Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 4: Chapter 153: Test Questions

On the flying ship that Gu Hai and Chang Ming rode:

Chang Ming watched a black-robed man practice a saber technique. However, this black-robed man was extremely strange, his body so stiff that it was like he was made of rusty metal. His movements were very slow, but he improved with every round of practice.

“This…Mister Gu, is this a zombie? This zombie is too stiff, right? It actually took so long to practice one round of this saber technique?” Chang Ming looked at Gu Hai, feeling curious.

Although Gu Hai felt very anxious as the flying ship flew, he could not do anything. He could only carefully reread Chang Sheng’s letter.

“Chang Ming, is your father dying?” Gu Hai frowned at Chang Ming.

“Your father is the one dying!” Chang Ming retorted while glaring at Gu Hai, resenting him for cursing his father.

Gu Hai did not get angry. Instead, he stared at Chang Ming and said, “Your father’s letter seems to be entrusting you to me.”

“Ah?” The startled Chang Ming showed a horrified expression.

“Tell me, what’s going on? What danger is Chang Sheng in?” Gu Hai said.

Chang Ming’s face turned unsightly. After some silence, he eventually nodded. Then, he told Gu Hai that the Bat Ancestor grew stronger by consuming vampires.

“Oh? Even with such danger, Chang Sheng sent you to inform me, selling me such a big favor?” Gu Hai raised his eyebrows.

“I…I feel that it is unnecessary as well,” Chang Ming said, a little peeved.

Gu Hai stared at Chang Ming for a while. Then, he sighed and said. “How unfortunate! Imperial Emperor Xi Yu made the wrong move. Your father is such a talent, yet Imperial Emperor Xi Yu let him lead a clan for the Bat Ancestor? Hah! Haha! What a pity! How regretful! A waste of a treasure, such poor judgment!”

“Please stop!” Chang Ming felt extremely depressed. Every word that Gu Hai said made him feel even more uncomfortable.

“Chang Sheng said that you used to be very smart in the past, that you were even smarter than Mo Yike when you were young?” Gu Hai looked at Chang Sheng, appearing somewhat skeptical.

“Humph!” The gloomy Chang Ming let out a cold snort.

“I’ll give you a question. Let’s see if you can answer,” Gu Hai said after some thought.

“A question?” Chang Ming felt slightly startled.

“Zhuge Minghong’s younger brother counted his siblings. He discovered that he had one more brother than sisters. In that case, how many more brothers does Zhuge Minghong have over sisters? Zhuge Minghong is a woman,” Gu Hai asked.

This was an incredibly simple logic question that did not involve knowledge. It entirely depended on one’s reasoning skills.

Chang Ming looked at Gu Hai, feeling startled. To think that you are really testing me! However, why is this question so strange?

“Answer quickly!” Gu Hai shouted coldly.

“Three!” Chang Ming said abruptly.

“Oh?” Gu Hai felt slightly startled, showing a surprised smile.

“That’s right. Although the question is simple, you are right. I’ll give you a few more questions. These are from Mensa’s IQ test.”

[TL Note: Mensa is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the ninety-eighth percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ test or other approved intelligence test. Here is a Wikipedia entry on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_International.]

Gu Hai extended his hand and took out a desk. Then, he splashed out some ink on the paper on the table, which immediately formed questions.

Chang Ming: “…”

Gu Hai waved in invitation. “You have thirty minutes. Let’s see how many you can get right.”

Chang Ming looked at Gu Hai in confusion. However, since this was an IQ test, Chang Ming did not refuse it, wanting to prove his intelligence as well.

Chang Ming quickly started work on the questions. Gu Hai lit an incense stick.

[TL Note: The burning of an incense stick was a common way of timekeeping before clocks were commonplace. One incense stick usually burns for thirty minutes.]

Chang Ming looked at the questions, a strange expression appearing on his face. These questions are too bizarre. There are these pictures as well. Find the similar ones? Find the different ones? Ordinary people can do that. However, these questions seem to hide many traps.

Gu Hai watched silently.

While bored on Earth, Gu Hai had once looked up the questions for Mensa’s IQ test. Those with a high IQ would score high, and there was no requirement on knowledge.

Soon, the incense burned out.

“No, don’t take them away. I’m not done yet. I’m not done yet…,” Chang Ming said with a bitter expression.

I only managed to finish half of the questions after thirty minutes. Am I really that stupid? I actually could not complete these simple questions?

Half? Gu Hai already felt satisfied. Completing one-third with good accuracy already proved a sufficiently high intelligence; Chang Ming managed to complete half.

I hope he did not answer blindly.

Gu Hai started grading the test. He looked through the entire test, placing a tick mark on every correct answer. This continued until somewhere in the middle, where he placed a cross mark on one of the answers.

“It’s wrong? How can that be? Ah! I know! I know now! How could I make a mistake there?! How could I? It should be the first answer! It should be the first…my intelligence…” Chang Ming felt sorrowful.

Is my intelligence really that lacking? I completed only half, and I even got one wrong? Chang Ming looked at Gu Hai, then lowered his head in shame and resentment. He now felt too embarrassed to say that he was smart.

However, Gu Hai narrowed his eyes. To him, Chang Ming was extremely intelligent. Just completing one-third with good accuracy already proved a sufficiently high intelligence. If one got eighty percent of this one-third correct, one would already be the cream of the crop.

However, Chang Ming not only completed half but also got ninety-nine percent correct; he got only one wrong and even immediately reflected on that, getting the right answer soon after.

Chang Ming felt frustrated. However, Gu Hai stared at Chang Ming. Now, he had a rough understanding of Chang Ming.

Gu Hai turned his head and put everything away, ignoring Chang Ming.

When Chang Ming saw Gu Hai’s actions, he saw it as Gu Hai having no hope for him. He felt speechless. Am I really that incompetent?

The flying ship continued towards Chaoge City.

——

Chaoge City:

The Bat Ancestor smashed the city’s defensive barrier, and countless bats flew all over the place.

“Hahahahaha! No one can escape today. If you want to blame someone, blame your emperor, blame Gu Hai for bringing this calamity. Hahahaha!” the Bat Ancestor guffawed.

Boom!

The Bat Ancestor’s aura burst out, immediately covering the entire Chaoge City in black energy.

“Mister Shangguan, what should we do?”

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Where are you?”

“We were wrong! Wrong! We should have left! We should have left long ago!”

The citizens showed expressions of despair.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The citizens with higher cultivations rushed out, trying to flee.

Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech!

Many bats immediately swooped down.

“Ah! Let go of me! Let go of me!”

“Why?! Save me! Save me!”

Countless bats grabbed the experts who charged out, and drained their blood. Then, the bats dropped them from the sky. There were even Nascent Soul Realm experts among them.

No one could flee.

Many of the citizens showed deep despair.

“I said earlier, no one can flee,” the Bat Ancestor sneered.

Nearly one thousand people were reduced to drained corpses in just a short while. Horror and panic spread throughout Chaoge City.

Chang Sheng appeared anxious, but he could not interfere.

After the Bat Ancestor consumed Chang Sheng’s fourth brother, his strength had entered the early-stage Upper Heavenly Palace Realm, something that Chang Sheng could do nothing about.

The Bat Ancestor showed a ferocious expression. “I want to turn all of you into vampires. Then, you will go and kill Gu Hai. Let’s see whether Gu Hai will kill his citizens or not. Hahahahaha!”

As the Bat Ancestor spoke, he looked towards Huangfu Palace Hall.

The officials at Huangfu Palace Hall’s entrance appeared incredibly anxious and desperate as they surrounded Shangguan Hen.

Shangguan Hen’s face sank.

“Oh? Are you the Mister Shangguan that they spoke of? Humph! Who are you?” the Bat Ancestor snorted coldly as he extended his hand to grab.

An enormous, black manifested palm immediately arrived before Shangguan Hen.

Shangguan Hen pointed a finger and shot a green light at the black manifested palm.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

The black manifested palm started melting.

“Oh? Toxin? Are you a black tortoise? Humph! The Black Tortoise Prime died already. What use is your toxin?” the Bat Ancestor snorted coldly.

Buzz!

The Bat Ancestor put more force into his hand; that melting manifested palm immediately regained its original appearance. It shook free of the toxin and continued charging at Shangguan Hen.

Shangguan Hen’s expression changed as he leaped up.

Boom!

The Bat Ancestor’s manifested palm heavily struck Huangfu Palace Hall’s plaza and immediately demolished Huangfu Palace Hall.

Just how strong was an Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator? All the officials screamed miserably, instantly blasted away. Even though Shangguan Hen managed to avoid the attack, the shock waves inflicted severe injuries on him. He spewed out a mouthful of blood and tumbled to the ground.

“Upper Heavenly Palace Realm?” Shangguan Hen stared skyward in shock.

“Not even worth a strike!” The Bat Ancestor revealed a cold smile in disdain. Then, he ignored Shangguan Hen.

After destroying Huangfu Palace Hall with one palm strike, he coldly surveyed the city.

“Alright. There’s not much time to waste. All of you, capture all the Chaoge City citizens and turn them into vampires. Turn them into your blood slaves, hurry!” the Bat Ancestor commanded.

“Yes!”

Whoosh!

All the vampires charged at Chaoge City.

——

In a small courtyard within the city:

Ao Sheng narrowed his eyes. “Indeed, he has reached the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Hah! I wondered how capable this Shangguan Hen was. It turns out that there is no saving Chaoge City.”

“Crown Prince, are we really not doing anything?” one of the subordinates asked with a frown.

“Not at all,” Ao Sheng said coldly.

——

In the city:

“Ah! Save me! Your Majesty, save me!”

“I was wrong! I want to leave Chaoge City! I want to leave Chaoge City!”

“Don’t capture me! Don’t capture me! Ah!”

The despairing voices of the citizens rang out in the city.

Shangguan Hen wiped his lips, appearing unsightly. Is it over?

Buzz!

Suddenly, an evil aura burst out of Shangguan Hen’s body.

“Again?” Shangguan Hen’s expression changed.

“Hehehehehe! I’m back. Do you want to save everyone in the entire city? Hehehe! That insignificant bat already reached the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Only I can help you. Only me!” A sinister voice came from the evil aura.

“Who are you? Why are you in my body? What do you want?” Shangguan Hen demanded, scowling.

The sinister voice rang out again. “Lend me your body! I’ll help you deal with this insignificant bat. How about it? Hand your body to me!”

“Who are you?” Shangguan Hen asked anxiously.

The sinister voice sounded again. “You are running out of time. Look, the citizens there are already under the mouths of the vampires. The vampires will turn them into new vampires soon!”

Shangguan Hen looked over. Indeed, those citizens could not escape. The vampires had grabbed hold of them and were biting their necks.

“Lend me your body. Hurry, hurry, hurry!” that sinister voice continued.

Shangguan Hen’s eyelids twitched wildly. Eventually, he gritted his teeth and said, “Take it. Remember your promise!”

“Hehehehehehehehe!”

Suddenly, a resonant, sinister voice came from Shangguan Hen as an overwhelming evil aura burst out of his body.