There was an official office in the capital that specialized in assessing the grade of one's true name, called the Temple of Serenity.
In every examination, the examiners would be selected from the various offices and invigilators, then the results would be submitted to the Temple of Serenity for final ranking.
The results would be sent to the palace for review by the Sage Emperor. Once the Sage Emperor gave a positive answer, the results would be submitted to the Dual Ceremonies Division.
There were two priests in the Dual Ceremonies Division, appointed by the imperial court and Confucian orthodoxy respectively. As the final check, the appointed candidates would be strictly screened to ensure fairness and openness.
Of course, the so-called fairness and openness was just a gimmick.
The priest of the Dual Ceremonies Division was called Liu Jiaming. He had studied under the Righteous Grandmaster Wei Ran and could be considered half a student. He had always been known for his uprightness.
The priest of the Confucian orthodoxy faction was called Feng Menglong. He was an external deacon of the Dao Court.
The results of the Dual Ceremonies Division were sent to the two priests at dawn the next day. They were mainly in charge of the top ten candidates. The rest would be done by their subordinates.
"Brother Jiaming, this is the most intense exam since the beginning." Feng Menglong smiled as he flipped through the results.
Liu Jiaming nodded solemnly. "The topic of 'Virtuous like Water' is very tricky. Even if we were the ones taking the exam, we might not be able to achieve a better result."
Feng Menglong nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing."
His eyes flashed as he continued with an inexplicable meaning. "What is the intention of the Sage Emperor for taking such a measure?"
"Let's review." Liu Jiaming turned to look at Feng Menglong. "We have to hurry to release the results before it gets dark."
Feng Menglong smiled and said, "That's true."
The two stopped talking and began to work on their own.
About a quarter to five in the afternoon, the two of them stretched their bodies and yawned. Feng Menglong said tiredly, "It's also a problem for examinees to be too outstanding. It's very difficult to come up with the most suitable ranking."
"It's not easy." Liu Jiaming cracked his neck and straightened his body. "The results are almost done. Let's check."
The results were quickly released, and the final rankings were finally determined.
Of course, it still had to be reviewed by the Sage Emperor. This was a necessary process.
Feng Menglong took a look at the rankings. Although there was no problem with the rankings, he was actually very surprised when the double rankings were sent to him. At this time, he heaved a sigh of relief and couldn't help but mutter, "Why are the deaths of this year's people counted in the rankings?"
Liu Jiaming said indifferently, "The dead are the most important. Why wouldn't that count?"
"But in the past, it seems like …" Feng Menglong thought about it carefully, but couldn't say anything.
"In the past, there have never been so many deaths. Under the premise that it doesn't affect the ranking, it will be pushed up." Liu Jiaming said calmly, "Not this year's batch. Even if my teacher was here, he would give the same answer."
"I'm just curious." Feng Menglong shrugged. He didn't care about all this. As long as the Sacred Dynasty didn't hide the true ranking, he couldn't be bothered to care if it wasn't his responsibility.
"Someone, bring the list to the Imperial Palace for His Majesty the Sage Emperor to see!"
…
It was almost dusk, and the examinees were already waiting outside Shun Tian Prefecture. Yan Li's group had arrived early, so the rankings of the Endpoint Verification had not yet come out, so they found a place to chat.
There were naturally not many examinees who came to see the second ranking and the final results. Compared to the examinees in the first round, there were only a mere two hundred or so examinees who wanted to know the final results.
These people were scattered in various places, some whispering to each other, some talking loudly, and some guessing who this year's top scholar would be.
Although the final ranking of the examination had fifty positions, the one who obtained first place would always be the one who attracted the most attention.
Rumors were words that sounded so convincing, as if they were true, but were actually far from the truth.
In these discussions, the ones that were brought up the most were naturally Yan Li and Ju Yingshu, because in their imaginations, these two had the highest chances of obtaining the title of chief winner. They both obtained first place, displaying their respective domains to the extreme.
"According to the invigilator, Ju Yingshu's essay is directly compatible with the Great Dao, and he is also the most dazzling star among the rising stars of the Pure Yang Shrine. At only seventeen years old, he has already been branded as the successor of the Tai Qing lineage, so it's normal for him to obtain first place."
"Humph, then you don't know the scene of Yan Li killing in the Coiling Dragon Array. Even Ju Yingshu only dared to provoke Yu Qiuyu. Look at that Liu Xiangxiu, not only did he lose the bet, but he even lost the true name duel with the help of Princess Duanyang and the Long Liquan. In my opinion, there's no suspense in the second round, and with the death of three top ten examinees, it's hard to say who will obtain first place! "
"Then let's wait and see."
…
"You're not bad, you have people supporting you so quickly." Huang Shaoyu pushed Yan Li, winked and said, "Don't forget what you promised me just because you became famous."
"Are you addicted to treating people to wine?" Yan Li said angrily.
"Humph! How shallow! "Ji Hyun-woon disdainfully turned his head away.
Huang Shaoyu rolled his eyes, and then said tearlessly, "I can't help it, no one cares about me when I go in alone!"
Yan Li joked, "Do you know how to get people's attention?"
"How?" Huang Shaoyu was shocked.
"If you want to attract attention, it's nothing more than to create a topic." Yan Li said.
Huang Shaoyu thought for a moment and said, "It seems to make sense."
"If you want to create a topic, it's nothing more than to do what others dare not do." Yan Li said.
"Yes, that's right!" Huang Shaoyu was a little excited.
"If you want to do what others dare not do, you have to have the courage that others don't have." Yan Li said.
"Yes!" Huang Shaoyu said.
"Do you have it?" Yan Li said.
"Yes!" Huang Shaoyu said.
"Then you can go streaking on behalf of Liu Xiangxiu." Yan Li laughed.
Huang Shaoyu was stunned, and then immediately said angrily, "After talking for so long, you just want to trick me into making a fool of myself, and let you bastards watch the show?"
Yan Li said seriously, "It's better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. Imagine, if you become famous because of this, won't those beautiful women who look pure on the surface be curious about your reason for streaking? As long as they are curious about you, you've already won half the battle. "
"That seems to make sense." Huang Shaoyu murmured, rubbing his chin and thinking.
"Humph!" Ji Hyun-woon stared at Yan Li and said, "I didn't expect you to be such a shallow person. Xiao Wang really misjudged you!"
Yan Li shrugged, "I've always been a low-class person."
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