As a princess, Han Yan'er had not married yet, so she lived in the inner palace.
Mo Qingkuang was a man, so it was naturally inconvenient for him to enter the inner palace.
Therefore, Han Yan'er brought Mo Qingkuang to a manor that the royal family had bestowed upon her, called Misty Rain Manor.
When the two of them arrived at the Misty Rain Manor's main hall, they realized that there were already a few young people waiting there. One of them was Tang Yu, whom Mo Qingkuang had met in the Flower King Mausoleum.
"Ninth Princess, you're back?" Seeing that Han Yan'er had returned, three people hurriedly greeted her.
Other than Tang Yu, there were two more youths, one man and a woman, all seventeen or eighteen years old. Their clothes were plain, but the materials used were exquisite. With a look, one could tell that they were children of the capital's nobility.
"Sorry for the wait," Han Yan'er smiled gently, "This is Kuang Qing, who has become famous recently. He's also here to participate in the Martial Arts Examination."
"So you're Young Master Kuang. I've only heard of his name and never seen his face. It's my honor to meet him today!" The woman, who was dressed in red, had a heroic air about her. She was the first to greet Kuang Qing and sized him up curiously.
"I think you're the one who's disappointed," Han Yan'er teased with a smile.
Then, she turned to Mo Qingkuang and introduced, "This is Sister Gu Hongyi. She has always admired you and often imagined you appearing in front of her with fluttering clothes."
"What nonsense are you talking about, Yan'er?" Gu Hongyi shouted, her pretty face turned red.
Even young girls had dreams of love. How could a genius like Kuang Qing not be the ideal partner in their hearts?
Even Han Yan'er had secretly thought that Kuang Qing would be an elegant and talented young master.
Unfortunately, seeing his face with her own two eyes, she could not help but feel a little disappointed. Indeed, perfect people were extremely rare in this world.
"Alright, stop fooling around. And this is Tang Yu." Han Yan'er pointed toward the other young man, "You probably have seen him in the Flower King Mausoleum before. Do you remember?"
"Young Master Kuang," Tang Yu cupped his fists and bowed.
He was the one Lin Yang had used as a shield. Mo Qingkuang naturally remembered him and nodded, "I remember, Brother Tang."
"And this is Chen Shi. He is Chen Kong, Headmaster Fu's personal disciple and the previous martial arts champion, younger brother. His talent is equally great as his brother!" The other was a young man in a black robe. His appearance was not obvious, but his expression was somewhat arrogant. At the age of sixteen or seventeen, his cultivation was the highest among them, reaching the second-grade Martial Master.
"I've heard a lot about you," Kuang Qing smiled and cupped his hands.
He didn't care about Fu Qing's disciple's younger brother. What he cared about was Fu Qing's disciple, Chen Kong. In the future, when he became Zheng Tao's disciple, Chen Kong would not only be his senior, but also one of his biggest competitors.
Chen Shi nodded expressionlessly, "However, the martial arts champion will be mine."
"Good luck," Mo Qingkuang didn't argue, 'Let's see what happens in the arena.'
When Han Yan'er saw that everyone had finished their introductions, she began, "I believe Headmaster Zheng has already told you that the Origin Sword Sect is going to send people to cause trouble. We were just discussing how to stop them when we heard that you were here to register for the martial arts examination, so we wanted to pull you in."
"What? Headmaster Zheng went to look for you?" Tang Yu was stunned when he heard that. A strange look flashed across the eyes of Gu Hongyi and Chen Shi.
"Yes, Headmaster Zheng said that as long as I can become the martial arts champion, he will take me in as his personal disciple," Mo Qingkuang nodded.
Hearing this, they didn't seem to be surprised. Instead, they used a strange gaze to sweep back and forth between Mo Qingkuang and Chen Shi.
"What? What's wrong?" Mo Qingkuang did not understand. It shouldn't be a big deal for Zheng Tao to take him as his disciple.
'With my talent, there are plenty of people fighting to take me in as a disciple. What's there to be surprised about?'
Chen Shi smacked his lips and carefully sized up Mo Qingkuang, "Headmaster Zheng told me about it too."
'Hmm? Not just me? Or did he take a fancy to Chen Shi first?'
Mo Qingkuang was a little embarrassed, "Oh, he he. What a coincidence, huh?"
"It's okay. There's only one martial arts champion. If you can get second place, I can report to the teacher and ask him to take you as a disciple regardless," Chen Shi said indifferently.
He had an amazing talent since he was young, and his Innate Ability was close to Heaven-Grade. He was not inferior to his older brother, Chen Kong. However, because Chen Kong was the Martial Arts Champion of the previous batch and was accepted by Headmaster Fu as his personal disciple, his reputation rose in the Tianxuan Kingdom.
Therefore, when ordinary people mentioned him, they would often describe him as "Chen Kong's younger brother", which would weaken his halo of genius. That title alone made him very angry.
Originally, his elder brother was under Headmaster Fu, and Headmaster Fu had clearly expressed his intention to take him as a disciple as well, but ultimately rejected him. Now, he was determined to become Headmaster Zheng's disciple and compete with his brother for the title of the capital's number one genius.
So, after Headmaster Zheng made his requirement known, to become the martial arts champion, he had already regarded this year's martial arts champion in his own grasp.
Mo Qingkuang couldn't help but laugh in his heart. 'This kid is even more arrogant than me?'
But on the surface, he seemed to be entertained by the other boy's words and replied, "In that case, thank you in advance for your kind words, Brother Chen."
Han Yan'er knew Kuang Qing's character very well, and it didn't seem like he had good intentions when he said those words.
Was Kuang Qing the kind of person who would give in easily? Fortunately, Chen Shi was straightforward and did not think too much about what goes between the lines. Otherwise, the two of them would probably fight on the spot if they continued talking.
"Don't discuss the matter of the martial arts disciples anymore. Let's talk about how to deal with the Origin Sword Sect's trouble."
Han Yan'er arranged for them to sit down, "According to reliable information, the elites of the Sword Sect were all sent out, and the new disciples who were interested in entering the sect were all allowed to enter the battle. They even sent out a new inner sect disciple," She said with a frown.
"Inner sect disciple? Didn't they say that people couldn't participate in the martial arts examination if they were over 18 years old? The inner sect disciples of the Origin Sword Sect were at least new disciples from the previous batch. They should be over 18 by now," Mo Qingkuang was puzzled.
"Brother Kuang probably doesn't know. In the Origin Sword Sect, new disciples had to go through many trials before they could become inner disciples. However, have you forgotten that there are still some geniuses who were born in the sect?" Tang Yu explained.
"They are either the children of the sect master, elders, deacons, or other powerful figures. They are born as inner sect disciples and enjoy the best resources. They are young but their strength cannot be underestimated. At the very least, their level is probably above Song Qian."
Mo Qingkuang nodded in realization. It turned out that there was a difference in family background no matter where one was.
Some people were born at the bottom, struggling to climb halfway up the mountain to rest, while others were born on the top of the mountain to look down on all living beings.
"Which is why, the Origin Sword Sect is going over the line!" Han Yan'er said with a solemn face as she cupped her hands on her lap, "If they succeed, not only will the Tianxuan Kingdom lose face, the imperial examinations that have been passed down for thousands of years will become a joke! We must do our best to handle this situation!" She said in a grave tone.
"Princess, don't worry. We will do our best to protect Tianxuan's dignity!" As the Ninth Princess' number one lackey, Tang Yu immediately took the lead in expressing his stance.
Gu Hongyi narrowed her eyes and said indifferently, "I also want a good ranking."
Chen Shi was the calmest. He only said one sentence, "The martial arts champion is mine."
Seeing everyone's gaze on him, Mo Qingkuang could only shrug his shoulders, "Can I refuse?"
"No!"