125: Chapter 125 No…you’re not being honest.

Bathed in the red light, Gu Changming's body instantly tensed up.

Was the intrusion into the Assessment mechanism exposed? No way... If you didn't have the ability, then don't intrude in the first place; you're going to get someone killed.

Gu Changming almost instinctively wanted to draw the Tang blade from his arm...

But just then, the text in the prompt box before him fully emerged:

[Anomaly detected in your Assessment; please perform the demonstration again.]

Seeing this, Gu Changming's tensed body relaxed again.

Oh, so it was this aspect that was discovered, haha.

After the prompt box was fully displayed, the nianshu bead floated up automatically and settled steadily back into his hand.

Looking at the silver-white orb in his hand, Gu Changming sighed helplessly.

No, you can't wrong me; those seven-plus minutes just now really were my true strength.

At the same time, Hill and the other three on the left all stared blankly toward Gu Changming.

Seeing him suddenly enveloped in red light, they didn't know what rule Gu Changming had violated.

It wasn't until they saw Gu Changming pick up the nianshu bead again under the supervision of the red light that they vaguely understood: was there a problem with the demonstration just now?

They watched as Gu Changming injected Mental Power once more.

The silver nianshu bead hovered, disassembled, and reassembled; the movements were a bit smoother than before, but still far from stunning.

The timer ended: six minutes and nine seconds.

Compared to before, it had improved by over a minute.

Now, Hill and the others also confirmed their previous suspicion; he really was hiding his strength.

Not just them, the members of the Eclipse Clan below were also in a low-voiced commotion at this moment.

Many of the Eclipse Clan members had expressions of lingering fear on their faces; they were almost fooled by this guy just now.

Hill looked at Gu Changming, his eyes flickering slightly.

Although he didn't know what Gu Changming intended by hiding his strength, he also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although these six-plus minutes were still somewhat slow, they finally matched his C-rank strength.

In the upcoming segment of competing against these Trial Takers from the Eclipse Clan, he shouldn't be eliminated so easily by being surpassed by more than half of them.

However.

Before that thought could even settle, that red light suddenly flashed again.

Immediately after, the nianshu bead floated up automatically once more and fell back into Gu Changming's hand.

"..."

In this instant.

The entire venue fell silent.

The members of the Eclipse Clan below all stared at Gu Changming with looks of astonishment.

The Examiners on the side were also completely bewildered.

No?

What does this mean?

You were already warned once, and you're still not being honest?

You're still hiding during a six-minute-and-change demonstration?

But in the second after Gu Changming was enveloped by the red light.

Three more red lights fell simultaneously, accurately shining on the three other Examiners besides Hill.

Hill's expression froze as he turned to look at them.

Hmm?

You guys were hiding too?

Those three Examiners were also stunned; looking at the nianshu beads floating in front of them, their faces showed a bit of helplessness.

Then, as if resigning themselves to fate, they picked up the orbs, gave Gu Changming another look, and began to disassemble and reassemble them again.

Under the four red lights, the four of them completed their demonstrations almost one after another.

This time, those three Examiners all broke the five-minute mark and entered the four-minute range; the time they took was nearly the same as Hill's, all around four minutes and fifty-some seconds.

Upon completion, the three of them turned to look at Gu Changming in unison.

Gu Changming's result also came out at this moment: four minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

At this moment, the emotions in their hearts were incredibly complex, and at the same time, they were absolutely certain: the three of them had been dragged into this and affected by this guy.

The strength of the five of them should be about the same, otherwise the Assessment mechanism wouldn't have chosen them... otherwise, these Trial Takers would just pick the weakest one, so why choose the five of them to be Examiners?

It's just that they only hid for about ten seconds at most, so that they could be more at ease in the upcoming competition.

Just as they thought, the Assessment mechanism didn't nitpick these small details.

But this guy... he hid more than three minutes all at once.

You bastard!

Hiding so much, how could you not be caught!

Now look what happened; the Assessment standards suddenly tightened, dragging them all down with him to be tested again.

Hill stood in place, speechless for a moment.

"..."

After all that fuss, was he the only one among the five who was honestly demonstrating?

To think he was even a bit proud just now because his demonstration time was the shortest.

...

Just when everyone thought this farce should finally come to an end.

The red light enveloping Gu Changming suddenly brightened a bit more, pinning itself firmly onto Gu Changming as if performing a silent urge.

"..."

In an instant, the eyes of everyone present converged on Gu Changming, whose face showed not a single ripple of emotion.

No?

Are you for real?

You've been warned twice, and you're still hiding?

No, is your courage really that big?

No, do you even think you're human? What exactly are you trying to do by tricking us?

No, it's already four minutes and fifty-nine seconds, and it's still not your limit? I remember you're only a C-rank.

A silence that was almost absurd permeated the air.

[Anomaly detected in your demonstration segment; please perform the demonstration again.]

"..."

Gu Changming also fell silent.

No... I'm really not hiding anymore; I really have nothing left.

My real strength is just like this; it's already at the same level as a B-rank.

Even if you pressure me again, I'm just like this.

Don't mess around... what else do you want? I can't even trick anyone anymore.

However, the red light clearly paid no heed to his mental and physical resistance; the nianshu bead floated up again as if defying gravity and settled steadily into his hand.

Gu Changming looked at the silver orb in his palm and sighed helplessly.

And at this moment, the way everyone looked at him had also changed.

They were indeed shocked and astonished at first, not expecting Gu Changming to be so calculating.

But by now, let alone Examiners like Hill, even the members of the Eclipse Clan below also wanted to know: just how much strength are you hiding, you bastard?

Gu Changming looked at the nianshu bead in his hand, bit his lip, and a "pain mask" expression flashed across his face.

Outsmarted by my own cleverness, wasn't I?

In a moment, probably no one will choose me.

*Sigh*

Thinking this, Gu Changming's movements didn't stop.

He spread his five fingers, aiming them at the hovering nianshu bead.

In the next instant, that silver orb seemed to be infused with life; hundreds of tiny components separated and rotated fluently, like some sort of precise silver nebula, operating silently at his fingertips.

The disassembly process was smooth and fluid, without the slightest hesitation.

Immediately after, he loosely closed his five fingers.

All the scattered components began to quickly and accurately converge and fit toward the center.

"Click."

An extremely faint, crisp sound.

The nianshu bead returned to its original state, quietly falling back into his open palm.

At the same time it was completed, everyone's gazes shifted upward in unison, focusing on the timer digits that had just emerged above Gu Changming's head.

[...]