191: Chapter 191 Visitors from Central Plains: The Arrogance of the Purple Mansion Holy Land

Outside the mountain gate of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, the smoke of battle had just dispersed.

That accidental explosion caused by the 'Principle of Specular Reflection,' while not dealing a substantial destructive blow to the Zifu Holy Land fleet (after all, it was their own Divine Ability and came with inherent resistance), dealt a critical hit to their psyches on the level of a nuclear bomb.

Upon the nine-dragon war chariot, the Purple Mansion Holy Son Xiao Tianjiao's purple-gold crown was askew. His originally meticulous hair bun was now a bit messy, with several charred strands of hair stubbornly sticking up—scorched by the reflection of his own 'Purple Pole Divine Lightning.'

Dead silence.

Whether in the sky or on the ground, a brief, deathly silence fell.

The Disciples of the Heavenly River Sword Sect were busy looking down and recording data: "Record: First combat test of the specular reflection array. Reflection rate 98.5%, loss 1.5%... It seems the polishing of the glass still needs to be strengthened."

Meanwhile, the Cultivators of the Zifu Holy Land looked at each other, each feeling as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed a dead fly. They, the dignified Holy Land of the Central Continent, had actually been 'bounced' back by a small border Sect?

"Enough!"

A low growl, suppressed to the extreme, came from the war chariot.

Xiao Tianjiao slowly stood up straight. He ripped off the crooked purple-gold crown from his head and slammed it onto the ground. His black hair moved without wind, and purple Qi swirled around him, making him look like a violent Dragon awakening from slumber.

"Heavenly River Sword Sect... good, very good."

His voice was no longer filled with previous arrogance, but had turned into an extremely dangerous coldness.

"You have successfully enraged this Saint."

"Originally, I only wanted to subdue you as vassals and spare your dog lives."

"But now..."

Xiao Tianjiao abruptly looked up, purple light surging in his eyes. It was the secret technique of the Zifu Holy Land—the [Purple Pole Demon Pupils].

"I will raze this place to the ground! Not even a chicken or dog shall remain!"

BOOM—!!!

Following his fury, a terrifying Aura belonging to a half-step Nascent Soul (actually the limit of Golden Core Great Perfection, but already the ceiling for the younger generation) was released without reservation.

This Aura was different from ordinary spiritual power; it carried a high-and-mighty 'Saintly Way' Aura. It was as if he were royalty and all living beings were but ants.

Behind him, the nine flood dragons pulling the chariot roared toward the sky. Hundreds of Zifu Cultivators formed seals together, and purple Qi surged for three thousand miles, dyeing the entire sky an eerie deep purple.

In the past, the Disciples of the Heavenly River Sword Sect would have been scared witless by such a scene. This was a Holy Land! An existence at the top of the Cultivation World's pyramid!

But now...

"Beep—"

"Warning! Warning! High-energy radiation source detected!"

"Radiation intensity: 5,000 Roentgens... oh no, it's 5,000 Spiritual Pressure units!"

Inside the mountain gate, Zhang Yuan (Chief of the Formation Department, currently the Physics Class Representative) calmly looked at the 'Spiritual Pressure Detector' in his hand (modified from an old compass). Not only was he not afraid, but he also pushed up the goggles on his nose, a flash of fanaticism in his eyes.

"Brothers! Look! This is an excellent sample!"

Zhang Yuan shouted, even taking out a small notebook.

"Record: The Cultivation Technique of the Zifu Holy Land seems capable of altering the local area's spectrum (Purple Qi Coming from the East). Suspected manifestation of some high-energy particle stream."

"Quick! Set up the 'Spectrum Analyzer'! Analyze the wavelength of this purple Qi!"

"Someone, bring the 'Geiger Counter' (Spiritual Sense Induction Needle) over here to measure the radiation!"

In an instant, the Tianhe Disciples, who should have been trembling in fear, transformed into a group of mad scientists who had spotted a rare lab rat.

They took out all sorts of strange instruments (modified from Magic Treasures) and pointed them at Xiao Tianjiao in the sky.

"Senior Brother, look at the purple light on his head. Is it an ionization phenomenon?"

"Possible! Look at those flood dragons; the fire they breathe is blue, indicating a temperature exceeding 2,000 degrees—oxygen-rich combustion!"

"Tsk tsk, as expected of a Holy Land. Even their pets' combustion efficiency is higher than our Fire Cloud Lions."

In the sky, Xiao Tianjiao was gathering power, preparing to release a grand move.

Then he looked down.

He found that the group of ants below not only failed to kneel and beg for mercy, but instead... were looking at him with the same gaze one would use for a 'monkey'?

Someone was even holding a recording stone (camera) and snapping photos of his nostrils?

"Bastards!!"

Xiao Tianjiao's mental state completely collapsed.

This feeling of humiliation from being 'objectified' and 'deconstructed' was ten thousand times stronger than being blown away earlier.

"What are you looking at! I am the Saint! I am the future Dominator!"

"Die!"

Xiao Tianjiao slammed his palms together, and a hundred-zhang-tall purple phantom emerged behind him. It was the Dharma Image of the Zifu Holy Land—[Ziwei Emperor].

The Emperor's phantom held a jade seal, as if carrying the will of the entire world, and smashed it down toward the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

This strike was called [Purple Qi Suppressing Mountains and Rivers].

It was an Earth Rank High Grade ultimate Divine Ability, sufficient to crush a mountain range into powder.

"It's over! This time it's a real ultimate move!"

"Physical reflection might not be able to block this kind of pure energy suppression!"

Just as the Tianhe Disciples were starting to panic.

"Quiet."

An old but exhausted voice came from deep within the Sect.

Immediately following, a figure rose up on the wind.

He did not step on a Flying Sword, nor did he ride a cloud.

Instead, he stepped on a giant... abacus.

This person was the Sect Master of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, Sect Master.

At this moment, Sect Master's appearance was extremely disheveled.

His hair was a messy bird's nest, his dark circles were as black as a panda's, and his Daoist robe was covered in ink stains. His left hand held a thick stack of scratch paper, his right hand held a worn-out brush, and he was biting into half an unfinished steamed bun.

He was at a critical moment of solving a problem.

He had been calculating that final problem on 'Fluid Mechanics' for three days and three nights. Just now, he had finally found inspiration and calculated the particular solution for the 'Navier-Stokes equations' in a Spiritual Qi environment.

But just as he was about to write down the answer.

The outside world started making a deafening "rumbling" noise.

"So noisy!"

Sect Master roared and threw the steamed bun in his hand with all his might.

But this wasn't just a steamed bun.

This was a steamed bun thrown in anger by a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.

More importantly, Sect Master had applied a physical buff he had just comprehended to this bun—[Conservation of Momentum · Infinite Ricochet].

Whoosh—!

The bun turned into a beam of light and accurately struck the nose of the descending [Ziwei Emperor] phantom.

"Pop."

A light sound.

That majestic Dharma Image, capable of suppressing mountains and rivers, actually began to tremble violently under this single strike.

The bun did not break; instead, using the reaction force, it bounced toward the Dharma Image's eyes at an even faster speed, then its ears, chin...

It was like a crazy pinball, bouncing back and forth on the Dharma Image's face thousands of times.

Every bounce took away a portion of the Dharma Image's spiritual power structure.

In the blink of an eye.

That hundred-zhang-tall purple phantom was 'disintegrated' by this single steamed bun.

It turned into countless purple points of light and dissipated into the air.

"This... what kind of sorcery is this?"

Xiao Tianjiao stared blankly at the bun that fell back into Sect Master's hand, completely dumbfounded.

His proud Earth Rank Divine Ability was broken by a steamed bun?

Sect Master caught the bun, blew off the dust, and took a bite, looking pained.

"Wasting food is shameful."

Then, he looked up and stared intently at Xiao Tianjiao with those bloodshot eyes.

That gaze was like that of a top student rushing for the college entrance exam whose train of thought had been interrupted by a dancing granny downstairs.

It was filled with irritability, frenzy, and... killing intent.

"Which class are you from?"

Sect Master swallowed the bun, his voice raspy.

"Don't you know I'm solving a problem? Don't you know I'm calculating the Reynolds number?"

"That shout of yours almost made me put the decimal point in the wrong place!"

Xiao Tianjiao was intimidated by this inexplicable Aura and instinctively took half a step back.

"I... this seat is the Purple Mansion Holy Son..."

"I don't care if you're Purple Mansion or Red Mansion!"

Sect Master interrupted him, waving the scratch paper in his hand.

"Do you know how hard this problem is? Do you know how much hair I've lost over these three days?"

"Can you afford to compensate me?!"

"Since you're so free and have the energy to howl here..."

Sect Master suddenly chuckled sinisterly, a smile that sent a chill down Xiao Tianjiao's spine.

"Then come down and help me verify this problem."

Xiao Tianjiao was furious: "Lunatic! A total lunatic! This Saint is here to destroy you, not to help you do accounts!"

"Since you refuse the easy way, then have it the hard way."

Xiao Tianjiao snorted coldly and looked at the Dao-protecting Elder beside him.

"Elder Zhao, do it! Kill this crazy old man!"

The Nascent Soul Stage Dao-protecting Elder who had remained silent, Zhao Wuji, finally moved.

He took a step forward, and his figure instantly vanished.

The teleportation of the Nascent Soul Stage!

The next second, he appeared behind Sect Master, a withered palm carrying eerie purple fire aimed directly at Sect Master's back.

"Die."

However.

Just at the moment his palm was about to touch Sect Master.

"BEEP—!"

An extremely piercing electronic whistle echoed through the clouds.

Zhao Wuji's figure suddenly froze.

He discovered to his horror that he couldn't move.

Not only could his body not move, but even the Nascent Soul within him was 'locked' by an invisible force.

That was not spiritual power imprisonment.

It was a higher-dimensional... rule suspension.

At the top floor of the Heavenly River Sword Sect's Scripture Pavilion.

A window slowly opened.

Li Mo held a megaphone (actually a materialized prop of the [authority dog]), a whistle hung around his neck, and he wore a vest with the four large words "Dean of Students" printed on it.

"You, that old man over there."

Li Mo pointed at Zhao Wuji.

"Playground... oh no, battlefield violation."

"According to the 'Tianhe First Law': Launching a sneak attack while the opponent is engrossed in solving problems is a serious 'interference with academic order' behavior."

"Penalty: Red card, sent off."

As Li Mo's voice fell.

A giant, bright red card suddenly appeared in the sky.

That card was like a heavenly monument, slamming heavily onto Zhao Wuji.

"BOOM!"

Zhao Wuji, in the Nascent Soul Stage, didn't even have time to scream before being slammed directly into the ground by this red card.

A bottomless human-shaped pit was left in the ground, and that red card was stuck at the edge, with the words written on it:

[Suspension Period: Ten Thousand Years].

The entire field... fell silent once again.

This time, even Sect Master was stunned.

He looked at the pit in the ground, then at Li Mo upstairs, and swallowed hard.

"Tea... Teacher is mighty."

Xiao Tianjiao, in the sky, had completely lost the ability to think.

His protector, Elder Zhao of the Middle Stage Nascent Soul... was just swatted away by a card?

Who was that person standing in the tower?

What kind of power was that? Words Follow Law?

"You... who are you?"

Xiao Tianjiao pointed at Li Mo tremblingly, a hint of fear finally entering his voice.

Li Mo put down the megaphone and pushed up his glasses.

He looked at the Saint who was still standing on the war chariot, dressed magnificently yet appearing completely out of place.

"I am the principal here."

"And also the Administrator here."

Li Mo said indifferently.

"Student Xiao, you brought so many people and came to our school with such fanfare."

"You even brought pets (flood dragons) and drove a luxury car (war chariot)."

"You have seriously violated the 'Campus Traffic Management Regulations'."

"However..."

Li Mo's tone shifted, and his face showed that trademark smile that made countless Disciples have nightmares.

"Seeing that your Aptitude is not bad, I can give you a chance."

"A... special admission opportunity."

Xiao Tianjiao gritted his teeth: "Don't even think about it! I am the Purple Mansion Holy Son, how could I ever enter this barbarian land!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Li Mo's fingers lightly tapped on the windowsill.

"Then there's no other way."

"Since you don't want to be a student, then you can only be... a teaching aid."

"It just so happens that Fatty Pig Intestine from the Biology Department has been studying 'Physiological Structure and Spiritual Power Circuit Dissection of High-Level Cultivators' recently."

"I think your body is quite suitable for a specimen."

Hearing the word "specimen," Xiao Tianjiao's whole body shuddered.

He felt a pure, unmasked 'thirst for knowledge' in Li Mo's eyes.

That was not a look used for humans.

That was the look one gave to lab rats and frogs.

"Run! Run fast!"

Xiao Tianjiao finally broke down.

He no longer cared about his dignity as a Saint and turned the war chariot to flee.

"You're already here, why run?"

Li Mo snapped his fingers.

"Close the doors."

"Release... the problems."

Rumble—

The Mountain Protection Grand Array of the Heavenly River Sword Sect changed once again.

The original defensive light screen vanished.

In its place were layers upon layers of dense 'walls' composed of golden text.

Those texts were not runes.

They were... exam questions.

The East Wall: "Advanced Mathematics: Limits and Continuity."

The West Wall: "Quantum Mechanics: Wave Function Collapse."

The South Wall: "Organic Chemistry: Benzene Ring Structure."

The North Wall: "Political Economy of Cultivation."

These four walls trapped the Zifu Holy Land fleet firmly in the middle.

This was called—[The Cage of Knowledge].

"Want to get out?"

Li Mo's voice echoed within the cage.

"It's very simple."

"Finish this set of exam papers, and I'll let you go."

"Student Xiao, you are a Saint, so your IQ should be very high, right?"

"This set of 'Five Years of Mock Exams, Three Years of Cultivation: Enrollment Enhanced Edition' is tailor-made for you."

"First question: Without using spiritual power, how do you prove the Earth is round?"

"Please answer."

A giant, blank exam paper manifested out of thin air in front of Xiao Tianjiao.

And a pen.

Xiao Tianjiao looked at the question, at the dizzying walls of formulas around him, and at the Elder on the ground who had been sent off with a red card.

He discovered in despair.

That he... really could only do the problems.

"I... I'll do it!"

Xiao Tianjiao said with a sob, picking up the pen.

"I'll do it, okay! Just don't turn me into a specimen!"

Li Mo nodded with satisfaction.

He turned around and placed a heavy checkmark on that book titled 'Tianhe Student Source Expansion Plan'.

"Very good."

"Another wild top student (to be determined) captured."

"Next, let us see if this Saint from the Central Continent can pass this... dimensionality-reducing enrollment exam."