Chapter 242: What the Heck?

A massive light shimmered within this ocean of metallic hydrogen, turning the already blindingly bright space into a searing white blaze.

Wang Wu is only a first‑rank master and cannot perform the terrifying feats of Master Yin Shenli or Prime Minister Qin, such as stasis events or driving an entire region into a cold‑dead state.

He can't even traverse hundreds of thousands of light‑years in an instant, let alone …

Ugh, I should say fewer things that diminish my own prestige; at least here, Wang Wu's strength is still outstanding.

Beating these cloud beasts is really no problem …

Pfft—

A muffled thud rang out, accompanied by the sound of something piercing flesh—no need to wonder where it came from—Wang Wu, having just felled a cloud beast, turned his head toward Pei Wuji, whose chest had been pierced, and asked in confusion:

"Hey, why are you dead?"

Pei Wuji said nothing, only a look of astonishment on her face, then she slowly fell backward… well, actually she didn't.

Because after asking that question, Wang Wu instantly vanished from his spot. Immediately afterward, several small swords flew toward where he had been; had he not dodged so quickly, his fate would now match Pei Wuji's.

In this place, examinees may attack each other without restriction. It's tolerable on the outer layers, but the closer one gets to the inner layers, the higher the chance of conflict.

Only the most powerful cultivators can reach this depth, and even those whose personal strength is modest can, with family‑provided treasures, easily breach Wang Wu's defenses.

Having been used to wielding power on Tianyuan Star, whether or not I actually wield it, let's just say that for now.

Accustomed to ruling over the weak in that place—those of ordinary strength far inferior to his—being suddenly tossed into a realm where strength is everywhere comparable to, or even surpasses, his own, Wang Wu naturally needs time to adjust.

In this respect, Wang Wu is considerably stronger than Pei Wuji.

Even though he seemed to be day‑dreaming the whole time, his gaze wandering occasionally, when the two were ambushed by other cultivators, Wang Wu reacted before Pei Wuji and evaded the attack.

He even had time to ask Pei Wuji why she seemed …

Of course, Pei Wuji isn't truly fallen; the magic sword lodged in her chest isn't lethal, and that thing has already been pulled out by Wang Wu.

"My magic sword!!!"

When Wang Wu extracted that magic sword from Pei Wuji's chest and slipped it into his pocket, a cultivator elsewhere paled instantly and let out a gasp.

But immediately afterward, Wang Wu appeared before him.

The magic sword was now embedded in the cultivator's chest; it was a sword he had forged for years with his refined blood, linked to his spirit. When Wang Wu seized it, he instantly lost all connection to the sword.

When the sword returned and he tried to re‑establish the link, the blade was already driven deep into his chest, leaving him frozen on the spot.

"Hey, why are you dead too?"

Wang Wu released his grip, watching the cultivator vanish before him. This is the protective mechanism of the examinees' admission cards: when lethal damage is detected, the card instantly activates to block the attack.

Even if it fails to block, the damage is greatly reduced, and the admission card immediately begins repairing the victim's body, sustaining their life and then teleporting them to a well‑prepared medical station behind the lines.

This is the super‑technology possessed by an interstellar‑level fantasy civilization—utterly advanced and incredibly convenient.

Of course, the cost is also very high.

This also shows how wealthy the Qionglan Sect is; these seemingly modest cards conceal great mysteries, with extremely high technological content.

As for its price, despite not looking cheap, it's actually not expensive at all… uh, indeed not costly.

However, the technology does have a barrier, even if the cost is low. Considering that the Qionglan Sect recruits en masse in this star system every hundred years, taking in billions of cultivators, the overall expense becomes considerable.

Turning, he flew toward Pei Wuji, who was now seated in the air, circulating qi to heal herself. She wasn't whisked away by the sword; although Wang Wu had helped circulate qi when he drew his flying sword, the fact that the first strike didn't kill her outright surprised Wang Wu.

The woman is rather fleshy, no problem—after all, she truly is quite fleshy.

Wang Wu said nothing, walked over, placed his hand on her chest, and continued circulating qi.

Of course, here his qi‑transfer won't be seen as using his own life‑qi to aid her. Still, it made Pei Wuji's heartbeat race and her heart flutter like a startled deer.

After all, they had already made eye contact, and now she's treated this way and rescued. Had she been eliminated here, she could still pass the assessment, but her ranking would certainly be lower.

Her rating isn't low either; after all, she's slain several cloud beasts, even those that dwell at this depth, which sufficiently proves her strength.

Even if she leaves now, a top‑grade rating should be unavoidable, but since she's already here, Pei Wuji still wants to fight for it.

Now, feeling Wang Wu continuously channeling yin‑extremity true qi into her body, Pei Wuji's heart swells and contracts with both emotion and the flow.

Just like her… uh, never mind.

"Please, I beg you! Just give me one chance! I'm begging you, comrade Wang! Please!"

Of course, she never actually said that; no matter how suppressed she is, such words are hard to utter.

After dispatching the ambushing cultivator, Wang Wu could still feel at least dozens of eyes staring intently at him; the number of people who made it here is considerable—after all, that ship of cultivators likely carried hundreds of thousands.

Of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators, only a few dozen reached his location, a rather low proportion.

"All set?"

After channeling qi to her for a while, Wang Wu released his hand and, seeing Pei Wuji still looking a bit lingering and unreadable, asked:

"Ugh? Okay, okay, I'm done!"

Pei Wuji reacted quickly, instantly opening her eyes and snapping a vigorous nod toward Wang Wu, "Thank you, comrade! Thank you!"

"We're teammates, that's only natural," Wang Wu waved his hand, then looked around. For some reason, those gazes remained fixed there, showing no intent to attack.

What he didn't know was that elsewhere, in the exam's infirmary, several cultivators stared at an empty bed and fell into silence.

The reason was simple: the patient should have been the one Wang Wu stabbed with the opponent's sword, triggering the admission card to summon the wounded.

But at this moment, where the patient should have lain, only a sword remained.

Nothing else.

Of course, this isn't because he was swallowed by some true disaster and vanished, but because he's already dead.

Yes, dead.

Wang Wu's original "Hey, why are you dead?" was just a joke; back home he often teases like that online.

But now it's become reality.

Each year there are cases of cultivators killing each other during the exam; they're few but do occur. Though the Qionglan Sect doesn't encourage such incidents, they're permitted and won't punish the participants.

But, but.

Everything has exceptions; every matter has special circumstances.

But what Wang Wu is facing now is that special situation.

This person comes from an extraordinary background.

Soon, the news that the Lin family heir died during the assessment spread to the Qiong Lan Sect, and also reached the high‑rank cultivators of the Qiong Lan Sect who were in charge of this assessment.

Thus, while Wang Wu and Pei Wuji were continuously diving through the ocean of metallic hydrogen, just as they were about to reach the planet's true surface, Wang Wu vanished.

Because of a series of earlier events, Pei Wuji now dares not speak to Wang Wu proactively; he merely keeps his head down and follows him, pressing onward. Along the way the two encounter some Cloud Beasts, but they quickly dispatch them together.

The closer they get to the Star Core, the stronger the Star Beasts they encounter become, yet their size keeps shrinking.

It is said that the mother beast the Qiong Lan Sect released for this test dwells within the Star Core, guarding its nest. For Wang Wu and his companion to obtain the Cloud Beast Egg, they must first kill the Cloud Beast.

As for whether killing massive numbers of Cloud Beasts every hundred years would sharply reduce the species, the answer is that there are still plenty of Cloud Beasts—many in the wild and even more in cultivation.

Therefore there is no need to worry about this, and such matters are not what Wang Wu and his group should be concerned with.

Especially for Wang Wu, who was leisurely swimming in the liquid hydrogen ocean, when suddenly, mid‑swim, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

"Wang Wu."

And the moment he appeared here, several voices rang out.

The Lin family is an important great clan in this star region, and each year many Lin descendants enter the Qiong Lan Sect.

Moreover, the Lin family wields considerable influence within the Qiong Lan Sect; although they have never produced a Sect Leader, the highest rank a family member has attained is Deputy Sect Leader.

But beyond their influence in the Qiong Lan Sect, the Lin family also has a say in this star region.

In this particular star sector, their voice is even louder; the Lin family is the megacorp of the area.

The Lin descendants have always been top‑notch within the Qiong Lan Sect; most do not act tyrannically, and those who do are reined in by their own family.

Nevertheless, whatever the case, if a Lin descendant commits an offense, it should be dealt with by the Lin family themselves—either cleaning up internally or involving the authorities.

Not by anyone else.

Moreover, this individual hasn't done anything wrong yet.

Although this is an assessment, in principle accidental killing during the test would not be prosecuted.

But that is only the rule, under normal circumstances.

And now it is not a normal situation.

Furthermore, this Lin candidate was fatally annihilated because, after being teleported here, he suffered a second attack.

This is the guaranteed lethal strike effect of Earth martial arts, but evidently the martial system of this world lacks such a term.

Thus, in their eyes, it naturally became—uh—so the Lin descendant had already left the stage, yet was still killed by the pursuing damage.

That is indeed the case.

So this is why Wang Wu was abruptly pulled out of the assessment.

"Why attack the other examinees!?"

After that authoritative "Wang Wu," before he could speak, the next sentence came rushing in:

"The opponent has already left the stage; why continue to harm them!!??"

The voice was deafening, accompanied by overwhelming pressure, its intensity enough to press a first‑rank warrior of Wang Wu's level onto the ground.

But Wang Wu simply stood there, bewildered, blinking twice.

"What the heck is this?"

(End of chapter)