Wei Gongcheng didn't particularly like this wandering Seventh Master Shen, mainly because he disliked the other's methods. You never knew when he would plant an eye next to you, and then, without your knowledge, he would even see you taking a bath!
Knowing that the other party had planted a spy in a girl's room, Wei Gongcheng felt extremely disdainful. The worst part was that this guy had brought him along to see it—what was there to see? What was so interesting?
"Something's definitely not right." Seventh Master Shen paced around the room, a serious look in his eyes.
"I'm telling you, don't be so serious as to rummage through a young lady's wardrobe!" Wei Gongcheng exasperated. He was never a pedantic person, but this guy had gone too far!
"There's something in here," Seventh Master Shen said seriously.
"What is it?" Wei Gongcheng asked patiently, seeing the other party's serious expression.
Rouge and face powder.
"Are you wasting my time?" Wei Gongcheng's face grew increasingly dark. Wasn't it perfectly normal for a young lady in her boudoir to have some cosmetics in her wardrobe?
"It seems that the City God Wei doesn't understand women very well."
Wei Gongcheng: "."
"Most young girls' cosmetics are light and delicate, rarely with such a strong fragrance." Seventh Master Shen turned around and smiled, "This Nüwa's perfume is from the Western Regions, the kind that dancers from those Western Regions like to use."
"What's the problem?" Wei Gongcheng frowned.
"Women from the Western Regions believe that frequent bathing will cause them to contract diseases, so they often go a year without bathing. However, dancers need to dance year-round to please customers, and their bodies sweat profusely. If they don't use strong perfumes and powders to cover it up, it will develop a sour and foul odor. Therefore, dancers wear a very strong scent of perfume and powder. The woman named Shen Xue comes from a prominent family in the capital, and also a family of sorcerers. She wouldn't be unaware of this common knowledge. If she rashly uses the perfume and powder of a dancer, she would be ridiculed by women from similarly noble families."
"Maybe it's some kind of personal quirk?" Wei Gongcheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "You think there's something wrong with him just because of that?"
"It's not a personal quirk," Seventh Master Shen shook his head. "She's covering up some kind of scent."
What does it taste like?
"The smell of blood!"
"Huh?" Wei Gongcheng paused, looking at the other person in surprise. "The smell of blood? How could there be a smell of blood in a woman's wardrobe?"
"If a young girl's essence blood is refined and condensed using a certain secret method, it will carry the girl's unique essence, but its flavor will also be very strong!"
"How do you know this?" Wei Gongcheng asked in astonishment.
"Of course, it's because I've seen it," Seventh Master Shen said casually. "When I was young, I went to the Ancient Desolation Kingdom and witnessed some demonic rituals. Unlike the large-scale national sacrifices to certain demon gods, some hidden demons, unable to secure such a position, would tempt qualified people in the common people to perform private sacrifices. That's why cults were prevalent in the Ancient Desolation Kingdom. And these inexplicable evil beings demanded the most sacrifices from young girls' blood essence. Shen Xue most likely did just that!"
"Sacrifice your essence and blood? What's the point?" Wei Gongcheng was astonished. He had been to the northern battlefield when he was young, but he had never heard of such a strange thing.
"It has many uses. For example, a woman like her who wants to get into the Jiangnan Academy, if her meditation aptitude is insufficient, can use certain evil objects to temporarily improve her meditation efficiency!"
"Are you sure?" Wei Gongcheng also became serious. "Such a monster sneaked into Liuzhou, and the gatekeepers didn't even notice?"
"That's what I'm worried about!" Seventh Master Shen said solemnly, " The Door God System of the master is absolutely flawless. In the past year, no demon has ever been missed by the gatekeepers, as long as their level is below that of a gatekeeper."
"You mean, this monster is of a higher level than the door gods of Liuzhou?" Wei Gongcheng was taken aback.
The gatekeeper of Liuzhou is currently the most talented under Chen Qing's command. After all, he was once the Wind Wolf King of the northern ice plains. In the past two years, he has grown extremely fast and is already at the level of a seventh-level gatekeeper. In terms of level, he is not much different from the Battle God Xu Hu, and is also equivalent to his own god-level.
Is it of a higher level?
Above First Rank???
If a monster of this caliber has infiltrated and even infiltrated the academy, it warrants serious attention!
"Most likely," Seventh Master Shen nodded. "I sensed something was off yesterday because my Thousand Eyes clearly detected magical energy fluctuations in the room. I looked over curiously, but couldn't see anything unusual at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, something was definitely amiss."
"What's wrong?"
"In the scene, the girl named Shen Xue was concentrating on studying mathematics and physics, which seemed normal. However, upon closer inspection, something seemed amiss. Her book was very new, with virtually no drawings or markings. This was unusual. Mathematics and physics are not like that; many students' textbooks, if they studied diligently, would be covered in scribbles and notes that only they could decipher. But that girl's book was as clean as if it were brand new."
"And now."
Seventh Master Shen pointed to the desk, and a blue-covered math and physics notebook flew out on its own. Opening it, he saw it was filled with dense notes. "These things couldn't have been drawn by that girl in just one day, could they?"
"Why is this happening?" Wei Gongcheng asked, puzzled.
"Because the illusion is incomplete!" Seventh Master Shen sneered. "That thing is very powerful; its illusions are so realistic that I almost couldn't see through them. However, some details can't be completely replicated. For example, it can't imitate the notes in this math book. So, the new copy it's using is incomplete in many parts. It's obvious that it can't remember the real content of this copy for the time being."
"Illusion." Wei Gongcheng's expression immediately turned extremely serious. "Is there something that can use illusion within your Thousand-Eye Technique?"
"Hmm, I found it unbelievable at first too!" Seventh Master Shen frowned. "But it seems to be true. That evil entity beside Shen Xue is no ordinary thing!"
"We must report this to the lord immediately!"
"What's the use of us if we always have to do everything ourselves?" Seventh Master Shen glared at him. "Besides, our lord has to go to the location of the Dragon Palace Spring tomorrow to investigate. He's very busy. You've told him, and given his personality, he'll most likely stay and resolve things before leaving. That monster is very troublesome, and it'll probably take up a lot of time. The Dragon Palace incident is related to the fate of Jiangnan, so we can't afford to delay."
"This..." Wei Gongcheng hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "No matter what, this matter must be reported to the Lord so that he can weigh the pros and cons and decide whether it needs to be handled personally!"
"You!" Seventh Master Shen was speechless for a moment. "You really are a blockhead!"
--
The day of assessment passed quickly. The Earth Academy had relatively few exam subjects, only testing calculus and physics, in addition to meditation aptitude. So the first day was over. In contrast, the Xuanhuang Academy, especially the Yellow Academy, had a lot more to test, covering medicine, astrology, divination, and more. Many students would also apply for special skills assessments, so the assessment time was naturally longer than that of the Earth Academy.
Therefore, the Xuanhuang Academy and the Tiandi Academy held their exams over two days, while the Tiandi Academy released their results on the first day at dusk!
Many of the visiting scions of prominent families were taken aback; they hadn't expected the examiners to grade the papers so quickly.
"Cousin, you've got the results so quickly?" Shen Yang was also a little stunned, pointing excitedly at the soldiers holding the lists, "Look, look, the lists are out!"
"Okay, keep your voice down." Shen Xue looked very weak. After a whole day of exams, she felt dizzy and lightheaded. She originally wanted to go back to her room to rest immediately, but she didn't expect the results to come out so quickly. Suddenly, the tension dispelled her fatigue, and she became excited!
This means that the list held by the soldier could determine whether she could stay in Jiangnan; it was the thing that would decide her fate!
The evil artifact she was carrying seemed rather strange. If she missed this opportunity, she might not dare to use it again next time. But if she didn't use it, and failed the assessment two or three more times, she, who was already not valued, might definitely be abandoned by her family.
Despite the gentle words the patriarch spoke to her a few days ago, she knew very well how cold-hearted her father was towards his unqualified disciples!
"Brother Murong, I didn't expect the grading speed here to be so fast?" Not far from Shen Xue, Murong Bingyun also arrived outside the examination hall with his people, waiting for the results to be released, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.
He was representing the Northern Desolation Kingdom in the exam; if he failed, he'd be a laughingstock, and he couldn't afford to lose face like that.
"Yes, it's indeed faster than I expected," Murong Bingyun nodded. "There aren't many applicants from the Heaven and Earth Academies. Besides, Neo-Confucianism isn't like the Classics. Classics essays are long and complex, requiring repeated reading and deliberation, and several examiners need to exchange opinions before a fair score can be given. Neo-Confucianism papers are different; right and wrong are clearly defined, and there's less subjective bias, so grading them is naturally much easier."
"That's true." The woman beside her nodded slightly, and was about to speak again when a female voice interrupted, "Young master is here too?"
Murong Bingyun looked over, smiled slightly, and bowed, saying, "Oh, it's Miss Shen. How are you feeling these days? Are you feeling any better?"
"Thanks to you, young master, I'm much better now." Shen Xue smiled and returned the greeting, " Shen Xue should thank you for your Heavenly Lord."
"It's not really aid, just some words. The main thing is that the people here value the students who came to take the exam." Murong Bingyun was about to continue speaking when she suddenly noticed a strange straw figure peeking out from the soft bag behind Shen Xue, and a strange glint flashed in her eyes.
Shen Xue stared at the other person for a moment, then quickly stuffed the straw figure inside, saying, "Just some little trinkets, please excuse my poor attempt to amuse you, young master."
"A trinket?" Murong Bingyun frowned slightly. When that thing looked at him just now, he felt like he couldn't move at all. His intuition told him that it was definitely not a trinket. It was probably comparable to some cult ritual objects that had existed in the Northern Desolation Kingdom for hundreds of years.
But why would such a thing appear on a little girl?
Those participating in this assessment must all come from respectable families of sorcerers, right?
And he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he had a feeling that thing had deliberately stepped out of its bundle to look at him!
"Look, look, the rankings are out!!"
Just as Murong Bingyun was about to say something, a series of excited voices interrupted her train of thought.
Everyone immediately looked over, including Murong Bingyun. After all, the assessment score was the most important thing today. Murong Bingyun temporarily put aside the shadow of the puppet, but she was stunned when she saw the list.
The list released this time only includes the scions of these aristocratic families from outside the region, excluding candidates from Jiangnan. However, this is normal, since the exam content is different, so how can they be used to compare rankings?
But the number one spot on the list was quite unexpected for him.
First place in Mathematics and Physics: Shen Xue!
After thinking about it, I realized that the content during the recent transition period was too bland, so I decided to add some other content to make the plot a bit more compact.
That straw man is closely related to Wang Ye, and after Chen Qing goes to the Dragon Palace, some hidden things in Liuzhou will also be revealed, and the story won't just focus on daily life.
After completing one chapter today, I only have two left. Hehe, I'll try my best to finish it off within the next two days. It's been quite an ordeal; twelve extra chapters is still too much of a stretch.