Chapter 489: Heaven-defying Exam Questions

Many of the older students who had already entered the great hall glanced over at Ye Xuan and Hou Fei, a mocking smile touching their lips.

For many years, the minimum requirement to enter the inner courtyard had been a Tier Six First Layer Martial Venerable. The fact that Ye Xuan and Hou Fei, two Tier Five Third Layer Martial Sects, also wanted to take the assessment immediately annoyed these Martial Venerable-level senior students.

Hou Fei sneered but said nothing. As for Ye Xuan, he ignored them completely.

"I’ll sit here, if you don’t mind."

Just then, a pleasant voice sounded. Ye Xuan looked up to see Dongfang Zisi, dressed in a white gown, speaking with a light smile.

"Dongfang Zisi."

HISS!

Many male students stared over, their eyes gleaming. Their gazes toward Ye Xuan held a faint trace of hostility.

If looks could kill, Ye Xuan would have already been torn to shreds.

"If you want to sit, I doubt anyone would stop you," Ye Xuan said with a slight smile. He then patted his thigh and added, "Actually, it wouldn’t be a problem if you wanted to sit here, either."

"Is that so? You have too many female admirers. I’m afraid I’ll make them jealous," Dongfang Zisi said with a gentle laugh as she sat down. A faint, fresh fragrance wafted into Ye Xuan’s nose.

Ye Xuan laughed. "As you said, I have many female admirers. One more or one less doesn’t really make a difference."

’This guy.’

Fire nearly erupted from the eyes of many male students. ’This brat dares to flirt with the goddess Dongfang Zisi? How audacious!’

But when they recalled the rumors about Ye Xuan, they could only suppress their simmering anger.

At this time, the assessment takers gradually filed into the great hall.

"Senior Brother Chu Jian!"

"It’s Senior Brother Chu Jian! And next to him is Senior Brother Feng Guang!"

The once-quiet area outside the hall erupted into a clamor again, prompting even Ye Xuan to turn his head and look.

Two young men were slowly approaching. One of them had a hawkish nose and stood over 1.8 meters tall. He was quite handsome, a pretty boy by all accounts, but his gaze was predatory.

The young man beside him, however, looked rather sleazy. His triangular eyes constantly darted around, sizing up his surroundings.

The auras of these two were extraordinary. Although they were only at the Tier Six First Layer, they felt much sharper than ordinary Tier Six First Layer Martial Venerables.

Feng Guang immediately spotted Dongfang Zisi in the center of the hall. His triangular eyes lit up, flashing with a covetous green light.

"Senior Brother Chu Jian, let’s sit over here."

Feng Guang, his face gaunt, walked straight toward the seat next to Dongfang Zisi.

"Fine."

A deep, cold voice came from Chu Jian’s mouth.

"Junior Sister Dongfang Zisi, what a coincidence." Feng Guang reached her side in a few steps, plopped down into the seat, and spoke with a smile.

Dongfang Zisi frowned. Ignoring Feng Guang, she stood up, moved to the other side of Ye Xuan, and sat down.

"Xuan Ye, you don’t mind me sitting here, do you?" Dongfang Zisi said apologetically to Ye Xuan.

Feng Guang’s smiling face instantly froze. Looking extremely awkward and stiff, he glared at Ye Xuan.

"You." His voice was cold. "Go sit somewhere else. I don’t like having people next to me."

"Are you sick in the head?!"

Ye Xuan shot Feng Guang a glance and spoke coldly, then closed his eyes, not deigning to look at him again.

"Hmm?"

Feng Guang’s cold eyes seemed to burn with fire as he stared intently at Ye Xuan, like a wolf staring at its prey.

"I know you, Xuan Ye. The number one student from this year’s new student assessment. Your talent is indeed good. However, a new student is a new student. Don’t ever think about challenging your seniors. Besides, you’re a new student with no future."

Feng Guang narrowed his eyes, his words carrying a double meaning.

"Not only are you sick in the head, but your illness has progressed to the terminal stage," Ye Xuan said flatly.

"You!"

Feng Guang’s eyes narrowed, and a thick killing intent emanated from them.

"Hmph!"

He snorted coldly and shot Ye Xuan a vicious glare but said no more. This was the assessment hall; fighting was strictly forbidden.

"Alright, since all the students have arrived, let’s begin the first round: the written examination."

Under Master Lu Jun’s supervision, test papers were quickly distributed to everyone.

With a low shout from Lu Jun, the written exam officially began.

At this moment, in the rear of the great hall, several powerful figures were seated, chatting idly out of boredom.

They were the examiners who had written the questions for this first round, top figures from the academy’s various departments. Later, they would grade the papers on the spot and announce who had passed.

This was also one of the annual customs.

"Elder Yao, the questions from your Alchemy Element seem a bit difficult this time," one elder said with a smile.

The Alchemy Element’s Elder Yao said calmly, "Difficult? I think they’re fine. The purpose of the inner courtyard’s written exam is to test a student’s overall qualities. These qualities include not only strength, but also the ability to discern situations and avoid danger. The questions I wrote are all things a Martial Artist frequently encounters during their training. They’re hardly difficult."

"Since the academy asked my Alchemy Element to contribute questions, we must naturally make them substantial. I believe Elder Dong shares my view."

Dong Boson from the Soul Refining Element immediately nodded. "Elder Yao is right. The questions we wrote aren’t difficult at all. Any attentive Martial Artist should be able to answer them. Besides, even if our questions are a little harder, we still have your questions, don’t we? The questions you all come up with every year are ridiculously simple. If it weren’t for our questions, how could we possibly distinguish the students’ overall qualities?"

Hearing Elder Yao and Elder Dong’s words, the other examiners fell silent, each of them smiling wryly.

In truth, if Elder Yao and Elder Dong’s questions could be a little simpler, their own questions would naturally be a bit harder.

But every year during the inner courtyard disciples’ written exam, the questions from the Alchemy and Soul Refining Elements were extremely tricky. Barely one in ten students could answer them. Even they, Martial King Level masters, might not be able to answer everything completely.

This forced them to lower the difficulty of their own questions. Otherwise, probably not a single student would pass the first round.

What would be the point of the assessment then?

Yet every time they tried to discuss it with Elder Yao and Elder Dong, the two would argue their case so plausibly that the other departments were left helpless.

"I hear that in this year’s inner courtyard assessment, there are two new students participating. That’s a spectacle our Gale Light Academy hasn’t seen in many years."

"You’re talking about that Xuan Ye and Hou Fei, right? I’ve heard about them. Their talent is indeed excellent, and they’ve caused quite a stir in the academy. But young people should be more down-to-earth. Applying for the inner courtyard assessment right after enrolling is a bit too ambitious."

"Heh, that’s not necessarily true," Master Qingfeng chimed in with a faint smile.

"Oh? Qingfeng, you seem quite confident in them," another master said in surprise. "Do you really think the two of them can pass the assessment and join the inner courtyard?"

Master Qingfeng smiled faintly. "I don’t know if they can pass the assessment, but I believe that regardless of the outcome, their spirit is something our academy should encourage, not suppress. Don’t you agree?"

"Qingfeng has a point. Let’s see how they do in the first round. Although the written test usually doesn’t eliminate many people, a small number of students are still normally weeded out."

At this very moment, in the great hall outside, the rustling sound of pen nibs moving across paper was incessant as every student wrote furiously.

Ye Xuan had heard Zhang Lie’s description and thought the written test would be really simple. But when he saw the questions, his heart sank.

The first question read: "What were the name and family of the first Headmaster of Gale Light Academy?"

’How would I know the name of Gale Light Academy’s first Headmaster?’ Ye Xuan was instantly dumbfounded.

He quickly looked at the second question.

"Gale Light Academy’s seventh Headmaster, Jiang Zhaozhou, was one of the most outstanding headmasters in the academy’s history. In the year 1576 of the Xuanwu Calendar, when Gale Light Academy was stagnant as a pool of dead water, he initiated a reformation that revitalized the declining academy and brought about a new era of glory. What was the name of the reformation Headmaster Jiang Zhaozhou carried out in the year 1576 of the Xuanwu Calendar? What were its specific contents?"

"Fuck." Ye Xuan almost cursed out loud. ’How would I know what kind of reformation Gale Light Academy went through?’

’Don’t tell me all the questions are like this?’

Ye Xuan quickly looked at the third question: "The Dream Realm Plain, located in the northeast of the continent, has produced countless outstanding Martial Artists, including many Tier Eight experts of the Emperor Martial Realm. In the year 1890 of the Xuanwu Calendar, a great war broke out between three Tier Eight Martial Emperors on the Dream Realm Plain, directly leading to the destruction of the Dream Realm Plain’s Ancient Wisdom Empire. What were the names of these three experts? Why did the battle erupt?"

Question four: "Who are the respective founders of the ten top factions on the Dream Realm Plain?"

Question five: "In the year 2010 of the Xuanwu Calendar, three major events occurred on the Dream Realm Plain. What were they?"

Question six: "Martial Emperor Zhan Yi was a top expert who emerged from the War God Tribe three hundred years ago. What was his weapon, what was his mount, and what Cultivation Technique did he practice?"

CLINK!

The pen in his hand dropped onto the desk.

Ye Xuan was completely speechless.

It was then that he finally realized he had been wrong. Terribly wrong.

Zhang Lie had said the inner courtyard’s written exam was simple, and he had actually believed him. True, for any Martial Artist born on the Dream Realm Plain, these questions were probably simple. But for Ye Xuan, who came from the Thirteen Nations Alliance, these questions were impossibly difficult.

Take the sixth question: What was Martial Emperor Zhan Yi’s weapon? What was his mount? What was his Cultivation Technique?

He didn’t even know if Martial Emperor Zhan Yi was a man or a woman, so how could he possibly know his weapon, mount, and Cultivation Technique?

If the questions had been about the major events or expert profiles of the Celestial Profound Continent, he would definitely know more than anyone on the Dream Realm Plain. But if you asked him what happened in a small place like the Dream Realm Plain, or which experts it had, you could beat him to death and he still wouldn’t know.

’This inner courtyard assessment... Don’t tell me I’m going to fail even the written test.’

Ye Xuan was stunned.