Chapter 16: Each Relies on Their Own Ability

With the weapon obtained, Wei Yuan picked the heavy armor with the strongest defense from all the armor. This heavy armor helmet came with face protection, and the limbs extended all the way to the back of the hands and the soles of the feet, almost wrapping him from head to toe. The long swords chosen by most examinees were useless in front of this set of heavy armor. Among the weapons in the treasure chest, there were actually prism hammers, heavy maces, and three-edged short swords that were good at breaking heavy armor, but perhaps because they were not beautiful and majestic enough, Wei Yuan didn't see anyone choose them.

After choosing the weapon and armor, the treasure chest disappeared on its own. The heavy armor appeared directly on Wei Yuan's body, worn properly by itself. It was just that this was an out-and-out heavy armor, and after putting it on, he could only jog.

Just at this moment, two more people climbed up the hill. Both of these people were in the blue team's clothing color; the one in front was thin, exactly the scout Wei Yuan had seen at the beginning. The blue team disciple beside him was quite burly, only a little shorter than Wei Yuan.

At this moment, the thin examinee was saying to his companion, "I tell you, there is a lone big fool here who doesn't even know how to use a weapon. In a moment, let's join forces and pick up a battle record first..."

Halfway through his sentence, the thin examinee saw Wei Yuan standing at the top of the hill, wearing heavy armor and holding a spear horizontally, and swallowed all the words below.

Wei Yuan didn't talk nonsense with them either, took a big step forward, the spear shot out like a dragon, and he pierced both of them with one shot each. The leather light armor worn by the two had a beautiful shape, but it didn't hinder their movement, and in front of the long spear, it was just like paper.

In the south of the illusionary realm, Li Zhi was wearing armor and a sword, standing in front of the formation. He had already gathered 120 examinees here, and at this moment, they were divided into four teams—front, middle, left, and right—arranged very neatly.

Looking at the neat military formation, Li Zhi was very satisfied. Before the exam, he had painstakingly practiced military formation methods with several confidants, and just now he had spent a lot of time organizing the team. Now, these hundred-plus people looked like an elite army.

Outside the military formation, more than a dozen people were standing scattered, also in dark yellow clothing. These people were not recruited by Li Zhi and had found their way here according to the sub-team. A tall examinee holding a saber was standing in front of these dozen people, pointing to a small mound not far away and saying, "In a moment, you will guard that place. Without my order, you are not allowed to retreat a single step! Wait, before going over, hand over all your elixirs first and use them uniformly!"

That mound was located in front of the military formation, responsible for blocking the enemy's military edge. Being deployed in that place and having their life-saving elixirs taken away, it was likely that these people would be wiped out in a single charge from the opposite side.

Those scattered examinees were not stupid, and immediately someone couldn't take it anymore, jumped out and shouted, "We came to join out of good intentions, but you treat us like fools? Guarding that position, we will die in a single encounter; how many points can we get? In the end, we won't even get a position in the Red Tide Sect! With no benefits, why should we listen to you?"

Li Zhi turned around slowly, looked at the examinee, expressionless, and said, "Disobeying orders before the formation, disturbing the morale of the army! Behead!"

The examinee was stunned, not yet understanding what was going on, when the tall examinee beside him swung a saber and beheaded him!

The headless corpse of the examinee fell to the ground and turned into light, disappearing.

The remaining scattered examinees all trembled, no longer daring to resist, and obediently handed over their elixirs. Although the regulations clearly stipulated that killing teammates would lower the evaluation, it didn't say by how much. Li Zhi dared to kill to establish authority, which meant he didn't care about this rule at all. Besides, the person wasn't killed by Li Zhi.

Li Zhi turned his head and said loudly to the entire military formation, "Everyone has seen it, there are no jokes in the army! This is a martial test, it is actually a real battlefield! We have fewer people than the other side, so we must be united. The opposite side is just a mob; as long as everyone can follow orders, I, Li Zhi, will naturally lead you to crush the enemy camp and enter the immortal sect together!"

Hearing the four words "enter the immortal sect together," although the examinees in the military formation knew the hope was slim, they were all boiling with excitement.

Inside the hall in the sky, the six evaluators were already seated. They looked down, taking everything in the illusionary realm into their eyes.

The old Confucian scholar smiled and stroked his beard, saying, "This Li Zhi can discipline a group of children into having the appearance of an army in one day; he knows how to kill to establish authority and how to inspire people. That Duke Hui'en is indeed fortunate to have such a good son."

However, the old Confucian scholar didn't say Li Zhi had the style of his father, after all, everyone present knew what kind of character Duke Hui'en was.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar bowed to all sides at this time and said, "How Li Zhi is, everyone has seen these past two days. This last round is of great significance to him, and I hope everyone will raise their hands high. When the time comes, my academy will naturally have a return."

The young cultivator suddenly smiled and said, "You want to protect Li Zhi for the first place, to use this title to build momentum and soar into the sky; that is not wrong. It's just that it so happens that the young lady is someone who doesn't admit defeat, and now she also wants this first place. What should we do about this?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar's thick eyebrows furrowed, and he said earnestly, "Miss Bao is just competing out of pride; taking first place has no real benefit, so letting her have it wouldn't hurt, right?"

The young cultivator chuckled and said, "Letting her have it wouldn't hurt? Go tell that to the Bao family; it's useless to tell me!"

"If Miss Bao is willing to help fulfill others' wishes, then we will naturally have a generous reward."

The young cultivator sneered and said, "The things you poor scholars can take out, the young lady doesn't look upon!"

Seeing the two getting more and more deadlocked, the elderly cultivator stroked his long beard, coughed, and said, "Since we are deadlocked, let each rely on their own ability."

The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded and said, "That would be best."

The young cultivator glared at the elderly cultivator and turned his head to look at Daoist Brother Fufeng and the monk. Since the monk received Duan Duan Yusheng, he had no more movements, and his scoring was fair. However, from another aspect, this monk also belonged to the type that couldn't be swayed by oil or salt, and no one could do anything about him. All the evaluators had given up on winning him over early on.

Daoist Brother Fufeng was originally an old fox with a very deep city, and after two tests, no one knew which one he truly wanted to protect. The young cultivator looked at him just holding the idea of trying, without expecting a response.

At this moment, among the six evaluators, except for the two Confucian scholars of the Four Sages Academy who were of one mind, the other evaluators belonged to different factions, each with their own thoughts and each having people they wanted to protect. In this way, the Four Sages Academy had the upper hand in the evaluation scoring; if they wanted to suppress someone's score, they could potentially suppress it directly to the cave heaven. Only the Bao family was powerful and did not fear the Four Sages Academy, so they would openly snatch the first place in the unified examination.

When evaluating, the young cultivator only had himself, so he was at a great disadvantage. It was easy to imagine that the two Confucian scholars would inevitably suppress Miss Bao's score, so to turn the situation around, the young cultivator had to find another ally and also suppress Li Zhi's score.

The young cultivator's face was filled with indignation, but in his heart, he was calculating rapidly which side he could win over and when he could stab the Four Sages Academy in the back. But thinking left and right, it was a dead end.

Just when the young cultivator was at his wit's end, Daoist Brother Fufeng suddenly said, "In the Dao and literary tests of the past two days, the two gentlemen have taken good care of my Grand Void Palace disciples. After returning, I thought about it over and over, and I always felt that I had no way to repay, so today I will naturally have a response."

The young cultivator was both surprised and happy, while the two Confucian scholars of the Four Sages Academy were shocked, not understanding which nerve Daoist Brother Fufeng had misfired to insist on going against them. Was he not afraid that the two of them would join forces and give random scores to the examinees of the families competing for the Grand Void Palace quota, ruining his big plan?

The old Confucian scholar immediately raised his long eyebrows and said coldly, "Then this old man will not hold back either; don't blame me for being ruthless with my brush!"

Daoist Brother Fufeng spread his hands, signaling him to please do as he wished.

The old Confucian scholar was so angry that his face turned black, sitting motionless, not knowing what he was calculating in his heart, exchanging glances with the middle-aged Confucian scholar from time to time.

Just at this moment, a bang was heard, and the hall door was kicked open by someone!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 17 =====