Off to the Examination

A private courtyard in the Martial Reception Gardens.

Dawn was not far off, and the grand examination was imminent.

Lu Zhen turned his wrist, and the antique rosewood box appeared in his palm.

Click.

The wooden box opened.

A lotus with a murky, chaotic hue lay quietly inside. Its medicinal fragrance was restrained, yet a single breath of it refreshed the mind.

Lu Zhen picked up the Dao Lotus and put it straight into his mouth.

Within his sea of consciousness.

The already towering phantom of the Black Heaven Demon God abruptly opened all six eyes.

A cool torrent showered down like spring rain.

Visibly, the Demon God's phantom began rapidly solidifying. Dark-gold patterns that seemed almost tangible emerged along its formerly illusory edges.

"What potent medicinal power." Lu Zhen kept his eyes tightly shut, his body trembling slightly.

It was a bliss that rose from the depths of his soul.

His soul was being cleansed and refined over and over.

Some time later.

"Grade-four spirit medicine really does defy the heavens." Lu Zhen exhaled a long breath of stale air, inwardly stunned.

He could clearly feel that his soul was far stronger than before.

Even more astonishing was his perception.

Lu Zhen stirred his thoughts.

The countless threads of laws in the void now appeared much clearer to him.

Wielding the laws felt as natural as moving his own fingers.

With my soul this strong, the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder Sword Formation should be another ten percent more powerful, Lu Zhen calculated inwardly.

Dawn broke.

Dong—

A resonant bell rang out from the distant horizon, echoing throughout Supreme Unity Mystic City.

The day of the grand examination had arrived.

Outside the Martial Reception Gardens, fierce winds suddenly rose.

Screech!

A bird's cry, sharp enough to pierce metal and split