The Imperial Guard outside the Mausoleum of Books instantly tensed up. As bowstrings tightened, countless crossbows aimed at Wang Po's back.
Dust rose in the distance and the ground trembled. There was still no sound of hooves, but the black-armored cavalry were probably gathering.
Before these things happened, warnings had already been sent to various parts of the capital.
The Orthodoxy cavalry reacted very quickly. Even though they had not received any order from the Li Palace, several hundred cavalry galloped forward to block the stone gate of the Mausoleum of Books.
After three years, the two sides were once more in a tense standoff.
Wang Po seemed completely unaware of what was happening outside the stone gate as he walked into the verdant mausoleum.
Seeing his back, a Li Palace priest couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, where have you been these past few days?"
This was the answer everyone in the capital wanted to know.
Wang Po did not turn his head. "I've been here the entire time."
Wang Po's answer shocked the priest, the Orthodoxy cavalry, and even the Imperial Guard further away.
No one could have imagined that Wang Po had been in the Mausoleum of Books these past few days. Normal people could not enter the mausoleum, so they naturally could not see him.
He had appeared before everyone today to let the world know what he was prepared to do.
But just what was he going to do?
It had been a very long time since Wang Po had entered the Mausoleum of Books to view the monoliths and comprehend the Dao, but it seemed like he had not forgotten those experiences.
He very familiarly found a path through the forest and began to walk southwest.
After walking for some time, he arrived at a small courtyard.
There were naturally no oranges in the orange grove in early spring, but there was always the faint smell of green oranges in the air.
Wang Po had been living in this small courtyard for the past few days.
The beams on which cured meat had once been hung were now empty, and the tables and chairs in the room had been scrubbed clean, without a speck of dust.
Wang Po did not enter the room.
He stood outside the fence and calmly said to his old friend who had lived in this room for thirty-seven years, "Today, I am going to ascend the Divine Path."
When Xun Mei had failed on the Divine Path and was about to bid farewell to this world, he had once said that if he could cultivate to the Saint realm, he would ascend the mausoleum in Xun Mei's place.
It turned out that this was what he wanted to do today.
… …
… …
The Grand Examination had officially begun, but Chen Changsheng still had not appeared.
There was no butcher, so the people still had to eat pigs. The Pope did not appear, so life still had to continue, and the examination still had to be conducted.
This year's Grand Examination didn't have any new ideas, following the same method as previous years; the Academic Examination, Martial Examination, and Duels were all carried out in the same order.
The academic examination held in the Hall of Announcements, according to the old rules, was supervised by the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education and the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court. The final decision was in Gou Han Shi's hands.
Gou Hanshi was still very young, but no one would question his qualifications. This was because he was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, and even more so because he was the one who had set the questions for this year's written exam.
Under the light of the morning sun, the written exam ended smoothly. It was calm and peaceful, without any unforeseen events.
Outside the Li Palace, the spectating crowd and the stewards of the gambling houses felt somewhat bored, and also felt that the atmosphere was somewhat strange.
The Martial Examination that followed was still the Dallying Forest and River Qu. It was unknown if it was due to the influence of Chen Changsheng's crossing of the river on a crane, but this year's rules were even more complicated and detailed, basically eliminating any opportunities for trickery, but also not prohibiting the obstruction of opponents. As a result, sword flashes could occasionally be seen within the sea of trees, making it even more dangerous than before.
The Grand Examination hadn't been held for three years, the number of examinees participating this year was extremely high. Though the competition was also relatively fierce, the number of examinees that had successfully made it to the other side of the River Qu still numbered around two hundred. Amongst them, Scholartree Manor and Star Seizer Academy's results were the most eye-catching.
With the Seven Laws of Li Shan no longer participating, those young scholars from Scholartree Manor were originally the most popular candidates for this year's examination. Adding on to the fact that everyone knew that their principal, Wang Po, was in the Capital, those young scholars were even bolder, their results were naturally outstanding. Star Seizer Academy's outstanding performance was due to the recent pressure that the Capital had been under, causing these future members of the Zhou Dynasty's military to accumulate a bellyful of anger. This anger, today, had all been transformed into motivation.
The final duels were still to be carried out within the Tower of Purging Dust within the Green Leaf World.
The examinees entered the Hall of Clear Virtue in order, following the patterns on the floor, they noticed a black-clothed girl with an apathetic expression.
The black-clothed girl had an apathetic expression, in her bosom was a pot of Green Leaf.
Looking at her, the examinees all remembered the important matters that their teachers had carefully warned them about before leaving, their expressions couldn't help but slightly change, hurriedly averting their gazes.
Only after entering the Green Leaf World and arriving outside the Tower of Purging Dust did the examinees let out a sigh of relief, their faces revealing expressions of awe and surprise, they all began to discuss.
Even the youthful and mature scholars from Scholartree Manor and the strict and disciplined young officers from Star Seizer Academy couldn't help but whisper a few words to their schoolmates.
"That black-clothed girl is the legendary Black Frost Dragon?"
"His Holiness the Pope is truly amazing, it must be known that Li Palace hasn't had a Dragon Attendant for thousands of years."
"No wonder Qiu Shan Jun couldn't compete with His Holiness the Pope …"
"Be quiet, don't let that kid from Li Shan hear you."
… …
… …
Ignoring the fact that the direction of the examinees' discussion within the Green Leaf World was getting more and more off topic, the atmosphere outside of Li Palace was getting more and more strange.
Whether it was the crowd that was watching the excitement, the vendors or the employees of the gambling houses, they were all too quiet.
If there was no excitement, then what were the crowd looking at? If no one was placing bets, then what meaning was there in this gambling house?
Everyone was looking at the Grand Examination, but they weren't really concerned about the Grand Examination, they were thinking about something else.
Because no one believed that this year's Grand Examination would be so calm and smooth.
Something big was definitely going to happen today, it was just that they didn't know when it would happen.
Suddenly, a warning came.
Ten-odd straight and extremely thin lines appeared in the azure sky. Only experts with extremely good eyesight could clearly see that the afterimages that formed these lines were red.
Ten-odd Red Geese were flying at high speeds through the sky, other than landing in the Imperial Palace and Li Palace, the others were heading off in various directions.
If one was familiar with the distribution of the Great Zhou Army, they would be able to see that the Red Geese were heading towards the garrisons of the Imperial Court.
Linghai Zhiwang often interacted with the Imperial Court, so he could naturally see this, but he didn't care where these Red Geese were flying to, he cared more about where these Red Geese had flown from.
The traces left behind by the Red Geese in the sky had already disappeared, but they still remained in his sea of consciousness.
His gaze followed those traces, ultimately resting on the southern part of the capital, his expression extremely solemn.
That place was the Mausoleum of Books.
Hu Thirty-Two whispered, "The chief disciple of Gentle Stream Monastery just left the Hall of Announcements. The four Sword Hall Elders of Li Shan didn't even come today.
"The Old Lady of the Mutuo clan has left the city."
Daoist Siyuan squinted his eyes and said, "If everyone was going to the Mausoleum of Books, it would be very lively."
He made no attempt to conceal his ambition and fighting spirit, because anyone could see that this was an opportunity that the Li Palace had to seize.
Linghai Zhiwang turned his head to look at that secluded side hall deep within the Li Palace, feeling somewhat perplexed.
Could it be that Sir is still practicing the sword? (To be continued.)
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