Chapter 22

"Regardless of the profession, to enhance one's strength, engaging in actual combat with demons is the best method! To protect the candidates, the county academies will use illusions to replace real battlefields. Every year during the spring examination, warriors and craftsmen will enter the county academy for a unified illusion test. This is a rule that has been passed down for hundreds of years."

"Since it is actual combat, warriors can form teams, craftsmen can collaborate, and scholars can gather their literary symbols, each taking advantage of their strengths. Candidates can form teams freely, but each team can have a maximum of three people, with no restrictions on profession. The final exam scores are calculated by averaging the total score of the three members. If all members of a team die, they are eliminated. If only one person survives, the final exam score is still averaged among the three."

"The county academy will use the Yin Mountain stone to activate the Illusionary Spirit Array. This array will find the most suitable identity for each person based on their true heart, allowing them to experience the power of a higher level in advance, thus truly judging their true and good nature. The Fuxi Star will then guide them to the most suitable path of cultivation. This is the key point for the scholars' examination, while warriors and craftsmen follow their own standards."

"All examiners of each profession can only observe and must not interfere with the operation of the Illusionary Spirit Array. This array will not cause death; if someone dies in the illusion, they simply leave the influence of the array, which means they are eliminated!"

"If there are no objections, please all examiners pay homage to the great deity Fuxi, the god of scholars. When the time comes, the grouping and examination will begin on schedule!"

After the examiners paid homage to their respective deities, they gradually left the venue. Soon, the academy was quiet, with County Magistrate Qi and the head of the academy standing at the highest point of the inner hall, watching the 3,000 candidates, who were full of spirit, waiting for the exam to begin.

After the soldiers announced the exam rules, the 3,000 candidates first buzzed with excitement, then began to form teams freely.

Forming a team is a skill. Each team can have a maximum of three people, and it's not easy to waste a spot. According to the principle of the weakest link, the weakest person in the team will become the team's weakness, dragging down the overall score, making the average score particularly low.

Soon, the students realized that the best way to form a team was to find people of similar strength. The best combination would be one warrior, one scholar, and one craftsman, as no one knew what the situation would be like in the illusion.

However, time was short, and because they were not familiar with others, candidates often chose to form teams with friends they knew. Many teams were composed of a single profession. After receiving their registration numbers, these teams entered the waiting area, with all candidates having only half an hour to prepare.

"Huang Shihong, Brother Lu, Brother Yue, since we three know each other, why don't we form a team?" Huang Shihong asked flatteringly, his eyes full of hope.

Yue Heng smiled without speaking, acting mysterious, while Lu Changyuan became reserved. Neither of them spoke, making Huang Shihong feel awkward.

Lu Changyuan ranked 57th in the initial exam, and he had some understanding of Huang Shihong's level. He certainly didn't want to bring along a burden. Yue Heng's strength was even more peculiar, and he couldn't see through it, so he could only respond with silence.

Yue Heng was waiting for Wen Xinyue, and Huang Shihong's main target was Lu Changyuan. Seeing the time pass, and Lu Changyuan not speaking, Huang Shihong could only sigh inwardly. It's better to rely on oneself. He had to think of another way.

The top 100 candidates in each profession easily found their ideal teams, but it was much harder for the rest. Many candidates were left alone, helpless and wandering, and many were forced to form teams with anyone they could find. Huang Shihong also joined these people, forming a team haphazardly.

When Lu Changyuan was invited away by someone who claimed to be the 60th-ranked warrior, Yue Heng smiled at him, showing no concern.

In fact, he was thinking that last night, the three of them had said that if they met in the final exam, they would definitely help each other as scholars. But when it came to their own interests, all promises were false.

"This world is really so realistic!" Yue Heng sighed inwardly. However, when he saw Wen Xinyue walk out of the crowd, staring at him expressionlessly, his heart cheered up. Having the daughter of the head of the academy as a companion would give him some advantage. Men and women working together is less tiring, and being led by a beautiful woman, or rather, leading a beautiful woman, would be even more pleasant.

"Miss Wen, this final exam relies on you! Hey, should we find a craftsman with a slightly higher rank to join us?"

"No need! We'll just be two people!"

"Alright, if we add someone with poor strength, it will only hold us back..."

"Are you talking about yourself?"

"… Hey! Give me some face, okay? I'm very strong, you know. I can recite poetry on the spot! Miss Wen, what do you think of that little poem I just recited? Does it highlight your heroic and graceful demeanor? A two-zhang-long red demon snake whip, majestic and powerful!"

"Shut up!"

"Ah ha! I have a new line, 'preferring silence to makeup…'"

"Do you want me to whip you?"

Yue Heng followed Wen Xinyue to find the group registration examiner, joking along the way. He was also curious about what would appear in the illusion.

"The team name is Red Demon Snake, consisting of warrior Wen Xinyue and scholar Yue Heng. If you have no objections, please press your fingerprints here, hand over your exam badges, and receive your temporary team badges."

The examiner threw two metal temporary team badges to them after they completed the procedures.

Yue Heng carefully examined the team badge in his palm. As expected, it was a simple friend-or-foe identification and communication tool. It could be worn on the waist and used to communicate by saying the other person's name.

Considering that not everyone could activate the divine palace within their body, the team badge was infused with a small amount of talent energy by the academy's array, allowing warriors and craftsmen to use it. After the exam, this talent energy would automatically disappear.

Time was running out, and more and more teams were forming, waiting in the examination room, making final preparations.

Yue Heng followed Wen Xinyue, asking questions non-stop.

"Miss Wen, this team badge can use talent energy to communicate within the academy's array. If outside the academy, how would warriors and craftsmen operate such devices? Are there animal soul versions of communication badges outside?"

"Hey, I noticed that most of the teams waiting are three-person teams. Miss Wen, are you really not planning to add another expert you know? If you don't like craftsmen, I don't mind warriors or scholars! Of course, they must be experts!"

"Miss Wen, you are really popular. So many people are greeting you, trying to curry favor with you…"

Wen Xinyue remained cold and silent, while Yue Heng kept trying to ingratiate himself. This scene was seen clearly by the brothers Kuang Qing and Kuang Yun, who were seething with jealousy and anger. Impulsively, they brought their teams to block Yue Heng.

This was the waiting hall, already crowded. When several teams blocked the way, everyone around had to stop and watch.

"Miss Wen, is this guy harassing you?" Kuang Qing glared at Yue Heng and asked Wen Xinyue.

"Shameless!" Kuang Yun spat at Yue Heng. "If Miss Wen nods, I will immediately call the exam guards to drive this guy out!"

Wen Xinyue was already in a terrible mood. She just wanted to complete the final exam quietly, fulfill her father's request, and then get as far away as possible, never to see Yue Heng again.

But they were still in the agreement period, and she had to deal with the strange and mysterious Yue Heng, as well as various external distractions. She was far from comfortable.

"What's it got to do with you?" Wen Xinyue said coldly. "Move aside!"

"Right, what's it got to do with you?" Yue Heng, who had already noticed Wen Xinyue's dislike for the Kuang brothers, glared and said, "See this? A team badge! Miss Wen and I have already formed a team, and it's just the two of us, no one else. What's it got to do with you!"

After saying this, he whispered to Wen Xinyue, "Miss Wen, don't worry, I'll help you get rid of these flies…"

Seeing the team badge in Yue Heng's hand and Wen Xinyue not denying it, Kuang Qing and Kuang Yun's faces turned pale. They looked at the two of them in disbelief, their hearts shattered even more, and they were at a loss.

"This guy and Wen Xinyue formed a team? And it's just the two of them? So confident!"

"Wow, this is big news. Miss Wen is one of the top candidates in this year's warrior exam, maybe even in the top ten. Why would she team up with this pale and weak scholar?"

"Those aren't the Kuang brothers? Ah, everyone knows the Kuang brothers, no, the two hearts, are attached to the beauty. What a pity…"

The others whispered, and Kuang Qing was even more heartbroken. He decided that even if he couldn't win Wen Xinyue's heart, he wouldn't give Yue Heng any chance!

"Yue Heng, you boasted in front of the top ten candidates of Hong County that you would definitely be the top scholar this year. Now you're hiding behind Miss Wen, reduced to being protected by a woman. Tsk!" Kuang Qing pointed at Yue Heng and asked.

"First, put down your dog paws. I hated it most when people pointed at me in my past life, and I still do in this one! Second, why can't a woman protect a man? Brother Kuang, your logic is biased. Who says women are inferior to men?"

Yue Heng shook his head and said, "I recited a poem to Miss Wen earlier, expressing my views. Whether it's women fighting on the battlefield or studying literature to govern the country, I find both admirable. Many female heroes have made great contributions, fighting for their country, generation after generation. In what way are women inferior to men?"

The strange singing tone of his words confused the people around him. No one had ever heard such a speaking style.

Not speaking in the official language of Chu, but using a rhythmic singing tone, the content was indeed good, earning strong support from the female candidates. Many of them cheered and applauded.

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