The Top Tier Below a Spirit Root!

"Chen Lingya, Spiritual Qi Aptitude: 21 points, intermediate."

"Liu Fusheng, Spiritual Qi Aptitude: 12 points, low."

"Zhou Daoyu, Spiritual Qi Aptitude: 35 points, high!"

"Qian Lei, Spiritual Qi Aptitude: 19 points, intermediate."

The sky gradually brightened as time ticked by. The discussion sparked by the incident with Wang Yan did not last long.

The test would not stop for something like this. From beginning to end, it proceeded as the machine called names in an orderly fashion.

Spiritual Qi Aptitude was generally divided into three grades: low, intermediate, and high, with every 15 points marking a dividing line.

Generally speaking, the Spiritual Qi Aptitude of people without Spirit Roots was basically confined to this range. Exceptions exceeding 45 were rare.

A score above 40 already counted as the top tier below a Spirit Root.

Among the results so far, not one had exceeded 40. Only Zhou Daoyu, the factory nominee from the southern district, stood head and shoulders above the rest with 35 points.

With that, the scores of all the other factory nominees had been revealed, leaving only Lü Yuan, whose name had yet to be called.

After Wang Yan was inevitably dragged out for another round of corpse-whipping, the remaining people from the East District turned their attention to Lü Yuan.

One of the East District's two factory nominees had already become a laughingstock.

So would the remaining one, saved for last, make a fool of himself, or create a miracle?

The people from the East District hoped for the latter.

After all, they all came from the East District.

With the talent of one of the two most outstanding people of their generation already nailed to the pillar of shame, they naturally placed their hopes on the other.

Lü Yuan, come on! We all came from the same place, so don't disgrace us!

Quite a few people from the other three districts were also paying attention to him.

Of course, their attention also extended to Lin Qi, who stood over there without a word, looking like Jiaxin, and whose name had likewise yet to be called.

For no other reason than that, though they had no interest in Lü Yuan, a bet this big was enough to draw their attention.

Especially when it involved two people whose statuses were so far apart.

Though some also insisted it was a publicity stunt by the two of them. Perhaps they were actually a pair of illicit lovers behind everyone's backs.

There had been far too many influencers who got their start that way in recent years!

As for all this, Lü Yuan, like Lin Qi over there, did not care in the slightest.

Whether they supported him or hoped he would suffer a crushing defeat.

But Wang Yan, whom Lü Yuan had called over to his side, only felt his scalp tingle, because everyone who looked their way made sure to whip his corpse again.

"So, did you call me over just to get a close look at how miserable I am now?"

"What am I in your eyes now?"

"A beaten dog?"

Standing behind Lü Yuan, Wang Yan asked the questions in a somewhat self-abandoning manner.

Anyone standing like this before their greatest former rival would feel the same way. Lü Yuan could understand how he felt.

But he did not let Wang Yan accuse him wrongly.

"One correction: I didn't call you over. I knew you wanted to come over in the first place, so I gave you a way to save face."

Lü Yuan calmly glanced at him and corrected him.

"Otherwise, considering how badly you think of me, you'd have run off to another corner to wipe away your little pearls of tears long ago."

"Besides, if you want to go somewhere else, I'm not stopping you. Haven't you been standing here the whole time, wrestling with yourself over whether to speak and what to ask?"

Wang Yan raised his head and said quietly, "If I ask, will you answer me?"

Lü Yuan met his gaze. "Go on and ask. How will you know whether I'll answer if you don't?"

Hearing that, Wang Yan hesitated no longer. He lowered his voice and asked, "Do you have some way to measure Spiritual Qi Aptitude, so you knew the result of your bet and my test from the beginning?"

"Call me Dad and I'll answer you."

"Dad!"

In the age of capitalist cultivation, everyone had scruples with no bottom line, so this really was not a problem unique to Lü Yuan.

And faced with the eager gaze of his newly acquired good son,

Lü Yuan fell silent for a moment, then gave him the answer he wanted:

"That's right."

He told a white lie. Of course, the kindness was toward himself.

For a moment, that answer sent Wang Yan's thoughts churning and his imagination running wild. Lü Yuan did not know exactly what he had imagined afterward.

He only saw Wang Yan's expression gradually grow complicated.

"Since you have a fortuitous opportunity, why tell me?"

Hmm, looks like he's already filled in the blanks himself. Maybe he thinks I obtained a relic left by an ancient cultivator, dug up from the foundations of Mingyang City?

"That should be the most common assumption, given how many cases there have been."

Lü Yuan did not mind. This way, he would have less to explain.

Instead of answering directly, Lü Yuan asked a question of his own: "Do you consider us friends?"

"Friends? Is this some new meme or joke?" Wang Yan pointed at himself in surprise, not expecting an answer like that.

But on second thought, he realized...

Apart from himself, Lü Yuan's greatest rival, he really had never seen Lü Yuan say much to anyone.

And then there was that incident back then. He had been muddleheaded and helped Lü Yuan, then chosen to keep it a secret for him to this day.

In that case, perhaps it was not wrong to say so?

Perhaps, in Lü Yuan's mind, the two of them really did count as friends?

"I... I've always seen you as a rival. If you think that counts as being friends too, then I suppose we are..."

"But what does that have to do with the question I asked?"

"And what use am I to you as a friend now that I'm a beaten dog?"

Lü Yuan still did not answer him directly. He merely gestured with his chin toward Lin Qi, whose name had just been called and who was stepping forward.

"Where do you think a low-grade third-class worker like her got the money to bet against me—and why did she have the nerve to bet with me on this?"

This time, Lü Yuan did not let him answer, instead providing the answer himself:

"Without my pointing it out, you might not dare to think about it."

"Now that you have me as a warning, I think you can see the problem too."

Wang Yan stared at him in disbelief. "You... you mean... why are you telling me this?"

"Aren't you afraid..."

Lü Yuan gently raised a hand, cutting him off.

"That's exactly what I mean. Mine, combined with hers, can come together to form a way to help you out of your predicament."

"As for whether I'm afraid..."

"Heh, you'll keep it a secret for me, won't you? Just like with that incident?"

The instant Lü Yuan finished speaking, Wang Yan connected the whole series of events from beginning to end.

A way out of my predicament...

Him and her...

Could it be that, from the very beginning, he wasn't after the stake, but was trying to help me...?

But that was not all that shocked Wang Yan, because at the very moment he had just figured it all out,

Lin Qi's test result came out as well.

"Lin Qi, Spiritual Qi Aptitude: 40 points, the top tier below a Spirit Root!"

In an instant, the venue erupted. Disbelief and jealousy flashed by, followed by teasing expressions as everyone looked at Lü Yuan.

"Oh my god..."

"Forty points, the top tier below a Spirit Root. Did she know from the beginning, and that's why she dared to bet with that Lü Yuan?!"

"No wonder her biological parents invested in her. That explains it, that explains it. Her biological parents must have tested her beforehand."

"Heh, the East District's two factory nominees are both going to make fools of themselves today-"

"They're even standing together. Looks like they know their own place."

Mockery once again filled the venue, and this time, even Lü Yuan was caught up in it.

But only one person was utterly shaken at that moment.

Because, if everything Lü Yuan had just said was true-

Then wouldn't he...?

Wang Yan looked at Lü Yuan, unable to hide his shock, only to find a smile on his lips.

He knew full well what Lü Yuan's smile meant.

It meant Lü Yuan was about to start slapping everyone's faces.

Just as he had every time in the eight years before this.