Chapter 10: Do Not Exceed the Rules

Among the boys and girls on the square, twenty people heard the summons in their ears, walked into the hall, and saw different numbers appearing on the cushions. Everyone didn't dare to be negligent, hurriedly found their respective numbered positions, sat cross-legged, and operated the formula.

In the high place above, there was actually another hall suspended in the air, but the candidates below occasionally looked up, and all they saw were blue sky and white clouds.

In the hall in the air, seven desks were placed, six of which were occupied. The six people were dressed differently, including a Daoist, two cultivators, two scholars, and a monk. In front of these six people, the hall below was completely transparent, revealing the candidates sitting cross-legged one by one.

The six people were the reviewers of this unified examination, holding the power of life and death over the candidates, each with an extraordinary bearing, but they all turned a blind eye to the empty table beside them.

At this time, in the hall below, light pillars began to rise from the incense burners beside each candidate, with different thicknesses, some dark and some bright.

These two light pillars represented root bone talent on the left and fate fortune on the right. Before half the time had passed, the light pillars of more than half of the candidates stopped growing, and the height was only about a foot. After a few breaths, only the root bone talent light pillar of the last candidate was still increasing, finally rising to three and a half feet, as thick as a fist, with a golden thread constantly wandering inside. It was just that his fate fortune light pillar, although two feet, was gray and had nothing special.

In the hall in the air, the older cultivator said: "The root bone is medium, but there is the sharpness of gold, and the evaluation can be slightly raised."

The other reviewers also nodded one after another. Since there was no dispute, the six reviewers wrote evaluations in their respective rosters. In the center of the reviewer hall stood a stone tablet, and as the six reviewers finished writing their evaluations, the names and final scores of the candidates appeared on the stone tablet. The final score was the average of the scores given by all reviewers.

With the sound of a bell, the candidates in the hall left, and the next batch of candidates filed in, and Li Zhi was in the second batch of candidates.

Li Zhi sat down and closed his eyes, and in an instant, two light pillars erupted from the incense burners on both sides!

The left light pillar was cyan, showing rolling waves inside, and it didn't stop until it reached over eight feet; the right light pillar was bright gold, approaching a zhang! Then countless light spots appeared in the bright golden light pillar, gathering into a small tripod.

In the reviewer hall, the older scholar stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "The root bone and fate are both top-grade, and the tripod is also a top-grade phase. I, Liu Sigu, haven't seen many such talents in my life. The Duke of Huien has truly given birth to a good son!"

The older cultivator said: "It seems that the Four Sages Academy has added another excellent disciple this time, and maybe he can even enter Liu Lao's account."

The scholar smiled even more happily: "Easy to say, easy to say!"

In fact, all reviewers had a list in their hands, and it was clearly listed which sect each child was going to. However, the list and the quota were not necessarily equal; for example, there were five families fighting for the three quotas of Taichu Palace. In the end, who would get it depended on the candidate's performance, and secondly on the reviewer's performance.

Those who were not on the list were self-evident; after all, even the second-rate Grotto-Heaven quotas had been divided up, leaving only a little leftover for them to fight for.

Liu Sigu picked up his pen and wrote 'Heaven A' and 'Forty' after the nineteenth number representing Li Zhi in the roster.

According to tradition, whether it was root bone or fate light pillar, below three feet was human grade, four to six feet was earth grade, seven to nine feet was heaven grade, and above one zhang was super grade. If the light pillar could resonate with heaven and earth, various visions would be produced, and common visions were also divided into three, six, and nine grades, and sacrificial vessels such as tripods and incense burners were all top-grade. As long as a vision could appear, the evaluation would be adjusted accordingly.

Liu Sigu wrote the old evaluation of Heaven A, and forty was the new score, both given to the top. The evaluations given by the other reviewers according to the old system were all the same, all Heaven A. It was just that the new score was divided more finely, so there was a slight fluctuation up and down.

In the end, Li

In the next two batches, several more geniuses appeared, some with a foundation of nine feet, others with Qi luck of nine feet, but none were as well-rounded as Li Zhi.

By the time the fourth batch of candidates arrived, one person's Qi luck suddenly surged, breaking through the one-zhang mark in the blink of an eye!

Several of the evaluators were startled and turned their gazes toward him, seeing that the person was a youth with delicate features like a girl. His foundation was mediocre, only five feet, but his Qi luck was truly astonishing; it crossed the one-zhang mark and did not stop, rising another half-foot before finally coming to a halt. The first supreme-rank had appeared!

There really is a child of Qi luck!

The six evaluators immediately turned serious, pondering in silence.

The original intention of the Immortal Sects was to recruit a few children of Qi luck in Feng Yuan Prefecture, a place where winds and clouds gather, which is why they allocated the quotas. But the problem is that these quotas had already been carved up before the examination even began. Now, this candidate was not on any of the lists held by the evaluators, which made things awkward. If a child of Qi luck truly appeared and the Immortal Sects didn't recruit them, it would be a bit too obvious.

Just then, the person's Qi luck changed again; the pillar of light turned dark red, revealing a surging sea of blood!

The young monk suddenly smiled and said, "So it is the Blood Sea of Purgatory! This Qi luck is too hot for your families to handle, but it is of some use to my Great Da Bao Hua Jing Land. I will take this child!"

The Daoist dressed in the colors of the Primordial Palace opened his eyes and asked indifferently, "Do you have an extra quota?"

The monk chanted a Buddhist name and said, "I naturally don't have an extra quota, but I can go ask for one immediately; I will want it as soon as the Dao test is over."

Everyone nodded one after another, saying no more, but they were all secretly awestruck in their hearts. For this monk to say he would get a quota meant he clearly had deep roots within the Great Da Bao Hua Jing Land and could not be easily offended.

No one had any intention of snatching this youth from him. Just as the monk said, although this youth was a child of Qi luck, his destiny was burdened with a heavy killing tribulation, which was troublesome for both himself and others, making him very difficult to handle. Besides, every evaluator held a list; where would there be a spot for this youth?

The evaluators opened their rosters, just about to put pen to paper, when the monk suddenly said, "I am determined to have this child, so everyone should show mercy when writing. If this child's ranking ends up too low and I lose my affinity with him, that would not be beautiful. I have emptied myself of the four elements, but I have one obsession: I hold grudges."

The evaluators all indicated that they would certainly not let the Master's opportunity fall through, and only then did the monk desist.

A line of text appeared on the stone tablet: Duan Yusheng, Heaven-C, thirty-five.

Down in the hall, after another batch of candidates was swapped out, Wei Yuan heard his own number.

Wei Yuan followed the other candidates into the main hall, saw his number flickering on a prayer mat, and walked over to sit down.

Following a clear, resonant chime, the Dao test began.

Wei Yuan calmed his mind and channeled his energy according to the method shown in the technique manual.

(End of chapter)