In the next moment, Chen Chang Sheng wondered if he had seen wrongly, that wolf-tribe youth clearly hadn't turned his head, he was walking alone at the front of the crowd, without turning his head, how could he have seen Luo Luo? No one noticed the change in his emotions, even Tang Thirty Six and Xuan Yuan Po, who were beside him, did so. Everyone's attention was focused on this perfect world, only Luo Luo noticed his abnormality and quietly asked him a few questions.
"I keep having this feeling that something's wrong today, in the duels to come, you need to be careful." Chen Chang Sheng didn't mention the scene he had previously seen, nor did he hide his unease, he said: "If there's any danger, leave immediately, or listen to my arrangements."
Luo Luo wanted to participate in the Grand Examination without counting her results, Gou Han Shi and the others had already faintly guessed at her goal, it was Chen Chang Sheng himself who hadn't thought of it. Hearing Chen Chang Sheng's cautious reminder, Luo Luo obviously wouldn't object, she said: "I'll listen to my master's arrangements."
The examinees followed the Li Palace clergyman into the distance, passing through a forest and arriving in front of a circular building. This circular building occupied an area of several hundred metres, with a height of over ten metres, it was extremely grand. The building was constructed from stone, the doors and windows on the stone steps were tightly shut, the interior of the building couldn't be seen, only the black eaves on top could be seen.
A cloud suddenly floated over from the azure skies, that cloud arrived upon the circular building and started drizzling. The rain pattered down, it wasn't particularly heavy, but in a short amount of time, it washed away all the dust that had accumulated on the eaves, the black eaves became even clearer, as if they were made from jade, shining with brilliance.
"The Tower of Purging Dust, is the venue for this year's Grand Examination."
The Li Palace clergyman turned around and said to the examinees, then began explaining the rules of the duels.
Similar to passing through a sea of trees and crossing a green river, the final and most important segment of the Grand Examination, the rules were relatively simple and clear, very easy to understand.
After passing through the Martial Trial, a total of 113 examinees qualified to participate in the duels. The first 15 examinees to pass through the River Qu would have a bye in the first round, the remaining 98 examinees would battle in pairs, the winner and the first 15 examinees would enter the next round, after which, they would once again battle in pairs, until the end. (Note)
As for how to determine the victor, that was even simpler. The two candidates would battle it out, and whoever was still standing would be the victor.
The loser would naturally be eliminated, so when it came to the duelling phase, every round was very important, there was no way to salvage the situation. However, because the majority of examinees aimed to enter the Three Grades and obtain the right to enter the Mausoleum of Books, the first round was the most important. As long as one could pass the first round, the chances of entering the Three Grades would be more than half.
As for how to choose which examinee to fight against, it was extremely simple, to the point that it gave people the feeling that, as the organizers of the Grand Examination, the Zhou Dynasty and the Orthodoxy were rather irresponsible, because according to the rules, they had actually given the right to choose to the examinees themselves – apart from the first 15 examinees who had a bye in the first round, the first 49 examinees were allowed to choose their opponents from the last 49 examinees, and the examinees who were chosen were not allowed to refuse, otherwise, they would be deemed to have forfeited the examination, and their opponents would automatically advance to the next round.
The examinees that have yet to be eliminated, naturally weren't idiots; after hearing the Li Palace clergyman's introduction of the rules, they completely understood the meaning behind it. Sounds of discussion arose from within the crowd, but before the examinees could express any objections or raise any questions, the clear sound of a bell resounded from within the tower.
The duelling phase of the Grand Examination had officially begun.
The sound of the bell signaled the 16th examinee within the crowd, immediately became the focus of everyone's gazes. It was a student from Star Seizer Academy, he was tall, his expression solemn, his aura restrained, giving off a feeling of being low-key but not cowardly, very much like that of a soldier.
If it was any other examinee, perhaps they wouldn't be able to adapt to this situation, or at least feel that it was a little sudden, but a soldier was most particular about strict obedience, following orders to the bell. Thus, that young examinee unhesitatingly walked out from the crowd and looked towards the examinees in the second half.
His gaze slowly and calmly moved between the examinees.
Facing his gaze, the examinees in the second half who were waiting to be chosen all had different expressions and reactions; some had calm expressions, as if they didn't notice anything, some purposely sneered coldly, thinking that it was a provocation, some examinees lowered their heads or slightly turned around, avoiding eye contact with him, some examinees forced a smile, it was a little sad to watch.
No one could have imagined that the opponent that this young examinee from Star Seizer Academy would choose was the disciple of the Precipice of Violet Qi who had doubted the examinee on the other side of the River Qu. The examinees couldn't suppress their complex emotions and began to discuss; it must be known that the Precipice of Violet Qi was a branch of the Longevity Sect, this person definitely wasn't the weakest amongst the examinees present, yet he was chosen first, why was this so?
The disciple of the Precipice of Violet Qi was startled, only then did he realize that he had been chosen, he calmly walked out from the crowd, not feeling any sense of humiliation – logically, the first to be chosen would naturally be the weakest, but he believed that the strength of his divine sense and the amount of True Essence were just cold numbers or levels, there were more things that were tested in a duel, he was confident that he could defeat his opponent.
The truth was as such. Apart from the first fifteen examinees who had a bye in the first round, whose cultivation levels were slightly higher than the others, the remaining examinees' cultivation levels were relatively close. It was definitely not to say that the examinees at the front would definitely be able to defeat the examinees at the back.
The examinees for the first round had already been decided, the Li Palace clergyman didn't give either side any time to rest and prepare, leading the two towards the Tower of Purging Dust, only to see a wooden door at the bottom of the circular building slowly opening, behind the door was still a vast expanse of darkness, like an abyss, causing one's heart to palpitate, the clergyman indicated for the two to enter, then immediately closed the door.
Looking at the tightly shut wooden door, the examinees were very surprised, could it be that this year's Grand Examination didn't allow spectators?
The Li Palace clergyman looked at the crowd and expressionlessly said: "Due to a few special circumstances, this year's duels will be held behind closed doors."
Hearing these words, the examinees started discussing amongst themselves, some of them directly looked towards the group from Orthodox Academy, especially Chen Chang Sheng, they were probably suspecting that this arrangement by the Education Board had something to do with him. If it was a closed door duel, they wouldn't be able to know the details of the duels, not mentioning any tricks, at least if Chen Chang Sheng were to lose, the Education Board's reputation would look a little better.
Chen Chang Sheng obviously knew that it had nothing to do with him, he looked at the lone wolf-tribe youth standing far away, silently thinking, the closed door duel might have been his request.
The wooden door to the Tower of Purging Dust was tightly shut, a remnant of rain fell from the edge of the black eaves. Drip, drip, drip.
Without being able to see what was happening within the tower, they didn't know how the first round was progressing, they couldn't even hear anything, the atmosphere outside the tower became rather stifling, perhaps it was because they couldn't see or hear, they could only imagine, that the examinees became more and more nervous, some examinees simply sat cross-legged on the floor, closing their eyes and meditating, no longer paying attention.
Not long after, the door to the Tower of Purging Dust opened.
The examinees all looked over, those examinees that had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, as if nothing could disturb them, also instantly opened their eyes.
The one that walked out was the examinee from Star Seizer Academy, his face was slightly pale, the front of his uniform had been torn open, traces of blood could be faintly seen, but his expression was still calm and composed.
The female examiner from the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green came forward and began to treat this examinee, a clear light could be seen upon the stone steps, an aura that made everyone feel calm and comfortable, enveloped the entire area.
If it was under normal circumstances, to be able to see this female teacher's exquisite Holy Light of Healing would definitely cause the examinees to gasp in admiration, but at this moment, their minds were all focused on the result of the duel.
That disciple from the Precipice of Violet Qi still hadn't come out.
Qi Jian walked up to the Li Palace clergyman and asked: "May I ask, teacher, where is our junior brother?"
The cliffs of the Longevity Sect all spoke in unison, belonging to the same sect; Qi Jian, as a disciple of Li Shan Sword Sect, asking about the situation of a disciple of the Precipice of Violet Qi, was seen by many as a matter of course. Only Chen Chang Sheng, upon seeing this scene, felt a little puzzled, he didn't understand why the rather young Qi Jian, who was clearly unskilled in mundane matters, had come forward and not Gou Han Shi.
His seniors hadn't said anything, why had Li Shan's junior brother been the first to speak?
Chen Chang Sheng noticed that Gou Han Shi's expression was as calm as usual, Guan Fei Bai and Liang Ban Hu also didn't have any reaction, seemingly feeling that Qi Jian coming forward was normal.
The Li Palace clergyman said: "The loser cannot remain here, the person you asked about has already been sent out of the Education Palace, he should currently be receiving treatment in the Hall of Illustrious Persons, there is no need to worry."
Qi Jian turned around and gave Gou Han Shi a glance, seeing that his senior didn't have any reaction, he retreated.
The clergyman looked at the list in his hands, then looked towards the examinees and said: "Where is examinee number 17, Huo Guang?"
Just as he finished speaking, a young scholar slowly walked out from the crowd.
This scholar wore an ochre coloured robe, the space between his brows seemed to be covered by a layer of frost, his expression was indifferent and extremely arrogant.
He had the right to be arrogant.
Seeing this person appear, the expressions of the examinees in the latter half changed, they were even more nervous than when the student from Star Seizer Academy had chosen.
This was because this young scholar came from Scholartree Manor.
This scholar from Scholartree Manor was the one that had previously competed against Tang Thirty Six in the Dallying Forest.
The atmosphere of the field became even more tense, very few examinees dared to look him in the eye, more of them were silently praying in their hearts that they wouldn't be chosen by him.
According to the Li Palace clergyman's arrangement, the examinees in the latter half all stood on the Western side of the Clown in front of the Tower of Purging Dust.
This scholar from Scholartree Manor's gaze swept across the field, looking towards a certain direction.
It was the woodlands, a dense green forest that could block out the sun, it was a bit far from the tower, therefore, no examinees were standing there.
Luo Luo didn't like to bask in the sun, even if it was the fake sun from His Holiness' Green Leaf World.
Therefore, Chen Chang Sheng brought everyone to stand there.
The group from Orthodox Academy all stood by the woodlands.
The gaze of that scholar from Scholartree Manor also fell upon the woodlands, upon the group from Orthodox Academy.
Chen Chang Sheng's expression was calm.
Xuan Yuan Po didn't respond, he was staring blankly at an ant at his feet.
Luo Luo was fanning Chen Chang Sheng with a handkerchief.
Only Tang Thirty Six had any reaction.
He slightly raised his eyebrows, then raised his head, looking at that scholar from Scholartree Manor, his expression was indescribably proud, as if to say, come and choose me, come and choose me.
… …
… …
(Note: 113 examinees, how to battle and how to successfully make up the numbers, I've calculated for this many times, it took at least half an hour, my dear mother … * cough cough *, my elementary school mathematics really wasn't taught by a PE teacher, it was taught by my mum, my mum is an elementary school mathematics teacher. Also, today's writing is a bit slow, the next chapter should be out before 1: 30.)
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