"You have one minute to prepare. When I say 'start,' you must pass through here within thirty seconds. A score of six is considered passing. For every three seconds less, you gain one extra point; for every three seconds more, you lose one point. There are only two things I can tell you.
First, the closer you are, the faster the guillotine blades will fall. These are real blades. If you get hit, that's your own problem. You still have a chance to quit now if you want.
Second, this round's score can go into the negatives. If you fail to pass, there's no need to continue the rest of the exams. This applies to your entire team—if even one person fails, no matter how talented or monstrous you are, you will all be eliminated."
After saying this, Shen Yi glanced at Gu You. No matter how strong you are, no matter how invincible your spiritual power is, how will you handle this when it becomes a team issue?
"If I get hit by this, would I not even feel any pain?" Xie Xie asked, looking at the countless guillotine blades ahead. Just imagining it made his waist ache. One blade was bad enough, but this setup looked like an endless deathtrap.
"Blades, rise!" Shen Yi waved her hand down as she spoke. The one-minute preparation time was over. This was a test based purely on reality.
Clang!
The first massive blade dropped from above, slamming into the groove at the base of the gate. Sparks flew. Then, it was pulled back up—only to come crashing down again with a loud clang, repeating over and over.
"Follow me," Gu You said, summoning his dragon claw. He advanced without hesitation. The test never said they couldn't use martial souls. Wasn't this just too easy? Seeing Shen Yi's expression earlier, he had thought it would be something difficult, something requiring pure physical agility.
"Ten, nine, eight..." Shen Yi started counting down.
The massive guillotine blade was just about to slash down onto Gu You when he simply reached out with his dragon claw and lightly pinched it—snap! The blade shattered.
Shen Yi's hand trembled involuntarily. That blade had a force of three thousand jin (1,500 kg)...
Seeing this, Xie Xie and the others felt reassured, while Xu Xiaoyan, who had looked pale before, now had some color back in her face.
Shen Yi fell into silence. So power really can do whatever it wants... Right now, she was really starting to hate her own martial soul, the Shy Grass. Other than providing support and acting as decoration, what could it even do?
Many examinees in this test had the strength to pass, but when faced with the guillotine gates, their inner fears would cause them to collapse mentally. Many would be eliminated not because of a lack of skill but because of psychological barriers.
But Gu You was only thirteen years old. No one knew what he had gone through before, but it was clear that in his eyes, this level of danger was nothing more than a light breeze.
Naturally, their whole group passed with full marks. They returned inside, walking along the corridor before climbing another flight of stairs. It seemed they had reached the second floor of the main teaching building.
Upon entering the second floor, the décor changed. The paintings disappeared, and the walls became pure white. The ceiling was also white, but adorned with strange yellow patterns.
"This is... soul device design schematics?" Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed in surprise. She had chosen the profession of a mecha designer, and the foundation of mecha design was soul device engineering.
Shen Yi led them into a large room. Inside, a familiar figure stood before them—Cai Yue'er.
"It's you! I never thought that after leaving for three years, we'd meet again in a place like this. It truly is fate. Even though they are your friends, the special talent assessment must still be conducted. You don't have any objections, do you?" Cai Yue'er smiled at Gu You.
Perhaps ordinary Title Douluos wouldn't have noticed Gu You sneaking into Shrek, but for the elders of the Sea God Pavilion, it was impossible to miss. They had simply chosen to turn a blind eye—after all, he was a familiar face.
"No objections." Gu You shook his head. Cai Yue'er had clearly aged a lot. She now carried a cane, her steps unsteady, with two middle-aged men supporting her as she sat at the long table in the center of the room.
"Little Shen, let them begin." Cai Yue'er's hoarse voice rang out.
"Yes, Elder Cai." Shen Yi showed no dissatisfaction at being called 'Little Shen.'
"Zhuo Shi finally did something good for once. Extending the exam time just for these little ones—it seems to have been worth it. And you, little girl, there's no need for you to take any more tests. You can go straight to the Inner Court."
Cai Yue'er smiled as she looked up and down at Gu Yue.
"Six-element control... even I am a little excited. This will definitely go down in the continent's history, even if it's not ultimate-element control."
Gu Yue's eyes darkened slightly. She turned to glance at Gu You.
Cai Yue'er chuckled at her reaction. "He was already an Inner Court student from the beginning. It won't delay anything for you."
"This..." Gu You's eye twitched. What the hell is this old woman saying?
"What?!" Xie Xie shot to his feet in shock.
"So that's it. That explains everything!" He couldn't think of any other way to explain Gu You's terrifying talent.
If he had been raised in Shrek from birth with immense resources poured into him, it would make sense...
However, what they didn't know was that Gu You had never taken a single soul power-enhancing medicine. Even if he had ever consumed something of that nature, it had been wild heavenly materials and earthly treasures with no side effects. The only time he had forcefully broken through was when he absorbed the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor, and even then, the residual effects had been nullified by the Dragon God's inherited power.
Gu You actually wanted to take cultivation boosters, but they just wouldn't give him any.
"Little girl, would you like to be my disciple?" Cai Yue'er asked again, smiling warmly.
Gu Yue hesitated briefly but then shook her head without a second thought. "I can enter the Inner Court to study, but I already have a master."
Cai Yue'er was displeased, but since the girl already had a teacher, it was fair. She couldn't argue.
"Child, go home more often..." Cai Yue'er said before leaving, her voice carrying a trace of sorrow.
Gu You clenched his fists tightly. Do I even have a home?
Was I ever meant to have one?
But… maybe he did.
His teacher. Yun Ming.
Yet was any of it real?
Gu You couldn't understand.
Was his transmigration just a coincidence?
Was his success just a coincidence?
Maybe this wasn't something he could comprehend at this moment. Perhaps only at the very end, when the story had settled, would he truly understand.
Next to him, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan were both giving him knowing looks.
Gu You didn't say anything and simply followed Shen Yi out of the hall, heading deeper into the teaching building.
"The fifth test is about talent evaluation. Essentially, it assesses your secondary profession," Shen Yi said, glancing back at them.
Xie Xie quietly asked, "Teacher Shen, how many points did we get for the fourth test?"
He felt he had done quite well.
"Full marks, all full marks!" Shen Yi glared at him, annoyed at being interrupted mid-explanation.
"Yes!" Xie Xie cheered.
(End of Chapter)