Chapter 56

A clear and resonant sound of a gong echoed, lingering in the thin light of dawn.

Then, "thud, thud, thud," three drumbeats followed, and everyone felt a tremor in their hearts!

On the viewing platform above the parade ground, a dozen people stood in a neat row. They were all officials of Linxi County. The two in the middle wore white robes with broad black borders, their hair tied up and wearing tall hats, clearly the officials of the Mingxin Academy, who were also the supervisors of this county examination.

The headquarters of the Mingxin Academy is located on the Xuanji Continent, established by the four major academies of Jiutian Xuanji specifically for the grand examinations.

Each grand examination is conducted by local officials, with specialists from the Mingxin Academy sent to supervise, to prevent favoritism and cheating.

If a candidate feels that an event during the examination is unfair, they can appeal to the Mingxin Academy, which will make a judgment.

If the appeal is successful, the candidate can retake the exam or pass directly based on the academy's judgment; however, if it is found to be a false accusation, the candidate will be permanently disqualified from future exams.

Due to this rule, very few candidates have ever appealed, making this function of the Mingxin Academy almost a formality.

The white in the sky became more prominent, "thud, thud, thud," another three drumbeats!

After nine drumbeats, one of the officials stepped forward, hands clasped, and called out to the sky, "Receive the power of heaven, the sun and moon will rise!"

All the candidates looked up, and after these eight words, a shadow appeared in the sky above the county office.

In the white light of dawn, the shadow gradually became clearer, and finally, it could be clearly seen that it was a huge tree, a tree that reached from the depths of the earth to the heavens, a tree of astonishing grandeur!

The Jietian Tree's roots extend to the ninth abyss, its top to the ninth heaven, and the middle part supports the entire Jiutian Xuanji Continent. The air roots that grow from it hang down, each forming a branch, which is the source of the Mingxin Tree for martial cultivators.

The Jietian Tree is the source of the Mingxin, the foundation of all martial cultivators.

At this moment, everyone looked up at it with reverence and awe, almost unable to breathe. Jiang Feng felt it even more strongly; he stared at the Jietian Tree, suddenly feeling as if it were his homeland.

The shadow of the Jietian Tree became increasingly clear, and finally, it stood before them like a real tree.

A moment later, a beam of golden light appeared among the branches of the Jietian Tree, shining directly over the parade ground.

A powerful and clear force descended from the sky, enveloping everyone.

Jiang Feng's body trembled, and a warm and gentle will suddenly penetrated his mind, merging with him completely.

Under this will, the Tianxin Seed fully opened, and the vortex in the middle floated up, with beams of golden light darting through it.

The vast clear force poured into the vortex, surging forward, making the clear force in the first primordial branch even thicker, surging toward the second primordial branch.

Jiang Feng's mind felt as if it were ignited, and with this brief moment, the clear force in his second primordial branch surged forward a great distance, almost reaching the edge of the first acupoint!

This force lasted for a very short time and soon completely disappeared.

Jiang Feng turned his head in surprise, looking around. All the candidates had a look of enjoyment and intoxication, which surprised him even more.

Is it like this for everyone? A single ceremony to receive the power of heaven can almost elevate them to the next level?

He soon discovered that it was not so.

Except for him, the other candidates were only equivalent to taking a clear force bath, with a slight improvement in clear force, but very limited.

Only he received a large amount of clear force, almost elevating him to the next level!

It should be noted that he had just entered the realm, and the clear force in his second primordial branch was only a shallow layer!

The official raised his hands high and shouted, "Request the Jietian Seal!"

When entering the venue, Jiang Feng had already held the Tianzhao Order in his hand. Now, the Tianzhao Order began to heat up slightly, and Jiang Feng involuntarily let go. The token emitted a faint golden light and floated in the air.

The golden light that penetrated from the tree shadow suddenly split into countless branches, forming countless light columns that connected with the Tianzhao Order. A strange symbol appeared in front of the Tianzhao Order, lingering in the air for a few moments before entering the candidates' foreheads.

Then, a beam of light after another returned from the candidates' foreheads, intertwining above the viewing platform, forming a huge golden wall. The golden wall was empty, with nothing on it.

The official shouted, "Candidates, report your names!"

His gaze swept over the first person in the leftmost row, and that person subconsciously shouted out his name.

The moment the words left his mouth, a name automatically appeared on the golden wall, exactly the one he had just reported.

One by one, the candidates reported their names, and each name appeared above. Finally, 103 candidates, 103 names, all appeared, with spaces left behind each name, as if something was waiting to fill them.

After all the candidates had reported their names, the official shouted, "This is the Jietian County List. The scores for the heaven, earth, and human tests will be directly displayed on the list for ranking. Only the top thirty can pass the county examination! The Jietian County List is absolutely fair, and you must act cautiously to achieve the best results!"

He turned around and bowed deeply toward the tree shadow, "The power of heaven has arrived, the sun and moon please come out!"

The tree shadow swayed slightly and gradually disappeared. At the moment it disappeared, a sun suddenly leaped out from the horizon, casting its light on the earth. It felt as if the Jietian Tree had been suppressing it, preventing it from rising!

The world was bathed in light, and the official loudly announced, "The county examination begins, open the heaven test venue!"

On the left side of the candidates, a large door slowly opened, revealing a spacious hall. Below the ceiling of the hall, a bronze tree grew, with five branches, each with seven leaves.

A discerning person could immediately see that this bronze tree was a simulation of the primordial branches.

In this test, the candidates needed to place their hands on the bronze tree one by one, using all their clear force. The bronze tree would automatically show their clear force level and judge the concentration of their clear force.

The official nodded at the first candidate who had reported his name. That candidate looked somewhat nervous, straightened his clothes, and walked in with large strides.

A moment later, his hand touched the trunk of the bronze tree, and his body began to glow.

The light seemed to flow, entering the tree from the point where his hand touched the bronze tree. The lowest branch was lit up, and the leaves gradually became bright.

Finally, all the leaves on the first branch were lit up, and two leaves on the second branch also began to glow.

One chain, two acupoints, everyone simultaneously judged his level.

The light stopped advancing, paused for two breaths, and then went out. It then lit up again, and this process of brightening and dimming repeated twice, and everything returned to calm.

At this moment, a number appeared behind the candidate's name on the Jietian List.

24. He scored 24 points in the heaven test.

The ceremony to receive the power of heaven officially ended, and the heaven test began, making the atmosphere on the field suddenly more relaxed.

Pingluan Shan looked at the scores on the list and said softly, "One chain, two acupoints, twelve points, doubled for two bright and two dark?"

Hong Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, the length represents the level, and the number of bright and dark times represents the strength of the clear force. It was tested this way before, but the scoring wasn't so clear."

Pingluan Shan said, "In that case, the strength of the clear force is more important than the level? But this can't be cultivated at all..."

Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind them, "After the heaven test, earth test, and human test, the final ranking will be based on the combined scores. Only the top ten can go to the state examination. That means, out of ten people, only one can go to Taicang City to participate in the Yushui State Examination!"

Several people from the Guten Martial Hall walked over together, and the person in front was loudly lecturing the others, "Tell me, how many people from our Guten came today?!"

"Ten!"

"How many of us are going to Taicang City?"

"Ten!"

"Good! As martial cultivators, you must have this spirit! Strive for victory and give no chance to others! No matter how far or near, if they didn't pass the last two years, they should roll back this year too!"

Jiang Feng looked up and met the gaze of the person in front.

This person was about forty to fifty years old, with a face full of steel-like whiskers, and a very ugly appearance.

Jiang Feng's gaze flickered, and the person in front changed.

His body was enveloped in a golden light, with a vortex and primordial branches growing from his heart. Two branches and one acupoint, he was a martial artist at the Tianming realm.

This was Jiang Feng's new ability after advancing. Only he had it, and Pingluan Shan couldn't do it. He tried several times and found that by switching his vision, he could see the level of people one realm higher.

That is, he was now at the Dawn realm, and he could directly see the level of martial artists at the Tianming realm.

He once tried to see Huasu's, but his body was a chaotic mess, and not only could he not see it, but he almost got discovered by the other person. On one hand, Jiang Feng realized that Huasu was stronger than he imagined, and on the other hand, he understood that this ability must not be used casually against strong opponents.

The sleeve of this Tianming martial artist still had some water pattern designs, and Jiang Feng immediately had a grasp. This should be the martial instructor of Guten, a disciple of the Fuliang sect. He was likely placed in Shuilian Town to gather local talents.

The martial instructor looked over Jiang Feng and Pingluan Shan, and walked over with large strides, "You two are the new people from Yuanshan? You're quite young. To advance to the Dawn realm at such a young age, you do have some ability! How about coming to our Guten Martial Hall? I guarantee you will pass the county examination!"

His voice was very loud, with no intention of holding back. Jiang Feng, however, smiled, "But we want to go to the state examination. Didn't the martial instructor just say that all ten of you will go to Taicang City? What if we go? Can the martial instructor force two extra spots?"

The grand examination is protected by the power of heaven, and the number of spots is fixed, though they can be competed for.

The martial instructor's face darkened, and he shouted, "Young and sharp-tongued!"

As he spoke, he slapped Jiang Feng's face heavily!

Jiang Feng dodged with a quick move, and said in a deep voice, "Martial instructor, this is the grand examination site, please be respectful!"

A guard pounded the butt of his spear and shouted, "This is a serious examination site, no noise allowed!"

The martial instructor's face was dark, but at this important moment, he didn't dare to cause trouble. He retracted his hand and pointed at Jiang Feng, "Remember this guy. If you can't squeeze him out, crawl back to Shuilian Town!"

"Yes!" All the candidates from the Guten Martial Hall responded in unison, looking at Jiang Feng with extremely unfriendly eyes.

Jiang Feng suddenly smiled and turned his head, "Why wait for the human test?" He lifted his chin, "The heaven test is about to start. Why not compare scores directly?"

————————————————————

Thank you, fatfox911, for being a good partner and for always being there through thick and thin! As always, I'm begging for support!

Page break for AD

Page break for AD end