Chapter 27: Crisis Averted

Over eight hundred kilometers away from Lin Huang, at the 7D121 checkpoint marking the end of the exam. In the royal suite of a luxurious hotel, a graceful woman was deep in sleep on a bed woven from golden silk, soft and inviting. She wore a loose white silk robe, the hem barely covering her hips, revealing a pair of slender legs that shimmered with mysterious hues under the moonlight.

Suddenly, the Imperial Heart Ring on her left index finger began to vibrate, emitting a piercing "beep-beep" alarm that jolted her awake. She rolled over and sat up, her hands furiously raking through her hair, her mood clearly on the verge of eruption. "Does no one allow a person to sleep in peace at night?"

Yi Yeyu was the kind who would flare up if her sleep was disturbed. She pressed the communicator's connect button, her bare face twisted with fury. "I want to see who dares disturb my rest in the middle of the night!"

A three-dimensional map projected from her Imperial Heart Ring, showing the complete exam region. A red dot flashed incessantly on the map, its beeping alarm echoing through the room. This red dot was Lin Huang, who had just pressed the distress button.

"What on earth is this person doing? After sending a distress signal, why not wait for rescue at the same spot? Why run so fast?" Yi Yeyu glared at the red dot darting across the map. After a moment, her expression shifted, noticing something unusual. "That movement speed isn’t right. Even a Bronze-level participant couldn’t move so quickly through the desert."

Curious, Yi Yeyu spent a few minutes changing into a black outfit, grumbling as she calculated the red dot's speed and reset her artifact’s teleportation coordinates. Only then did she summon her artifact.

A massive greenwood door, over two meters tall, appeared out of thin air in the hotel room. Yi Yeyu pushed it open and stepped through.

Crossing the greenwood door, Yi Yeyu emerged in the exam area, standing on silent sand beneath the stars. Arms folded, her icy expression warned others to keep away as she gazed toward the direction indicated by the red dot on her map.

Watching the red dot approach, a cold smile curled her lips, ready to deliver a lesson. But suddenly, her expression grew strange.

She saw the distant sky, shrouded by a moving mass of black shadows—a vast flock of Shadow Crows, sweeping rapidly toward her position. With her keen vision, it was clear: that ominous darkness was a massive swarm.

Recalling the red dot’s astonishing speed, Yi Yeyu instantly understood, covering her mouth with a laugh. "Is someone unlucky enough to be chased by a Shadow Crow swarm? Surviving this is no easy feat..."

Soon after, a cloud of sand rose in the distance, something rushing furiously. She widened her eyes and peered closer—a giant Sand Slayer was sprinting at full speed.

"A Sand Slayer? It won’t be long before that thing’s caught by the crows. Where’s the person who sent the distress signal? Still behind the Sand Slayer?" Yi Yeyu looked, but the dust kicked up by the creature obscured everything behind it.

Just then, a voice called from afar, "Examiner, please get us out of here!"

Yi Yeyu finally saw that a young boy was seated on the Sand Slayer’s shoulder, waving at her.

Lin Huang hadn't seen Yi Yeyu at first, but he noticed the greenwood door and realized she was standing nearby.

"So it’s that kid—he’s a tamer?!" Yi Yeyu was surprised; she remembered the boy who almost missed registration, since Lin Huang was the only candidate who hadn’t reached even the Iron rank.

Because Yi Yeyu had delayed while changing clothes and makeup, the Shadow Crow swarm was now right on Lin Huang's heels, less than a kilometer from the Sand Slayer, and closing in fast.

Lin Huang kept glancing back, urging the Sand Slayer to accelerate.

The Sand Slayer, in a frenzy, charged at Yi Yeyu, knowing well the terror of the Shadow Crows.

Seeing the urgency, Yi Yeyu quickly formed a series of hand seals, golden life energy weaving a strange symbol in the air before her. As soon as the symbol formed, it flew toward the greenwood door and imprinted itself.

The once two-meter door began to expand rapidly, swelling to over ten meters in just a few seconds.

Yi Yeyu pressed her hand to the door, and it slowly swung open.

"Go straight through the door!" Lin Huang called out a new command.

The Shadow Crow swarm was now less than three hundred meters away. Even a second's hesitation could doom everyone, including Yi Yeyu.

Yi Yeyu knew the gravity of the situation, so she spent life energy to transform the greenwood door.

The Sand Slayer didn’t pause, leaping through the door just as the crows surrounded it, now less than a hundred meters away.

Yi Yeyu followed right behind, not even glancing at the swarm.

Just as the crows closed in, the greenwood door suddenly slammed shut, vanishing from the desert as if it had never existed. At that moment, the region was engulfed by a black torrent, the sky and earth shrouded in darkness, every corner filled with countless Shadow Crows.

...

Yi Yeyu’s hotel bedroom was a mess, with a gaping hole in the ceiling piercing several floors. This was caused by the Sand Slayer bursting through upon teleportation; by the time Lin Huang realized and recalled it, the damage was done.

Yi Yeyu sat by the bed, her face livid. Lin Huang stood awkwardly to one side, while Fatty lay unconscious on the floor.

"You’re Lin Huang?" Yi Yeyu remembered his name; she had registered him herself. "Tell me what happened with the Shadow Crow swarm."

Relieved that she hadn’t demanded immediate compensation for the hotel damage, Lin Huang steadied himself and explained, "Here’s what happened. Fatty and I were sleeping. Around two in the morning, the Sand Slayer on night watch woke me up. When I stepped outside, I saw the Shadow Crow swarm, quickly woke Fatty, and we escaped on the Sand Slayer’s shoulder. After a while, we realized there was no shaking them off, so I pressed the distress button."

Lin Huang’s explanation was brief, but Yi Yeyu raised an eyebrow. "You sent the alert over half an hour ago, so you’d already been chased by the crows at that point?"

"Yes, otherwise I’d never have pressed the distress button," Lin Huang replied, frustrated by the ordeal.

"Your Sand Slayer outran the Shadow Crows for half an hour? That’s not something an ordinary Iron-tier Sand Slayer could manage. It must be mutated, right?" Yi Yeyu had sensed its abnormal aura earlier, now staring intently at Lin Huang for confirmation.

Mutant beasts were rare; once mutated, their base qualities changed radically, sometimes gaining new abilities and offering greater potential.

The Sand Slayer was indeed a natural mutant, never enhanced by an upgrade card, and Lin Huang had obtained it as a rare green card. Now that Yi Yeyu had noticed, he didn’t hide it, secretly hoping to showcase his talents and avoid losing his qualification.

"Yes, it’s a mutant beast," Lin Huang nodded.

"Alright, I understand," Yi Yeyu’s expression betrayed nothing. "I’ll report the Shadow Crow incident to the higher-ups; it should be resolved by morning. When the time comes, I’ll send you two back so you can continue the exam."

"So I’m not disqualified?" Lin Huang hurriedly asked.

"Why, do you want to be disqualified?" Yi Yeyu shot back.

"No, no, I never pressed the distress button—it was the emergency communicator malfunctioning, nothing to do with me," Lin Huang said, waving his hands, now emboldened by Yi Yeyu’s attitude.

"You’re not stupid," Yi Yeyu teased. "By the way, I’ll cover the hotel damage for now. Pay me back when you have money."

"Hotel damage costs..." Lin Huang barely had time to be happy before new trouble arrived.

"Enough, take Fatty and get out. Meet me in the hotel lobby at nine in the morning. The Shadow Crow situation should be resolved by then, and I’ll send you both back to resume the exam." Without waiting for Lin Huang to protest, Yi Yeyu issued her order.

Lin Huang left, resigned, carrying Fatty on his back.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Yi Yeyu’s delighted smile burst forth. "I actually found a tamer with a mutant summoned beast! Let’s see who dares say the rookies I select are weak!"

Unbeknownst to her, Lin Huang had always received the same unwavering assessment from a certain someone in black—utterly weak!

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[Yesterday I made the rankings late, so couldn’t add extra chapters. Starting tonight, I’ll begin the promised three-day streak of bonus updates. Keep those recommendation votes coming!]