Zhong Qing was a descendant of Ancient Sage Zi Lu. He was the person-in-charge for conducting this year’s entrance examination for the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism. He was also the middle-aged man who had read the rules in the sky earlier prior to the commencement of the examination.
Unlike the other teachers, he returned back to his room after activating the formation surrounding the mountain. He didn’t wait at the elimination region for the revelation of the results.
It was just a freshman selection examination; it would do for him to just know the final results. Such a trivial event was not worth his constant attention.
He stood before a table, dabbed a brush with ink, and began writing on a sheet of paper. The scent of ink swiftly suffused the room.
His handwriting was neat, and the characters he wrote carried deep conceptions behind them. With just a glance, one could feel the serene state he was in.
Hu!
A figure suddenly appeared in the room. Seeing that the middle-aged man was leisurely writing calligraphy, the figure’s eyebrows shot up as he exclaimed, “Brother Zhong, what are you doing here? You need to head over to the examination venue to take a look. There’s something weird going on with the examination…”
If Zhang Xuan was here, he would surely be able to recognize the figure who had just appeared in the room… Nangong Yuanfeng!
“Yuanfeng, you are panicking once again. I have always told you that you need to calm your mind, but you just wouldn’t listen. It’s just an examination amongst the younglings, what’s there to panic about? If you don’t try to correct that problem of yours, you’ll never be able to advance your cultivation any further than it is!”
Even without raising his head, Zhong Qing seemed to still be able to recognize the identity of the person standing before him. As his brush continued moving on the paper elegantly, he replied with a calm voice.
“Brother Zhong, I appreciate your kind advice, but… this isn’t the moment to be calm at all! The elimination examination has already descended into a huge mess!” Nangong Yuanfeng exclaimed anxiously.
“A huge mess? What kind of mess is it?” Zhong Qing asked calmly as he continued writing his calligraphy with cadence.
“The examinees are being eliminated too quickly in large numbers! I fear that the examination might end before the six hours are up… Furthermore, a lot of the examinees whom we have thought well of have all been eliminated! It’s unlikely that those who remain at the end of the examination would be really the strongest hundred of the examinees…”
Nangong Yuanfeng explained worriedly.
He was on the scene earlier, so he saw everything clearly.
Even a top-notch genius like Yan Yixiao ended up being eliminated too. The other experts whom they had been keeping a special eye of also ended up failing terribly too…
And the reason was solely because they had encountered the descendants of Ancient Sage Zi Chi!
By this point, it had almost become an unspoken rule of the examination that anyone who encountered Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s descendants would be eliminated! At this rate, the examination would no longer be a test of strength but a complete test of luck—it would bank solely on whether one was lucky enough to avoid Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s descendants throughout the entire examination!
For a solemn examination to be reduced to such a farce, how could he possibly not panic?
“Oh? Isn’t this for the better?” Zhong Qing didn’t appear to be surprised to hear the news at all. He dabbed his brush in ink once more and began writing another character before continuing on with a light chuckle, “The talents of the descendants of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers don’t vary too much from one another. All we want is to narrow down the numbers to a hundred of them. As for who they are, that’s of secondary concern. No matter how powerful they are at the moment, they are bound to achieve great things after undergoing the tutelage of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism!”
“Well, I guess that your words make sense too…” Seeing how calm Zhong Qing was, Nangong Yuanfeng’s worries seemed to slowly dispel as well.
It was true that they were interested in just narrowing down the numbers to a hundred examinees… As for who the examinees were, that was not of too much importance.
The elimination examination was not completely fair, but ultimately, everything could be traced back to the limitations of their strength. If one had neither the strength nor the means to survive until the end, they only had themselves to blame for.
“While what you say do make sense, the issue is that most of the examinees have been eliminated by the same person, and their numbers are still growing. Furthermore, it seems like they have formed some kind of weird fellowship…” Nangong Yuanfeng said.
“They were eliminated by the same person? Who is it? Yan Yixiao? Or is it Duan Muxiao?” Zhong Qing asked.
“That’s not it. They are all eliminated by a descendant of Ancient Sage Zi Chi,” Nangong Yuanfeng replied.
“A descendant of Ancient Sage Zi Chi?” Not expecting to hear such an answer, Zhong Qing was visibly stunned for a moment. “You are referring to Fan Xiaoxu, Fan Xiaofeng, and Fan Xiaoxing, right?”
He had browsed through the name list submitted by the various clans, and he remembered the names of every single participating examinee.
“That’s right,” Nangong Yuanfeng replied affirmatively.
“The descendants of Ancient Sage Zi Chi have never performed spectacularly well in examinations before. The fact that they are able to rise to the top in the examination shows that they must have put in a lot of hard work. It’s fine, leave them to do whatever they want. Everyone has their own limits, and just because they are leading at the moment doesn’t mean that they will be able to remain at the top until the end. As invigilators, our role is to observe and assess. There’s no need for us to get involved!” Zhong Qing replied calmly as he continued writing on the paper.
At this rate, it seemed like he would finish his calligraphy piece soon enough.
“Since you have said so, I guess there’s nothing else I can say…” Seeing how calm Zhong Qing was, Nangong Yuanfeng shrugged nonchalantly. He was just about to turn around and leave when he suddenly recalled a matter, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. The chief of the Fellowship of Examinees Eliminated by the Descendants of Ancient Sage Zi Chi seems to your grandson, Zhong Zixun!”
Hula!
The brush gorged out a pitch-black stroke on the white paper as Zhong Qing raised his head in astonishment.
He knew that his grandson had participated in the examination too, and he thought that his grandson would survive till the very end. Yet… he became the chief of some kind of eliminated examinees’ fellowship? What the heck did that mean?
“Hold on for a moment. You are telling me that Zixun has been eliminated?” Even though Zhong Qing dared not to believe what he was hearing, he still forcefully maintained his patient and calm attitude.
“Indeed. He was extremely proud that he has been eliminated early, and the fact that he serves as one of the chiefs of the organization means that everyone heeds his words!” Nangong Yuanfeng said.
“That bastard!” Zhong Qing clenched his fists tightly.
How in the world did that wastrel even appear in their lineage?
Not only was he not embarrassed of being eliminated, he even viewed it as an honor…
He really had to teach that fellow a good lesson!
“Forget it, just leave him be!” Taking a deep breath, Zhong Qing calmed down from his rage before shaking his head. “In any case, I have eight of my descendants participating in the examination. It’s only because I have spoiled Zhong Zixun ever since he was young that he acted so inappropriately. Such a thing wouldn’t happen with the others…”
“The others?” Nangong Yuanfeng fell silent. There was a brief moment of silence before he asked, “Are you referring to Zhong Zifeng, Zhong Ziyu, Zhong Zixuan, and the others?”
Zhong Qing nodded, “They should be far more reliable than Zhong Zixun that wastrel…”
“Ah, they have also been eliminated as well. They are the first group to join the fellowship. If not for their vote, how could Zhong Zixun possibly have become the chief?”
Speaking up to this point, Nangong Yuanfeng couldn’t help but remark, “I must say that those from your lineage are truly united as one. While others are still grieving over their defeat, those from your lineage are already trying to form a fellowship. I must say that I’m truly awed by how calmly they are taking their defeat…”
Kacha!
There was a crisp echo as the brush in Zhong Qing’s hand was snapped into two. With a face as green as a lush grassfield, Zhong Qing spat, “Those bunch of bastards. I’ll massacre them right now!”
Hu!
Zhong Qing’s silhouette vanished from the room in an instant.
“Ah…” Seeing how the cool and collected man from a moment ago had erupted in rage, Nangong Yuanfeng scratched his head speechlessly.
In the end, everything that Zhong Qing said about remaining calm was just because the issue didn’t concern him. As soon his clan members were involved, he still ended up erupting as if there was no tomorrow…
But that being said, he had to admit that Fan Xiaoxu, Fan Xiaofeng, and Fan Xiaoxing were three really incredible people.
To actually eliminate the eight examinees from Ancient Sage Zi Lu’s lineage all at once, they sure were merciless!
And that wasn’t just all. It seemed like they didn’t care whoever was backing the examinees as all. Anyone who encountered them would be eliminated in an instant—it was as if the word mercy had never crossed their minds at all!
Given how many people they had offended within this short period of time, weren’t they afraid that others would make things difficult for them once they enter the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism?
One must know that while the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism was built with the combined efforts of the 72 Sages, and the descendants of the 72 Sages all had a hand in running the organization, it didn’t mean that there was an equal distribution of power amongst all of the clans.
Putting everything aside, the lineage of Ancient Sage Zi Lu, which Zhong Qing was a part of, had a lot of say in the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism due to the huge number of experts under their command.
To let everything loose without caring about the consequences… It might be exhilarating at that moment, but all of the complications would swiftly come in afterward.
But again, those three didn’t seem like they would simply allow themselves to be wronged. Well, it seemed like the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism would become very lively in the near future!
