Everyone was being stifled too hard.
After being suppressed for so long, wouldn’t there be a backlash?
One had to balance strictness with relaxation.
Speaking of which, after this exam, she really should visit Paradise and the Apocalypse Holy Land.
She felt it was her duty to help the Paradise Pantheon test the loyalty of these divine objects!
“By the way,” Su Fu suddenly remembered something and asked the two, “how is the Tree of Life adjusting after moving to the Central Star System?”
Emilia and Hou Chu suddenly exchanged a glance, their expressions becoming a bit complicated.
“What’s wrong?” Su Fu was puzzled, “Is it not doing well? Is it sick?”
Emilia looked at a loss for words and turned to Hou Chu, “You should tell her.”
Seeing their hesitation, Su Fu’s heart sank.
‘Could it be that the Tree of Life wasn’t acclimating? Or was it being bullied by the local holy relics of the Central Star System?’
Hou Chu coughed twice, organized his thoughts and said, “You know that ever since the Tree of Life was rescued last time, it’s been particularly fond of blooming with multi-colored leaves, right?”
Su Fu replied, “…I know.”
She also knew why.
That fellow had become a fanatic fan just because it saw Lady Nuwa once.
Hou Chu’s expression became even more subtle, “After it arrived at the Central Star System, it was… mocked by other holy relics.”
He paused, seemingly choosing his words carefully, “They laughed at it, saying a tree shouldn’t look so gaudy; it was improper.”
Su Fu had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, Hou Chu took a deep breath and said, “Then, the Tree of Life got into a fight with them.”
“But don’t worry. The upgraded Tree of Life is incredibly good at fighting. All those who mocked it were beaten into submission!”
Emilia added from the side, “And it even snatched quite a bit of Authority. It’s full now and is leveling up again…”
Su Fu thought, ‘Good grief! The Tree of Life was that fierce now? This little sapling was doing great; its combat power was quite formidable!’
The innocent and sweet thing that only knew how to act cute in front of her was actually a hidden, berserk battle-tree?
Tree of Life… healing… she understood now.
The Tree of Life was taking the ‘battle healer’ route, wasn’t it?
Wait, Su Fu suddenly realized something, and her eyes lit up.
If the Tree of Life improved, wouldn’t that mean the next time she healed it, she would also receive feedback for herself?
The Tree of Life had given her a massive boost last time.
After this upgrade, it would probably be even more intense.
Su Fu felt like she had discovered a shortcut.
She felt that next time, she should have a good talk with the Tree of Life.
Those other holy relics actually dared to mock its five-colored leaves?
That was an absolute insult to Lady Nuwa’s aesthetics!
Could it be tolerated?
No.
How could one beating be enough?
She would have to go and ‘educate’ them every now and then.
While she was at it, she could snatch some more Authority.
No problem, right?
Hou Chu soon left with the Angel Feather Pen to report back.
After all, this item was too important to stay outside for long.
Just as he was leaving, the feather pen specifically sent a conscious message to Su Fu: “Your loyal servant awaits your next arrival~”
Su Fu felt like saying, ‘Stop tempting me. I can’t handle this kind of temptation.’
If she hadn’t kept her sanity, she might have actually stuffed the pen in her pocket and walked away on the spot.
The exam would start tomorrow, so Su Fu didn’t plan on returning to the academy.
She stayed at Emilia’s place, taking the opportunity to learn about the EX-Class Restricted Instance.
Emilia naturally agreed and prepared a delicate and delicious dinner for her.
Savory grilled steak, fragrant spiritual fruits, and sweet spiritual tea.
The two sat at the dining table by the window.
An evening breeze blew softly through the half-open window, bringing a cool touch.
“About this Restricted Instance… does ‘Restricted’ refer to the anomaly level?” Su Fu cut into her steak and got straight to the point.
“Correct,” Emilia nodded, “You know that in S-Class Instances, there are already anomalies that can perfectly replicate certain gods.”
“But a Restricted Instance means that the upper limit for mimicking gods is even higher.”
Su Fu’s chewing motion paused.
‘Higher? S-Class could already replicate ordinary gods. Going higher than that…’
“Another characteristic is the quantity,” Emilia added, “There will be many gods.”
Su Fu had guessed as much.
For example, the Yaochi Instance had this characteristic.
But the EX level meant the gods would be at an even higher tier than those in the Yaochi Instance.
That would make them even harder to deal with.
“Then, do you have any guesses about the type of Dungeon?” she pressed, “I’ve never taken an exam of this level before, and I don’t know much about it. I can only rely on you for information.”
Emilia was amused by her phrasing.
After thinking for a moment, she replied, “Given the scale of the test takers this time—both in terms of the number of geniuses and the total quantity—this will likely be the largest exam hall in history.”
“This means the entire map will probably be incredibly vast.”
Su Fu nodded, ‘This was easy to understand.’
The size of an exam hall was directly proportional to the number and quality of the students.
This was a fundamental rule of Instance construction.
Having too many excellent students would cause the Instance space to expand to accommodate more trials and more complex scenarios.
Emilia sighed, “So, I suspect the Instance type this time will be a Civilization Projection.”
Civilization Projection meant a projection of a certain period of history.
It did not rely on a real physical location or time.
Only this kind of map, due to its space-time characteristics, could accommodate a large enough number of students.
“That is the most difficult of all Exam Papers.”
Su Fu felt her vision go dark.
As expected, she knew she couldn’t escape it!
The reason Civilization Projection was dangerous was that anomalies had real history as a reference.
They would have been in contact with gods who appeared in history, so their level of replication of those gods would be incredibly deep.
After all, they had seen them before.
In other maps, anomalies’ replications would always have deviations because they hadn’t had real contact with the gods.
But history was history because gods had truly descended there once.
This was the most troublesome part.
She murmured to herself, “A civilization projection type, an EX-rank exam hall, and a massive number of test takers, all on an incredibly vast map. It’s like every possible buff has been stacked.”
‘No wonder the invitation mentioned “spatiotemporal differences,” ‘ she thought, ‘With this kind of projection, aren’t we just traveling back in time to relive that period of history?’
“So,” she said, shifting her tone to the question she truly cared about, “with all these restrictions, the range of possible maps should be significantly narrowed down, right? Can you guess which Divine Pantheon map it might be?”
This was the core of the matter.
Currently, the Six Great Pantheons had joined forces against her, moving in a massive, organized crowd.
If she didn’t even have the home-field advantage of her own pantheon’s map, things would be incredibly difficult.
Emilia shook her head, “It’s hard to say. The main issue is finding a map that can accommodate so many test takers while challenging a group with such high-level abilities. I honestly can’t think of one right now. Every map feels like it’s missing something. I’m even curious to see what it turns out to be.”
Su Fu grew pensive.
If even a well-traveled Saintess couldn’t guess it, then the others likely had no clue either.
She looked out the window at the starry sky, where countless civilizations rose and fell among those points of light.
What mythical history could possibly support so many chosen prodigies?
The two chatted for a long time until the night grew late, and they finally returned to their rooms to rest.
The night breeze brushed against the curtains, carrying a faint, pleasant floral scent.
Su Fu lay on the soft bed, listening to the rustling leaves outside.
Her mind was filled with a thousand thoughts as she eventually drifted into sleep.
***
The next day, at the Genesis Academy’s Primordial Temple.
A large number of test takers had already gathered, talking in small groups.
As soon as Su Fu arrived, Bai Shou and the others walked toward her.
“How was your rest yesterday?” Bai Shou asked in a gentle voice.
“It was all right.” Su Fu nodded and said apologetically, “If time wasn’t so tight, I would have visited your place.”
Qing Ling laughed at that and said, “No rush. You can come after the exam. By the way, the Master mentioned you yesterday.”
She stepped closer and gave a meaningful wink, “He’s here today too. With the Master watching over us, you can rest easy.”
Su Fu smiled knowingly.
Even if she was surrounded by powerful enemies, it didn’t mean China was without its own power, nor was she standing alone.
Bai Shou had previously revealed that Master Yan was accompanying them this time, and his Principal God was Zhuangzi.
It was said his Heavenly Techniques were related to the ‘A Happy Excursion’ and Kunpeng.
With Zhuangzi presiding, what was there to fear?
Once the Kunpeng appeared, who could compete?
It gave her the same rock-solid sense of security she felt from her Master.
Just then, more test takers arrived, and the buzzing of conversation in the Sanctum grew louder.
Cang Yue suddenly lowered his voice, “Someone previously categorized all the test takers based on their ability rankings. The ones with the greatest advantage this time are the younger generation from the Central Star System.”
“Since childhood, their resources have been maxed out. Moreover, the most famous among them have already stepped into S-rank, reaching the level of Godly Proxy.”
Su Fu looked toward that group of test takers, who stood apart from the rest.
Their faces were full of confidence, and their high-end gear made them easy to identify.
“They really have the best luck,” Su Fu remarked, “They were practically born in Rome.”
These people were born at the top of the food chain, possessing privileges and resources that ordinary people could never hope to reach.
But it wasn’t a huge problem.
So they were pay-to-win players?
The Chinese Pantheon was essentially a cheat code.
“How do the rankings go after that?” Su Fu asked curiously.
“Aside from the Central Star System, the Ancient Civilization Survivors and the Dark Realm are tied for next. The fact that the Ancient Civilizations have survived until now proves their Inheritance systems are perfect and their abilities are extremely strong. After all, a race that can survive countless cycles of civilization shifts has a foundation that newcomers can’t easily catch up to. As for the Dark Realm…”
“Their abilities are eerie. They can erase concepts, and they can’t be judged by common logic. Without a doubt, they are the natural counters to many test takers.”
Su Fu became thoughtful.
It was true.
If an opponent could directly erase the concept of “fire,” even if you possessed the Holy Flames of Heaven, you wouldn’t be able to use them.
This kind of unreasonable power was the natural enemy of conceptual Heavenly Techniques.
In summary, the various factions were like a complex chessboard, and the pieces were exceptionally powerful.
‘This will be a tough fight.’
Suddenly, Qing Ling stiffened her back and said, “They’re here.”
‘Who?’
Su Fu followed Qing Ling’s gaze and saw Verdandi walking in with a group of five.
Verdandi led the way, and wherever she passed, test takers lowered their heads and moved aside.
One test taker even accidentally tripped over his own pants in his haste to scramble backward.
“They are the younger generation of the Central Star System known as the Scions of the Five Gods.” Bai Shou’s voice was grim.
“We’ve investigated them recently. These five are considered the strongest of the current generation in the Central Star System, hence the title of Scions.”
“Scions?” Su Fu arched an eyebrow, “Descendants of gods?”
“Yes,” Bai Shou explained, “According to reliable sources, they plan to crush all test takers in this league to consolidate the Central Star System’s absolute authority. Whether it’s the Ancient Civilizations, the Dark Realm, or… the Chinese Pantheon that seems to be on the rise, even the commoner geniuses—they plan to sweep them all.”
“Hah,” Su Fu chuckled softly, “They certainly talk big.”
She looked at the five.
Besides the three she had dealt with before, including Verdandi, there were two new faces.
Aniru of the Indian Pantheon wore a deep blue robe woven with gold thread, with a red tilak on his forehead.
Set of the Egyptian Pantheon had black hair down to her waist.
Her eyeliner was styled like a goddess from an Egyptian mural.
Her long nails were painted with gold pigment, and a gold bracelet shaped like a cobra was wrapped around her wrist.