Hao Ren took a closer look and realized that it was the fundamental boxing techniques that the soldiers of the East Ocean Dragon Palace practiced every morning and night!
With such a familiar move and such a broad back, who else could it be other than Zhao Kuo?
Hao Ren's heart skipped a beat, and he sped up and ran to the entrance of the alley hundreds of meters away.
The cultivators who were moving in the alley were pushed back by Hao Ren. They were about to get angry when they realized that Hao Ren was an assisting inspector, and they suppressed their anger.
After Zhao Kuo finished practicing the boxing techniques, he swung his arms and walked into the alley on the right.
"Third Uncle!" Hao Ren yelled immediately.
However, his yell didn't attract Zhao Kuo's attention. Zhao Kuo had already walked into the alley between the front and back rooms.
"Who's making noise?!"
A level 2 inspector who was patrolling nearby landed from the sky.
Although the written exam was over, there were still more than two hours before the combat exam. This time was for the cultivators to rest and replenish their energy, so no noise was allowed.
When he saw that it was an assisting inspector who yelled, his angry face softened a little. However, he still struck Hao Ren's chest with the dharma treasure in his hand, and Hao Ren was forced back three steps.
"Don't make noise in the written exam area." The inspector gave Hao Ren a lesson and left slowly.
The surrounding cultivators looked at Hao Ren and sighed in their hearts.
If it were an ordinary cultivator who yelled in the written exam area, he would be kicked out of the exam area and disqualified from the combat exam. He might not even be allowed to participate in the Dragon God Shrine's general exams for the next three years. However, the inspectors who were monitoring the exam area only gave a small reminder to the assisting inspector who broke the rules.
Therefore, the identity of an assisting inspector was something that everyone was jealous of!
However, Hao Ren couldn't find Zhao Kuo when he ran over again!
It was currently the Chou hour, and the sky had yet to brighten. The light in the area with thousands of lodgings was hazy.
The cultivators who were moving around the rooms were all wearing the same brown robes. Hao Ren couldn't find Zhao Kuo in the crowd no matter how hard he tried.
With his identity as an assisting inspector, no cultivator dared to stop him when he rushed into the row of rooms.
Hao Ren searched the rooms one by one but still couldn't find Zhao Kuo.
He searched the nearby rows, but still couldn't find it.
With less than four hours to go before the combat exam, many cultivators were seizing the time to cultivate in their rooms. The written exam area had to be quiet, and Hao Ren couldn't shout. It was even more difficult to find Zhao Kuo.
However, Hao Ren was sure that Zhao Kuo was in the vicinity.
This area was not far from Ren Yin 246, which meant that Zhao Kuo and Hao Ren were in the same area.
Since the theory examination was held in one area, the combat examination would definitely be held in another area as well.
Hao Ren's opponent in the combat exams might be Zhao Kuo!
I wonder what realm Zi's Third Uncle has reached …
With this in mind, Hao Ren returned to Ren Yin 246's room.
In the two neighboring rooms, two cultivators were cultivating cross-legged on chairs. Sensing Hao Ren's return, they opened their eyes and looked at him without saying a word.
A person who could confront the chief examiner was definitely a dangerous person. They obviously didn't want to get into trouble!
Hao Ren didn't say anything to them. After returning to his room, he closed his eyes and cultivated as well.
It looked like the exam area before dawn was extraordinarily quiet and serene, but in fact, everyone was nervously preparing for the competition!
This was … the calm before the storm.
The cultivators who were chatting with each other in the alley a moment ago might be fighting to the death in the arena two hours later!
Dang … Dang … Dang …
The bell of the Dragon God Shrine rang again.
It was five in the morning!
Hundreds of inspectors moved out together again.
This entire process made all the cultivators who had participated in the general examinations nervous in an instant.
Boom!
From one of the rooms in Hao Ren's row, an identity token flew out automatically and landed in the hands of an inspector.
The cultivator whose identity token was taken away had failed the written exam and lost the right to participate in the combat exam!
Swoosh!
Another wooden token suddenly flew out from the waist of a cultivator. Swoosh!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
As the inspectors swept out row by row, wooden tokens kept flying out from the thousands of rooms in the exam area!
The written exam of the Dragon God Shrine wasn't easy to pass!
Hao Ren grabbed the wooden token on his waist nervously, afraid that it would fly out as well.
The written exam only had the student's number and not their name. Therefore, if Hao Ren didn't answer the questions correctly, he might fail the written exam as well.
However, the level 2 inspector didn't take away Hao Ren's identity token when he passed by Hao Ren's room.
At the same time, Hao Ren heard the two cultivators next to him heave a sigh of relief. It was obvious that they were also very nervous.
The identity token that flew into the inspector's hand quickly turned black, indicating that the number was no longer valid. The dragon cultivator with this number had lost the right to participate in the exam!
The cultivators who didn't pass the written exam packed up and left quietly.
The dark red light surrounding the platform of the Dragon God Shrine suddenly faded.
The Dragon God Shrine was open to the public again!
The cultivators who didn't pass could choose to go back or stay here to watch the battles. The cultivators who didn't arrive yesterday could also re-enter the area of the Dragon God Shrine today.
Hao Ren followed the crowd to the arena in the inner city. Standing outside the railing of the 20 arenas, he observed the Dragon God Shrine from a close distance.
In the white morning light, the Dragon God Shrine looked like a huge black city, giving people an oppressive feeling.
The platform around the Dragon God Shrine, from the outer city to the inner city, was only open for three days every year during the general exams. However, the inside of the Dragon God Shrine was never open to the public.
Unless one became an official inspector or a wanted criminal, they would never be able to enter the Dragon God Shrine.
This rule made the Dragon God Shrine even more mysterious.
Three level 4 inspectors walked out of the Dragon God Shrine and sat on the three chairs on the viewing platform that was slightly higher than the arena.
There were 24 small arenas and one big arena in the four directions of the Dragon God Shrine. The big arena was surrounded by the small arenas, so there were a total of 96 small arenas and four big arenas.
Hao Ren's area was on the east side, and Qin Shaoyang was in charge of it.
However, as the main examiner, Qin Shaoyang didn't seem to care about the early stages of the competition. He didn't come out of the Dragon God Shrine at all. Instead, he only asked the three deputy examiners to come out.
Other than the three deputy examiners who were responsible for supervising the competition, there were also a large group of level 1 and level 2 inspectors who were responsible for recording and arranging the battles.
The general exams of the Dragon God Shrine was a grand event for the entire Dragon Tribe, so the Dragon God Shrine had transferred a large number of inspectors from all over the world. During this period, the number of inspectors in the Dragon God Shrine had reached its peak.
Standing in the crowd, Hao Ren looked around carefully and didn't see Su Han.
In fact, if Su Han, who was wearing a silver silk robe, was here, it would be easy to find her.
Around the arena were a large group of inspectors in silver robes, and outside the arena were candidates in brown robes.
Jia Yin, Yi Yin, Bing Yin, Ding Yin … Jia Mao, Yi Mao, Bing Mao, Ding Mao …
Each of the small arenas had their own signboard. There were exactly 24 of them, no more, no less.
During the written exam, the two cultivators who lived next to Hao Ren were Ren Yin 245 and Ren Yin 247. When they saw the sign, they hurried toward the arena with the 'Ren Yin' sign.
Hao Ren finally understood that the selection for the early stages of the competition was based on the order of the numbers, so he quickened his pace and walked toward the arena as well.
The arena was ten meters long and ten meters wide. It was built with thick white stones, and it was one meter higher than the ground around it. In the middle of the martial arena, two bold and powerful words were spelled out using stones that were slightly darker in colour: Jing Zhe.
Obviously, the name of this arena was Jing Zhe. The 24 arenas in the four directions of the Dragon God Shrine were named after the 24 solar terms.
"One hundred one against two, one hundred three against one hundred four …" The level 2 inspector who was in charge of Jing Zhe announced loudly.
Two against four against two against six!
Hao Ren suddenly turned his head and looked at the cultivator not far from him. He was the guy who lived next to him on the left during the written exam last night!
This' old examinee 'who looked to be in his early forties also looked at Hao Ren cautiously.
"Uncle!"
When Hao Ren was about to warm up, a crisp voice suddenly sounded in the air.
Hao Ren looked up and saw Zhao Hongyu's dharma treasure, the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting, floating toward him.
The array formation of the Dragon God Shrine opened again, and Zhao Hongyu walked in with Zhao Yanzi and the others.
The River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting was a high-level dharma treasure. It was very fast, which was why Zhao Hongyu brought everyone to the combat exam area in a grandiose manner.
"Gongzi!" Lu Linlin and Lu Lili almost jumped off the dharma treasure of the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting and called out to Hao Ren cheerfully.
They were all wearing light cyan palace dresses, and their soft hair was all coiled up, returning to their original ancient style. They were so beautiful that Hao Ren felt like his eyes were sparkling.
"Uncle!" Seeing Hao Ren staring at the Lu sisters, Zhao Yanzi called out again with slight dissatisfaction.
She was wearing a bright floral printed skirt, and she looked very lively in the brown robes of the cultivators around her.
"Ahem!" Hao Ren coughed on purpose, dissatisfied with the way Zhao Yanzi called him.
"Hao Ren, good luck!" Xie Yujia stepped down from the River-Mountain Qian-Kun Painting and said to Hao Ren with a slight blush.
It was her first time seeing Hao Ren participate in an official 'big competition', and she didn't know what to say. Therefore, she could only use the simplest words to encourage Hao Ren.
"Ok, I'll try my best." Hao Ren nodded at Xie Yujia.
Hao Ren's attitude made Zhao Yanzi's face turn red with anger. How dare Hao Ren ignore her!
"Zi, this is the Dragon God Shrine. Don't mess around." Zhao Hongyu reached out and stopped Zhao Yanzi.
"Mom …" Zhao Yanzi looked up at Zhao Hongyu, feeling wronged. However, Zhao Hongyu seemed to be on Hao Ren's side and didn't blame Hao Ren at all.
Zhen Congming looked around with his arms crossed. He didn't seem to care how many rounds Hao Ren could enter.
Only Premier Xia, Elder Lu, and Elder Sun had come with Zhao Hongyu's family.
"Ren, have you seen Zi's Third Uncle since yesterday?" Zhao Kuo asked.
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