Chapter 355: The First Round

Tang Zhao was furious upon hearing this and blurted out, "What did you say? You had better be responsible for your words!"

Instructor An pointed at him righteously and said, "I am naturally responsible, I fear you all need to be even more responsible. Jing'an Division students are cheating themselves, and you, the Land Inspection Division, are organizing students to cheat; that is even more despicable."

Lan Xiuzhu, who had been caught in the crossfire, raised an eyebrow and said, "Interesting, I didn't expect such an interlude. You say the Land Inspection Division is cheating, the Land Inspection Division says they aren't. Since both sides hold different views, why not confront each other? Let's go tell the Host."

The three of them glared at each other, but in the end, they still went to find Li Yijian together.

Upon hearing this, Li Yijian was neither biased nor partial; he said with a cold face, "This is another public case. Instructor An, you accuse the Land Inspection Division—are you just cursing casually, or is this a formal accusation?"

Instructor An said, "I am naturally..."

Lan Xiuzhu reminded him, "Instructor An, I advise you not to jump to conclusions. If you make a formal accusation, you will have to pursue it to the end; one of you two will have to go in. This is a military camp, and military law is swift and decisive. Not to mention Instructor Tang, if you are wrong, you will be suspected of making a false accusation and will be held responsible all the same. The assessment hasn't even begun, and if we go from four instructors down to three, that won't bring any glory to the face of Yunzhou."

Instructor An paused slightly and said, "Fine. This is not a courtroom, and there is no impartial judge here, so I will not formally accuse you. When we return, our Prison Suppression Division will submit a petition to the Lord; let's see how you answer then. I will state this matter first, you all judge for me. I asked my students, they were prepared early on and were in ambush... how could they lose? They all replied that it was clearly an evenly matched struggle, and they even had the upper hand, but once they crossed swords, they were basically all at a disadvantage. Some swords even snapped directly, and there were people holding swords who acted as if they had taken some kind of tonic, erupting with powerful strength to break out of the encirclement..."

Tang Zhao raised an eyebrow and said, "Encirclement? How many people surrounding one counts as a heavy encirclement?"

Instructor An said, "That is not the point. In any case, the Land Inspection Division's strength lies in their Art Tools; clearly, they borrowed external force. We have requirements for Art Tools in the exam, and the One Yuan Heavy Art Tools are all the same items, so how could there be such a large gap? If this isn't cheating, what is?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "I wondered what it was; so it's this. Our Art Tools are all compliant. If you don't believe it, you can inspect them."

He said it dismissively. Instructor An was stunned, and Lan Xiuzhu laughed, "Oh? Instructor Tang denies it entirely! Then let's inspect them. Point out a few people you think are cheating, and we shall inspect them together."

Instructor An had originally been certain, but because Tang Zhao was full of confidence and Lan Xiuzhu was pushing hard, he instead grew suspicious and for a moment did not know whether to point them out.

Li Yijian had heard clearly and said calmly, "That's simple. There is no need to point out individuals. Instructor An's meaning is that the Land Inspection Division is cheating collectively; since they can encounter powerful Art Tools every time, that means everyone has them, regardless of who is cheating and who is not. It is impossible for the Land Inspection Division to only be biased toward certain people. I will just call out three people at random to inspect."

He smiled and said, "I happen to have a Talisman Sword Master here, an expert newly hired by the Central Army; I will invite him to perform the inspection."

Instructor An gritted his teeth and said, "Inspect. There is definitely something fishy."

Li Yijian then pointed at three people at random, both male and female, and told them to take out the Art Tools on their persons immediately. Because the exam had a designated uniform—fitted with narrow sleeves, no pockets on the body, and nowhere to hide items—and the young women had no jewelry, the Art Tools could only be tucked at their waists, clear at a glance.

Having confiscated the three people's longsword Art Tools, Li Yijian ordered a minor officer to go invite the Talisman Sword Master and said, "It will be a while before the Talisman Sword Master arrives; let them take the first round first."

Instructor An said, "If they are cheating, they cannot take even one round."

Li Yijian said, "It is never too late to expel them; taking one more round is just suffering one more round of hardship."

Hearing the word 'suffering', Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "In the first round, my students have no Art Tools; if they have to fight, they will definitely be at a disadvantage. This is not fair."

Li Yijian said, "No matter, the first round does not require Art Tools."

Immediately after, he had the students form ranks. He did not take them away from the horse field, nor did he bring out any equipment, and announced to everyone, "The first round below is a—written exam."

Everyone was stunned, and then they breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't strange. A written exam is usually arranged for graduation exams. Most are arranged for the first round. A written exam is indeed necessary; otherwise, wouldn't everyone have wasted the books they read over these years? Although everyone spent ninety percent of their time training later on, there was still ten percent spent reading books, right?

Moreover, it is better to put the written exam in the first round. One's state is best in the first round, which is suitable for taking a written exam. If it is placed at the end, after all sorts of chaotic fighting, one's mind would be a blank, and memories would have long been in a mess.

Li Yijian looked at the relieved crowd and said calmly, "Very good, lead your horses and go to the written exam."

Written exam... lead our... what?

Li Yijian's face sank and he said, "Bring your horses. Horses are our partners; could it be that once you entered the exam hall, you forgot your own horses? The horses will be sad."

He pointed at the row of horse troughs. The troughs were separated into small stalls by wooden boards, and a horse stood inside each one. The stalls were so narrow that after accommodating a horse, a person could barely fit inside, and only by standing sideways.

"Find your horses, then enter the stalls for the exam. By the way, those who find the wrong horse will be considered as having failed."

Taking an exam... in the horse shed?

The crowd was dumbfounded, to the point that no one cared that recognizing the wrong horse meant being eliminated. That was essentially a test of observation and memory; the horses didn't all look the same, and they had spent a period of time together, so it counted as one of the easier types of exam.

But... a horse shed exam?

How can one take an exam while staying with a horse?

There is no place to even stand; where should the exam paper be placed, and where should one write the answers?

Tang Zhao could not help but feel surprised and amused—everyone says the imperial examination hall is a pigeon coop, but this horse shed is the real pigeon coop.

No wonder the horse sheds here were so strange, with the partitions between the troughs being particularly long and sturdy; he had thought it was because these horses were fiery, so they received different treatment.

The pigeon coops in the examination hall still had places to sit; here, standing was already a struggle, unless one was willing to sit on the horse's back—but the height was not enough, so one could only lie prone to answer the questions.

This posture is very hard to endure.

The examinees had no choice but to stand one after another in their horse stalls. Although they couldn't find a place to put their papers for a moment, fortunately, they could stand. These horses were all ones they had ridden back all the way, so they were considered familiar; they were not startled and stood quietly squeezed in the horse shed with the people. It seemed that no accidents would happen for a while.

Li Yijian waited for the students to stand still and let the soldiers distribute the exam papers.

That exam paper was truly a 'scroll'; its length was so long that even Tang Zhao felt his scalp tingle.

One exam paper had to cover three years of knowledge, and it wasn't divided into subjects, so it should have been long... however, this paper was truly too long, nearly twice as long as in previous years. In the past, the written exam lasted a whole day; looking at this, it might not be finished even in a day and a night.

"You will sit in the horse shed to answer the questions; you may leave once you are finished. At the latest, it will last until this time tomorrow."

This was not giving them any rest time at all. Many students had traveled hard from the outside; some had not even drunk a few mouthfuls of water in order to hurry on their journey.

And in the horse shed...

Tang Zhao asked on behalf of the students, "What about food and drink?"

Li Yijian said calmly, "What does it matter if you don't eat or drink for a day? Supplies at the front line are difficult; sometimes you can't eat for two or three days, and you can't find water sources, don't you still have to pull through? Has the camp not trained your endurance? If you are truly hungry, there is fodder in the horse troughs, as long as you are willing to eat it. When you are truly hungry, you can even eat tree bark and grass roots; if you don't want to eat, it means you aren't hungry enough, so just endure it."

Then there is no need to ask about sleeping. If you are not afraid of not finishing the exam paper or having your head kicked by a horse, you are welcome to sleep standing up.

Tang Zhao asked again, "What about urination and defecation?"

Li Yijian said, "You can do as the horses do; could it be that someone will watch you through the stall?"

Some young women blushed instantly. Li Yijian continued, "If you are unwilling, then hold it. You have all practiced Mysterious Technique; do you not even have this bit of adjustment ability? Sometimes in the wild, you are in ambush for a whole night, without moving a muscle; if you can't even endure this, you won't have much of a future."

Tang Zhao nodded secretly. The Training Camp had this kind of training. Even though the horse shed was narrow and hard, at least it could shelter them from the wind and rain. There were many more dangerous places at the front line, so this didn't count as a desperate situation.

However, he was also a 'keyboard warrior'—he was a Sword Guest now, so not eating or drinking for several days didn't matter. If it were back when he had just become a Loose Practitioner, he might not have been able to hold out.

After all, his 'Academy' was Zhuoyu Villa, and his 'graduation exam' was the Spring Talisman Assembly. He had not received this kind of arduous training, and although the 'Sword Province Road' of the Talisman Assembly was long, it was full of magnificent wonders, which was not as physiologically torturous as the Training Camp's exam.

He was truly a little relieved.

Finally, Li Yijian added, "Besides the exam, don't forget to look after your horses. Any horse that is startled and makes too much noise will be counted as roaring in the exam hall and will be driven out without exception. But if the horse suffers any harm, not only will you lose your qualifications, but you must also pay compensation. The military horses here are not cheap."

The minor officer nearby beat the military drum, and the exam officially began.

The first round of the exam here had already been arranged, and there were soldiers patrolling, so there was no need for the instructors to invigilate. Still the same saying: generally, if caught cheating, one goes in, but those with high-level cheating techniques count as having the ability, and they are welcome to pass.

At this moment, the Talisman Sword Master sought by Li Yijian finally arrived late.

A young man was seen walking over slowly; he was only about twenty years old, and over his officer's uniform, he had draped an open-fronted Daoist robe, which fluttered lightly as he walked like a cape. Although he had come under orders, he was not in the least bit hurried in his gait, swaying back and forth as if he were a young nobleman going for an outing in the countryside.

Lan Xiuzhu and Tang Zhao exchanged a glance, then looked at Li Yijian again. They were clearly curious how, given Li Yijian's style, he could tolerate such a person under his command.

Li Yijian did not say a word, but his lips were pressed tightly together, clearly embarrassed and exercising restraint.

This Talisman Sword Master's status was not low; perhaps it was nothing in the Central Army, but he was the only one accompanying the troops in his battalion, and he had been hard-won. Since the man did not violate military regulations and was merely sauntering about, there was truly no way to deal with him.

However, at this moment, the young man paused, suddenly accelerated, and trotted over, calling out, "Tang Xiansheng? Is it really Tang Xiansheng? Why are you here?"