Chapter 142: Participate in the exam? I

Since it was a sword master of the Heavenly Abyss Realm, Xiao Ming naturally thought of Fan Kuai.

But the problem was, the lake where Fan Kuai's sword fell was in the east of the Imperial Ducheng, very far from here.

The Sage's remnant soul hinted that Fan Kuai's own corpse was still found in the Imperial Ducheng; this must have a certain reason, perhaps Fan Kuai was executing some mission at the time.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming reported the clue to Pang Jin.

He wanted to take Fan Kuai's sword to the scene for comparison, which required Pang Jin's permission.

Hearing this news, Pang Jin naturally led the team to investigate in person.

After comparing with Fan Kuai's sword, sure enough, this was the place where Fan Kuai had fought.

Pang Jin investigated in this area and really found clues for him.

According to his experience, the one who fought with Fan Kuai should be the remnants of the previous dynasty; only they would have that kind of special cultivation technique, which was particularly easy to recognize.

There were traps around, and Fan Kuai should have fallen into a trap, which led to his defeat.

Everyone present was his own people, so Pang Jin simply said everything he had investigated.

Before the Crown Prince died, he had been investigating the remnants of the previous dynasty; these were all recorded in the files, and there were also the Crown Prince's investigation records.

At that time, because the Crown Prince found that several large clans were harboring remnants of the previous dynasty, he exterminated their entire clans to serve as a warning to others.

Pang Jin still remembered that a few years ago, the Imperial Ducheng was also a bloody storm.

Now it seemed more and more proven that Fan Kuai was lured away from the mountain, and the Crown Prince was retaliated against by the remnants of the previous dynasty.

The former Minister of Justice, Feng Huai, also had this view, but didn't know who killed the Crown Prince.

Because the number of people the Crown Prince killed that year was already enough; it was better to kill the wrong ones than to let them go. Could there still be remnants of the previous dynasty near the Imperial Ducheng? Or remnants of the previous dynasty from other areas?

When Pang Jin led people to investigate everywhere, Xiao Ming investigated alone; in any case, Pang Jin felt that he was lucky, and he might have gains if he walked by himself.

As Xiao Ming walked, he suddenly said: "Master, do you think there is a possibility that the Crown Prince was colluding with the remnants of the previous dynasty, but it turned out that the remnants of the previous dynasty turned against him, leading to a failure at the last moment."

The Sage's remnant soul was stunned for a while and said: "You first tell me, what is the logic of your judgment? Can this be pulled together? The Crown Prince is the heir apparent; what benefit is there for him to collude with the remnants of the previous dynasty?"

Xiao Ming said: "I just substituted myself into the Crown Prince's position. If the Crown Prince wants to be emperor, the best way is to kill the emperor. If the emperor doesn't step down, how can he get up? I can judge from the files that his power was already very great at the time.

But these powers were given by the emperor, so he naturally couldn't use them to deal with the emperor. In the Imperial Ducheng, the only ones who dared to take action against the emperor were naturally the remnants of the previous dynasty; other families wouldn't dare to commit regicide.

So this can explain why, after the Crown Prince slaughtered so many so-called remnants of the previous dynasty, the remnants of the previous dynasty in the Imperial Ducheng didn't seem to be fewer, and it can also explain why Fan Kuai was attacked by the remnants of the previous dynasty.

The most important point is that when the Crown Prince died, Fan Kuai was clearly still alive. Why didn't he dare to go to the emperor to report? Does he dare to say this kind of thing? The emperor wouldn't believe it either, and Fan Kuai was the Crown Prince's trusted aide; he must have also participated in the plan to harm the emperor.

He might even have had a relationship with the remnants of the previous dynasty; it was a capital crime anyway, so he had been looking for others to help, who knew he died too."

These words of Xiao Ming made the Sage's remnant soul ponder deeply.

Oh, it seems to be this logic.

If the Crown Prince died normally, Fan Kuai would just report it directly; why hide here and there.

Perhaps no one thought that the Crown Prince would collude with the remnants of the previous dynasty, so the direction of this case had always been wrong.

"What you said might make sense, then the families that the Crown Prince destroyed by means of slaughtering the remnants of the previous dynasty might have other plans. As long as we find the people from those families who are still alive, we will know what the Crown Prince was doing."

This is also the point that the Sage's remnant soul didn't understand; what did the Crown Prince do by killing so many families back then?

But at that time, those families were all exterminated; are there really people who can survive? Where should this be investigated?

At this time, the Sage's remnant soul and Xiao Ming didn't expect that they had once followed and investigated a living coffin.

When Zou Yi contacts Lin Yue'e again, Xiao Ming will be able to remember.

However, there is one point that the Sage's remnant soul can be sure of: before it is investigated clearly, it cannot be told to Pang Jin for the time being. If the judgment is wrong, it is slandering the Crown Prince.

Returning to the Imperial Ducheng, Xiao Ming noticed that many new faces had come to the Imperial Ducheng recently.

As a runner, he instinctively went up to ask about their origins; if they were of unknown origin, they would be arrested for investigation.

These young people saw that it was a government official and said that they were all geniuses from various regions of the Tian Ce Dynasty, participating in this enrollment of the Imperial Ducheng Combat Academy.

Speaking of this, Xiao Ming's thoughts returned to many years ago; he came from far away to get the exotic fire of the New Fire Combat Academy.

Because there was a place for alchemy in the New Fire Combat Academy, as everyone knows, the pills refined by exotic fire are better than ordinary flames, not to mention Xiao Ming is a fire-element cultivator and can conquer exotic fire.

Originally, with his talent, he could definitely enter the Combat Academy, but it was because he met Chu Ruoyan by chance and felt that it didn't matter if he was a few years late, so it led to this state.

And there was no way to change jobs to become an alchemist.

Hearing that enrollment was coming soon, Xiao Ming was actually a bit tempted.

But considering that he could directly exchange for exotic fire after making some more contributions, it was better to be an official.

Seeing these geniuses from various regions full of confidence, Xiao Ming thought to himself: you are lucky this time; otherwise, if I went, you would only be able to compete for second place.

Perhaps Xiao Ming didn't expect that even if he went this time, he would only be second.

Because the one who went was Li Chen.

There was no early court session today, and Li Chen followed Xia Qing to the New Fire Combat Academy early in the morning.

Along the way, Xia Qing was telling interesting things she had encountered at the New Fire Combat Academy in the past few days.

She felt that the teachers in the Imperial Ducheng were very friendly, spoke very politely, and took good care of her.

Actually, what she didn't know was that these people all regarded her as Li Chen's concubine, and they couldn't show it, so they could only take care of her.

What's more, now Li Chen also came to the New Fire Combat Academy with her, which further confirmed this identity.

Li Chen didn't need to worry about the registration at all; the Dean of the New Fire Combat Academy, Qu Heng, would handle it; he was just here to go through a task process.

At this moment, in the Dean's office.

Today, no one was more nervous than Qu Heng, because the Emperor came to take the exam in person, so there could be no trouble.

The Emperor would certainly mix among the candidates, and then communicate with the candidates, and would also examine the qualifications of the teachers of the New Fire Combat Academy.

The most important thing was that he couldn't say that the Emperor was taking the exam, so that the Emperor could experience the real feeling.

But the problem was, what if the Emperor's grades were not good?

Should he give the Emperor more points?

But then again, if he did this, wouldn't he be engaging in favoritism and malpractice, not reflecting the fairness and justice of this recruitment exam?

What if this was what the Emperor didn't want to see?

And the questions for this comprehension test were set by Qu Heng himself; he used to have the title of "Devil Questioner," and the difficulty of the questions made the elites of the Combat Academy miserable.

This time, in order to reflect the level, Qu Heng also increased the difficulty.

But now he felt, would the questions he set be too difficult? Would the volume of questions be too much?

Just thinking about showing off his level, what if it led to poor grades for the candidates?

Careless, careless!

And in the talent test in the afternoon, would the teachers be too strict, thereby annoying the Emperor?

It was because of considering many problems that Qu Heng gave various instructions to the teachers of the New Fire Combat Academy early in the morning, to be serious this time and have a good attitude.

But even with instructions, he was still uneasy in his heart.

He had been walking back and forth in the room.

Especially at this point, candidates should be entering the venue one after another to participate in the comprehension test.

Just when he was in the most irritable mood, someone pushed open his big door.

And it was without knocking, which made Qu Heng very angry; don't you know what time it is, and you're still so reckless?

He wanted to see which one who didn't want to live dared to provoke him at this time.

But seeing the visitor outside the door, Qu Heng's angry old face immediately piled up with smiles, and then he quickly walked to the door and said: "Your Majesty, why are you here?"

At this stage, Qu Heng had thought of a hundred solutions for Li Chen to appear here.

Perhaps it was because an invigilator in the academy spoke rudely and offended Li Chen.

Or maybe Li Chen discovered some problems in the academy and came to him to solve them.

But what he didn't expect was that Li Chen said directly: "I plan to find a place to take the exam, and I think your place is not bad."

As soon as he pushed the door open, he could feel a faint spiritual fragrance coming to his face, which was emitted by the strange flowers placed in the room.

In the center of the room was a huge desk made of thousand-year mysterious wood, with a few ancient classics scattered on the table; the pages were yellowed, but every word was a pearl, recording lost martial arts and formations.

In the corner of the desk, there was an exquisite jade pen holder, with a few pens made of dragon-whisker grass inserted on it.

The cushion on the Dean's chair was made of the fur of the Cloud-Winged Thunder Leopard, which was not only extremely comfortable to sit on but also refreshing.

The surrounding walls were covered with portraits of past deans and various trophies and medals, each of which was a witness to the glorious history of the academy. In a corner of the room stood a seemingly ordinary wooden cabinet, which actually contained mysteries; it stored the most precious treasures of the academy, which were said to be a few ancient inherited secret books and a few bottles of spiritual liquid refined from the essence blood of ancient fierce beasts, all of which were magic treasures that could stimulate human potential.

Li Chen was quite satisfied with this environment.

In any case, the system just asked him to come here to take the exam; specifically how to participate, that could be judged by Li Chen himself.

If it were Li Chen who had just traveled here and got the system, he was just a prince at the Condensing Essence Realm; how could he have this privilege? Many royal children were obediently taking the exam.

But who was Li Chen? He was the Emperor and had plenty of privileges.

Since he had them, why should he be bored and take the exam with the candidates?

It would be better to find a more comfortable place and open a separate exam room for himself.

Don't ask; if you ask, it's because I have this right, and I like to use it.

Qu Heng heard that Li Chen wanted to take the exam here, and immediately indicated that there was no problem, then moved a stool for Li Chen, tidied up the table, and personally went to get a test paper.

Pastries, tea, and fruits were all prepared.

Other candidates didn't have this treatment.

!

With the sound of a heavy bell, the exam officially began.

This time Li Chen used the pseudonym Cheng Li, and the Dean's office was his exam location.

Qu Heng himself stood here; rather than saying he was like an invigilator, it was better to say he was like a companion reader.

Li Chen took a sip of tea, picked up the test paper to look at it; good fellow, it was all short-answer questions.

Qu Heng was also looking forward to it, wanting to see how this Sage Realm Emperor understood these questions; maybe he could also realize something from it.

Li Chen picked up the test paper, looked at it for a while, put it down, and said to Qu Heng: "For this first question, tell me your opinion."

Qu Heng took a look; the first question was: Please briefly answer, if you are at the Condensing Essence Realm, in a battle of the same level, how can you increase your advantage to win.

These questions were all set by Qu Heng, so he naturally knew the answer.

But the Emperor asked me; is he asking me to announce the answer?

No, no, the Emperor shouldn't be so superficial.

He should be testing me; yes, it must be like this.

It's a pity that I set this question, so it can't stump me.

Thinking of this, Qu Heng replied seriously: "Replying to Your Majesty, this question has a certain pit. Seeing a battle of the same level, many people will think of weapons, magic treasures, and cultivation techniques.

These advantages are certainly important, but here it is set at the Condensing Essence Realm. Even if a cultivator at the Condensing Essence Realm gets a divine weapon and uses a powerful cultivation technique, the consumption brought about is also very huge.

The strength of the meridians themselves is not enough, which will lead to combat power not increasing but decreasing, and even unable to bear the burden brought by these things. So your humble servant thinks that a cultivator at the Condensing Essence Realm should take retreat as the main thing, wait for the opponent to consume appropriately, be familiar with the opponent's moves, and then kill with one blow. What does Your Majesty think?"

This is considered a relatively standard answer; he is the questioner, so how can this be wrong?

Qu Heng was looking forward to hearing praise from Li Chen's mouth.

But Li Chen said: "You just guessed the first pit of the questioner, but you entered the second pit of the questioner."

This sentence made Qu Heng stunned on the spot; ah? What pit, why don't I know?

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty." Qu Heng also wanted to hear Li Chen's high opinion.

Li Chen explained: "Since the questioner said it is the Condensing Essence Realm, and doesn't limit what means can be used, you just find a higher-level cultivator to fight the opponent, isn't that it?"

Qu Heng: "."

I have to say, Li Chen's brain circuit made Qu Heng unable to keep up.

Good fellow, you play like this, right?

Qu Heng wanted to refute, but what Li Chen said made a lot of sense.

If you want to find someone higher level, it is certainly not easy to find, but it is indeed easy to find someone above the Condensing Essence Realm.

No matter what, if the opponent is one or two major realms higher than you, there is no way to fight.

If someone else said this, Qu Heng would angrily accuse this person of playing small tricks.

But Li Chen said this, and Qu Heng praised Li Chen for having great wisdom!

The subsequent exam was purely torture for Qu Heng.

Li Chen was too lazy to write at all, let him answer; no matter what he answered, Li Chen had a more outrageous answer.

But the problem was, Qu Heng didn't dare to say Li Chen was wrong.

Actually, Li Chen was not deliberately arguing; he knew his brain circuit was unique, and he thought about everything simply, as long as I win, don't worry about how I win.

It was because he had self-awareness that he told Qu Heng in advance that he was coming to take the exam.

If he really came to take the exam incognito, his answers would mostly be zeros.

Li Chen's way of reversing the heavens made the questioner himself dare not be sure that he was the correct answer, which was the most terrifying thing.

Don't say Li Chen didn't know it was Qu Heng who set the questions; even if he knew, so what?

The questions might be set by you, but the rules are set by me.

Do you know cultivation better than me!

In the end, Li Chen felt that there were too many questions, and he was even too lazy to write, so he let Qu Heng help him fill in the answers.

Did Qu Heng dare to refuse? Of course not; Li Chen's words were the decree, and he was the rule of the Tian Ce Dynasty!

With someone helping him answer the questions, Li Chen could leisurely eat tea and snacks by the window, watching the candidates around him scratching their ears and cheeks.

The candidates really wanted to scold this questioner; it was fine if the questions were tricky, but there were so many of them, and they couldn't finish writing at all!

At this moment, Qu Heng, who was frantically writing the test paper, also wanted to scold the questioner: Damn, if I had known, I wouldn't have set so many questions!

These candidates were being made difficult by Qu Heng, the questioner, and Li Chen was making it difficult for Qu Heng, the questioner.

With the sound of the bell ending the exam, Qu Heng just put down his pen; he felt that half of his old life was almost lost, writing until his old eyes were dizzy, which was more energy-consuming than fighting outside.

Because Li Chen chatted with him for a long time before letting him write, he really risked his life to finish writing.

Seeing that Qu Heng had just finished writing, Li Chen said: "Not bad, barely qualified."

Qu Heng immediately replied: "That is also thanks to the blessing of Your Majesty."

A gratified smile appeared on his face, as if he had finally completed his work, excited like a candidate.

After a while, Qu Heng realized, that's not right; wasn't it the Emperor who came to take the exam? Why did he seem like he was invigilating, and I was the candidate!

Many candidates around hadn't finished writing, and were forcibly collected by the invigilator.

With that ashen face, perhaps they could only wait until next year to come again.

Next was the talent test in the afternoon.

Qu Heng finally understood that the Emperor came to take the exam this time because he wanted a higher score.

There were many candidates around the talent test venue, and Qu Heng was still trying to find a way to help Li Chen "cheat."

But these couldn't stump Li Chen at all; the most difficult item in the talent test was nothing more than how to accurately hit the target when using Meridian Arts to impact under interference.

The so-called interference was that there would be various energy turbulence between the launch area and the target area.

There were ten targets in total, and the difficulty of hitting each target was different.

Generally speaking, the tester would hit the target by adjusting the trajectory after the first test.

Whoever used fewer times and hit more accurately would get a higher score.

But for Li Chen, there was no interference at all.

With a wave of his hand, ten Meridian Art impacts were launched, and all ten targets on the opposite side were hit; it could even be said that they were blown up.

Not only did he get a full score easily, but he also received cheers from many candidates nearby.

Being able to hit one was just luck; hitting ten at the same time was a god!

After Li Chen left, it was circulating among the candidates of that session of the New Fire Combat Academy that there was a candidate who was far ahead in the exam, but he didn't come for further studies; it was said that after he finished the exam, his grades were too excellent, and he was directly recruited into the imperial court, achieving a legend.

Li Chen returned to the Imperial Palace, and he only needed to wait for the scores to be announced to complete the task.

It was still early, and when he was considering whether to go to the Royal Forbidden Area to chat with the Supreme Master, the figure of the Empress Dowager appeared before his eyes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 143 =====