Head of True Transmission

The aura of thunder and fire in the Stele Forest had yet to completely dissipate.

The charred earth churned. Only a few dried trunks remained of the old locust trees, creaking in the wind.

The purple arc of light at the Dragon Locking Well had vanished, but the air still held a dry heat that made one's skin itch.

Hall Master Gu Zhenyue and more than a dozen instructors rushed into this scene.

They moved quickly, their footsteps making a series of sharp clacks whenever they trod on gravel.

Gu Zhenyue led the way. His expression was tense, and though he had sheathed his long saber, the veins at the base of his thumb bulged.

At a glance, he spotted Old Qi sitting beside the well.

The man who had guarded the well was now hunched over, seated among the rocks and utterly lifeless.

Old Qi's lapels were covered in dried blood. His face was deathly pale, and his gaze carried a trace of desolation.

Standing before Old Qi was Li Pingsheng.

Li Pingsheng was lowering his head to brush the dust off his sleeve.

The purplish swelling in his right arm had disappeared, and a faint glow could still be seen flowing beneath his skin.

Gu Zhenyue stopped in his tracks.

The instructors behind him stopped as well. Some instinctively gripped their sword hilts.

The person standing before them was no ordinary disciple. He was a being who filled them with fear.

The pressure left the instructors, who considered themselves experts, deeply uneasy. Even breathing felt difficult.

Gu Zhenyue wanted to say something, but Li Pingsheng turned and glanced at him.

His gaze was calm, without the slightest change in emotion.

Yet that one look sent a chill down the spine of Gu Zhenyue, an expert at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm.

He had the strange feeling that if he took even one step forward, he would end up like the charred corpse on the ground.

Gu Zhenyue forced the words back down. As he watched Li Pingsheng, he unconsciously shifted his weight half a step back.

"Hall Master!"

Li Pingsheng spoke first, breaking the silence.

Only then did Gu Zhenyue find his voice again. He coughed, his tone carrying a hint of probing.

What had happened here? And what of the man in black?

Li Ping leaned to one side, revealing the charred remains not far away.

"Dead."

He pointed at Old Qi, his tone softening and carrying a trace of respect.

"If Old Qi hadn't risked his life to hold that fiend back, then activated the formation's lightning at the critical moment and killed him, I would have been buried in the well."

Old Qi sat on the ground, his eyelids twitching faintly.

He turned to look at Li Pingsheng. His lips moved, but in the end, all that came out was a hoarse, bitter laugh.

"Old Qi, are you injured?"

Gu Zhenyue hurried over and asked earnestly.

Old Qi waved a hand, his voice extremely hoarse.

"Once you get old, you're not much use anymore. The pain hasn't stopped yet. I'll leave the rest to you, young man."

He closed his eyes.

Li Pingsheng looked at Gu Zhenyue and spoke the next words without expression.

"The Black-Robed Gu Master was in league with the Zhao Family and planned to break the seal during the grand examination's sacrificial ceremony. After Old Qi discovered him, he sent me down to help. We completed the task. The fiend has been eliminated, and the formation poses no danger."

Gu Zhenyue looked at Li Pingsheng, bewildered.

Why had a newly enrolled disciple gone down the well to help?

Had Old Qi been the one who unleashed that bolt of lightning into the sky?

Seeing Li Pingsheng's unharmed right arm and Old Qi's resigned demeanor, Gu Zhenyue understood.

Excellent. Old Qi had defended the well with his life, and Li Pingsheng had kept his head in the face of danger.

Gu Zhenyue laughed heartily, his delight at surviving the ordeal plain in his voice.

He turned to face the instructors behind him and announced his decision.

"Pass down the order: the black-robed fiend has been executed, and the danger at the Dragon Locking Well is resolved. Today's grand examination has two first-place winners: Old Qi and Li Pingsheng."

He took a bronze medal from his robes, its edges inlaid with fragments of jade.

It was the first medal in the Azure Cloud Martial Hall's hundred-year history.

"During your lifetime, you defeated every opponent in a grand examination and completed the task of protecting the city. You deserve this medal."

Gu Zhenyue walked over to Li Pingsheng and handed it to him.

"From this day on, you're the Head Disciple of the Inner Courtyard. You can freely allocate any resources in the martial hall's Inner City. Whatever you need, it's yours."

Li Pingsheng accepted the medal, his fingers touching its cool, engraved surface.

He calmly bowed.

"Thank you, Hall Master."

His thoughts were no longer on the medal.

He needed more resources to awaken another specialty.

By the time Li Ping left the Stele Forest, evening had fallen.

The Martial Practice Field was littered with wreckage, and a foul stench hung in the air.

Lu Qingshan stood by the stands, holding Yunmei.

His face was grim.

When Lu Qingshan saw Li Pingsheng, his eyes actually welled up.

"Brother Li!"

Li Pingsheng didn't reply. He went straight over to them.

When Yunmei saw her brother, her little mouth quivered, and tears streamed down her face.

She wriggled out of Lu Qingshan's arms and stumbled toward Li Pingsheng, finally wrapping both arms tightly around his leg.

In her little hand was a Peace Talisman with very rough stitching.

The talisman was dusty, and a faint streak of blood marked it.

"Brother, I want to go home."

Yunmei sobbed.

"All right. We're going home."

Li Pingsheng straightened and looked at Lu Qingshan, his gaze ice-cold.

"What about the Zhao Family?"

Lu Qingshan spat on the ground and said viciously,

"That old dog Zhao Zhentian got half his shoulder bitten off by Zhao Ming and disappeared."

"The rest are locked in a side hall of the Zhao Mansion by the Hall Master's men. Anyone who tried to escape was caught and dragged back by Master Pei's people."

"Lead the way."

Li Ping spoke only those two words.

The Zhao Family had to be wiped out.

Not because they had colluded with the fiend, nor because they had blocked anyone else's path.

It was because of Yunmei.

The Zhao Family estate was in complete chaos.

The vermilion gates had been smashed to pieces. The martial hall's enforcement squad rushed in and out, accompanied by a steady stream of wails and curses.

When Li Ping led everyone into the Zhao Family's secret chamber, the air was thick with the smell of medicine and blood.

The chamber was three levels underground. Various oddly shaped clay jars hung on the walls, filled with writhing Gu Insects.

Inside a hidden compartment in the chamber lay several exquisite little jade boxes, neatly arranged.

The first held a crimson inner core.

Inner Core of a Second-Rank Blazing Fire Python

The second box contained a pair of white crystals that radiated a chill.

Essence of a Second-Rank Ice Pole Silkworm

Li Pingsheng ran his fingers over the boxes, one after another.

He'd struck it rich.

Li Pingsheng touched the Peace Talisman tucked against his chest, then looked at the medal in his hand, the one naming him Head of True Transmission.

Only when something was in his own hands did it feel real.

"Brother Qingshan."

"Brother Li?"

"If the Zhao Family has any meat from high-rank demonic beasts, send it to my courtyard."

Li Ping said this casually as he walked out.

"All right. I'll make sure it's done."

Lu Qingshan agreed gladly.