The Immortal Alliance Branch of Jiongli was located at the heart of Dragon Horse Lake in the center of Jiongli. Unlike the Xinyue Main Temple, which connected all its buildings into one massive structure, the Jiongli Branch looked more like a vast lakeheart palisade when viewed from afar.
Most of the Jiongli Branch was submerged under the surface of the water, with the parts above the water being relatively flat. This was how the architects of the Immortal Alliance had managed to create large, level areas in a place famously lacking three feet of even ground, facilitating the various functions of the Immortal Alliance Branch.
In a plaza to the south of the Jiongli Branch, the written exam of the joint examination was being held.
Disciples from the two major Immortal Institutes, Xinyue and Langde, had already gathered here. Since the two institutes had just clashed the day before, the Xinyue Disciples were still smarting from their loss and looked rather downcast, while the Langde Disciples hoped to utterly defeat the Xinyue Immortal Institute in the joint examination, hence a faint whiff of gunpowder lingered among these new disciples.
With some time to spare before the start of the written test, these teenagers, none older than eighteen, huddled in groups to chat, either reviewing their lessons or relieving some of their tension.
Although despised by Ai Changyuan in all manner of ways, Hu Jianhao still had outstanding results. He belonged to that group who didn't need to be nervous before an exam, nor did they need to cram at the last minute. Taking advantage of the time before the exam, this scion of the Hu family sized up his opponents.
Then, he frowned slightly, "Where's Wang Qi? Why don't I see him?"
In his heart, Wang Qi, who had managed to cultivate the Elephant Phase Wave Skill and the Heavenly Entropy Decision during the Qi Cultivation Stage, was definitely an enemy on the same level as Ai Changyuan.
Ai Changyuan, who was playing with an apple not far away, also pricked up his ears.
Hu Jianhao had significant influence at the Langde Immortal Institute. When he asked a question, naturally, his underlings would gather information for him. Soon enough, a Langde Disciple rushed over and reported, "I heard that the guy from Xinyue Immortal Institute injured himself during cultivation yesterday and couldn't make it."
Hu Jianhao felt a mix of incredulity and amusement. His greatest hypothetical rival was absent from the written exam for such a laughable reason?
The written exam accounted for sixty-five percent of the total grade. If Wang Qi missed the written exam, no matter how good his Martial Arts Examination results were, he could only get a mediocre outcome! And with injuries, how good could his Martial Arts Examination results possibly be?
On the other side, Ai Changyuan frowned slightly. He had not expected this outcome.
Could that guy not even withstand the strength of two bites of an apple?
Or was there a mishap during refining?
Whispers of Wang Qi's unexpected incident were quietly spreading across the plaza. Everyone shared Ai Changyuan's confusion—how did he fall at such a crucial moment?
Hu Jianhao did not suspect Newton's apple. He had reviewed Wang Qi's intelligence. In his opinion, someone who could cultivate the Elephant Phase Wave Skill could not possibly be severely injured by those two bites of apple flesh.
Meanwhile, upon hearing of Wang Qi's absence, some of the Xinyue Disciples were in an uproar.
"That bastard... always so arrogant, but can't make it at the critical moment?"
"Dog meat can't make it to the grand feast for sure."
"Struts around in his own den but has little real ability."
"Stop with the cold remarks, without that guy, we can't lift our heads in front of those bastards from Langde!"
Witnessing the panic of his fellow students, Liu Shu revealed a wry smile, "Shulin, it seems like we've really stirred up the competitive spirit of the entire Xinyue Immortal Institute. This is getting out of hand."
Long Shulin's expression was indifferent, "It's nothing. Wang Qi said something similar, right? Reputation of the Immortal Institute is ultimately an external matter, not to be taken too seriously."
Different from the stoic attitudes of Liu and Long, Mao Zimiao sat on the edge of the plaza, her eyes red-rimmed as she hugged her knees, looking like she was on the verge of tears. Hearing the surrounding discussions, she buried her head in her knees and said with a crying voice, "It's all my fault, meow..."
"Your fault for what? The guy played with fire himself; you can't blame others," Wu Shiqin said, displeased. She swept a glance at the few gossipy disciples around, and, intimidated by her authority, they bowed their heads and dared not speak.
Mao Zimiao shook her head and remained silent.
Wu Fan felt the atmosphere was a bit stiff and tried to change the subject, "Speaking of which, that lazy guy Wang Qi has really been taking his cultivation seriously lately, hasn't he?"
"If I were counting on him, he wouldn't be this hardworking..." Mao Zimiao looked as if he was about to cry.
Wang Zhenqi played the role of consoling, "Come on, Amiao, just calm down and focus on preparing for your exam!"
Time flew by, and soon it was time for the exam to start. A Primordial Spirit Cultivator flew out and tossed a calculator into the air. Accompanied by a burst of blue light, the calculator linked up with the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm. After connecting with the Illusion Realm, the calculator spun several rounds in the sky and released a beam of light that covered the entire square.
The Written Test had begun.
Most of the Immortal Institute Disciples were enveloped by the beam of light, leaving just a few people on the edge of the square outside the range.
Mao Zimiao and his friends were not within the range of the light column. Wu Shiqin looked towards the light column and said, "The written test has started, let's go."
Everyone got up and headed towards the light column. Only Mao Zimiao remained in place. The cat-eared girl smiled weakly, "I need to adjust my mental state, meow! You guys go on ahead!"
Wang Zhenqi wanted to say something else, but she was pulled back by Wu Shiqin. The Law Enforcer nodded to the girl and said softly, "You must come over."
"Okay," Mao Zimiao nodded his head.
After watching his partners disappear into the light column, Mao Zimiao sat alone for a while longer. About half an hour later, he slowly stood up.
He should go take the written exam now. The girl thought, but her steps didn't move.
It didn't matter, Senior Sister Ai had said that Xiao Qi wasn't in danger. If he knew I skipped the written test because of him, he would definitely mock me.
But... what could I do about this transformation now...
No, no, pull yourself together! Don't worry about it... but it's simply impossible not to care!
As Mao Zimiao dragged his feet toward the light column, a powerful force surged from behind him, shoving him to the ground.
"Ah! Xiao Miao!" Ai Qinglan's carefree smile appeared in Mao Zimiao's field of vision, "You really didn't go take the test!"
Mao Zimiao said resentfully, "Senior Sister Ai..."
"Wang Qi will be fine and join the exam soon." Ai Qinglan tossed an envelope over, "Ta-da! I've got something great for you! Read this and then obediently go to take your exam!"
"Little Wang Qi knew you would be down and unable to focus on the written test, so he specifically asked me to bring this to you, saying it'll perk you up after you see it! Look! It must be a love letter!"
"Senior Sister, what are you talking about?!" The cat-eared girl's face flushed red with embarrassment. Yet, she was curious about the contents of the letter. Holding the envelope, which felt thick, the girl wondered how it could contain a letter written in just one day.
Mao Zimiao opened the envelope and pulled out several pages of exam questions. There was also a note that read just one sentence.
"Azimiao, without further ado, answer a few major questions to calm down."
Meow? Mao Zimiao turned the note over in confusion and found writing on the back.
"Listen up, if your score on the written test is much worse than mine, I'm going to pull your ears until you finish 'Five Jiazi Cultivation and Three Jiazi Simulation'!"
"Meow! I'm going to take the test now!"