For someone like her who consciously slowed down the progress, Old Shi of course raised both hands and feet in agreement: “Of course you can. Oh, by the way, that side of Ivensell is currently undergoing the most crucial part of the assessment, so the path has been sealed off. If you want to find him, I advise you not to waste your efforts.”
Su Xing showed a smile.
“I’m not going to find him.”
“That’s good, then. Go ahead.”
Old Shi gave his instructions and walked back to his room.
Su Xing took the Zhilu Shi, carefully recalling the route she took the first time she went out to find her companions, then picked a direction and resolutely led Feng Jun into the mist.
“KaKa!”
Su Xing arrived in front of KaKa’s little house and called out loudly.
KaKa ran out, his eyes sparkling.
“Su Xing, why are you here? Did you find a way?”
Su Xing knocked on his head to quiet him down.
“Go call Quinn. I don’t know the way to Quinn’s place. I’ll wait for you here.”
KaKa nodded and went off to do exactly as Su Xing said without hesitation.
Soon, Quinn also arrived in front of KaKa’s hut.
Su Xing asked seriously, “I have a way to quickly end this assessment, but if we do, we won’t get the Inspiration Source Pen. Are you willing?”
Quinn was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Is it for Iven?”
Su Xing nodded.
“Yes, but honestly, I’m not sure if Iven actually needs us to do this.”
“And besides…”
She hesitated, “The ownership of the Inspiration Source Pen is a big deal. Once you get it, your name will be written in bold in the history of the Spirit Artisans. Giving up this chance is like giving up an easily obtainable opportunity to become a Dahuan Lingshi.”
To tell the truth, she herself was a bit hesitant.
It hadn’t been easy to get this far, and to give it all up for an uncertain and dangerous possibility—no matter how she thought about it, it felt a bit hard to accept…
But KaKa didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
“Then let’s do it!”
“Have you really thought it through?”
Su Xing couldn’t help but laugh.
“You know, if you get the Inspiration Source Pen, you could immediately fulfill your dream of becoming a Dahuan Lingshi. Quinn, you too—if you get it, you’d be a big step closer to finding your parents. Even so, you’re both willing to give it all up for Iven?”
Hearing Su Xing’s words, Quinn fell silent.
He did want to find his parents very much.
With the Inspiration Source Pen, that goal would be twice as easy to achieve.
While the two of them hesitated, only KaKa was still unwavering.
“If the condition to become a Dahuan Lingshi is to abandon Iven, then I’d rather always be the underachiever of Spirit Domain Academy. The four of us set out together, so all four of us must return together—not a single one less!”
Quinn’s eyes flashed with a trace of shame, as if regretting his earlier hesitation.
“Su Xing, go ahead! I believe I can find my parents on my own. I don’t need anything that comes from sacrificing Iven…”
Seeing the two of them so resolute, Su Xing clicked her tongue as if annoyed, but couldn’t suppress the upward curve of her lips.
“You make it sound like I’m the bad guy here.”
She waved her hand and started walking east.
“Fine, fine, I really can’t do anything with you two. I’ll go find Apollo and end this assessment.”
***
In front of the waterfall, a man wearing a golden mask was tirelessly tossing small stones into the lake.
The pebbles bounced across the water, skipping a full twelve times.
When Su Xing arrived, she saw this very scene.
Apollo had noticed Su Xing the moment she appeared, but didn’t care at all, still adjusting his stone-skipping technique, trying to finish the task as soon as possible.
Su Xing spoke up.
“Apollo, are you almost done with your task?”
Apollo didn’t even look up, letting out a snort.
“Do you still remember that we’re supposed to be opponents?”
With that mask on, Su Xing couldn’t read his expression at all.
His tone was full of amusement, making it impossible to tell if he was stuck or not.
Su Xing hesitated a little but decided to be blunt.
“I’m almost done with my task. I should finish in the next day or two.”
“Oh? Did you run into trouble?”
Apollo paused, stopping his aim at the water, and lazily squatted by the lakeside, casually weighing a pebble in his hand.
Since she’d already started, the rest was easy.
Su Xing poured out the speech she’d prepared in advance.
“We’re willing to cooperate with you and let you win the competition. As long as, after you get the Inspiration Source Pen, you give us a total of 100,000 Bei coins.”
Su Xing didn’t state her true reason—she had her own little calculations.
Since they wouldn’t get the Inspiration Source Pen, getting some benefits was only fair.
Of course, Apollo wasn’t an idiot.
He asked directly, “Why?”
Su Xing explained, “After discussing, we realized that if we got the Inspiration Source Pen, our own spirits might be neglected. Becoming a Dahuan Lingshi by relying on the Inspiration Source Pen isn’t what we want, so we’re planning to give up this opportunity.”
Apollo didn’t believe a word of this nonsense.
“Even if your teammates think that way, there’s no way you do. I don’t believe someone who grew up hustling among all walks of life could say something like that.”
Su Xing frowned slightly, that sense of discord rising again.
“How do you know what my background is?”
Apollo boasted, “Judges know everything.”
Su Xing grinned, immediately launching her taunt.
“But you didn’t even know what stone skipping was before, did you?”
With the mask covering his face, he still looked completely unruffled.
“So what is it that you really want?”
Su Xing answered earnestly, “I wasn’t lying just now. We really do want to cooperate with you.”
Hearing this, Apollo tossed away the pebble, clapped his hands, stood up, and looked at Su Xing with golden eyes from beneath the mask.
It was such a simple action, yet it gave Su Xing immense pressure, as if some ferocious beast had awakened.
Su Xing swallowed nervously but forced herself to try and wring some benefits from him.
“Just 100,000. 100,000 Bei coins shouldn’t be much to you, right?”
Su Xing had a good eye and could tell Apollo was either rich or noble—especially that golden mask, which looked to be made of pure gold.
Apollo pondered for a moment, then said playfully, “100,000 isn’t much to me, but why should I give it to you for nothing? You must have some reason that forced you to come and ask for my cooperation, right?”
He had seen straight through Su Xing’s situation.
Since Su Xing didn’t deny it, Apollo continued, “Let me think. For you to give up on the Inspiration Source Pen so early, it must be because you found something wrong with it. And that problem…”
He looked Su Xing up and down, then concluded, “…has to do with your companions.”
A complete, overwhelming suppression—this was an all-around crushing from experience and intellect.
It was Su Xing’s first time facing such total defeat.
Clearly, she hadn’t said anything, yet it felt like everything had been seen through.
Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t let yourself fall completely into a passive position.
Su Xing took a deep breath, forcing herself to organize her thoughts.
“Is your task progress still far from completion?”
Su Xing suddenly asked.
That question actually stunned the previously confident Apollo.
Seeing his reaction, Su Xing relaxed a bit.
“When I first asked if you were almost done, you acted dismissive. I thought it was because you thought I was talking nonsense, but now I see—it was because you thought I was lying.”
Now it was Apollo’s turn to fall silent.
Su Xing clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head.
“After I finished speaking, you immediately asked if I’d run into trouble. That proves you didn’t believe a word about my task being almost done. Which means, your own task is still far from finished, so you thought I was making things up.”
After a while, Apollo let out a low chuckle.
“Interesting, interesting. Even if you’re right, can you tell the truth now? How far along are you in the assessment?”
Su Xing had already realized something and held back her excitement.
“I wasn’t lying, Apollo. Did you ever consider that maybe you’ve been tricked by the Inspiration Source Pen?”
“Hm?”
A dangerous glint flashed in Apollo’s eyes.
Su Xing acted calm, as if she couldn’t feel the danger at all.
“My task is to carve a stone statue. I should finish by tomorrow. Quinn’s task is almost done too, at most in five days. And you? How far do you still have to go?”
“My task is to skip a stone across the water thirty times in a row.”
“Thirty times?!”
Su Xing exclaimed in shock.
“So it really doesn’t want you to finish your task? I’ve been playing with stones since I was a kid, and I can’t even skip one that many times!”
Behind the mask, Apollo’s face turned completely dark.
“Heh… heh heh, Inspiration Source Pen, what a great Inspiration Source Pen! Hahahahaha!”
Laughing, his entire aura soared.
An orange-red glowing orb appeared beside Apollo, floating up and down and emanating a strange energy.
The man and the orb together looked extremely dangerous.
Apollo strode into the mist, but when he reached the edge, he suddenly stopped and turned to Su Xing.
“We’ll meet again.”
After Apollo completely disappeared into the mist, Su Xing finally let her trembling hand fall from behind her back.
Apollo’s aura was just too powerful—especially when that little orb appeared, the sense of danger was overwhelming, like sunlight itself.
No wonder he’s Apollo—the Sun God?
Putting that aside for now, Su Xing couldn’t help but show a gloating smile.
She’d only wanted to ask Apollo for help, but hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.
She had to admit, the Inspiration Source Pen was really bold. Even she could tell Apollo was dangerous, yet the pen dared to try and fool him.
Clearly, just from the task alone, the Inspiration Source Pen had never intended for Apollo to get it.
From the looks of it, the one truly chosen by the Inspiration Source Pen was Ivensell.
That explained why his trial was so different from everyone else’s.
But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing—otherwise, the Inspiration Source Pen wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide it from them.
Now that Apollo knew the truth, he’d definitely feel he’d been played. With his strength, the Inspiration Source Pen was in for a hard time.
Thinking of this, Su Xing hurried back the way she came to find KaKa and the others.
If Apollo was going to make a scene, it’d be safer for them to stick together.
And she had to tell them about this—such a rare bit of fun shouldn’t be enjoyed alone, right?
Su Xing thought a bit maliciously, and silently wished the Inspiration Source Pen good luck in advance.