Chapter 49: Humiliation

“This…” Hall Master Xu Qingfeng frowned slightly, as if something troubling had just come to mind. “This is exactly why I summoned you all.”

He lifted the remaining exam papers in his hand. “After receiving this extraordinary test script, I immediately sent disciples to investigate the candidate. It turns out the one who wrote it… is just a young woman in her early twenties, and this is her very first time taking the registration exam.”

“What?!”

The elders collectively froze. Even the formation master Jiao Hengyi’s enthusiasm faltered, shock washing over his face.

“How could that be? This formation work clearly came from someone who step by step derived it themselves — such deduction requires immense foundational knowledge. A girl barely past twenty…”

Formation study was notoriously difficult; the calculations and refinements involved took decades to master. Anyone achieving real accomplishment in the field was usually well into their fifties or sixties.

“Hall Master, could the lower disciples have mistaken her identity?” someone asked, skeptical.

Xu Qingfeng shook his head firmly. “I confirmed it myself, multiple times — even reviewed the scrying stone recordings of the exam. The script unquestionably came from this girl.”

A heavy silence followed. After a while, Jiao Hengyi ventured cautiously:

“Could she perhaps come from a hidden, reclusive sect? That would explain her knowledge of a supposedly lost formation.”

Xu Qingfeng’s brow furrowed deeper. His voice dropped into a grave tone.

“I forgot to mention — when she registered, she claimed to belong to the Qingyang Sect.”

The room’s mood shifted instantly. Moments ago filled with curiosity and excitement, now it soured into visible disapproval. Eyebrows knitted; eyes cooled.

“Nonsense!” Chen Daoyuan couldn’t hold back and snapped, “There hasn’t been a Qingyang Sect for years!”

He looked at the exam pages with far less admiration now.

The hall went utterly silent.

“Hall Master,” Jiao Hengyi finally asked, “why exactly have you called us here?”

Xu Qingfeng hesitated a moment, then said heavily, “I intend to have Elder Chen oversee the second-round exam and place her specifically into a formation trial. Elder Jiao will personally design and control the array. If she can break free, so much the better — the mystic world may have birthed a true formation genius. But if she cannot…”

His face darkened, sweeping the room with a hard stare.

“Then we must investigate whether someone within the Hall has leaked exam content.”

The implications sank in like lead. The exam paper was too perfect. Not just the final diagrams — even the earlier problems, solved in dozens of flawless ways, were suspicious. If it was truly her own ability, it would be a wonder. But if not… then it meant someone had provided inside knowledge.

The elders understood. Tension thickened the air. Jiao Hengyi nodded sharply. “Good. Leave this matter to me, Hall Master.”

---

The next day — outside the Celestial Master Hall.

Completely unaware of the plotting within, Yun Jiao and her two companions arrived early, eager to check the posted rankings. Because the written exams took time to grade, the second round was scheduled for the following day. Overnight, a massive stone wall had been erected in the square, carved with the names and ranks of those who passed.

The wall stretched five to six meters high, densely covered with names.

Since the first test wasn’t too difficult and most candidates passed, few bothered crowding to check; their identity tags already displayed whether they’d advanced. Still, the three had come late and, with time to kill while waiting for their turn to enter the second exam, wandered over to look.

As they scanned the wall, someone suddenly stepped up beside them.

It was the white-robed young man who’d paid three hundred taels to rent their spare room. His face twitched when he recognized them. After glancing toward the very top of the ranking, his expression brightened smugly — clearly satisfied with his own score. Then he shot them a cold snort and strutted away to queue.

The three ignored him; after all, they’d profited off him. They continued searching for their names.

“Found it! Found it!” Old Bai (White Yi) suddenly shouted, excited, pointing. “Girl, look — 78th place! That’s me!”

“I found mine too — 103rd!” Old Zhou said cheerfully. He patted White Yi’s shoulder. “Not bad, Old Bai, breaking into the top hundred! They say anyone in the top hundred almost always enters the third round, and with luck could be promoted straight to a Five-Coin Celestial Master.”

“Hahaha… all thanks to the girl’s teaching,” Old Bai said, beaming.

“What?” Old Zhou blinked, startled. Who taught?

Realizing he’d slipped, Old Bai coughed and quickly changed the subject. “So… girl, where’s your name? Surely it’s way up there.”

Yun Jiao’s brow tightened imperceptibly. After a brief pause she said quietly, “I found it.”

“Where?” The two craned their necks higher, expecting — given her freakish talent — to see her among the top ranks.

“There.”

She lifted a finger… and pointed all the way down to the very bottom line, the smallest of black characters etched like an afterthought:

Rank 1,768 — Yun Jiao

White Yi: “…”

Old Zhou: “…”

(⊙_⊙)

For half a minute they just stared, dumbstruck.

“This… this can’t be! The Hall must’ve made a mistake!”

“Right! Girl, there’s no way you’re at the bottom. Impossible!”

“Yun Daoist Friend, you didn’t forget to insert your identity token, did you? Maybe they lost your record?”

“No, no, I’m going to complain right now!”

Old Bai turned, furious, ready to storm off.

“Come back!” Yun Jiao grabbed him quickly. She looked toward the entrance to the second testing grounds. “Finish the next exam first.”

They both glanced at the dwindling line of candidates entering. If they went to argue now, they’d forfeit the second round. Frustration burned, but they swallowed it and stayed.

Yun Jiao herself stared once more at that humiliating bottom rank. For the first time in her life, her name was at the very end of a list. The lowest. Absolute last.

It was nothing less than— utter humiliation.

She drew a deep breath, forcing the heat in her chest to cool. She didn’t know why this happened, but one thing was clear:

Maybe… this time, she had to take things very seriously.

(End of chapter)