Chapter 51

"The Great Examination begins!"

Vice Helmsman Zhao Wei, having received instructions from Tang Sheng and Dao Xiong, slowly stood up and spoke with a full, resonant voice.

Everyone below the stage felt a jolt in their hearts.

They had trained hard for a year, all for the sake of standing out and achieving great results today.

The increase in the number on their waist tokens represented cultivation resources such as techniques, elixirs, and weapons.

Among those who practice martial arts, who doesn't pursue fame and status?

Zhao Wei scanned the crowd.

"This time, the Huaqing Sect has specially reserved two spots for our branch for their entrance examination; all outstanding individuals under the age of thirty-five have a chance to compete."

As soon as these words were spoken—

For a moment, everyone revealed an expression of shock.

This included the three vice helmsmen.

The corners of Zhao Wei's mouth curled up slightly; besides the Helmsman, he was the only one who knew about this, which was why he had been secretly preparing for a month.

He was thirty-four this year, just happening to hit the thirty-five-year-old threshold to qualify for the competition.

With his strength having greatly increased, he would definitely give it his all.

Since he had already seen the opportunity, he naturally had to fight with his life to seize it.

Zhao Wei also came from humble beginnings, so he knew all too well the hardships of having no backing, and understood even better the importance of having a master's guidance.

If he could enter the Huaqing Sect, his martial path would surely go further and be much easier.

Zhang Yang's expression was ugly.

How could he not see that this fellow Zhao Wei had received the news in advance?

But then, a wave of powerlessness followed.

He was already forty, long past the thirty-five-year age limit; not just him, but the other two vice helmsmen besides Zhao Wei were in the same situation.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the Helmsman only told Zhao Wei about this matter.

Without the competition from the three of them—

Among the hall masters and deacons below, who was Zhao Wei's match?

In other words, it was almost a certainty that Zhao Wei would obtain one of the spots to participate in the Huaqing Sect's entrance examination.

He had always been at odds with Zhao Wei, so naturally, he was unwilling to see his enemy obtain such a great fortune.

"Forget it, I'll just avoid him in the future."

Zhang Yang sighed inwardly.

The two vice helmsmen, Zhou and Qian, exchanged a glance, both seeing the regret in the other's eyes; it was just a pity that time spares no one, and if they had to blame someone, they could only blame their poor luck in being born.

But the hall masters, deacons, and disciples below were in an uproar.

Zhao Wei was the only young one among the vice helmsmen, but there were far too many people among them under thirty-five.

Many were eager to try.

Among them, the calmest were divided into two types: one was like Zhou Shulin, who, although meeting the registration criteria, knew he had no competitive edge; the other was like Li Rui, who had long since passed the age limit.

"Thirty-five years old..."

Li Rui hadn't expected that even after transmigrating, he would still encounter workplace age discrimination.

In his previous life, when he was a programmer, those big companies wouldn't hire anyone over thirty-five.

Naturally, he also wanted to join the Huaqing Sect.

After all, according to the achievement settings in the system, joining a more powerful sect would definitely yield substantial achievement points.

However, he was open-minded.

To obtain it is my fortune; to lose it is my fate.

There was no help for it; he had experienced too many irresistible things in his life, and if he couldn't let it go, he would have been angered to death long ago.

He happened to see Liang He's figure in the crowd.

He cast an encouraging look.

The Huaqing Sect's selection of disciples never looked at strength alone; this time would likely be the same, and perhaps they would eventually choose someone younger with better talent to participate in next year's Huaqing Sect entrance examination.

Wu Tu said helplessly, "Brother Li, I feel like they are deliberately targeting us."

Indeed, like Li Rui, his age was also over the limit.

He had just turned thirty-six this year.

Wu Tu was almost angered to the point of vomiting blood.

Do not attempt to muddle through; the Huaqing Sect's methods far exceeded ordinary imagination, and they would naturally have bone-touching experts to confirm one's true age.

However, thinking of his own terrible root bones, he didn't hold much hope anyway.

Looking at the agitated crowd below—

A flash of craftiness crossed Jiang Yan's eyes.

Her thoughts coincided with Li Rui's.

Jiang Yan had only promised Qinghe a spot with relaxed age restrictions, but there was still plenty of room for maneuvering regarding the final candidates to enter the Huaqing Sect.

They would pick two people each from the Tiandi Alliance and the Xuehu Gang.

Then, they would select the final person to participate in the entrance examination from these four.

"First, choose someone with strong strength and high status to help us search for the Guiming Sect, then choose someone young and talented.

Later, when Father selects the person, he will deliberately pick that young one.

In this way, it neither violates the sect's rules nor prevents these people from doing the work."

She had already planned it all out.

That was why she had deliberately noted the ages of the high-level members of the Tiandi Alliance and the Xuehu Gang, which was how she precisely set the age at thirty-five.

Zhao Wei might understand this logic, but as long as there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, people like him would fight for it with their lives.

Clang!

With the sound of a copper gong, the great examination officially began.

The rules for the Tiandi Alliance's assessment were very simple: it was ring fighting; as long as you defeated the person on the ring, you could obtain their waist token, and your status would naturally rise.

Even ordinary disciples could directly challenge the Helmsman.

Of course, almost no one would do such a stupid thing.

Soon, someone jumped onto the ring; it was a sturdy young man.

The young man crooked his finger at another burly man below the stage: "Ma Dong, come up here!"

The burly man leaped onto the stage.

The two tangled together.

After the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, the burly man was stabbed off the ring by the young man's sword.

The waist token also changed from "325" to "278".

The young man wasn't greedy for more, decisively jumping off the ring and hiding in the crowd.

A good start.

The atmosphere was instantly ignited; those ordinary disciples jumped onto the ring one after another, some winning, some losing.

Waist tokens were exchanged one after another.

During this time, Zhou Shulin also went up on stage once.

After fighting for a full two quarters of an hour, he finally won with a slight advantage, and his waist token rose from "387" to "378".

The improvement wasn't very large.

But Zhou Shulin was already satisfied.

Besides this, another acquaintance of Li Rui also went on stage—Liu Tong.

Liu Tong's progress was significant.

Relying on his formidable Tiger-Gall Saber, he forced his opponent to retreat step by step, crisply locking in the victory.

The number on his waist token also soared from "217" to "41" in one go.

This drew envy from many.

Tang Sheng, on the high platform, also revealed an interested expression.

"What is that young man's name?"

Zhang Yang took the opportunity to lean forward: "Alliance Leader Tang, his name is Liu Tong; he is my wife's younger brother. He practices the saber diligently and has quite a bit of talent."

Tang Sheng nodded: "Good root bones, excellent comprehension; a talent worth molding."

Hearing Tang Sheng's evaluation, Zhang Yang was overjoyed.

With Liu Tong being valued, he, as the brother-in-law, naturally benefited as well.

This scene made the two vice helmsmen, Zhou and Qian, jealous, but who told them they didn't have a promising relative like Liu Tong?

The Tiandi Alliance had no concept of avoiding suspicion; in fact, if a relative turned out to be formidable, one would be looked upon with even higher regard.

Just as Li Rui was feeling bored—

Liang He jumped onto the stage.

(End of chapter)