I Take the Risk, You Take the Bullet

After writing his name down, Shentu Nantian felt uneasy, but also a little expectant.

The light gradually converged, forming a blurry character behind the four characters "Shentu Nantian." The strokes of that character looked like...

"Zong"?

Shentu Nantian raised an eyebrow, feeling neither delighted nor disappointed, but rather that it was just average.

"Zong" is only one level higher than the previous Black-clothed Woman, and can hardly be considered amazing.

No one knows exactly how big the gap is between "Zong" and the higher level of "Soul". Perhaps the gap is huge, and none of the trial participants present can surpass "Zong".

After all, there are only six levels, and each level has a large span, so even two people with significantly different talents might be placed in the same level.

"If it weren't for that kid... I might have reached the 'Soul' level..." Shentu Nantian thought bitterly.

At this time, the word "Zong" has become more and more obvious, and it has been determined that it is Shentu Nantian's talent.

But... at that very moment, Shentu Nantian's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he felt as if his blood and qi had frozen in an instant. A faint wisp of black qi appeared on Shentu Nantian's face.

This wisp of black energy, like a tiny venomous snake, flashed across Shentu Nantian 'Shentu Nantian face and disappeared back beneath his skin.

Shentu Nantian was completely unaware of the suddenly appearing Black Snake, and neither did the others—they simply didn't have the ability to see it.

Only Yi Yun could see it clearly.

"Is it that Evil Energy?"

Yi Yun paused slightly, then touched his chin with a strange expression.

More than half a year ago, Yi Yun saw the Evil Energy contained in the Empress's relic at the Medicine Trial Assembly. He controlled this energy with the help of the Purple Crystal and sent it into Shentu Nantian's body all at once.

Yi Yun didn't know what other harm this Evil Energy would cause to the human body besides shortening lifespan. Anyway, the test subject was Shentu Nantian, and Yi Yun was happy to see this Evil Energy wreak havoc at will.

During the Empress Secret Realm Trial, when Yi Yun saw Shentu Nantian again, he sensed a violent, demonic aura emanating from Shentu Nantian, as if he had cultivated some kind of demonic art.

This aura is likely related to Shentu Nantian's torment by Yi Yun more than half a year ago, which caused a drastic change in his temperament, but it may also be caused by that Evil Energy.

Now, as Shentu Nantian was testing his talent, Yi Yun saw the Evil Energy reappear. Yi Yun then activated his Energy Vision, and within that Energy Vision, the invisible Black Snake swam within Shentu Nantian's body like a parasitic ghost.

It passed through Shentu Nantian's brain, traveled down his spinal cord, and entered his dantian. It circled several times in his dantian, and without anyone noticing, it took away a trace of life force from Shentu Nantian's body...

Yi Yun felt that compared to more than half a year ago, this small Black Snake seemed to have grown a lot stronger. However, it had not yet developed intelligence. Whether it was devouring energy or growing, it followed its own instincts.

In this situation, Yi Yun could still use the Purple Crystal to control it and extract it from Shentu Nantian's body, but of course, Yi Yun would never do that.

As the invisible Black Snake appeared, the writing on the crystal pillar underwent a bizarre change!

The character "Zong" that was almost formed suddenly became blurred, and the strokes scattered like tadpoles.

"Um?"

Shentu Nantian was stunned. He watched as the scattered light regrouped, but this time, the words it formed were different!

That word is... ""!?

Shentu Nantian was stunned; he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The font is getting clearer and clearer, it is clearly the word "Shi"!

From the word "zong", it became..."shi"!

What!?

Shentu Nantian was completely stunned, as if struck by lightning, his body frozen in front of the crystal pillar.

"Scholar"!!

My talent is merely that of the lowest rank, "Scholar"!?

Shentu Nantian couldn't accept this reality; all the blood in his body was rushing to his face.

How could I possibly be just a "scholar"? There must be a mistake! It clearly showed as a "clan" at the beginning, why did it change!?

Shentu Nantian's blood surged, and he even wanted to draw his sword and cleave the crystal pillar in two!

Of course, he didn't have the guts.

"Even Shentu Nantian is a 'scholar'!"

"He was just one step away from advancing to the next level; the standard for this crystal pillar is too high."

People were talking amongst themselves, each with their own thoughts.

Most of them were gloating. Shentu Nantian, a top genius in the Tianyuan Realm, wasn't much better than them, so they had nothing to be dissatisfied about.

"Amazing! Amazing!" Just then, the dark-skinned youth suddenly jumped up in the crowd. "This Young Master Nantian is truly extraordinary; he almost made it into the 'Sect'! Applause! Applause!"

As the dark-skinned boy spoke, he clapped his hands animatedly, but to Shentu Nantian, this clapping was nothing short of blatant mockery.

"You little brat, you're asking for it!!"

Shentu Nantian, his eyes red, looked at the dark-skinned boy clapping. If it weren't for the rules of the Empress Secret Realm, he would have loved to cut off this idiot's head.

The dark-skinned boy was startled and dared not clap anymore. His half-foolish appearance caused many people to chuckle.

Of course, they were mainly laughing not at the dark-skinned boy, but at Shentu Nantian.

"Snort!"

Shentu Nantian snorted coldly and stepped down from the crystal pillar. Before leaving, he gave Yi Yun a deep look, his eyes filled with icy killing intent. Clearly, Shentu Nantian attributed his failure in the assessment to the Seven Fiends Heavenly Yin Pill Yi Yun had fed him.

However, how could the Seven Fiends Heavenly Yin Pill possibly have such a powerful effect?

Yi Yun chuckled inwardly. He hadn't expected that Evil Power to be so formidable. It reminded Yi Yun of the demons in biographical novels that parasitize human bodies, sucking away their life force and Divine Soul power. This Black Snake was even more terrifying than ordinary demons. It could devour the host's life force and vitality without the host's knowledge, and it even forcibly reduced Shentu Nantian's talent.

"What exactly was used to make this Empress's relic? Could its most crucial ingredient have been found by the Shentu Family within the Empress Secret Realm? Otherwise, how could it be so strange?"

Judging from the notes of the Ancient Empress who was determined to cure her Savage Heaven Master Fatal Meridian, the Ancient Empress did not consume this relic. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, only Shentu Nantian Yi Yun have consumed the empress's relic.

Of course, Yi Yun absorbed the essence of the Empress's relic, while Shentu Nantian absorbed the evil aspect.

Others take risks, Yi Yun gets the spoils; Yi Yun takes risks, others take the fall.

This is Yi Yun's principle in life.

It's shameless, but very practical, especially when the person taking the bullet isn't a good person either; then everyone's happy. (To be continued~^~)