Elder Jin and Tang Bo immediately rushed into the assessment palace.
The interior of the palace was in utter shambles. The puppets that were supposed to be standing neatly on both sides of the hall lay in disarray, scattered everywhere. Many of the puppets were already destroyed and broken.
The black-robed figure who had attacked Ye Yunfei earlier was a Primordial Soul Realm expert. With his full-power strikes, the puppets possessing the strength of the Small and Great Mystic Pill Realms simply couldn't withstand them, resulting in many being destroyed.
"As expected, something happened!" Elder Jin's expression was extremely grim.
He waved his hand, and a crystal screen materialized on one of the palace walls. This crystal screen was specifically designed to record the student assessment process. It could record in detail what happened inside the palace, making it convenient for retrospective review.
Elder Jin pointed a finger, immediately activating the crystal screen. The events that had just transpired began to play back scene by scene.
"Hmph! Someone tampered with these assessment puppets! There was also a Primordial Soul Realm expert who barged in here to attack our student! This must be investigated thoroughly!" Elder Jin roared in anger.
"I don't think anyone in the Northern Wastes Domain would dare barge into our Heavenly Dao Academy and cause trouble. I doubt it was an outsider," Tang Bo suddenly said with a cold sneer.
"Oh? Elder Tang, are you saying our own academy people are behind this?" Elder Jin was taken aback.
"This assessment palace usually has guards on duty. Calling in those responsible for watching over the palace might give us some answers," Tang Bo suggested.
"The ones responsible for guarding the palace are several stewards. They are outside right now. I'll go question them immediately! I am the elder specifically in charge of student assessments. The safety of this assessment palace is my responsibility. I'll see exactly who dares to cause trouble on my turf!" Elder Jin's face was full of rage.
Then, Elder Jin and Tang Bo walked out of the assessment palace.
While Elder Jin and Tang Bo were inspecting the inside of the assessment palace, Ye Yunfei had already found a spot at a corner of the square to sit cross-legged. He took out several healing dao pills and swallowed them, then began circulating his energy to heal.
This time, Ye Yunfei was severely injured. Being hit head-on multiple times by a Primordial Soul Realm expert had caused immense damage to his body. Ye Yunfei's body was covered with dense, shocking bloodstains, crisscrossing like cracks on a piece of porcelain about to shatter! The internal injuries were even more severe. Ye Yunfei discovered that almost all his internal organs were shattered, and his meridians and tendons had suffered multiple ruptures.
"If I hadn't cultivated the Greenwood Emperor Body to the Great Achievement stage, I would have died without a doubt this time! Old fool, just wait. I will repay this!" After examining his body, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but gnash his teeth, his eyes gleaming with cold light.
He then took out a few more healing dao pills, consumed them, and began circulating his energy to heal. The Greenwood Emperor Body was also constantly repairing the internal injuries. With the healing dao pills combined with the Greenwood Emperor Body, Ye Yunfei's wounds healed at a shocking rate.
Right after leaving the assessment palace, Ye Yunfei had sent Da Di Daozhang out. While Ye Yunfei healed, Da Di Daozhang stood guard nearby.
"It seems Su Ye's assessment really did fail."
"Not only did he fail, but he also got all battered and bruised, nearly dying. Let's see how he acts all arrogant now!"
...
A large crowd of students still gathered in the square, not having dispersed. They were waiting for Elder Jin to come out and announce the assessment results personally. Recently, this new student named Su Ye had gained too much attention, completing forty missions from the Mission Hall's second floor within ten days, astonishing all the students. Now, today, everyone felt they would witness this student's failure.
"Hah! You can only tell a real horse from a mule by taking them for a run! I suspected from the start whether these two guys truly could complete forty second-floor missions. Now their trick has been exposed!"
"Exactly! There must be something fishy about these two completing forty missions on the second floor! They might have cheated! I think the academy should thoroughly investigate them!"
...
In the square, a large group of students pointed at Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang, their tones dripping with schadenfreude.
Just then, Elder Jin and Tang Bo walked out.
"Elder Jin! What was the result? Su Ye failed the assessment, right?!" a student immediately called out.
"I now declare that Su Ye and Du Fan have successfully passed the assessment and become Intermediate Students," Elder Jin said solemnly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"What?! They passed? How is that possible?!"
The surrounding students were all dumbfounded. Just moments ago, they were discussing and concluding that Su Ye had certainly failed. Now, this was the result.
"Steward Zhou! Steward Wang! Steward Wu! Come here!" Elder Jin suddenly barked.
"Elder Jin."
Three stewards came before Elder Jin. These three stewards had been staying in the square the whole time.
"Who was guarding this assessment palace these past two days? And why were over a hundred puppets with Great Mystic Pill Realm strength attacking Su Ye?" Elder Jin's sharp gaze fell on the three stewards as he asked coldly.
What?! Over a hundred Great Mystic Pill Realm puppets attacked Su Ye?
Hearing Elder Jin's words, all the students in the square gasped, feeling utterly shocked.
"Surrounded by over a hundred Great Mystic Pill Realm puppets, and he still managed to come out alive? Is this kid a monster?"
Every student stared at Ye Yunfei with incredulous eyes.
"Elder Jin, I have been on guard duty at this assessment palace during this period," a slightly short and plump steward said after a moment of hesitation.
"Good. Steward Wu, please tell me, what exactly happened?" Elder Jin's piercing gaze fixed on this Steward Wu.
At this moment, Ye Yunfei also abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward Steward Wu.
"Elder Jin, I... I don't know how this happened. It has nothing to do with me," Steward Wu said, his eyes flickering somewhat.
"Steward Wu, this matter is no small thing. Think carefully before you speak," Elder Jin coldly snapped.
A violent aura of energy pressure emanated from his body and pressed down toward Steward Wu.
Steward Wu retreated several steps, his face pale.
"Elder Jin, I really don't know," Steward Wu said through gritted teeth.
Heh...
Ye Yunfei's gaze fixed on that Steward Wu, a cold laugh echoing in his heart. There was no need to ask; it was definitely related to this Steward Wu!
Elder Jin continued to question Steward Wu, but Steward Wu stubbornly insisted he didn't know.
"Hmph! Steward Wu, I will definitely get to the bottom of this!" Elder Jin finally glared at Steward Wu and snorted coldly.
Without evidence, he couldn't do much to Steward Wu. After all, Steward Wu was also part of the academy's mid-level management, and he couldn't deal with him arbitrarily.
"Su Ye, Du Fan, these two are Intermediate Student tokens. From now on, you two are Intermediate Students." Elder Jin flicked his sleeve, sending two tokens flying out to land before Ye Yunfei and Da Di Daozhang.
"Alright. The assessment is over. Everyone, disperse." Elder Jin said clearly.
Then, he and Tang Bo soared into the air and left.
"Be careful. Contact me immediately if anything happens," Tang Bo sent a voice transmission to Ye Yunfei before leaving.
"Don't worry, Elder Tang. I will be careful," Ye Yunfei replied.
The others in the square also began to leave.
After a moment, within the Heavenly Dao Academy.
A slightly short and plump figure suddenly descended on a tall mountain peak. It was Steward Wu.
Steward Wu cautiously sensed the surroundings of the peak, then stealthily entered a cultivation cave abode on the mountain.
"Ruan Shiguang! The Liu Family of Tianzhou!"
After a short while, Ye Yunfei's figure suddenly appeared, watching that cave abode from a distance, cold light gleaming in his eyes.
The mountain peak Steward Wu had descended upon was Ruan Shiguang's cultivation peak!
By this point, how could Ye Yunfei not understand? The real mastermind behind all this was Ruan Shiguang and the Liu Family of Tianzhou!
"Since you wish to kill me, I definitely won't let you have an easy time either!" Ye Yunfei said coldly.
If he hadn't cultivated the Greenwood Emperor Body to the Great Achievement stage, Ye Yunfei knew he might have died this time! With Ye Yunfei's temperament, how could he swallow this anger?