As he looked at the young Scholartree Manor scholar, Tang Thirty-Six raised his eyebrows very high and raised his chin up even higher. 'Pick me' had about the same meaning as 'fight me', and his expression was so smug and arrogant that it stirred in anyone the desire to give it a good thrashing, no matter how handsome this person's face was. In fact, the more handsome the face, the more intense would be the desire to thrash it.

All the examinees followed the scholar's gaze and understood the unspoken words in Tang Thirty-Six's demeanor. If you don't pick me, then you're my grandson.

Scholartree Manor cultivated wisdom, so he would naturally not take such an action. His gaze had deliberately fallen upon the Orthodox Academy group because he wanted to make them nervous. However, when he saw how arrogantly provocative Tang Thirty-Six's reaction was, his complexion instantly turned nasty. He also began to recall how he had argued over the path with Tang Thirty-Six in the sea of trees, as well as Tang Thirty-Six's rather harsh and scathing words. His blood boiled and he could no longer control his emotions. His right arm rose to point at Tang Thirty-Six.

He was stopped by one of his schoolmates, a scholar with a rather childish appearance. Of the four people from Scholartree Manor taking part in the Grand Examination, this scholar seemed to be the youngest, but he also seemed to have the highest status. Earlier, on the northern shore of the Qu River, he had also been the one to prevent his schoolmate from going to the Orthodox Academy's group to seek justice.

The scholar called Huo Guang coldly laughed at Tang Thirty-Six and then randomly picked an examinee from the lower forty-nine, upon which both of them walked into the Hall of Washing Away Dust.

Chen Changsheng was rather astonished by his sight, thinking to himself, the south truly is a different place. In the Mount Li Sword Sect and Scholartree Manor, it's actually the youngest disciples whose words have the most power.

The second match concluded even more quickly than the first. It was so short that it was like the scholar Huo Guang had just walked into the Hall of Washing Away Dust to look around a bit and then pushed open the door to exit. His opponent did not emerge, as they had naturally lost and then been sent out of the Education Palace by the priests.

When crossing the Qu River during the martial test, the four scholars of Scholartree Manor had crossed the river at around the same time. After Huo Guang, the ones to step forward next were naturally his three schoolmates. Nothing unexpected occurred as each match concluded more quickly than the last. All four obtained victory in the first round and entered the second.

"Scholartree Manor..so it really was this strong," Su Moyu sighed as he stood at the edge of the forest.

Tang Thirty-Six looked at the four scholars from Scholartree Manor, his expression having slowly turned rather grave. He did not like these scholars from Scholartree Manor. In his view, although these scholars seemed to value rules and knowledge, they actually liked to rat on others and play petty tricks. But he was forced to admit that they were truly very strong.

"That youngest scholar is called Zhong Hui. He's ranked ninth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky."

He knew that Su Moyu was well aware of this fact, but this fellow Chen Changsheng was not guaranteed to have much of an impression. He whispered, "The other two scholars are both on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, in the top one hundred. That guy Huo Guang isn't on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, but he's actually stronger than the other two. In the past few years, he's been studying in Scholartree Manor the entire time, preparing to amaze the world with his performance today."

Three people on the Proclamation of Azure Sky and one young expert who had been hiding his strength—Scholartree Manor's strength was truly as unfathomable as expected. If one ranked the schools and sects present, excluding the Mount Li Sword Sect that reigned high over the entire lot, Scholartree Manor, the Heavenly Dao Academy, and the Orthodox Academy were the three strongest.

But in a rather interesting result, the four people from the Orthodox Academy were in the bottom forty-nine, so they could only wait to be challenged.

The literary test required contemplation and writing. The martial test required spiritual sense to probe things out, and it could also be prepared for. One-on-one matches only required choosing an opponent and then fighting. Moreover, in battles, victory and defeat could always be decided in the space of a few techniques. Even if the opponents were similar in strength, not much time would be needed for a victor to be decided.

The door to the Hall of Washing Away Dust was opened and then closed, closed and then opened. The oil on the hinges of the door was gradually being whittled away, probably because of the frequency at which the door was being opened and closed. Gradually, the hinges began to creak, and it was with the accompaniment of these creaks that the first round of matches quickly advanced. In a flash, several dozen matches concluded. Some of the examinees ranked in front had gained victory, but no small number of those examinees ranked at the bottom had also won.

The examinees ranked in front had the right to choose their opponent, so they could choose the opponent that they believed to be the weakest. However, for the sake of the Grand Examination, the young cultivators of the continent had prepared for an entire year, so the information and impressions they had left had ceased to be accurate. It was difficult to discern the weak from the strong, so the final outcome was naturally difficult to predict as well.

The impromptu revision of the Proclamation of Azure Sky this autumn had become the most reliable reference material. Primarily, this was because the Proclamation of Azure Sky was sufficiently authoritative, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets' judgments worthy of trust. Secondly, the Proclamation of Azure Sky had just been updated, so the people on the ranking should not have changed too much in strength. After all, situations like Xu Yourong's and Luoluo's were not very commonplace.

Consequently, no examinee chose Su Moyu as their challenger. As thirty-third on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, if one excluded the top fifteen examinees and the four people from Scholartree Manor, Su Moyu would definitely rank in the top five of the remaining examinees. As for the Orthodox Academy's group, nobody took any interest in them. Only the insane would choose Princess Luoluo, and as for Tang Thirty-Six, not even the scholars of Scholartree Manor chose him, so who would be so idiotic as to have him take the stage?

Not even Xuanyuan Po was picked as an opponent. Although he was last on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he was still in the rankings. Moreover, demi-humans cultivated in a completely different manner from humans and their talent was difficult to predict. For the sake of reliability, the examinees in the higher ranks were willing to pick an examinee that was ranked higher on the Proclamation of Azure Sky as their opponent over Xuanyuan Po.

Rather interestingly, or perhaps strangely, nobody chose Chen Changsheng, who had not even entered the Proclamation of Azure Sky.

All the examinees were keenly aware that when the Proclamation of Azure Sky was updated, Chen Changsheng had not even succeeded at Purification. Even if he had encountered a miracle afterwards and succeeded at Purification by some fluke, this short period of cultivation was far from enough to advance his strength by leaps and bounds. He should have been the weakest person present, but..no one dared to pick him.

It was very lively outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust, but very quiet at the edge of the forest.

Luoluo hugged Chen Changsheng's arm and leaned against his body, on the verge of falling asleep.

Xuanyuan Po yawned, his mouth large enough to stuff an entire deer leg inside.

Tang Thirty-Six was speaking with Su Moyu about something, and Su Moyu's face was utterly stupefied.

The youths of the Orthodox Academy were truly quite bored.

Thankfully, according to the rules, their bored waiting would inevitably end.

The wooden door of the Hall of Washing Away Dust once more creaked open. The childish girl from Gentle Stream Monastery walked out, her small face covered in tears from the joy of her victory. She rushed into the bosom of her senior sister, thinking to whine to her. However, upon noticing the rather strange mood, she subconsciously wiped her tears and looked at the crowd.

An examinee walked out with slow and heavy steps. He turned his gaze to the stone plaza on the west side of the Hall of Washing Away Dust, turned his gaze to the edge of the forest, his face somewhat pale.

There were only five people left. Right now, he needed to choose an opponent from amongst these five.