His body hair stood on end as a cold stream passed through him. Li Ang reached out, trying to grab the wildly swinging mass of ink-black threads, but he couldn’t grasp it at all.
Wrist, arm, elbow, shoulder...
Beneath his skin, bizarre, clearly visible ridges were forming. Trembling, Li Ang pulled a scalpel from the medicine box. Before he could stab it into his shoulder to stop the threads from extending further, the foremost thread shot out, instantly piercing his heart. Like a flash of lightning shattering, it branched into countless slender tendrils, penetrating his chest and limbs.
The scalpel fell from his hand. Li Ang dropped to one knee, his fingers digging deep into the sandy soil from the intense pain.
What in the world is this...
The blade of the scalpel clearly reflected Li Ang’s horrified expression.
Numerous ink-black threads sprouted from his body. These black threads danced wildly in the air, slicing through the seemingly indestructible mountain rock walls around him as if cutting tofu, leaving deep marks.
"There’s movement over here!"
"Quick! Bring the Water Calming Talisman!"
"The Compass shows signs of an Alien presence! Ready the crossbows and the Demon Suppression Talismans!"
From the distance in the karst cave, the voices of the garrison soldiers echoed. The sounds of clashing armor, footsteps, and dogs barking grew closer.
I can’t let the garrison discover me in this demonic form.
Li Ang endured the pain, picked up the scalpel, and returned it to the medicine box. He then found the paper packet containing special powder on Jiao Cheng’s body and scattered its contents into the air.
Then, he stuffed Jiao Cheng’s clothes with stones, tied the sleeve cuffs, and threw the bundle into the underground Dark River.
He himself waded through the cold river water, heading towards a glowing light upstream.
The collapse of the underground palace had also caused the surface ground to tremble and cave in; rubble continuously fell along his path. The glowing light upstream marked a sinkhole formed by the geological collapse.
Li Ang waded through the shallow water, climbed the slope out of the sinkhole, and collapsed, exhausted, into the bushes.
Dawn was breaking. As time passed, the ink-black threads on his skin became tougher—his blood was continuously drawn out and infused into the threads, staining their surface a dark red.
His heart raced, his breathing grew ragged. If this continued, he would soon go into hypovolemic shock.
"...Energy is received from Heaven and Earth and harmonized by Yin and Yang. The divine mystery of Yin and Yang is called the Mind, and the Mind governs the cycles of day and night, waking and sleeping..."
Li Ang laboriously took the Fine Gold ring from the medicine box and placed it on his head. The words of the Shangqing Linggan Chapter surfaced in his mind, and he silently recited them.
He planned to use the strength granted by Spiritual Energy to cut away the black threads on his body with the scalpel—threads that were continuously drawing his blood.
Just as he had experimented countless times before, nature’s spiritual energy flowed through his body. But this time, the familiar, sharp pain in his brain did not appear.
Li Ang’s eyes widened in shock. In the next instant, the dark threads around his body suddenly stopped their frenzied movements, then gradually receded and retracted, disappearing beneath his skin once more.
Everything was calm, as if nothing had happened.
There was no time to think further; the sound of galloping hooves approached from the distance.
A merchant caravan was moving along a forest path, their conversation faintly audible.
"Eldest Son, how much longer until we reach Chang’an?"
"Not long now. We’ve passed Lishan. It’ll be about an hour or so until we reach Chang’an..."
Li Ang glanced at the sinkhole, gritted his teeth, and turned to enter the woods.
Chang’an, north of the city, at the Vermilion Bird Gate.
Today was the day of the Academic Palace’s final examination.
As dawn was just breaking, the Guanglu and Xingdao districts near the Imperial City were already filled with carriages and throngs of people.
The street vendors along the roadside did not call out loudly, silently serving breakfast to their customers. Nervous parents adjusted the collars of their equally anxious children, while the younger children brought from home bit their fingers, curiously observing the solemn surroundings.
On either side of the usually uncongested Vermilion Bird Street stood Imperial Guard soldiers, armored and unmoving, with two rows of wooden fences placed before them.
As the sound of drums echoed from atop the Imperial City Wall, the Vermilion Bird Gate was slowly pushed open. Academic Palace Instructors and Ministry of Rites officials filed out, nodding solemnly at the Imperial Guard soldiers.
Just as it had happened every year for the past three hundred years, the Imperial Guard soldiers received the command and opened the gates in the wooden fences.
"Fourth Son," under a luxurious parasol, Pei Su, the Prime Minister of Yu Country and Minister of the Left, solemnly patted his son’s shoulder. "Go on. Don’t disappoint me."
Pei Jing, still gracefully composed, took a deep breath, stepped back half a pace, bowed to his parents and siblings, and then turned to walk towards the fence.
"Third Daughter, don’t be nervous in the examination hall, alright? Whether you pass or not, you are our family’s pride."
"Understood, Father, Mom."
Qiu Feng gently pinched the corner of her Ru dress, steadied her breathing, and walked onto Vermilion Bird Street.
Similar scenes unfolded in front of the Vermilion Bird Gate.
Young men and women either nodded to their families or performed a deep bow, then, clutching their credentials, entered through the fence gates onto Vermilion Bird Street.
Chen Danqiu, the Academic Palace Sacrificial Official, stepped forward. He picked up the pre-examination proclamation—a document passed down in the Academic Palace for three hundred years, now nearly yellowed and fragile—and recited it in a voice as resonant as a great bell.
The serious and solemn atmosphere naturally suppressed all other sounds. Examinees and their parents alike wore tense expressions; only a few showed slight surprise.
It was normal for the Emperor not to be present; according to tradition, only after the official announcement of results in the evening would His Majesty host a banquet in Taiji Palace for the Academic Palace students who had passed the final examination.
But the Academic Palace Master had not appeared, and even one of the four Masters was missing: Tantai Leshan, the Doctor of Engineering who had once overseen the Huaidong Sea Barrier project, seemed to have been absent for several months.
"Song Dalang, have you seen my Young Master?"
Chai Cuiqiao ran up from a street corner, panting, to where Song Shaoyuan, You Xiao, and Zhai Yiming stood.
Song Shaoyuan and the others, who had come to watch the proceedings, were also surprised. "Hasn’t he entered yet?"
Chai Cuiqiao, gasping for breath, said, "No. I came with Lin Lang, and we’ve searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. We only saw Yang Qilang and his group."
"Could he have overslept?"
Song Shaoyuan inhaled sharply, exchanged a glance with Zhai Yiming, and then turned to Chai Cuiqiao, saying seriously, "Alright, I’ll ride to Huai De Square now and knock on his door..."
"We’ll wait here," Zhai Yiming said quickly, frowning. "If there’s no one at his place in Huai De Square, the rest of our classmates can search the other workshops. If all else fails, I’ll go to Anxing Square. Didn’t you mention before that Risheng treated Duke Yan of Anxing Square? We could ask his family for help."
Song Shaoyuan nodded and mounted his horse, heading towards Huai De Square.
"Cui Qiao, over here."
A gentle voice came from a pavilion above. Li Leqing, her face covered by a light veil, sat by a window, waving downward.
Chai Cuiqiao climbed the stairs to the pavilion. Seeing her anxious expression, Li Leqing softly asked, "What’s the matter? What happened?"
Standing by the window and looking down at the examinees below, Chai Cuiqiao said anxiously, "My Eldest Son hasn’t arrived yet..."
"Ah? The exam is about to start."
Li Leqing stood up in surprise. Behind her, her Maids silently exchanged glances. The Li Family’s eldest son, that student named Li Ang... Hadn’t the Academic Palace Director judged him incapable of Cultivation, deeming it impossible for him to pass the final exam? Could it be...