Druid Fairy

Chapter 186 Cheating
Not only Han Youwei, but even Li Mengjin, who was always unfazed by the collapse of Mount Tai, felt a sense of surprise.

This girl, whom I met by chance on the street, with her elegant demeanor and seemingly otherworldly air, turned out to be the chief examiner for the final selection.

Without showing any emotion, Zhuge Qingcheng recalled the conversation in the carriage. She realized that Zhuge Qingcheng had never said that she was a candidate; it was all just Han Youwei's fat man's wishful thinking.

Having figured this out, Li Mengjin couldn't help but smile slightly.

At this moment, Han Youwei could no longer laugh.

His mind, after a brief lapse, was being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of fear.

Finished!

Barbie is Q!
This is a complete disaster!

He felt as if he were a clown running naked on the execution ground, every move and every word being clearly seen and understood by the beautiful examiner!

What did I just do in the carriage?
boast!

show off!

They shamelessly claimed to have discovered the secrets of heaven!

He even pulled out that "cheat sheet" with "Dragon Blood and Scrophularia" drawn on it, and confidently declared that he would take the other person flying with him!

This isn't just cheating; it's trying to get the examiner to cheat with them right in front of the examiner!

Han Youwei's chubby face instantly turned from red to white, then from white to green, and finally turned into a ghastly green that looked like he was ready to die.

Cold sweat poured down his forehead in an instant, and his legs trembled uncontrollably, making him almost unable to stand.

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..." he wailed inwardly. "Is my lifelong reputation, Han Youwei, going to end here today? Father! I haven't even had a chance to give you a few more grandchildren, and I'm going to be beaten out of here for cheating!"

He had even imagined the miserable scene of being dragged away by the ruthless warriors of the Demon Suppression Division, his backside covered in welts.

With a thud, he buried his face in his hands and wept bitterly, his voice hoarse: "I was wrong! I deserve to die! I was blind to your greatness! I... I'm just a fart! Please just let me go, treat me like a fart!"

Deputy Commander Qian Tong couldn't help but twitch his lips, thinking to himself that this rascal from the Han family of Qinghe was indeed living up to his reputation.

"Alright, get up. Look at you, so pathetic." Zhuge Qingcheng waved her hand.

"Huh?" Han Youwei suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief. "You...you're not going to punish me?"

"Punish you?" Zhuge Qingcheng shook her head. She took out an item from her sleeve, which was the "Dragon Blood Ginseng" blueprint that Han Youwei had shown off in the carriage earlier.

She unfolded the drawing in front of everyone and said leisurely, "Why should I punish you? Just because you're showing off your limited knowledge in front of me with a test question from ten years ago?"

Exam questions from ten...ten years ago?!
Han Youwei's mind went blank again.

The surrounding crowd erupted in uproar.

"Hahaha! Exam questions from ten years ago? This fat guy is hilarious!"

"Spending a fortune on outdated intelligence? That guy must be an idiot!"

"I knew it! How could such important assessment details be leaked so easily!"

Amidst the undisguised laughter of the crowd, Han Youwei finally snapped out of his petrified state.

His chubby face, after going through cycles of blue, white, purple, and green, finally settled on a furious, liver-colored hue!
"You bastard Zhang Mazi!!"

Han Youwei suddenly leaped to his feet, shouting at the sky with a booming voice, "You damned bastard! You pig butcher! You fake medicine seller! How dare you try to fool me with ten-year-old junk! I even treated you like a human being, treating you to three rounds of drinks at brothels! You just wait! You just wait! When I get back, if I don't beat your pockmarked face into a bloody mess, I'll change my name!"

He cursed so vehemently, his spittle flying everywhere.

Li Mengjin stood aside and shook his head. This fat man, although unreliable, always managed to turn danger into safety, so he could be considered a lucky charm.

On the other side, the effeminate cultivator named Wu Qian watched this scene with a hint of disdain and contempt in his eyes.

Han Youwei is nothing but a good-for-nothing who relies on his family background, and Li Jin is just lucky to have befriended a fool.

Zhuge Qingcheng coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

"Alright, enough of this small talk."

The smile on her face vanished, replaced by the solemnity befitting an examiner.

"Now, the real test for this final selection will be announced, titled 'Breaking the Formation and Subduing Demons'."

As she finished speaking, the space in front of everyone distorted, and the next moment, they found themselves in a huge circular stone palace.

In the center of the hall, a huge humanoid puppet, three zhang tall and cast entirely from black iron and bronze, stood silently. Its body was covered with mysterious runes and intricate mechanisms, and a cold yet powerful aura emanated from it.

“This is the ‘Heavenly Puppet’,” Zhuge Qingcheng’s voice echoed in the empty hall, “and it is your examiner.”

"The puppet itself is indestructible and immune to all magical attacks. The only way to defeat it is to crack its operating core."

Her gaze swept across the walls around the main hall. There were exactly sixty-four grooves embedded in the walls, each with a hexagram from the I Ching carved next to it.

"Once the Celestial Puppet is activated, it will randomly unleash sixty-four ever-changing attacks. During the intervals between its attacks, the 'Celestial Core' on its chest will briefly light up and display a set of trigrams composed of runes. What you need to do is to dodge the attacks, see clearly and remember this trigram, and then, as quickly as possible, use your own mana or blood energy to hit the corresponding trigram groove on the wall."

“Each successful hit will cause the puppet to be briefly stunned and weaken it by one point. Each missed hit will enrage the puppet, causing it to enter a berserk state, and its attacks will become more deadly.”

"A total of three successful hits are required. After the third successful hit, the puppet will completely stop operating, its chest will open, revealing the leader's token inside. Whoever can complete this third and final breakthrough will be the ultimate victor."

"Remember, you will not only fight against the puppets, but also compete with other examinees. You only have three chances. Now, the assessment begins!"

As soon as the words were spoken, two red lights suddenly flashed from the eyes of the giant celestial puppet, and its mechanisms started to operate with a "click-clack" sound!

"Roar!"

The puppet's enormous body charged toward the nearest examinee with an agility completely disproportionate to its size.

"Well done!" Lei Dong, a burly man, shouted and advanced instead of retreating. His muscles bulged and his blood and qi were pushed to the limit. He punched the puppet's chest, trying to use brute force to overcome its skill.

"when!"

With a loud bang, Lei Dong felt as if he had struck a piece of ancient black iron, his entire arm went numb from the shock, while the Heavenly Mystery Puppet remained completely still.

With a wave of its bronze giant hand, as if swatting a fly, it sent Lei Dong flying, crashing into the wall and creating a large, human-shaped crater.

Upon seeing this, everyone was horrified and no longer dared to underestimate him in the slightest.

"Big brother! Big brother, save me!"

Han Youwei was so scared he wet himself. "It's coming towards us! It's taken a liking to us! Is it because we're too handsome that even the puppets are jealous!"

Li Mengjin ignored his nonsense.

His figure moved like a leaf falling in the wind, always managing to dodge the puppets' relentless attacks with the smallest possible amplitude and the most unbelievable angles.

"It's now!"

In the lull between the puppet's slashes, the "Heavenly Core" on its chest suddenly lit up, and a complex hexagram composed of countless runes flashed by.

That speed was so fast that ordinary people couldn't even catch it!
But Li Mengjin saw it clearly. It was the "Water and Fire in Disharmony" hexagram!

Almost at the same time, Wu Qian, the effeminate cultivator who had been hiding behind the crowd, waiting for his chance, also had a glint in his eyes.

Clearly, he seized this opportunity!
The two moved simultaneously, transforming into two streaks of light that shot towards the grooves on the wall representing the "Unfinished" hexagram.

Wu Qian was practicing a strange and unpredictable technique, which made him incredibly fast, and he was about to take the lead!
But Li Mengjin remained calm and unhurried. He didn't even rush over himself; instead, he pointed his fingers like a sword at the groove in the distance.

"call out!"

A highly refined sword aura, arriving after being launched, struck the groove with perfect precision, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound!

"clang!"

A crisp sound echoed throughout the hall.

The Heavenly Puppet's movements suddenly froze, and the red light all over its body dimmed slightly.

First attempt at cracking it, successful!

Wu Qian abruptly stopped halfway. He glanced coldly at the composed Li Mengjin, a hint of jealousy flashing in his eyes.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the Heavenly Puppet activated again. This time, its attacks became even more ferocious, and its speed was 30% faster than before!

Having learned from their first experience, everyone became wiser. They began to consciously avoid the divination while concentrating their efforts to try and capture the fleeting divination results.

"boom!"

The puppet clasped its arms together and slammed them into the ground. The violent shockwave sent several nearby examinees spitting out blood.

At that very moment, the hexagram on its chest lit up again.

"Earth and Heaven in Harmony!"

This time, Li Mengjin and Wu Qian both saw it clearly at the same time.

A ruthless glint flashed in Wu Qian's eyes. He knew he wouldn't gain an advantage in a speed contest, so this time, he launched a silent black poison needle towards Li Mengjin!

He wanted to use this to distract Li Mengjin and create an opportunity for himself!
"Despicable!" Han Youwei exclaimed in shock after seeing it clearly.

Li Mengjin, however, seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Without turning his head, he swung his hand back and a sword aura accurately struck down the poisoned needle.

But in that brief moment of delay, Wu Qian, grinning maliciously, transformed into a blur and charged toward the groove representing the "Tai" hexagram.

"Hahaha! The champion is mine!" he laughed wildly in his heart.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the groove, a figure was faster than him!

It's Li Mengjin!

Li Mengjin lightly touched the ground with his toes, and as if by teleportation, he appeared in front of the groove, placing a palm lightly on it.

"clang!"

The second attempt was successful!

"Impossible!" Wu Qian's laughter stopped abruptly. He couldn't understand how the other party could neutralize his sneak attack while still possessing such terrifying speed!

Having been outmaneuvered twice by the same person, his mindset completely spiraled out of balance.

"I don't believe it! How could I possibly lose to an unknown nobody like you!"

The puppet's third activation was already of overwhelming force.

All its mechanisms were activated, and countless energy rays, like a torrential rain, covered the entire hall, forcing everyone to scramble for cover.

This time, the core of the celestial secrets lit up for less than half the time as before, and the hexagram became blurry and indistinct.

"It's the 'Qian' hexagram!"

Amidst the rain of light, only Li Mengjin, with his extraordinary divine sense and swordsmanship, accurately captured the truth.

He was about to make his move and deliver the final blow.

But at that moment, Wu Qian, who was already insane, let out a sharp roar!

"If I can't have it, neither can you!"

He ignored the puppet and turned around, summoning a dagger coated with deadly poison. Using all his magic power, he transformed it into a black lightning bolt and stabbed it straight at Li Mengjin's back!
"The selection process of the Demon Suppression Division did not stipulate that candidates cannot spar with each other!" He grinned maliciously, his true intentions now fully revealed.

"Big brother, be careful!" Han Youwei was so scared he almost lost his soul.

Faced with the sneak attack, a cold killing intent finally appeared on Li Mengjin's face.

He didn't even turn around.

"Noisy."

He simply uttered two words.

An invisible domain of sword intent suddenly expanded outwards, centered on him!

Wu Qianna's all-out attack, determined to succeed, pierced the sword intent domain and instantly seemed to sink into the thickest swamp, its speed suddenly slowing down. The deadly poison light on the dagger was also rapidly purified and dissolved by the pure sword intent.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and he was horrified to discover that he could not move!
Li Mengjin looked at Wu Qian, who was so close to him and whose face was full of fear, and casually flicked two fingers at the poisoned dagger.

"Qiang!"

A soft sound.

That magical dagger, crafted from refined iron, shattered inch by inch, just like fragile glass!

Immediately afterwards, he struck Wu Qian in the chest with his palm.

This palm strike, seemingly light and without any force, struck Wu Qian as if struck by a thunderbolt. His protective aura shattered instantly, and he was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, spitting out blood. His fate was unknown.

Having dealt with the fly, Li Mengjin turned around again, flicked his finger, and a sword aura accurately struck the groove of the last "Qian" hexagram.

"clang!"

With a third crisp sound, the once invincible Heavenly Puppet's light completely went out, and it knelt down on the ground with a thud, completely ceasing its operation.

Its heavy breastplate slowly opened, revealing a jade pendant with a warm, lustrous sheen lying quietly inside.

There was silence.

All the candidates' eyes were focused on the boy standing with his sword.

The sword intent was sharp and fierce, unstoppable!

(End of this chapter)