Chapter 514: How Did You Do on the Exam?

Xuan Li immediately squeezed over, and her first words were: "Pan Yun, how did you do on the exam?"

Losing to someone doesn't mean losing face, Pan Yun said confidently: "I think I did well."

Hearing this, Xuan Li's heart clenched: "I drew the Rain-Prayer ritual in the ceremony just now—I misrecited one line of my talisman. What did you draw?"

"Guiding the Dead, Breaking Hell," Pan Yun said confidently: "We completed it perfectly."

Xuan Li's eyes turned red: "It's over—Guangxin Prefecture is taking only five people this year. I definitely won't pass."

Pan Yun comforted her: "Stay calm. Even though I feel I answered well, I'm young—among so many candidates, someone must have done better. Look at their ages. If you don't pass this year, try again next year."

Xuan Li sniffled and asked: "When are you going to the Imperial Academy?"

Pan Yun: "In a few days."

A fellow disciple came over to Xuan Li: "Sister Xuan Li, let's go back—the sky's almost dark."

Xuan Li made plans with them: "Let's all come together to check the results tomorrow."

Pan Yun nodded: "See you here tomorrow."

Xuan Li's fellow disciples also bowed to Pan Yun before leaving.

Pan Yun asked: "Has Tao Yanbai come out yet?"

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded: "Not yet."

The three leaned against the wall and waited; soon after, Tao Yanbai trudged out, head drooping.

Just by his expression, Pan Yun knew he had no chance.

Pan Yun patted his shoulder and waved: "Let's go—we're heading back too."

An Chen and his Brocade Guard troops were crouched by the alley's mouth, occupying a vendor's table seats—so many of them that the vendor couldn't serve anyone.

Pan Yun spotted them, shot An Chen a glare, then sat at a table and said to the vendor, whose eyes were vacant: "One bowl of wonton for each of us."

The vendor immediately perked up, glancing at Miao Zhen and the other two: "Four bowls?"

Pan Yun pulled out a one-tael silver ingot and placed it on the table, then swept her hand toward the Brocade Guards: "And them too."

The vendor's eyes lit up with joy; he rushed forward, snatched the silver, and bowed repeatedly: "Yes, yes—twelve bowls total. I'll make them right away!"

Pan Yun asked An Chen: "Is one bowl of wonton enough to eat?"

An Chen hesitated, thinking how to answer, but Pan Yun had already looked away: "Understood, boss—add a hundred dumplings!"

The vendor shouted in response, calling to his son playing with pebbles nearby: "Come wash your hands and help! Go get your mother too!"

An Chen turned to Pan Yun: "We could return to the inn to eat."

The inn provided free meals for staff.

Pan Yun: "Forget it. Though I'm poor, I'm not short on a few coins—and eating local delicacies isn't bad. Consider it scouting for next year."

Miao He looked up: "Little Master Auntie, didn't you say you did well on the exam?"

Pan Yun glanced at her: "I felt I did well—but doing well doesn't mean I'll be selected."

Tao Yanbai immediately asked: "Little Master Auntie, how likely do you think it is you'll pass?"

Pan Yun's face turned serious: "Zero."

Seeing Miao Zhen's eyes widened: "Little Master Auntie, you didn't finish your exam?"

Pan Yun sighed: "I finished it—I wouldn't leave a blank paper. But I guessed on a few questions. That's nothing—I thought I could make up for it in later exams. But I didn't expect…"

Seeing Miao Zhen thought a moment and understood: "We never studied the Breaking Hell ritual."

Miao He quickly comforted: "It's not your fault—the questions this year were too hard."

Pan Yun asked Seeing Miao Zhen: "You couldn't do it either?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "I could."

Miao He and Tao Yanbai immediately turned to stare at her. Seeing Miao Zhen said: "Though Grand Master didn't teach it, I read the texts and once practiced the sword steps. But I never used Qi as a catalyst, so I don't know if I could truly open the gates of Hell and summon the dead."

Pan Yun knew the spell to open the gates of Hell—but her method differed from the Breaking Hell ritual, which required guiding arrays based on calming, summoning, and benevolence.

Pan Yun's method used deadly strikes—once opened, it was a flurry of slaughter. Not only would it not guide souls, but the souls would be lucky to avoid total annihilation.

That's why Pan Yun dared not pretend.

Hearing that Seeing Miao Zhen had studied outside class, Pan Yun immediately said: "Find the book later and let me study it—I thought the preliminary exam was simple, but we can't afford to be careless."

Miao He and Tao Yanbai immediately said: "Count me in—I want to learn too!"

Pan Yun understood: "So only Seeing Miao Zhen has a chance among us from Mount Sanqing."

Seeing Miao Zhen hesitated: "I'm not sure I'll make it either."

Pan Yun patted her shoulder: "Be confident—even if you don't succeed, we must project confidence so others believe we can."

Seeing Miao Zhen frowned: "Why?"

Pan Yun: "We're doing good deeds."

No one gets a single wrong answer in one single content in one single look!

Seeing Miao Zhen and the others were baffled.

Pan Yun lifted her chin: "The more confident we act, the fewer people stay overnight. They save on lodging fees—that's a good deed, isn't it?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and the others: …

The Brocade Guards: …

Before they could recover from their silence, Pan Yun turned to An Chen: "An Platoon Leader, why are two of your Brocade Guards missing? You didn't send them to chase my senior disciple, did you?"

An Chen's eyebrows twitched; he said flatly: "They returned to the capital to deliver a message. You're imagining things, Daoist Pan—what's so special about Wang Cong that we'd chase him?"

Pan Yun nodded: "True. Besides, even if you chased, you couldn't catch him."

The Brocade Guards truly couldn't catch him—they lost him halfway.

Pan Yun, Miao He, and Tao Yanbai were certain they had no chance—but Seeing Miao Zhen still had hope, so they decided to wait until tomorrow to see the results before leaving.

Zhang Ziming heard they were comparing answers at the inn and laughed: "You didn't even get those easy questions right?"

Pan Yun asked Zhang Weiyi and Xue Hua directly: "Why did you fail the retest? Given that you both began learning the Dao from childhood, with a family heritage behind you, the retest shouldn't have been hard. So how could you both fail it?"

Zhang Weiyi said expressionlessly: "I failed because on the day of the retest, when I stepped over the threshold, I stepped on a pebble, so I was eliminated."

Pan Yun's eyes went wide: "What?"

She turned her head to look at Xue Hua.

Xue Hua was also expressionless: "I failed because there was an extra ink blot on my paper, which spoiled the appearance of the test paper, so I was eliminated."

Pan Yun looked expressionlessly at Zhang Ziming: "Listen to this — are these legitimate reasons?"

"Of course they are," Zhang Ziming replied with a question of his own: "What's not normal about them?"

He said with a smile: "That pebble was no ordinary pebble. Before the exam, the Dao Discipline Bureau designated a specific pebble — whoever stepped on it would be eliminated. He happened to step on it, which shows his fortune was poor.

For those who cultivate the Dao, fortune is also a major factor. Since his fortune was poor, it was only right that he be eliminated and try again next year."

To Pan Yun's surprise, Li Wenying also nodded: "Don't find it so strange. Maybe next year's hidden test question will be: those who step over the threshold with the left foot first are eliminated."

Pan Yun's eyes went wide: "Th-there are hidden test questions like that too?"

The four from Long Hushan nodded as if it were perfectly normal: "Yes!"

At this point, not to mention Pan Yun and the others, even the Brocade-Clad Guards were dumbfounded and couldn't help saying: "This is way too underhanded."

Zhang Ziming laughed: "This isn't underhanded — this is balance."

Pan Yun murmured: "Balance?"

(End of chapter)