Cheating? (Asking for recommendation votes~~)

Ping Luanshan was taken aback; the enemy was stronger than he had imagined, and he had sensed as much. Yet he had confirmed it himself—the beast’s level was exactly as declared. He hesitated and asked, “Are you certain?”

Jiang Feng nodded. “Yes. While you were fighting, I kept my eyes on the beast, recording its data.”

He crouched down, picked up a stone, and began to sketch on the ground. “For example, I set a standard: an ordinary person’s strength is…” He rattled off numbers with practiced ease—what the statistics were for an average person, for himself, for the tier-two eagle-headed lion from last time, and for today’s golden-furred ape.

Everything was clear and precise.

All of these were battles Ping Luanshan had personally experienced, and as Jiang Feng spoke, he compared the details in his mind. He realized every figure matched his own judgment—Jiang Feng was right!

In fact, he had always sensed these things, but seeing them laid out so systematically, with data to back them up, made everything transparent and easy to grasp.

He asked in disbelief, “But I watched closely…” He gestured to his forehead. “Its mark was clearly that of a first-tier, level-one beast!”

Jiang Feng stood, swept his foot across the ground, erasing all the numbers. He narrowed his eyes, gazing toward the county magistrate’s office. “To truly understand, we’ll need to look into those disciples of the Underflow Sect…”

…

Normally, there were only a few Underflow disciples in Hezhong County, but so many had come this time because of the Celestial Illumination preliminary examination.

A special area had been set aside in the county office for them to rest. Right next door was the beast arena, where the beasts for the candidates’ battles were kept—all released from there.

The plaza outside the county office was bustling, but inside, it was deathly quiet, as if all officials had been assigned elsewhere.

A shadow darted up, stepping swiftly onto the wall, paused at the top, and mimicked a birdcall.

Another shadow followed, leaping agilely onto the wall. He scanned the surroundings and pointed. “The beast arena’s that way!”

The first figure was Ping Luanshan. He raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

Jiang Feng pointed. “See there? That clump of fur, and those spots of blood? It’s clear the path leads that way.”

Ping Luanshan was slightly surprised. “Your eyes are extraordinary.”

Jiang Feng smiled faintly. “Come on.”

The two shadows slipped down, moving along the shade of the trees. Whenever anyone passed by, they hid with utmost caution.

Before long, they heard the beasts’ cries. Ping Luanshan whispered, “It’s up ahead—shall we take a look?”

Jiang Feng nodded. As they prepared to move, two men emerged, carrying a cage.

They were clearly struggling, for the cage rocked violently as the beast inside thrashed, desperately trying to escape.

On their sleeves was the insignia of the Underflow Sect, and the swirling mark on their foreheads showed they were both martial artists at the Dawn Two Apertures level—comparable to Ping Luanshan’s own strength.

They carried the cage down a small path.

Jiang Feng and Ping Luanshan exchanged a glance and silently followed.

The men’s arms glowed with golden light as they suppressed the beast’s frenzied struggle, oblivious to the pursuers behind them.

Halfway there, the beast in the cage roared wildly. Both men stopped, golden light flaring as they unleashed all their force.

The iron cage shuddered violently, the covering cloth bulging as if it might burst at any moment.

Moments later, all movement ceased—the beast fell silent.

The two men breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged looks. “All right, it’s over.”

They carried the cage to an empty patch of ground, pulled off the cloth, and opened the door.

The beast inside was much smaller than expected—about the size of a human head, a fiery red porcupine. All its quills had been torn out and stuck in the cloth, leaving its body bare.

It lay lifeless in the cage, already dead.

One man dumped the porcupine out, shook his aching arms, and complained, “This job is exhausting today.”

The other, whose black mole beside his nose looked like an extra nostril, replied cheerfully, “Of course! After we dose these beasts, they get much fiercer. Hard to keep them under control.”

The first man’s face darkened. “Shut up! Watch your mouth—this is outside!”

The mole-faced man grinned, “Who’s around to hear us? What’s to worry about?” He glanced around as he spoke.

At the mention of “dosed,” Ping Luanshan froze. Jiang Feng yanked him back into hiding, and he snapped to his senses.

The first man warned sternly, “No matter what, be careful what you say. If you keep running your mouth, I’ll report you.”

The mole-faced man grinned obsequiously, “Don’t, don’t—I’ll be more careful.”

The two left, and only then did Jiang Feng and Ping Luanshan come out from behind the rocks.

Their view had been blocked, so they’d only seen glimpses of the men’s actions. Now, stepping into the clearing, both gasped in shock.

The ground was layered with beast corpses.

Three days of battle—how could so many beasts have died?

They exchanged glances. Ping Luanshan murmured, “Something’s wrong. There can’t be this many dead.”

Though his exam was scheduled for the third day, he’d been keeping watch since the first, seeking information.

He knew that not many beasts were actually killed in the fights. Each tent had a supervisor like Lord Gan, who intervened as soon as the fight was decided.

This was both to protect the candidates and to avoid excessive loss of beasts—it took great effort and resources to capture so many for the exam!

Seeing no one around, they split up to inspect the bodies.

After a while, they met again. Ping Luanshan said in shock, “You were right—there’s something wrong with these beasts!”

Jiang Feng nodded. “Yes. Fewer than a fifth of them died from external injuries. The rest…” he pointed at the porcupine just dumped out, “have no obvious wounds, just like this one.”

He knelt, drew a line along the porcupine’s belly. “Cut here.”

Ping Luanshan drew his scallion-leaf knife and sliced where Jiang Feng indicated. As soon as the cut was made, Jiang Feng pulled him back.

With a soft pop, like a bursting balloon, blood and flesh sprayed from within the porcupine, splattering the ground.

The flesh was laced with traces of energy. Had Ping Luanshan not dodged, he’d have been splattered in the face and possibly even hurt.

Stunned, he asked, “What happened?”

Jiang Feng explained, “That’s how they died. There’s a foreign force inside them—chaotic, constantly surging, pushing them to unleash abnormal strength and making them violent. But it’s unstable. The moment it’s forced in, their fate is sealed—they won’t live long.”

Ping Luanshan asked in amazement, “How do you know?”

Jiang Feng just smiled, silent.

Long before he met Chong Fan, he’d occasionally forced himself to eat the flesh of these beasts, sometimes suffering this very effect. Were it not for his strong will and pain tolerance, he’d have died countless times.

So, he recognized the issue at a glance.

Ping Luanshan took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. “So, they’re using some drug to boost the beasts’ power, making them short-lived but unnaturally strong, so we can’t pass the exam?”

Jiang Feng said nothing.

Ping Luanshan asked, “Who are ‘they’? Why do this?”

Jiang Feng paused. “You should know.”

A flash of realization crossed Ping Luanshan’s eyes as he recalled recent events. “The Underflow disciples? Because I refused to join their sect?!”

Jiang Feng replied, “For now, that’s the only conclusion. But we can investigate further.”

Ping Luanshan’s mind was in turmoil. “Who do we ask?”

Suddenly, Jiang Feng dragged a beast carcass over the exploded porcupine, then pulled Ping Luanshan aside. “Come!”

Ping Luanshan instinctively followed him into hiding. Moments later, footsteps approached—the two men returned, carrying another cage, from which they dumped a black wild boar.

This time it was an easier task; the boar was lifeless from the start.

Jiang Feng wrote two words on Ping Luanshan’s palm. Ping Luanshan nodded, pointed to himself. Jiang Feng nodded back, and Ping Luanshan patted his shoulder for reassurance.

In a flash, he moved like a breeze, flitting into the shadow of a rooftop.

The men sensed something and looked up, but saw nothing.

Ping Luanshan was their equal in level and skilled in stealth; it was hard to detect him if he deliberately hid.

Soon, he fixed his gaze on the mole-faced man and quietly tailed him.

Once everyone had left, Jiang Feng emerged, surveying the beast corpses with a furrowed brow.

The Underflow Lord was the Imperial Tutor, famed as the “Teacher of All Under Heaven,” and trusted by Prince Zhuyang.

Why would he resort to such means, forcing martial artists who refused his sect to fail the exam? Was he being too impatient?

Because of what had happened to the young lady, Jiang Feng deeply resented this man.

But the deeper his resentment, the more cautious he became. Clearly, there was something amiss here!

—Thanks to Lollipop for the tip! Thanks to Sanshao for the chapter recommendation! ^___^ And please keep voting to recommend this story!