Michelle’s eyes flashed with approval, “You catch on fast. That’s right—the most common is [Rule Clash].”
“The simplest example: suppose Area A says ‘humans cannot commit crimes’ and Area B says ‘humans must commit crimes.'”
“A dead end,” Su Fu murmured, “No matter what you do, you break a rule somewhere.”
Michelle spread her hands, “Exactly. So sometimes, the hardest instances aren’t S-Class.”
“These hidden-trap instances are the easiest to trip up in. They look simple, but the rules are devious.”
Su Fu understood, “So you relaxed when you saw this wasn’t the Heavenly Court’s core area?”
“Exactly,” Michelle explained, “Core area anomalies are usually highly connected, with more complex rules. Here, the anomalies are scattered, so their connections are probably weak.”
She paused, “Like a group of new ‘colleagues’ who haven’t really ‘talked’ yet.”
At this, Michelle’s eyes sparkled as she rubbed her hands together, “Heh, so next… let’s go, I’ll take you for a big feast!”
Su Fu: “!!!”
“Boss! Take me with you!”
Just then, a translucent figure floated by in the distance, glowing with a ghostly blue light.
Su Fu immediately fell silent—it hovered between substance and mist, like a cloud of icy fog, but with a clear sense of life.
The Shen Yan AI’s prompt sounded:
[Warning: Anomaly detected—Moon Soul Ice Demon]
Su Fu eyed the eerie figure, whispering, “So this is the anomaly in the Exam Paper. I wonder what its abilities and rules are.”
“Su Fu, use Shen Yan—it’s already given you a hint,” Michelle explained, “Since it’s ‘Moon Soul,’ it’s probably related to the moon.”
“As for the rules…” Michelle smiled, “Why not test it and see?”
The next second, dazzling golden light erupted from her, divine power of light activating instantly.
Lord Uriel’s divine aspect appeared behind her, and under that vast radiance, Michelle’s expression was serene as an angel.
At once, all the Moon Soul Ice Demons turned, their ethereal faces fixing their ghostly blue eyes on them.
Then, they all shrieked, and countless shards of ice burst from their bodies, rushing at Michelle.
Under the moonlight in Guanghan Palace, Michelle’s divine power of light clearly enraged these anomalies.
Su Fu was stunned—’wait, boss, you’re just charging in head-on?! What about all those rules you mentioned?! You’re ignoring them?’
But she couldn’t even make a sound—when the Moon Soul Ice Demons attacked, she felt her blood freezing, her breath faltering.
It was as if she’d been plunged into a thousand-below-zero abyss—the cold reached her very soul.
But Michelle seemed completely unaffected.
When the ice touched her divine power of light, it melted instantly, like snowflakes in boiling water.
Gone.
Michelle smiled, “Attribute counter. Give me three seconds.”
“Divine Domain of Light!”
The next second, countless golden pillars of light shot up, enveloping all of Guanghan Palace.
The Moon Soul Ice Demons screamed as if thrown into molten lava, their cries echoing.
In a blink, all the Moon Soul Ice Demons dissolved into starlight and vanished.
“Done!” Michelle clapped her hands.
As the anomalies disappeared, the cold faded from Su Fu’s body.
She stared at Michelle in awe—so this was the strength of a top-tier powerhouse?
It was like she was back in a D-Class instance, easily crushing anomalies.
Absolute power—just what level had Michelle reached?
But at that moment, the distant Laurel Tree began to shake violently.
Then, trees of all shapes and sizes burst from the ground, their trunks twisting like serpents, and the air filled with a thick peach aroma.
[Warning: Anomaly detected—Panta Peach Tree Demon]
Damn, Su Fu was amazed—so this was a Guanghan Palace and Panta Peach Garden linkage?
But these rampaging tree demons were also easily dispatched.
Michelle waved her hand, unleashing divine light—wherever it passed, peach branches turned to dust, and even the trunks burned to ash.
“All done,” Michelle said, “Looks like only these two maps linked up—we’re lucky, this is the easiest B-Class instance.”
But Su Fu looked at the now-silent Guanghan Palace, her hands empty, and felt a little lost.
‘Wait, was that it? Where was the reward? There was no Shen Yan prompt for completion either?’
Michelle saw her confusion and laughed, “Alright, I’ll stop teasing. Now comes the real main event.”
Su Fu: “???”
Poor her, completely at Michelle’s mercy.
Michelle’s divine power surged, Lord Uriel’s divine aspect appearing behind her, solemn and awe-inspiring.
But this time, it wasn’t golden light—it was a pure white brilliance so blinding you couldn’t open your eyes.
“Now—”
“Break!”
With Michelle’s mighty blow, the entire Guanghan Palace began to quake violently!
The Laurel Tree’s branches snapped as if battered by a storm, glazed tiles crashing down, the palace collapsing in a shower of light.
The moonlight in the sky shattered like a broken mirror, cracks spreading visibly.
“Boom—”
A glass-shattering roar echoed in the void as the whole space unraveled, layer by layer!
Su Fu finally realized Michelle’s true goal—she was collapsing the instance!
A tide of light swept over everything, submerging the world.
The roar lasted about ten seconds, then all was still.
Michelle let out a long breath, the divine aspect fading, a hint of fatigue on her face.
She pulled out a bottle of pale gold potion and took a long swig.
With the potion, her divine power recovered rapidly.
Only then did Michelle look at Su Fu and smile, “Alright, now for the real deal.”
“Wild Exam Papers don’t have Shen Yan’s divine power infused—the true reward lies in the world revealed after the instance collapses.”
“Look—”
As the instance collapsed, the scene before them peeled away like a veil, revealing its true face.
Su Fu finally saw what was really there.
It was a ruined Guanghan Palace.
The giant Laurel Tree was long withered, only the blackened branches hinting at its former glory.
The silver-white tiles were cracked and scarred.
In the distance, palace walls lay in ruins, shattered tiles everywhere.
This wasn’t an instance at all.
This was… the real Guanghan Palace ruins!
Su Fu was stunned, all her understanding of Exam Papers crumbling, replaced by countless questions exploding in her mind.
“So the instance just now was…”
“Built on top of these ruins,” Michelle finished, “Like recreating past glory atop broken walls.”
Su Fu felt dizzy.
Wait, wait…
She struggled to make sense of it, “Ruins?”
But how?
How could this be the Guanghan Palace ruins?
Wasn’t the Heavenly Court supposed to be in the divine realm?
How could it be in a human-inhabited star domain?
“Shocking, isn’t it?” Michelle stood by her, her voice distant, “The first time I saw it, I couldn’t believe it either.”
She looked up at the starry sky, “History says all things divine were cut off from the universe, but who would have thought…”
She whispered, “The places we live in are actually the old sites of the gods.”
Su Fu stared at the scene before her.
Once, perhaps, Chang’e really lived here, and the laurel really grew here.
But now?
Only faint moonlight drifted over the broken tiles.
“And the so-called rupture…” Su Fu looked at the ruins, voice trembling, “What really happened?”
Michelle shrugged, “No idea.”
“That’s not for people like us to know.”
“I’ve never heard any of this before,” Su Fu murmured.
Michelle said lightly, “Climb higher, and you’ll uncover the secrets buried deep.”
She sighed, “Those at the bottom—whether in the Interstellar Era or the Divine Era—were always just cannon fodder.”
“It’s possible even the ‘truths’ they know are complete lies.”
Michelle looked meaningfully at Su Fu, “As the Divine Favored of the Chinese Pantheon, you should feel this more than most.”
Su Fu fell silent.
“Don’t overthink it,” Michelle patted her shoulder, “So, work hard and climb higher!”
She blinked, “For now, let’s go—time for a feast!”
Su Fu already sensed what Michelle meant by a “feast”—a fragmentary Saint Land, or rather, the edge of one.
She looked at Guanghan Palace—though ruined, divine power still flowed.
The two walked toward the palace, and as they approached, the drifting divine power seemed to grow livelier.
As if welcoming old friends home.
Inside Guanghan Palace, Su Fu saw what ruins truly meant.
The murals on the walls were just faded outlines, jade pillars leaning and broken, devastation everywhere.
“You should be able to absorb the divine power here directly,” Michelle said suddenly, “after all, it’s all from the Chinese Pantheon.”
Su Fu was taken aback, turning to Michelle, “You already guessed the Heavenly Court Series instances were from the Chinese Pantheon?”
Michelle shrugged, “I suspected before, but meeting you confirmed it.”
She leaned against a broken pillar, “Honestly, I puzzled over this for a long time. The Chinese Pantheon is a strange existence—everywhere, yet… always veiled, impossible to see clearly. I’ve explored many ruins, but the key clues are in the Heavenly Court Series.”
“From S-Class to D-Class, such a broad instance system—across the star domains, only the eight great pantheons can do that.”
“The Greek Pantheon is strong, but mostly B-Class; Norse is mostly A to S-Class; Indian Pantheon dominates C-Class. But the Chinese Pantheon never had clear instances. Yet many top S-Class instances don’t belong to the seven great pantheons.”
She spread her hands, “So who else could they belong to?”
She smiled at Su Fu, “When I saw the Heavenly Court D-Class instance’s first place was Chinese Pantheon, I was sure.”
“So hurry up and grow stronger—come explore the A-Class Heavenly Court instances with me! I have so many things I want to learn.”
Looking at the seemingly carefree but unfathomable powerhouse before her, Su Fu couldn’t help but marvel—sure enough, no top expert was simple.
She said nothing more, beginning to absorb the divine power around her.
The power in Guanghan Palace was tinged with cool moonlight, but surprisingly gentle and easy to control.
Perhaps because it was from the same Chinese Pantheon, the divine power flowed into her like a long-lost child returning home.
Su Fu suddenly felt a rush of warmth and belonging.
An hour later.
When the last wisp of divine power was absorbed, Su Fu opened her eyes in delight.
All her divine skills had leveled up—now all at C-Class!
A huge windfall!
Su Fu felt instantly refreshed.
It would take 40,000 Contribution Points—or four joint C+-Class Exam Papers—to get this much.
Michelle could tell at a glance that Su Fu had gained a lot, and grinned, “See? Pioneering pays off.”
Then she said seriously, “Keep it up—when your divine power reaches A-Class, I’ll be waiting for you in the A-Class Heavenly Court instances!”
Su Fu: “…Definitely.”
She gazed at the sky helplessly—she really did have too many divine skills.
The academy Exam Papers alone weren’t enough to keep them all leveled up.
She had a whole “family” to feed!
When Su Fu returned to the academy, she immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere—students everywhere were whispering excitedly.
She opened her Starnet terminal, and sure enough, saw the latest notification—marked in red as the only one:
[Central Education Department Notice]
[Candidate Su Fu:]
[According to the Universal Opportunity Equality Pact, congratulations on obtaining the Fourth Arm National College Entrance Examination qualification (participation optional).]
[Exam site: Orion Arm y-07 Star Domain, Standard Time 4051.2.1 0:00.]
[Fate never favors those who gaze at the stars but dare not shatter them.]
[Pioneer, may your brilliance never be dimmed.]
[Countdown: 22.59.591]
The countdown ticked down, blue light reflected in Su Fu’s eyes.
She had finally, before this year’s College Entrance Exam, entered Tianqi Middle School Affiliated, with a guaranteed spot at Tianqi University.
Should she delay another year to grow in the Fourth Arm, or… aim for the top of the pyramid?
The answer was obvious.
The College Entrance Exam.
The only way to break through the star ring limits—a unified exam where commoners and nobles clash on the same stage across the universe.
Countless geniuses would do battle on the cosmic exam field, turning themselves into swords in a true slaughterhouse.
The whole starsea was about to ignite with humanity’s most cruel and brilliant fireworks.
She sighed—’at last, it had begun.’
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