Chapter 356: Lin Xiaolu

Just like Bai Jingxuan, Lin Xiaolu was told to wait in place for a moment after entering the examination room, and only then was she directed to the equipment in the corner to begin testing the values of her magic gear.

The same equipment, the same process, the same examiner; everything seemed no different from Bai Jingxuan’s test. Lin Xiaolu stood there blankly, watching the equipment scan back and forth over the white scepter in her hand.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes... Just as Lin Xiaolu began to wonder why her inspection was taking so long, the instrument in front of her finally stopped.

The ring-shaped detection structure that had opened up slowly folded and retracted into the interior of the instrument, the raised analysis device gradually returned to a horizontal level, and the indicator lights on the surface of the entire instrument flashed in a fixed rhythm, and then—

—"Beep—"

A red light lit up.

This strange occurrence immediately caught the attention of the examiners nearby. Lin Xiaolu did not know what the red light meant, but they knew all too well: it meant the instrument had reported an error.

From Lin Xiaolu’s perspective, one of the examiners put away the light screen in her hand, walked quickly to the instrument, fiddled with the operation interface for a while, muttered something under her breath, and then turned her head to look at her:

"Did you touch the screen over there when you walked over just now?"

"Huh? What screen?" Lin Xiaolu was bewildered.

"The one I was just operating." The examiner pointed.

"No, I was very careful when I walked over." Lin Xiaolu shook her head.

"Then when you manifested your magic gear, did you release too much magic power? Did the magic fluctuations affect the backup controller over there?" The examiner wore a strange expression.

"Definitely not. It’s not like I’ve never used magic gear before; how could I make such a low-level mistake?" Lin Xiaolu replied righteously.

"That’s strange... Nothing was touched, so how could this instrument report an error?"

The examiner did not continue to press the matter, and she did not seem to suspect Lin Xiaolu, because she was well aware that the on-site equipment debugging had fully taken various special circumstances into account; it was difficult for an examinee who knew nothing to affect the test results of the instrument through conventional means. The only reason she asked Lin Xiaolu was just out of a slim hope.

After all, if there was nothing wrong with Lin Xiaolu’s operation, then the problem could only lie with the instrument itself.

"Wait a moment longer."

With that, the examiner gave Lin Xiaolu an instruction and walked to the other end of the instrument, placed one hand into a groove on the device, and released her own magic power—she decided to conduct an in-depth inspection of the instrument’s interior to find the root cause of the error.

This process lasted for about another five minutes before the examiner pulled her hand away from the groove with a strange look on her face.

"Mentor, what does 'detection data exceeds the Bud-level report template limit' mean?"

She turned her head and asked the examiner who was still on the other side of the examination room.

"…What?" The examiner who hadn't said a word from the beginning finally reacted.

"The data exceeds the Bud-level report template limit." The examiner next to Lin Xiaolu repeated it again.

"Oh, that. It means exactly what it says. The result found is higher than the highest value in the past database, so it couldn't generate a report and reported an error."

The examiner who was called "Mentor," who was clearly more senior, put away the light screen in her hand and walked toward the direction of Lin Xiaolu and the other examiner: "What’s wrong? Is that the reason the instrument reported an error?"

"At least that’s the reason I saw..." the younger examiner replied.

"Alright, let me see." The senior examiner signaled for the younger examiner to step aside, then walked to the groove of the instrument and placed her hand on it.

Before long, just like the younger examiner before her, she pulled her hand away with a strange expression: "It really is, you didn't misread it."

And after saying this, the gazes of both examiners focused simultaneously on Lin Xiaolu’s face.

"…Is something wrong?" Even though Lin Xiaolu wasn't very nervous to begin with, she felt a bit flustered being stared at by these two.

"Nothing, it’s just that we might need your cooperation to test it one more time."

The senior examiner kept a straight face, merely squinted her eyes, smiled quite kindly, and then looked at the younger examiner: "Adjust it to the Flower-level standard."

"For real? Not adjust it to the Bud-level?"

"Adjust it when I tell you to, why so much nonsense?" The senior examiner reached out and poked the younger examiner in the waist, causing the younger examiner to gasp in pain.

Two minutes later, the instrument restarted, the two examiners stepped aside, and once again left the stage to Lin Xiaolu.

This time, the adjusted instrument displayed a completely different posture; the ring-shaped structure of its detection port had expanded into a doorway, completely enveloping Lin Xiaolu, and the white detection light swirled continuously, turning into a vortex, waiting for Lin Xiaolu.

"Your magic gear shouldn't be an ordinary single-piece magic gear, it has a deployed form, right?"

The senior examiner said to Lin Xiaolu with a smile: "Remember to use that this time too, the results will be more accurate."

"Ah, oh." Realizing that her magic gear seemed to truly have something unique in the eyes of the examiners, the encouraged Lin Xiaolu also felt much more motivated, so she raised her hand with some excitement and manifested her magic gear in front of the instrument once again.

"Wang Yao!"

The white scepter appeared in her palm along with a flash of light, and the detection light within the instrument immediately began to fluctuate violently.

Clearly, after raising the standard, the instrument’s response to Lin Xiaolu’s magic gear had also become more active. But everyone knew this was not the end.

"Wang Yao, form deployment, Guardian Form!"

Following Lin Xiaolu’s command, the white scepter changed its form.

The staff body elongated, the head of the staff became sharp, and threads emerging from nowhere wrapped around it, forming a protective layer on the surface of the staff. In the end, the scepter in Lin Xiaolu’s hand transformed into a pale blue long spear.

This change caused both examiners on the side to show expressions of astonishment. And if the senior examiner’s reaction was only a brief surprise, the younger examiner was as stunned as if her worldview had been destroyed.

"…Mentor, what is this?"

After a long while, the younger examiner asked as if waking from a dream.

"I don't know."

The senior examiner’s answer was very blunt, but she did not look as confused as the younger examiner; instead, her eyes twinkled, and she looked at Lin Xiaolu with the expression of an explorer who had discovered a gold mine: "I only know that my research projects for the next few years are settled."

"What project? Magic gear transformation?"

The younger examiner looked at her mentor: "Does this thing have any precedent? How come I’ve never heard of it?"

"It’s precisely because there is no precedent that it’s worth researching. Magic gear that can transform—doesn't that sound interesting enough?"

The senior examiner rubbed her chin: "Besides, this child’s magic gear has two forms. Setting aside this weapon-like form for now, that scepter-like form... hmm, I shouldn't speak too soon."

"Scepter-like form? Mentor, did you see something?"

"Let’s look at the report first."

The senior examiner waved her hand. At the same time, the instrument in front of them stopped running. This time, a green light lit up. She let Lin Xiaolu rest on the side while she impatiently opened the information from this test on the light screen.

The first things that caught her eyes were the two most intuitive results:

【Ability Specification: Level 4】

【Development Potential: Gem Scepter】