Chen Tang shook his head and said, "I won’t go. If I went, I could indeed seriously injure the young master, but the boy would not be happy. If I were him, I would definitely want to defeat the young master myself. He probably thinks the same."
Eunuch Feng frowned and sighed, "Then this time in the Imperial Examination, I’m afraid Sir Chen will be defeated in the first match. A month later during the Imperial Examination, do you think Sir Chen has a chance?"
Chen Tang resolutely said, "In a month, the young master will undoubtedly be defeated!"
Eunuch Feng breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Chen Shi, who was speaking and laughing, and said, "Then let’s wait for the battle in a month!"
Chen Tang lightly nodded.
Eunuch Feng said, "Chen Wu has already left the Western Capital and gone to Despair Slope. You’ve been investigating for a long time and know how terrifying the opponent is. Aren’t you going to dissuade him?"
Chen Tang said, "I can’t persuade him. Moreover, he is equally terrifying."
Eunuch Feng said, "The True King is gone. Those extraordinary cultivators of that year were not even a match for him, and an entire era ended. What use is it for Chen Wu to seek him out?"
He looked calm and said, "Chen Tang, as I look around, I see nothing but despair."
Chen Tang remained silent.
The conversation between Chen Shi, Cheng Qi, and Granny Sha had just ended, and Granny Sha said with a smile, "Cheng Qi is indeed very gifted, and his mastery in talismanic magic is profound; he is bound to achieve extraordinary accomplishments in this field. You should join the Independents! When we get to Red Mountain Hall, I’ll get you an invitation to the next Independent Gathering in nine years. By then, you’ll be qualified to participate."
During the conversation, it was mostly Chen Shi and Granny Sha who were speaking, and Cheng Qi had little to say, only occasionally managing to interject a word or two. But even those few words made Granny Sha see him in a new light, acknowledging his exceptional talent.
However, when Chen Shi and Granny Sha quickly shifted the conversation to talismanic magic in the Ghost God Domain, it was too profound for him, like listening to a celestial text.
Chen Tang said, "Chen Shi, go eat and prepare for the martial examination this afternoon!"
Chen Shi paid no attention, continuing to discuss with Granny Sha how to evolve the Ghost God Domain from the Innate Eight Trigrams.
"Since there is the Qiankun Transformation, there must also be the Wind and Thunder Transformation, Mountain Marsh Transformation, Water and Fire Transformation! Qiankun Transformation is the hardest, but these three Ghost God Domains are the easiest. It’s not feasible here."
Granny Sha said, "Let’s go outside the city! I don’t believe that with our brains, we can’t compare to the Creation Little Five’s mind!"
Chen Shi suggested, "I have a small divine realm crafted from the Void Great Realm at home, let’s test it in the small divine realm instead."
Granny Sha shook her head and said, "No, the Void Great Realm is not the real world, and demonstrating Daoist skills always has many unrealistic parts."
Her cultivation might not be high, but her insights are extremely profound.
The two walked towards the outside of the city, while Xiang Yunfei from a distance watched the lady he admired leave with someone else, feeling a sense of loss.
Chen Shi and Granny Sha arrived outside the city, searching for a vacant place to immediately delve into the three transformations. They did not start with the Eight Trigrams Protection Technique directly, but instead began from scratch, contemplating the fundamental Daoist skills from the Taishang Eight Trigrams Protection Talisman.
The two researched until the afternoon when Chen Tang came to urge them, only then did Chen Shi realize that there was another martial examination in the afternoon.
"Sister Sha, wait for me! I’ll come back after the examination!"
He bade farewell to Granny Sha and hurried to the martial field of the Divine Mechanism Camp.
The afternoon’s martial examination tested crafts, focusing on technical skills.
The scholars demonstrated their most skilled technique, which could be talisman drawing, spell casting, flying technique, swordsmanship, etc., evaluated by the examiners.
For Chen Shi, this exam posed no difficulty; his mind was entirely on the Wind and Thunder, Mountain Marsh, and Water and Fire transformations. He casually performed a set of spells to get through, and then left in a hurry.
However, the young master went all out, demonstrating the Nine Heavens Dragon Phoenix Descent spell, stunning the audience during the grand examination, with calls for the young master’s name echoing inside and outside the venue.
The young master, full of confidence, looked around, but couldn’t see a trace of Chen Shi, feeling somewhat let down.
Another event in this martial examination caused quite a stir when over ten scholars broke through their inherent realms during the examination, stepping into the Divinity Transformation Realm!
"Those country bumpkin scholars again!" the officials of the Western Capital were utterly astonished.
This year’s grand examination was truly strange; in previous years, the family scions led the way, dazzling in the grand examination and winning rounds of applause.
But this year was different.
This year, there were not many family scions who shone, but instead, many remarkable people emerged from the countryside.
"This year, does the Thirteen Families have anyone?" asked an examiner frowning.
"Yes, they stayed at Qixia Temple, somehow disappeared, some say a fairy at the end of the White Jade Stairs ate them."
An examiner who knew about it said, "Others say the Dragon King of the well emerged and ate them. The Thirteen Families dispatched many experts to the Qixia Temple to search for these people. It’s said that at night, that fairy appeared, beckoning to them. A Lis from the Li family, who had cut three corpses, was enticed by the fairy, walked over, and disappeared."
A nearby examiner mentioned, "I heard some of them entered the Dragon-locking Well and were beaten by the Dragon King inside, barely escaping alive."
Everyone was extremely surprised: "Are these two evil spirits really that formidable?"
"I heard they are evil spirits left from the True King Era, and even the True King back then couldn’t kill them."
An examiner from the Ministry of Rites appeared troubled, "This year, if those rising are all ordinary folks without background, how do we explain it to the higher-ups?"
No one spoke further.
Many minor families existed across various regions, but although their heirs had hereditary skills, those were no match for the cultivation techniques learned by those country folks. The power of their spells wasn’t as significant, and their realms might be slightly higher, but only just.
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