The district exam registration was held on a wide and open plaza at the center of Donglin Academy.
Due to the overwhelming number of registrants, thirty-six registration booths had been set up all over the plaza. The ones in charge of these booths were students of Donglin Academy.
Despite such arrangements, there were still too many registrants, creating long lines behind each booth.
Lin Xun could only start queuing behind one of the booths and silently wait for his turn.
The registration process was very simple. A person only needed to pay a fee of ten copper coins in exchange for a district exam participation token.
While he was queuing, some discussions suddenly drew Lin Xun’s attention.
“Amazing, I’ve heard that the chief examiner for this year's district exam is Lord Yao Tuohai of Qingfeng County!”
“Who is he?”
“Idiot, thirty years ago, Lord Yao Tuohai was fifteen. At this age, he should have already been a little too old for the district exam, but Lord Yao Tuohai successively passed the district exam, prefectural exam and provincial exam in a single year!”
“That’s not even all. When Lord Yao Tuohai participated in the national exam, he displayed unrivalled power which allowed him to stand out amongst countless amazing talents!”“Although Lord Yao ultimately came a little bit short in the national exam and failed to enter Qinglu Academy as he hoped to, his outstanding performance managed to catch the prime minister’s eye. In the end, Lord Yao was recommended for a post in the empire’s central district, making him very famous for a time!”
“You must know that no one from our southwest province has managed to pass the national exam for many years. The fact that Lord Yao managed to climb so high is proof of his capabilities. In the entire southwest province, the only person who can compare to Lord Yao is the Great Commander Liu Wujun, who holds the highest authority in the southwest province!”
“My god! Since Lord Yao Tuohai is so amazing, why has he chosen to oversee the district exam in Donglin City? A bigshot like him is more than qualified enough to oversee the provincial exam!”
“No one knows why Lord Yao has come, but his presence has definitely drawn numerous cultivators to this year’s district exam. In fact, I heard that cultivators from nearby cities have also rushed here after hearing the news. Nearly everyone is hoping to be recognized by Lord Yao during the exam and subsequently obtain a successful career for themselves!”
“Despicable! These guys are dreaming!”
“Ah, regardless of everyone’s motives, the competition is sure to be fierce with so many cultivators. Since only a thousand people will pass in the end, many cultivators who could have originally met the mark will be eliminated.”
Lin Xun was shocked by this information. He never imagined that this year’s district exam would be so different.
It was also the first time he had heard of Yao Tuohai. After hearing about his many achievements, Lin Xun understood that this individual was an extremely formidable character.
Why has such an illustrious person personally come to oversee the district exam in Donglin City?
There must be some important reason!
However, Lin Xun couldn't care less about this mystery at the moment and was quite speechless after hearing these conversations. Due to Yao Tuohai’s presence, the number of registrants had drastically increased and there would most certainly be several talented individuals amongst them. It was easy to imagine how competitive the final selection would be.
“I currently have True Martial sixth layer cultivation and I’ve yet to reach fourteen years of age. I wonder if this will be enough to pass the district exam…”
Lin Xun was originally filled with confidence but he now became somewhat uncertain.
The district exam’s contents were simple: the first was that the participant had to be no older than fifteen years old and the second was to possess cultivation.
One could say that any cultivator who dared to register would definitely fulfil these two conditions. However, due to the limited number of passing spots, the district exam would only choose the cream of the crop. Ordinary cultivators were destined to be eliminated!
It soon came to Lin Xun’s turn.
Two Donglin Academy students were seated behind the booth: a girl and a boy. One was in charge of collecting the registration fee, while the other’s duty consisted of giving out the participant token and recording the registrant’s information.
After handing over ten copper coins, the female student seated behind the booth raised her head and asked, “Please report your name and birthplace.”
Lin Xun casually answered, “Lin Xun, from Donglin City Feiyun Village.”
The male student’s head jerked upwards at these words, “You’re Lin Xun?”
The male student had an upright appearance and looked like a capable person. However, his expression was currently a little dark, a slight contrast to his bored, lethargic and unconcerned appearance from earlier.
His gaze had become as sharp as a knife as he stared at Lin Xun; clearly somewhat unable to control his emotions.
However, the male student quickly realized he had lost self-control. He immediately withdrew his gaze and regained his composure.
Lin Xun raised his brow, “You know me, friend?”
His keen senses had picked up faint killing intent leaking out from the student earlier. Although it had been well hidden, it was impossible to conceal from Lin Xun.
“I mistook you for someone else.” The male student shook his head, his voice now somewhat cold.
Lin Xun acknowledged and smiled, “What a coincidence then.”
The male student expressionlessly handed Lin Xun a token, “There are many coincidences in this world and sometimes unfortunate happenings. You should leave quickly so as to not obstruct others from registering.”
Lin Xun rubbed the token in his hand for a while before suddenly lowering his upper body. Smiling, he looked at the male student behind the booth, “Coincidences are always the result of karma. Friend, I believe we will be meeting again in the future.”
His words seemed to hold a deeper meaning. After speaking, he turned around and left with a chuckle.
Only after seeing Lin Xun’s figure disappear did the male student’s face darken again as iciness flowed in his eyes.
“Lian Fei, is there something wrong?” The female student asked in surprise. Lian Fei’s expression had become far too ugly and this was definitely not normal.
“It’s nothing.” The male student shook his head. With a deep breath, he recollected himself and smiled, “Don’t worry Susu. Let’s continue our duties. Many people are here to register today and we need to work as quickly as we can.”
“Mhm.” The female student nodded. She was no fool and had already sensed something was up during the earlier interaction.
She secretly wondered to herself, Was that the enemy Lian Fei wanted to deal with for the past few days? He’s just a kid, and here I was thinking he was some three-headed six-armed monster. Lian Fei doesn’t like me interfering in his affairs but since I now know who this enemy is, how can I possibly do nothing and watch him swallow his anger in silence? After all, he’s…the man I, Yao Susu, has chosen!”
……
Lian Fei!
As Lin Xun walked out of Donglin Academy, he recalled the appearance of the male student. Lin Xun had already roughly guessed the student’s identity.
Lin Xun had very few enemies in Donglin City. Lian Fei was the only enemy he had in Donglin Academy.
Lin Xun had not been able to recognize Lian Fei at a glance because they had never met before. It was honestly a stroke of fate to finally meet this foe today. In fact, Lin Xun had already felt the impulse to kill Lian Fei earlier.
Lin Xun ultimately restrained himself. Donglin Academy had tight security and there were many experts stationed nearby. He could not afford to act so recklessly.
However, he had committed Lian Fei’s appearance to memory. There would always be a chance to eliminate him in the future!
Lin Xun also understood that Lian Fei would love to avenge his father. Hence, Lin Xun would absolutely not give Lian Fei any chances.
Pedestrians seemed to be knitted together on the busy street, brushing shoulders as they traversed through the crowd. Various noises rang nonstop, creating quite a din.
Numerous people were talking about Yao Tuohai. He could be said to be the hottest topic in Donglin City.
News of his arrival to oversee the district exam was akin to a storm that shook the entire city. Many were trying to guess Yao Tuohai’s true goal for coming here.
After all, it felt like a huge waste for someone of Yao Tuohai’s status to oversee the district exam.
Lin Xun did not pay much attention to this. No matter how famous Yao Tuohai was, it had nothing to do with him.
Lin Xun soon arrived at Liji Bookstore, walked in, and greeted the owner, Old Uncle Li, whom Lin Xun was already reasonably acquainted with. He then began selecting books for Xia Zhi.
The sky was still bright when he left Liji Bookstore and Lin Xun found himself with some rare free time to relax. He leisurely strolled along the street, stopping from time to time to purchase sweet foods, fruits, and roasted meat.
Due to the threat from the Wu Clan and Lian Fei, Lin Xun had been pretty tense for the past few weeks. He had used every last second he had to make various preparations and had not stepped out of the slums for nearly half a month.
Since the threats were mostly resolved for the time being, Lin Xun was naturally not going to push himself too hard. The road of cultivation was not a race, and too much focus on cultivation training would instead be less effective.
It was not long before Lin Xun’s gaze was drawn towards a place by the roadside called Donglin Martial Training Hall and he soon found himself stopping in front of it.
“Young hero, would you like to have a try? There are aeth testing stones installed in our Martial Training Hall which can accurately gauge a cultivator’s aeth power. This knowledge will be a huge help to your future cultivation.”
An errand boy swiftly approached, his eyes shining as he warmly invited Lin Xun in, “Besides aeth testing stones, our Martial Training Hall also has specialized practice rooms for cultivators which contain copper skin puppets of various levels. You can freely test the power of your martial dao without risking injuries.”
“Oh? I can also train my martial dao here?” Lin Xun immediately became a little interested.
Upon seeing that Lin Xun seemed to be interested, the errand boy hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, “If the esteemed sir is not interested in these things, our Martial Training Hall also has a martial arena where you can spar with other cultivators. You can even win prizes for each victory!”
Lin Xun had no interest in the arena but was somewhat tempted by the aeth testing stone and the martial practice rooms. He was curious to find out his current power level.
After some consideration, Lin Xun tossed five copper coins to the errand boy, “Bring me to aeth testing stone first.”
The errand boy kept the tip with a wide smile, “Of course! Please follow me, young hero!”