Chapter 111 – Joint Assessment: The Malevolent Ghost of Quanshi City

“As long as we disrupt him and prevent him from achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating, that will be our victory.”

After sharing his idea, Qi Qiu frowned as he noticed the low morale among his students. Even their captain, Wan Yangyu, seemed somewhat disoriented. Seeing this, Qi Qiu snorted coldly.

“Alright, pull yourselves together. Besides, there’s no need to fear Mu Lin excessively. He is indeed strong, but I observed earlier that his mana cultivation is only at the Gushing Spring Early Stage, similar to your own strength, Wan Yangyu.”

“Huh? Similar strength? That can’t be right…”

Wan Yangyu found this hard to believe, mainly because the pressure he felt when locking eyes with Mu Lin was overwhelming. The intimidation akin to towering mountains and the crushing force like a tidal wave made Wan Yangyu feel as if Mu Lin were a higher-level cultivator.

To this, Qi Qiu explained:

“No need to doubt it—he is indeed at the Gushing Spring Early Stage, and his strength doesn’t completely overpower yours. His exaggerated performance earlier was due to his exceptionally powerful divine soul. However, divine soul cultivation isn’t as practical as mana in the early stages. As long as you avoid making eye contact with him, he won’t be able to suppress you with his divine soul.”

“So we must avoid eye contact? I see!”

Qi Qiu’s explanation did somewhat reassure the disciples of Qianyang Dao Palace. Even those who remained worried had their concerns dispelled by his next remark.

“Oh, right, I also observed Mu Lin’s two teammates. One is at Spirit Awakening Perfection, and the other is at Spirit Awakening Late Stage. Moreover, I didn’t sense any aura of combat from either of them. Clearly, those two girls haven’t participated in many battles and aren’t skilled in fighting.”

At this point, even without further encouragement from Qi Qiu, the confidence of the Qianyang Dao Palace disciples soared.

“So, we only have to face Mu Lin alone?”

“Five against one? We managed to defeat Ji Xue back then, so this time we can defeat Mu Lin too.”

“How foolish! At such a critical time as the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination, instead of focusing on strengthening the team, he brings two girls along. Does he think he’s going on a picnic?”

“Hehe, Fan Tie, I think you’re just jealous. If you had two girlfriends like that, who would you bring to the competition?”

“Of course, I’d bring both girls…”

The fact that they were already in the mood to joke around showed that the disciples of Qianyang Dao Palace had indeed regained their composure.

While chatting and laughing, they made their way toward the Tower of Illusory Heavens. Meanwhile, Qi Qiu approached Dongfang Ya to discuss the joint examination.

“You want Wan Yangyu and the others to enter the tower with Mu Lin?”

“Yes. Didn’t we come to Anping Dao Palace to ally with you? Since we’re allying, it’s only natural for them to take the examination together. That way, they can familiarize themselves with each other as quickly as possible.”

Hearing this, Dongfang Ya rolled her eyes.

‘Hmph, allying? More like obstructing.’

Dongfang Ya knew this was Qianyang Dao Palace’s resistance. Previously, when Wan Yangyu and the others took the examination with Ji Xue, Ji Xue only received a ‘Medium’ rating, while Wan Yangyu earned a ‘Good.’ The difference in evaluations had caused Anping Dao Palace to fall slightly behind Qianyang Dao Palace.

If they were to obstruct Mu Lin this time, causing him to receive only a ‘Medium’ rating as well, they would have grounds to contend for the leadership position.

Thinking this way, Dongfang Ya had originally intended to refuse, but in the end, after hesitating for a moment, she did not do so. Instead, she left the decision to Mu Lin.

“What do you say?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Glancing at Wan Yangyu and the others, Mu Lin calmly said, “Since they want to enter, let them in.”

After speaking, Mu Lin led Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo, taking the lead to enter the Tower of Illusory Heavens.

“Hum…”

As a flash of white light passed, Mu Lin… did not immediately faint.

His already formidable Divine Soul, combined with the City God Status acknowledged by the Human Dao and further enhanced by the Transcendence Trait, made the essence of Mu Lin’s Divine Soul exceptionally powerful. Even the Tower of Illusory Heavens took a full three breaths to finally cause him to lose consciousness.

Of course, his ability to hold on for so long was also due to the fact that the Tower of Illusory Heavens in the Anping Dao Palace was a secondary tower and did not exert its full force against him.

…

Not only did he faint much later than others, but thanks to the Transcendence Trait, Mu Lin also woke up the fastest.

Upon regaining consciousness, Mu Lin found himself not in a desolate village or wilderness, but within a small city.

Moreover, this time, Mu Lin held an extremely high status.

He came to this conclusion because, upon waking, he discovered three shifts of yamen runners and numerous soldiers standing before him.

At that moment, these yamen runners and soldiers were all nervously scanning their surroundings. Only when they looked at Mu Lin did their anxious emotions slightly ease.

At the same time, these yamen runners and soldiers were also extremely respectful toward Mu Lin.

“Feathered Scholar, what should we do?”

Hearing this, Mu Lin replied indifferently, “Explain the situation to me again, in more detail.”

“Yes…”

Although puzzled by Mu Lin’s request, the status of a Feathered Scholar was inherently lofty, and now they could only rely on Mu Lin to save their lives.

Under these circumstances, neither the constables nor the military commander of this county town dared to offend Mu Lin.

Whatever he asked, these military commanders answered accordingly.

“Sir, Quanshi City…”

While Mu Lin was gathering information, after his entry and under Qi Qiu’s arrangement, Wan Yangyu and the others also entered the Tower of Illusory Heavens.

This move caused a stir among Mu Lin’s classmates.

“Why did they go in too?”

“I heard earlier that they plan to join forces and help…”

“Do you believe that yourself?”

“Uh…”

“What is Teacher Dongfang Ya doing? Why did she let them in…”

“It should be fine, right? Mu Lin is so strong. Even with interference, he should be able to get through.”

“It’s not that easy. You forgot one thing: Mu Lin is currently challenging the fifth level of the Tower of Illusory Heavens, where the Demonic Fiends are at the Spirit Pool Realm! They are a full realm higher than Mu Lin. Just dealing with them will require all his effort, and now he also has to guard against humans…”

“This…”

After discussing, they felt Mu Lin’s situation was quite tricky.

And the more they discussed, the more they realized Mu Lin’s disadvantages.

“We also forgot one thing… the Cultivators from the Qianyang Dao Palace number five. Although Mu Lin has three people, Yan Yunyu… well, you know what I mean, and Chu Lingluo doesn’t seem like someone with outstanding combat talent either.”

“Another one against five… damn, he’s not going to lose again, is he?”

“Clearly, our Dao Palace is stronger…”

Worry and unwillingness—this was the mindset of Mu Lin’s classmates.

What Mu Lin and his classmates failed to notice was that as he repeatedly achieved miraculous successes, their attitudes toward him had gradually shifted.

The first time, when Mu Lin entered the Formal Class with a Third-Class Spirit Root, his classmates regarded him with a mix of slight astonishment and disdain.

Later, due to Teacher Dongfang’s task and his success in pleasing Chu Lingluo, he was seen as an easy target and became the object of hostility from the entire class.

However, after Mu Lin’s first Tower Challenge, where he soared directly to the fourth floor of the Tower of Illusory Heavens, their mindset began to change.

Although they verbally rebuked him due to his provocative remarks, deep down, they had already come to acknowledge Mu Lin.

The fact that many wanted to become his teammates was a clear reflection of this shift in attitude.

However, as young people tend to value their pride, aside from Yan Yunyu, who acted with exceptional decisiveness, no one else voiced their thoughts aloud.

During that period, those who harassed Mu Lin had significantly decreased. Even if some claimed he lacked staying power and couldn’t compare to Jing Yeming and others, such comments were only made behind his back. Almost no one dared to provoke him openly.

And today, after a month of seclusion, Mu Lin directly advanced to the Gushing Spring Realm and silenced Cai Tian with a single word. Such strength and heroic intervention thoroughly won over his classmates, earning their full recognition.

Even now, as he enjoyed the company of two beauties, basking in the bliss of a dual romance, his classmates felt only envy, with jealousy greatly diminished.

This change occurred silently and gradually over time, unbeknownst to Mu Lin, and he paid it no mind.

His current focus was on his mission.

After listening to the account from the yamen constable, Mu Lin had already grasped the issue in Quanshi City.

“Malevolent Ghosts have been appearing in Quanshi City, luring commoners, martial artists, and even constables and soldiers. After realizing something was amiss, the authorities dispatched forces several times to suppress them and eliminated a few Malevolent Ghosts. However, incidents of ghosts preying on people continued unabated… Clearly, those dealt with were merely minor spirits, while the source had never been located or resolved by the authorities.”

“So, my task is to find the root cause and eliminate it.”

As he pondered this, Mu Lin marveled at the realism of the Tower of Illusory Heavens.

“The higher one climbs, the more the Illusion Realm of the Tower of Illusory Heavens mirrors reality, and the more complex the situations become.”

Hearing Mu Lin’s remark, Yan Yunyu smiled and said, “That’s inevitable. The imperial court established the Dao Palace to nurture Qi Refiners so they can combat Evil Spirits and demonic monsters.”

“Since Evil Spirits possess bizarre abilities and demonic monsters are cunning and multifaceted, the Cultivators trained by the Dao Palace naturally require more than just strength. Temperament, insight, knowledge, communication skills… Dao Palace Qi Refiners must master many things.”

“As the primary means of training and assessment, the Tower of Illusory Heavens, therefore, evaluates Cultivators in all aspects.”

“Of course, human energy is limited, and one cannot excel in every area. That’s why the Dao Palace encourages us to collaborate as a team to deal with demons and monsters.”

Mu Lin acknowledged the benefits of teamwork, but he also believed that in a world where power resides within oneself, as long as one’s own strength was sufficient, they could overcome everything through sheer force.

Just like this time, Mu Lin held little expectation for the constables and soldiers in the Illusion Realm’s yamen.

After explaining the situation to Mu Lin, the constable of Quanshi City and the military Commander were originally prepared to follow his instructions.

“Sir, all forty-seven constables and two hundred ninety-five soldiers have been assembled. Awaiting your orders.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Lin showed no excitement, merely replying calmly, “No need for orders. Proceed as usual.”

“Huh? Proceed as usual?”

These words left both the constable chief and the soldier commander of Quanshi City stunned. After a moment, Constable Chief Gu Quan anxiously asked:

“Sir, what about the ghosts and monsters?”

“Leave them to me.”

(End of Chapter)