QHM Chapter 64

¹TL: There’s no part 2 on this one^^ Have fun reading😚Is the Crown Prince Wagging His Tail?

Everyone was stunned!

On the surface, the silver wolf appeared calm and serious, but his tail was wagging back and forth joyfully, fully exposing his true feelings…

Wait, is he ‘that’ happy?

Who is he wagging his tail at? A particular candidate?

Immediately, everyone’s gaze scanned the entire examination hall like a spotlight!

The proctor beside Jun Yuzhou, Mr. Lu, glanced at him with a look of hesitation.

The silver wolf’s tail instantly stopped wagging and dropped calmly to the ground…

Everyone: Why did he stop? [Disappointed.jpg] 

In the examination hall, Xu Yin gave a helpless smile and shook his head.

Silver Wolf: [Resumes wagging tail.gif]

Everyone: Hmm? He’s wagging it again!

Mr. Lu: *Clears throat.*

The silver wolf’s tail stopped once more, resting calmly on the ground…

Everyone… everyone was gossiping!

What on earth is going on?

Speaking of which, for the annual Imperial Court’s Illusionist Qualification Exam, the royal family usually sends a representative as a sort of “mascot”—previously, it was the King, the Queen, or the minister… but no one expected this year to be the Crown Prince!

Nowadays, the royal family tends to value their privacy highly. Aside from the King and Queen, who occasionally appear on television, the younger members are almost entirely shielded from the public eye—at least until the next king takes over and reappears in the public spotlight…

But this year, the Crown Prince made an exception!

So, exactly who is causing the Crown Prince’s tail to wag one moment and then stop the next?

No one had seen the Crown Prince in person before, but from various TV interviews over the years, it’s clear that the current Crown Prince, Jun Yuzhou—the Kingdom’s heir—has a reputation for being exceedingly serious, even more so than His Majesty the King himself.

Yet, who could make such a solemn man wag his tail so cheerfully in front of everyone?

—Could it be… a lover?!

The onlookers eagerly latched onto this thought, quickly arriving at a gossipy conclusion.

Could the Crown Prince already have a lover? And is that lover present here at the exam venue today?!

The crowd grew even more restless, murmuring quietly as whispers spread among them.

Even the candidates inside the examination hall began whispering, speculating on which girl might have captured his attention.

Only You Yuan cast a glance at Xu Yin, filled with envy and jealousy.

…

Xu Yin had no idea Jun Yuzhou would come to the exam venue today; the man had done it on purpose, likely intending to surprise him.

And now, before this exam could even end, word would spread online, and soon the entire Kingdom would know that the usually serious and steady Crown Prince had wagged his tail in public.

Xu Yin couldn’t help but smile.

Meanwhile, the slight twitch of the silver wolf’s ears indicated that he wasn’t concerned about what the whole country might think.

He didn’t mind at all that people would know he couldn’t contain his happiness in front of his lover.

In fact, he seemed to welcome letting everyone know how he felt about Xu Yin.

The silver wolf’s tail swayed gently behind him.

Xu Yin lowered his gaze, his expression soft and helpless.

At the front, Mr. Lu could no longer control the Crown Prince’s honest tail. He shook his head, half amused and half exasperated, before clearing his throat and addressing the hall: “Good morning, candidates.”

The Imperial Court’s Illusionist Qualification Exam involved no written test; it was all live combat.

There were three rounds in total, with eliminations in the first two rounds, all completed within the day.

The third round would take place on the second day to select the final candidate.

The rules were very simple.

After explaining the exam rules, Mr. Lu waved his hand, and staff members immediately brought over more than a hundred machines, placing one in front of each candidate.

Many of the candidates were familiar with these devices; they were a standard piece of equipment at every Illusionist Academy—the Illusion Simulator.

Made from a new type of material, it was shaped like a small sapling, with an internal structure that simulated the energy pathways of an illusion creature.

An Illusionist simply had to place their hand on the device and guide energy through it, and the machine would simulate the illusion creature’s response—causing the sapling to grow and sprout branches.

The machine’s manual meticulously outlined the feedback levels given by the sapling to indicate the Illusionist’s skill level. For example, if the sapling grew just slightly, it signified the Illusionist’s guiding ability was at the lowest grade, X. A bit more growth indicated an F, followed by D, C, B, and then A…

It was said that the ultimate state of this sapling simulator was to grow into a towering tree, representing an S-level Illusionist, yet no one had ever achieved this. Even some renowned Illusionists had failed.

As they put it, “If you can’t completely calm the chaotic energy within an illusion creature, you won’t reach the S level on this machine.”

But calming an illusion creature’s chaotic energy completely was almost impossible.

Thus, the so-called S-level was regarded as nothing more than a legend.

…

At this moment, the exhilarating exam was about to officially begin.

The candidates rolled up their sleeves and took deep breaths, each preparing in their own way.

This round’s evaluation standards were strict: two-thirds would be eliminated, leaving only the top thirty or so. Right from the first round, everyone knew they had to give their all.

Standing at the front, Mr. Lu slowly said, “I wish you all the best of luck.”

The silver wolf kept a steady gaze on the examination hall.

With the sound of the bell, the more than a hundred candidates placed their hands on the machines one by one.

Accompanied by the sound of their heartbeats, they closed their eyes, gathering the energy within themselves and channeling it into the machines to cleanse the simulated energy pathways…

Xu Yin, too, calmly began channeling energy into the simulator, following his usual technique.

By now, this was second nature.

His fine, sand-like energy flow quickly smoothed out the chaotic energy within the pathways; with two complete cycles, he estimated he could probably reach the A level.

As Xu Yin focused on his task, a thought suddenly crossed his mind—he’d recently been developing a method to calm chaos by using a reverse-wave energy flow. It wasn’t easy to apply directly on illusion creatures, but he could probably test it on this machine.

During class, even when the teachers allowed them to use the simulators, they were usually watching too closely, so he rarely had the chance to experiment.

This was a rare opportunity.

Should he give it a try?

Attempting it here was certainly a bold choice, but…

Xu Yin opened his eyes slightly, his gaze shifting thoughtfully.

He caught the silver wolf’s eye at the front of the hall.

The wolf twitched its ears and tilted its head, appearing a bit puzzled.

Xu Yin smirked.

…Might as well use this chance to give it a shot.

With a thought, he took a moment to observe the small sapling simulator, then quietly infused his energy with a unique, subtle wave.

This energy wave was specifically designed to counterbalance the chaotic flow within the sapling’s pathways.

While the other candidates remained tightly focused, eyes closed and faces tense as they struggled to cleanse the simulator’s pathways, Xu Yin fixed his attention on the sapling before him, carefully channeling his oscillating energy stream into its pathways…

The unique energy wave stirred a bit of turbulence upon entry, but that was only because he hadn’t fine-tuned the wave yet.

Attentively, Xu Yin analyzed the sapling’s energy patterns and adjusted his own energy flow with great precision, aligning it to an inverse frequency that matched the sapling’s chaotic energy.

Meanwhile, out of consideration for the candidates’ focus, the surrounding murmurs quieted somewhat, though the whispers of speculation hadn’t stopped altogether.

“Probably more than ten people will get an A in this round. To be safely in the top thirty, you might need at least a B.”

“That’s tough…”

“The Imperial Court’s Illusionist Qualification Exam has always had high standards!”

“You Yuan is definitely getting an A.”

As candidates continued to complete the test, more results emerged, prompting mixed reactions from the crowd.

Just as the onlookers predicted, there were already eight A-level results, and ten candidates scored a B. That made eighteen spots filled, and there were still results pending from half the candidates.

Some Illusionists who scored below a C level had already lowered their heads in disappointment, realizing their chances were slim.

As more results appeared, the chatter grew louder.

When You Yuan’s result appeared, someone even called out—

“See, I told you You Yuan would get an A!”

“He’s got it in the bag!”

You Yuan sighed in relief, puffing up with pride—he was one step closer to winning over the Queen! Haha!

But then he glanced to the side and noticed Xu Yin, still focused on his simulator, with his gaze cast downward, as though he hadn’t yet finished.

You Yuan was taken aback.

What is this guy doing?

Even though You Yuan hated to admit it, he knew Xu Yin’s skills had surpassed his own—after all, Xu Yin had healed Jun Yuzhou, which was no small feat. Reaching an A-level score should be no problem for him.

What was this guy up to?

Curious, You Yuan began to observe.

He’d come to realize over time that his cousin Xu Yin didn’t waste time on trivial things. If he was acting differently, there had to be a reason.

Ignoring the other Illusionists who had finished and were trying to chat with him, You Yuan rubbed his chin and moved closer to Xu Yin, eyeing both the sapling simulator and Xu Yin himself.

But Xu Yin didn’t even acknowledge him!

Hmph!

You Yuan’s obvious curiosity drew the attention of those around them, and others began to take notice of Xu Yin as well.

Come to think of it, Xu Yin wasn’t particularly known for his skills, but his appearance was… quite something…

Ahem. The crowd quickly refocused on the main event.

“Still not done?”

“Almost everyone else is finished by now. Why hasn’t he moved at all?”

Indeed, most candidates had already completed the first round.

The number of A-level Illusionists had reached eleven, while B-level results numbered twenty. With a total of thirty-one in these two levels combined, it seemed likely that only those scoring a B or above would pass this round.

The initial predictions of the spectators were proving accurate.

Xu Yin remained quietly standing there, his hand on the machine, showing no visible reaction.

“Ah, he seems to be trying hard, but if he doesn’t have the skill, he just doesn’t have it…”

“He’s taking way too long! How is he still not finished?”

“Maybe he can’t even complete the basic flow through a single pathway?”

“That would mean he won’t even score an X-level, no result at all!”

“Why is he even here? And right next to You Yuan, too—that’s just setting himself up for embarrassment…”

Hearing these remarks, Xu Yin’s three roommates joined in, speculating openly about the disparity in talent.

The contrast in innate ability was painfully obvious!

Just look at You Yuan—renowned since childhood as a prodigy Illusionist.

Then there was Xu Yin, who, despite being a member of the esteemed Xu family, barely made any impression at school.

Without comparison, you wouldn’t feel the difference!

At the front, even Mr. Lu couldn’t help watching Xu Yin with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

But beside him, the silver wolf maintained a steady gaze on Xu Yin, entirely calm and unwavering.

Despite attempts from others to engage with him, You Yuan’s attention remained fixed on Xu Yin, who still hadn’t moved.

A fellow candidate nudged You Yuan, grinning, “Hey, looking good, You Yuan! Seems like you’re set to top the rankings this time?”

“How about grabbing a bite after the test?”

“You Yuan, what are you staring at? Haha!”

Annoyed, You Yuan snapped, “Quiet! Don’t distract me!”

The other candidate paused, his face souring slightly. Unwilling to offend someone with You Yuan’s bright future, he redirected his annoyance toward Xu Yin, letting out a sarcastic laugh, “Why’s little Xu still not done? Maybe the machine’s broken? Shouldn’t he let the proctors know?”

That was it for You Yuan. Irritated and unable to get a read on what Xu Yin was doing, he turned to shut the guy down. But before he could say a word, the candidate suddenly froze, backing up in wide-eyed shock.

Instinctively, You Yuan glanced back—and once again fell straight to the ground, stunned.

At the same moment, the entire hall erupted in gasps.

At the front, Mr. Lu’s eyes widened, and he quickly adjusted his glasses. The silver wolf, who had been watching intently, rose to his feet, his gaze sharp and intense.

For in front of Xu Yin, the tiny sapling had started to grow at a terrifying speed—

The growth was so rapid it resembled an inflating balloon, swelling in seconds!

All the other candidates, even those who ultimately achieved an A-level score, took several minutes, even tens of minutes, to gradually guide the sapling of the simulator into the form of a small tree through careful energy manipulation.

But in just a few seconds, the sapling in front of Xu Yin suddenly shot up, thickened, its branches stretching and splitting, continuing to extend further.

The growth was simply—

Everyone gradually stood in stunned silence, their mouths and eyes wide open.

Green leaves rapidly sprouted, layer upon layer accumulating on the branches, and fruits quickly formed, weighing down the branches!

In the blink of an eye, this ordinary sapling had transformed into a towering tree with a crown that touched the ceiling, its dense foliage almost covering half the exam hall!

Instantly, the entire exam hall fell silent, so quiet that even the sound of a needle hitting the ground could have been heard.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the spectacle.

Xu Yin finally withdrew his hand.

He took a step back, hands clasped behind his back, glanced at the towering tree, and then looked toward Jun Yuzhou.

He had succeeded.

He had successfully mastered the method to completely calm the energy flow of the illusionary being.

…In the next moment, the entire venue erupted.

“What is this?!”

“It grew into a towering tree?! Is this… is this the ultimate state of the simulator?!”

Someone lunged forward, nearly crashing into the railing, pointing at the letters displayed on Xu Yin’s machine and shouting—

You Yuan scrambled up from the floor, his voice trembling in shock, “An S-level?”

Xu Yin—Xu Yin is an S-level!!!

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  TL: There’s no part 2 on this one^^ Have fun reading😚