Longzang

Chapter 23 I am the Charter

As the illusion dissipated and Wei Yuan's mind returned, he saw chaos in the Martial Arts Testing Hall. Some people were crying, some were laughing, and some were lying on the ground trembling, with dampness gradually spreading beneath them.

Amidst the commotion, a girl's voice suddenly rang out from not far away. The voice was clear, soft, and indescribably pleasant: "You bastard riding a pig, I'll fight you to the death..."

Wei Yuan glanced over furtively and saw a girl in a pale yellow dress not far away, as beautiful as a doll made of jade, flawless in her beauty. She seemed to have just woken up, as she sprang up from her seat. But when she realized that all the other examinees were looking at her, she instantly became quiet, her small face even showing panic and lingering fear, which was particularly heartbreaking to see.

Wei Yuan certainly remembered this girl; she was the captain of the Northern Youth Team who had blocked one of his shots. However, after discovering she wasn't dead, Wei Yuan went over and fired another shot.

Seeing the girl's tearful expression, Wei Yuan couldn't help but feel a little guilty. But guilt aside, he still had to finish the job.

The Taoist priest was also very annoyed by the group of noisy children, so he quickly chased all the examinees out of the hall.

Wei Yuan slowly got up, waiting for the girl in the pale yellow dress to leave before mingling in the crowd and walking out of the hall. Although the girl didn't recognize him, others still spotted him.

Just as Wei Yuan was about to leave the main hall, Li Zhi suddenly emerged from the shadows and blocked his way.

Wei Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he waited for Li Zhi to speak. However, Li Zhi remained silent, but he also did not move aside. The two stood facing each other like this, while the other examinees walked past them and left the hall. In the blink of an eye, only Li Zhi and Wei Yuan remained in the hall.

The Taoist priest did not urge them on, but simply stood outside the door with his back to the two people facing each other.

Li Zhi stared intently at Wei Yuan, his eyes slowly reddening. He gritted his teeth and said, "This is a humiliation I, Li Zhi, will never forget! If you have the guts, give me your name!"

Having come this far, Wei Yuan could not back down. Besides, the two had already exchanged blows in the illusion, and with the Heaven and Earth Madman by his side, Wei Yuan felt that dealing with Li Zhi would only be a matter of one or two moves. So he said, "Wei Yuan."

Li Zhi shouted, "Fine, Wei Yuan, I'll remember you! You won this time, and I can accept my defeat! But you're just a few years older, nothing special. I, Li Zhi, am only eight years old! Fortune changes every thirty years! You just wait, one day I'll win back exactly what I lost!"

After saying this, Li Zhi turned and rushed out of the main hall. Only when he was alone did he secretly wipe his eyes.

The martial arts test has ended, but the smoke of battle is rising in the deliberation hall.

The judges were completely bewildered. No one had anticipated this situation. Had the judges not ended the martial arts test early, Wei Yuan would probably have dug out and eliminated every single one of the survivors hiding in the dense forest and bushes before he would have been satisfied.

Almost all the candidates who had reserved places in the Immortal Sect and the Grotto Heaven were killed by Wei Yuan without achieving anything. Those who had some merit were just ordinary candidates, either vanguards or scouts, and their meager merits were only worth one or two points.

The current situation is that if the evaluation is strictly conducted according to the regulations, everyone except Wei Yuan will receive a score of zero.

The older monk spoke first: "We need to discuss how to score them."

The old scholar immediately declared, "I believe the first place should go to Li Zhi! As the commander of the Yellow Team, he not only led his troops to wipe out the Green Team, but also ensured that the elite central army remained intact in the end. He displayed military talent at such a young age; if he's not number one, who is?"

The young cultivator sneered, "He wiped out Team Qing? Do you have some kind of hidden eye ailment, old man?"

The old scholar remained unfazed: "Wei Yuan destroyed the Green Team. Wei Yuan was a member of the Yellow Team. As the commander of the Yellow Team, Li Zhi attributed any merit to him. This has always been the case. Naturally, Wei Yuan's contribution was great and he can be ranked first."

The young cultivator laughed in anger: "Then what about Huang's fault? Shouldn't that also be attributed to Li Zhi?"

The old scholar replied matter-of-factly, "Merit is merit and demerit is demerit; how can they be confused?"

The young cultivator's hands trembled with anger, but he was no match for Liu Sigu in a verbal battle. The old scholar had spent half his life arguing with people, while the young cultivator was hot-blooded and concerned about his reputation; how could he possibly be a match for the old scholar in an argument?

Master Fufeng interjected, "The regulations only divide the team into two groups, green and yellow, but there is no mention of a commander. Even if the yellow team has a commander, why is it Li Zhi and not someone else? Is it simply because he is the son of Duke Hui'en?"

Unexpectedly, the old scholar declared loudly, "Just because he is the son of Duke Hui'en! Just because Prince Cui Han fully supports him!"

This statement was made with such confidence that it immediately shut down the Taoist priest Fufeng.

Everyone knows that powerful and influential families possess immense strength, with the saying "Seven Clans and Thirteen Noble Families," and the top families even rivaling the Immortal Sects. In this unified martial arts examination, leading a team truly requires, and can only be, based on birth. Bao Yun leads the Green Team, and Li Zhi leads the Yellow Team, both based on this principle. The team assignments are supposedly absolutely fair, but there's a hidden mechanism at play; no matter how they're assigned, Bao Yun and Li Zhi will never be placed in the same team.

These Fufeng Daoists naturally knew this, but the old Confucian scholar said it so openly and matter-of-factly, which instantly made Fufeng Daoji a little agitated, and his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

The old scholar continued, "This mess has to be cleaned up. Regardless of what others do, in my writing, this is Li Zhi at the age of thirty."

At this moment, the middle-aged scholar coughed, breaking the silence, and said, "Everyone saw what happened in the martial arts test just now. The Green Team was wiped out first. Li Zhi was good at commanding the army and remained calm in the face of danger. As the leader of the Yellow Team, he should be rated thirty points."

The young cultivator sneered, "Li Zhi suffered two defeats in a row, and you call that good military leadership? What does the destruction of the Green Team have to do with him? If it weren't for Wei Yuan, hmph, Miss Bao would have wiped him out several times over! If Li Zhi can get thirty points, wouldn't my young lady get fifty?" The middle-aged scholar said, "Wei Yuan is from the Yellow Team."

The young monk retorted, "Didn't they also wipe out the Yellow Team?"

This is not a good question. The middle-aged scholar and the old scholar exchanged glances and said, "If someone accidentally injures a teammate, the evaluation should indeed be lowered accordingly."

These were slick words, but the young cultivator wouldn't let it go, pressing further: "So how much do you plan to lower it?"

The two scholars cursed inwardly, but with Zhang Sheng watching, they couldn't afford to answer carelessly. The middle-aged scholar didn't dwell on the question at all, instead saying, "Miss Bao's team was wiped out, and she herself didn't achieve anything; according to the rules, she should get zero points!"

"Bullshit!" the young cultivator roared in anger.

In the blink of an eye, the opinions were in an uproar again, leaving Zhang Sheng out of the picture. But everyone knew that arguing was pointless, so when they couldn't agree on anything, they could only give their own scores.

Zhang Sheng didn't touch the list of names in front of him; he simply watched the crowd quietly.

The old scholar Liu Sigu was the first to pick up his brush and write down Li Zhi's name, number thirty. The second name he wrote was Wei Yuan. After writing the names, he pondered for a long time, and then wrote down the weight of his brush as if it weighed a thousand pounds. He first wrote the number two, then paused in the air for a moment before finally adding the number eighteen.

Upon seeing this, the young cultivator sneered inwardly, thinking to himself that this old man was all bark and no bite; despite having the immortal sword at his side, he wasn't as tough as he seemed.

The young cultivator also picked up his pen, first giving Bao Yun thirty points, and then Li Zhi. The young cultivator didn't stand on ceremony and directly gave him fifteen points.

After he finished giving Li Zhi his score, he suddenly saw the old scholar look up, glance at him, and then pick up his pen and write: Bao Yun, one.

The middle-aged scholar, as if waking from a dream, swept away his previous hesitation and wrote down: Bao Yun, one.

The young monk was dumbfounded.

He looked around. The monk had given Wei Yuan a score of 30, while Bao Yun and Li Zhi had only given them 3 points each. He was currently busy grading the others, mostly giving them one or two points. The older cultivator, seemingly indifferent, gave Bao Yun and Li Zhi both a score of 25.

The Taoist priest of Fufeng rated Wei Yuan 30, Bao Yun 10, and Li Zhi 5. Besides these, there were several others who received scores above 20; these were clearly the aristocratic families he needed to support.

In truth, the exact score isn't important; the relative difference is. The young monk then realized his naiveté and should have waited until the very end to give Li Zhi a zero. But once the pen was put down, the score couldn't be changed.

By this point in the evaluation, apart from the monks, the scores were largely irrelevant to the performance in the martial arts test. Everyone started to tear off their masks, go all out, and no longer conceal anything.

Zhang Sheng watched the performance quietly.

Just then, a beam of water-colored light descended from the sky, landing directly on the stone tablet in the hall. The water-colored moonlight was as fine as a hair, yet it exerted immense pressure on everyone, as if facing an abyss or the blazing sun!

The entire group of commentators was frozen in thought, then watched as all the names on the stone tablet disappeared and reappeared, each name followed by a corresponding score. At the top of the list was Wei Yuan, with twenty-five points; followed by Bao Yun with three points, Li Zhi with two points, the rest with a few points of one, and the vast majority with zero points.

A high-pitched, desolate voice resounded in the hall, booming and rumbling, seemingly coming from a great height: "This is justice!"

Then the scores on the stone tablet melted away like snow, and new scores appeared, adding twenty points to everyone's score. In the end, Wei Yuan had forty-five, Bao Yun twenty-three, Li Zhi twenty-two, and the rest were ranked in order.

"This is to save face for each of you."

The commentators fell silent, too terrified to utter a sound. With the True Lord speaking, how could they possibly have a say?
Each True Monarch is a pillar supporting the heavens, capable of single-handedly upholding a mid-sized family. Even ancient and prestigious families like the Bao and Cui families treat True Monarchs with utmost respect. Moreover, that slender ray of moonlight is renowned even among True Monarchs, for there is only one person in the Taichu Palace who can simultaneously hold the positions of Palace Master of both the Azure Sky Palace and the Moon Water Palace.

The voice then turned stern, rebuking, "Zhang Sheng, the evaluator of Taichu Palace, has acted recklessly and humiliated his colleagues. Although there was a reason for his actions, he must still be severely punished!"

After a pause, the voice continued, "...Zhang Sheng is to be fined three years' salary as a warning to others!"

The audience was completely convinced and saw no sign of anything amiss.

High in the sky, a figure shrouded in the moonlight said, "You are all old friends. If there are any objections, we can discuss them further. If there are no objections, then it's settled."

Several imposing figures surrounded him, each exuding an extraordinary aura. Two of them nodded slightly, while the other two merely snorted and remained silent. One of them was dressed as a scholar, though his folding fan was noticeably shorter than half of its original length. The other was dressed as a cultivator, his body radiating a dazzling light, clearly possessing many famous magical treasures, though his gleaming robe was missing a sleeve, making him appear somewhat out of place.

Three of the five agreed, while the other two remained silent. The matter was thus settled, and the unified examination was officially concluded.

(End of this chapter)