The Dao Stone began to glow.

  I funneled my Qi into the "Dullard Frequency." I forced the stone to show the most basic, boring light possible. A faint, muddy brown color began to leak out.

  "Look!" I shouted, pointing with fake disappointment. "A Healthy Mortal Body! Truly, I am a tragedy! Please, send me to the border to be a farmer!"

  I felt a wave of relief. Finally! The evidence was—

  "Wait," Lu Chenyi (Void Emperor Body) said, stepping forward. He squinted at the muddy brown light. "Is that... brown? Or is it Ancient Bronze?"

  "It’s brown, Brother! Just dirt!" I insisted.

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  "No," Lu Lingshu (Star Devourer Body) gasped, her business mind calculating at light speed. "Look at the texture! It’s not muddy; it’s dense. He’s suppressing a Origin Dao Body so hard that it’s collapsing into a singularity! He’s trying to spare the citizens from being blinded by his majesty!"

  "He’s right!" Lu Tianhao roared. "Xian-er is so filial! He didn't want to humiliate us with his superior physique, so he disguised it as a common body! Such wisdom! Such restraint!"

  Behind them, my father, the Emperor, was clutching his stomach, trying to keep his laughter from shaking the foundations of the palace. The Empress was hiding behind her sleeves, her shoulders shaking.

  "The Stone has spoken!" the Emperor announced, his voice trembling with suppressed mirth. "The Seventh Prince possesses the... uh... 'Dense Bronze' Body! A sign of a stable and hardworking Emperor!"

  "Long live the Seventh Prince!" the crowd roared, completely bought into the siblings' propaganda.

  I stood there, my hand still on the stone, feeling my soul leave my body. I literally gave them dirt, and they turned it into bronze. I can't win.