She couldn’t help but confirm, “Queen Mother means… to clear all anomalies in Kunlun?”
But Kunlun was vast.
The entire Kunlun mountain range contained so many instances.
She had a feeling there were quite a few S-class instances alone.
She was just a small rookie—could she really bear such a responsibility?
Could she actually do it?
The Queen Mother seemed to see through her thoughts and explained, “This task is not time-limited. You may proceed slowly and steadily.”
“Although Kunlun is vast, it has order. If you clean up area by area, there will be a day you succeed.”
Hearing the words “not time-limited,” Su Fu’s taut nerves relaxed considerably.
A long-term task could indeed be done gradually.
Once she improved her strength, she could accomplish it bit by bit.
Moreover, given the Queen Mother’s generosity, since she had already rewarded Su Fu with Qingluan and Cai Feng just for matching the divine will, the rewards would only increase with more progress in clearing anomalies!
“Isn’t this basically opening the Queen Mother’s exclusive questline?”
Su Fu’s heart stirred, ‘This was the Queen Mother—wealthy and generous.’
Rich and magnanimous.
“Cough, cough.”
Su Fu thought, rewards weren’t the main thing—clearing anomalies had always been her wish!
That meant she could focus on Kunlun-related instances going forward.
When someday she finished purging all, the Queen Mother would probably descend to grant her a super grand reward!
From this perspective, the task was very feasible.
As for why the Queen Mother specifically designated Kunlun, it was simple: Yaochi was located at Kunlun’s peak, her sacred land.
Behind the instance lay ruins, and in the Queen Mother’s view, even if her sacred ground was no longer actively used, it should never be defiled by anomalies!
So the task made perfect sense.
And besides, Su Fu really had advantages in this area.
Later, when entering the Kunlun Celestial Palace, she would surely face many Kunlun-related instances, greatly advancing her task progress.
With this thought, Su Fu resolved firmly in her heart.
She respectfully lifted her head and solemnly bowed to the Queen Mother.
“Your Majesty, rest assured. Su Fu will do her utmost to purge the anomalies in Kunlun and not disappoint your trust.”
“Even if the road ahead is perilous, I will never allow these anomalies to stain the pure lands of the immortals!”
The Queen Mother smiled and nodded approvingly, clearly pleased.
“It is good that you accept this task.”
She earnestly hoped, “Then I look forward to your good news soon.”
“If one day you complete it, I will grant you—”
Her voice drifted like a mist from the Ninth Heaven:  “I will grant you true immortality.” Â
“What is true immortality?”
“Eternal youth, longevity equal to the heavens. Unaffected by the passage of time, untouched by illness, unbound by the mortal world. Your wisdom will never fade.”
Su Fu: “!!!”
My heavens, immortality?
That promise was painted so alluringly!
Did the Queen Mother mean… the elixir of immortality?
Legend had it that Chang’e ate the elixir and flew to the Moon Palace, becoming the Moon Goddess.
Alright, alright, this task was a must-accept!
No wonder the Queen Mother was so bold—she didn’t hold back!
Clearing anomalies was everyone’s duty, and Su Fu would devote herself to the end!
***
Before flying off the high platform, Yuelun Yuan glanced back at Su Fu one last time.
She still held the same posture, her gaze vacant—clearly trapped in the illusion, unable to move.
A smile curled at his lips.
“If that’s the case, the remaining points are mine.”
The outcome was decided.
He looked at those at the banquet below.
Because of Yuelun Meng’s illusion masking everything, those below were completely unaware of what had happened on the high platform.
The test takers were still engaged in their foolish demon-verification game, so inefficient.
Yuelun Yuan felt the distinctly different flow of divine power within him and activated the divine skill of the Celestial River General.
“Waters of the Celestial River!”
“Rumbling—”
Below, the crowd exchanged puzzled looks.
“Did you hear that noise?”
“What noise?”
“Sounds like water?”
“What’s going on? Where is the water coming from?”
Everyone stopped and listened intently.
The faint sound of flowing water gradually grew louder, turning into a roar.
The sound came from afar, steadily approaching and growing louder like a raging river.
A wave of unease swept through the crowd.
Suddenly, a test taker pointed to the ground in terror, “Water! It’s overflowing!”
The earth cracked open, and countless dark currents of the Celestial River surged forth from the crevices.
The waters quickly spread across the bottom of Yaochi.
“Ah! There’s water on the ground!”
“Run! This isn’t right!”
Screams erupted as the crowd began to scatter in panic, but it was already too late.
Yuelun Yuan stood above, coldly watching everything below.
The plan had succeeded.
So many demons—how to get rid of them?
Of course, by flooding the entire Jade Pool with the River of Heaven’s water.
That would create a world-ending flood, wiping out all the demons and directly claiming every single point.
He wasn’t like all those useless people down there, who spent half the time scheming only to pull off some petty tricks.
There was no way they thought he chose the Heavenly River Navy just for convenience, right?
He had long set his sights on the power of the Heavenly River water; water could easily drown everything.
He chose to directly wipe out everything in the exam site.
And the General of the Celestial River controlled the water system connecting the Heavenly Court, able to summon the true Heavenly River water.
He held the highest authority here.
So by copying his identity, no one could stop this surging flood.
This was total domination—he’d come out from the start with the goal to destroy everything.
If the other generals were still alive, maybe they could have blocked him, but now it was clearly too late.
As for the examinees dying in the flood?
What did that have to do with him?
This was the national college entrance exam, meant to select the elite.
Those who survived naturally had value; those who didn’t simply weren’t good enough, and deserved their fate.
This world was survival of the fittest.
Ultimately, since he needed so many points, he would stop at nothing to get them.
The lives of these unknown little ants meant nothing.
With thunderous roars, the endless Heavenly River water burst forth, shooting into the sky in towering columns, then cascading down like waterfalls!
In the blink of an eye, the water level of the Jade Pool surged wildly.
Countless people were caught off guard, swept down by the rushing currents, struggling to swim to shore—only to find waves raging on all sides.
There were water-element examinees, but their minor water divine skills were too weak against this flood.
“Help!”
“Someone save me!”
“What’s going on?!”
Desperate cries echoed over the Jade Pool.
But this was far from the end.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Everyone looked up in unison, only to see a towering flood pouring down from the horizon.
Like the collapse of the heavens.
The Heavenly River water naturally fell from above.
From high up, it looked like the entire sky had become a gigantic waterfall, crashing down onto the Jade Pool.
Dark undercurrents writhed like countless giant serpents bursting from the earth, intertwining and colliding with the heavenly waterfall.
Waves thundered like rolling thunder.
At the center of the Jade Pool, the once tall pavilions and towers were already half submerged.
Numerous examinees and demons struggled in the water.
Some tried climbing the remaining structures; others desperately swam toward the shore.
But where was there any shore left?
Before long, this flood would destroy everything.
This was the power of nature—no one could resist.
***
Meanwhile, inside the Divine Evolution Core Invigilation Room at Perseus High School, many teachers watched the unfolding scene with looks of regret.
“Unexpected,” Mo Xingyuan shook his head with a sigh, “Su Fu performed excellently throughout the entire exam, but was caught at the last moment.”
“I can only say, Yuelun Yuan is truly an outstanding candidate of the Second Star Ring,” Director Xiao Lingxi said with a complicated expression.
“The strength of the Moonwheel family remains as formidable as ever.”
“Whether it’s the powerful transformation technique or the exquisite illusion control, it was a crushing, dimensionality-reducing strike in this exam.”
Minister Xiao Zheng from Department Three agreed, “Not just Su Fu— even the General of the Celestial River was controlled by this move. Looks like the outcome of this exam is already decided; there’s no turning back now.”
“Yes,” Song Yuqing nodded with regret.
“Even if Su Fu could wake up from the illusion now, what good would it do?”
Luo Qiu sighed, “It wouldn’t help at all. The world-ending flood has almost swallowed the entire Jade Pool. How many can escape? Really didn’t expect he could wield the power of the General of the Celestial River to such an extent.”
Minister Pei Zhengyuan of Department Two said, “What’s more ironic is that the Sealing Grand Formation Su Fu set up earlier actually helped Yuelun Yuan. If she hadn’t first trapped all the demons in one place, Yuelun Yuan wouldn’t have been able to annihilate so many targets in one fell swoop.”
“This exam is truly spectacular—everyone’s been sabotaging each other while trying to snatch peaches.”
At that moment, Professor Casanova suddenly pointed at the monitor: “Hey? Look, isn’t that a Peach of Immortality moving toward Su Fu?”
Everyone turned their eyes to where he pointed.
Sure enough, that nine-thousand-year-old peach was stealthily inching closer to Su Fu.
It was quite clever—it had even learned to use Yuan Yang’s ability to manipulate light and distortion to hide its movements.
So right under everyone’s watchful eyes, it sometimes stuck close to the ground, sometimes hid behind debris, avoiding all gazes, inching cautiously toward Su Fu.
For a moment, no one noticed it.
Tension filled the air as everyone stared intently at the quietly moving peach.
If Yuelun Yuan and the others discovered it, everything would be ruined; but if it reached Su Fu successfully… maybe, just maybe, there was still a sliver of hope?
The raging flood avoided the platform above.
Yuelun Yuan and the others looked down at the flood without noticing the peach moving closer.
Lin Xuanye glanced back occasionally but saw nothing.
After all, the situation was already decided.
Could Su Fu possibly still have the ability to retract the flood?
The Peach Cub moved slowly with a single consciousness—
“Mother… danger… save!”
“They were all bad people, using terrifying magic to control Mother; only she could save Mother now.”
It encouraged itself: “I can do this… I definitely can… I’m the strongest peach; I’ve already learned many skills…”
Just as it rolled past a piece of rubble, Zhou Tianhao suddenly turned around.
The peach cub froze in place and used its learned light refraction to perfectly blend into the background.
Zhou Tianhao circled around but found nothing, then turned back to look at the raging flood.
The peach cub breathed a silent sigh of relief and continued cautiously forward, aiming to reach the water barrier nearby, find the right spot, and then wake Mother!
At that moment, shouting suddenly rose from the water’s surface below.
“Yuelun Yuan, is it you controlling the General of the Celestial River to unleash this flood?”
It was Chen Jing’s voice.
He clutched a piece of driftwood, barely keeping his head above water.
Other survivors reacted, realizing it was Yuelun Yuan?!
Yuelun Yuan looked at them slowly with a cold sneer: “What are you to me? Not worth me targeting personally.”
He said dismissively, “You’re nothing but trash, just cleaning them up as I go.”
Someone cursed, “You’re just massacring everyone with this flood!”
Yuelun Yuan laughed, “This is just the most efficient way to solve the problem.”
“When the waters recede, countless demon corpses will remain. The points will naturally be mine. Then, I will top the ranking with absolute advantage.”
“As for you lot, shout all you want.”
Hearing this, despair clouded everyone’s faces; only fear remained in their eyes.
Yes, these people had always been high above, never caring about the lives of others.
Their sole purpose was points, family honor, and self-interest.
No matter how many were trampled or how many innocent lives were lost, what did it matter?
Suddenly, they thought of Su Fu.
At least she might leave them a way out.
Right—everyone realized this.
If Su Fu didn’t show up in this situation, did that mean… she had been taken out?
The examinees saw this and their despair deepened.
“Even someone like Su Fu can’t stand up to Yuelun Yuan?”
“Are Second Star Ring people really this strong?”
“It’s over… this time it’s really over…”
***
Inside the illusion, Su Fu respectfully bowed to the Queen Mother of the West to say goodbye.
After the figure left, the fairyland before her suddenly twisted and shattered.
The Jade Pool, pavilions, and towers instantly fragmented into countless points of light, finally all turning back into thick white mist.
Standing within this white fog, Su Fu realized this was Yuelun Yuan’s true illusion.
“I have to find a way to break through this fog, only then can I get out.”
Just as she began to use her Heavenly Eye to dispel the illusion, suddenly a childish and urgent voice rang in her mind: “Mother! Mother!”
The voice was anxious and hurried, with a hint of sobbing.