Ai Yueli couldn't help blinking a few times, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Wasn't this space just a blank void a moment ago?
How did it suddenly turn into a place filled with birdsong, flowers, and vibrant life?
Yet no matter how many times she looked into the space, the scene before her continued to exceed her expectations.
Something's wrong with this kid. Very wrong!
I told you to charge the characters. With your Mental Force, couldn't you just fill any one of them and be done with it?
Why did you go and build an entire simulated space instead?
Given Ai Yueli's attainments in the Talisman Dao, she naturally understood how Ye Ling had achieved this.
But she simply couldn't believe he possessed such ability. This had already gone far beyond the category of genius. Calling Ye Ling someone born with innate understanding wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
Seriously, Second Senior Sister?
The "miracle" you talked about is way too cheap, isn't it?
Even someone as rational as Ai Yueli couldn't help leaning toward the possibility that Ye Ling himself was a miracle. At this point, it could only be explained that way.
The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven derives forty-nine.
This was basic knowledge for diviners, meaning that no matter how perfect a prediction was, there would always be variables.
Those with shallow skill used this saying as an excuse.
But only those who had truly mastered divination understood its deeper meaning.
The Great Dao of this world branched endlessly, intertwining and influencing one another. Even if a diviner could glimpse the future, they would only ever see vague possibilities.
Because there were people in this world who were born with the ability to evade divination entirely.
These people were collectively known as Children of Destiny.
They carried fate upon themselves, and no diviner could predict their path. It was precisely because of these unstable factors that the "one" missing from the fifty paths came to be.
Clearly, Ai Yueli had never learned of Ye Ling's existence from her Second Senior Sister. Otherwise, she wouldn't have harbored hostility toward him, and Bai Yiyi wouldn't have been so delighted.
So unless Ye Ling had been deliberately sent here by someone, the only explanation was that he was a Child of Destiny.
But the moment Ai Yueli saw Ye Ling directly upgrade a Blank Space into a Simulated Space, she dismissed that idea.
This wasn't some Child of Destiny who still needed time to grow.
He was practically destiny's father.
To be fair, even if Ai Yueli herself were only at the Foundation Establishment stage, it would still be extremely difficult to upgrade a Blank Space into a Simulated Space.
Doing so required not only enough Mental Force to move the characters, but also the ability to arrange every single character in a perfectly rational order.
Leaving aside whether a Foundation Establishment cultivator could even possess such vast Mental Force, even someone extraordinarily gifted would cause the newly formed Simulated Space to collapse if they made the slightest mistake during the arrangement.
But looking at Ye Ling's Simulated Space, where was there any sign of collapse?
It even faintly carried the essence of a real space. That alone proved just how precise his arrangement of the characters was. Calling it seamless wouldn't be an exaggeration.
If she had added a few more characters back then, it wasn't impossible that this space could have directly evolved into a true space.
Ye Ling's talent was terrifying, completely exceeding even her most optimistic expectations.
Originally, her plan had been to step in after Ye Ling finished charging a single character, then charge all the remaining characters herself to establish her authority.
After that, she would have Ye Ling try arranging the characters. If he could touch the threshold of a Simulated Space, she would accept him as her disciple.
But—
Sect Master, isn't this disciple of yours a bit too capable?
That sudden sense of defeat made Ai Yueli finally understand why Bai Yiyi had shown that look of reluctance earlier.
So this was where you were waiting for me?
For the first time in her life, Ai Yueli felt her talent in the Talisman Dao completely overshadowed by someone else.
Within the Simulated Space.
[Ai Yueli develops intense frustration toward host +512]
???
Did I do something?
Damn it, did I go too far?
Ye Ling felt both confused and vaguely enlightened, his mind caught in a state of total chaos.
At the same time, he noticed that in the history log, Leng Qingqiu had also provided him with some Emotion Points.
Compared to Bai Yiyi, however, Leng Qingqiu's contribution was pitifully small. Even if he squeezed everything out of her, it would only amount to around two thousand Emotion Points.
Still, no matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat. Ye Ling reluctantly accepted it.
"Fourth Martial Aunt, have I passed the trial?"
Now that he understood the frustration in Ai Yueli's heart, Ye Ling knew that, on his end, the trial was essentially complete.
His voice snapped Ai Yueli out of her daze.
She didn't force herself to continue testing him out of pride. After all, once Ye Ling had used her characters to accomplish such a feat, his name was destined to be carved into the very peak of the Talisman Dao.
"You've passed."
Even so, Ai Yueli's tone was completely calm. She had seen plenty of geniuses before—just never one quite like Ye Ling.
But if Ye Ling truly was the one missing from the Great Dao, then producing such a miracle wasn't all that strange.
[Congratulations to the host for completing the apprenticeship]
"Fourth Master, your disciple pays his respects."
Inside the Simulated Space, Ye Ling bowed respectfully toward her.
Although he hadn't learned anything concrete from Ai Yueli yet, even someone as unreliable as Bai Yiyi could put on a teacher's air when lecturing. Ai Yueli would surely be even better.
Besides, hadn't he just gained one more person he could win over?
"How did you do it?"
Ai Yueli's figure flickered as she entered the Simulated Space as well, calmly meeting Ye Ling's gaze.
"Wasn't all of this thanks to Fourth Master's guidance?"
Although Ye Ling knew perfectly well that Ai Yueli had no idea what he was talking about, he deliberately played dumb for the sake of his future plans.
"Hm?"
"Before we entered, didn't Fourth Master keep explaining concepts and laws to me?"
Following his earlier line of thought, Ye Ling calmly and systematically explained his reasoning step by step.
What he didn't know was that behind Ai Yueli's composed expression, a storm had already erupted in her mind.
What?
Weren't you just supposed to casually pick one character that resonated with you and charge it?
Every cultivator has concepts or laws they're naturally compatible with. What Ai Yueli intended was for Ye Ling to "grab one at random" and choose a law that suited him, making it easier to charge.
How was I supposed to know you'd try to charge all of them?
Is that even something a human would do?
Forget a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if a Golden Core cultivator came, trying to charge all of them would leave them half-dead. These characters themselves belonged to Ai Yueli, and she was intimately familiar with them, which was why she could charge them so easily.
And instead of that, you arranged them all?
You're an absolute freak of genius!
Ai Yueli had no idea that Ye Ling possessed knowledge from another world as his foundation. In her eyes, everything he'd done bordered on the miraculous.
Good grief, Sect Master, you really picked up a priceless treasure this time!