The 408th Chapter Special Attention from the Chief Examiner
hen they realized that these black-garbed men were looking at Hao Ren, they quickly let go of him.The surrounding students gasped in unison, their discussions growing louder. If many students had alre...Chapter 408: The Examiner's Special Attention~
Hao Ren returned to his own examination room and used his identification card to open the transparent barrier, sitting inside.
The previously somewhat chaotic examination area suddenly became silent.
The examiners in their silver silk long robes stepped onto their flying法寶to enter the written examination zone.
Thousands of black-tiled examination rooms were structured like a giant black yin-yang symbol, arranged according to the directions of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, surrounding the central Dragon God Hall.
These examination rooms used only once a year belonged to the "outer city" of the Dragon God Hall.
The black Dragon God Hall and the dozens of white arenas in the four directions close to it were surrounded by thousands of examination rooms, constituting the "inner city" of the Dragon God Hall.
For this written exam held at midnight, the Dragon God Hall mobilized hundreds of examiners who each oversaw their own respective areas and positions.
Hao Ren knew that if Zhao Kuo participated in the imperial examination tonight, he would also have to take part in this written exam. However, with such a large scale of the Dragon God Hall's exam, it was virtually impossible to encounter Zhao Kuo.
Several hundred examiners swiftly patrolled between the narrow alleys of the examination rooms, checking each room’s conditions.
A examiner also passed by in front of Hao Ren's alleyway.
The examiner saw Hao Ren wearing a robe embroidered with silver dragons and gave him a slight nod upon seeing his familiar face.
Hao Ren responded with a similar slight nod to acknowledge the gesture.
Through this simple exchange, Hao Ren understood that official examiners would certainly favor assistant examiners during the imperial examination process. This was why cultivators from Donghai University had been desperately challenging Hao Ren in hopes of securing an assistant examiner’s position!
The two cultivators in Hao Ren's neighboring examination rooms were envious and jealous when they saw the official examiner nod at Hao Ren.
But what use was envy and jealousy They could only wish they were assistant examiners themselves!
The positions of assistant examiners were limited, usually recommended by official examiners. Each official examiner could have a maximum of one assistant examiner.
Becoming an assistant to an official examiner generally indicated the strength of a cultivator and their potential in passing the Dragon God Hall's imperial examination; otherwise, why would official examiners take on such troublesome tasks!
As the patrolling examiner flew past, the examination rooms in Hao Ren’s row fell back into silence.
The time quietly slipped by.
Though thousands of people were waiting for the exam, it was eerily silent.
Swoosh...
A sound of air slicing through space came.
Hao Ren looked up to see Su Shaoyang flying over on his golden core towards Hao Ren’s examination room.
The sheer power behind this move was almost enough to rip off some of the tiles from Hao Ren's examination room!
Bang!
Su Shaoyang suddenly stopped in front of Hao Ren's dormitory, standing there out of nowhere.
He was wearing a silver silk robe but had an eye-catching four-clawed golden dragon embroidered on his shoulders!
A four-clawed golden dragon represented Su Shaoyang's status as a Tier 4 Examiner!
Riding behind Su Shaoyang were two accompanying Examiners, with three-clawed golden dragons on their shoulders.
A Tier 4 Examiner bringing along two Tier 3 Examiners to visit the cultivator with the number "Jinyi Two-Four-Six"—what kind of background did this Assistant Examiner have!
The two cultivators sitting next to Hao Ren were so shocked that they couldn't even muster a sound.
They had participated in at least two or three successive Imperial Examinations and were familiar with the situation. However, they had never seen—and not even heard of—such an occurrence!
Generally speaking, during the imperial examination held in the middle of the night, it was just a matter of Level 1 and Level 2 Examiners patrolling the test venue, let alone needing to mobilize a Level 3 Examiner. A Level 4 Examiner certainly didn't need to be involved!
"How is your environment Are you adapting well" Su Shaoyang looked at Hao Ren and asked.
Hao Ren raised his head to look at him but only sighed without saying anything.
Su Shaoyang stepping on the golden ridge meant that his fated treasure was back in his hands. That's why Grand Examiner Su Han didn't want to break ties with him and returned his treasure.
"You might not know this, but I am one of the four chief examiners for this imperial examination, responsible for the eastern region. And you—" Su Shaoyang floated in mid-air, staring at Hao Ren. "—happen to be within my jurisdiction."
The two cultivators next to Hao Ren were shocked to hear about a Tier 4 Examiner paying special attention to someone. Moreover, this Tier 4 Examiner was one of the most senior chief examiners. It seemed that their neighbor had an absolute chance to become a formal examiner!
If they knew it would be like this, why didn't they try to curry favor with Hao Ren when they found out he was an Assistant Examiner
"Did you deliberately arrange this" Hao Ren asked.
"So what if I did What of it" Su Shaoyang sneered, staring at Hao Ren.
Being chosen as a chief examiner responsible for the eastern region was one of the most prestigious positions among the four. The other six Tier 4 Examiners assigned to this area all assisted him, making his status unrivaled!
In other words, during the imperial examination period, Su Shaoyang was unquestionably one of the Four Great Examiners. Even Grand Examiner Su Han couldn't afford to offend him or influence his judgment!
"There are too few dragon cultivators from the Golden Dragon Clan. Choosing you as a chief examiner might be for fairness," Hao Ren said frankly.
Su Shaoyang's strength was only Qun Level, and among the Tier 4 Examiners in the Dragon God Hall, there were not just a few. Su Shaoyang being selected as one of the chief examiners overseeing this year’s Dragon God Hall examination indeed had elements to avoid suspicion.
Hao Ren's words directly exposed the truth, which made Su Shaoyang feel both ashamed and angry.
There were too few Golden Dragon Clan members, which was one aspect. Moreover, they had extraordinary average strength; many young cultivators reached Qun Level or even Gan Level. Thus, their arrogance far surpassed that of the Four Seas Dragon Palace with its vast influence. The Golden Dragon Clan never deigned to participate in examinations at the Dragon God Hall—another significant reason.
Hao Ren's words undoubtedly hit a sore spot behind Su Shaoyang’s pride.
Su Shaoyang appeared strong, but among the Golden Dragon Clan members, he barely ranked as middle-to-lower tier.
Becoming a reviewer for the Dragon Temple is, for the Gold-dragon clan, not exactly a glorious thing.
"Sir, please calm down!"
Seeing that Qin Shaoyang's face had changed color, the two third-level reviewers beside him hurriedly tried to persuade him.
Qin Shaoyang was an important examiner for this year’s Divine Dragon Temple examination, and if he were to attack any of the cultivators who took part in the exam here, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Good, I see. Not a bad student of Su Han indeed," Qin Shaoyang bit his teeth, "I will see how you pass the martial arts examination tomorrow!"
The written test was held late at night so that it could be quiet.
If Qin Shaoyang couldn’t resist and attacked Hao Ren, causing any kind of commotion would attract a large number of reviewers. At that time, the situation wouldn't be easy to handle.
Hao Ren was very clear in his heart that as soon as Qin Shaoyang put him into a region under his own control, he would definitely use all kinds of methods against him. Hence, even if he were to make Qin Shaoyang angry to death right now, it wouldn’t matter at all!
At this time, the two cultivators beside Hao Ren were so surprised that they didn't dare raise their heads.
They regretted not befriending Hao Ren earlier, and now they were afraid that Qin Shaoyang would take his anger out on them and mistake them for being Hao Ren’s friends!
It turned out this fourth-level reviewer was not the superior of this assistant reviewer but a mortal enemy instead!!
Reviewers often got into conflicts with each other, but it was very unbelievable that an insignificant assistant reviewer dared to challenge a fourth-level reviewer.
The two cultivators beside Hao Ren were scared and worried. They feared Qin Shaoyang’s blazing gaze would sweep over them next.
"Sir, there is only one stick of incense left before the written test officially starts," the third-level reviewer reminded Qin Shaoyang.
"Tell the patrol officers in this region to watch him closely. If he does anything fishy, cut!" Qin Shaoyang said with a dark face and viciously.
"As you wish!" The two third-level reviewers hurriedly bowed at Qin Shaoyang.
Actually, they were also very distressed in their hearts. Before coming here to assist Qin Shaoyang, they had received Su Han’s instructions: they must take good care of that cultivator who was “Ji Yin 246” on his identification card.
In the Divine Dragon Temple, everyone knew that Su Han was a reviewer with the greatest potential among all reviewers to become a Celestial Dragon. Even though she had fallen from fourth-level reviewer to third-level reviewer, nobody dared look down upon her!
And Qin Shaoyang had the backing of the Gold-dragon clan and was also an unapproachable hot potato in the Divine Dragon Temple.
The attitude towards this assistant reviewer from both Qin Shaoyang and Su Han was one to suppress Hao Ren, the other to support him. This made them, who were here to assist, caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Humph!" Qin Shaoyang strode off on his golden shuttle with a howling sound.
The two reviewers left behind exchanged glances, quietly discussed for a moment or two, then flew in the direction of the Divine Dragon Temple.
Ji Yin 246—this was Su Han’s assistant reviewer. Judging from her attitude towards him, she was very concerned about this assistant of hers. Therefore, the cultivator with “Ji Yin 246” on his identification card must be a sensitive figure!
Bong… Bong… Bong…
Bell ringing.
Midnight!
The supervisors on standby immediately穿梭到小巷子裡, 把一張張的試卷丟到號舍裡。
Hao Ren grabbed this long paper and saw the dense questions. He instantly felt a bit anxious.
All were essay questions!
The time limit for the written exam was only one hour!
Holding a brush pen, Hao Ren infused spiritual energy and wrote swiftly.
If not for his clear memory of the feeling when he and Su Han painted together before, Hao Ren now probably wouldn’t even know how to use a brush pen to write!
Shushushu...
In all the test rooms, sounds of writing could be heard.
The written exam wasn't difficult, but it would still filter out quite a number of cultivators!
This tense atmosphere was no less than that during his college entrance exams in his previous life!
And the supervisor who had been ordered to watch Hao Ren really sat outside Hao Ren's test room on a path, staring at him intently!
You must understand that when doing an exam, what one hates most is someone watching beside them... At this time, Hao Ren even had thoughts of rushing out to hit the person.
Tick... Tick... Tick...
The hour of the ox!
Hao Ren still held his brush pen and hadn't completed the final section yet.
Sitting opposite Hao Ren, the supervisors stood up calmly and collectively collected the papers.
“The hour of the rabbit! Martial Exam!”
The supervisors announced loudly.
This meant that there was only one hour of rest time before entering the martial exam stage!
In just an hour, all the papers would be finished. Those who failed the written exam would be directly eliminated!
For most cultivators confident they could pass the written exam, this final hour was golden time to replenish their energy and move their bodies!
Fighting through the night, followed by a series of battles; the imperial examination at Longshen Temple was indeed quite life-threatening... Hao Ren walked outside his test room intending to stretch his limbs when he suddenly saw familiar boxing moves in front.ere youthful and sporty, making it hard to tell she was already the mother of an early middle school girl.They ascended along stone steps until they reached the ticket office at the scenic spot entran...