48: Assessment

“Still fighting?”

Lin Yang stood atop the Chaos Green Lotus, massive waves surging behind him, like a Celestial Emperor descending, looking indifferently at Tang Xuan, whose face was still pale with shock.

His words, like a divine oracle, emanated from above the sea, carrying a profound pressure that bore down on Tang Xuan.

Tang Xuan’s expression changed. He glanced at the Saint Body Phenomenon behind Lin Yang, a look of terror flashing in his eyes.

“No, no more fighting…”

In front of a Holy Body that had awakened its Phenomenon, Tang Xuan knew he was no match. His lips moved several times before he managed to stammer out those few words.

“Since you’re not fighting, let’s talk about the punishment for your loss,” Lin Yang said with a slight smile.

“Punishment?”

Tang Xuan’s eyelids twitched as he saw Lin Yang’s ill-intentioned smile.

The next moment, he saw Lin Yang counting on his fingers, speaking in a low voice: “You called me a country bumpkin five times just now. It seems you look down on us people from the Eastern Barrens quite a bit.”

“Since that’s the case, you will kneel facing east and kowtow nine times to the ‘country bumpkins’ of the Eastern Barrens as punishment.”

“What?! Make me kneel and apologize to the country bumpkins of the Eastern Barrens? You might as well just kill me!”

Upon hearing this demand, Tang Xuan immediately roared in anger, his entire body rejecting the idea.

“Alright, then you can die.”

A chilling killing intent flashed in Lin Yang’s eyes, and the Chaos Sea behind him surged violently.

“Wait!” Tang Xuan’s pupils constricted at the sight, and he quickly waved his hands. “I apologize!”

“A wise man knows when to yield.”

Lin Yang smiled slightly.

“I’m not finished! I can apologize, but I won’t kneel!”

“Also, I only said it five times, why do I have to kowtow nine times!?”

Tang Xuan gritted his teeth, his voice full of resentment.

“Because those five times were what you said out loud, but I know you definitely said it in your heart too. If you count those, it’s probably more than nine times. Making you kowtow nine times is already letting you off easy!”

Lin Yang sneered.

Hearing this, Tang Xuan’s eye twitched slightly. He even knew what he cursed in his heart? Had this Lin Yang turned into a roundworms in his stomach?

“Then I can only apologize nine times at most!”

“A man’s knees are worth gold; he only kneels to heaven, earth, and his parents. Making me kneel to a bunch of country bumpkins from the Eastern Barrens is absolutely out of the… Ah!!!”

Tang Xuan was unyielding, but before he could finish speaking, Aili pouted and angrily stepped in front of Tang Xuan, kicking and shattering his knee.

Because, if it came down to it, she too had come from the Eastern Barrens with Lin Yang. Tang Xuan calling the people of the Eastern Barrens country bumpkins meant he was insulting her as well.

After a miserable shriek, Tang Xuan immediately knelt down facing the direction of the Eastern Barrens.

“Ah! My leg, my leg is broken… I was wrong, I was wrong, I’m a country bumpkin, I’m a country bumpkin!”

A shrill wail came from Tang Xuan’s mouth. He quickly kowtowed repeatedly towards the east to apologize, afraid that Lin Yang would truly kill him the next second.

At the same time, Qin Shan and Xue Changming, who were off to the side, both looked at Lin Yang.

“…”

Lin Yang’s mouth twitched slightly. Why are you looking at me? I didn’t do it!

However, they couldn’t see Aili, so he had to take the blame.

Finally, after Tang Xuan wailed and apologized nine times as Lin Yang demanded, Lin Yang kept his promise and let him off, no longer attacking him.

A farce concluded in a somewhat comical manner.

The injured Tang Xuan was taken away by Qin Shan for treatment.

Xue Changming, who remained, after witnessing everything that had just transpired, chose to quietly retreat back into his Immortal Cave.

He was certain that Lin Yang had, in all likelihood, taken the opportunity to steal his sacred medicine fruits.

However, after seeing Tang Xuan’s tragic state, he chose to feign ignorance, acting as if nothing had happened.

It was just a bag of sacred medicine fruits. If he liked them, he could have them.

Furthermore, Xue Changming quietly erased the term ‘country bumpkin’ from his dictionary and secretly warned himself never to mention those three words in front of Lin Yang again, even if it meant death.

The commotion ended, and everyone went their separate ways.

After Tang Xuan was taken away by Qin Shan, he was quickly healed by a powerful expert of the Holy Emperor Sect skilled in healing arts.

Upon his return, he wisely moved out of his original Immortal Cave, which was right next to Lin Yang’s, and applied to the Elder for a lower-grade Immortal Cave furthest from Lin Yang.

The next few days were exceptionally quiet and peaceful.

Until a week later, when the storm had completely subsided.

The Holy Emissary Qin Shan reappeared in the lower-grade area, summoning Lin Yang, Tang Xuan, Xue Changming, and others to gather.

The official entrance examination for the Holy Emperor Sect had arrived!

“Strange, rumor has it that besides us three men, there’s also a beautiful young woman from the Northern Barrens joining this time. Why hasn’t she shown up yet?”

Xue Changming peered around, scanning the area, and found that after a week, the new entrants were still just the three of them. He immediately grew puzzled.

Lin Yang had also heard about this news recently.

This beautiful young woman’s background was somewhat similar to his own; neither was a Prodigy cultivated by a Central Plains power, but rather came from the Northern Barrens, one of the Four Barrens, which was considered a remote and impoverished region.

It was said that she was also the most stunningly beautiful among all young women of the Northern Barrens, bearing the title of “Three-Thousand-Year Beauty.”

“Xin Ru Yin has already entered the examination grounds ahead of you. You all come with me now,” Qin Shan said flatly. The Xin Ru Yin he spoke of was precisely that beautiful young woman from the Northern Barrens.

“Entered the examination grounds early?”

Lin Yang and the others were stunned upon hearing this. They exchanged glances, all showing a peculiar expression.

Why was it that they were all new entrants, yet the beautiful young woman from the Northern Barrens, who appeared the latest, could enter the examination grounds before them?

Could there be some trickery involved here?

Could it be… that she was a connected individual, specially recruited?

With a hint of suspicion, Lin Yang and the others closely followed the Holy Emissary Qin Shan, heading towards the examination grounds.

Along the way, the previously arrogant Tang Xuan behaved exceptionally well, no longer actively provoking Lin Yang.

However, in the depths of his gaze, which subtly flickered towards Lin Yang, a hint of unresigned defiance was faintly visible.

“Just you wait, Lin Yang. Once I refine my Martial Spirit True Body, I will definitely seek you out to wash away all the previous humiliation! Just you wait!!!”

Lin Yang naturally couldn’t hear the shouts in Tang Xuan’s heart, but he could feel that this guy’s hostility towards him seemed to have increased rather than decreased compared to before.

Of course, he didn’t care about Tang Xuan’s animosity.

Because Lin Yang also had absolute confidence in himself.

An enemy defeated by my hand will not be considered an opponent!

On the other side, Xue Changming walked with his hands in his pockets, head down, following the group without a word, unbeknownst to what he was plotting in his heart.

Soon, with each of the three harboring their own ulterior motives, they arrived at the entrance to the examination grounds.

This was a valley surrounded by mountains, with a spatial array at the entrance, clearly indicating that there was a unique world within!

Just as Lin Yang and the others were about to enter, they suddenly heard a soft, saccharine female voice from inside.

“Gege~ You’ve been Cultivating with me these past few days. Won’t Senior Sister be angry if she finds out?”

“Gege~ I love this sword you gave me so much. Can you teach me to dance with it hand-in-hand? Please~”

“Oh my goodness, Gege~ You touched my hand. If Senior Sister finds out, won’t she beat me up?”

“So scary~ Senior Sister isn’t like me; I only care for giegie~~”

Lin Yang: “???”

What the hell, who is that inside?

Such perfect ‘clip-on voice’… Could it be a cup of green tea that Cultivated into a spirit?!