Three Years Old? Are You Sure You're Not Joking?

Crimson Flame Tianhai Branch.

Li Xin had just returned from outside when a bald, burly man approached her with a broad smile and asked cheerfully,

"Is everything taken care of?"

"One minor Scarlet Church leader got away. The people below are already reconstructing his likeness and voiceprint. We can put out a wanted notice afterward."

Li Xin spoke casually.

For people at their level, incidents like today's were not uncommon.

Especially as the number of "bridges" continued to grow, these lone-wolf vicious crimes had become increasingly frequent. They had not reached the point of being commonplace, but they were certainly no longer unusual.

A vicious glint appeared in the bald man's eyes. "These damn cockroaches never die. You crush one, and a whole swarm pops up. Fucking disgusting!"

"There's nothing we can do about that. Even before the Old Soil appeared, plenty of people were easily brainwashed. Much less in this supernatural era."

Li Xin shook her head. "Enough of that. Let me ask you something. We should still have recommendation slots for the Spark Program, right?"

"We do. We have five recommendation slots in total. With Little Six from Old Xing's family, we've used three, leaving two." The bald man nodded, then asked curiously, "Why are you suddenly asking? Do you need one?"

"Yes, I do need one." Li Xin nodded.

She then explained how the Lin Family had helped handle this vicious incident and wanted to exchange that merit for a recommendation slot.

Afterward, she added, "Whether for public or private reasons, I have to help them. Publicly, their family saved at least several hundred people. Privately, that little Lin Xuan saved my niece. If you think giving up a slot just like this is too hasty, you can put it under my name—"

Before Li Xin could finish, the bald man interrupted, "Why are we talking about public and private matters between us? That's no fun. It's just a recommendation slot. We had extras anyway. If you want to use one, just use it."

"Thank you." Li Xin gave a slight nod.

"What are you thanking me for? We're family." The bald man grinned.

"Hm?"

Li Xin frowned. Suddenly, she turned and sent him flying with a kick, straight into the building behind them.

Crash—!

The bald man crashed backward, knocking over several tables, but his smile only grew brighter. Without changing expression or skipping a beat, he sprang back to his feet with a kip-up.

When a newcomer nearby saw the bald man fly into the room, he immediately looked toward the doorway as if facing a great enemy and said to his colleague beside him,

"Enemy attack!"

"You're still too young, Little Li. That's Deputy Minister Li beating Minister Gao." His colleague calmly patted him on the shoulder.

"???"

The newcomer known as Little Li looked utterly baffled.

The deputy minister was beating the minister?

Wasn't that completely backwards?

Why did the surrounding colleagues all look so used to it? Either they carried on as though it had nothing to do with them, or they clicked their tongues and watched the show with interest.

But he quickly realized his colleague was telling the truth.

Not long after their Minister Gao went flying into the room, Deputy Minister Li walked in from outside, while Minister Gao immediately followed after her.

"Stop staring. You'll understand eventually." His colleague motioned for Little Li to continue with his work and not mind what had just happened.

Yes, that bald, burly man was Gao Yang, the minister of the Crimson Flame Tianhai Branch. In terms of rank, he was Li Xin's superior.

However, the two had actually joined Crimson Flame during the same period and had known each other for nearly twenty years. Much of what had happened between them was beyond outsiders' understanding.

In short, the old hands at the Crimson Flame Tianhai Branch had long grown accustomed to scenes like this. If they did not see it for a while, they would even feel as though something was missing.

"Ahem, enough joking around." Gao Yang quickly caught up to Li Xin. "Tell me about this kid named Lin Xuan. I'll submit the report later."

Only then did Li Xin say, "Lin Xuan, from Longjiang, three years old this year—"

"Three years old? Are you sure you're not joking?" Gao Yang asked with a stunned expression before Li Xin could finish.

"You should know better than anyone that I don't like joking around." Li Xin stopped walking.

"Yes, yes, that's not what I meant. It's just... isn't three years old a bit too absurd?" Gao Yang said, looking conflicted. "Last time, that five-year-old from the Lingnan Wang Family was successfully selected, and it shocked quite a few people. We even talked about it back then and thought it was unbelievable. But three years old..."

Gao Yang did not continue, but the attitude he wished to convey was already perfectly clear.

The Lingnan Wang Family was already a prestigious clan in the Lingnan region. Moreover, Lingnan had many uninhabited areas, where the number of "bridges" was relatively dense.

The Wang Family had been among the first groups to come into contact with the Old Soil. No one knew how much foundation they had accumulated.

The Wang Family had produced a prodigy who had awakened supernatural abilities from birth, and who had passed the Spark Program assessment at five years old. That had indeed shocked many people, but it was still within most people's range of acceptance.

After all, that was the Wang Family, a major clan that ranked among the best in Lingnan!

Yet Li Xin now suddenly wanted to recommend a three-year-old child with no particularly special background, two years younger than that Wang Family Prodigy.

How could Gao Yang not be surprised?

It was not that he looked down on children from ordinary families. There truly were peerless talents among them, people capable of trampling the children of aristocratic clans beneath their feet.

But that generally happened only after they became adults, because in the early stages, the resources they could obtain were simply unequal.

Putting them on the same platform for comparison in those early stages was extremely unfair to ordinary children. That was an indisputable fact.

Li Xin and Gao Yang were both children of major clans themselves, so they understood better than others just how vast that difference was.

Yet in the face of Gao Yang's doubts, Li Xin calmly said, "Whether he can pass the assessment is not something I need to consider. I only promised them an opportunity to take the assessment. That isn't against the rules, is it?"

"Of course not." Gao Yang shook his head. "It's only a recommendation. Even if he fails, no one will be held accountable. I'm just afraid something might happen to that little guy during the assessment. Wouldn't that leave you caught in the middle?"

"That little guy's eldest sister is the Tianbei Martial Arts College Entrance Examination Top Scorer, and his brother was already able to learn about the Spark Program from the official database on his own at sixteen. Do you think a family like that would gamble with their family member's life?"

Li Xin recalled the information she knew about the Lin Family and the impression they had left on her during their earlier interactions. She continued, "Even if we take a step back and assume they really are fooling around, and something happens in the end, it still won't be my fault.

I'm merely helping them out. If they truly blame me for it, then so be it."

Li Xin appeared utterly unconcerned.

Hearing this, Gao Yang realized that it did seem to be the case.

With Li Xin's status, she did not need to curry favor with anyone. There was no need for her to overthink things. She could simply do whatever she pleased.

"Fine, I'll arrange it. In a few days, Old Xing and I will be taking those kids to the Imperial Capital anyway. We can bring him along then," Gao Yang said.

"You don't mind if I come too, do you?" Li Xin asked.

"I don't mind. I really, really don't mind!"

Gao Yang's face immediately lit up.