Grasping the Evil-Chapter 1006: Seeing Complete Success

The sound of the horn seemed to come from nowhere, seemingly enhanced by great divine power, causing those who heard it to feel their blood boiling.

Then a streak of silver light broke through the sky. From afar, the silver light resembled a ball of flame, too dazzling to face directly. Only when near could one see it was an elder standing amidst silver flames.

The elder wore a golden hoop on his head, his face taut and rigid, his skin bluish-black, showing no expression, surrounded by an aura of death, evidently a Corpse Demon who had been dead for countless years!

A powerful aura of the Shattered Thought Early Stage emanated from this Corpse Demon. Furthermore, he held a scroll sealed with silver flames in his hand. As soon as he stood firm in the sky, he unfurled the scroll, releasing a compelling momentum that transformed into a fierce wind, sweeping towards everyone present.

Those tribal cultivators with insufficient cultivation were often blown off balance, while only True Immortal old monsters remained unmoved in the gale.

It was hard when the gale passed. The tribal cultivators could not steady themselves but hastily knelt down to pay respects to the Corpse Demon.

"Welcome, Holy Envoy!" The voice surged into the heavens.

Naturally, the people of Tamu bowed down as well. Those flying in the sky, who had been watching the grand event from afar, also descended to the ground and bowed respectfully. Among them was the noble Duolan!

Within the Dabei Clan, the hierarchy was strict. Tribal cultivators, being descendants of Medicine Slaves, held the lowest status. The Holy Mountain Tomb Guardians had slightly higher status, but even they had to kneel before the Holy Envoys, even though such envoys were merely Corpse Demons with low spirit awareness!

"You, why do you not kneel!"

The Corpse Demon elder scanned the steppes with a gaze, raspy voice questioning when he suddenly noticed someone daring not to kneel.

"I am not a Dabei person, naturally, no need to kneel before anyone," Ning Fan said calmly.

"Your words have reason..."

The Corpse Demon elder’s tone remained stiff, without joy or anger. Upon hearing Ning Fan’s words, he seemingly acknowledged the explanation but suddenly vanished without leaving even a shadow!

Ning Fan’s gaze slightly narrowed as he too vanished, and in the next moment, from the empty sky came a burst of explosion, sounding both like one and countless overlapping noises. Then rifts appeared in the sky, and two figures were hurled backward from the spatial fissures.

It was Ning Fan and the Corpse Demon elder! Ning Fan descended back to the ground nonchalantly, while the Corpse Demon elder’s dull eyes revealed astonishment.

"What happened!" No one here, including Shekong cultivators, saw clearly the exchange between Ning Fan and the Corpse Demon elder!

Even Duolan was unaware of what transpired in that instant!

"Your words surely have reason."

The Corpse Demon elder recovered from his shock, remaining indifferent. Only he knew that in that brief moment, he had exchanged dozens of blows with Ning Fan and with his formidable Corpse Demon body, he had absolutely fallen behind in the exchange!

According to the Holy Mountain’s rules, if one had power equal to that of a Holy Envoy, they could ignore the hierarchy and meet the envoy without kneeling. Since Ning Fan possessed such strength, naturally, he need not kneel, but if he encountered a more powerful envoy, he would still need to kneel.

"Could this Ning-surnamed outside cultivator, even with suppressed cultivation, cope with the Shattered Thought Early Stage without falling behind?!"

Seeing that the Holy Envoy did not hold Ning Fan accountable for not kneeling, the cultivators present were filled with speculation and secretly shocked. Then they considered that Tamu Sect had only Ning Fan as a fierce one, and despite his power, it was ultimately limited and could not significantly affect the outcome of the contest, and they all sighed in relief.

After all, it was just one person...

The Corpse Demon elder, still with a cold expression, signaled the crowd to stand and began reading from the scroll in his hand.

"The Grave-Seizing battle opens once every millennium. The Southern Frontier contest is overseen by me, Holy Envoy No. 41 of Letter Yi, with two sections: literary and martial trials! The tribe that scores first in total can enter Middle State for the second round of grave-seizing. Now, this Holy Envoy will announce the literary trial’s subject, advising everyone to watch every moment ahead carefully, not missing a single detail!"

After finishing his announcement, the Corpse Demon elder raised the scroll in his hand which flew upwards, suddenly transforming into a silver fire dragon in midair. Upon reaching its peak, it twisted abruptly, shattering into countless flames that rained down on the steppes, burning the wild grass clean. However, moments later, new tender wild grasses mysteriously grew from the scorched earth.

The entire process lasted only several dozen moments, yet contained vast divine principles... The literary trial would test the insights embedded in this scene!

"This is the topic for the first round of grave-seizing literary trial. Each of you surely has your own understanding. You are required to record your insights on the Manifestation Roll within one day, and submit it back to Middle State, where the emperors will assess and grade the responses!"

With that, the Corpse Demon elder flipped his hand, bringing out a piece of silver beast bone, which he crushed into bone powder in his palm then scattered forward. Immediately, fine silver bone ashes fell like wind, each ash transforming into a bone-structured low table upon landing. There were exactly seven hundred tables arranged in twenty-one rows, totaling thirty-five, precisely matching the number of Southern Frontier clans.

"Every past literary trial presents a random topic, testing each cultivator’s insights. Unfortunately, there’s a dearth of intellectuals among our Southern tribes. Hardly anyone achieves good results in the literary trial. In all Southern history, few individuals have ever scored over a hundred personally in the trial. The literary trial is not crucial, with minimal differences between tribes. The challenge lies in the martial trial... Younger Brother Ning need not worry much about the literary scores, just casually reply. With your cultivation, a score over a thousand in the martial trial is quite feasible, enough to lift our Tamu Sect from the shame of the bottom position..."

Tageli privately advised Ning Fan and handed him a palm-sized bone tablet. Then he turned to individually instruct participating Tamu cultivators, distributing the tablets.

Ning Fan looked at the bone tablet in his hand, used for recording scores. The front was inscribed with Dabei characters for ’Ning Fan,’ his name, while the back was for score records. Currently, it showed zero, as the contest had yet to begin.

"The literary trial is not important..."

Ning Fan offered no response to Tageli’s advice, and he joined the other participating cultivators, slowly walking towards their respective bone tables to sit cross-legged.

The tables were equipped with bone pens, blood ink, and scrolls. On the upper left of the tabletop, there was a beast-face groove etched with odd formation patterns. Many weaker cultivators, as soon as they sat down, hastily picked up the pen, dipped it in ink, scribbled randomly, and then rolled up their scrolls, placing them together with their bone tablets into the beast-face groove on the table.

Next, the groove would close, blink with light, and after a while, it would reopen with the scrolls gone, leaving only the tablets that now recorded their literary trial scores.

Most cultivators were not cautious about others copying their answers, so Ning Fan easily glimpsed some answer sheets.

"I realized fire could ignite grass, and it’s very hot..." This was the answer given by cultivators with significant intellectual deficiencies.

"I am infuriated by the Holy Envoy’s act of burning the Southern Frontier steppe. It’s our ancestral heritage, not to be desecrated! Luckily, the grass grew back in the end..." This was the answer written by some outraged cultivators.

"I didn’t understand anything." Some even submitted blank sheets!

Leaving Ning Fan speechless was the fact that those mindless answer sheets were even being secretly copied by many, unrestrained by the Corpse Demon elder. In just one incense stick’s time, more than half of the cultivators completed the exam, despite having a full day allocated for literary trial responses...

Ning Fan glanced around. The other nineteen members of Tamu Sect had already filed their answer sheets and received scores. Of the nineteen, eighteen had zero, with only one scoring a single point. Ning Fan recalled their sheet answered ’Fire burns grass, fire overcomes wood’...

Such basic five-element cultivation knowledge was widely known across the Four Heavens, yet in Dabei, it could still earn a point... Blame the mental deficiency among Dabei people, managing this core cultivation knowledge becomes commendable, a point as comfort.

With this, apart from Ning Fan, Tamu Sect’s literary trial score totaled only one point. Fortunately, judging by the sheets submitted so far, most other tribes comprised people with incomplete minds too, whose overall scores accumulated only to a few points, indeed not significantly differing from Tamu Sect.

But this did not mean that there were no normal cultivators present here.

Other tribes still had two or three people pondering, seemingly acquiring genuine insights from the trial topic. Stronger tribes, like the Evil Sheep Sect and Summon Wind Sect, still had eleven or twelve pondering with their eyes shut, gradually finding enlightenment as time passed.

These people were not like the mentally deficient cultivators. They protected their sheets closely to prevent others from viewing. Yet, with Ning Fan’s far superior cultivation and his pervasive Ice Rain Technique perception, he could still easily see their sheets. The same held for other Shedding Void Realm old monsters peeking at the Crossing Truth Realm cultivators’ sheets. The Corpse Demon elder never intervened; being able to copy was its own skill, as this was the cultivation world where strength ruled, not a mundane civil examination hall.

One by one, masters with normal mental states handed in their exams, and what they comprehended was mostly related to the Divine Skills like "Scroll Transforms into Dragon" and "Dragon Turns into Fire Rain." The scores they received were mostly around five or six, not very high.

After all, this literary test was obviously not about Divine Skills, but the enlightenment of Dao.

Fire burns grass, grass resurrects...

Wildfires never completely consume it, spring breeze blows and it lives again...

Ning Fan gradually stopped caring about others’ scores, instead sinking into his own Dao Enlightenment. He was no longer treating this comprehension as a competition, but truly gaining insights from it.

He sat on the grass, at the bone table, hesitating to raise his pen to write. Instead, he closed his eyes and repeatedly recreated in his mind the scenes of resilient wild grass coming back to life.

Two hours passed, with nearly all cultivators below Shedding Void having turned in their exams, none scoring higher than ten. An exception was the Young Chief of the Evil Sheep Clan, Xianyu Chun, who, due to an intellectual impediment, had fallen asleep at his desk and did not submit his exam.

Four hours passed, by which time even some Shedding Void cultivators began handing in their exams, and higher scores started to appear.

"Hiss! Actually thirty points! What did Sorcerer Heishan of Black Mountain Sect write to achieve such a high score?" Suddenly, an exclamation was heard from outside.

Sorcerer Heishan, however, seemed not quite satisfied with this score, yet dared not question it.

After all, the score was given by the Central Continent Five Emperors; who was he, a mere Shedding Void, to criticize?

"Well, literary test scores aren’t important; all depends on the martial test..." Thinking this way, Sorcerer Heishan felt comforted.

Following Sorcerer Heishan, numerous other Shedding Void cultivators achieved high scores.

"Forsaken Corpse Sect... thirty-five points! Such a high score for Forsaken Corpse Sorcerer!"

"Prolonged South Old Monster actually scored forty points! How is this possible!"

"White Ghost Sect’s White Ghost Sorcerer actually scored forty-five points!"

"Sixty points! Nan Zhilong, Captain of a Thousand from Summon Wind Sect, could this person be the one to score first in this literary test?"

Gradually, the only ones left who hadn’t submitted their exams were Ning Fan, the sleeping Xianyu Chun, and Sorcerer Minghai from Sea Soul Sect.

Sorcerer Minghai was naturally indifferent, not liking to get involved in the intrigues on the steppe. Sea Soul Sect was also one of the few clans that hadn’t mocked Tamu Clan.

Six hours had passed since the start of the literary test, and Sorcerer Minghai maintained his pace, eyes closed. It wasn’t until the seventh hour that he opened his eyes, nodded slightly, seemingly having understood something, and started answering the exam.

His score set a new high over the last hundred thousand years in the Southern Frontier, reaching four hundred points!

"A score of four hundred... No wonder he’s an old monster on the verge of stepping into the Shattered Thought Stage; his Dao Enlightenment is the deepest in the Southern Frontier!" Some Southern Frontier cultivators were greatly shocked.

"Isn’t this too high! Throughout Dabei, there are hardly any who achieve over four hundred points without entering Shattered Thought Stage! Those who accomplish this, their future achievements won’t be less than Timeless..." Some skilled in examination found this astonishing fact, thus questioning if Sorcerer Minghai indeed had the qualifications to aspire to the Timeless Realm!

"Legend has it that the Great Emperor of Zhongzhou has already admired Sorcerer Minghai’s outstanding intuition and intends to take him on as a disciple. I didn’t believe it initially, but now I do! Thus, this Sea Soul Sect must not be offended in any way..." Some old monsters secretly made their decisions.

Night had fallen, Sorcerer Minghai appeared somewhat tired; those seven hours of deep thought had cost him quite some Heart Spirit. However, his gaze was relaxed, as he left the examination ground with an ethereal demeanor, like an old fisherman free from worldly concerns. Just as he was walking out, he turned back slightly, his gaze focused a bit seriously on Ning Fan, before faintly frowning at the snoring Xianyu Chun.

"As for this Young Chief of Evil Sheep Clan, there’s no need to mention. In the previous literary test, he scored only one point; this year, he might just sleep through it — not worth a mock. But this Ning Fan, such an external cultivator... This man is an Eternal Immortal Venerable; even if his cultivation is restricted, his Dao Enlightenment won’t be. I wonder how many points he can score; probably not less than five hundred..."

Five hundred points, when compared to Da Bi’s Honored Immortal, most had scores like this. This fact also highlighted how rare Sorcerer Minghai’s four hundred points were.

Sorcerer Minghai never underestimated anyone, but he also didn’t believe Ning Fan could do better than those Honored Immortals from Dabei; he was confident that if he were an Eternal Immortal Venerable too, he would surely score far more than five hundred! Unfortunately, he hadn’t even thoroughly broken through the Shattered Thought bottleneck. But once he became a disciple under Great Emperor of Zhongzhou, becoming an Eternal Immortal Venerable wouldn’t be far off!

Time continued to pass.

The tenth hour, the eleventh hour, the twelfth hour... Suddenly, Xianyu Chun woke up, staring at the dawn-lit steppe, slightly stunned, then slapped his head and laughed heartily.

"I forgot I was in the literary test, I slept right through, ahaha, ahaha..."

This immediately incited laughter from many masters around him.

Numerous masters of the Evil Sheep Clan felt embarrassed, ashamed of their Young Chief’s foolish behavior of sleeping through the literary test. The Chief of the Evil Sheep Clan felt his face burn; his most beloved woman gave birth to such a silly son, this... this is such a disgrace. Oh well! I, as a father, no longer expect you to score exceptionally; now just leave the grounds quickly!

"Quickly hand in your exam!" The Chief of the Evil Sheep Clan urged impatiently.

"Don’t rush, don’t rush; even my mentor hasn’t handed in his exam, I’m waiting to submit together!" Xianyu Chun suddenly felt touched to see Ning Fan hadn’t handed in his exam either. He thought, why wasn’t his mentor submitting the exam? It must be because of him, Xianyu Chun!

Afraid that he would be lonely sleeping on the examination ground, he specially stayed to accompany him! Such a good man, such a good man!

"Mentor! Thank you!"

Xianyu Chun wanted to write these words on his exam paper and pass it to Ning Fan, like delivering a note.

At this moment, Ning Fan seemed to be contemplating with eyes closed; Xianyu Chun didn’t dare transmit sound, only dared to pass the note. He couldn’t figure out if Ning Fan was thinking or sleeping; if his mentor was sleeping, and he woke him, he would be unfilial!

Oops, forgot how to write the words "Mentor Thank You"...

Xianyu Chun had a headache and transmitted sound to ask his father.

The Chief of the Evil Sheep Clan turned black with rage.

How can this foolish son forget to write simple characters! That’s not the focus, the focus is that this is an exam for the battle at the tomb; can you use it like delivering a note, this would be a severe crime, a desecration of the Holy Mountain’s majesty!

"Submit your exam immediately! Do not disturb your mentor’s enlightenment!"

These words hit Xianyu Chun’s sore spot; as a disciple who practiced filial piety, how could he disturb his mentor’s enlightenment? Absolutely not!

At once, without wasting more time there, he casually recalled a few scenes of the day’s exam topic, and finding his mind completely blank, helplessly scrawled some random scribbles on the exam paper, then submitted it.

Shortly afterward, the score came out.

Evil Sheep Clan Xianyu Chun... five hundred points!

"How is this possible! What exactly did Xianyu Chun write, how could the Central Continent Five Emperors give him a score of 500!"

"I don’t believe it, how could a fool possibly score 500!"

"Could it be that the Central Continent Five Emperors made a mistake in grading!"

"Hush! Be careful with your words! We cannot criticize the Five Emperors..."

Some astonished masters quickly fell silent, as the sinister gaze of the Corpse Demon Elder had already locked onto those who spoke ill of the Five Emperors.

Speaking behind the backs of the Five Emperors is a grave crime! If those people continued to speak, the Corpse Demon Elder would not hesitate to enforce the law on the spot and teach them a lesson!

Of course, even the Corpse Demon with low intelligence, was somewhat shocked. After all, no matter how one looked at Xianyu Chun, he seemed foolish, especially since he slept through the entire exam. If even such a person could score 500, anyone could score 1,000!

Strange, very strange! Could this child’s talent be extraordinary, and I failed to notice! The Corpse Demon Elder began to doubt his own intelligence.

The entire Xieyang Sect was bewildered, even the usually astute Chief of the Xieyang Clan was at a loss. Unfortunately, Xianyu Chun himself hadn’t understood why a score of 500 was so shocking. 500 didn’t seem much different from 1 to him, hmm, 500 minus 1 equals 2, just 2 points more than 1, nothing too surprising, why was everyone making such a fuss...

The usually placid Sorcerer Minghai was now finding it hard to stay indifferent. If Ning Fan scored 500, he could console himself, as the other was an Eternal Immortal Venerable, deserving to surpass himself. But the person who scored 500 was Xianyu Chun! Even Sorcerer Minghai, who generally ignored worldly affairs, had heard of this fool renowned in the Southern Frontier. With exceptional cultivation potential, especially in understanding the Soul Fusion Secret Technique, yet intellectually incomplete, often doing laughably silly things, yet he could score 500...

This was a literary exam, only those worthy can occupy such a position! How could this child surpass me!

"What did you write on your exam paper!" Sorcerer Minghai suddenly approached and asked in a low voice.

Inquiring about someone else’s answer is extremely rude, especially since the literary exam wasn’t over yet, revealing the answer could allow others to score high. Fortunately, the only one left to submit papers was Ning Fan. Xianyu Chun revered Ning Fan as if he were a deity, not at all worried about his answer being leaked to Ning Fan, even seeing it as a form of recognition if his master copied his answer, something to be celebrated! Thus, he didn’t hide it any longer and directly spoke out his answer loudly.

"I only wrote two sentences on the exam paper: Is there fire? Sorry, I didn’t see it. The grass was burned? Sorry, I didn’t see it."

Xianyu Chun stretched lazily. In fact, when the Corpse Demon Elder announced the exam question, he was already dozing off, completely missing the scene of the grass burning.

His father urged him to answer, so he just honestly turned in a nearly blank paper, stating he saw nothing and sincerely apologized to the Central Continent Five Emperors. But such an answer surprisingly got him 500 points, even 2 more than he expected from 1 point—his luck simply couldn’t be better, hahaha!

"Why could such an answer score 500 points! Didn’t he see nothing, not even the exam question? Shouldn’t he have no score!" Some masters were puzzled.

But Sorcerer Minghai suddenly shivered, quickly turning back to look at the scorched earth that had been burned.

No, it’s wrong!

There was never any fire here!

The scorched earth was fake, and the resurrection of the wild grass was fake too!

"Dispel!"

Sorcerer Minghai suddenly made a gesture and shouted, the scenery here changed instantly.

The scorched earth disappeared; there was not a trace left of being burned. The new, tender wild grass also vanished, leaving only the old, withered wild grass, looking like it’s been growing for a season...

It was an illusion, indeed an illusion...

So Minghai’s high self-regard failed to see that this exam question was just an illusion from the start!

No fire, no wildfire raging, no resurrection of wild grass... all illusions!

No wonder this child said he saw nothing! Indeed, nothing was ever there...

"This child isn’t foolish, it’s great wisdom hidden in plain sight!" Minghai gasped, clearing all contempt for Xianyu Chun from his mind and replacing it with respect.

If Sorcerer Minghai wasn’t mistaken, the illusion in this exam question was created by the Central Continent Five Emperors, an illusion even most Shattered Thought stage would fail to see through... This child accomplished what many Shattered Thought stages couldn’t, earning 500 points is rightly deserved, with boundless prospects! From the start, this child saw through everything, so instead of pondering, he opted to sleep directly—this carefree view of life is something rare and valuable to cultivators, constantly allowing one to perceive the Dao that others cannot attain!

This child... I can’t compare to!

"With such potential, little friend should be first in the Southern Frontier! Even that Ning Fan might not compare to you," sighed Sorcerer Minghai.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! That person is my master! How could I compare to even one hair of my master! He is the true number one in the Southern Frontier! I only scored 500; if it were my master, he could easily get 5,000!" Xianyu Chun said discontentedly. He couldn’t allow any slight contempt for his revered master from Sorcerer Minghai.

"5,000... little friend must be joking. From ancient times, no one has ever scored 5,000 in the first round of the Tomb Seizing literary exam, not even the great emperors could do that in their youth. If that foreign cultivator named Ning got 500, it’s normal; getting 1,000 would be very difficult, and if it were 5,000... haha," Sorcerer Minghai, impressed by Xianyu Chun’s talent, didn’t wish to offend this genius, so he just laughed off Xianyu Chun’s wild words without taking offense.

"Is 5,000 a lot? Isn’t it just 2 points more than 500..." Xianyu Chun was stunned, wondering why this score had never been achieved, or if he calculated wrong.

Sorcerer Minghai was puzzled; with all his wisdom, he couldn’t understand Xianyu Chun’s words for a moment. 5,000 is just 2 more than 500, what does he mean... subtracting 500 from 5,000 wouldn’t equal 2, so was there another implication... was he hinting something to me...

Sorcerer Minghai thought more complicatedly, vaguely feeling hinted at something but failing to grasp the key.

But some others sneered, among whom was the loudest was Nan Zhilong of the Summon Wind Sect!

"Absolutely ridiculous! If a mere foreign cultivator could get an unprecedented 5,000, every Da Bi cultivator would die of shame!"

As these words spread, countless people joined Nan Zhilong in laughing heartily.

Xianyu Chun’s face immediately turned grim. If not for Nan Zhilong’s high cultivation, he would’ve instantly acted to defend his master!

At this moment, someone exclaimed; it turned out Ning Fan had finished contemplating, submitted his paper, and swept a cold glance towards Nan Zhilong.

The previously recklessly laughing Nan Zhilong instantly felt an ice-cold, bone-chilling sensation, his laughter caught in his throat, neither coming in nor going out, his face flushed, while fear filled his heart.

What kind of ominous gaze was this! This person... this person must not be provoked, or disaster would surely follow!

Not just Nan Zhilong; every master swept by Ning Fan’s gaze was horrified into silent fear!

The entire field fell into dead silence!

Xianyu Chun was thrilled, admiring Ning Fan’s boldness—without uttering a word, he could intimidate the cowardly, what immense demon power!

"May I know how many points fellow Daoist scored?" Sorcerer Minghai’s inquiry broke the atmosphere, indicating his concern for Ning Fan’s score.

"I don’t know, my score still hasn’t been given." Ning Fan collected the coldness in his eyes and pointed to the Beast Face Groove on the bone table.

Only then did the crowd notice that the Beast Face Groove on Ning Fan’s table had not opened for a long time...

This indicated that the Central Continent Five Emperors still hadn’t given Ning Fan a score!

As time passed, another two hours went by, and Ning Fan’s score still hadn’t been given!

This was truly a strange tale on the Dabei Grassland! No participant in the cultivation world examination had ever waited this long without receiving scores after submitting their paper!

"Could it be that this person’s answer has made it difficult for the Central Continent Five Emperors to decide, unable to give an accurate score?" Many people secretly speculated, yet felt this idea was somewhat absurd. What kind of answer could make the Five Emperors unable to score? A disastrous answer? That can’t be right, those who score zero tend to receive results quickly... An exceptionally good answer? How good would it need to be to make it difficult for the Five Emperors to decide?

Central Continent, Tiandu Peak.

The millennial tomb struggle, the first round of the literary test results must be jointly decided by the Central Continent Five Emperors, as is the tradition. As in previous years, in this round of the tomb struggle, four of the Central Continent Five Emperors gathered at Tiandu Peak to discuss the participants’ results.

The four Immortal Emperors present included Emperor Lou Tuo and Emperor Bone Spirit, neither of whom held the most power among the Four Emperors, but the remaining two wielded more authority.

Of the remaining two emperors, one was dressed in red and green, wearing a strange mask on his head that seemed to both smile and cry, hiding his true appearance. His imperial title was Great Emperor Foqi, and it was said that he had comprehended profound methods from a tear of a Buddha statue, completing the Dao, and took the title Foqi, only a step away from entering the Eternal Seventh Calamity.

The other was the most authoritative figure among the current Five Emperors. This was an exceptionally strict-looking elder, giving off an air of meticulousness, with a white beard reaching the ground, leaning on an iron staff entwined with flames, bearing the imperial title Tiandu, and Tiandu Peak was precisely his abode.

On Tiandu Peak, there was a Teleportation Formation that occasionally transmitted the exam papers from various grasslands. Whenever a paper arrived, hundreds of disciples under the Four Emperors would first review it, and for the less satisfactory ones, scores would be directly determined by those below, only a few outstanding ones were presented to the Four Emperors for joint evaluation.

Generally speaking, the initial papers received were filled by those with incomplete mental faculties, and these were mostly scored as zero. For these papers, Emperors Tiandu, Lou Tuo, and Bone Spirit showed little concern, yet Great Emperor Foqi exhibited great interest, and would browse them alongside the disciples.

"Interesting, interesting, this year’s literary test indeed has many strange and bizarre answers... I’m glad I ended my seclusion early to join this event! It’s a pity Fellow Daoist Baihua couldn’t make it to witness these laughable papers. Heh heh, such a shame." Great Emperor Foqi let out a peculiar laugh, and suddenly gave a meaningful glance at Emperor Lou Tuo.

Emperor Lou Tuo was slightly taken aback, and then calmly replied, "Yes, it’s a shame that Fellow Daoist Baihua couldn’t come due to his serious injuries."

"Heh heh, a thousand years ago, Fellow Daoist Baihua went into the Fierce Realm to gather herbs but was besieged by three True Immortal-grade Corpse Demons, I wonder how Fellow Daoist Lou Tuo views this?" Great Emperor Foqi said with a mocking laugh.

"What? Do you suspect that this matter was my doing?" Lou Tuo’s expression immediately darkened.

"Heh heh, I didn’t say anything, why be so eager to explain..." Great Emperor Foqi hadn’t finished mocking when suddenly a reprimanding voice resounded.

"Enough! You didn’t come to Tiandu Peak today to dredge up past grievances! If anyone dares to act out of line, don’t blame this old man for executing the Holy Mountain’s punishment!"

With Emperor Tiandu’s stern words, not only did Great Emperor Foqi and Emperor Lou Tuo change their expressions, even Emperor Bone Spirit showed a hint of fear, all corrected their demeanor and dared not utter nonsense again.

The disciples seated below the Four Emperors dared even less to speak recklessly, all sitting upright and scored carefully, with only occasional arguments, no one dared to speak too much, creating an extremely stifling atmosphere.

Likewise, among the Four Emperors, there was little communication, occasional comments arose but only pertaining to the test papers. Of course, the most vocal was still the talkative Great Emperor Foqi.

"Not bad, not bad, that little kid from the Yellow Sand Prairie’s Sand Wolf Sect was able to write such profound fire control methods, yes, give him two hundred points."

"This one’s good, someone in the Western River Prairie wrote about Five Fires Five Earth, give a hundred and fifty points!"

"... This one’s a bit lacking, give 2 points, just for appearances... Oh right, I forgot this young lad was your disciple, Bone Spirit, you can have three hundred points for him!"

"Beidi Clan’s Qiu Long... Hmm, Beidi Clan truly has a rich talent pool, to have someone like this, give him four hundred points!"

"Southern Frontier’s Sea Soul Sect... oh, the kid from Sea Soul Sect, is now mixing with the old fellows, these insights are profound, they managed to glimpse a trace of Dao transformation, this one has potential for Immortal Venerable, give him four hundred points too!"

In this literary test, only a dozen or so managed to score four hundred points, these individuals were mostly remembered by the Central Continent’s emperors as potential future disciples, so naturally, they weren’t stingy with the scoring.

One hundred and eight grasslands, three thousand tribes, sixty thousand answer sheets were gradually being scored, and the four emperors had varied expressions. Some were disappointed, likely having pinned hopes on some juniors who hadn’t met expectations; others were delighted, perhaps having discovered promising talents.

Suddenly, yet another paper caught the Four Emperors’ attention.

"Southern Frontier’s Xieyang Sect, Xianyu Chun. The Southern Frontier has some good seedlings this year, look at this one’s paper." Great Emperor Foqi, after seeing Xianyu Chun’s paper, slightly narrowed his eyes and passed the paper to the other three emperors and then looked at Emperor Lou Tuo with a peculiarly knowing look.

After viewing the paper, Emperor Bone Spirit’s expression similarly shifted, even the ever-reserved Emperor Tiandu showed a hint of surprise.

Only Emperor Lou Tuo’s expression was somewhat indecisive.

"This little devil from the Xieyang Sect is quite something, to have seen through Fellow Daoist Lou Tuo’s Illusory Art... hehe, truly a good seed, though it’s possible that Fellow Daoist Lou Tuo’s Illusory Art was too crude to be seen through by a little Fate Immortal... "Great Emperor Foqi said with a mocking laugh.

"Hmph! My Illusory Art naturally couldn’t be wrong, it’s this little brat with sharp eyes! It’s also possible that this kid randomly guessed right on the paper!" Lou Tuo said coldly, initially holding a trace of appreciation for Xianyu Chun, but was immediately aggrieved by Great Emperor Foqi’s sarcastic remarks.

"Guessing? Heh heh, if this kid could guess right, then I’m even more interested, give this child five hundred points, any objections?" Great Emperor Foqi asked with a laugh.

"If this child can see through Fellow Daoist Lou Tuo’s Illusory Art with just a Fate Immortal cultivation, then five hundred points is not too high." Emperor Bone Spirit agreed.

"I have no objections!" Emperor Tiandu, his mood unfathomable, said.

Thus, even Emperor Lou Tuo couldn’t voice an objection, and Xianyu Chun’s five hundred points were so settled.

The time for the literary test was nearing its end, with almost no papers arriving. The emperors were practically ready to await the final results of the martial test when suddenly another paper arrived, again from the Southern Frontier.

"Oh? It’s a paper from Tamu Clan." Great Emperor Foqi looked strangely at Emperor Lou Tuo, causing the latter to let out a cold snort.

The Emperors had mostly heard about Lou Tuo’s bullying of the Tamu Clan, but no one would stand up for Tamu. After all, Tamu was just a weak tribe, with no outstanding talent within the tribe to draw the interest of the Emperors, naturally, no one wished to do something as unrewarding as defending them.

"Hmm? This paper..." Great Emperor Foqi initially planned to tease Lou Tuo about the Tamu topic, but was suddenly shocked into silence.

The other three emperors, seeing Great Emperor Foqi’s astonishment, were naturally curious, spread out their spirit sense to investigate, and were collectively moved upon reading.

The entire paper had not a single word, only a circle.

A circle with a gap, unable to fully close!

"This child... actually saw perfection! Is this mere coincidence, or..."