Mr. Lu pushed Jun Weiling’s wheelchair to the front of the ten candidates.
All ten candidates stood up and saluted, and Jun Weiling waved his hand to signal them to proceed as they wished.
Then, Mr. Lu stepped back, leaving Jun Weiling in the examination room, and moved to the front of the room to open a screen.
The screen displayed something that looked like a progress bar, with a number on the right side, which kept changing constantly—sometimes decreasing, sometimes increasing.
This was something everyone was familiar with, as it was used in hospitals—an index for measuring the energy disorder in Illusionists.
A normal Illusionist’s disorder index is usually around 100, fluctuating within 10 points, but Jun Weiling’s disorder index… sometimes it was 9982, sometimes 10324.
This…
Although it was far from the level of an energy explosion, under normal circumstances, which normal Illusionist would have a disorder index at such values?!
The scene became noisy again as the onlookers discussed in shock.
Jun Yuzhou’s expression grew somewhat complicated.
“…When did Grandpa’s energy disorder index become like this?”
The candidates were equally astonished by the numbers, exchanging glances with one another.
They wanted to ask about it, but facing the old king made them feel reserved.
Fortunately, Jun Weiling spoke first. His voice was aged and slow: “It’s been a year. The disorder level has never come down. The Court Illusionist masters have tried time and again to ease it, but there hasn’t been the slightest effect, nor any hint of a cause.”
Jun Yuzhou’s gaze turned serious as he looked toward Mr. Lu, who cleared his throat with a hint of embarrassment—the old king hadn’t wanted his family to worry about him more than necessary, so he’d asked them to keep it under wraps. They really had no other choice!
Meanwhile, in the examination room, Jun Weiling lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over the remaining ten candidates. He smiled and said, “You’re all young, skilled, full of energy, and with open minds. So today, I’d like you to help take a look at this for me.”
As his words settled, the examination room burst into commotion once again!
*
This kind of final-round examination was clearly something no one had expected.
But those who had made it this far were not only technically proficient but also mentally resilient, so they all quickly adjusted themselves.
The ten candidates exchanged glances, and soon one of them stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty Weiling, may I try guiding your energy flow first?”
“Of course,” Jun Weiling responded kindly, extending his hand.
On his wrist was a bracelet designed to measure his real-time disorder index.
The Illusionist candidate took Jun Weiling’s hand and closed his eyes.
Immediately, the large screen at the front of the examination hall showed a shift in Jun Weiling’s disorder index!
It dropped rapidly from over ten thousand to nine thousand, eight thousand, seven thousand, six thousand…
The speed of the decline sparked loud discussion among the onlookers.
“The Court Illusionist masters couldn’t bring it down, but he’s doing it so quickly?”
“Is this year’s final-round test a bit too easy? The old king’s ailment doesn’t seem so hard to fix!”
“Right, if just one person can do it, this test might be over already!”
“What about the other nine?”
You Yuan felt a surge of anxiety—he’d barely made it to the final round after a small slip-up in the previous test, and he didn’t want to end it without a chance to prove himself!
The other candidates were also uneasy, but before they could intervene, the situation in the hall changed dramatically!
As Jun Weiling’s disorder index dropped to just over five thousand, it suddenly halted… It stayed there for about ten seconds. The Illusionist guiding his energy clearly sensed something wrong and frowned. Then, without warning, Jun Weiling’s disorder index started spiking uncontrollably, climbing back up—six thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand, nine thousand, ten thousand…
The Illusionist immediately let go, his face pale with fear, and stammered, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty! I don’t know why this happened. I was just using the usual guiding method…”
The rapid, uncontrollable surge in Jun Weiling’s disorder level had clearly frightened him!
Jun Weiling waved a hand reassuringly and chuckled, “No need to worry. Like I said, the Illusionist masters have tried guiding my energy repeatedly, but it always ended up like this.”
Only then did everyone understand the true nature of his condition!
While the onlookers began discussing again, the other candidates started conversing among themselves.
“What exactly is going on?”
“I’m not sure, either. I just feel that His Highness’s energy flow is unusually chaotic, but I have no idea what’s causing it. You should try as well.”
So, a few more candidates gritted their teeth and stepped forward to guide Jun Weiling’s energy. Each attempt mirrored the first candidate’s experience, and after personally attempting it, they too furrowed their brows in deep confusion.
After several rounds, not only did the surrounding discussions grow louder, but the candidates themselves began to feel uneasy, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads.
If all ten candidates failed to resolve Jun Weiling’s strange ailment, it would be quite an awkward situation…
Xu Yin, who had been observing for a while, suddenly stepped forward and said, “Let me try as well, if that’s alright?”
As soon as he moved, all eyes turned to him again, and the murmuring intensified.
“It’s Xu Yin!”
“He’s finally stepping in!”
Jun Weiling slowly lifted his gaze, looking at Xu Yin before curling his lips in a slight smile, “Go ahead.”
Calmly, Xu Yin sat down in front of Jun Weiling. His presence immediately silenced the discussions among the other nine candidates, who quickly gathered around him. Unlike the previous round where some had harbored grudges against Xu Yin, the remaining candidates here respected him, hoping he might uncover something new to push the final test forward.
Jun Weiling’s gaze as he looked at Xu Yin was full of meaning, something Xu Yin was well aware of.
Yet, after grasping the elder’s hand, he closed his eyes calmly, focusing intently.
As usual, he gathered his energy into a concentrated flow, like fine sand, and slowly channeled it into Jun Weiling’s energy pathways.
But the moment he entered Jun Weiling’s energy flow, Xu Yin immediately sensed… as if he were facing an overwhelming, turbulent wave.
At first glance, the turbulent energy seemed easy to smooth out, but wave after wave crashed in with relentless force, their source lying much deeper.
Without finding this source, Jun Weiling’s condition could never be fundamentally resolved.
So instead of attempting to guide Jun Weiling’s energy flow, Xu Yin kept the pathways in their original, chaotic state and began probing deeper into the disorder itself—
…
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the display screen.
When the previous candidates had tried guiding Jun Weiling’s energy, they’d initially managed to lower his disorder level, even though they ultimately failed.
Xu Yin, being highly skilled, would surely bring the level down more significantly and faster than anyone before, right?
Wasn’t he an S-class Illusionist master? If he could lower the level sharply enough, maybe he could stabilize Jun Weiling’s condition for good! The other Illusionist masters might’ve failed simply because they hadn’t reached Xu Yin’s level!
But reality was completely different from their assumptions. Xu Yin had been holding Jun Weiling’s hand for half a minute already, yet the disorder index hadn’t dropped even slightly!
Everyone was stunned.
“What’s going on?”
“Not only is it not dropping—it’s rising!”
“What’s Xu Yin doing?”
Voices of confusion and doubt quickly filled the room, clearly audible to everyone. Yet Xu Yin remained unfazed, seated calmly with his eyes closed, still holding Jun Weiling’s hand.
Jun Weiling didn’t interrupt him either, watching the young man in front of him with deep interest.
Although the other nine candidates were equally puzzled, they could see something the crowd couldn’t.
—they realized that Xu Yin was likely “investigating” something.
Just realizing this made their hearts race, as they sensed the gap between themselves and Xu Yin growing even wider.
They were all skilled Illusionists, yet none of them could even attempt such an “investigation.”
What could there be to investigate?
For all Illusionists, energy pathways were simply conduits filled with chaotic energy—they didn’t have the perceptive precision to observe anything meaningful within those pathways!
That was why, while they could sense something odd about Jun Weiling’s condition, they couldn’t pinpoint the cause.
It was their own limitations that prevented them from discovering the reason!
In this world, nothing is more painful than realizing someone is far stronger than you—not just because they’re stronger, but because you understand precisely where they surpass you, while feeling utterly clueless about how to reach that level yourself.
Even You Yuan couldn’t feel envious anymore—when he had tried exploring Jun Weiling’s energy pathways earlier, he was completely fumbling in the dark.
But when Xu Yin sat down, he genuinely believed Xu Yin would uncover something.
At that moment, he lowered his head, feeling somewhat defeated.
And just then—as the voices of doubt among the crowd grew louder—Xu Yin opened his eyes and said to them, “Everyone, come over and take a look.”
The nine candidates were momentarily stunned.
Xu Yin continued, “Each of you, make contact with His Majesty.”
Understanding his suggestion, the nine candidates quickly stepped forward, each placing a hand on Jun Weiling’s arm.
Jun Weiling raised an eyebrow.
“Well, it looks like this young man has discovered something?”
This young man…
Xu Yin was both amused and exasperated at the old king’s choice of words. He then nodded and said, “You can all link to my energy flow to sense it together.”
“Linking energy flow” meant they would synchronize their energy with Xu Yin’s—while a challenging technique, it was within the capability of the nine candidates present. Within a second or two, they completed the connection.
Their actions piqued the curiosity of the onlookers.
“What are they doing?”
“Did Xu Yin call them over?”
“What on earth is he up to? Why isn’t he helping the old king lower his disorder level?”
But in the next second, they saw the nine candidates in the examination hall all exclaim in astonishment.
“This is—”
“It’s so clear!”
The nine of them were utterly shocked!
After connecting to Xu Yin’s energy flow, they could feel firsthand how Xu Yin meticulously controlled his own energy, spreading it finely across Jun Weiling’s pathways, moving forward inch by inch, probing and inspecting each area.
Despite the surging torrents of Jun Weiling’s energy, Xu Yin’s energy flow remained completely steady—his control was unbelievably precise, almost inhuman!
The nine candidates looked at Xu Yin in sheer amazement, as if he were some kind of marvel.
“Did you notice anything?” Even Jun Weiling, usually quick to make light of things, had a serious expression as he asked.
Xu Yin looked at the elderly king, his tone gentle. “Your Majesty, the reason your disorder level isn’t stabilizing may be largely due to an unusual solidification in your energy.”
Jun Weiling paused, taken aback. “Solidification?”
It was a term he’d never heard before.
The crowd looked completely bewildered.
Solidification? Energy can solidify???
If this had come up before, even the other nine candidates would have had no idea what “energy solidification” meant, but now they could see it clearly!
They began excitedly explaining, each chiming in.
“It’s like there’s sand appearing in water!”
“No, no, more accurately, it’s like the water itself is clumping together!”
“Just to give a rough analogy, Your Majesty, please bear with us if it’s not perfectly accurate. Simply put, energy flows are usually fluid. As Illusionist masters, we can solidify our energy flow and shatter it into grains, but that’s because we can control our own energy flow. Once we’re done, we can restore it to its original state. However, normal Illusionists can’t do this—”
In theory, normal Illusionists cannot control the energy within their own bodies.
Someone like Jun Yuze is a complete anomaly, and it’s uncertain if anyone else like him will ever appear.
Xu Yin lowered his gaze and explained, “Your energy flow has formed these solidified granules—some are moving around, while others have accumulated in the pathways. They’re extremely subtle and thus very hard to detect. But it’s because of these solidified granules that your disorder level is so high and won’t come down.”
The crowd was stunned, and Jun Weiling himself was taken aback.
He moved his lips slightly and asked, “…An Illusionist’s energy can solidify on its own?”
“It’s not common,” Xu Yin smiled slightly, “but it’s happening nonetheless.”
Jun Weiling murmured again, “…And the reason?”
Xu Yin looked at him and said simply, “You’re old.”
Jun Weiling’s lips moved slightly, but this time, he didn’t say anything.
The other nine were taken aback at Xu Yin’s bluntness in saying, “You’re old.” But the truth was undeniable.
Although it was their first time clearly observing this phenomenon, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that the solidification of energy flow likely came with age for Illusionists.
Everyone’s body goes through this: as the years pass, bodily functions gradually fade, sometimes even ceasing altogether…and the energy pathways that had maintained an Illusionist’s strength for decades were no different.
Even the mightiest Illusionist must face the inevitability of aging.
His energy flow will solidify, his vigor will drain.
In his prime, he had given countless days and nights to great causes. Now, in old age, he finally had time for a slower, perhaps even trivial, yet delightful life, to see the sights he’d always wanted to see.
But he was old.
Jun Weiling’s once straight back slumped slightly at that moment.
He lowered his gaze, showing a rare trace of weariness, then pulled at the corners of his mouth, murmuring softly, “Old…”
