Chapter 42 – Sparked Rivalry (3)
"It's your turn, young master Qing."
"Show them what you've made of, young master Qing!"
The Qing clansmen cheered for their young master, who was queuing to take the exam. This young master would be up next.
Several burly men in brown robes gazed at their young master with a proud look. Their young liege, Qing Zhong, was a talented cultivator whose strength had already reached 2nd stage level 10. They were confident that he wouldn't lose to the top outer disciples.
One of the clansmen were Qing Yong, the guy that had tried to bully Miaomiao but got knocked out in the process. He cheered for his boss, "Those trashes are nothing to you, boss! Show them your true potential!"
The young master glanced back at his supporters in embarrassment, but he still kept his aloof demeanor, resting his arms on his round belly, using it as his armrest. He puffed his chest, keeping his image as a proud son of the Qing Clan.
Qing Zhong was a tall and fat man with tanned skin. His stout physique stood out from the rest of the test takers as he was almost 2 meters tall and weighed over 200kg. Although Qing Zhong looked like a giant sumo wrestler, his steel-like muscle hid beneath the thick layer of fat under his skin.
The fat face of Qing Zhong made his eyes look small compared to other cultivators. Like others, he tied his long black hair in topknot style and covered it with a gold headwear.
Qing Zhong had a domineering presence among the examinees as well as his thick body odor. His sweat kept dripping from his face, hair, armpits, back, and butt. Without realizing it, his robes were already drenched and smelly. Many examinees didn't dare to get close to him because of the sour odor.
"Next!"
Jian Meng finally called for the next batch of examinees. 20 young candidates ascended the stage stairs and walked toward the arrays.
As Qing Zhong was approaching one of the arrays, he spotted an attractive girl in front of him.
"Ah, Fairy Wei, we meet again."
The girl was Wei Yuan, the proud granddaughter of the prominent Wei Huang, the first elder of Mountain Goose Sect. She was someone above Qing Zhong's league, but he tried to court her anyway.
"I bet your score will be over 90 if it's you. Say, after this test, would you like to join me for dinner after the examination? I have reserved the best hotel suite in the western district, so I would like to invite you to discuss our swordsmanship and Qi techniques."
Wei Yuan glanced at the giant for a moment. Seeing that the smelly young master trying to woo her, she looked away and declined his invitation, "My schedule for this month has already been booked, young master Qing. I can't join you."
"Ah, so cold! Say, how about we discuss the next trials? If the exams are the same as last year, there will be a free-for-all combat test in the latter round. Say, would you consider forming an alliance with me in advance?"
Wei Yuan closed her eyes and walked on the array in front of her, "Before we can get to that matter, you should concentrate on passing all tests."
*WHOOM*
As soon as the blond-haired girl stepped on the array, her spirit root evaluation was shown.
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[Evaluation – Wei Yuan]
Muscle: 92
Bone Marrows: 90
Meridian: 73
Dantian: 93
Qi and Essence: 93
Overall: 88
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Wei Yuan glanced at her result. When she found out that her score didn't reach 90, she looked disappointed.
'I thought my foundation was already solid, but it seems like my meridian foundation is too weak compared to Xu Miao. Oh well, my score is still better than most outer disciples, so that should be enough.'
Although Wei Yuan wasn't satisfied, onlookers and spectators cheered and gossiped as her score was higher than many of the outer disciples.
"That's the Wei Clan's princess for you!"
"If we don't count that bastard Xu Miao, the Wei Clan dominates the first test."
"Right, the Wei Clan has always been consistent. Wei Feng won the last year's grand prize, and he's now the top outer disciple of the Mountain Goose Sect. Wei Yuan definitely follows her brother's footsteps for sure if it's not because of that monster."
"Ah, I think she's unlucky. If we exclude Xu Miao, she has already won this round."
Wei Yuan frowned when the crowd didn't stop comparing her result with Xu Miao's result. Losing to him was fine, but getting compared repeatedly was annoying.
'A pity. My luck is really bad this time. I should concede the first prize and aim for the second prize. Eh, no. I should at least spar against Xu Miao in the last round. It's not like I'll lose in terms of combat experience!'
Wei Yuan hadn't given up trying to compete with Miaomiao. She was determined to defeat him in the latter rounds, which was more important than the basic evaluation.
Meanwhile, Qing Zhong smiled as he admired Wei Yuan's talent. He, too, stepped onto the array in front of him, believing that his score would be no less than Wei Yuan.
*WHOOM*
The result was shown.
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[Evaluation – Qing Zhong]
Muscle: 55
Bone Marrows: 79
Meridian: 65
Dantian: 80
Qi and Essence: 75
Overall: 71
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The result was above average, but his muscle evaluation was meagerly low for a 2nd stage cultivator.
"WHAT!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I'M SURE MY MUSCLE VALUE SHOULD HAVE BEEN OVER 80!"
Jian Meng turned to Qing Zhong and looked at him from head to toes. He snorted, "Lose some weight, fatass! You have too many impurities in your bloodstream! If you want to do well in muscle category, at least, lose those jelly belly of yours! How are you considering yourself a cultivator if you don't cleanse your own impurity?"
Qing Zhong was enraged, but he didn't dare to offend the exam elder. He only bowed and accepted his result.
17 Other examinees took the test, but their result was so-so. Wei Yuan and Qing Zhong returned to their family tents to rest.
But when the last examinee of this batch finally stepped on the last array, the crowd erupted in shock, awe, and astonishment.
*WHOOM*
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[Evaluation – Xie Tian]
Muscle: 100
Bone Marrows: 100
Meridian: 100
Dantian: 100
Qi and Essence: 100
Overall: 100
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"WHAT!?"
"PERFECT SCORE!?"
"HOLY #$@%!!"
"THIS IS INSANE!!"
The commotion made Wei Yuan and Qing Zhong turn around. They gazed at the result and read them a few times to make sure that they were not hallucinating.
The owner of this result was a young man in a ragged cloth. His messy burned hair, rough skin, scarred hands, and traces of charcoal were similar to beggars, but many craftsmen could immediately identify him as one of theirs.
It was a young blacksmith. However, he had the cultivation strength of 2nd stage level 5.
The protagonist made his appearance when Miaomiao wasn't paying attention!
…
Xie Tian didn't look at his result. Instead, he kept glancing at the Silver Phoenix Sect's spectator stand, looking for Jiang Lan and her husband, Xu Miao.
Upon noticing that they weren't there, Xie Tian looked down and sighed. He turned toward his blacksmith mentor, Luo Cheng, who was blending among the elders.
Luo Cheng gave Xie Tian a thumb up. Xie Tian tilted his head in confusion, but he returned the gesture.
When Xie Tian descended the stage, many cultivators from various noble clans approached him right away.
"Young Sir, which clan do you belong to?"
"Young man, do you have an affiliation?"
"Young man, Are you interested in working for my clan? We can give you 50 raw spirit stones if you join our clan!"
"Hey, you. I saw him first! Say, young man, would you like to work for our Qing Clan? We can even teach you our clan's secret technique. Do you know Qing Swordsmanship? Our clan has many saber masters that you can take tutelage under them. None of your enemies can harm you if you're a part of our clan!"
"No, no, no, no. Qing bastards! Don't you dare touch him! This is our turf! Say, young master. Do you know Wei Clan? We're the rulers of this city. If you work for us, we can guarantee you wealth and prestige. See that elder on the stage? That's our patriarch, the first elder of Mountain Goose Sect! If you join us, the sect will prioritize nurturing you as if you're their core disciple!"
"No, all of you, stop! Handsome Sir, join us today, and we'll give you a permanent club card that you can use Poseidon Spa House's service for free permanently! I repeat, you can get a free massage as many times as you want if you join the Xu Clan! If you want money, we have it for you. If you want beautiful women, we have them! If you want fame, prestige, position, or anything you desire, we have them all!"
Many clans were fighting to win Xie Tian's favor, including the Wei Clan and the Xu Clan. These clans had already dispatched their scouts to recruit promising examinees, so they did their best to get Xie Tian's attention.
However, Xie Tian didn't want to be tied by an organization. He just wanted to meet his ex-girlfriend one last time.
"You, there."
Xie Tian called for the Xu Clan's scout.
When Xie Tian asked for the Xu Clan's goon, everybody else was disappointed. They tried to get Xie Tian's attention by offering beautiful women as one of their offers, but this protagonist wasn't interested.
The Xu Clan's scout was delighted. He rubbed his hands in eager, "Yes, yes. You've made the right choice. Come with me, so we can discuss our terms."
Xie Tian shook his head as this scout misunderstood his intention. Still, he probed, "If I join you, can you really give me any woman?"
"Yes, of course! Just name it, and I'll definitely get her for you today!"
"Any woman? Really?"
"Definitely!"
"Then, can you give me a girl named Jiang Lan?"
"Of cour-Err, pardon? Who is it that you wish to have?"
"Jiang Lan. She was once a slave working for the Poseidon Spa House that you've mentioned. Can you really give her to me?"
"…"
The scout broke a cold sweat. He knew of this girl's name as she was famous among outer disciples.
Jiang Lan was their young master Xu Miao's chambermaid. It was well-known that she was his favorite concubine since he never let her go anywhere.
"Umm, could it be other girls? This girl is a bit…"
"What's the problem? You said that you can give me any woman, yes?"
"Err… Give me a moment."
The scout took out his J-Phone and called Xu Xiuying right away.