Despite the increased security and ongoing investigation, the trail had gone cold.
No footprints, no suspects, not even a lingering spiritual residue. The sect’s elders, frustrated by the lack of progress and mounting pressure, finally turned their attention back to pending affairs—one of which had sat quietly at the bottom of their docket.
"Outer Court Disciple Han Yu’s reassessnt."
The na seed like a joke amidst the recent chaos, but a few elders rembered the decision they had made upon his unlikely return from death. So had even assud he’d quietly fade back into obscurity or collapse from residual damage. But since then, Han Yu had not only recovered—he’d been too quiet.
"Well," Elder Xiang said with a sigh, "we may as well cross this off the list."
The ti of reassessnt.
Han Yu stood on the central platform, wearing his most modest sect robes and a convincingly humble expression. Around him were half a dozen elders, two array masters, and a spirit formation guardian beast that looked bored enough to eat its own tail.
He had no idea this many people would show up. Part of him wondered if they were still low-key investigating him.
"Han Yu," one elder began, "due to your miraculous survival and prolonged absence, your cultivation status and potential must be reassessed. Do you object?"
"Of course not, Elder!" Han Yu replied cheerfully. "I’ve always dread of being judged!"
The elders gave him a look, but decided not to engage.
They brought out the Talent Seeking Tablet—a replacent, since the original had been mysteriously destroyed. This one was a backup, slightly older, but still accurate.
Han Yu stepped up and dripped his blood on the Appraisal crystal.
A soft hum spread through the courtyard as glowing lights danced across the tablet’s surface. A flicker of red, a glint of yellow, a tinge of orange, a wisp of green and then a pulse of blue... then, the result:
Blue Grade Talent.
The elders collectively stiffened.
"...Blue?" soone whispered.
Another elder leaned forward. "Run it again."
They did. Sa result.
Blue Rank—four levels higher than the trash-tier Red Rank Han Yu had displayed when first tested a year ago.
This was rely the prelude to the Elder Conference: Mild Panic Edition
Within monts, a more serious formation was erected. Another elder fetched an Appraisal Pearl used for physique analysis. A different one carried over a Bloodline Detector Orb, glimring with ancient symbols.
They ran Han Yu through every standard test short of dissecting him.
Result after result ca back... negative.
No special bloodline.
No unique physique.
No mysterious inheritance.
Just a low-tier servant boy with suddenly Blue Grade talent.
"...This shouldn’t be possible," one elder muttered. "Talent is the foundation of one’s cultivation. It cannot simply improve."
"Unless..."
The oldest elder in the group stroked his beard. "Unless the subject has undergone sothing... extre. Theoretically, it could occur if one awakened a bloodline late, or consud an exceptionally rare and harmonious mixture of body-refining treasures."
The group looked at Han Yu.
He blinked back at them innocently.
"...You said you were in a ravine for months before returning?" the old man asked.
"Yes, Elder. There were herbs. Lots of them. I was starving. I may have eaten a few hundred."
The elders stared.
One elder began muttering, "This idiot... this absolute lunatic... actually brute-forced his way into a higher grade of talent?"
"It’s... theoretically possible," another said, rubbing his temples. "So rare combinations of spiritual herbs can trigger chain reactions in the body, especially under high-stress survival conditions. Still, the odds—!"
"—Are stupidly low," another elder finished.
They updated his records.
Han Yu – Talent: Blue Grade. No detectable bloodline or physique. Possibly advanced via dietary miracles.
As Han Yu bowed and walked away, keeping his expression appropriately respectful, his thoughts were far less calm.
"So I really did eat myself into being a genius..."
After all, he might not have eaten the herbs in the ravine, but he had certainly eaten a bunch of herbs, on top of treasured ores, minerals, a few shelves, entire weapons and more in the vault when he was reborn.
He had unknowingly scamd the sect into paying for his rebirth!
He couldn’t wait to tell Li i.
Maybe she’d brew him another stew.
but soon, word of Han Yu’s reassessnt spread through the sect like wildfire.
A once-lowly servant boy who had sohow returned from the dead, claid to have lived in a ravine, and now possessed Blue Grade talent?
The story practically begged for exaggeration.
So whispered that he had found an ancient inheritance. Others insisted he must have awakened a hidden bloodline that even the orbs couldn’t detect. A few dared to claim he was the reincarnation of an immortal whose mories were slowly returning.
Han Yu, of course, encouraged none of these rumors.
But he didn’t discourage them either.
Then ca a sudden shift in his treatnt in the sect.
The difference in how people treated him was imdiate.
Where once outer sect disciples ignored or mocked him, now they offered polite nods. A few even tried to strike up conversations, asking about his "ravine training thods."
One alchemy disciple nervously offered him so leftover pills "for recovery," to which Han Yu responded with such exaggerated gratitude that the poor soul thought he’d won a favor for life.
The resource departnt bumped up his monthly ration unprompted—citing "post-reassessnt support protocols," which Han Yu was fairly sure didn’t actually exist.
He even received an extra set of robes. Clean ones.
Was this what respect felt like?
"I could get used to this," Han Yu mused as he sauntered past the outer sect cafeteria line and the disciples parted like the Red Sea.
But Not Too Much Respect
Still, for all the changes, one thing remained constant:
The elders still didn’t take him seriously.
Not in the way that counted, at least. But Han Yu was still content with it, as it was much better than being under suspicion. He had peace at least.
User Comments
0 comments from readers