He smiled and waved his folding fan.
Without giving Li Chang’an a chance to speak, his tone suddenly turned cold. "A good dog doesn’t block the road. Get lost, and don’t make me say it a third time!"
More and more candidates, eager for a spectacle, gathered around.
The Clerks responsible for maintaining order in the examination grounds didn’t dare to speak up. Instead, they turned and reported the situation to the chief examiner.
The middle-aged man glanced at the commotion on the examination grounds.
His eyes fell on Li Chang’an and Ma Dongyang at the center of the storm, and he turned his head. "My lord, should I intervene and stop them?"
The young man—a woman in disguise—fixed her bright, phoenix-like eyes on Li Chang’an. She nodded slightly. "Protect those two young men. This generation’s Demon Sect’s Saint Heir is insane. His hands are stained with the blood of countless lives!"
The middle-aged man was clearly surprised by the young man’s response.
But he still nodded quickly. "As you command!"
...
Seeing the crowd grow larger while Li Chang’an still refused to move, the smile on the Demon Sect’s Saint Heir, Lu Sheng, gradually faded. He snapped his fan shut. "It seems you two are determined to die today, are you? Don’t think I won’t dare to act just because this is an examination ground!"
Li Chang’an was very calm. "If you’re going to make a move, then do it. If not, then get lost," he said nonchalantly. "This is a Martial Dao examination ground. We speak with our fists here, not our mouths!"
At these words, the smile completely vanished from Lu Sheng’s face. In the blink of an eye, he appeared like a shadow less than half a meter from Li Chang’an. "How bold," he said coldly. "Then let me grant you your death wish today!"
He was about to strike.
But the middle-aged examiner had appeared beside them at some point. "Settle your grudges outside the examination grounds," he said coldly. "This is not the place for you to cause trouble!"
The middle-aged examiner’s words were directed at Lu Sheng.
Lu Sheng glanced at the middle-aged examiner, then back at Li Chang’an, his brow furrowing in surprise.
He didn’t make any more rash moves. Taking two steps back, he flicked his fan open again and smiled. "Lord Shi, it’s rare for you to step in to protect a junior. I’ll give you face today. However, there’s a life-and-death duel on the Martial Dao grounds later. If this brat dies in it, I hope you won’t take offense!"
With that, he stopped pestering them.
Waving his fan, he turned and left.
The middle-aged examiner, addressed as Lord Shi, glanced at Li Chang’an without a word and also turned to return to the high platform.
Watching the two of them depart.
The crowd of spectating candidates, with no more excitement to watch, quickly dispersed.
But the incident didn’t just die down. On the contrary, word of what had happened spread like wildfire among the candidates.
Ma Dongyang had nearly pissed himself in fear. He finally let out a breath of relief, his voice still trembling. "Brother Li, have you always been this audacious?"
Li Chang’an shook off the hand Ma Dongyang had clamped on his arm. "Didn’t he just say he doesn’t like people who steal the spotlight?" he said casually. "Neither do I!"
Seeing him act so nonchalant after gravely offending the Demon Sect’s Saint Heir,
Ma Dongyang was truly impressed from the bottom of his heart.
He couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up in praise. "Brother Li, you truly live up to your reputation as the hero who boasted about seeing if the current Empress was ’juicy’! With that courage alone, I’d bet you can’t find anyone stronger than you among the ten thousand candidates here!"
Li Chang’an just smiled, ignoring him. He turned to the Clerk in charge of the assessment and asked, "May I go in now?"
Hearing this, the Clerk snapped out of his daze.
He nodded hurriedly. "This way, please!"
The first round of the assessment was designed to weed out those just trying to get by. One only needed to lift a thousand-jin millstone and hold it for ten seconds to pass.
When Li Chang’an had helped Ma Dongyang move the millstone earlier, he had already effectively passed.
The two of them entered the large courtyard together.
After the first round of assessment, the original ten thousand-plus candidates were drastically reduced to around two thousand, a drop of eighty percent.
Consequently, the second round was much more refined than the first.
The second round required drawing a hundred-*dan* bow and shooting ten arrows. A minimum of five out of the ten arrows had to hit the target to qualify.
This round was a bit of a struggle for Ma Dongyang.
After all, while drawing a hundred-*dan* bow wasn’t impossible, accurately shooting its arrows into a target was very difficult. It required not only sufficient strength but also superb control over one’s body, as well as some fundamental archery skill.
Ma Dongyang shot ten arrows, six of which hit the target, allowing him to barely pass.
Li Chang’an had never formally learned archery either, but his control over his body had reached a state of perfection. He could hit a target perfectly from hundreds of meters away.
He drew the bow ten times, each time to a full moon, and every arrow hit its mark precisely.
This performance caused quite a stir.
Many candidates wanted to approach Li Chang’an and get friendly with him. But when they realized he was the reckless fool who had been targeted by the Demon Sect’s Saint Heir, they immediately lost their nerve and stayed away.
This saved Li Chang’an some trouble.
He put down the bow and followed Ma Dongyang further inside.
As they walked, Ma Dongyang praised him admiringly, "So, Brother Li, you’re this skilled! It seems I was blind before. I can’t believe I didn’t realize I was standing in the presence of such a great God!"
Initially,
they had only been able to exchange a few words now and then because they were from the same hometown and traveling the same road.
Ma Dongyang had assumed that Li Chang’an, like himself, was of ordinary birth and average strength, here to try and make a name for himself.
But Li Chang’an’s performance at the archery range had just made him realize the enormous gap between them.