âWhy is your martial dao... different from the others?â asked the Black Armor.
âAll daos lead to the same destination, it is only the journey that is different,â Li Hao intoned. âThere is nothing wrong with what I do. Youâve seen it too, senior. I am not weak. Since the times are different, there is no need to limit ourselves to the path of ancient martial dao...â
âThat is true,â agreed the Black Armor after some thought. âThen you pass!â
It turned to Hong Yitang. âYou remind me of someone. Although the difference between you two is great, having the heart that you do is good. You pass as well!â
It then turned to Sky Sword. âYou are very pure and more like an unapologetic martial blockhead in my view. You might be more suited for the military academy, but... youâll do. You pass as well!â
Sky Sword heaved a sigh of relief as the Black Armor turned to Hou Xiaochen. Here, it hesitated. âYou have too many thoughts in mind. Your ideas are rather scattered and conservative. The Broken Will Spear is a very pure spear intent! There might be good results if you trade with the sword user, but itâs fine. You count as passing!â
Hou Xiaochen felt a bit awkward after the assessment, but didnât say anything. Finally, the Black Armor turned to Qian Wanhaoâs group. A disapproving tone entered its voice as it pointed at Qian Wanhao. âPerhaps you purposefully wrote to my preferences as your scroll is different from what I sense on you... but a test is just a test. It matters not whether you resorted to trickery, so long as you didnât cheat. You count as having passed!â
Qian Wanhao breathed an immense sigh of relief. Yes, he had indeed employed trickery. He was aware of the personalities of some ancient powerhouses, so the martial dao heâd written of were the thoughts that heâd held eighty years ago. While those were indeed his thoughts, they stemmed from when he wished to overthrow the monarchy.
Clearly, the Black Armor found his ideas feasible. Just as heâd thought back in the day, they were good ideas!
âYou...â The Black Armor irritably waggled its finger at Hu Mingfa from the Ministry of the Judiciary. âYou say that you are part of law enforcement. With the laws being the foundation and precursor to dao, your words speak only of a hierarchy of power. There is an innate conflict between law and class. This makes no sense whatsoever, you do not pass!â
Hu Mingfaâs expression shifted drastically! The Black Armor ignored him and dismissed the one from the City of Supernaturals.
âYou have entirely inherited the dao of New Martial and have absolutely no innovation to speak of. There is no change in your methods, but core origin dissipated long ago. There is no future path ahead for you. You do not pass!â
The Arcanus from the City of Supernaturals widened his eyes and couldnât help but say, âBut... this plant spirit... also focuses on the core origin...â
âYou fool, it can continue down its path because it possesses core origin dao!â snorted the Black Armor. âYou do not pass!â
Color drained from the supernaturalâs face. Failing to pass meant that he could not become a student. Didnât that mean he was stuck here forever? At least... he wasnât immediately sentenced to death just because he didnât pass.
The ministers of Examination and Foreign Affairs waited eagerly for the Black Armor to judge their entries.
âYou two are middle-of-the-road without any particular outstanding points, but neither do you demonstrate any major flaws,â it pronounced after a while. âYou are on the cusp of passing and I could let you pass, but... there are many who have passed already. Therefore, you do not pass!â
The ministersâ expectant expressions fell off their faces. What the heck was this??
âSir, since we were on the cusp of passing... isnât this decision... unjust?â
âOn the contrary, it is very just!â the Black Armor responded calmly. âThis is a premier institution of learning, not the ordinary establishments of trash out there. You two do not qualify to attend in the first place!â
It then turned to the little tree. âYou are a core origin cultivator... and pass for your description of core origin!â Finally, it looked at Panther. âYou are lazy and only keen to eat. Compared to your ancestor... Forget it, your ancestor was an exalted emperor as well and thus cannot be easily referenced. You do not pass!â
Panther grew frantic! I do not pass? Then I canât leave either?
âArf arf arf!â
âShut up!â
The dog immediately fell silent, but still despaired. It looked at Li Hao. I failed, what do we do now? The little tree made it!
Five people and a tree had passed. The world spun around them again, shocking the group. How was the Black Armor doing this??
âStudents of martial universities must have real skill to their name!â Six puppets appeared on the field. âI have adjusted their strength to be on par with yours. They possess the capabilities of regular cultivators in the New Martial era. Defeating a peer of the same level is a passing mark, defeating two is a good result. Defeating three is excellence!
âThose who qualify will enter the next round. Good marks will receive rewards, and excellent marks will receive special rewards!â
Li Haoâs quartet looked at each other. A peer? Who among those present werenât standouts of their period? A peer from the ancient civilization should be fine, right?
âThen... can we face one puppet at first and increase the number if we find it feasible?â asked Li Hao.
âYou can. The puppets do not tire and this kind of fighting does not consume too much of their energy. It can also be replenished at any time without affecting their battle strength!â
Li Hao breathed out in relief. Then they could each challenge one at first and add more if they found it possible.
âIâll go!â Sky Sword stepped forward. He was always one to volunteer for something that he felt should be done. A puppet manifested and brought a sword down on Sky Sword. He grunted and waved his broadsword in response, colliding with his opponent via a loud impact!
Undaunted, he continued to strike again and again. His sword intent was stately and grand!
He beat back the puppet with ease.
âAnother!â
A second puppet quickly appeared and the two coordinated their moves in a thunderous offensive. The Black Armor watched silently, not making any audible judgments.
Sky Sword sent one of them flying after a few moments, completely defeating it. He did the same with the second a while later. As easy as itâd seemed for him, he did not call for a third puppet. Only after he stopped could the group see his condition clearly. He was covered in sword marks and blood seeped out of all of his wounds. He breathed heavily with a frown, clearly finding it embarrassing that heâd only defeated two puppets.
These were just two puppets with ordinary battle strength in the ancient civilization, but heâd almost fallen in defeat!
âBe careful, theyâre very strong. Itâs best if you take them on one at a time!â he transmitted to the group when he stepped to the side. These were very strong puppets and heâd had issues taking on two at once.
Li Hao and the rest simply walked out instead of responding. âJust send one at first!â
Several puppets manifestedâone each. Li Hao promptly deployed his abilities and rushed forward with his sword. However, his puppet disappeared. So fast! He was a five element Arcanus and had just barely managed to grasp the last element. Apparently, the Black Armor wouldnât let him just face a four element Arcanus. The puppet was also at the five element strength.
Li Hao exchanged a dozen blows with the puppet in the blink of an eye. He stumbled backward after the latest boom, disbelief brimming in his eyes. I canât even defeat a single blasted one?? How is that possible?! And I wanted to fight three at once!
Various thoughts flitted through his mind before inspiration struck. His sword aura flaredâthe aura was the center of his attacks this time, not sword intent!
You donât know sword aura, do you?
Characters materialized in a spray of wind, fire, lightning, and water. It was the puppet that was subject to immense constraints this time. Thunder and lightning crackled with fury and a ferocious tiger emerged to send the puppet flying!
âMore!â
Another two puppets appearedânot just one. Three attacked at the same time!
Booms and roars echoed from all sides as the Black Armor quietly watched them, observing their performance. When it looked at the little tree and saw that the tree was summoning the imperial palace again... it quickly shouted, âYou pass with excellent marks! This...â
This is almost cheating! Who in the modern world can stand against a corner of the imperial palace?
But it hadnât said before that the palace couldnât be utilized, not to mention this was part of the little treeâs heritage. There was nothing that could be said about it.
Damn that cheating plant!
The little tree quietly backed off of the battlefield. It had no choice as it didnât really stand a chance against the puppets and could only use its trump card.
There were two unlucky souls having a difficult timeâHou Xiaochen and Qian Wanhao. Qian Wanhao had just set foot into four element Arcanus and Hou Xiaochen had just become a supernatural. They were both stronger than theyâd been before, which would be a good thing, but that meant they met stronger opponents now than they wouldâve!
Qian Wanhao was utterly routed in a few seconds! Just as Hou Xiaochen seemed destined for defeat, he shouted and broke another supernatural lock to send his puppet flying.
âBreaking through in the field...â grumbled the Black Armor. âFine, that counts too!â
Hou Xiaochen spontaneously breaking a lock was cheating as well, but again, the Black Armor hadnât said ahead of time that that wasnât permitted.
Hou Xiaochen didnât say anything, choosing to stop after defeating one puppet. He brooded silently, despite being able to challenge two or three puppets if he so wished. Instead, he was caught up in the shame of having almost been defeated.
Qian Wanhao wilted in the distance like heâd just lost his wife. He might be the only one to fail this stage. It was an awfully depressing possibility. He looked with resignation at Li Hao and the rest. Those guys were very strongâmuch stronger than him despite being of the same cultivation level. Despite that fact, why was he so dejected at being less than them?
Qian Wanhao sighed to himself. Was he really going to be trapped here forever?
In the meantime, Li Hao was starting to have too much fun. These puppets were susceptible to the characters and couldnât really follow the trajectory of the abilities coming from the characters. It was a delightful discovery and he luxuriated in the exchange, despite being surrounded by three puppets.
The Black Armor quietly observed the young man. This was Tranquil Starâs ultimate art, but also not quite! It contained energy, blood qi, mental strength, and a unique dao related to the mind. It was rather surprising!
It then considered Hong Yitang. Here was another interesting person. He also employed written characters, but they differed from Li Haoâs in that his was one word going through multiple permutations. How strange, the two were of the same dao, but also different. It was interesting, in any case!
Li Hao defeated the three puppets after a while, as did a heavily panting Hong Yitang. He shook his head, however. Heâd employed some trickery again because, like Li Hao, heâd won through attrition by taking advantage of the fact that the puppets didnât understand their characters. That was how he emerged victorious.