It was not long before a lineup successively appeared on the high platform, which immediately attracted the attention of all the people present.
"Look at the man in the middle. He must be Excellency Yao Tuohai, the one who shocked the southwest region of the empire and was highly regarded by of the prime minister today!"
"Thirty years ago, Excellency Yao passed the County Test, State Test, and Province Test within just one year. With such peerless achievements, he really affords a good example to the young practitioners.”
"Yes, it is said that Excellency Yao has owned the cultivation of Tao Insight Realm now. In the whole empire, he is a top overmatch with real strength and power!"
"You can see, even a lot of big shots like Yu Canglin, president of Donglin School, Wu Chaoqun, patriarch of Clan of Wu, and Black Rose - Mu Wansu from Keystone Business, can only accompany his Excellency Yao around. That is what power and influence mean!”
There were many discussions among the more than 9,000 candidates for the County Test on the square, whose excitement was shown on their facial expressions.
Lin Xun looked up and caught sight of a learned and refined man, who wore a long dark robe with wide sleeves, with scanty goatee, sitting in the central position of the platform and showing demeanor of transcendent being.
He sat there at will, emitting an invisible majesty of turning up his nose at the heaven and the earth. His eyes seemed mild, but they were frightening when you glanced at them by accident.
That was Yao Tuohai!
A man shot to fame in the imperial Nation Test as early as 30 years ago, and there was only one could put on a par with him, namely Liu Wujun, governor of southwestern province in the empire of the day!
"Tao Insight Realm! I wonder what kind of horrible power such overmatches have…" Lin Xun sighed with endless emotion.
The more he strived for higher cultivation, the more he understood on the hardship during the whole process which was just like climbing mountains with bare hands -- one mountain was higher than another, and also more dangerous than another.
For ordinary practitioners, it was a good fortune to enter the Gang Spirit Realm in this life, let alone the higher mysterious realms like Sea Spirit Realm and Tao Insight Realm.
At the same time, Lin Xun also noticed Wu Chaoqun, who was a middle-aged man in a black hat and looked honest and tolerant. There seemed to be nothing special about him, which, however, made him even more unusual.
Being able to sit on the throne of Clan of Wu, and to be a guest of honour today, was originally a symbol of identity. Ordinary people didn't deserve to be on the platform.
Mu Wansu was there, too. Lin Xun just casted a glance at her and withdrew his gaze.
Dang!
A clear bell rang, resounding over the Donglin School, as if a signal announced the opening of the County Test.
Atmosphere on the square got solemn and silent.
At the moment, Yu Canglin, president of Donglin School, stood up and announced the significance of County Test in a clear loud voice and briefly expounded rules of it. Then he brought the topic to Yao Tuohai.
As chief examiner, Yao Tuohai rose to his feet with a smile, scanning the candidates present, and said in a serious voice, “Here you are all future pillars of the empire. I hope you will make a good performance today, strive to serve the empire early and make your own brilliant achievements!
The voice, with awesome power, clearly echoed throughout every corner of the school.
All at once, the audience broke into thunderous applause.
Some young girls and boys were excited with their blood boiling.
But Lin Xun felt a little bored, for such platitudes could only enchant those kids who were immature in both mind and feeling.
It was just a County Test. Although it was indeed a big event for the empire, as long as pondering over it calmly, you would find that this was only the most basic level in imperial tests. Even if it was passed, the result just represented the good intelligence and was not equal to any glorious achievement.
Numerous outstanding talents emerged from the County Test in countless cities of the thirty-four provinces of the empire every year, but only a handful of people could own the qualification for taking the higher-level test, and most of them could only be nobody.
Fortunately, the time of boredom soon passed. Yu Canglin announced that here came the real beginning of this County Test.
The assessment rule was very simple, i.e. people participating in the test would come forward one after another to undergo inspection from the "Bone Testing Stele" and "Spiritual Realm Stone" which could detect one’s age and cultivation respectively.
And then by those two criteria, a thousand of those best would pass the test, and others would be eliminated.
It was really simple. There was no fight on the arena, no test on life or death, and no weird test, just test your age and cultivation level.
“Fang Shuanchong, fourteen years old, the second level of Martial Realm!”
“Liu Gangshan, fifteen years old, the fourth level of Martial Realm!”
“Shi Hong, eleven years old, the first level of Martial Realm!”
…
After each practitioner came forward to be tested, the result would be announced on the spot. No one could cheat in the full blaze of publicity.
The test proceeded quickly. In just a quarter of an hour, more than 300 people had been examined. The results were different, but there was nothing impressive.
As for Lin Xun, it was hard to avoid being bored. So, he secretly did the math. There were more than 9,300 candidates present and it would take full four hours to finish the test according to the speed - three hundred people in one quarter.
Lin Xun had no choice but to stupidly stand here for four hours and do nothing, since there was only one Bone Testing Stele and one Spiritual Realm Stone in the entire test site. If there were more steles, the efficiency would be certainly improved.
Regrettably, Donling Town was just a remote town on the southwestern border of the empire and it was impossible to have more Bone Testing Steles and Spiritual Realm Stones there.
“Wu Feichong, nine years old, the fifth level of Martial Realm!”
A remarkable score caught Lin Xun’s attention when he was making blind and disorderly conjectures.
Not only Lin Xun but also all the other audience got surprised. He was just nine years old! But his cultivation already reached the fifth level of Martial Realm! He was an extraordinary cultivation talent who was extremely rare in the world!
It was not necessary to wait for the final results as everyone knew that this boy with such a score was so preeminent and would undoubtedly pass this County Test.
“Wu Feichong? I heard that he is a prodigy from Clan of Wu. His spirit is very strong and powerful by birth and Clan of Wu places great expectations on him. It is said that Clan of Wu will cultivate this child into an outstanding spiritual tattooist at all costs.”
“Clan of Wu is so lucky. If Wu Feichong becomes a spiritual tattooist, the status of Clan of Wu in DongLin Town will inevitably rise!”
Everyone was talking about that, and Wu Chaoqun on the high platform was flushed with joy. Wu Feichong was his lineal grandson. Now everyone fixed their eyes upon his grandson, which brought him much honour.
Wu Chaoqun had ease of mind, especially when he heard that Yao Tuohai said “excellent”.
“Oh, he is from Clan of Wu. Would Clan of Wu suffer a heavy blow if this child became crippled?”
Lin Xun was touching his chin while thinking. Wu Chaoqun would kill Lin Xun if he knew what Lin was thinking at this moment.
The test continued. Soon after, a 11-year-old boy named Shiao Hen and 10-year-old girl named Yu Miao, who owned the cultivation of the seventh level of Martial Realm and the sixth level of Martial Realm respectively, caused an uproar.
Although their flair was not as good as Wu Feichong’s, but they were also top-notch.
It was worth mentioning that Shiao Hen was the nephew of Shiao Yuanzhong, shopkeeper of Treasure Loft. He was sent to Donglin School for cultivation when he was very young.
And Yu Miao she was the granddaughter of Yu Canglin, president of Donglin School!
After seeing all of this, Lin Xun was still quite calm.
He was very clear that the flair of Wu Feichong, Xiao Hen and Yu Miao were good indeed. However, more importantly, they got great support from the big forces. With the guidance of famous masters since they were very young, and the support of various cultivation resources, the cultivation education they got was far better than that those practitioners from poor families got.
At least till now, the test had been going on for almost four hours. More than 4,000 candidates have been assessed. But he did not see any practitioners who were from poor families caused a sensation by their names and scores！
Lin Xun did not look down upon those practitioners who were from poor families. Actually, he was poor as well.
But he knew clearly. Even though those practitioners who were from poor families had fantastic cultivation talents, they also were limited by the lack of cultivation resources. It would be too late when they started to cultivate, for which their talents might be hidden in a napkin.
This was the cruel reality. Maybe it was too absolute to say that the practitioners from poor families could not become elites. But compared with the rich ones from notable families, it was too difficult to stand out among others for the practitioners from poor families.
After a while, Lin Xun collected his thoughts and did not dare to think too much as it was his turn to take the test! Whoosh! Quicker than words could tell. Lin Xun was already there.
Originally, Mu Wansu was a little bit bored on the high platform, seeing all this. Suddenly, she sat up straight and looked at the figure of Lin Xun with complicated emotions when he came to the front of the Bone Testing Stele which were dozens of feet high.
After seeing Mu Wansu’s movements, many important people of Donglin Town on the high platform began to guess whether this boy had something to do with Keystone Business.
Wu Chaoqun who knew everything about Lin Xun narrowed his eyes with an unnoticeable cold feeling, thinking to himself, “You brat, you can’t escape this time no matter how good your performance is!”
As for Yu Canglin and Yao Tuohai, they both had no any response.
Meanwhile, Lian Fei and Yao Susu in the crowd on the square also focused on Lin. Lian’s face clouded while Yao Susu sneered meaningfully.
Far away from the square, Shia Zhi, standing at a remote corner, never cared about the test since it began. But at this moment, she quickly raised her head and looked at Lin Xun with her clear eyes.
Immediately, a familiar agitation rose uncontrollably. She subconsciously glanced at the gate of Donglin School. There was nothing except some guards who were maintaining the order.
All this made Shia Zhi look distracted. She frowned.
Lin Xun wasn’t aware all this at all. He stepped forward and accepted assessment in the front of the Bone Testing Stele and Spiritual Realm Stone. He returned back to the square after the test was over. From beginning to end, he looked perfectly calm and had never looked at the people who were sitting on the high platform at all.
“Lin Xun, thirteen years old, the sixth level of Martial Realm!”
Most of people got astonished when the result was announced after Lin Xun finished his assessment.