Chapter 188: The Smell of Gunpowder

Fish Dan’er’s answer was quite intriguing.

At first glance, what she wrote on the exam paper appeared to be sheer nonsense, whimsical, and devoid of even the most basic theoretical knowledge. However, in reality, it showcased a uniquely distinct perspective that even surpassed the current academic realm of spirit veins in the Ancient Spirit Realm, offering another method that could yield twice the result with half the effort.

As for spirit veins and earth veins, Miss Vilyric hadn’t systematically studied them, but she enjoyed reading. The books she had encountered were often valuable treasures that ordinary people could only dream of, broadening her horizons far beyond what common sense could account for.

But that’s not all.

During the second test at the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, left by the God Olivya, Miss Vilyric had fortuitously come across a notebook titled “Ecological Research on Earth Veins” in that peculiar library. It was written by someone sharing their experiences, primarily focusing on how to utilize and guide the earth veins to achieve various effects.

The knowledge recorded in that book far exceeded the external research on earth veins and spirit veins, leaving even Miss Vilyric in admiration for its profound understanding; it was truly enlightening.

It was precisely because of this that the Priestess could identify the problem now.

Though Fish Dan’er’s content on the answer sheet was more improvisational and mixed with quite a bit of personal opinions, the overall idea remarkably matched the knowledge in “Ecological Research on Earth Veins,” making it almost a product birthed from the same system, hard to resist drawing connections between the two.

Where did she acquire such knowledge?

If the legends of Yide County are true, could it be that the texts from that library…

Just as Miss Vilyric was about to say something more, a sudden uproar broke out among the onlookers!

“Scatter! Everyone scatter! The Eastern Yuan Guard is here, and unrelated individuals should not gather and cause disturbances!”

Accompanied by the clanking of steel boots on the ground, a team of more than ten armored guards swiftly arrived near the registration point, pushing away the spectators.

Seeing them appear, the staff in charge of registration looked as if they’d found their savior, hastily sending someone around the table to greet them, whispering to the captain as if they already knew each other.

Although the voice was low, Miss Vilyric could still barely catch snippets of what was being said, which was simply explaining the situation here without much embellishment, appearing to be quite official.

“Miss Vilyric, do you notice anything?”

“Oh… I just find it rather interesting. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

Exchanging a brief word with the silver-haired girl beside her, the two of them fell silent, patiently waiting for further developments.

After gleaning the situation from the staff, the Eastern Yuan Captain nodded, turning his gaze to the young lady in embroidered clothes named Fish Dan’er, adopting a cold tone typical of an enforcer.

“Name, gender, age, origin.”

“Do I really need to say my gender? Isn’t it obvious…?”

“Clang!”

The captain’s steel spear slammed down hard on the ground, producing a heavy sound.

“Answer the question!”

“Ow!”

Having finally realized that the other party was not joking and understood the difference between the staff and law enforcement, Miss Fish Dan’er trembled as if electrocuted, letting out an embarrassing whimper from her throat. She no longer dared to throw a tantrum and could only stammer through her situation.

Seeing her compliance, the captain softened his tone slightly and spoke with a deep voice.

“Hmm, I’ve got a general understanding of your situation. You believe the content you wrote on the answer sheet is correct, and the reviewers simply lacked the ability to comprehend its intricacies, resulting in an erroneous judgment, thus leading to a quarrel… am I right?”

Faced with fully armed soldiers wielding bright, sharp weapons, Fish Dan’er didn’t appear as brave as she claimed. She quickly nodded somewhat shyly and couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.

“Yeah, yeah, he said that if the answer is particularly impressive, I might get the registration fee waived, which is why I answered so earnestly. If I had known these guys were so incompetent, I might as well have scribbled something…”

“…”

Exchanging resigned glances with the flustered staff member beside him, the captain nodded.

“Here’s the deal: you’ll come with us for now. Someone will take you to submit this answer sheet to a higher-level master for grading. If your answer is truly impressive as you claim, this incident will be written off, and all registration fees will be waived. However…”

As he spoke, he gripped his spear tightly, a sharp, menacing aura suddenly enveloping the space, and he shifted his tone.

“If you’re just causing a ruckus, finding excuses for your failure, or deliberately stirring chaos here, then the Eastern Yuan Guard will have no choice but to detain you and launch a further investigation. I hope you’re mentally prepared for that.”

“Eh? You’re going to detain me?! Then, then I won’t register! I want to go back!”

Perhaps she hadn’t anticipated that her momentary whim could lead to such severe consequences, or perhaps she was frightened by the imposing presence of those elite soldiers. This talented miss, seemingly inexperienced with the real world, panicked, turning to run.

Little did she know that such a move would only raise suspicion, leading to an even stronger capture.

Sure enough, seeing her flustered, the captain immediately shifted his attitude.

“Hmph, thinking of leaving now? Too late! Seize her!”

“Please, spare me! I’m really not a bad person! Boohoo!”

The soldiers closed in, ignoring Fish Dan’er’s frantic pleas and arguments as they attempted to forcibly detain her.

But at that moment, a somewhat helpless voice suddenly rang out.

“I mean, there’s a limit to ignoring people, right…?”

A delicate, pale hand pressed down on Fish Dan’er’s shoulder, forcibly halting her in her frantic escape, and with a light wave of a sleeve, the Eastern Yuan Guards preparing to pounce were pushed back.

“Ow!”

“Bold rogue! Daring to resist arrest! Stand ready!!!”

“Swish, swish, swish, swish!!!”

Over a dozen sharp steel spears instantly pointed forward, enclosing the black-haired girl who had just reached Fish Dan’er’s side. The Eastern Yuan captain even took a direct combat stance, poised for a fight, causing the onlookers to gasp and retreat in shock.

“You all have quite the temper, huh? Can’t you just speak nicely… look how scared the girl is.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, although Miss Vilyric understood their vigilance and the importance of order at the registration event, the misunderstanding in Fish Dan’er’s case could have been entirely avoided. Truly troublesome troublemakers wouldn’t be this foolish.

“I can vouch that this young lady’s answer is of high caliber. Unless something unexpected occurs, she should at least rank in the top ten in the subject of [Earth Spirit Veins]… oh, I’m referring to the overall competition across all domains.”

“You can vouch for her?”

Staring at the two beautiful girls with black and silver hair standing before Fish Dan’er, the Eastern Yuan captain frowned and shifted his gaze to the staff member providing information. The latter promptly stepped forward to briefly describe the situation when the Priestess appeared.

Of course, this didn’t prove anything.

Observing Miss Vilyric’s seemingly unperturbed demeanor, the captain wasn’t a fool and could guess that she must have some backing. Although he felt a sense of confusion, he maintained caution, subtly signaling one of his team members for assistance while speaking in a testing tone.

“Regardless of whether her answer has any issues, anyone resisting the Eastern Yuan Guard, regardless of who you are or what the reason may be, has to come with us for a while.”

“The Holy Order will not wrongly accuse the innocent but will not let any villain escape. I advise you to surrender to avoid further escalation of the situation, which could result in unnecessary serious consequences.”

   

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