The most terrifying part was beneath the surface a head several times larger than the cruise ship lurked just below, its fanged maw slightly agape, as if ready to devour everyone at any moment!
This was no luxury cruise!
It was a deep-sea monstrosity cloaked in illusion!
Su Fu thought to herself, Poseidon was truly ruthless.
From the very beginning, he had given the examinees no chance of passing even the ship was fake, an illusion cast by the deep-sea monster!
Once the storm at sea began, whether they jumped ship to escape, hid aboard the “cruise,” or miraculously survived the storm and returned to the ship to continue their journey, the outcome would be the same-devoured by the Kraken.
A dead end.
Su Fu immediately shared her vision with her teammates.
“Gah “Lin Mingxi gasped, her scalp tingling with horror.
“Boss, now that we know, what do we do? Just chop it up?”
Jiang Qingyu’s expression also darkened.
“But without a ship, how will we reach the City of Dawn?”
The three fell silent simultaneously.
Were they supposed to swim there?
Don’t be ridiculous!
This was the vast open sea!
Even if they were all divine beings, they couldn’t possibly swim the entire way-who knew how long would that take?
Lin Mingxi gritted her teeth.
That bastard had really gone all out!
Unexpectedly, Su Fu chuckled.
“No need to complicate things. The solution is simple.”
“What solution?”
“If it wants to swallow us…” Su Fu blinked, “then let’s just go inside!”
“Huh?” Lin Mingxi and Jiang Qingyu were stunned.
“If it dares to swallow us, we’ll blast its stomach open!”
Su Fu strode toward the “cruise ship.”
“Come on! We can’t let such a great ride go to waste!”
No need for fuel, incredibly fast, and with a little prodding, it might even speed up like crazy.
“Where else would we find transportation this good?”
Lin Mingxi and Jiang Qingyu exchanged glances.
Well… it actually made sense!
“But before that…” Su Fu hefted her golden staff over her shoulder, “I’ll have a little chat with it.”
Lin Mingxi and Jiang Qingyu: “……”
A “chat”?
More like a beating.
***
Meanwhile, in the divine realm’s depths.
The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas watched with amusement as Poseidon lay bound and helpless.
“Tsk tsk…” the Azure Dragon of the East chuckled.
“So this was your backup plan?”
Poseidon: “….”
“But our little Su Fu is really clever,” the Crimson Dragon of the South said proudly.
“She figured it out so quickly.”
“Absolutely!”
“Brilliant!” The Azure Dragon nodded repeatedly.
“As expected of the kid we’ve taken a liking to!”
“Oh, right!” The White Dragon of the North suddenly remembered something.
“Since the kid’s fine, should we continue?”
Poseidon: “……”
Damn, these dragons are at it again.
Sure enough, the four dragons were already rolling up their sleeves and closing in.
At this moment, he suddenly felt a bit envious of that Kraken.
At least the Kraken only had to face one Golden Cudgel.
***
Su Fu returned to the “cruise ship” and casually poked the deck with her Golden Cudgel.
“Listen up,” she said with a smile, “Swim properly and get us to Dawn City quickly.”
The Golden Cudgel pressed down slightly harder.
“Otherwise…” Her tone remained cheerful, but the gravity of the Golden Cudgel suddenly intensified, “I’ll poke a hole right through you, from top to bottom. Understood?”
Kraken: “…….”
Save it!
How is it supposed to pronounce “understood”?
“Oh right, I forgot you can’t talk.” Su Fu suddenly realized.
“Then show me with actions. If you understand, start swimming now.”
The next second-
“Boom!”
The entire “cruise ship” shot forward at an astonishing speed!
Everyone who saw this: “…….”
Wait, that actually worked?!
Elai and ZongZheng Ye exchanged glances, their expressions indescribably complex.
They had long deduced through their fourth-perspective divine skill that the cruise ship itself was problematic, but the tricky part was that even knowing this, they couldn’t act rashly, as it was the only anchor point in the vast sea.
Who would have thought Su Fu’s solution would be…
Just threaten it directly?
“What kind of solution is this?” ZongZheng Ye also looked bewildered.
“Violence creates miracles?”
Just then, Su Fu’s gaze suddenly turned to them.
She smiled.
But ZongZheng Ye, Elai, and the corpse Su Luan: “!!!”
Help!
Now that the “cruise ship” was completely under Su Fu’s control, not to mention she had that Golden Cudgel tempered by lightning and Samadhi True Fire-It was terrifyingly powerful!
Without a doubt, all the initiative was in her hands.
“She wouldn’t…” Elai sensed something was wrong and retreated behind ZongZheng Ye, “Throw us into the sea to feed the fish, would she?”
ZongZheng Ye also took a step back: “Or just toss us straight into the Kraken’s stomach?”
Su Luan: “……”
Even in death, being eaten isn’t very appealing.
Su Fu walked over with a nuclear-level kind smile, scanning the crowd as if sizing up several pieces of fat meat about to fall into her hands.
Everyone involuntarily took a step back.
Too scary!
“Everyone’s eager to reach Dawn City, right?”
Her tone was light as she gave everyone two warm choices, extending her left hand: “So, will you choose to pay up?”
Then her right hand: “Or hand over resources?”
Everyone: “….”
Of course!
They knew this robber would strike again!
Su Fu’s mindset had completely shifted since the underworld exam directly eliminating others was too boring.
Continuously squeezing them dry-no, ahem, resource recycling was much more interesting!
With the Golden Cudgel in hand, she had all the leverage.
If it were anyone else, they would have long eliminated these people.
Who would be as accommodating as her?
Exactly, that’s how it is!
After a round of “friendly” price negotiations mainly Su Fu dictating the terms while others had no room to bargain—
The final price was set at 1,000 human contribution points per person.
Su Fu had learned from the previous exam that these human contribution points were far more valuable than credit points.
It needs to be obtained through test papers of different levels, with the market price roughly being 1,000 for a C-level paper and 10,000 for a B-level paper.
She has indeed passed.
Recalling that the two had used passes worth 100,000 human contribution points, she stared at them in shock, “So you actually ran through B-rank dungeons just to enter Exam C?”
She lamented bitterly, “What a complete waste!”
The crowd: “……”
Wait, think about it-who’s really to blame here?
The thousand contribution points were just a small part.
The real cost of boarding the ship was information about the current exam- precisely what Su Fu lacked most.
Elai, his face dark, revealed everything he knew: “This isn’t an ordinary test, but a divine revelation ritual.”
“The ritual ranks between B to C-class, requiring massive divine power to construct the passage and countless divine sacrifices.”
“All to seek the gaze of the gods and receive their blessings.”
At this point, he suddenly sneered, “Some paupers shouldn’t even dream of it. This event pooled resources from the entire Polaris constellation for years, specially prepared for this year’s college entrance exams.”
“Unless another grand examination like this comes along, there won’t be another chance.”
Su Fu: “……”
How cruel!
To show her something she couldn’t have!
“So according to you,” Su Fu mused, “passing the exam means obtaining divine powers?”
She was skeptical-could Poseidon even still grant such things now?
Just then, Lin Mingxi suddenly shouted, “Boss! Look!”
“Are we almost there?!”
Su Fu looked up.
On the distant horizon, an enormous city slowly emerged from the sea.
Countless massive pillars rose from the ocean depths, supporting a vast platform.
At the city’s center stood a towering spire piercing the clouds, surrounded by an intricate arrangement of buildings that from afar resembled a giant lotus flower.
Could this be… the City of Dawn?!
***
Divine Realm, Deep Sea.
Bound tightly, Poseidon grew panicked watching this scene.
Wait, were they actually about to complete the mission?
Did that mean he’d have to hand over his authority?
Poseidon’s face twisted in horror.
Give divine authority to an ant?
What a joke!
Absolutely not!
Poseidon’s mind raced furiously.
There had to be a way, there must be…
Wait!
The mission objective stated: “Cross this sea within 72 hours and reach the City of Dawn”
The first part was fine, but the second…
The task said “reach the City of Dawn”-but it never specified where in the city!
A faint smile crept onto Poseidon’s lips.
Perfect, that’s how we’ll do it!
After all, he was the examining deity!
Just then, the Four Dragon Kings simultaneously turned their heads, fixing Poseidon with “friendly” stares.
The unspoken threat was palpable.
Poseidon shuddered involuntarily.
No!
He absolutely couldn’t give up his authority!
He’d rather die than hand it over!
Not that gods could actually die.
Before Poseidon could finish this thought, the Four Dragon Kings were already smiling dangerously.
The Azure Dragon of the East bared his fangs in a grin: “What? Don’t want to give up your authority?”
“That’s not it!” Poseidon blustered, “They haven’t truly completed the mission! They must reach the temple in the City of Dawn… that counts!”
The Crimson Dragon of the South approached leisurely: “After taking so many sacrifices…”
The Black Dragon of the West continued: “And you dare say no?”
The White Dragon of the North cracked his knuckles: “Refusing, are we?”
The East Sea Azure Dragon gave the command: “Brothers! Let’s show Him what we’re truly capable of this time!”
“Wait a second…”
Before Poseidon could finish speaking, the four dragons simultaneously opened their massive jaws.
In an instant, the entire deep sea trembled violently!
Just as the terrifying attack was about to strike Poseidon-
“Now…” the East Sea Azure Dragon asked amiably, “do you have authority to offer?”
Poseidon: “……”
“Big brother, I heard He’s on good terms with Athena?” The West Sea Black Dragon slowly circled around Him.
“How about after we’re done, we package Him up and deliver Him to Athena’s territory?”
“You’d have a great time together.”
Poseidon: “!!!”
If his arch-nemesis saw Him like this, it would be disastrous!
The next second-
“Yes! Yes!” Poseidon practically shouted, “I’ll give it! I’ll give it, alright?!”
“See, you should’ve said so earlier!” The East Sea Azure Dragon urged.
“Hand it over quickly!”
Gritting his teeth, Poseidon reluctantly raised his hand.
A mass of gray mist condensed in his palm, faint lightning visible within.
The four Dragon Kings exchanged glances and frowned simultaneously.
“Cloud authority?”
The West Sea Black Dragon sneered: “Who are you trying to fool?”
“Give us sea authority!” The North Sea White Dragon swung his claw.
“You…” Poseidon trembled with rage.
“This is outright divine humiliation!”
But he didn’t want to get beaten up, and he absolutely couldn’t let that nemesis see him in such a sorry state!
With a clenched jaw, Poseidon summoned his divine power.
In that moment, a wisp of deep blue light separated from his brow.
It was a single drop of crystal-clear seawater, at its core containing terrifying power.
The four Dragon Kings nodded in satisfaction-this was the true sea authority.
Though just a fragment, it was enough; any more would be unbearable for humans.
“Good!” The East Sea Azure Dragon stored the authority.
“When Su Fu completes her mission, this will be hers!”
Then the four Dragon Kings exchanged glances—
“We agreed earlier she gets to choose whose authority she wants!”
The North Sea White Dragon glared at the East Sea Azure Dragon: “Big brother, no cheating!”
“Ahem…” The East Sea Azure Dragon looked righteous.
“What kind of dragon do you take me for? Of course Su Fu gets to choose!”
Nearby, Poseidon listened in stunned silence.
Wait… what was happening?
“You…” He stared at the four dragons in disbelief.
“You’re actually willing to voluntarily give up your own authorities?!”
“For a single human?!”
Poseidon was going mad-did these dragons understand what they were doing?
Authority was the very foundation of a god’s power.
Like the sea to Him, lightning to Zeus, the moon to Artemis.
Every god’s abilities stemmed from their conceptual control over specific domains.
The more fundamental the concept, the greater the authority, the stronger the power.
And now they wanted to split off portions of their control to give to a human?
Inviting a human to share in their dominion?
Even a fragment meant dividing their own power!
It was like cutting off their own roots!
“I’ve never seen anything so stu—”
Before he could finish, four sets of dragon claws gleamed menacingly.
Poseidon immediately shut his mouth.
***
Inside the exam scroll, as the “cruise ship” slowly docked, the voice of Shen Yan AI announced—
[Confirmed by the presiding deity, you have completed all tasks.]
[Congratulations examinee on completing the deity interview!]
[“Entering the Divine Scoring Phase, please wait…”]
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances.
Scoring phase?
What did this mean?
Could it be…
Were they about to receive divine blessings?!
Before the words could fully settle, two divine figures materialized high above.
One was a goddess wielding a silver bow, crowned with laurel leaves, her hunting attire billowing-Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt.
Beside her, another figure shrouded in shadows revealed three faintly discernible faces beneath a black robe-Hecate, the Witch of the Moon.
In the next instant, the goddesses moved slightly-
Two streaks of light descended from the heavens, intertwining and spiraling through the air before precisely merging into Jiang Qingyu’s body!
“This is…”
The entire venue erupted in astonishment!
“Divine blessings!”
“And from two deities simultaneously!”
Jiang Qingyu stood frozen, momentarily stunned before overwhelming joy surged through her.
Had the gods been watching over her all along?
For the first time, she felt it so clearly-
These were her faith, her patron deities!
Just then, the two goddesses vanished, replaced by a radiant emerald-green halo.
The halo expanded across the clouds, revealing the breathtaking silhouette of a feathered serpent deity, its eyes like the purest emeralds.
“Quetzalcoatl…”
Gasps echoed through the crowd.