Is the Spirit Appraisal Stone Broken?

The ghostly blue silhouette of the Black Tortoise lingered for roughly ten breaths before slowly fading away.

"My heavens, was that really the Black Tortoise?"

"Wu Yu, how could he possibly have..."

"The Wu Family is going to rise!"

"Who was mocking him just now?"

Yang Lin, who had led the mockery earlier, had gone pale as dirt. He subconsciously took a step back, wishing he could bury himself in the crowd.

Wu Yu blankly withdrew his hand, staring dazedly at his palm before turning toward Li Yuan in confusion, as though he had yet to process what had happened.

Li Yuan gave a faint nod.

Su Wenyuan and Chen Shuo moved almost at the same time. With a flicker of their bodies, they landed before the Spirit Appraisal Stone.

Dean Su raised a hand, signaling for the excited crowd to calm down. After concentrating for a moment, he slowly shook his head.

"It is not a pure-blooded Black Tortoise."

"It resembles a turtle, but faint star patterns appear upon its shell. Its color is green, and it lacks some of the aura of slaughter. It should be some exceedingly rare ancient divine turtle."

Chen Shuo extended a hand and held it above the Spirit Appraisal Stone without touching it. Closing his eyes to sense it, he opened them a moment later, looked at Su Wenyuan, and nodded.

"Its aura is ancient and pure, and its defensive nature is exceptionally strong. Though it is not one of the Four Symbol Sacred Beasts, it is still top-tier."

"Bloodline manifestation: Unknown Divine Turtle."

"Defense-oriented."

"Grade: Seven, high-grade."

Dean Su said to the instructor responsible for recording the results.

"Not bad. Among the ninth grades, it ranks in the upper three. Rare, truly rare. Given time and diligent cultivation without cease, his prospects are boundless."

Su Wenyuan turned to Wu Yu. "Boy of the Wu Family, what is your name?"

Wu Yu finally snapped out of his shock. Hearing the dean praise him and ask his name, his face immediately flushed crimson with excitement.

"S-Student Wu Yu."

"Good. Wu Yu, wait to one side for now. Arrangements will be made later." Su Wenyuan nodded amiably.

In a daze, Wu Yu followed the instructor aside, still able to hear the envious chatter around him.

"Grade Seven, upper third-grade!"

"My heavens, did the Wu Family's ancestral graves start smoking?"

"What divine turtle? Isn't it just a slightly more impressive turtle..."

Yang Lin's expression was ugly amid the crowd. He had awakened a mid-grade offensive talent and had just been receiving everyone's compliments, only for this boy to steal the spotlight in the blink of an eye.

Wu Yu heard them, yet it did nothing to spoil his mood. So what if it was a turtle? So what if it was a divine turtle?

He was no longer trash. He finally had talent.

And it was Grade Seven at that.

He looked gratefully at Li Yuan. Had it not been for Li Yuan's encouragement, he likely would have given up already.

"Next, Li Yuan."

The instructor steadied himself and continued the test.

Li Yuan walked calmly to the Spirit Appraisal Stone, stretched out his hand, and firmly pressed it against the cold stone.

He composed himself and stilled his thoughts.

One breath, two breaths...

Just as everyone thought another long silence would follow, the Spirit Appraisal Stone reacted.

Buzz!

Rather than gradually brightening as it had before, a dense emerald-green light burst forth at once, so rich it seemed impossible to dissolve.

The green was so pure and brimming with vigorous vitality that everyone nearby felt their spirits lift.

"Healing-oriented. Such pure life energy means it is at least a mid-grade healing talent."

A knowledgeable student blurted it out.

"Green—wood-aligned healing. That is definitely it."

"Who would have thought Li Yuan possessed a healing talent?"

"Though healing-oriented talents are less eye-catching than offense or defense, they are still quite rare..."

On the platform, Su Wenyuan nodded slightly, while Chen Shuo's gaze stirred as well. Healing-oriented talents were relatively scarce and were valuable resources in both the Demon Suppression Bureau and the military.

Just as everyone discussed it heatedly and the instructor raised his pen to record the result, a sudden mutation occurred.

Without any warning, the dense emerald-green light instantly went out.

It was as though someone had gone puff and blown out a lamp. One moment it had been dazzlingly brilliant; the next, there was only darkness.

"Hm?"

"What happened?"

"It... it went out?"

"Did the appraisal stone break?"

The entire venue was stunned.

The instructor's pen hovered in midair, his face full of astonishment. Dean Su and Chen Shuo also frowned at the same time and looked toward the Spirit Appraisal Stone.

It was not unheard of for the light to go out midway through a test, but that usually happened because a talent was extremely unstable. For such a dense radiance to suddenly vanish was indeed rare.

Buzz!

The Spirit Appraisal Stone trembled again. This time, a deep, tranquil azure light emerged, rich and enduring, with faint ripples flowing within it.

"Water-aligned?"

"Why did it become water-aligned again?"

Someone cried out in alarm.

"Could that have been an illusion just now? Was it actually water-aligned?"

"That cannot be right. That green light was clearly healing-oriented..."

The discussion grew even louder.

On the platform, Su Wenyuan furrowed his brows in confusion as well.

Yet the changes did not stop.

Several breaths after the azure light appeared, it went out again without warning.

Then came a blazing fiery red.

Then an earth-yellow as heavy as mountains.

Next came an incomparably sharp golden radiance.

A nimble, ethereal wind-green.

And finally, a deep and mysterious thunder-purple.

Red, yellow, gold, green, purple... lights of every color, representing talent potential of different attributes, lit up one after another upon the Spirit Appraisal Stone like a revolving lantern.

The plaza had gone from initial surprise to utter silence. Everyone was dumbstruck by this bizarre sight they had never heard of before, staring blankly at the flickering Spirit Appraisal Stone.

"W-What in the world is going on?"

"The appraisal stone... really is broken, right?"

"I have never seen such a phenomenon."

"What exactly is going on with this Li Yuan...?"

Su Wenyuan and Chen Shuo both wore grave expressions on the platform. They had already risen from their seats.

Yet Li Yuan, at the heart of the storm, was completely unaware of everything outside.

The instant his palm touched the Spirit Appraisal Stone, he felt a sharp pain. Spikes had inexplicably grown from the smooth surface of the stone, instantly piercing his skin.

As if alive, it began greedily drawing his blood.

He tried to pull his hand away, only to discover in horror that his entire body was unable to move. He could not even make a sound; only his consciousness remained incomparably clear.

While lights of every color flashed outside in turn, Li Yuan's consciousness was dragged by a force into the depths of his sea of consciousness.

It was not a realm of pure darkness.

A towering, ancient palace floated silently within his consciousness. Its design was peculiar, its upturned eaves soaring, its doors tightly shut, while a hazy pale-gold radiance flowed across its entire body.

It was exactly the same as the one he had seen in his dreams, except now it was larger and more real.

Rumble—

A low roar echoed through his consciousness. The tightly shut bronze gates actually began to tremble faintly, and resplendent, magnificent light shone through the crack between them.

Those doors were slowly opening.

Though only a narrow crack had opened, an indescribably vast aura spread out from within.

That aura was ancient and boundless, bearing supreme majesty, as though it carried the birth and death of stars, the turning of time and space, and the origin and end of all paths.

Before this aura, Li Yuan felt even his soul trembling—not in fear, but in reverence born from the very source of life.

Through the gap in the doors, he vaguely saw part of a scene: a boundless river of stars formed from countless brilliant points of light, slowly flowing onward.

The starlight flickered uncertainly, as though it contained endless mysteries.

His mind was instantly drawn completely into that vast aura.

Outside, meanwhile, the lights upon the Spirit Appraisal Stone continued changing.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple—representing the basic attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and thunder.

After a dizzying, frenzied cycle of rotation.

Boom!

Seven colors erupted from within the Spirit Appraisal Stone at the same time, forming an incomparably gorgeous rainbow.

It stretched across the space above the Spirit Appraisal Stone. Bathed in its rainbow glow, Li Yuan seemed to be clothed in a sacred, hazy robe of many colors.

"All attributes."

"Grade: Nine!"

This time, even Su Wenyuan's expression changed, his voice shaking with excitement.