Immediately afterwards, some people guessed that what was inside the box was a mindless flesh corpse, a skin corpse without internal organs, etc., but no one got the answer right. The examiner always looked calm and composed. Before they knew it, a quarter of an hour had passed in the competition!
Dongfang Xiao scratched his head and was a bit discouraged.
He mumbled in a voice that only Zhong Shengwan and Shen Cuiyu could hear:
"Sir seemed to have also talked about the classification of those eighteen types of corpse transformations during class. I even listened! Why can't I remember anything now...."
Several disciples also tried to get closer to observe, but apart from the cold iron box and the talismans, they couldn't sense anything.
For a moment, the competition field fell into silence and a stalemate. The air was filled with a faint sense of anxiety.
Outside the field, in front of the Retrospective Mirror, several senior Celestial Masters were also looking at their own disciples with solemn expressions. Some whispered:
"With the iron box sealed and the talismans suppressing, is this level of difficulty... too high for the preliminary round?"
"Sigh, it seems that this year they're going to weed out those disciples lacking spiritual awareness right from the start...."
The picture in the mirror showed that most of the disciples either frowned tightly or sighed repeatedly, looking rather helpless.
The corpse - driving man Jia Zhong, who was the first to say that there was a corpse in the box, also looked solemn at the moment, apparently unable to make further speculations!
In the midst of the silence, there was suddenly a commotion in the crowd. Then, Liu Ruyan actually strode out from among the contestants and came to the iron box.
Her gaze lingered on the iron box for a moment, and her voice carried a certain degree of confidence:
"I can sense extremely strong Yin energy. If I'm not mistaken, there should be a 'Jade Corpse' in the box."
The so - called Jade Corpse refers to a corpse that undergoes a mutation in a specific environment. It is as jade - like all over and extremely hard. It is a relatively rare type of zombie.
Liu Ruyan was very smart. She deliberately waited until everyone was at a loss before standing up to speak, so that the whole audience's attention was focused on her.
There was a moment of silence all around. A glint of admiration actually flashed in the examiner's eyes. He nodded and said:
"Liu Ruyan, your judgment is accurate. You recognize the Jade Corpse. Add twenty points."
The little eunuch immediately wrote it down on the scoreboard. There was a low murmur of exclamation from around.
"She actually guessed correctly..."
"It seems she's not as useless as the rumors say..."
Liu Ruyan's lips curled slightly. She was quite satisfied with this result.
The Jade Corpse was already a very difficult type to identify. She was confident that she had an absolute advantage in this round and would surely advance to the semi - finals.
She even gave Shen Cuiyu a somewhat provocative glance, with arrogance written all over her face.
Most people almost gave up at this point - although the rules clearly stated that one could get extra points for stating the cause of formation after identifying the type of corpse, it was not something that could be easily done.
Just then, Shen Cuiyu stepped forward slowly. She ignored Liu Ruyan's gaze and just stood quietly in front of the box. She gently touched the cold, black iron wall with her fingertips and closed her eyes.
At this moment, her spiritual sense turned into invisible thin threads, bypassing the blockade of the talismans, to capture the almost imperceptible residual traces.
A few breaths later, she opened her eyes. Her eyes were clear and bright. Her voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for the whole audience to hear:
"Examiner, this corpse is indeed a Jade Corpse." Shen Cuiyu's voice was clear. "But it was not nurtured by heaven and earth."
As soon as she said this, everyone was shocked.
There had always been two theories about the cause of the Jade Corpse. One was natural formation due to the right time and place, and the other was artificial refinement.
The smug look on Liu Ruyan's face immediately froze, and her brows frowned involuntarily.
Shen Cuiyu continued: "There is an inescapable sense of grief, indignation and despair entwined in its Yin - malevolent energy. A corpse that can be refined into a Jade Corpse must not be an ordinary one. It must have had profound cultivation in life. Therefore, I guess that this corpse was probably a cultivator with a noble and upright spirit in life. After death, it was stolen and used by someone with ulterior motives, buried in a corpse - nurturing ground vein. Over time, it turned into a Jade Corpse and was controlled and used by that person."
Hearing this, the examiner gave Shen Cuiyu a deep look. He neither said she was right nor wrong, but continued to ask:
"According to your statement, can you see where its resentment comes from?"
Shen Cuiyu thought for a moment and calmly replied:
"A cultivator spends their life seeking the right path and protecting the common people. They value their post - mortem reputation the most. Now, not only can't they rest in peace after death, but their body has been refined into such an evil thing, going against their lifelong beliefs. This kind of trampling is the root of its deepest resentment."
After Shen Cuiyu finished speaking, the whole audience fell silent!
Everyone's eyes were focused on the examiner, waiting to see his reaction.
The next moment, the examiner suddenly clapped his hands and laughed heartily. His voice was even a bit excited:
"Shen Cuiyu! You observe minutely and point directly to the origin! You've seen through the artificial refinement method. Add twenty points!" He explained, "She's right. This corpse was exactly the one recently seized from an evil cultivator by the Xuan Sect of the world."
The score - keeping eunuch wrote quickly. The score behind Shen Cuiyu's name soared instantly, surpassing all the other candidates.
The smug look on Liu Ruyan's face completely froze and became extremely ugly!
She only saw the appearance of the "Jade Corpse", while Shen Cuiyu had analyzed clearly how it was formed and why it was resentful!
The limelight of this preliminary round was actually snatched away by Shen Cuiyu!
The looks of the people below the stage at Shen Cuiyu had completely turned into shock and admiration. This move was really too brilliant and too shocking!
Outside the field, several Celestial Masters exchanged a look. Their eyes were full of amazement and admiration!
"Dean Ren, your disciple has a keen spiritual sense. She's a talent worth cultivating!"
Ren Daoyuan just smiled without saying a word, but there was a bit more appreciation and satisfaction in his eyes.
Inside the competition field, Zhong Shengwan sincerely exclaimed to Shen Cuiyu:
"No wonder you've specialized in the art of communicating with the Yin world!"
However, this meant that Zhong Shengwan and Dongfang Xiao in the same group still had no points.
The other disciples also complained:
"Now I finally understand why so many people were allowed to take the preliminary exam. According to this scoring rule, it's almost like cutting the number in half!"
"Yes, I don't specialize in the art of communicating with the Yin world. How could I possibly guess... This exam setup is unfair!"
"All candidates, don't be discouraged," the examiner said with a smile, seemingly sensing the oppressive atmosphere on the scene.
The next moment, the examiner actually tore off the talisman on the iron box directly!
"Boom!"
A bone - chilling Yin energy suddenly erupted. Along with the ear - piercing sound of the chain breaking, a corpse suddenly sat up from the box!
The corpse's whole body was a strange cyan - white jade color, but the blood vessels under its skin were black - purple, spreading all over its body like a spider's web.
Its eyes were wide open, the pupils were cloudy, emitting a terrifyingly fierce light.
The most terrifying thing was its hands. Its fingernails were black, long and sharp. When it opened its mouth, its teeth were extremely sharp, and it made a "ho ho" sound in its throat, carrying a strong smell of blood and decay!
"There's a second part. Subdue the Jade Corpse." The examiner's voice remained calm. "All the judges can see everyone's performance through the Retrospective Mirror and will give each person a score."
Everyone was startled by this sudden change at first, but soon calmed down.
"Isn't it just corpse control? That's my specialty!" A male corpse official stepped forward disdainfully, fearlessly standing beside the Jade Corpse. He took out a talisman from his pocket and neatly pasted it on the Jade Corpse's forehead.
The talisman flashed with spiritual light, and sure enough, one - third of the Jade Corpse's resentment dissipated!
Everyone sighed. Sure enough, different people specialized in different things!
But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the originally motionless Jade Corpse suddenly twisted its neck with a "click" sound of bone cracking. Then it lunged at the corpse official at an astonishing speed!