Just as the two finished chatting, the spinning sphere on the testing instrument stopped rotating.
Then, the instrument began to weave threads from spiritual power.
The spirit threads fell like golden feathers onto the paper in front of the old man, stitching themselves into characters.
The old man glanced sideways at Lin Xiangyi, clearly aware that he hadn’t been paying attention to what he’d said earlier.
He took the report and muttered:
“You young people these days, you’re just—”
His words came to an abrupt halt.
The old man squinted, steadying the reading glasses that were about to slip off the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
He double-checked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, then let out an astonished exclamation.
“Little miss, you’re the one who made this record?”
The old man looked up at Shen Ye.
Because every index on the test report was completely unlike what a novice young girl should have.
“How many years have you been practicing? Who was your master?”
He hadn’t noticed earlier, but this puppet was selected at the mid-to-high difficulty setting.
Not just defeating it, but a high-scoring kill report, and from such a young girl at that—this made him even more curious.
“Uh…”
Shen Ye opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer, and ultimately shot a pleading look at Lin Xiangyi.
“Old sir, that’s not something we can discuss.”
Lin Xiangyi stepped forward, shielding Shen Ye behind him.
The old man glanced at him, then at the golden-eyed girl peeking half her head out from behind him, and chuckled.
He waved his hand and said:
“Alright, alright, since it’s your business, this old man won’t pry any further. Take the report.”
“Thank you for your understanding, old sir.”
Lin Xiangyi bowed in farewell, took the report, and left.
Shen Ye hummed an unfamiliar tune, her steps light and brisk.
Even though he couldn’t see it, Lin Xiangyi could almost picture her tail wagging high in the air.
Sigh.
Lin Xiangyi shook his head and carefully examined the data report in his hands.
Hmm…
Overall, it was decent data.
His gaze swept from top to bottom, analyzing the results of Shen Ye’s first battle.
That Wind Blade of hers was truly astonishing in terms of lethality.
But in actual missions, techniques capable of killing were generally not permitted. He wondered if she could control her output.
Still, the mission I chose shouldn’t have too many direct confrontations with people.
When Lin Xiangyi’s gaze swept over a few specific data points, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
The defensive capability was zero, but judging from how she’d been dodging the entire time, her body probably couldn’t withstand heavy blows.
That settles it—I really can’t let Xiao Ye take risks. Even if she tags along, I’ll need to keep a close watch the whole way.
He silently made his decision.
“Staring that long—is there a problem? Let me see.”
A little head poked in.
Lin Xiangyi lowered his arm slightly so Shen Ye could see the contents of the report too.
“Hmm…“
Shen Ye glanced at the report, only to find that all these evaluation metrics were things she was seeing for the first time, leaving her completely lost.
With no other choice, she looked up and asked Lin Xiangyi.
“So does this count as passing or not?”
“Based on the data shown here.”
Lin Xiangyi barely suppressed the urge to ruffle this little head, forcing his gaze away from those golden pupils.
“You’ve just barely scraped by the qualification threshold for the mission.”
“Huh?“
Shen Ye’s eyes went wide, her face full of confusion.
“Didn’t I obliterate that big hunk of metal? How is that only scraping by?”
“It’s probably because your battle time was too long, and the physical damage dealt by your body was too low, which dragged down the recorded combat data.”
Lin Xiangyi explained patiently, pointing at a section of data on the report.
“Dodge, speed, physical attack, spiritual power intensity—each stat has a corresponding score.”
“After the battle ends, this puppet gives a comprehensive evaluation of all the data. But since it’s only assessing combat data, the fact that you passed on attack score alone is already pretty good.”
“Support-type spirit masters, for instance, have to go somewhere else entirely to get their evaluations done.”
“I see.”
Shen Ye tapped her lips lightly, lost in thought.
Data? Scores?
Isn’t this just like playing a game?
A sudden realization dawned on her, and she tugged at Lin Xiangyi’s sleeve, her eyes gleaming with eagerness.
“Then how about we test again? I promise we’ll rack up a much higher score.”
“You think this is a training range?”
Lin Xiangyi said, exasperated.
“Combat puppets for these evaluations are hard to book. We just got lucky today with a last-minute opening. And if you were fighting a real person, I’d be worried you’d blow our cover.”
“Tch.”
Shen Ye pouted, her face full of disappointment.
Lin Xiangyi smiled, folding the report away.
“Come on, let’s head back.”
Behind them, the old man reclining in his rocking chair narrowed his eyes, watching the two retreating figures, a glint of sharp light flashing in his murky pupils.
That combat data—the puppet’s hit log showed only two strikes from start to finish.
Compared to that pitifully weak first blow, the final strike had already reached the level of many first-order executors.
The data curve had spiked straight to the peak, breaking through the puppet’s defense limit. Judging by the looks of it, that was a one-hit kill.
The old man closed his eyes.
It seems.
The Spirit Taming Realm was about to gain another prodigy.
If she really was human, that is.
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