Overseer Gu hurried to smooth things over. "Young Master
"The Minor Celestial Origin World has no use for Human Spirit Root trash. Do you want to crawl back on your own, or shall I throw you back? A piece of garbage with a Human Spirit Root has no right to set foot in the Celestial Spirit Academy!" Hua Ling stared coldly at the youth whose test had revealed an eighth-grade Human Spirit Root.
Hearing Hua Ling berate that eighth-grade Human Spirit Root youth, Guan Yu clenched his fists tightly. Hua Ling's words were no different from a personal insult to him. In the past, he had always been the one humiliating others—no one had ever humiliated him. It was a feeling of shame and rage so intense it made him want to die.
Aside from Guan Yu, the others nearby who had been found to possess Human Spirit Roots all felt an overwhelming sense of disgrace, unable to face anyone.
Guan Yu's gaze shifted from confused to clear, and then to resolute. He looked at Nie Li with gratitude and said, "Nie Li, thank you! Even after the way I spoke about you before, you still encouraged me. I won't give up!"
Hua Ling glanced over at Nie Li and Guan Yu from the side and let out a derisive snort. "Only trash sympathize with each other. The strong never need anyone's pity!"
The youth with the eighth-grade Human Spirit Root, after being berated by Hua Ling, silently walked away.
"You, come up for your test!" Overseer Gu pointed at
His turn had finally come. Lu Piao's face immediately fell, and he walked helplessly toward the crystal ball ahead. Fortune or misfortune, it couldn't be avoided—sooner or later, he would have to face the test.
Just as Lu Piao was about to begin, a sudden commotion erupted from outside.
"Someone killed himself!"
"It's that guy who tested as eighth-grade Human Spirit Root!"
"Apparently after he was told he had an eighth-grade Human Spirit Root, he was humiliated and couldn't take it—he killed himself!"
The students waiting for their tests all shook their heads, their expressions tinged with melancholy. An eighth-grade Human Spirit Root might not be especially outstanding, but it was still passable—there was absolutely no reason to go as far as suicide!
Hearing the murmurs from outside, Nie Li furrowed his brow. What had driven that youth to suicide probably wasn't the eighth-grade Human Spirit Root result itself, but rather his inability to bear the humiliation of being sent back. He would rather die here than return—this was his dignity!
Hua Ling gave a cold snort. "He'd rather die than go back—there's a bit of backbone in him after all. But since he was trash, there's nothing to regret about his death!" The people from the Minor Celestial Origin World around Hua Ling all wore expressions of indifference—this sort of thing was far too common for them.
A flash of anger crossed
Lu Piao and the others also glared at Hua Ling with fury.
Some people nearby were furious with Hua Ling as well, but this was the Minor Celestial Origin World's business. It wasn't their place to interfere.
All eyes turned back to Lu Piao, who was about to undergo his test. Hua Ling gazed down at him from his elevated position, a contemptuous smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Judging from how timid and shrinking Lu Piao appeared, his talent was probably nothing impressive.
The weight of all those stares pressed down on Lu Piao like suffocating pressure. Silently, he pleaded in his mind—please, just don't let me be sent back. Slowly, he placed his hand on the crystal ball.
With someone having just committed suicide, everyone was watching Lu Piao's test results with intense focus.
Lu Piao channeled a thread of power into the crystal ball, and it began to glow brighter and brighter, blossoming with streaks of red. Lu Piao quickly squeezed his eyes shut. It's over, it's over—it's red. It's a Human Spirit Root. Please don't be anything worse than a fifth-grade Human Spirit Root!
Everyone was staring at the crystal ball. The light inside grew brighter and brighter, blazing so intensely that people could not help but shield their eyes from the glare. The color within slowly shifted from pinkish red to deep crimson, then continued transforming into a dark violet, before splitting into two strands, then three, then four, then five.
Lu Piao cracked one eye open for a look and nearly burst into tears — five strands, only five strands! It's over, it's over, he was going to be sent back! How could his life be so miserable! He quickly shut his eyes again.
Deacon Gu's gaze gradually shifted from indifference to utter shock. Purple — that was unmistakably the hue of a Heaven Spirit Root, and such a profound shade of purple was something he had never witnessed before. Moreover, it had split into five strands — a Fifth-Grade Heaven Spirit Root! He had tested so many people over the years, and across all of them, only three Heaven Spirit Roots had ever turned up. One was Third-Grade, one was Second-Grade — already considered super-geniuses. But compared to Lu Piao, they paled in comparison.
Hua Ling's expression went from contempt to slack-jawed disbelief.
This was impossible — this brat had actually reached Fifth-Grade Heaven Spirit Root!
He had never expected that this boy, who looked so mediocre and useless, would test as a Fifth-Grade Heaven Spirit Root! Compared to a Heaven Spirit Root, anyone with an Earth Spirit Root was nothing but a talentless hack! Humiliation erupted into fury inside Hua Ling — had these people from the Tiny World cheated?!
Across the endless cities and countless small worlds of the Dragon Abyss Domain, how many Heaven Spirit Root geniuses had ever emerged? And now the Tiny World had produced yet another person with a Heaven Spirit Root — and a Fifth-Grade one at that!