In the Upper Zone, before the entry passageway.
As a melodious chime rang out, everyone present — whether Luo Hanbing or Mu Xin — showed a look of surprise on their faces.
"They only went in less than twenty minutes ago, and someone already passed the trial?" Mu Xin listened to the chime, her heart filled with astonishment.
The Path of Spirit was extremely important to the Upper Zone. Whenever someone passed through an opened Path of Spirit, the Path would ring its chime, notifying everyone in the Upper Zone.
It announced that a new member had appeared in the Upper Zone!
Now that the chime had rung, it meant someone had already passed the Path of Spirit, and the speed was simply incomprehensible.
Because normally, passing through the Path of Spirit required more than thirty minutes. After all, the path was not short — just walking it normally took about thirty minutes, let alone the fact that with every step, one endured intense mental assault.
"Good! Wonderful! Passed in less than twenty minutes — it seems that kid really is, just like they said upstairs, an absolute mental monster." Luo Hanbing laughed with satisfaction. "This time it wasn't for nothing — my heavy cost in coming as a guide wasn't wasted!"
As the examiner for the trial, and simultaneously the guide for those who passed, the more outstanding the newcomer under his charge, the higher the evaluation he would receive from above. Moreover, as the guide for a successful candidate, recruiting the newcomer would be far easier.
If someone of extraordinary genius like Yan Wuming could be recruited under his wing, his status in the Source Heaven City Upper Zone would rise accordingly.
Mu Xin's expression, standing to the side, was quite unpleasant.
If Luo Hanbing managed to recruit a mental monster like Yan Wuming, then in the future, Luo Hanbing's status in the Upper Zone would surpass Hong Xinyuan's.
However, a few minutes later, a chime rang out once again.
"Someone else passed?"
Mu Xin heard the chime and felt somewhat stunned, her expression growing even more grim.
The entire Source Heaven City Upper Zone's chime only rang a few times a year at most. Now it had rung twice in a single day — something that didn't happen even once in ten years.
And it had happened to fall on Luo Hanbing's watch…
"Ha ha ha, impressive! These newcomers are really something!" Luo Hanbing couldn't help but laugh heartily, shooting a glance at Mu Xin as he said, "Mu Xin, you're a well-known genius in our Source Heaven City Upper Zone too. Following old Hong like that has no future — why not join my side now? With any luck, in a year or two, your Spirit can level up another grade. By then, your authority in the Upper Zone could be raised to first-level — far beyond what you have now."
"Thank you for Manager Luo's kind offer, but I'm quite content following Uncle Hong. I'm confident that before long, my Spirit will meet the standard for first-level authority." Mu Xin rejected him without hesitation.
Luo Hanbing was not surprised by her refusal. He said with a dismissive air, "One step behind, and every step behind — I hope you won't regret today's decision."
In the Upper Zone, what was most valued was the level of a person's Spirit. Authority levels within the Upper Zone were determined by one's Spirit level — the higher one's Spirit grade, the higher one's authority, the higher one's status, and the more resources one could obtain.
However, the growth of Spirit was extremely difficult, and the older one got, the slower the growth became.
Mu Xin, for instance, had passed the Path of Spirit at the age of fifteen and was deemed to possess an exceptionally rare high-grade Spirit. But since Mu Xin was not an internal member of the company, her authority level was one grade lower compared to members with equivalent Spirit, and she only received second-level authority in the Upper Zone.
It should be known that when an outsider under twenty passed the Path of Spirit back then, they merely received the lowest third-level authority. The status of second-level authority spoke for itself.
But after all these years, Mu Xin's Spirit had not improved much, so she remained at second-level authority to this day.
If Mu Xin could advance one more step and reach first-level authority, that would be a dragon leaping over the gate — a complete transformation.
It should be known that in the entire Source Heaven City Upper Zone, fewer than two hundred people held first-level authority. He himself was only one grade above that — at high-level authority — and merely held the title of Manager.
After exchanging a few more words, Luo Hanbing said nothing further to Mu Xin.
Because in Luo Hanbing's eyes, Mu Xin was nothing but a rotten piece of wood. With the meager resources Hong Xinyuan had in hand, forget about devoting everything to Mu Xin's improvement — even Mu Xin's own younger sister, Ke Rui, would struggle to reach the level of second-level authority.
As time ticked by second by second, Mu Xin grew increasingly anxious.
"It's been so long and she still hasn't come out — could something have happened to Ke Rui?" Mu Xin looked at the time, a wave of worry surging through her heart.
Although Ke Rui had already passed the Path of Spirit before, meaning she should no longer fear the mental assault of the Path, that did not mean the Path's assault had no effect on her.
It still hurt — it was just that the pain was within a tolerable range.
"It's been nearly an hour and she still hasn't come out — it looks grim," Luo Hanbing checked his watch as well and couldn't help but sneer. "I said it before — on the Path of Spirit, the slightest carelessness means months in the hospital. Young people just won't listen to reason. Pity they'll be stuck in there for hours."
"Could something really have gone wrong?" Mu Xin's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
Closing the Path of Spirit was a cumbersome process. Even with the privilege to shut it down, it generally took two or three hours to close — and opening it was even more troublesome.
If someone remained inside the Path of Spirit for three or four hours while unconscious, lying in a hospital for a month would be the lighter outcome. The severe case would result in heavy spiritual damage, making future improvement extraordinarily difficult.
Just as Mu Xin was feeling a surge of panic, the smart watch on her wrist suddenly rang. The caller was Ke Rui.