Inside the office.
Not long after Deng Bingding recorded the valuation of Yun Jing, a small god standing to the side spoke up: "Lord Deng, there’s some trouble with Ye Lingxiao."
Deng Bingding looked over and saw that in the illusion, Ye Lingxiao was virtually unmoved by any temptations.
No matter the superior cultivation conditions, the glory or shame of his family... nothing seemed to stop him from obtaining a Foundation Establishment qualification certificate for high school.
If Deng Bingding were to evaluate him, she would say that he was selfish enough, resolutely focused on the goal, with the spirit to keep climbing the immortal path.
But Deng Bingding believed that if the bidding kept rising, Ye Lingxiao would eventually agree.
After all, as long as someone is human, there’s always a price.
However, the demands Ye Lingxiao had were beyond Deng Bingding's expectations.
In the illusion, Ye Lingxiao said, "You have such great powers, then do you know how to use the Favor Charm on a person?"
Deng Bingding furrowed her brows. "How would Ye Lingxiao know about such things?"The small god next to her said, "Lord Deng, what should we do now?"
"The secret of using the Favor Charm on a person is highly important and cannot be disclosed lightly."
"Though it's just in the illusion, we can easily deceive him."
"But the records and memories of the Foundation Establishment exam’s illusion must be preserved."
"If the valuation is too low, doesn’t that mean we’re deliberately giving a low score to the student? But if the valuation is too high, doesn’t it reveal the great secret hidden within to Ye Lingxiao?"
"This is really... difficult to handle."
Deng Bingding felt a sudden headache and realized something.
"This person has asked such a question amidst all the temptations in the illusion... it shows that he subconsciously recognizes how valuable this secret is, even understanding what it might represent."
"Hmph, but Ye Lingxiao’s curiosity is too strong and his appetite too large."
"Selfish, reckless, and insatiable—how is he not a seed for the immortal path?"
Her thoughts flickered, and Deng Bingding decided to take a different approach. "Where did he hear about this? Was it through rumors, or did he actually see it himself?"
The small god replied, "He said he saw it with his own eyes. A high school student named Zhang Pianpian used it. I’ve checked his data; he’s quite outstanding, but he doesn’t seem like someone who would know such a technique. Could he be lying to Ye Lingxiao?"
Deng Bingding closed her eyes, and countless scenes from the Spirit Realm appeared before her.
She walked over to a large bookshelf, casually flipped open Zhang Pianpian's file, and used her divine power to scan it. The individual's life story quickly appeared before her.
This was the first-floor archive of the Wanmin Division, where information about everyone was theoretically recorded.
Deng Bingding quickly flipped through Zhang Pianpian's file with divine power, but a strange feeling arose in her heart.
"This Zhang Pianpian is indeed outstanding. He even became the deputy leader of the Songyang City patrol team. He's almost too outstanding."
"Another one from Songyang City..." Deng Bingding frowned. "Why does it seem that every student from Songyang City is a bit... odd?"
As she pondered, the sixth-rank Four-World Wanderer suddenly noticed something amiss.
"Someone's tampered with Zhang Pianpian’s file?"
The realization that someone had meddled with the archive sent a shock through Deng Bingding’s heart. When she tried to uncover the hidden truth within the file, a sense of unprecedented danger stopped her.
"This has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to know anything."
After some thought, she withdrew and reported Ye Lingxiao’s situation. As for Zhang Pianpian’s information, she didn't even mention it, pretending she knew nothing.
What surprised her even more was the quick response from above.
"A directive directly from the Wanmin Division?" Deng Bingding’s heart skipped a beat. She thought, Zhang Pianpian really is a problem. Who knows what plans or arrangements above might be involved?
The directive from the Wanmin Division was to directly lower Ye Lingxiao’s valuation to 5.5 billion.
Looking at this, Deng Bingding couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.
Many people in Kunxu, especially the poor... think that the rules of the top ten sects, the rules of the eight ministries of gods... are the laws of heaven, inviolable.
But Deng Bingding knew very well that... sometimes, they weren’t.
Take the Foundation Establishment exam before her—at the beginning, no one dared to act out of line.
But those who dared, whether gods or mortals, were all sent to the Spirit Realm to enjoy themselves, and gradually, no one dared to try anything again.
But even in this high school Foundation Establishment exam, where no one dared to break the rules, if someone higher up wanted to take action, like reducing Ye Lingxiao’s valuation right now, they could easily do it.
"Everyone has a price, and the rules of Kunxu have a price."
"As long as the cost is paid, many things can still be done."
"Only, for some, the cost may be the entire clan. For others, it might just require a directive..."
Deng Bingding cleared her mind and buried these thoughts deep down. She then turned her attention to the last person in the Dao Heart test—Zhang Yu.
Or rather, at this moment, everyone in the office, from her as a Four-World Wanderer to the four minor gods, was focusing their attention on Zhang Yu's illusion.
Deng Bingding muttered, "Zhang Yu actually made it this far."
But Huang Zichou, nervous yet excited, said, "Lord Deng, Zhang Yu’s illusion is about to collapse."
"What did you say?" With strong curiosity, Deng Bingding used her divine power to check the records of the illusion.
Countless valuable items were thrown in front of him, but he refused to give up on the Foundation Establishment exam.
Even when company shares were thrown into the mix, although Zhang Yu’s face showed some hesitation, he gritted his teeth and refused to give up on the exam.
Because every time he even thought about it, that cold feeling deep in his heart emerged.
"This ridiculous ritual... can’t I just accept the offer and take the test next year?"
"No, the ritual might be foolish, but it shouldn't be this extreme. What’s wrong here?"
As the illusions continued to test and raise the price, Zhang Yu began to feel something was off.
"Wait... is this worth over 10 billion now?"
"Are you people offering too much?"
"Does abandoning the Foundation Establishment exam really have this kind of value?"
As Zhang Yu began to question everything, the world before him became even more bizarre, giving him a feeling that it was all just a dream.
…
Inside the office.
Deng Bingding furrowed her brows. "How could the price rise so high? What are you doing?"
She started to suspect Huang Zichou of recklessly raising the price.
Huang Zichou said, "Lord Deng, you can check the records. I didn’t raise it arbitrarily; the illusion has been raising it bit by bit according to the rules. I’ve tried everything, but he just won’t give up!"
Deng Bingding repeatedly reviewed the records, only to find that Zhang Yu truly was impervious to temptation.
And Deng Bingding knew that while illusions could make students subconsciously ignore many of the inconsistencies, this ignorance had its limits.
When a student continuously rejects the offers, the increasingly high prices would make the illusion become more and more illogical, causing the test-taker to feel more and more out of place.
When this sense of dissonance reached its peak, it meant the illusion was about to collapse.
For someone like Ye Lingxiao or Yun Jing, who were already wealthy and powerful, and who were likely to pass the Foundation Establishment exam, the illusion’s increasing price could be ignored subconsciously.
But for Zhang Yu, whose level wasn’t enough to make him a winning candidate and who was poor, the rapid price increase made him more sensitive to the growing inconsistencies.
Looking at this scene, Deng Bingding suddenly had an idea she hadn’t considered before. "The poor have an advantage in this test—they are more likely to break through the illusion and push it to its limit than the wealthy."
She shook her head, putting that thought aside for the moment. Deng Bingding asked again, "Haven’t you asked him what he wants?"
Huang Zichou quickly replied, "I asked him! Just wait and see!"
…
Inside the illusion.
Zhang Yu felt that everything before him was increasingly like a dream.
How could anyone offer so much money just to make him give up on the Foundation Establishment exam?
Especially the reaction of the ritual, which made him feel that something was terribly wrong.
"Am I really...?"
At this moment, the question interrupted his thoughts.
Zhang Yu, curious, asked, "What do I want?"
Under the pressure of the ritual, what Zhang Yu truly desired was to remove the influence of the ritual and be free.
But he didn’t dare to mention anything related to the Evil God, even though he felt like he was in a dream. He simply couldn’t say it.
So the only thing he could ask for was another chance: to enter one of the top ten sects, to join a sect and fulfill that goal.
Now, combining this request with the condition of abandoning the Foundation Establishment exam...
Zhang Yu organized his words in his mind, but when he spoke, he knew the request he was about to make was something they couldn’t possibly agree to.
But that dream-like feeling made him smile and boldly speak his mind: "I want to climb the Immortal Path, rising higher and higher."
"So, unless you can offer me a better opportunity, I won’t give up the Foundation Establishment qualification."
"By the way, this also includes Bai Zhenzhen."
…
Inside the office.
"Everyone has a price."
This was something Deng Bingding had confirmed countless times.
But hearing Zhang Yu’s demand this time, even though it was an extreme price because of the illusion, Deng Bingding was still stunned.
"This guy... does he even know what he’s asking for?"
"A poor soul on Kunxu First Floor is asking for such an absurd price?"
"This something you can even find on the first floor? A chance better than passing the Foundation Establishment exam in the first year?"
"Not even Second or Third Floor billionaires could get their hands on what he wants."
"And he wants to bring someone else..."
Looking at Zhang Yu in the illusion, Deng Bingding didn’t know whether to admire his ambition to ascend the Immortal Path or wonder if he had been corrupted by the illusion and was showing his greed.
The nearby Huang Zichou said, "Lord Deng, how should we interpret this? He knows this price isn’t realistic, right? He doesn’t actually plan on giving up the Foundation Establishment exam."
Deng Bingding replied, "There’s no point in continuing the test. The temptations have long surpassed his limits."
"If the illusion truly grants such an unreasonable request, Zhang Yu will likely wake up completely, and the illusion will collapse."
"Or perhaps..." Deng Bingding said coldly, "He may already be waking up."
"End this Dao Heart test."
Huang Zichou asked, "What about Zhang Yu’s score?"
"What else can we do?" Deng Bingding sighed. "At least the illusion didn’t reveal his limits."
She then recorded: "Zhang Yu, valuation unknown??? Dao Heart test failed to reveal limits."