Chapter 136

Pan Yun smiled slightly at him and said, "I think none of them are good—this money should go to the victim's family, and as for you, you're headed for prison."

The middle-aged man's face turned pale.

He yanked his hand back from Pan Yun's and stepped back rapidly.

Pan Yun turned to Zhang Ziwang and smiled.

Zhang Ziwang's gaze was deep; he waved his hand, and government office Runners emerged from the other side, advancing toward the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man's pupils shrank; he spun and ran, but a young Daoist Priest at the platform's edge kicked out—he dodged, and the two exchanged five or six blows in an instant, each strike lethal.

The young Daoist Priest's final grappling technique seized the man's arm and slammed him to the ground.

The middle-aged man strained but could not break free.

Two more government office Runners rushed up and shackled him.

The middle-aged man resisted, jerking his neck upward and shouting, "You have no evidence—why are you arresting me arbitrarily?"

Pan Yun asked curiously, "Long Hushan is full of Daoist Priests—even if not every one excels at face-reading or divination, there's no shortage of masters. How did you dare come here?"

The middle-aged man glared at her furiously, then twisted his head to glare at the five Daoist Priests on the platform, yelling, "You lied! You lied! You said you only read fortunes for marriage and children—you lied—"

A disciple watching from below shook his head and said, "First one this year."

"I wonder how many criminals the senior brothers brought in from outside this year—I love watching this part most. Every time I see them dragged away by the government office Runners screaming, I'm delighted."

"You're truly twisted. I'm different—I love seeing their faces when they realize they've been caught."

After the middle-aged man was dragged away, Zhang Ziwang said to her, "Your performance this round earned full marks—you've now scored full marks in all five rounds, currently in first place."

A disciple summoned his brush to fly into the air and wrote on a vast white curtain hanging above: Pan Yun, 100 points.

She was now ranked first.

Pan Yun's gaze sharpened as she looked at Zhang Ziwang.

Zhang Ziwang smiled and nodded at her, praising, "You did well. Go rest now."

Pan Yun bowed to withdraw, but Xue Yuan called out to her.

"Every year, Longhu Mountain Academy invites many criminals to take the spellcraft exam. Half are forced to come; half are lured. We ignore the forced ones—but those lured by temptation: think, why would they, having committed grave crimes, still dare appear at Longhu Mountain Academy?"

Pan Yun tilted her head. "Because he doesn't believe Long Hushan can divine the crimes he committed?"

"If he believes Long Hushan cannot divine his crimes, then why did he come lured by temptation, believing Long Hushan could divine what he wished to know?"

Pan Yun frowned.

Xue Yuan stroked his beard and said, "Because he is too arrogant. When Heaven wishes to destroy someone, it first drives them mad. Child, you are still young—take them as a warning. Read the Dao De Jing thoroughly; it holds infinite mysteries."

Pan Yun pondered deeply, then bowed respectfully to Xue Yuan. "Yes, Xue Yuanzhu."

Xue Yuan waved his hand, signaling her to leave.

Lou Tong looked at him. "Do you like her so much, Xue Yuanzhu? You're giving her such direct guidance."

Xue Yuan nodded without concealment. "I like this child very much. She reminds me of a younger relative at home—equally clever and sharp."

"Xue Hua?"

Xue Yuan shook his head. "Xue Hua is nowhere near as gifted."

"Then why not bring him into the Academy?"

Xue Yuan shook his head. "His aspirations lie elsewhere. His family won't let him become a Daoist Priest. So we let it be—no forcing the child."

He glanced at Pan Yun's retreating back and smiled. "But this child is excellent. Fei Yin's eye for talent remains as sharp as ever."

Zhang Ziwang smiled but said nothing. "Let's wait for the next candidate."

As soon as Pan Yun stepped down, she ran to the adjacent blue-marked talisman array pavilion.

They couldn't see inside, but the pavilion had no roof; occasional flashes of spiritual light and crackling sounds revealed they were testing talismans.

Pan Yun stood on tiptoe to watch for a moment, then jumped at the explosion from the green pavilion beside her.

The explosion was immense—it blew apart the pavilion's protective array, leaving a gaping hole.

Pan Yun and the crowd turned to see the hole, where candidates were crammed together. Her sharp eyes spotted a chubby figure clutching a medicine furnace, desperately trying to squeeze into the crowd but repeatedly shoved back out.

Pan Yun grew angry, formed a hand seal, and charged forward. "Senior brother, senior sister, I'll help you put out the fire!"

The senior brothers and sisters waving mops to extinguish the flames were horrified. "Don't—"

Too late. A sudden rain pattered down. The moment the water touched the fire, it surged violently upward—the flames, nearly extinguished, reignited and spread.

Pan Yun stared in shock. "You were alchemizing? How did you have sodium or potassium? Don't you know eating those kills you?"

One senior sister shouted angrily, "He was brewing poison!"

Oh, then it's fine.

One senior brother ran out, summoned a spell, and drew a massive clump of soil, hurling it directly onto the fiercest flames—half the fire was instantly smothered.

Seeing this work, other senior brothers and sisters activated their lightness arts, sprinting to the open, unpaved areas beyond the square. One spell or talisman, and they rolled up soil, rushing back.

Pan Yun followed quickly—faster than the rest, gathering more soil. Inside the pavilion, the soil hovered, then crashed down, burying the flames, which slowly died.

They scattered so much earth to extinguish the fire that everyone who helped was covered in dust.

Pan Yun was too—even the cat on her shoulder turned muddy yellow-black. When she brushed off the dirt, the cat stood up, shook itself, and flung more dust all over her again.

Pan Yun: …

Miao He, clutching the medicine furnace, saw her little uncle and sighed in relief—no more pushing into the crowd.

The Daoist Priest overseeing the Qi and Alchemy exam stepped out and shouted, "Quiet! All non-candidates, withdraw. We resume the exam."

Furnace explosions were normal for Alchemy Daoist Priests.

As soon as the fire was out, everyone was ordered back to their original positions to continue the exam.

Pan Yun followed the firefighters away—but didn't fully leave. She leaned against the half-collapsed pavilion, arms crossed, watching.

The Daoist Priest saw her standing beyond the red line but pretended not to notice.

The Alchemy exam had reached its final stage: alchemical refinement.

Miao He had already selected her herbs and was only waiting to begin refining; her speed was slower than others', but this explosion rendered many people's partially refined pills useless, forcing them to pick new herbs and start over.

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But she, now that her medicine furnace was set up, could begin refining immediately, and her speed caught up.

Pan Yun saw her fully absorbed in refining and smiled faintly, then reached out and gripped Pan Xiaohei's neck on her shoulder, gritting her teeth: "You're quite the shaker, huh~~"

Pan Xiaohei mewed.

People began emerging from the red pavilion, stepping onto the competition platform as they came out.

From where Pan Yun stood, her view of the competition was better than watching from below, so she simply crossed her arms and watched.

She found it a bit boring, because among those who emerged, only two barely managed to withstand three strikes from Xue Hua; the rest didn't even get to take a stance—they were pinned at the throat by the sword tip the moment they moved.

Pan Yun was about to look away when she suddenly remembered what Xue Taixu had just said to her.

Is she arrogant?

She thought she was merely trying to give people the impression she wasn't to be trifled with, making those in the academy who wanted to bully her junior disciples think twice.

Though she couldn't eliminate all malice, she could certainly block most of it.

After all, people in any world are mostly bullies of the weak and cowards before the strong.

But when had she grown so conceited that she no longer wanted to watch the competition?

Her teacher had said more than once: don't look down on junior students just because they're young and inexperienced; the fact they entered the National Academy means they have merit.

Don't dismiss their ideas as childish, because what seems childish and absurd might actually be correct.

Look for their strengths, their merits.

Pan Yun shifted her gaze back and began watching intently.

Every newcomer who entered the arena fell quickly, but before falling, each had struggled hard, facing Xue Hua at their best.

And Xue Hua used a different sword technique against each person; watching, watching, Pan Yun realized he was deliberately learning the sword techniques the new students had used in combat.

He could memorize their techniques after seeing them just once.

Though his execution differed slightly, the techniques were indeed identical, and he kept adjusting them continuously.

Pan Yun lowered her arms, straightened her body, and stared intently.

Even as new students, even though they fell the moment they stepped on stage, their swordplay still held much worth learning.

Moreover, each person's sword technique differed; though flawed, each had strengths.

And the more she watched, the clearer it became: their defeats weren't due to flawed sword techniques, but because their personal abilities couldn't fully realize the techniques' power.

If someone else were to use them…

Pan Yun's gaze dropped lower, toward the senior students gathered around the platform.

She saw many of them forming sword seals, mimicking the new students' moves, murmuring under their breath; indeed, they weren't watching these losing matches to mock or out of boredom—they were learning too.

Pan Yun's gaze slid back to the stage, and without thinking, she raised two fingers and began mimicking the movements on stage.

Lou Tong withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly at Xue Taixu.

Xue Taixu stroked his beard and curled his lips, but said nothing.

Zhang Ziwang withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes, sipped tea, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and remained silent.

People began emerging from the blue pavilion for talisman and array techniques; all their competitions took place inside, and emerging meant they had finished their exam.

Pan Yun turned her head and saw that the ninth person to emerge was Seeing Miao Zhen.

She smiled faintly and waved to her.

Seeing Miao Zhen immediately ran up, glanced at Miao He refining inside the pavilion, and whispered: "Junior Auntie, I'm done—I scored eighty-nine."

Pan Yun praised: "Sixty is passing; you got eighty-nine—excellent, excellent."

Seeing Miao Zhen also thought it was good, and asked: "Junior Auntie, when did you finish? What did you score?"

Pan Yun pointed to the huge screen: "Look."

Seeing Miao Zhen looked up; many names were already on it, but Pan Yun's name still sat firmly at the top.

(End of Chapter)