Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Hao Ren took a closer look and saw that it was the fundamental boxing techniques that the soldiers in the East Ocean Dragon Palace practiced each morning and each evening!
The familiar techniques and the burly body belonged to no one but Zhao Kuo!
Hao Ren’s heart lurched. Quickening his steps, he ran to the alley entrance hundreds of meters away from him.
The cultivators moving in the alley got angry when they were pushed aside by Hao Ren, but they held their anger when they saw that he was an assisting inspector.
After practicing the boxing technique, Zhao Kuo swung his arms around before walking into the alleyway to his right.
“Third Uncle!” Hao Ren called out immediately.
However, Zhao Kuo didn’t hear him since he had walked into the aisle between two rows of rooms.
“Who’s making such noise!”
A level 2 inspector who was patrolling nearby flew down from the sky.
Although the written exam was over and there was still some time until the combat exams, this time was for the cultivators to rest and replenish their energy; no noise was allowed.
When he saw it was an assisting inspector who made the noise, this level 2 inspector’s anger abated a little, but he still struck his dharma treasure on Hao Ren’s chest, forcing him back three steps.
“No noise is allowed in the area.” After giving him a warning, the inspector walked out slowly.
The nearby cultivators looked at Hao Ren and envied him.
If he were an ordinary cultivator, he would have been kicked out of the Dragon God Shrine by the inspector for yelling; he would be disqualified and probably be forbidden to enter the Dragon God Shrine’s general exams for the next three years. However, since he was an assisting inspector, he just got a warning.
That was why the identity of assisting inspector was an object of envy!
However, after this interruption, Hao Ren couldn’t see a trace of Zhao Kuo when he ran to the aisle.
It was early morning, and the sky was still dark; the light was dim in the area with many rooms.
The cultivators moving around the rooms were all wearing the same brown robe, and Hao Ren couldn’t find Zhao Kuo among them no matter how hard he looked.
With his identity as an assisting inspector, he dashed into this aisle, and no cultivator dared to stop him.
Hao Ren searched the rooms one by one, but he didn’t find Zhao Kuo.
He searched in the nearby aisles, and the result was the same.
Less than four hours were left before the combat exams which began at 5 in the morning, and many cultivators were taking this time to cultivate. The written exam area prohibited noises, so Hao Ren couldn’t call out, making it harder for him to find Zhao Kuo.
However, he was confident that Zhao Kuo was nearby.
This area was not far from Hao Ren’s ‘Ren Yin 246′ room, which meant that Zhao Kuo and Hao Ren belonged to the same exam area.
Since they were in the same exam area for the written exam, they would belong to the same area for the combat exams.
Hao Ren might need to fight with Zhao Kuo later on.
Hao Ren wondered what realm Zi’s Third Uncle had reached while he walked back to his room, Ren Yin 246.
In the two rooms next to his, the two cultivators were sitting cross-legged on their chairs cultivating. Sensing Hao Ren’s return, they opened their eyes and looked at him, but they didn’t speak.
Anyone who dared to confront a main examiner was undoubtedly a dangerous person, and they obviously didn’t want to get involved with him.
Hao Ren remained silent. After returning to his room, he also closed his eyes to cultivate as well.
The exam venue before dawn looked quiet and peaceful, but in fact, everyone was busy preparing for the exam!
This was the calm before the storm.
The cultivators who were chatting with each other at the entrance of the aisles probably would engage in life-and-death battles a few hours later in the arenas.
Dang! Dang… The bell from the Dragon God Shrine sounded again.
It was 5 in the morning!
Hundreds of inspectors came out together once again.
All the cultivators who had written the exam tensed up instantly.
Boom!
From one room in Hao Ren’s row, an identity token flew out into an inspector’s hand.
The owner of the token had failed the written exam and lost his qualification to enter the combat exams!
Swoosh! Another wooden token suddenly flew from the waist of one cultivator.
Swoosh… While the inspectors flew across the rows of rooms, wooden tokens flew up one after another.
It wasn’t easy to pass the written exam of the Dragon God Shrine!
Nervously, Hao Ren gripped the wooden token on his waist, afraid that it would fly out as well.
On the test papers, there were only the examinees’ numbers, and Hao Ren would fail the written exam as well if he got the answers wrong.
However, the level 2 inspector passed by Hao Ren’s room without taking his identity token.
Meanwhile, Hao Ren heard the sighs of relief from the cultivators of the neighboring rooms and knew they had been nervous, too.
The identity tokens that flew into the inspectors’ hands quickly turned black, which meant that those numbers were no longer valid, and the dragon cultivators who corresponded to those numbers were disqualified from the next portion of the exams.
The cultivators who failed the written exam packed up and left sadly.
The dark red light surrounding the platform of the Dragon God Shrine suddenly vanished.
The Dragon God Shrine was open to the public again!
The failed cultivators could go back home or stay to watch the battles. Those cultivators who didn’t enter the Dragon God Shrine yesterday were able to enter now.
Following the crowd, Hao Ren walked to the arenas in the inner city and observed the Dragon God Shrine from close up.
In the white morning light, the Dragon God Shrine looked like a huge black city, giving people a sense of suppression.
The platform around the Dragon God Shrine, including the outer city and the inner city, was only open for three days each year for the general exams. However, the interior of the Dragon God Shrine was never open to the public.
No one except official inspectors and criminals who inspectors caught could enter the Dragon God Shrine.
This rule added mystery to the Dragon God Shrine.
Three level 4 inspectors walked out of the Dragon God Shrine and sat on the three armchairs on the watching stand which was slightly higher than the arenas.
In each of the four directions of the Dragon God Shrine, 24 small arenas surrounded one big arena. There were altogether 96 small arenas and four big arenas.
Hao Ren was in the east area which Qin Shaoyang was responsible for.
However, as one of the main examiners, Qin Shaoyang didn’t seem concerned about the preliminary battles since he didn’t come out from the Dragon God Shrine. Instead, he had asked three deputies to come out and keep order.
Besides the three deputy examiners who monitored the battles, there was a lot of level 1 and level 2 inspectors who were responsible for keeping scores and arranging competitions.
Since the general exams at the Dragon God Shrine was a grand event in the Dragon Tribe, the organization temporarily called back many inspectors. As a result, the number of inspectors back at the Dragon God Shrine reached a peak.
Standing in the crowd, Hao Ren looked around and didn’t see Su Han.
If Su Han were here wearing a silver silk robe, it would be easy to find her.
Many inspectors wearing silver robes were walking around the arenas while the examinees wearing brown robes were standing beside the fields.
Jia Yin, Yi Yin, Bin Yin, Ding Yin… Jia Mao, Yi Mao, Bin Mao, Ding Mao…
Before each small arena stood a sign, and there were altogether 24 of them.
Ren Yin 245 and Ren Yin 247, Hao Ren’s neighbors during the writing exam, saw the sign ‘Ren Yin’ and hurried toward that arena.
Hao Ren realized that the preliminary competitions were arranged in the order of the numbers, and he quickened his steps to the sign.
Built with thick white rocks, the arena was ten meters long, ten meters wide, and one meter higher than the platform. In the middle of the arena were two vigorous characters formed by darker stones: Jing Zhe.
Obviously, this arena was called Jing Zhe, and all 24 small arenas of the Dragon God Shrine were named after the 24 Solar Terms.
“101 versus 102; 103 versus 104…” The level 2 inspector responsible for Jing Zhe Arena declared in a loud voice.
245 versus 246!
Hao Ren suddenly turned to look at the cultivator who was his neighbor on the left during the written exam last night, and this examinee who looked to be in his forties also turned to look at Hao Ren alertly.
“Uncle!”
While Hao Ren was about to do some warm-up exercises for the competition, a clear voice sounded in the sky.
He looked up and saw Zhao Hongyu’s dharma treasure, the Mountain-River Qian-Kun Painting, floating over.
As the energy sphere of the Dragon God Shrine opened again, Zhao Hongyu flew in with Zhao Yanzi and others.
As a top-tier dharma treasure, the Mountain-River Qian-Kun Painting was bright and fast, attracting people’s attention when Zhao Hongyu maneuvered it to the arenas with her group on it.
“Gongzi!” Lu Linlin and Lu Lili jumped down from the dharma treasure and called out to Hao Ren cheerfully.
Dressed in green and cyan ancient dresses with their hair coiled up, they returned to their original, unique look. They were so beautiful that Hao Ren’s eyes lit up.
“Uncle!” Seeing Hao Ren staring at the Lu sisters, Zhao Yanzi called out again, displeased.
She was wearing a radiant patterned dress, looking quite vivacious among the brown robes of the surrounding cultivators.
“Cough! Cough!” Hao Ren cleared his throat, not pleased with Zhao Yanzi calling him “uncle”.
“Hao Ren, we are rooting for you.” Xie Yujia stepped down from the painting and said to Hao Ren while blushing.
It was her first time watching Hao Ren compete in a formal match, and she could only think of such simple words to encourage him.
“Ok. I’ll try my best.” Hao Ren nodded at Xie Yujia.
Seeing Hao Ren ignore her, Zhao Yanzi’s face reddened with anger.
“Zi, this is the Dragon God Shrine. Behave yourself.” Zhao Hongyu reached out to stop her.
“Mom…” Zhao Yanzi felt wronged and looked up at Zhao Hongyu. However, Zhao Hongyu seemed to be on Hao Ren’s side and didn’t show any intention of scolding him.
Looking around, Zhen Congming crossed his arms in front of his chest and seemed unconcerned about how far Hao Ren could go in the competition.
The senior members of the dragon palace who came with Zhao Hongyu’s family were only Premier Xia, Elder Lu, and Elder Sun.
“Ren, have you seen Zi’s Third Uncle since you came here yesterday?” Zhao Guang asked.
Zhao Yanzi who was gritting her teeth at Hao Ren heard this question, and she stared at Hao Ren with widened eyes as well.