When Barbara gave no answer, Eros could only keep studying the eight- or nine-year-old boy through the barrier of light, curious about what he would do next.
To his disappointment, however, the boy merely frowned at him without doing anything else.
Only after a long while did the boy speak. "A very strong elven aura. There is no doubt that this is the bloodline of the Elf Race, but this bloodline..."
He hesitated, unsure how to describe it, because he had discovered that he could not see through this student's bloodline at all.
When he traced the bloodline back to its source, he actually encountered a veil of mist.
The moment he thought of delving into that mist to investigate, a faint sense of fear rose within him.
It was as though something utterly terrifying would happen if he did.
He frowned in thought for a long time before continuing, "Boy, do you know the name of the ancestor who passed down your elven bloodline?"
Eros hesitated as well. Should he mention that gentle, white-haired elven woman?
But Barbara spoke up just then. "This isn't the Shadow Realm or that strange soul world of yours."
"If you say it here, that elven one will sense it and turn her gaze toward you."
"And her gaze will definitely alert those few from the Nine Great Sees. They won't be able to see anything either, but drawing their attention is never a good thing."
"Then should I say I don't know?"
Inside his soul world, Barbara rolled her eyes prettily and said:
"I just checked. Detecting lies is one of the most basic abilities of that little brat in front of you. If I were still at my peak, or had recovered to the level of a Sacred Artifact, I could shield you from his detection so he wouldn't notice you lying. But I'm too weak right now..."
"So I can't tell him, and I can't lie either. What am I supposed to do?"
Barbara pondered for a moment. "Just say it was a Nameless Divine."
"Let them guess whether that means a deity or a saint. I doubt they'll even dare consider a deity, though, so their answer will definitely be wrong."
"It will still draw the attention of the church's higher-ups, but at least it won't alert those traitors."
At that, a sly smile appeared on Barbara's face.
Outside, the three men and the artifact spirit were all watching Eros curiously as he seemed to collect his words.
After a short wait, they heard Eros say, "The elders of my family once told me that it was a Nameless Divine."
The three men and the artifact spirit were all stunned. What sort of being had a name that could not be spoken?
It was common knowledge that the names of the Great Ones could not be spoken. The same was true of saints walking the Path of Greatness.
A saint walking the Path of Greatness? That was a being only one step away from achieving greatness!
All three deans drew sharp breaths, while realization dawned on the artifact spirit. No wonder he had been unable to see through it. So that was why.
He was merely a Sacred Artifact, whereas the one who had bestowed that boy's bloodline was a saint walking the Path of Greatness.
Such a being was far, far, far stronger than the Saint who had once been his master. In fact, his former master could hardly even be mentioned in the same breath.
With that thought, the Sacred Artifact's spirit gave Eros a slight nod. "That will do!"
Light and shadow flickered again as he finished speaking, and the artifact spirit turned back into the unremarkable little round mirror from before.
Seeing that their reactions matched Barbara's predictions exactly, and that they had never even considered a deity, Eros breathed a sigh of relief.
The three deans, however, still looked somewhat dazed, clearly not yet recovered from their shock.
After quite a while, the gray-robed dean said, "Since we've confirmed the result, let us head outside."
Then he turned to Eros and added, "Although you are a Holy Son, you still have to take the placement exam, unless you want to start in the first year alongside children who have only just encountered the mystic."
Eros nodded. He knew that already; Wendy had told him.
The placement exam determined which year a student should enter based on their current knowledge of the Mystic Side.
After all, most nobles on the Mystic Side received an education at home. Naturally, they could not be expected to start from scratch like commoners' children, which was why the placement exam existed.
Wendy was currently in the fifth year, so he might as well test into the fifth year too!
He immediately asked the gray-robed dean beside him, "Dean, what do I need to do to enter the fifth year directly?"
The gray-robed dean paused briefly, then smiled. "Simply answer eighty percent of the exam questions correctly!"
The gray-robed dean walked as he spoke, and before long, the doors of the Small Church came into view. A dense crowd of spectators had already gathered outside.
Seeing Eros emerge safely, Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he had not been discovered.
The priests employed at the academy had been waiting eagerly at the front. Some of the more impatient ones began asking questions the moment they saw the gray-robed dean:
"Dean Como, what was the verdict? Is it really the bloodline of the Elf Race?"
The gray-robed dean, Como, looked at Eros and said quietly:
"Since your bloodline is rather special and involves a higher being, I suggest keeping your identity as a Holy Son secret for now."
"It would be best to wait until we've reported this to the church and received a reply before deciding whether to make it public."
As though worried Eros might misunderstand, Dean Como continued explaining:
"This is for your safety as well. You are still too weak. Recklessly revealing your high-level bloodline would attract people with ill intentions."
"Unless you remain in the academy or the church after revealing it, those coveting your high-level bloodline will be looking for opportunities to trouble you at every turn."
Eros agreed without hesitation after hearing Dean Como's words. Until he was strong enough, caution was the best policy.
If it really became public, someone might throw a sack over his head the moment he stepped outside the academy.
He certainly did not want to wake up the next day and find himself bound by cultists from some other cult, about to be sacrificed to an evil god.
Anything associated with the words "high-level" made a decent sacrifice.
Seeing Eros nod, Dean Como smiled approvingly, then turned to the priests who had asked and nodded.
"Yes, it is indeed the bloodline of the Elf Race. The Holy Spirit personally confirmed it."
The crowd immediately erupted into an uproar. It really was the bloodline of the Elf Race! What a rarity-the bloodline of such a legendary race had actually appeared in the world.
Several priests who taught alchemy immediately spoke up:
"Eros, I'll pay a hundred gold pounds-no, two hundred gold pounds-for a small cup of your fresh blood."
"I'll pay two hundred and fifty!"
"I'll pay two hundred and eighty!"
Those alchemy instructors had actually started bidding among themselves.
Meanwhile, Eros curiously asked Barbara in his mind, "Is elven blood worth that much?"
Barbara was silent for a moment before answering, "To be precise, every part of an elf is valuable. All their body parts can be used as alchemical materials to make potions or certain mystic items."
"That was part of the reason the entire Elf Race left the continent back then. Powerful as that one is, even she couldn't watch over every member of her race at every moment."
"There were always ill-intentioned humans willing to take the risk, while elves had great difficulty producing offspring."
"Then... doesn't that mean I'm in danger?" Eros felt a headache coming on. As far as he knew, he was currently the only person on the entire continent with elven blood.
Sounding rather pleased at his misfortune, Barbara said, "Yes! Once people learn that you possess the bloodline of the Elf Race, I imagine quite a few will set their sights on your body."
"After all, elf blood can be used to brew many life-extending potions, and humans have always feared running out of time more than anything."
Eros fell silent after hearing that. Only after a long while did he say with relief:
"Good thing those deans are willing to help keep my identity as a Holy Son secret."
Although an ordinary elven bloodline was valuable too, its level was ultimately too low to be of any use to higher beings.
A high-level elven bloodline, however, was a different matter...
Seeing the relief on Eros's face, Barbara pursed her lips and said:
"On the surface, your family is currently made up of devoted followers of the Reincarnation Church. As far as they're concerned, you're already one of their own, so of course they'll keep your secret."
"That's also why I didn't have that stupid book partially conceal your bloodline."
"The greater the talent you reveal, the more resources the church will allocate to you, and the safer your family will be."
A trace of understanding appeared in Eros's eyes after he heard Barbara's explanation.
It was like being capable of getting into Tsinghua or Peking University, only to attend a junior college to hide your ability. How many major companies would invest resources in a junior college student?
This world was not like the cultivation novels he had read in his previous life, where independent cultivators could obtain cultivation resources through adventures.
In this world, resources were monopolized by the major organizations. An independent practitioner might spend their entire life stuck in the low sequences.
Before you continue