Lin Luming smiled and helped Jiang Yunong up. “Have you had dinner yet? Would you like to join us?”
Jiang Yunong: “…”
Lin Luming did not mind her silence, continuing with a self-assured smile, “You can rest easy. At least until the inner sect disciple assessment concludes, she won’t dare cause trouble again. Besides, I will have two crows tail you in secret. If she dares cause trouble again, she will be spotted immediately.”
Jiang Yunong pressed her lips tight, her gaze wavering slightly. “But the inner sect disciple assessment only lasts ten days, while you are taking the outer sect disciple assessment, which takes twenty. Aren’t you afraid she will come back to settle scores with you after ten days?”
Lin Luming’s expression remained casual. “I am not afraid.”
“Why?” Jiang Yunong felt the other party was being far too proud. “You did not hesitate to offend a princess to save me today; what exactly are you after?”
“I trust my intuition. For one, I cannot stand those people acting willfully. For another, my intuition tells me that you are a talent with great potential, bound to achieve great things in the future.”
“But I do not wish to owe you any favors.”
Lin Luming chuckled softly. “Then you must strive to advance in the inner sect disciple assessment. When the time comes, you can return the favor. Are you really not coming to eat with me?”
“I have eaten; I am not hungry.”
Lin Luming shrugged. “Alright then, we will go eat by ourselves.”
With that, Lin Luming took hold of Hua Tian and walked away.
Still immersed in the scene from moments ago, Hua Tian’s heart was pounding wildly. By the time she came to her senses, her face was still full of shock.
“The Ming Kingdom… a princess…” She stiffly turned her neck to look toward Lin Luming. “Luming, we seem to have truly offended a powerful figure. How do you think she will retaliate against us?”
Lin Luming walked along the dim path, the lamplight reflecting off her profile, yet her expression remained perfectly serene.
She raised her eyebrows slightly, speaking thoughtfully, “Hmm… within ten days, she won’t touch us. But once she truly becomes an inner sect disciple, it will be hard to say. She will likely trip us up in secret to make us fail the assessment.”
Hearing this, Hua Tian’s heart clenched instantly, and she hurriedly pinched her fingers to calculate the time. “Ten days later… that happens to be the fourth round of the exam, which is martial arts combat. No way? Could she find a way to arrange for us to go up against exceptionally powerful disciples?”
Lin Luming let out a light snort. “It is possible, but even if she tampers with it, the impact will be limited. Besides, Hua Tian, you are the daughter of a general’s family after all, and I have witnessed your skills; compared to most candidates, you are definitely not lacking. Moreover, if anything happens, she will certainly target me first, so rest assured.”
“That may be true, but looking at that princess’s face, I feel she has a mean and malicious look; she will definitely come looking for trouble with us. What if… what if she orders people to secretly kill us in the middle of the night?”
Even after hearing this, Hua Tian remained anxious, muttering, “That may be true, but looking at that princess’s face, she really has a mean and malicious look; she won’t let this drop easily. What if… what if she orders people to secretly kill us in the middle of the night?”
Just as the words left her mouth, Lin Luming raised her hand and delivered a flick to her forehead—crisp, clean, and measured in force.
“Ouch!” Pierced by the pain, Hua Tian shielded her forehead, staring at her with tearful eyes. “Luming, why did you hit me!”
“Don’t be silly. This is the Dongling Spirit Hub, not the Ming Kingdom. In short, just be more careful. For now, review properly and give it your all.”
Soon, the first day of the assessment arrived.
The first section was the written exam, and the examination venue was set at the central square of the Dongling Spirit Hub.
With the fierce sun high in the sky, the central square was packed with candidates at this moment.
Sitting amidst the crowd, fine beads of sweat had already seeped from Lin Luming’s brow.
Looking up, she saw several solemn-faced examiners on the high platform wave their wide sleeves. The scrolls containing the exam questions transformed into streaks of flowing light, landing precisely in front of each candidate.
As a distant bell chimed, the candidates immediately raised their pens to answer.
The first few questions were standard enough; though the difficulty was not low, Lin Luming had a general grasp of them after reading. These questions tested foundation and reasoning, meaning they wouldn’t leave everyone completely helpless; there would always be someone who could solve them.
However, when she flipped to the final page, she was left utterly speechless.
The question tested actual combat, yet very few of the candidates here had ever experienced actual combat.
Not only was the prompt incredibly long, but the concepts involved were staggeringly complex, even interspersed with rare laws seldom seen in ancient texts.
Let alone ordinary people, even the outer sect disciples who had already entered the Dongling Spirit Hub might not be able to see through the hidden trick immediately.
Is the person who wrote this question an idiot?
While grumbling internally, Lin Luming silently raised her pen.
The examination time passed quickly. As the bell chimed once more, everyone’s answer sheets were collected.
At nightfall, Fan Li, the Master of the Mysterious Law Hall, pushed open the stone door of a secret room within the Dongling Spirit Hub.
The man who entered wore an ink-green long robe cinched with a jade belt, his figure tall and straight.
He was not old, appearing under thirty, yet he carried an imposing authority that prevented anyone from underestimating him at first glance.
Inside the spacious secret room, more than a dozen scroll-grading elders sat behind long tables piled high with scrolls.
Fan Li’s voice was not loud, yet it echoed clearly across the entire room. “Everyone, when can these papers be finished? Has anyone answered the finale question?”
One grading elder shook his head with a bitter smile. “Forget answering it correctly; those who even put pen to paper are few and far between. Hall Master Fan, the questions set by your Lingling Sect are simply too brutal. Each sect provides one question, yet you put forth the most difficult one, and it accounts for thirty points. You are intentionally trying to crush these kids.”
“Exactly!” another grading elder could not help but complain. “Making things difficult for inner sect disciples is one thing, but to do so for the outer sect assessment as well. Hall Master Fan, no matter how capable the Lingling Sect is, it shouldn’t be like this, right?”
Fan Li waved his hand. “You do not understand. I am not making things difficult; I am screening for geniuses capable of actual combat. No matter how hard the question, someone ought to break it. I refuse to believe that this single question is truly unsolvable by anyone.”
With that, he carelessly pulled out a chair and sat down.
Time ticked away bit by bit. By midnight, one of the elders finally raised his hand. “Found it! I finally graded a candidate who answered the question.”
“Oh?” Fan Li’s eyebrows arched slightly. “Out of thirty points, how many did they get?”
“It is only unrefined in a few places; overall, it is answered exceptionally well. I believe we can award twenty-five points.”
Saying this, the elder handed the scroll to Fan Li.
Fan Li took the scroll, gave it a general look, and then nodded with great satisfaction. “Indeed, it is answered beautifully, well worth twenty-five points.”
With that, he flipped the scroll over and glanced at the name.
“Jiang Yunong?”
The grading elder nodded. “Correct. I have a slight impression of this girl; she is an outer disciple of your Lingling Sect who usually trains very diligently. When she took the outer sect assessment back then, she used a blue recommendation letter.”