On the western edge of the exam area, a group of ten applicants found their path blocked beneath the canopy of ancient, gnarled trees. Flushed from exertion and eager to gather more points, they faced the three men barring their way. The party leader stepped forward, his voice sharp and commanding. "Why are you blocking our way? This is a public exam site, and we have every right to explore wherever we choose. Who are you to stand in our way?"
The trio, standing shoulder to shoulder like a wall of living stone, remained unmoved. They were Mei Hongli's loyal henchmen, the brothers Cai Long, Cai Hu, and Cai Lang. Known for their fierce loyalty and lack of scruples, they carried out their master's orders without a flicker of hesitation. Their task was clear: isolate this sector and ensure it remained a private playground for their master.
"Who are we?" Cai Long asked with a mocking tone, the sound echoing off the nearby ruins. "We are Young Master Hongli's men. He has personally instructed us to keep participants out of this area because it's far too dangerous inside. The spiritual density is unstable; you'd be crushed."
"For your sake, Young Master Hongli is putting himself at risk, fighting the strong clones here," added Cai Hu, feigning a look of deep sincerity that didn't reach his cold eyes. "We're only doing this out of concern for your safety. You should be grateful for such leadership."
"This is a testament to Young Master Hongli's charity and benevolence," Cai Lang chimed in, his smirk widening. "You should cherish his kindness and head elsewhere before you get hurt."
The trio's blatant lies, delivered with smug confidence and an obvious, sickening layer of flattery, failed to convince their audience. The party of ten wasn't easily fooled by such transparent manipulation.
One cultivator let out a derisive, barking laugh. "Heh! You really expect us to believe that nonsense? We've been fighting clones all over this site, and they've only gotten weaker as we head west. There's no way this area has stronger clones. You're just hoarding."
The party leader, a capable Four Fangs Fighter, added coldly, "You're just dogs trying to hoard points for your young master. Do you think we're stupid? We're not falling for your tricks. Step aside, or we'll move you."
"Yeah!"
"That's right!"
The rest of the group echoed their leader, their voices filled with scorn, the sound of unsheathing weapons and shifting feet creating a chorus of impending violence.
The brothers' faces darkened, the mask of civility slipping to reveal the malice beneath. Cai Long shook his head, his tone turning icy. "There's no reasoning with you, is there? If you won't appreciate our young master's kindness, then you'll face the consequences of your own ignorance."
Cai Hu stepped forward, his voice brimming with a sharp, mock civility. "We're not unreasonable. If you're so determined to enter, prove yourselves. Defeat us, and we'll step aside. The exam doesn't prohibit participants from fighting each other, does it? It's all part of the 'evaluation'."
Cai Lang smirked as he added, "If you're strong enough to beat us, you might be strong enough to survive the 'danger' within. How about it? Do you agree to the terms?"
The party leader snarled, unleashing his Theríon in a visible ripple of translucent heat as he stepped forward. "Hmph! You think you're stronger than us? I'll crush you right here. Eat this fist!"
He charged at the brothers with fierce determination, his boots kicking up clods of dirt. He was confident in his ability to put these thugs in their place, his knuckles glowing with gathered energy.
Cai Hu chuckled, a dry, grating sound. "Oh? This is the guy who called us dogs, isn't it? How brave."
"Four Fangs Fighter," Cai Lang mused, a smirk tugging at his lips as he watched the man close the distance. "Not bad for a commoner. But unfortunately, not nearly good enough."
As the party leader closed the final meters, the three brothers simultaneously activated their Theríon. Their combined aura exploded outward like a physical shockwave, blanketing the clearing with an oppressive, suffocating energy that smelled of cold iron.
"!!" The party leader's eyes widened in horror, his momentum dying as he sensed the sheer scale of their strength. All three of them were Five Fangs Fighters.
Before he could react, the blunt force of their combined Theríon disrupted his internal flow and shattered his attack. The overwhelming energy blasted him backward, sending him sprawling across the uneven ground. Blood spilled from his mouth, staining the grass a dark crimson as he knelt, his body trembling from the violent spiritual backlash. His confidence, along with his internal meridians, felt shattered in an instant.
Cai Long flashed forward, his figure blurring into a streak of motion until he stood towering over the kneeling party leader. The air around him shimmered with the heat of his Five Fangs aura. With a cold smirk, he leaned in, his shadow swallowing the defeated man. "Now, tell me. Who's the dog? Answer wrongly, and I'll send you straight back to the scoreboard."
There was no mistaking the contempt in his voice—or his willingness to carry out the threat.
The party leader's face twisted, muscles in his jaw bulging with humiliation as he clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. He knew he had no choice; with his current strength, fighting back was impossible, and failing the exam would be a certainty. Swallowing his pride like a bitter draught, he stammered, "I… I am the dog."
Cai Long's grin widened, and he straightened up, his chest swelling with a hollow, dark pleasure. "That's right! You're the damn dog. And there's no place here for a mutt like you."
Without a shred of hesitation, Cai Long thrust his palm forward. The strike to the party leader's head landed with a dull, sickening thud followed by a deafening explosion of displaced air. The party leader's figure disintegrated into shimmering, translucent particles, his body forcibly pulled into the teleportation array to be spat back out at the scoreboard.
The remaining members of the party stood frozen, their faces a frantic mix of shock and fury. The brutal display of power and the casual betrayal of the leader's submission left them reeling.
"You!" one of them shouted, stepping forward with raw indignation. "His answer should have satisfied your ego! Why would you do that to him?"
The rest of the group nodded in agreement, their anger simmering just beneath the surface like a boiling pot. With their leader gone, their already challenging odds of passing the exam had dropped into the abyss.
But Cai Long's smirk only deepened, his eyes gleaming with the amusement of a child pulling wings off a fly. "Oh, I said I'd send him back if he answered wrongly. But I never promised mercy if he answered correctly," he replied, his tone mocking the very idea of honor.
"How shameless!" another party member growled, his fists clenched tightly as rage burned in his eyes like twin coals. The others mirrored his fury, glaring at the Cai brothers with a hatred that could have sparked a wildfire.
Cai Long and his brothers, however, merely laughed in their faces, the sound echoing mockingly through the woodland. "Come at us if you dare," Cai Hu sneered, his voice dripping with contempt as he flexed his hands, his knuckles popping.
The party of ten, now reduced to nine, exchanged frustrated, pained glances. As much as they wanted to surge forward and tear the trio down, they knew it was futile. The Cai brothers were too strong, and wasting their energy here would only ensure their own immediate failure.
With no other choice, the group turned and walked away, humiliated by their defeat. They resolved to regroup and find another area where they could gather points without interference. Gritting their teeth, they held back their anger as they retreated through the trees.
The Cai brothers, triumphant, watched them leave, their laughter ringing out once more as if they had just won a war. To them, this was merely another demonstration of their dominance—and Mei Hongli's absolute control over this section of the exam site.
As the group retreated from the brothers, a lone figure emerged in the distance. He moved at a leisurely pace, hands tucked behind his head and shoulders relaxed, whistling a carefree tune as if he were strolling through a serene, flower-filled garden rather than an exam site teeming with danger.
"Guys, isn't that GCS?" one of the party members asked, his voice tinged with a sharp disbelief.
"GCS?" another repeated, confused by the acronym.
"God's Crippled Son, you idiot!" the first hissed, lowering his voice as if the trees themselves were listening. Though the nickname was whispered by many in Divine Bird City, few dared to speak it aloud in Feng Luotian's presence. After all, cripple or not, he was still God's Son, and the ancient title carried a weight that even the most arrogant cultivators feared to provoke directly.
"But why is he here?" the confused member asked again, mirroring the bewilderment of the entire group.
"It's not why but how," another replied, his tone thick with skepticism. "How could he even be here? A cripple like him couldn't survive three minutes in this exam site, let alone walk around unharmed like this."
The others nodded uncertainly. They knew that Mei Hongyi's Illusion Clones were programmed to hunt anything within their line of sight. How had someone with no cultivation wandered through this woodland untouched? They could not understand how he had made it this far.
"He must have followed us," someone suggested hesitantly.
The new party's leader snapped, his voice crackling with irritation. "Followed us? Him? A cripple? Without any of us noticing a single footfall? Are you saying your senses are weaker than his?" The biting remark silenced the group, their pride stung by the sharp insinuation of incompetence.
"Don't tell me he's actually going to challenge those guys," one of the party members muttered, half in disbelief as they watched Feng Luotian casually stroll toward the Cai brothers.
"If he's not even taking this exam seriously, why bother showing up at all?" another grumbled, his tone laced with a deep, simmering frustration.
The group exchanged skeptical glances, still struggling to process the visual dissonance before them. Luotian, with his calm demeanor and carefree attitude, seemed entirely out of place in such a high-stakes, violent setting. Yet, something about his absolute confidence unnerved them—was it the sheer arrogance of a fallen royal, or did he possess a secret they couldn't fathom?
Curiosity kept them rooted in place, their feet heavy as they watched the scene unfold despite their better judgment.
One of the kinder members of the group, feeling a pang of pity, called out to him. "Brother, those guys are blocking the path. You won't get through unless you defeat them. And they're all Five Fangs Fighters. You shouldn't provoke them!"
Another added, trying to help, "It's safer to find another area to hunt clones. Or maybe find a large party to take you in so you can earn some points that way."
But someone else scoffed, the sound harsh and cold. "Who'd take him? Everyone's desperate to pass. No one has the time to carry a burden like him."
The conversation quickly devolved into a bickering chaos of voices.
"This exam is impossible! Even the weakest clones are Four Fangs. There's no way a cripple like him can manage!"
"Guys, that's rude!" the kind one protested, their voice small against the cynicism.
"Rude? Who cares about that right now? We're all fighting for our futures!"
The group's debate was abruptly interrupted as Luotian finally spoke. "Thank you all for your consideration," he said, his tone light and almost amused, like someone thanking a child for a drawing. Without breaking his stride, he continued his steady march toward the brothers.
His nonchalant dismissal irked the party members, the sting of being ignored cooling their sympathy. "Forget him! We've already wasted enough time. It's been over ten minutes since the exam started. Let's go find clones we can actually defeat," one said, turning away with a huff of indignation.
But another, genuinely intrigued by the sheer absurdity of the moment, stopped the group. "Hold on. Let's stick around for a bit. I want to see what GCS is up to. If it's what we think will happen, it won't take long."
The group exchanged uncertain looks but eventually nodded, drawn in by the morbid fascination of the impending disaster. "Fine. Let's see what happens," someone whispered.
They settled in to watch the unfolding event, their curiosity piqued by what Luotian might do next.
As Luotian approached the Cai brothers, a faint glow flickered in his blue eyes. His bloodline ability activated, identifying the trio's shared heritage:
///// Five Fangs Armament Conjuring Robin
///// [Conjuration]: Create any weapon out of Theríon capable of dealing more damage than a standard attack.
Luotian smirked, considering how the brothers might use those conjured weapons against him. With their bloodline ability laid out before him, he was already weighing their strengths and weaknesses before they could speak.
When the brothers finally noticed him, Cai Long stepped forward with a wide, mocking grin that revealed too many teeth. "Oh? Welcome, God's Crippled Son! How may I be of service today?" His words were a perfect, venomous mimicry of Mei Hongli's insults from a month ago, dripping with a thick, artificial mockery.