A sharp crack rang out.
The Soul Testing Stone split apart on the spot.
Cracks burst from the top all the way to the base, and gray-white stone chips pattered down. Even the pedestal swayed.
The entire hall fell silent.
The pen in the Chief Instructor's hand dropped straight to the ground.
The two Deacons beside him stood there dumbfounded, unable to react for a long while.
Xiao Wu's eyes widened at first, then she suddenly burst out laughing.
"No way."
"You can even break a stone just by taking a Soul Power test?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how ridiculous they sounded. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, but she couldn't suppress the amusement in her eyes.
Su Chen withdrew his hand.
His expression barely changed.
It was as if the thing that had cracked wasn't the Soul Testing Stone of the Suotuo Branch Hall, but just a flimsy teacup.
Han Su's expression had turned as ugly as it could get.
He stared at the cracked stone pillar, his eyelids twitching.
"What's going on?"
The Chief Instructor's lips were dry.
"Vice Hall Master, this Soul Testing Stone can normally withstand Soul Power fluctuations above Rank 35. By rights—"
"By rights, what?"
Han Su's voice sank.
The Chief Instructor immediately lowered his head and didn't dare continue.
Shen Zhi stood some distance away, watching the cracked stone. He slowly let out a breath.
"Above Rank 35."
"Then he didn't just reach the limit. He blew straight through it."
The students from Suotuo City finally erupted, too.
"The Soul Testing Stone exploded?"
"How high did it get just now? Thirty-seven?"
"More than that, surely. I saw it still climbing."
"Is this guy even human?"
"Isn't he still so young? How is that possible?"
The people from Nuoding City, by contrast, were quieter.
Wang Sheng and the others were all dumbstruck.
They knew Su Chen was strong.
They knew their boss was fierce.
They also knew he usually kept a low profile.
But they had never imagined he could be fierce enough to crack Suotuo City's Soul Testing Stone with a single hand.
Wang Sheng opened his mouth.
"Boss, this..."
A Work-Study Student beside him swallowed hard.
"I'd be too scared to brag about this, even if I wanted to."
Xiao Wu had already walked over to Su Chen.
She first looked down at the cracked stone, then looked up at Su Chen.
"Did you do that on purpose?"
"No."
"I don't believe you."
"I really didn't."
Su Chen's tone was even.
"It was too brittle."
Xiao Wu froze for a moment, then her shoulders shook with laughter.
"If they hear you say that, half of them are going to die of anger."
Han Su had obviously heard every word.
He looked up at Su Chen, fire simmering in his eyes.
"His Highness the Holy Son, the Soul Testing Stone of the Suotuo Branch Hall is not a toy."
"If it cracked, that only means you failed to restrain your Soul Power when you sent it in and disrupted the process."
Quite a few people nearby understood what he was doing as soon as they heard that.
Han Su was trying to wriggle out of it again.
The Soul Testing Stone cracking was humiliating.
If he couldn't say that Su Chen was too strong, then he could only say Su Chen didn't know how to control his strength.
Xiao Wu didn't like what she was hearing.
"Are you addicted to losing?"
"If the stone is bad, just say the stone is bad."
"Why do you always have to blame other people?"
Han Su ignored her and kept his eyes on Su Chen.
"A Soul Power test isn't just about looking at your explosive strength."
"It's also about control."
"If you can't even manage that, then no matter how high your rank is, it's all empty."
Su Chen looked at him.
"Say what you mean."
Han Su raised a hand and pressed down his sleeve.
"There's another, high-grade Soul Testing Stone inside the branch hall."
"If His Highness the Holy Son truly has the ability, then use that one and test again."
"If you can still keep the result steady, I'll have nothing to say."
Shen Zhi frowned.
"Han Su, don't push it."
"The high-grade Soul Testing Stone is for internal use in the branch hall. It isn't for outsiders—"
"Isn't it being used for outsiders now?"
Han Su's voice turned cold.
"Or are you afraid, too?"
Su Chen looked at him and suddenly smiled.
"Fine."
"You want a test, I'll take one."
"But let's get one thing straight first."
"If it cracks again, how are you going to answer for it?"
Han Su's face tightened.
"The high-grade Soul Testing Stone can't possibly crack."
"I said if."
Su Chen's voice wasn't loud.
Yet it drowned out the hubbub around them.
"Since you keep raising the stakes, you should put up a proper wager."
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up at once.
She loved watching this sort of thing.
"Exactly."
"Don't just stand there running your mouth."
"What are you betting?"
Han Su stared at Su Chen, then fell silent for two breaths.
"What do you want?"
Su Chen raised a hand and pointed to the Registration Ledger from earlier.
"If it cracks again,"
"the Suotuo Branch Hall won't add any extra reviews to the rest of today's process."
"Xiao Wu's and my registrations will be approved directly at the highest special-recruitment level."
"Also."
He paused and looked at Han Su.
"You'll apologize to her in person."
Xiao Wu was taken aback.
She'd thought Su Chen would keep pressuring Han Su on his own.
She hadn't expected the second half to be for her.
She turned to look at Su Chen, and her gaze softened a little.
Han Su's expression darkened further.
"Why should I?"
"Because you've been targeting her from the start."
Su Chen's tone was calm.
"You sent word to stop us at the entrance, changed the rules at the last minute, and kept adding steps to the process."
"You dared to do it. Why not own up to it?"
The area around them fell silent.
Lu Qingci stood outside the crowd, holding the Wind-Splitting Spear. She said nothing.
But her eyes were already fixed on Han Su.
The Suotuo City students around them fell quiet, too.
Because there was no way to refute those words.
Han Su gritted his teeth.
"Fine."
"If it cracks again, I'll own up to it."
Su Chen nodded.
"Go get the stone."
Han Su flicked his sleeve and immediately signaled the Deacons behind him to handle it.
Before long,
four burly Deacons carried over an even taller, thicker pillar of dark green stone.
Its base was cast from black iron, its surface etched with denser patterns, and even its corners were wrapped in Soul Guidance metal.
Just by its weight, it was clearly a step up from the last one.
The Chief Instructor wiped away his sweat as he explained.
"This one can steadily test Soul Power below Rank 40."
"Normally, it's only used for talent assessments within the branch hall."
Xiao Wu muttered under her breath when she heard that.
"Another 'normally.'"
"Why does everything they call normal here seem to love breaking?"
Su Chen heard her and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Han Su's face turned even darker.
"Begin."
Su Chen didn't dawdle.
He walked up to the dark green stone pillar and pressed his hand against it.
This time, not a single person around them said a word.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on that hand and the stone pillar.
One breath.
Two breaths.
The markings inside the pillar suddenly lit up.
Rank 20.
Rank 25.
Rank 30.
Rank 35.
The speed was still frighteningly fast.
But unlike before, this time the Soul Power wasn't surging wildly in every direction.
It was steady.
Steady as a blade climbing upward along a drawn line.
Thirty-six.
Thirty-seven.
Thirty-eight.
At this point, the stone pillar gave a distinct tremor.
But it didn't crack.
The light kept surging upward.
Thirty-nine.
People around the edge of the field were already holding their breath.
Han Su stared at the etched line, his fingers tightening.
The next instant.
A ring of dazzling blue-white Soul Power light burst from the top of the stone pillar.
The reading stopped steadily at level thirty-nine.
It didn't crack.
It didn't explode.
There wasn't the slightest unsteady wobble.
It simply stopped, crystal clear for everyone to see.
The entire venue fell silent for a moment.
Then it erupted like a boiling pot.
"Level thirty-nine!"
"What the hell are we even measuring for?"
"Level thirty-nine at his age? He hasn't even finished growing!"
"Suotuo City really hit a brick wall this time."
"Not a brick wall. A mountain."
Wang Sheng's face flushed with excitement.
"Thirty-nine!"
"Our boss is level thirty-nine!"
The Work-Study Students beside him couldn't shout anything else. They just repeated those three words over and over.
Shen Zhi stared at the high-grade Soul Testing Stone, his expression changing.
It wasn't because of the number thirty-nine itself.
It was because of the control he'd just witnessed.
Steady. Far too steady.
That meant Su Chen hadn't cracked the ordinary Soul Testing Stone earlier because he couldn't control his strength.
He simply hadn't taken that stone seriously.
Xiao Wu looked up at Su Chen, her eyes shining as if filled with light.
"Thirty-nine."
She murmured it once, then smiled.
"No wonder you said yesterday that Zhou Ling had no idea he'd lose."
"He really didn't know a thing."
Su Chen withdrew his hand.
The light on the pillar slowly faded.
He turned to Han Su.
"Is that clear enough now?"
Han Su stood rooted to the spot. "Hard to look at" could no longer begin to describe his expression.
The high-grade Soul Testing Stone he'd brought out was the most stable one in the branch hall.
Not only had it failed to suppress Su Chen, it had put "level thirty-nine" and "perfect control" on display for everyone to see.
Suotuo Branch Hall had just lost every last shred of face.
Su Chen didn't press him further.
He merely reminded him, flatly, "What did you promise just now?"
Han Su's Adam's apple bobbed.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on him.
If he tried to wriggle out of it again, the Vice Hall Master would become a laughingstock after today.
Han Su slowly turned to Xiao Wu.
The look he gave her was deeply reluctant.
But Xiao Wu stood straight, not backing down at all.
She even took half a step forward.
"Go ahead."
"I'm listening."
The flesh on Han Su's face twitched.
In the end, he still forced the words out through gritted teeth.
"Today, Suotuo Branch Hall acted inappropriately."
Xiao Wu blinked.
"That's it?"
Han Su glared at her.
Xiao Wu smiled.
"You promised to apologize."
"That doesn't count."
Someone nearby nearly burst out laughing.
Han Su's hand inside his sleeve had clenched until his knuckles turned white.
But with so many people watching, he could only swallow his anger.
Two breaths later, he added stiffly, "...I'm sorry."
Xiao Wu was satisfied.
She turned her head toward Su Chen, her eyes curving into a smile.
"I accept."
She couldn't hide her smugness at all.
Su Chen looked at her and gave a faint smile.
The Chief Instructor finally dared to continue the proceedings. He hurriedly opened the Registration Ledger and began writing in a fluster.
"Su Chen, level thirty-nine."
"Xiao Wu, level twenty-seven."
"Approved under the highest special recruitment standard."
His hand trembled as he wrote.
Those two lines would raise the ceiling for this year's special recruitment in Suotuo City so high, it might as well have been ripped clean off.
Shen Zhi came over and spoke quietly.
"The Soul Power and combat assessment records are technically complete."
"But according to procedure, the branch hall will hold a small Enrollment Banquet tonight."
Xiao Wu immediately frowned.
"Another meal?"
"Can't we skip it?"
"Just seeing Han Su makes me lose my appetite."
Shen Zhi coughed.
"You can skip it."
"But if you go, you can get full access to the branch hall's files and the Training Ground keys."
At the word "keys," Xiao Wu lost interest.
She turned to Su Chen.
"You decide."
Just as Su Chen was about to answer, a burst of orderly footsteps sounded from the edge of the field.
Two teams of Spirit Hall Branch guards moved aside at the entrance to the passage.
A young woman in a moon-white dress walked in at an unhurried pace.
She wasn't very old, but had a calm air about her. A string of small silver keys hung at her waist, and she made almost no sound as she walked.
After entering, she glanced first at the cracked old Soul Testing Stone, then at the new pillar that had lit up to level thirty-nine.
Finally, her gaze settled on Su Chen.
"I'm late."
"But it seems the show's already over."
The moment Shen Zhi saw her, his expression changed.
"Why are you here?"
The woman didn't answer him.
She simply took a thin letter bearing the branch hall's secret insignia from her sleeve and held it out to Su Chen.
"All Han Su can give you are the public records and keys."
"This letter contains what's truly worth seeing in Suotuo City."
Xiao Wu looked at the woman, then at the letter.
"Who are you?"
The woman turned to her and spoke softly.
"Xu Tinglan, from the Internal Affairs Department of Suotuo Branch Hall."
She paused, then added, "And I'm also the person at tonight's banquet who most wants His Highness the Holy Son to stay away."
Before you continue