The Institute had no shortage of places to conduct tests at, however other than things related to his time at the institute such as classes and the combat arena, Yang Qing was unfamiliar with areas unrelated to it such as areas set aside for the entrance examination, and for that, he needed the Vice Chancellor's help in addition to getting the necessary manpower and materials to set everything up.
He was left close to 12 hours before the test began, so he needed as much help as he could and the best way for that was through Vice Chancellor Wu Ling.
With his support, Yang Qing was able to find a suitable location and was able to source manpower from different departments both from within and outside the Institute such as the beast taming department, formation department, alchemy, and the like.
Within seven hours everything had been arranged and Yang Qing could finally rest easy for five hours until the beginning of the test. Yang Qing decided to spend that time at his abode. It has been a while since he enjoyed the comforts of the resource pit nest of the celestial nesting weaver and he also had to pick up the material Kang Huilang was working on.
'I wonder how Yi Jie is doing," wondered Yang Qing as he lazily stretched within the nest admiring the bullfrog totem in his hand. The totem was dark brown and was about the size of his palm. The statue was of a bullfrog performing a Daoist salute. It was plain and ordinary looking. The Daoist salute was about the only thing that made it stand out but even then, it wasn't by much. One could easily assume it.
Yang Qing grinned foolishly as he cast a deep gaze on the bullfrog wooden statue.
….
Five hours went by quickly. Yang Qing had already made his way to the venue of the examination one hour prior and made a once-over check to make sure everything was in place for the examination.
Once he confirmed everything was in place Yang Qing set up a small round table filled with different fruits, meat dishes, and a wine gourd at the top of the mountain underneath a caramel tree.
Yang Qing took a deep breath of satisfaction as he admired the mountain that would be the venue for today's entrance examination. The mountain was called the dawning autumn mountain. He felt it was rather fitting to choose a place that shared a name with the cultivation art he would use for the test.
The region was mildly low and it was called the dawning mountain because of the orange-red leaves that filled the mountain. It had a forest that had maple trees, cedar trees, and the cinnamon tree as the prevalent tree species, though it had a lot of herb growth due to those trees and the environment of the place, in addition, there was a winding river that covered the whole mountain.
The spiritual qi in the area was mild and balanced with all the elements and was suitable to all cultivators from the core formation realm and below and it had a few unique features that would come in handy for the examination one of which was the dreamscape waterfall. All who walked through it would have their inner ambitions brought to the surface. It was one of the many means of the Order in sifting out those with questionable motives.
"I wonder how many exceptional talents will show up," Yang Qing eagerly thought, however, a worried look soon appeared on his face.
"Zou Yi, Zou Liqin, I hope the both of you can pass this hurdle," Yang Qing worriedly thought.
The two siblings had a low cultivation base at the bronze stage of the bronze refining stage. While the test was balanced out with advantages to give those with low cultivation bases a chance, if they did not have the talent to take advantage, they would not be able to make it through.
Yang Qing admired their ability to adapt and the tenacity they had developed in their years in Purple City, however, the examination today didn't have areas that tested the qualities that they had honed in Purple City. For them to make it, they would have to use their heads and have the will to keep going but they also had to have the talent to work from, without it their chances of getting into the Order will be low, and if that happened Yang Qing could only help them gain jobs in the various organizations around the Order or put their names forward for the intelligence programme and see if the Shadow Hawks could accept, however, that was essentially throwing them into the deep end, a much dark deeper water than the pond they called Purple City.
Their life expectancy would be dangerously low if they went that route, which Yang Qing was rather hesitant to do.
"We will cross that bridge when we get there," muttered Yang Qing as he poured himself the wine Yi Jie left him before he left to break through.
"What are you mumbling to yourself about?"
"Don't you three have cases today?" Yang Qing lazily asked without turning back as he took out three more urns.
At his back was Kang Huilang, Xia Boqin and Dai Chen.
Kang Huilang was dressed in regular-looking yellow robes that made it seem he was going to do some farming instead of working. Xia Boqin as always looked like a noble with deep blue robes.
Yang Qing couldn't help but click in envious disgust when he saw him. Dai Chen had on the same robes as Yang Qing. The dark gold robes and numeral I at the back signifying he was a judge of the outer palace court.
"I don't have any cases for the time being, I already filed for leave in preparation to break through to the palace realm. I will be leaving for the tribulation mountain in three days," answered Kang Huilang as he made his way over, grabbing a few sliced mangoes as he sat down.
"You managed to fuse them?" asked Yang Qing in mild surprise
"Mmh, the thing we worked on yesterday even gave me the inspiration to add one more intent into the mix," Kang Huilang smugly said.
'Combat maniac,' spitefully muttered Yang Qing under his breath.
"What about you two?" asked Yang Qing trying to take the light out of the smug-looking Kang Huilang.
"I'll also be heading for the mountain," Xia Boqin answered as he smoothly sat down and took his cup of the poured wine.
"I filed to be the assistant examiner when I heard it was you supervising this entrance examination," answered Dai Chen as he greedily gulped the wine Yang Qing had poured for him and shamelessly poured another for himself only this time, instead of using the urn, he poured it to a big bowl.
"Well, it's better than watching over it myself," said Yang Qing as his gaze focused on the bottom of the mountain.
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