Chapter 351 Compulsory Face-Slapping
"Haiz."
Still being sleepy, Miaomiao dragged his feet, plodding toward the boulder.
Many failed candidates mocked and booed Miaomiao as the latter's lazy attitude insulted their hard work and their dedication.
One of them was a 20-year-old 3rd-stage cultivator, who managed to score 501 points and barely passed the first exam. He checked Miaomiao's cultivation base and laughed.
"I've been receiving guidance from a senior inner disciple for 3 years, and I learned the nature of this test! It's not about your cultivation base, but it's the efficiency and the purity of one's Qi and Essence. The point judges one's Qi quality and efficiency. Any moron that hasn't opened and cleaned their meridians properly is doomed to fail!"
The other successful candidate, who was also a 3rd-stage cultivator, also chimed in, "Correct! I was born with 72 meridian channels, and I only scored 572 points! I've seen many 4th-stage cultivators hit that boulder, but nine-tenth of them failed. It's not about the cultivation base, it's about one's foundation and true potential!"
"Hahaha! This fellow Daoist is correct. Most young 4th-stage cultivators are silkpants brats that got their power by consuming a lot of pills. Those people registered for the exam through the casino, so what did you expect? They're just a bunch of spoiled wastrels from rich families. None of them worked as hard as us!"
The crowd gazed at the two men in admiration as they agreed with their statements. They praised and saluted them while they looked at Miaomiao and Gan Ning in disdain.
Miaomiao ignored all the cliché comments as he had been busy daydreaming, thinking about the eyebrow-twitching moments and the white tiger's complications.
As Miaomiao's feet were slow, Gan Ning cut the line and stood before the assessment boulder. He had been wanting to try it once, but he always failed to attend the examination event as he always overslept or forgot about the exam date.
"Let me try first! I've been wanting to do this!"
Without waiting for Miaomiao or the elder's approval, Gan Ning gathered his yang essence into his right fist and punched it with all his might.
The impact caused a loud bang, and dust was blown by the wind.
The result was shown a second later.
2,108
"…"
The crowd fell into silence, looking at the score in disbelief. The know-it-all critics earlier rubbed their eyes twice, doubting the result and their eyesight.
The score was higher than the requirement, which was enough to prove Gan Ning's status.
Upon seeing his score, Gan Ning burst into laughter, "Holy crap! Boss. Look at my score! I didn't know I'm this strong. I'm probably a real genius."
He didn't forget to peer at the two esteemed cultivators, who had insulted Miaomiao and Gan Ning. He smirked and flipped a finger, gesturing them to go screw themselves.
Miaomiao smirked and raised his eyebrows, looking at the score and the elder's reaction. As he had expected, the two supervisors widened their eyes and stared at Gan Ning in astonishment.
'Yeah, that's how the soon-to-be great general's strength should be. A counterpart of a great general is supposed to be special!'
Miaomiao wasn't surprised. Still, he was proud of the noisy dude.
"Good work. Now, back off. It's my turn."
Gan Ning leaped to the side, opening the path for Miaomiao.
Unfortunately, someone from the crowd jumped up and landed before Miaomiao, cutting the line. He cupped his fist and bowed to Gan Ning.
He was a short man, whose height was merely 150cm. His disproportion face and two upper front teeth, extended out of his mouth, making his face similar to a mouse.
"This junior is Yuan Yin, the son of Yuan Shu! I would like to extend my invitation to you, sir! Please visit my father's manor, so we can have some tea and discuss our dao. Also, could I know the name of the esteemed senior?"
This person was rude. Not only did he cut the queue, but he also ignored Miaomiao and attempted to recruit Gan Ning. Moreover, the name of this man's father sounded familiar.
He had YUAN as his surname.
Yuan Shu and Yuan Yin
Miaomiao, as a Romance of the Three Kingdoms fan and a Chinese, knew these names by heart as they appeared in both school history books and the novel.
Yuan Shu was a half-brother of Yuan Shao, aka Yuan Shaoqing in this world. In Miaomiao's world, this man found Zhong Dynasty amid the civil war, but his forces got owned by Sun Ce and Cao Cao later on.
Still, the relationship between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao made this family interesting. Even though they were relatives, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao competed with each other after Dong Zhuo had been killed by Lu Bu. Both men played big roles in sowing the chaos throughout that period by inciting nearby warlords to attack their brother's forces, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians being killed.
Miaomiao grinned as he found Yuan Yin, the son of Yuan Shu, obnoxiously cute. He wondered what the Yuan Clan was up to when the thorn of Yuan Shaoqing was here.
'Okay, what's this fool planning? Should I let it slide, or should I intervene?'
Miaomiao was finally sobered. He stepped back and watched this drama unfold.
Meanwhile, the corner of Gan Ning's face twitched as he disliked the no-name man from the Yuan Clan. He waved his hand to shoo the short ratman.
"I'm busy, and I don't need to tell you my name! Now, scram and let my lord take the test! You're on the way!"
Yuan Yin's face distorted in anger, but he swallowed his pride and receded, "This junior shall withdraw. If you happen to change your mind, please contact me."
"Who cares? Now, go. Shoo! Shoo!"
"…"
Yuan Yin clicked his tongue and glanced at Miaomiao. Before he left, he turned to the boulder and sent a palm strike at it.
BOOM
The boulder was knocked back by a millimeter, and the score shocked the crowd once more.
1,271
Yuan Yin revealed his cultivation base of the 3rd-stage, but his power output was a lot stronger than common cultivators.
The ratman glanced at his score and humbly bowed toward the two supervising elders, after which he walked down from the platform with his arms crossing behind his back.
The demeanor of the ratman looked impressive from the onlooker's perspective. Even the two elders nodded in admiration.
"Yuan Yin from the Yuan Clan, pass!"
The crowd cheered and praised Yuan Yin. Even the two critics earlier gave the ratman a thumbs up.
"See? See that? That's the power of someone who has been threading their foundation carefully! I sensed a great amount of yang Qi from that palm strike just now! It was so pure and pristine that put that brute's power earlier to shame! That was Qi's power, not ESSENCE, yet it was so destructive!"
"Yeah, that's the genius from the prestigious Yuan Clan for you. Not only they are strong alchemists, but their descendants are also talented cultivators! I doubt anyone can display the power of pure Qi like that! Oh, right. I doubt this "Boss" of that guy can put a dent in that boulder. I bet he will hurt himself. Look at his pretty face and fair skin! He should be ashamed to be born as a man. Someone like him belongs in a brothel, selling his ass and rod for those ugly grandmas!"
"Hahahaha! Well said! Rich people are dumb, idiotic, and arrogant, unlike our honored Yuan Yin! A wastrel like him is the embarrassment of their family! Why was he even born?"
Miaomiao rolled his eyes and peered at these senseless critics, giving them the are-you-serious look. He felt like some of his brain cells just died by listening to the dumb duo.
Then, he recalled that he was taking part in an event, where protagonists were supposed to take the spotlight. However, Zhou Gongjin was not here.
'Am I taking over a protagonist's job again? Was it Xie Tian's luck or did I intervene in Zhou Gongjin's fate?'
Miaomiao began to take notes about his actions and consequences. As he was in the territory or a story of someone else, his self-awareness was slowly honed by the repeated mistakes that he made over and over again.
Next time, he wouldn't contact a protagonist or make a big move. He would lay low and carefully peel off that protagonist's plot armor, layer by layer, like how he did during the tutorial period.
But for now, he needed to face-slap these people.
"Young Master Mao… I mean, Young Master Cao. Your turn, please," Huang Gongfu reminded Miaomiao of where he was, snapping him out of his trance. Miaomiao came back to his senses and looked at the elders.
"Oh, right. I forgot. I think I have Alzheimer these days."
"Al-sign-what?"
"Never mind," Miaomiao approached the boulder and gathered his life Qi into his right index finger.
Then, he lightly and gently poked it as if he caressed it.
However, the life Qi in the finger penetrated the bright red light spot, which Miaomiao could see along with several red lines on the boulder.
The red lines and the bright red spots were the marks of death and destruction, which could only be perceived when one achieved a certain level of weapon dao and killing intent.
Miaomiao and the vampire wives had this perception, and they could instantly destroy materials and weaker cultivators as long as they could strike a certain point. However, their perception ability was not as strong as Lu Fengxian's as that OP protagonist could even use it against stronger enemies!
But for now, this perception could work against a simple material object, and Miaomiao decided to cause a scene. Since protagonists weren't here, he should fill in the role and face-slap as many people as he could.
As soon as Miaomiao's Qi entered the boulder, cracks appeared along with the evaluated score.
9,999
That was the highest score that the assessment boulder could show as it limited the result to four digits.
All round eyes stared at the number and the platform was silent.
Gan Ning dropped his jaw at first, but he grinned and laughed a few seconds later after he had digested the information.
Huang Gongfu and two supervising elders mentally screamed as they stared at their precious assessment boulder.
It cracked!
Normally, it should have repaired itself after being dented or damaged, but the crack continued to expand. Soon, the spider webs of damages crumbled their measurement artifact.
The boulder was reduced to a pile of dust and useless rocks.
"…"
Miaomiao gazed at the pile of rocks and dust before him while he blew wind from his mouth to the right index finger, which had touched the measurement artifact.
Then, Miaomiao turned toward the rude crowd and bowed like an English gentleman in the renaissance period. As soon as he finished his bow, he opened his arms and faced the crowd.
"Why so quiet? Are you not entertained?"
"…"
The spectators and the elders were at a loss for words.
"Where's my applause? Clap your hands, can't you? Don't you have two hands? Where's my critic and insult that I kept hearing earlier?"
"…"
"Come on, say something. You're handsome, sir. You're so cool, sir. You suck, sir. Your PP is so big, sir. My PP is small, sir. I want your PP in my Wuwu, sir."
"…"
"Mayday, Mayday. Houston, we have a problem. Earthlings have gone mute. Please respond."
"…"
Nobody uttered a word.
Miaomiao had enough fun. He spat and muttered in a clear voice.
"Pussies."
The test takers and their parents' faces were reddened in rage, but nobody dared to offend the bully. After all, the strength and the bursting force just now were not something they could comprehend.
None of them had seen or understood the concept of Life Qi before. They were confused!
Moreover, there was no impurity in Miaomiao's Qi. In fact, it even contained traces of various element Qi!
No one dared to disrespect Miaomiao anymore. On the other hand, many people began to connect what he did in the exam yesterday and today's feat together. They suspected that Miaomiao came from a strong family or had a profound background.
Some of them even thought that Miaomiao came from the Holy Land Continent!
As the spectators had been imagining things, Miaomiao brought out a handful of essence cores from his spatial ring and passed them to the supervising elders.
"I don't know how much the stone cost, but keep the change."
"…"
The elders stared at the essence cores in their hands. Their wry smile and their complex expression looked funny from Miaomiao's point of view, but he didn't know what they had been thinking.
But Huang Gongfu revealed why they looked hesitant.
"That boulder costs 200 essence cores. You just gave them 30 cores and told them to keep the change."
"…"