Chapter 115: Sinister Nature
This cliff face was so smooth that it was nearly impossible to find a foothold, making it almost impossible to run up!
Not all scholars had cultivated flying techniques, and jumping up was extremely difficult. Furthermore, these people were all at the Spirit Embryo or Five Radiance realms, and without reaching the necessary level, they could not learn divine abilities.
This single cliff face alone would likely eliminate half of the scholars.
However, quite a few scholars who had cultivated flying techniques began to fly up the cliff, passing this stage with ease, but they were a minority. Many other scholars attempted to sprint up the cliff, only to end up crashing headfirst into the rock face, bloodied and bruised.
Those scholars who had not learned flying techniques frowned deeply. Some leaped upward, trying to jump onto the cliff, but the cliff was thirty to forty *zhang* high—who possessed such a powerful physique to leap that high?
Most could only jump halfway before falling back down. As for those who fell, they were immediately disqualified by the middle-aged Daoist at the foot of the cliff and expelled from the mountain gate.
"Isn't getting up the cliff simple?"
Wei Yong stepped forward, chuckling. "You all only think about running up, jumping up, or flying up—why hasn't anyone thought about hoisting themselves up?"
He had a large head and plump features, but he was surprisingly agile. He tied his sword with strands of primordial qi, using his primordial qi to control the sword and send it flying to the top of the cliff first. Wei Yong then controlled ten strands of primordial qi, using them to grip the cliff's edge, and slowly tightened them, pulling himself up bit by bit until he reached the top. Then, with his chubby hands gripping the cliff, he flipped over and stood at the summit, waving down. "Brother Qin, do you want to hoist yourself up too?"
"No need."
Qin Mu crouched down, his legs bending almost to the ground, then exploded with the power of his legs and primordial qi. His body shot up with a whoosh, leaping forty *zhang* high, and landed beside Wei Yong with a thunderous crash.
Wei Yong was startled. He looked down and said in surprise, "Brother, do you practice the combat technique school? Ah, right, you use a blade. This combat skill of yours is truly impressive!"
At the foot of the cliff, hundreds of scholars stared in disbelief.
The middle-aged Daoist nodded, making a mark next to Qin Mu's name and writing the character "combat." Behind Wei Yong's name, he wrote "clever."
Wei Yong's method was quite ingenious. Inspired by him, the scholars below began to come up with ideas, either controlling their swords or using other methods to hang strands of primordial qi on the cliff, allowing them to climb up.
More and more people gathered at the top of the cliff. Qin Mu and Wei Yong walked forward. Although this was the Jade Peak, there were still mountain springs, waterfalls, flowers, and trees, creating a very serene atmosphere. There were even birds and beasts, but they looked unusual—exceptionally large and often covered in scales or feathers. They had likely absorbed the dragon qi from the nine dragon veins, causing them to mutate.
"Scholars, halt!"
They arrived at the first great hall of the Imperial Academy. This hall was extremely vast, spanning a hundred *zhang* in width, and the platform in front of it was also very spacious, capable of accommodating thousands of people. Qin Mu looked around; the cultivators who had ascended the mountain earlier were not here. Their assessment content must have been different from his.
In front of the hall stood ninety-nine Daoists, each with a deity behind them—manifestations of their primordial qi. These deities had only upper bodies, floating in the air, looking imposing and mighty.
"Impressive!"
Qin Mu's heart shook. The skills of these ninety-nine Daoists were extraordinary. Their primordial qi could take form, likely reaching a level close to the celestial realm. Each Daoist's strength probably wasn't inferior to that of a hall master of the Demon Sect!
The Imperial Academy truly lived up to its reputation as the world's foremost sacred land and highest institution of learning!
However, these ninety-nine Daoists were still not at the level of Fu Yundi, the city lord of Inlaid Dragon City. The eight-armed, eight-headed celestial deity behind Fu Yundi was fully manifested, solid and terrifyingly real. Clearly, these Daoists were one or two tiers below Fu Yundi.
"But why are the deities manifested by these ninety-nine Daoists all identical?"
Qin Mu frowned. If their opponents figured out their weaknesses, wouldn't they be easy to kill?
"With Daoists like these, Granny could kill ten with one hand!" the youth thought to himself.
The Imperial Preceptor's promotion of elementary and advanced schools had its drawbacks—the martial arts and divine abilities taught were too uniform. Qin Mu began to think that sects had their advantages, after all, since each sect had different teachings and skills, and their abilities were diverse.
Of course, the role of elementary and advanced schools was still extremely powerful, allowing more scholars to avoid having their talents buried. In the past, sects only accepted a few disciples, but now, with schools everywhere, talents emerged in abundance.
The ninety-nine Daoists stood still. Suddenly, the deities manifested from their primordial qi drifted out and landed on circular platforms in front of the hall.
The leading Daoist spoke in a deep voice: "Scholars from all regions, form groups of ten, step forward, and use your strongest techniques to attack the deity projections in front of you! You may use any means—whether divine, demonic, Buddhist, or Daoist—go all out, no restrictions! The deity projections will also attack you. Out of ten, only one will remain on the platform. That person passes."
The scholars in front of the hall erupted in commotion. Resisting the attacks of the deity projections, with only one survivor out of ten—this stage was even more brutal than the previous one. The cliff-climbing stage had already eliminated half the scholars, and now this stage would eliminate ninety percent of them!
After a flurry of activity, everyone formed teams and mounted the platforms. Wei Yong quickly moved away from Qin Mu and climbed onto another platform.
Qin Mu stood on a platform. Soon, his circular platform had ten people, while the other ninety-eight platforms also had ten scholars each.
"Begin!" a Daoist shouted.
As soon as his words fell, on each circular platform, the ninety-nine deity projections moved simultaneously, attacking the scholars. Everyone scrambled to defend!
At that moment, Qin Mu's movements were like a ghost, evading the deity projection's attack. He dashed across the circular platform, striking with both long and short techniques. With nine consecutive explosive sounds, nine figures flew out and tumbled off the platform.
The scholars on his platform weren't knocked off by the deity projection—he had thrown them all off himself!
On the platform, the deity projection that had been attacking Qin Mu suddenly froze, motionless.
"You pass." In front of the hall, the ninety-nine Daoists showed expressions of surprise. The leading Daoist spoke solemnly.
Qin Mu bowed to him and stepped down from the platform. The Daoist's face darkened slightly, and he said in a low voice to the Daoist beside him: "I see that this youth has an improper heart, somewhat sinister. Everyone else on the platforms was working together to resist the deity projection's attacks, but he alone struck at the others."
As he spoke, exclamations of surprise came from other platforms. Other scholars had imitated Qin Mu, striking at their fellow platform members while under the deity projection's assault. In a short time, hundreds were forced off the platforms.
Soon, this stage of the assessment ended, leaving only about a hundred people. Those who passed were all scholars at the Five Radiance realm; no Spirit Embryo realm scholars remained. Qin Mu looked around and saw that Wei Yong had also passed smoothly. This chubby youth's cultivation was indeed profound, worthy of being a scholar from the Wei family of Jiangling.
Many Daoists were stunned, never expecting the orderly assessment to devolve like this.
After a moment, a Daoist announced loudly: "Passing scholars, enter the hall. The others, descend the mountain."
Qin Mu and the other scholars walked toward the great hall ahead. He felt as if eyes were watching him from behind. Turning back, he saw that the ninety-nine Daoists were all staring at him.
Qin Mu straightened his clothes, found nothing unusual, and gave the Daoists a bright smile before stepping into the hall.
"Sinister, sinister!" Behind him, the ninety-nine Daoists said in unison.
The leading Daoist wrote a comment behind Qin Mu's name in the register, then tossed it into the air. A crane flew over, caught the register in its beak, and flew over the hall deeper into the mountains.
"It's best to weed out such a sinister youth midway, to prevent him from causing trouble in our Imperial Academy and tarnishing its reputation! I hope the later examiners will eliminate him!"
Qin Mu and the many scholars entered the hall but still didn't see the group of Six Harmonies realm scholars who had ascended earlier. These scholars were all cultivators, so their assessment content must have been different.
Qin Mu looked around. The pillars of this hall were painted with murals of all kinds, strange and varied. He wondered, "What is this stage testing?"
Wei Yong laughed. "The Imperial Academy tests different things every year. No one knows what will be tested. If the questions were known, it wouldn't be so hard to get in."
Qin Mu nodded. Suddenly, his heart jolted. The murals on these pillars were actually primordial qi circulation diagrams for various techniques!
Each diagram showed the circulation path of a different technique!
He examined them one by one, deeply shaken. The Imperial Academy had carved these technique circulation diagrams here—weren't they being too careless? Weren't they afraid of someone stealing them?
"The primordial qi circulation diagrams in this hall are all incomplete."
A scholar beside him said, "Every technique is incomplete. I've heard that the Grand Sacrificial Wine of the Imperial Academy gathered incomplete techniques from all over the world and carved these incomplete diagrams here."
Qin Mu suddenly noticed a particular pattern, and his heart pounded violently. This pattern was the circulation diagram for the Overlord Body Three Dan Technique!
Then he frowned. This diagram should be for the Six Harmonies realm of the Overlord Body Three Dan Technique, not the Five Radiance realm diagram he needed most.
"Could it be that the Patriarch discovered the circulation diagram for the Overlord Body Three Dan Technique here and carved it? Does the Patriarch know about the other diagrams? No matter what, I must become a Grand Scholar of the Imperial Academy and meet the Patriarch!"