"In the Mountain Gate examination, you are only allowed to display your own talent and capability. Weapons and runic artifacts are prohibited, and if anyone cheats, their results will be nullified. Also, you are not allowed to kill one another. Regardless of how high your score is, you will be disqualified from the examination! "
Elder Liu's voice sounded once more.
"Yes!"
The crowd in the square nodded in agreement.
The most important aspect of the examination was fair competition. Even if one were to rely on artifacts, their scores would not be counted.
Otherwise, if everyone were to bring their artifacts into the examination, the Sanctum of Sages would not be a place where geniuses gathered but treasures.
"Everyone, please leave your Soul Imprint on the door, and the Jade Tablet of Trials will automatically display your name and background. This will make it easier for us to conduct the examination!"
Elder Liu Liu continued.
The crowd nodded as they executed their secret arts to leave their Soul Imprints on the door.
"Let's go! The Mountain Gate examination will last for three days. I wish you all good luck! "
Elder Liu waved his hand.
"Yes!"
The crowd felt their blood boiling, and their auras surged furiously as they walked toward the door.
"Since it's a Teleportation Formation, it's unlikely that we'll be together.
Seeing that more and more people were entering the Teleportation Formation, Zhang Xuan turned to Zhang Jiuxiao and said.
"Zhang Shi, don't worry. I'll do my best!"
Zhang Jiuxiao nodded.
If it had been in the past, he would not have had any confidence in clearing the examination. However, at this very moment, he was more confident than ever.
Over this period of time, he had been learning from Zhang Xuan, and not only had his fighting prowess improved swiftly, his comprehension of combat had also improved tremendously. More importantly, he had comprehended Half-Sword Quintessence, making him invincible among those of the same cultivation realm. There was a good chance that he would be able to get into the top five hundred!
"Be careful!"
Seeing that Zhang Jiuxiao was confident, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.
"Zhang Shi, we'll meet again in the Sanctum of Sages!"
After instructing Zhang Jiuxiao, Chen Leyao and the others clasped their fists.
"Un!" Zhang Xuan nodded.
The crowd from the Glacier Plain Court walked toward the door.
In their view, given how Zhang Jiuxiao was able to defeat Zhang Qian so easily, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to clear the examination. The only question now was whether he would be able to enter the Elite Division or not.
"Let's go!"
A moment later, along with Zhao Xingmo's bellow, the thirty or so cultivators from the Eight Empires swiftly made their way toward the door. Zhang Xuan followed closely behind them, and as soon as he came into contact with the door, he immediately felt a surge of spatial energy wrapping around him. With a flicker, his figure vanished from the spot.
Seeing him leave, Zhang Qian narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, "I must get into the elite class!"
After saying those words, he followed closely behind Zhang Xuan.
It didn't take long for the tens of thousands of geniuses to enter the square, leaving only the guides behind.
"Let's go to the Hall of Achievements …"
Following closely behind the other envoys, Zhao Xingmo swiftly flew toward the Sanctum of Sages, and it did not take long for them to arrive at a massive hall.
In the room, a gray jade tablet stood in the middle of the room, emitting an ancient aura.
One look was enough to tell that it had existed for countless years.
The surface of the jade stele shone with a warm light, illuminating the surroundings. Everyone stopped in front of it and looked at it in unison, hoping to find the name of the person they wanted to receive.
"It's still early, don't worry …"
Seeing the attitude of the crowd, Elder Liu chuckled softly.
There were three days to the examination, and it was indeed a little early for them to come over to look at the jade tablet. It would take at least two days for the rankings to be decided.
"Un."
The crowd nodded before sitting down to rest. However, at that moment, the jade tablet suddenly shimmered, and a few names floated into appearance.
"Someone already has a score? So fast? "
Narrowing their eyes, the crowd quickly turned their gazes over.
"Feng Ziyi, 127!"
"Zhang Yu, 121!"
"Jiang Xuecun, 116!"
"Yuan Haiqing, 109!"
"Bai Qingxuan, 103!"
…
"More than a hundred points? It hasn't been long since the examination started, but his score is already so high? "
Upon seeing the names and scores on the jade tablet, a huge uproar broke out.
It hadn't been long since the examination started, and yet, Zhang Xingmo had already scored more than a hundred points.
More importantly, it was one thing if there were only one or two people who had scored more than a hundred points, but there were actually five people who had scored more than a hundred points in a row!
"Defeating a saint beast that is a cultivation stage higher than one's is a single point. Defeating a saint beast that is a cultivation stage higher than one's is a single point. Defeating a saint beast that is two cultivation stages higher than one's is five points, and three cultivation stages higher than one's is 25 points.
What in the world is going on? "Zhao Xingmo's throat turned parched in disbelief.
Usually, the jade tablet would only show ten points at the very start, and it would gradually increase. Now, it was already more than a hundred points, and there were five of them at the same time … Just what in the world was going on?
"Where did Feng Ziyi, the one with the highest score, come from?"
Unable to take it any longer, Zhao Xingmo turned to a black-robed master teacher beside him.
"He's from the Mingshi Tang headquarters. It's said that he's the direct disciple of one of the elders of the Master Teacher Academy. Despite his young age, his cultivation has already reached Grand Dominion realm intermediate stage, making him the cream of the crop, "the black-robed master teacher explained.
"The direct disciple of one of the elders of the Master Teacher Academy?" Zhao Xingmo's breathing hastened.
To be able to become an elder of the Mingshi Tang headquarters, one had to be at least a Nine Stars master teacher. It was no wonder the student of such an expert was so powerful!
"Indeed. In the second place is Zhang Yu. He's a genius dispatched by the Zhang clan, and his bloodline purity has reached Earth-tier!"
"Earth-tier? That's already a top-tier bloodline! "Zhao Xingmo exclaimed in astonishment.
The bloodlines of the Sage Clans could be divided into four tiers based on the purity of their bloodlines, namely Tier-2, Tier-1, Earth-tier, and the highest tier, the Heaven-tier!
Most of the core members of the Sage Clans would possess Tier-2 bloodlines, and those who were slightly more powerful would possess Tier-1 bloodlines. Those who were able to reach Earth-tier were the direct descendants of the Master Teacher Academy's direct descendants.
"Indeed. Ever since the establishment of the Sanctum of Sages, the Zhang clan has had a total of 37 Earth-tier bloodlines, and even the weakest of them managed to reach Saint 8-dan pinnacle. With such a powerful bloodline, Zhang Yu is bound to achieve great things in the future!"
The black-robed master teacher said.
"Saint 8-dan pinnacle?" Zhao Xingmo gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
With such strength, he could easily stand at the very top of the Master Teacher Continent. With just a stomp of his foot, even a power like the Qianchong Empire would fall into oblivion.
"Right, I saw a member of the Zhang clan named Zhang Qian earlier. What's his bloodline?"
Zhao Xingmo suddenly recalled a matter and asked.
"Zhang Qian only possesses an ordinary Tier-2 bloodline. Of the thirty candidates from the Zhang clan who came here for the examination, he's ranked at the very bottom, not even worth mentioning at all," the black-robed master teacher replied with a smile.
"Not even worth mentioning at all?"
Zhao Xingmo's face turned as dark as charcoal.
Zhang Qian was a Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle expert, but he was ranked at the very bottom of the thirty candidates from the Zhang clan. Just how powerful would the person ranked at the very top be?
That was way too fearsome!
While the Zhang clan had been outstanding in the past, it had never been to such an extent!
"Is Jiang Xuecun … from the Sage Jiang Clan?"
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Zhao Xingmo asked.
There were three Sage Clans that stood at the very top — the Zhang clan, the Jiang Clan, and the Luo Clan!
Considering that the young man who went by the surname of Jiang was ranked right behind Zhang Yu, there was probably no other genius who could match up to him.
"Un. The Sage Jiang Clan specializes in soul attacks, and I have met Jiang Xuecun once. She was born with a powerful soul cultivation, and her fighting prowess is on par with Feng Ziyi!"
The black-robed master teacher said grimly. "Yuan Haiqing is a genius from the Sage Yuan Clan. Among the Sage Clans, the Yuan Clan is slightly weaker than the Zhang, Jiang, and Luo Clans. However, I heard that half a year ago, they managed to find a successor who possesses the Celestial Bloodline. It's not impossible for them to rise to the top three in the future! "
"Celestial Bloodline?" Zhao Xingmo was astonished.
The Celestial Bloodline could be considered as the strongest bloodline among the Sage Clans. As long as those who possessed the Celestial Bloodline didn't die, they would surely become famous existences on the Master Teacher Continent.
Take the current head of the Zhang clan and the head of the Luo Clan for example … Both of them had reached the Celestial Bloodline.
"Indeed. The rise of the Yuan Clan is inevitable. Over the past few days, many powerful powers and clans have extended an olive branch to the Yuan Clan in hopes of befriending them, "the black-robed master teacher replied.
"If those few are already so powerful … then what's the background of Bai Qingxuan?"
Zhao Xingmo asked as he digested the news that he had just heard.
The first four were all from extraordinary backgrounds, so the fact that the fifth person was able to stand toe to toe with them showed that he was no pushover either!
"Bai Qingxuan is from the Blazing Inferno Palace," the black-robed master teacher replied.
"Blazing Inferno Palace? That top-tier power on par with the Glacier Plain Court? "
While the Glacier Plain Court possessed the Yin-Yang Lake and had cultivators who cultivated the Yang Formula and the Yin Formula, the main focus of the Glacier Plain Court was still the Yin Formula. As such, from the court chief to the elders, almost all of them were female, and they cultivated ice attribute cultivation techniques.
The Blazing Inferno Palace was the exact opposite of the Glacier Plain Court. Most of their members were men, and they cultivated yang attribute cultivation techniques such as the Blazing Inferno Formula.
It was said that the two Sacred Lands were founded by the same founder, but due to the diametrically opposed cultivation techniques they cultivated, they eventually split into two factions.
More than a decade ago, the two factions were about to engage in a marriage alliance to change the situation. Just as everyone thought that the good news was right around the corner, the court chief of the Glacier Plain Court suddenly ran away and disappeared.
In the end, the two factions fell out once more, and they parted on bad terms.
"That's right!" The black-robed master teacher nodded. "The Blazing Inferno Palace isn't too well-known, and they rarely establish branches in the Master Teacher Continent. However, their overall strength is not to be underestimated. Otherwise, the Glacier Plain Court wouldn't have chosen to engage them in a marriage alliance back then!"
"Indeed!"
Zhao Xingmo nodded.
The so-called marriage alliance had to be of equal standing. If the disparity between the two factions was too great, it would be impossible for them to be together.
Putting everything aside, the difference in their cultivation and values would make it difficult for them to get along.
Weng!
While the duo was speaking, the stone tablet before them suddenly shook once more, and yet another name surfaced.
"The top five hundred has appeared!"
No one knew who shouted this.
Zhao Xingmo hurriedly turned his gaze over, and indeed, the stone tablet was filled with names from top to bottom.
The height of the stone tablet was just enough to accommodate five hundred people. As such, the Sanctum of Sages would only accept five hundred people.
"Quick, let's see if there are any geniuses whom we have brought in!"
The black-robed master teacher said with a smile.
Zhao Xingmo nodded. Following which, a deep frown appeared on his forehead.
There were so many names, but he actually didn't recognize a single one of them.
"Under normal circumstances, given Zhang Xuan's capability, he should be able to get into the top five hundred. Why isn't there any?"
Zhao Xingmo asked worriedly. "Could it be that … none of the geniuses whom I have brought in have cleared the examination?"
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