“How did she even arrive here in that half-dead state?” Looking towards the malnourished woman who hardly walked up to the platform before arriving near the slab, most of the individuals mocked her, feeling amused and confused at the same time seeing how someone in that state arrived from the lower town to here.
Given the conditions and the citizens of the lower town having a very low income, it was hardly possible for someone to cultivate and become strong enough to rise in the rankings.
Even though they could transport here using 2 or 3 gold coins, it all comes down to the fact that due to not having a strong cultivation base, they get disqualified in the first round.
“Pfft, let’s bet how many days it will take for her to arrive near the slab.” Some of them even laughed at the sight where her slow steps were taking too much time. Though of course they were not very slow from a normal human perspective, but given her malnourished body, it was enough for them to mock her.
In the end, it’s human nature to mock others to hide their own inferiority, covering it under the pretext of bullying.
Just like how a few moments ago, they felt their blood turn cold when they witnessed the fight where Suin Heme was crushed like an ant, they now finally had something weaker in comparison to them, prompting all of their eyes and mouths to curve into mocking smiles towards her.
“Greetings, Young Lady. You just need to give a punch on this slab; it will determine your qualification based on your physique, strength, internal energy, and several factors,” the Elder, observing the first one to come in line, noted that she was someone from the lower town, which was unexpected. He smiled while gesturing towards the slab with his eyes gently closed, his mind already aware that this woman would most likely be disqualified.
“O-okay…” With those words, the woman, slowly arriving at one-hand distance, stretched her fist, which was so slow that individuals around her were laughing while clutching their abdomens, some of them covering their mouths to hold their laughter.
Though of course, mostly those from the middle town were showing such reactions, not the disciples of the outer pavilion nor the candidates from the upper town who were experienced enough to never underestimate their enemies.
“Here…I go〜” With her body moving at the speed of an infant, the woman, without being able to force herself more than that, like a small child, placed her fist on the slab. Of course, she had used all her strength to punch it, but it appeared more like a child just touching it.
“Pfft, hahahaha!”
“Oh my, hahaha!”
One after another, all of them started to break into laughter, falling on the ground, clutching their stomachs as they were unable to bear this funny sight, and tears started to develop in their eyes due to uncontrollable laughter.
And inside the crowd, standing at the back, Ryuk couldn’t help but smile slightly. Standing with a composed demeanor, with his hands folded behind him, looking towards the woman, he smiled not at the mocking sight of her, but instead, due to the status window in front of him.
╔─━━━━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━━━━─╗
Name – Xiuying Fenghuang
Race – Primordial Phoenix (Materialized Soul)
Age – 13,566 years
Bloodline – Phoenix Bloodline (100% purity)
Title – Monarch of the Jade Dominion, Supreme Empress of Eternal Qi
State – Materialized Soul (separated from body by force)
Mood – Calm (contemplating her next ascension)
Rank – not initiated -> Saint Realm or Ascendancy (hindered due to soul separation)
Attractiveness – 1/100 (materialized soul in ghost form) -> (97/100 a beauty thought to occur once every ten thousand years)
Skill – Soul-body regeneration (can recreate her physical body with just the presence of her soul)
Soul Strength – Eternal in the presence of Qi (undying)
Possessions – (nothing)
╚─━━━━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━━━━─╝
‘At least it’s working,’ Ryuk thought, looking towards the status window. He couldn’t help but feel that the reason he brought Liu Wei’s half-dead body here with him was fulfilled as he observed the status window of that particular woman.
Knowing well that a son of destiny would always bring fortune for himself or attract heaven’s favor whenever he went, Ryuk thought to bring Liu wei directly with him as a token of luck, even with his half-dead state.
Given that particular choice, now the result was evident from the fact that the woman who ruled over the whole Jade Dominion was standing in front of him.
[Host, you appear calm.]
‘Shouldn’t I?’ Ryuk realized that the system was highlighting the moment he confronted Drishti. Just like that instance, he recalled her status window, leaving him astonished to discover that the woman he was battling was one of the founders of Ardoros.
At that time, instead of thinking about her being a founder, his surprise was mostly on the fact that it would be difficult for him to deal with her at that moment, weighing pros and cons for his future. But this wasn’t the case for the woman in front of him. Right now, unlike Drishti, he didn’t feel threatened by her presence.
Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to become a savior and someone very close to the monarch of an entire continent.
Looking at her status window, he could at least decipher a few things, like how this particular monarch had most likely been betrayed and escaped using her soul, then recreated her body and was participating in this particular test to enter the main peak of the Celestial Phoenix order to contact one of her swords(*matriarch of Celestial pheonix order), who was currently in seclusion.
Looking at her, he felt how much favor the heavens could provide to Liu Wei. Given if Ryuk was not present here, then most likely it would be Liu Wei who would have grabbed this chance to make a connection with this woman.
‘Record her energy signatures,’ Ryuk commanded, knowing well that if this woman had participated in this test with just a mortal body, then most likely she was confident in herself to pass each of the provided tests. So, instead of working hard, he decided to just follow behind her—preferring smart work over hard work.
[Done.]
[Host, what are you thinking right now?]
‘Nothing,’ Ryuk calmly rejected while standing and looking towards the slab, which started to illuminate while not wanting to tell everything to the system like a lore, instead just doing all of it in action.
‘Disgusting,’ Yao Lian, who stood beside Ryuk with her arms folded, observed everything, seeing how all of them were laughing at a woman who arrived from the lower town. She felt disgusted by these people who acted strong against the weak and weak towards the strong.
‘Even you?’ but her eyes widened the moment she noticed the black-robed man, young master Rui ke, also holding a small smile, making her avert her gaze as she gritted her teeth.
She had come from the Lian family, which was suppressed by the Wei family, and living for many years in their shadow, she had to go through all the mockery and taunts, making her understand how it feels to be looked down upon.
“Th-this!?” As she directed her attention to the green stone, driven by the desire for vengeance against those who had ridiculed the woman that had endured such suffering to reach this place from the lower town, Yao Lian’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sight.
At that moment, the stone began to glow, revealing golden letters that appeared in the sky.
:: Pass ::
