the Myriad Insect Sect down south in the Chang Kingdom.
While the majority of applicants were in the early stage of Qi Refining, the 6th layer was not uncommon, and a considerable number were at the 7th and 8th layers. There were even about a dozen cultivators radiating the aura of the 9th layer.
As expected of a great sect’s examination, the applicants are quite capable.
Just then, a quiet stir arose near the front of the Alchemy line.
A young female cultivator dressed in a pale vermilion long robe parted from her escort cultivators and took her place in line. Her steady 8th-layer Qi Refining aura and graceful appearance drew immediate attention.
“That’s Jin So-yeong of the Danha Jin Clan.”
“I heard she refined a Tier 1 high-grade Clear Spirit Pill when she was only twenty-six.”
“First place in the Alchemy division is already decided, then.”
Hearing the surrounding whispers, Jin So-yeong stood in place without the slightest flicker of emotion on her face.
Before long, Foundation Establishment cultivators clad in Crimson Sky Sect robes flew down from above the mountain gate.
Dozens of streaks of spiritual light scattered across the plaza.
They all wore ivory-colored long robes. Rising golden flames were embroidered onto their sleeves and collars; when the hems of their robes fluttered in midair draped in spiritual radiance, they exuded immense dignity. Even the lavish attire of the cultivator clans seemed to lose its luster in an instant.
One of them landed before the entrance of the Skilled Practitioner Selection.
Thud.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator raised the banner in his hand. As the runes on the banner flared bright, his voice resonated across the entire plaza:
“All those participating in the Skilled Practitioner Selection, line up according to your discipline!”
The murmuring rogue cultivators moved briskly.
“We will first verify your bone age, cultivation realm, and spiritual roots! Anyone found with traces of demonic arts, blood sacrifices, unauthorized Life-Bonded Insects, or parasitic spirit insects will be detained immediately!”
The expressions of several rogue cultivators stiffened.
The cultivator continued, “Today we only inspect your qualifications! The technical examinations will begin tomorrow by discipline!”
The lines for each discipline gradually lengthened.
Lee Hyun walked over beneath the placard that read ‘Alchemy.’ Ahead of him stood several dozen rogue alchemists.
The line moved steadily forward.
Atop a broad stone dais stood a mirror taller than a man, and two Foundation Establishment cultivators sat before it.
Soon, it was Lee Hyun’s turn.
“Next!”
He stepped onto the dais.
That mirror looks rather formidable…
Lee Hyun felt quite nervous.
“Name.”
“Lee Dong-sam.”
“Place your right hand on it.”
Lee Hyun pressed his palm against the mirror. A cool chill seeped into his fingertips.
Wuuuung—
The silver patterns on the mirror illuminated.
A hazy light crept over his fingers, wrist, and elbow, slowly scanning up to his shoulder. Slender rings materialized on the surface of the mirror.
The examiner studied the rings.
“Age thirty-five. Qi Refining 8th layer. Wood-Fire-Earth three spiritual roots.”
Whew…
“Your spiritual power is quite steady.”
“Thank you.”
The second inspection was to verify the absence of demonic arts, blood sacrifices, and parasitic spirit insects.
One by one, the applicants walked between twelve stone pillars, each etched with distinct formation inscriptions.
While waiting his turn, a burst of green flame suddenly flared up ahead.
Fwoosh!
The face of the young cultivator standing between the pillars turned pale.
“Halt.”
The Foundation Establishment cultivator overseeing the formation stood up.
“You concealed a spirit insect in your dantian.”
“I wasn’t hiding it!” the young cultivator pleaded frantically. “I heard that all one needs to do in the Rogue Cultivator Selection is prove one’s skill! I am an Insect-Bonded Warrior comparable to a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, and I can refine pills as well!”
The Foundation Establishment cultivator shook his head.
“The Crimson Sky Sect does not accept Insect-Bonded Warriors.”
Whispers rippled among the surrounding applicants.
“An Insect-Bonded Warrior…”
“Disgusting wretches.”
“Why did someone from the Heavenly Yang Kingdom come all the way to the Crimson Sky Sect?”
Lee Hyun’s turn came. He walked between the twelve stone pillars.
The formation inscriptions lit up in sequence.
“Pass.”
The final stage was an interview to verify identity and past conduct. The applicants entered a small pavilion one at a time.
“Lee Dong-sam… You worked as a guest alchemist at the Fire Origin Pill Pavilion for five years.”
“Yes.”
“No trouble caused in Baekha Market either…”
In total, eighty-three alchemy applicants passed the preliminary screening.
* * *
An hour later.
Several large leaf-shaped flying magical artifacts descended one after another onto the broad stone dais.
As the applicants boarded the flying artifacts according to their disciplines, the vessels glided past the north gate of Crimson Sky Immortal City, heading toward the mountain range.
The clouds encircling the mountains drew nearer. Beneath the clouds stretched an enormous formation barrier. Composed of mist and light, the barrier enveloped the entire mountain range, with countless formation inscriptions shimmering in and out of view like stars.
The outer-sect disciple standing at the prow of the flying artifact raised his identity token.
Wuuuung—
A long corridor opened within the barrier.
The moment the flying artifact crossed the threshold—
Whooosh—
A dense wave of heaven-and-earth spiritual qi surged from all directions.
Soft gasps of admiration broke out among the applicants.
“The spiritual pressure is this intense, and we’re only at the outskirts?”
“It’s several times better than the cave abode where I cultivated.”
Lee Hyun, too, quietly savored the spiritual qi around him. Just stepping past the barrier, the spiritual pressure rivaled the inner formation of the Everlasting Spring Sect’s Nine Peaks Rejuvenation Formation. And the deeper they went into the mountains, the denser the spiritual qi became.
The flying artifact cut through the clouds. Soon after, the landscape of the Crimson Sky Mountains unfolded before them.
Endless peaks, soaring high and dipping low, stretched into the distance. Clear waterways wound between the mountains.
On one peak, terraced spirit fields carpeted the entire mountainside. Small clouds drifted above the fields, sprinkling gentle rain.
Disciples herding the clouds moved in orderly ranks; whenever they formed hand seals, the drizzle ceased and sunlight broke through, illuminating and shading the myriad spirit fields in rhythmic succession.
From another peak, thick smoke billowed into the sky. Hundreds of alchemy rooms were embedded into the cliffs and slopes like a honeycomb. Flames flashed incessantly through their windows and fire vents.
Boom!
An explosion erupted from a distant alchemy room. As black smoke poured out, waiting disciples activated a formation, instantly containing the smoke and heat.
Farther up the mountain, a black pill cauldron dozens of times taller than a man stood half-embedded in the cliffside.
One of the applicants stared slack-jawed.
“Is that a pill cauldron, too?”
The Crimson Sky Sect outer-sect disciple steering the flying artifact replied, “That is the Hundred-Chamber Divided-Fire Furnace. It can refine dozens of cauldrons’ worth of Tier 1 pills simultaneously.”
“Dozens of cauldrons… all at once…”
The flying artifact flew on.
In the skies, cranes and flying boats crisscrossed back and forth without pause. There were giant cranes carrying medicine chests on their backs and flying boats ferrying dozens of disciples. Bridges fashioned from iron chains and spirit wood connected the mountain peaks, and an expansive lake rested in the valley below.
A red-crested white crane swooped past their flying artifact. Laden with medicine chests on both sides, it craned its neck and squawked in articulate human speech, “Watch where you’re going!”
Several applicants started in surprise, but the outer-sect disciple didn’t spare it a glance. The crane quickly vanished into the clouds.
At the summit of one peak stood a pagoda a hundred zhang tall.
Lee Hyun observed the sights of the Crimson Sky Mountains with genuine intrigue. Though he had lived for nearly 1,400 years, this was his first time setting foot on the main mountain of a great sect backed by Nascent Soul cultivators.
If the Everlasting Spring Sect was a single sect of nine peaks, this place was a miniature kingdom boasting dozens of mountains and tens of thousands of disciples.
The flying artifact descended into a broad valley on the outer perimeter of the mountains. In the valley stood dozens of pavilions, standalone alchemy rooms, and orderly rows of lodgings where the applicants would stay.
The placard at the entrance bore three characters:
[Guest Reception Courtyard]
The applicants for the Alchemy division were assigned to lodgings in pairs.
The moment Yeo Mun-deok stepped into their room, he gasped in wonder.
“To give a room like this to mere applicants…”
Yeo Mun-deok sat on the bed and drew in several deep breaths of the surrounding spiritual qi.
“Cultivating here for ten days would be equal to a month of cultivation outside.”
“Indeed.”
“They must be pairing total strangers two to a room to keep anyone from causing trouble or pulling shady tricks. It’s not like a sect this size lacks living quarters. Isn’t this just the calculating nature of a great sect at work?”
“Perhaps so.”
“Tsk… You’re quite a dull fellow, aren’t you?”
On the table lay a booklet detailing the rules of the Guest Reception Courtyard and two small jade bottles. Each bottle contained three Fasting Pills.
Yeo Mun-deok took out a Fasting Pill and inspected it.
“Tier 1 high-grade Fasting Pills…?” A dumbfounded look crossed his face.
The two reviewed the examination rules and the schedule for the next day.
The first test was medicinal identification. Following that would be pill inspection, heat control, and finally, actual pill refining.
Yeo Mun-deok’s expression turned serious.
“I will definitely pass the pill inspection.”
“Did you prepare thoroughly?”
“For the past two years, I’ve examined nothing but ruined pills. At first, I bought defective pills from the markets. Later, to save spirit stones, I deliberately crafted failed batches myself.”
“You intentionally failed your refining?”
“Precisely.” Yeo Mun-deok nodded with pride. “Using the same pill recipe, I varied the heat control, swapped the order of the medicinal herbs, and even intentionally damaged the cauldron’s restrictions. The fruits of all that effort are stored right here.”
He tapped his head with a finger.
“Impressive.”
“Fellow Daoist Lee Dong-sam, you’d do well to stay on your toes, too. The Crimson Sky Sect is crawling with monstrous alchemists.” Yeo Mun-deok lowered his voice. “On top of that, with Jin So-yeong participating, even the medicinal identification test won’t be a walk in the park. For a young lady from such a prestigious cultivator clan to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with rogue cultivators like us just to get a superior inheritance—doesn’t it feel a bit unfair?”
* * *
The next day.
The Food and Medicine Pavilion of the Guest Reception Courtyard.
One entire wall of the massive, semicircular pavilion was open to the air. Eighty-three spacious tables were arranged in a fan shape, each spaced more than five zhang apart.
This setup made cheating impossible; even if one managed to peek at another applicant’s table from afar, the different arrangements offered no clues for their own answers.
Lee Hyun took his seat, where a plaque for number 37 was set.
On the table lay forty-eight jade dishes draped in white cloth, a jade slip containing the exam prompts, a blank answer sheet, and a fine-tipped writing brush, pre-inked and ready.
A few rows ahead, sitting at table 12, was Jin So-yeong. Seemingly indifferent to the gazes directed at her, she sat with her eyes closed, quietly waiting for the exam to begin.
If I perform just a bit worse than her, that should be enough…
At the front of the hall stood a middle-aged female cultivator in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. Behind her stood several other Foundation Establishment cultivators. Judging by the pill cauldron patterns embroidered on their long robes, they all appeared to be alchemists.
The middle-aged female cultivator swept her gaze across the applicants.
“The Crimson Sky Sect has no shortage of alchemists who simply memorize pill recipes and kindle fires in a prescribed sequence. What this medicinal ingredients exam tests is not who can refine familiar pills better, but how you make decisions when confronted with unexpected variables.”
Her eyes slowly swept over the eighty-three tables.
“That is what I call talent.”
She raised her hand.
All at once, the white cloths covering the tables flew off.
Rustle—
Forty-eight jade dishes were revealed.
On each dish lay a sample—a leaf, root, stem, fruit, or seed. Several of the ingredients were nearly identical in appearance.
“Inscribed within the jade slip are twelve types of medicinal herbs, their required medicinal age, and the specific parts to be used. From among the forty-eight samples, select the ones that match these exact conditions and record their numbers.”
She continued, “There is no guarantee that exactly twelve correct samples exist.”
The applicants’ brows furrowed in anxiety.
“If no sample meets the criteria, record that none exists. If a sample requires special processing before use, detail the exact method required. So long as you do not damage the specimens, you may employ any means at your disposal to examine them.”
The middle-aged female cultivator lit a single stick of incense.
“When the incense burns out, the exam ends.”
Fwip.
A thin thread of smoke curled up from the tip of the incense stick.
Lee Hyun pressed the jade slip to his forehead first. The names and criteria of the twelve medicinal herbs flowed directly into his mind.
Before long, the incense burned down to its base.
Chime—
The middle-aged female cultivator rang a small bell.
“Hands off, everyone.”
The proctors standing behind her reached out. The specimens and answer sheets on the tables floated into the air, flying toward each proctor and stacking themselves into neat piles.
The applicants waited quietly in their seats.
Roughly two hours passed before the proctors finished grading and tallied the scores. The murmuring among the applicants hushed to silence, one by one.
Taking the final tally sheet, the middle-aged female cultivator surveyed the examinees.
“I will now announce the token numbers and scores. Anyone scoring under sixty points fails.”
She began calling out the numbers one by one.
“Number 1, 72 points.”
“Number 2, 57 points.”
“Number 3, 55 points.”
“Number 4, 75 points.”
…
“Number 12, 89 points.”
Low gasps rippled through the hall.
“As expected of Jin So-yeong.”
“Hardly anyone even broke eighty points…”
Jin So-yeong calmly cupped her hands and bowed in respect to the examiners. The middle-aged female cultivator offered a subtle nod in return.
…
“Number 29, 62 points.”
That was Yeo Mun-deok’s number. From across the hall, one could almost hear him letting out a long sigh of relief.
The calls continued.
“Number 37.”
Lee Hyun raised his head.
The middle-aged female cultivator paused briefly before speaking.
“91 points.”
Huh…?