The scent of snow lotus preceded her. Zhao Ling’er’s whisper carried more warmth than the midday sun. “Black stone tests warrior qi. White measures mage potential.”

  Lin Hao inhaled deeply, theatrically savoring her proximity. “Planning to keep me around after all?”

  Her jade ear turned crimson. “Merely… balancing debts.” She retreated like frost receding from dawn grass, leaving Lin Hao grinning at the army of glares now targeting him.

  ——

  The testing queues snaked across the plaza. Lin Hao claimed the rearmost position in both lines, conjuring a folding chair from his spatial ring. Flatbread crumbs rained as Four Treasures dive-bombed for snacks.

  “Disgraceful!” A nobleman’s heir sniffed, adjusting his embroidered sash.

  Lin Hao tossed a crust to the disguised horned ape. “Hunger’s the truest disgrace.”

  Gasps erupted from the warrior line. A mountain-born giant stood before the black monolith, his calloused palm igniting four crimson rings.

  “Earth Grade fire affinity!” Proctor Wu’s announcement cracked like thunder.

  The crowd buzzed—peasant trash outperforming silk-robed heirs. Lin Hao noted the giant’s unflinching humility, the way his straw-stuffed boots grounded him against envious glares.

  ——

  Chaos struck the mage line. Hurricane winds tore at hairpins and dignity as a foppish noble’s touch awakened four emerald cyclones.

  “Heaven Grade wind talent!” The female proctor’s voice shook.

  “Qin Yu! The Capital’s prodigal wastrel!”

  Lin Hao chuckled around his third flatbread. Days prior, he’d watched this same dandy toss gold coins to a cart driver whose mule dented his lacquered carriage. The man’s fingers had been buried in a courtesan’s hair even then.

  Four Treasures regurgitated a sunflower seed. “Show-off! Show-off!”

  ——

  Dual cultivation energy prickled Lin Hao’s meridians. He flexed fingers—warrior qi coiled in his right palm, nascent mana flickering left. The monoliths’ ancient song vibrated in his molars, a harmony only the Samsara Eye could parse.

  Proctor Wu materialized at his shoulder, reeking of lightning ozone. “Your turn, anomaly.”

  Lin Hao rose, chair vanishing mid-creak. The crowd’s mockery thickened—blind fool daring both trials. Zhao Ling’er’s pendant glowed warning crimson.

  The black monolith flared first. Lin Hao’s warrior qi—purposely diluted—stirred three bronze rings. Jeers crescendoed until he slammed his left palm against the white stone.

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  Reality inverted.

  The white monolith screamed. Seven platinum rings detonated outward, shredding nearby banners. Lin Hao’s stolen boots smoked as dual energies collided—a calculated risk.

  “Impossible!” Proctor Wu’s lightning scar twitched. “Hybrid cultivation hasn’t…”

  “Been viable since the Dragonfall Epoch?” Lin Hao wiped blood from his nose, Samsara fractals swirling just visible in his irises. “Seems you need better history texts.”

  ——

  Qin Yu’s fan snapped shut. “Well now, a real competitor.” His wind mana caressed Lin Hao’s cheek—exploratory, hungry.

  The mountain giant merely nodded, fire qi resonating in approval.

  Zhao Ling’er’s composure shattered. “You… how?”

  Lin Hao captured her trembling wrist, pressing it to his chest. “Feel that? Two heartbeats.”

  Far beyond mortal perception, the lich priest’s astral projection applauded. “To the dance of duality!”

  The Seven-Colored Vortex

  Qin Yu yawned as his celestial wind vortexes dissipated. "Still Heavenly Grade? Boring." He flicked a gold coin at the white monolith, its surface rippling like disturbed mercury.

  The crowd's envious curses washed over him. Let them bark—he'd long mastered the art of drowning noise in wine. Striding toward Lin Hao's improvised lounge, Qin Yu snapped his fingers. A velvet-upholstered throne materialized beside the folding chair.

  "Care to join?" He poured three fingers of Dragon's Breath whiskey into a jade cup, its fumes making nearby examinees cough.

  Lin Hao's nostrils flared. Nightshade root. Wolfsbane extract. The vintage reeked of a dozen subtle poisons—a test disguised as hospitality.

  "Your liver must be forged from star iron," Lin Hao remarked dryly, declining with a palm raised.

  Qin Yu's grin turned razor-sharp. "You're the first to notice."

  ——

  Chaos erupted at the warrior monolith. Lin Hao's palm lingered on the black stone as runes flickered erratically. Mocking laughter curdled the air—until the first prismatic light speared upward.

  Crack.

  The monolith split like overripe fruit. Seven-colored energy cyclones tore through the plaza, shredding silk banners and upturning stone tiles. Four Treasures screeched protective circles around Lin Hao as the vortexes converged into three blinding helixes—one for each awakened meridian.

  Headmaster Ying Yuanzi materialized in a burst of spatial distortion, his beard smoking from emergency teleportation. "Ultimate... Cultivation Talent..." The words tasted of prophecy and ruin.

  ——

  Zhao Ling'er's jade pendant shattered. Shards embedded in her palm as she stared at the anomaly—her husband, no, this stranger radiating power that made her ancestral ice phoenix bloodline whimper.

  Ying Yuanzi's offer boomed across the square: "Two Marrow-Cleansing Pills! Five Qi-Blood Elixirs! Fifty million silver notes!"

  Lin Hao tilted his head, Samsara fractals swirling just visibly in his irises. "Does the academy cover structural damages?" He gestured at the monolith's remains.

  Laughter burst from Qin Yu's throat—rich, unfeigned. The mountain giant Thundermourn simply began rebuilding the shattered plaza with tectonic palms, his earth qi mending stone like clay.

  ——

  In the astral plane, the lich priest danced atop a comet. "To broken precedents! To shattered monoliths!" His wine flask refilled endlessly with stardust.

  Back in the mortal realm, Ying Yuanzi's whisper cut through celebration: "The Samsara Eye must remain hidden. Even from your..." His gaze flicked to Zhao Ling'er.

  Lin Hao's smile chilled. "Wife or weapon? Choose your next words carefully, Headmaster."

  Four Treasures plucked a silver note from the air, forging it into a deadly origami shuriken. The message was clear—loyalty couldn't be bought, only earned.

  ——

  As night fell, three figures lingered amidst the rubble. Qin Yu conjured floating lanterns from drunkard's breath. Thundermourn sculpted stone golems to guard their impromptu camp. Lin Hao traced the Samsara sigil in spilled wine—a warning and a promise.

  "Tomorrow's trials..." Qin Yu toasted the broken monolith.

  "Will burn brighter," Thundermourn rumbled, igniting campfire with a snap of lava-crusted fingers.

  Lin Hao merely smiled, watching Zhao Ling'er's ice phoenix silhouette circle overhead. Let her watch. Let them all watch.

  The game had changed.