Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

The rainstorm stopped and light rays once again descended upon the sand-strewn floor of the tower; channels had been carved out by the rainwater, gazing upon it, it resembled that famous plateau in the Northwest that overlooked the sea.

The scholar from Scholartree Manor was collapsed in a corner, his robe soaked through by blood and rain.

Luo Luo withdrew her whip, quietly standing in her initial position, as if she hadn’t raised her hand at all, her nobility self-evident, dominance unmatched.

“Isn’t Her Highness… only 14 this year?”

The principal of Star Seizer Academy stood by the window, looking at the scene below, melancholy saying: “This is far too incredible.”

It was indeed incredible, this was not describing how sublime the method used by Luo Luo in this match was, in fact, her method wasn’t sublime in the slightest; bluntly speaking, it was a storm, using an absolute strength to directly crush her opponent, extremely simplistic, matching the phrase: a ruler seeks dominion in the midst of chaos.

If Luo Luo was to meet an opponent of the highest level, someone such as Gou Han Shi, that had already completed their Ethereal Opening, she naturally wouldn’t be able to suppress them so forcefully, but against cultivators of the same level, whether in terms of True Essence capacity or purity, and the sheer might in ability to violently expend energy, all of these things made her border upon being undefeatable.

The White Emperor’s bloodline talent really was dominating to the extreme – the personages on the floor above were shocked to the point of being speechless, thinking to themselves that the Council of Divine Ordinance’s evaluation really was correct.

Amongst the younger generation, apart from Xu You Rong and Qiu Shan Jun, whom could both be compared to Her Highness, there were no other bloodline talents that could come close.

Up to this point the Grand Examination had finally begun to enter a zenith, with great matches continuously observed.

After Luo Luo defeated that scholar from Scholartree Manor , came the match between the wolf-tribe youth, Zhe Xiu, and Guan Fei Bai.

This match captured everyone’s attention, Chen Chang Sheng was no exception, perhaps being even more attentive towards this match than the other examinees – Tian Hai Sheng Xue had already withdrawn from the tournament, the only person remaining that made him feel cautious and uneasy, that could threaten Luo Luo and bring her harm, was Zhe Xiu.

The tower’s door once again closed and the match started.

From the very start, the match between Zhe Xiu and Guan Fei Bai entered an intense juncture, the tower’s silencing array was immediately breached.

The examinees outside of the tower hadn’t even sufficiently prepared themselves, yet they already began to hear several sounds, each one clearer than the last.

Some of the examinees with weaker divine senses, immediately had pale faces; they were close to having their sea of consciousness injured by the sounds.

Those resounding noises were not the sound of scuffling, but the sounds of impact, carrying with it some kind of keen essence, they were probably the sound of a blade’s edge slicing through the air.

The Southern envoy group had been in the Capital for some time and the four disciples from Li Shan Sword Sect had garnered a huge amount of attention, currently, a lot of people knew that Qi Jian’s sword was a much rumoured relic sword from Li Mountain’s Hall of Discipline.

The sword Guan Fei Bai used was just a normal sword, worth only 5 taels, at this moment, hearing the piercing sounds of the sword, everyone felt stunned.

To be able to utilise a regular longsword that was only worth 5 taels and have it give off such a clean sword wail, how powerful and intense was Guan Fei Bai’s True Essence? What made everyone all the more shocked, was that wolf-tribe youth, Zhe Xiu; he, who didn’t use any sort of weapon, what method was he using to go against that terrifying sword?

The sword’s wail became increasingly distinct and the Education Palace’s world began to have a response between its Heaven and Earth; in the blue skies above, the clouds began to slowly move, constantly shifting in form.

Sometimes akin to rugged cliffs, other times akin to turbid waves crashing upon the shore, in between this, sword manifestations crisscrossed, austere to the extreme; yet, the forms of those clouds couldn’t subsist for long, as if winds were billowing across the plains, akin to a pack of wolves howling.

Outside of the tower, it was blanketed by silence, a lot of examinees were shocked to the point of having ashen complexions by the scene they saw and the sounds they heard.

They couldn’t imagine, if it were to be themselves inside the tower at this moment, whether facing that sword momentum which crisscrossed into the clouds above or that horrifyingly forlorn and shrill howling wind, what else could they do apart from immediately conceding defeat?

Chen Chang Sheng’s expression also became increasingly sombre.

At the Ivy League gathering, Guan Fei Bai had exchanged sword manoeuvres against Luo Luo, though they hadn’t utilised True Essence at the time, he could clearly tell that this person’s talent is exceptional and that they were extremely earnest in their cultivation, Guan Fei Bai’s ability on the path of the sword was also outstanding.

Rumour had it that his ability on the path of the sword was the closest to Qiu Shan Jun’s amongst the Divine State’s Seven Laws; yet, evidently, he still couldn’t suppress his current opponent.

That wolf-tribe youth named Zhe Xiu, his strength actually reached this degree?

After a long period of time, the sword wails slowly disappeared, neither was there howling wind, what followed was the sound of a creak.

The tower’s door opened.

Zhe Xiu walked out of the tower, his complexion was pale, expression was cold, and his icy eyes revealed no emotion. Looking upon him, he didn’t even seem to resemble a human.

He walked down the stone steps, his movement a little slow, with each raising of his knee seeming to pose a problem.

This caused the others to notice that there was a faint smudge of blood upon his left knee.

Momentarily after, a trickle of blood flowed down from his trouser leg to his ankle.

He didn’t wear any shoes, remaining barefooted, allowing that trickle of blood to be clearly seen.

Following this, Guan Fei Bai exited the tower, his posture remained straight, his mildly bleached robe from washing, didn’t have any cuts, nor could any blood stains be seen, it actually seemed as if he hadn’t sustained any injuries.

Everyone watched him head towards the streambank, feeling a little shocked, thinking, was it possible that Guan Fei Bai had won so easily?

Zhe Xiu walked to the meadow beyond the crowd and sat down, beginning to regulate his respiration (pranayama), he closed his eyes and ignored the chatter that could heard from around him.

His sitting posture was slightly strange; he didn’t cross his legs, but instead sat upon his ankles, looking very similar to the position of squatting.

At this time, Guan Fei Bai arrived at the streambank, he looked at Gou Han Shi, preparing to say something.

Gou Han Shi shook his head, indicating that Guan Fei Bai shouldn’t say anything, he then raised his right hand; his fingers shot out like the wind, pressing down upon Guan Fei Bai’s chest three times in lightning-quick succession, conferring vital qi.

Guan Fei Bai’s complexion gradually reddened and then turned pale, this change repeated three times, before he finally spat out a mouthful of blood.

This mouthful of blood showered upon several clumps of grass by the streambank, a crackling sound could be heard as the grass withered at a speed noticeable to the eye and then disintegrated.

Uproar. It was at this moment that the examinees finally realised he had suffered such a heavy injury and had only endured it up to this point before it finally unveiled itself.

The blood he had expelled did not contain any poison, it only contained remnants of a distinct manifestation from Zhe Xiu’s vigorous True Essence. If Gou Han Shi hadn’t assisted in time and that vigorous manifestation had buried itself into Guan Fei Bai’s body, it would have severely affected his cultivation.

Despite this, his complexion was still pale and sickly to the extreme, akin to having gone through a serious illness.

Thinking of how malicious that wolf-tribe youth’s method was, Liang Ban Hu turned his gaze towards that direction, his eyes frosty, Qi Jian was also fuming to the point where his small face was flushed with anger.

Guan Fei Bai wiped away the blood on the edge of his lips and said: “My ability is below others; none can I blame.

Gou Han Shi patted him on the shoulder, an expression of consolation and praise.

At that moment, the Li Palace clergy member appeared atop the stone steps and announced: “Star Seizer Academy, Zhang Ting Tao wins.”

Finally, the third round ends.

Outside of the tower, it was quiet, no one cheered and even the sound of discussion was absent.

That’s because everyone could already foresee that the duelling would become increasingly more intense, and thus, become increasingly cruel and bloody.

It was under this slightly morose and uncomfortable atmosphere, that the duelling phase’s last 16 arose; closely following, were the fourth round’s matches.

What no one could have imagined, was that Zhe Xiu would immediately, once again enter the stage and that his opponent would be another young expert from Li Shan Sword Sect, Qi Jian.

Facing two strong opponents in a row, with no time for resting in between matches, though this was the result of lot drawing, it was still rather unfair.

Were it to be a normal examinee, they would perhaps request the examiner for some time to rest, but Zhe Xiu continued to remain silent, his expression indifferent as he entered the Tower of Purging Dust.

Inside the tower, it was very quiet, the battle was already over, Zhe Xiu looked at the sand covered ground before him, feeling as if he had returned to his homeland in the midst of summer.

Beyond Lu Ming (Deer Cry) Hill, there was a river; soybeans and sorghum were planted there, without hunting, it was still possible to fill one’s stomach, but no matter how fragrant roasted sorghum was, it still couldn’t compare to the scent of meat.

I am a wolf that has come from the North.

A wolf treks miles for meat; this is a principle of nature itself.

Though you are but a child, as long as you’re an opponent, I obviously will not hold back; therefore, why are you this angry?

He looked opposite himself, his expressionless face showing emotion for the first time; it was a hard to describe emotion, acutely strange.

Qi Jian stood opposite, his dark hair dispersed during the battle, draping over his shoulders, making him appear even more frail and weak.

Ci Jian Temple’s Ye Xiao Lian, Orthodox Academy’s Xuan Yuan Po, and himself, they were the three youngest participants in this year’s Grand Examination.

His cheeks were very tender and young, at this moment, they were filled with rage,

Zhe Xiu couldn’t understand Qi Jian’s rage at all, thinking that the moves he had used in the previous close combat might have been a little malicious, but… battles are a matter of life and death, what was wrong with being slightly malicious? Didn’t your elders at Li Shan Sword Sect teach you how to battle? Your senior was far more dignified than you are.

Earlier, once he had used those few malicious manoeuvres, Qi Jian had become agitated and incensed for some reason, no longer cautious as usual.

Qi Jian’s True Essence burst out, tens of sword manoeuvres were violently executed, embroiling Zhe Xiu into a melee like a madman, if it wasn’t for Zhe Xiu’s long years of experiencing life and death, he really would have been on the verge of being hacked to death by Qi Jian’s sword.

If Gou Han Shi was to know of his junior brother’s performance, he would definitely feel gratified.

Even for a monster such as Zhe Xiu, thinking back to Qi Jian’s explosive hurricane of sword manoeuvres, it would leave a slight lingering fear.

At times, rage is indeed a type of power.

It was a pity then, that rage is a type of power that cannot persist for long, Qi Jian’s hurricane of sword manoeuvres didn’t hack Zhe Xiu to death and Zhe Xiu was the one to obtain final victory.

Leaving the tower, Qi Jian went before Gou Han Shi, his lips slightly pursed, eyes red, the look of someone deeply wronged.

“What happened?” Gou Han Shi’s brow flickered, evincing his first display of true anger.

Qi Jian wiped away his tears and said: “Nothing. Senior, you have to take revenge for me.”

Gou Han Shi gave a glance towards the faraway Zhe Xiu and said: “I will.”

The wolf-tribe youth, Zhe Xiu, had won two matches in a row, eliminating two people from the Divine State’s Seven Laws, this astounded many people.

But what really astonished everyone was that Chen Chang Sheng once again obtained victory.

In the previous three matches, amongst Chen Chang Sheng’s opponents, the first and third round were too weak, in the second round he had matched up against Scholartree Manor’s Huo Guang.

Huo Guang might have been strong, but he wasn’t listed on the Proclamation of Azure Clouds, thus, a lot of people couldn’t accurately gauge Chen Chang Sheng’s ability, as for this round, his opponent was a youthful expert that came from Shuang (Frost) City.

That youthful expert from Shuang City was ranked around 20 upon the Proclamation of Azure Clouds.

Just as everyone thought Chen Chang Sheng’s adventure in the Grand Examination was about to come to an end, he had once again stunned everyone, defeating his opponent.

Everyone had difficulty understanding how he had managed to obtain victory.