Starting with a Family System to Become an Immortal Official Chapter 95

Far to the south, atop a low dune.

Xu Lingxi stood frozen.

She stared at the towering monstrosity that had somehow appeared directly behind her.

『When... when did it get there?』

Her mind reeled.

『I’ve cleared most of the fiend beasts in this quadrant. Where did this thing come from? I can’t sense its aura at all... and it can speak?』

Before the thought could fully form—

"MY LADY, WATCH OUT!!"

Auntie Chuyan’s desperate scream broke the silence.

Xu Lingxi blinked and the world became water.

A torrential blast of compressed liquid lanced straight toward her chest like a divine punishment spear.

She reacted on instinct and swung her sword with every ounce of strength in her body.

The blade met the water torrent in a deafening crash.

Spiritual energy flared.

She managed to redirect the majority of the force sideways but the sheer impact still hurled her back several zhang as her boots carved deep furrows in the sand.

She steadied herself and looked up.

The humanoid demon stared back with lidless black eyes that were utterly emotionless.

No anger, no excitement, no respect.

Pure nothing.

To Xu Lingxi, that blank face felt like the highest insult.

『So that’s how it is.』

She had worn that exact same look countless times when sparring with inferior men... looking down from a great height and barely bothering to exert herself.

But today was not the day some lesser creature would look down on her.

She leveled her sword and spoke coldly.

"Is that the best you can do?"

The monster said nothing.

Instead, it slowly raised one grotesque, webbed hand and pointed toward the far side of the dune.

Xu Lingxi followed the gesture.

Her heart lurched into her throat.

A massive hole had opened in the desert, big enough to swallow a whole village. It was so deep that the bottom couldn’t be seen and was hidden in darkness. The edges looked like melted glass, fused together by some terrifying and unimaginable force!

That single redirected blast... had done this?

Auntie Chuyan pressed a trembling hand to her lips.

『An attack with this kind of power... it must possess at least a blue water spiritual root... perhaps even higher... how can such a creature this dangerous appear in an immortal official examination!?』

Xu Lingxi took several shaky steps backward as she gripped the hilt of her sword with caution.

『No... no way. All of that destruction... came from one strike? It doesn’t make sense. Fiend beasts aren’t this strong. They aren’t this intelligent!』

The demon quietly extended its hand again.

Ten spinning orbs of water materialized around its body and each one hummed with condensed, violent spiritual might that was ready to be unleashed.

Xu Lingxi’s expression turned grim.

She had barely handled one.

Now ten.

Bai Xiu let out a ready growl as its scales bristled.

The creature flicked its fingers.

Ten torrential water lances screamed forward.

Xu Lingxi exploded into motion.

Her sword turned into a blur of silver light.

Every swing created a loud sonic boom as she cut through the incoming blasts.

Bai Xiu jumped off her shoulder and breathed out explosive purple dragonfire that vaporized several of the glowing orbs before they could reach her.

Steam hissed violently into the night air.

She cut, parried, redirected.

Her arms burned while her shoulders screamed from the sheer weight of each collision. Every blocked blast felt like striking an iron mountain.

Yet somehow she destroyed them all.

That gritted teeth and fiery eyes didn’t let her down.

When the last orb shattered into harmless mist, the regal sword-wielding beauty stabbed her sword into the sand and leaned heavily against the hilt.

Her robust, perfect chest heaved.

Sweat poured down her innocent face and dripped from her dainty chin.

This was no longer a fight.

It was torture.

Auntie Chuyan’s voice cracked with urgency.

"Young Miss—we must leave! Right now! This thing is too dangerous—we don’t even know what it is!"

Xu Lingxi shook her head.

"No."

She yanked her sword free.

"I won’t do that! I’m going to kill this smug bastard before I go anywhere."

Spiritual energy surged violently into the blade.

The sword expanded into a larger, longer weapon.

Its edge now blazed with resplendent azure-and-gold sword light.

The very desert trembled under the pressure.

Auntie Chuyan’s beautiful face paled.

『The Xu Clan’s secret art... "Heaven-Splitting Azure Lotus Slash"... Born during the great clan succession war, it once cleaved a Grandmaster realm expert in a single stroke... I can’t believe she’s using it here...』

She clenched her fists until her nails bent.

『After this strike she’ll be useless. I have to protect her the moment it ends.』

The demon watched the enormous energy blade without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Then in a blink Xu Lingxi was gone.

She reappeared directly before it as though space itself had folded in an instant.

"DIEEE!!"

The colossal sword came down like a storm.

The impact was apocalyptic.

Sand exploded upward in a towering mushroom cloud.

The ground shattered like glass, splitting the quadrant into three jagged pieces.

Shockwaves rolled outward for li in every direction.

Auntie Chuyan clenched her fist so hard her arm shook.

『Beautiful... truly beautiful, Young Miss...』

Even Xu Lingxi allowed herself a small, confident smile.

『It’s over.』

Then she saw it.

A brief, ominous red flash in the creature’s eyes.

Crack—!

Her invincible spirit sword shattered into countless sparkling fragments.

"What!?"

Before she could process the impossibility, a surge of dense spiritual energy erupted from the monster and blasted her backward.

She stabbed her broken sword remnant into the sand and used it as an anchor to halt her flight.

"Gah!"

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

『Impossible... that strike can kill a Grandmaster... and it shrugged it off so easily!?』

The creature took one slow step forward.

Behind it, a radiant spiritual lotus slowly bloomed.

Seven-colored petals unfurling in celestial splendor.

This kaleidoscopic resplendence meant one thing.

Auntie Chuyan’s voice trembled.

"Seven-colored lotus... violet water spiritual root... this is the legendary embodiment of a violet-grade water root... even Grandmasters would flee from such an existence... we have to run—now!"

She flashed forward to seize Xu Lingxi’s wrist.

Too late.

A translucent water barrier snapped shut around them like a dome.

Above their heads, an intricate formation array took shape as ancient runes glowed with cold blue light.

Xu Lingxi’s eyes widened.

"That’s... a profound water Daoist sealing spell!"

Before Auntie Chuyan could respond, the creature spoke once more.

"Die..."

It snapped its malformed fingers.

A pitch-black vortex tore open in the sky above them.

Countless water lances as big as rock formations poured down like apocalyptic rain.

Every impact shook the desert.

The ground quaked.

Even candidates in distant quadrants felt the tremors and looked up in terror.

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On the central observation dais.

Song Yan slammed her fist against the armrest so hard the stone cracked.

"This is insane! We have to do our duty as proctors—we have to stop that demon right now! It clearly doesn’t belong in an examination!"

She surged out of her chair.

Gu Bingyue’s gentle voice stopped her cold.

"No need to interfere, Fellow Daoist Song."

The green-haired beauty sipped her tea calmly.

"I’m certain the candidates will find a way to handle Hai Tung Wan... if they truly wish to survive."

She glanced sideways at the icy beauty beside her.

"Don’t you agree, Zirou?"

Ye Zirou gave a single, indifferent nod.

"The immortal official examinations were never meant to be easy. When anomalies appear, candidates deal with them. Simple."

Gu Linyuan smiled warmly at Song Yan.

"See? No reason to worry."

Song Yan stared at them, disbelief turning to fury.

『The way they speak... it’s almost as if they don’t care whether these young cultivators live or die...』

Her gaze hardened.

『No... wait...』

She looked between the three of them.

"No way... you released it, didn’t you?"

Her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.

"That’s why Gu Bingyue knows its name. That’s why you’re sitting here drinking tea while a violet-root demon slaughters candidates. All of this... just to kill Li Qingmu. All that boy wants is a life his parents can be proud of and you people are using the same old classist garbage to crush a commoner’s dream. Like always."

Gu Bingyue quietly sipped her tea.

"You’re mistaken, Proctor Song. I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Song Yan pressed a hand to her chest.

Her heart pounded torturously.

『I pray... I pray for Li Qingmu’s safety.』

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Meanwhile, in the southwest quadrant.

Li Qingmu let out a small sneeze and rubbed his nose.

"Hmm. Someone must be talking about me."

He yawned lazily, stretched out on the warm sand and watched Su Liyue and Song Ruyi poke around nearby dunes looking for pill bottles.

The night was peaceful here.

For now.