Chapter 127: Wu Tianming: Talking Too Much Is All Tears (Revised)

At this moment, a weary, headache‑filled voice cut in—it was the chief examiner of the evaluation, Wu Tianming.

He is fair‑minded, but his nature carries the inherent rigor and rigidity of the academy faction.

Right now he was rubbing his temples, looking at the screen at the outpost ruins and the dust‑covered Qi Hengyu and others beside them, feeling his blood pressure rise a bit.

"Genius? I'd say he's more like a maniac of destruction..."

Wu Tianming muttered under his breath, having personally "witnessed" how Ying Duo, like strolling through his own backyard, silently planted explosives on several load‑bearing points in the heat of battle and then nonchalantly walked away.

Finally, while horsing around with Luo Jinyou, he gave Qi Hengyu a full "collapsing‑debris gift package" with a light press.

Ying Duo violated none of the evaluation rules.

The explosive power was kept within a non‑lethal but sufficient range to cause "structural damage"; the placement was precise, the timing cunning, and his judgment and use of the situation were textbook‑level.

This talent is indeed astonishing.

But whenever he thought of Ying Duo's utter disregard for consequences, Wu Tianming felt a wave of headache.

This kid's behavior pattern is too hard to predict, and his destructive power is too great—he's practically an unstable factor on the exam field.

"What a pity..." Wu Tianming sighed, his voice tinged with complex emotion, finally able to understand why Su Jingchuan insisted on protecting Ying Duo.

"It's just that this kid... has a sick brain."

This is not an insult, but an objective statement.

Whenever he thought of someone who was "brain‑ill" yet extraordinarily capable, Wu Tianming's mind involuntarily conjured another figure.

He had once, during an urgent joint operation to exterminate high‑rank aberrant species, personally witnessed Chi Jinan "working."

That was hardly a battle; it was a frenzied, indiscriminate unilateral slaughter.

Blood crystals filled the sky, mingled with the aberrant species' howls...

That time, their entire squad nearly got wiped out—not because of the aberrant species, but because of that madman's indiscriminate attack.

Ever since then, Wu Tianming has held great wariness and prejudice toward those whose actions defy common sense yet possess terrifying power.

To this day he cannot understand why a madman like Chi Jinan, instead of being strictly restrained or dealt with, ends up occupying a high position in the Heresy Tribunal and being entrusted with important duties.

In his view, this is nothing short of a desecration of order and the divine.

And in Ying Duo he sees similar traits.

It is an ability that disregards conventions, focuses on the self, and can turn that focus into terrifying real‑world action.

Although Ying Duo's expression is not as extreme or frenzied as Chi Jinan's, that inner sense of "abnormality" still makes Wu Tianming instinctively uneasy.

Yet a thought nonetheless keeps popping up uncontrollably in his mind.

If Ying Duo's brain could receive effective treatment, correcting his aberrant cognition and channeling his talent onto the proper path, what would that look like?

Perhaps he could become a more reliable and powerful fighting force than that madman Chi Jinan.

But as soon as that thought surfaced, Wu Tianming pressed it down.

He shook his head—what's the use of entertaining such impractical notions now? Yet Su Jingchuan, together with the Supervision Bureau's operation and the retrieved sample, inevitably leaves a sliver of hope in people's hearts.

The urgent task is to clean up the mess of the evaluation.

Wu Tianming immediately grabbed the communicator, infused it with energy, and drove it to connect with the external rescue team.

"Rescue team, send personnel to the outpost location right away! Yes, the one that just collapsed!"

"Inside are large numbers of students judged 'killed in action' still buried; although the defensive rune can keep them from dying, it can't let them remain trapped below, so assess the risk of secondary collapse."

After putting down the communicator, Wu Tianming turned his gaze back to the screen, where Shen Zexi, under the combined effort of Qi Hengyu and Chen Mo Zhi, unfortunately fell to the ground.

Wu Tianming couldn't help shaking his head, not even having time to feel sorry for Shen Zexi's plight; he only hoped the ensuing chaos could be kept within an acceptable range.

At least... let's hope no more explosions of this magnitude occur.

This too will have to be funded and repaired by the school itself.

——————————————

"Bang!!"

A dull impact sound rang out.

Shen Zexi felt a tremendous force strike from behind, as if his viscera were shifting, his throat sweetened, and a mouthful of blood finally burst forth uncontrollably.

The protective energy he maintained around his body also instantly dissipated due to distraction, allowing Chen Mo Zhi's residual toxic energy to invade his system.

Before him, toxic corrosion; behind him, a heavy punch; plus the numbness in his left arm and intermittent mental interference...

Shen Zexi's body staggered, he half‑knelt on the ground, the lightning aura around him flickered erratically, then vanished completely.

He struggled to rise, but the pain from the toxin that had entered his body and his injured organs made even staying conscious difficult.

He lifted his head, looked ahead at the pallid yet cold‑eyed Chen Mo Zhi, and a bitter smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Shen Zexi lost.

His decision was not wrong—holding the outpost, splitting forces to block the enemy, buying time was a textbook‑perfect execution.

His strength was not weak either; even poisoned, he could still contend with a strong foe.

But he solely miscalculated the human factor, missed the lack of intelligence, and knew nothing of Meng Kexin's eerie mental ability.

His consciousness quickly blurred, and his body went limp uncontrollably.

The rune on his body slowly lit up, marking the core of the Security Team, and at this moment he regretfully exited the field.

Ying Duo, Luo Jinyou...

If they were here, there should still be a chance to win, right?

No, does he really need to doubt?

He has long known the answer—fate has always been on his side.

Shen Zexi calmly closed his eyes.

————————————————

Meanwhile, on the other side...

The atmosphere here, full of resentment, is completely different from the heroic "sacrifice" over at Shen Zexi's side.

In a cramped space of less than five square meters, with a height that only allows a person to stand bent over, which Luo Jinyou barely carved out with Earth‑type Aberrant Arts, the tone suddenly shifts.

It is an enclosed space that should have been darkness.

In fact, there is a light source, and it is very stable and eco‑friendly......

No, Luo Jinyou feels he can't continue writing.

In this cramped sealed space, the only light source is Ying Duo's glaring neon‑green hair.

The hair's glow isn't strong, but it suffices to illuminate the two faces drawn close together, allowing them to see within the limited space.

The light reflects off the rough earthen wall, casting a few flickering pale‑green shadows; the atmosphere feels slightly eerie, but Luo Jinyou is accustomed to it.

In the cramped space, only the two people's slightly rapid breaths and some rustling, as if a small animal were rummaging through something, can be heard.

Thud!

A muffled thud, accompanied by an extremely faint gasp.

"Ying Duo! Don't move!"

Luo Jinyou's helpless voice sounded, tinged with a hint of frenzy.

"This place is this small; if you keep bumping into it, I'm afraid it'll collapse!"

He had just clearly felt the rock wall near Ying Duo being struck by something; needless to say, it must have been this restless fellow in the darkness.

"Oh," Ying Duo replied, his voice still steady, as if the one who hit the wall wasn't himself.

But a mud stain had appeared on his normally bright forehead.

Luo Jinyou sighed, acted, attaching himself to the adjacent rock wall, concentrating his mind and manipulating energy.

Soon, the rock his palm touched began to soften and deform, and a fist‑sized mineral with faint energy fluctuations was "spat" out by the wall.