Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Guessed the Question Correctly
This made some people from the Small Institutes unable to stifle their laughter.
Chang Zui, the tall man from Weihu Academy, spat hatefully, "What the hell are you laughing at? We’ll crush you in a bit."
At his words, the students from the Small Institutes no longer dared to laugh, growing slightly tense instead.
The resurrection match wasn’t a fight, but a competition of one’s understanding of the Martial Dao.
Compared to the University Institutes, the Small Institutes’ understanding of the Martial Dao was somewhat lacking. Talent was one thing, but their main problem was an insufficient foundation. Their chances of winning were minuscule.
Once the eliminated academies had all taken their places, Zeng Quan announced, "Now, each academy will be given one Martial Carved Profound Stone."
No one was unfamiliar with the Martial Carved Profound Stone.
They were typically used for assessments. A powerful expert would first carve a Martial Dao question into the front of a Martial Carved Profound Stone, allowing a disciple or student to carve their answer on the back.
The more perfect the answer, the brighter the Martial Carved Profound Stone would glow when infused with True Qi.
In this way, cheating could be prevented.
And so, each academy received a Martial Carved Profound Stone...
But just then, Dongfang Ren suddenly stepped forward and declared, "I want to inspect all the Martial Carved Profound Stones."
The way to cheat was precisely in the Martial Dao questions...
For example, an expert could tamper with two Martial Carved Profound Stones while carving the questions on the front, making one more difficult and the other easier. The difference would be unnoticeable on the surface.
That was why Dongfang Ren naturally had to inspect them one by one.
Zeng Quan, of course, had no objection to this.
As Dongfang Ren conducted his inspection, Zeng Quan even sneered. "Even if I were to cheat, I wouldn’t tamper with the questions themselves. I wouldn’t make it so obvious for you to see. I would, of course, just give the students the questions beforehand."
What Zeng Quan didn’t know, however, was that when Dongfang Ren inspected the very first Martial Carved Profound Stone, he froze.
’Marquis Longyin guessed the topic correctly.’
The thought rang out in Dongfang Ren’s mind, full of surprise.
The question on the Martial Carved Profound Stone was, of all things, about one’s understanding of the Azure Flame Seven Walls.
Zeng Quan and the others had carved portions of the Azure Flame Seven Walls, and the students were meant to provide their solutions based on that.
As the strongest expert in the Hundred Countries, Dongfang Ren could discern the question with a single glance.
He felt the urge to smile, but he immediately schooled his expression.
He was a solitary man who had rarely smiled in his life—unless he truly... couldn’t hold it in.
And so, Dongfang Ren quickly finished his inspection. There were no issues.
He returned to Marquis Longyin’s side...
At this time, Marquis Longyin was standing beside Lu Chao. Dongfang Ren softly said to them both, "The topic is the Azure Flame Seven Walls."
As his words landed, both Lu Chao and Marquis Longyin froze in astonishment. Lu Chao spoke...
"The Azure Flame Seven Walls... a clever move."
’Zeng Quan must have given the topic to the University Institute students beforehand. The Azure Flame Seven Walls are split among the Seven Great Flame Countries. Without Marquis Longyin’s gambit last night, the Small Institutes would have faced certain defeat.’
Since the Azure Flame Seven Walls were divided, only the Seven Great Flame Countries could piece them together to assemble all the Martial Dao engravings of the seven walls...
Zeng Quan and his cohorts could assemble the full Seven Walls Martial Dao, but the Small Institutes had essentially never seen it. If Marquis Longyin hadn’t brought the Small Institute students to observe his and Dongfang Ren’s restored maps last night, defeat would have been inevitable.
But now, the outcome was anyone’s guess.
"We can’t celebrate too early. We don’t know how much the students from the twenty University Institutes have learned."
This was Marquis Longyin speaking.
Dongfang Ren also nodded gravely, which was why he hadn’t smiled earlier...
And so, while they were talking, the students from over a hundred academies began the competition.
The leadership of the Small Institutes were incredibly tense.
The leaders of the University Institutes, however, were relaxed and carefree. They were certain to win this resurrection match.
The only question was which five of the twenty University Institutes would be eliminated. Who would they be?
This was the only thing the twenty University Institutes were worried about.
But they had no idea that when Senior Sister Sky Cliff and the other students who had observed the restored Azure Flame Seven Wall Map last night saw the topic, every single one of them was stunned.
Their shock then turned into delight. They picked up their carving knives and worked furiously, their hands flying across the stone.
Of course, the students of each academy could discuss their answers, so they couldn’t just carve hastily. They needed to deliberate carefully.
Time ticked by.
The time limit set by Zeng Quan was two hours...
Finally, Zeng Quan’s voice boomed, "Time is up! All of you, put down your carving knives."
All the students immediately put away their carving knives. What followed was an even more tense moment—though some of the Small Institutes were no longer nervous. They had turned in a completely blank stone.
They were not among those chosen by Marquis Longyin the previous night.
Those who hadn’t observed Dongfang Ren and Lu Chao’s restored maps the night before were all essentially flying blind.
"Next, infuse your True Qi into the Martial Carved Profound Stones."
Zeng Quan’s voice rang out again. Only after being infused with True Qi would the Martial Carved Profound Stones begin to glow.
The lead senior disciples of each Small Institute grasped their Martial Carved Profound Stone and stood at the head of their fellow students.
Then, one by one, they began to infuse their True Qi.
VMMMM...
One after another, the Martial Carved Profound Stones lit up. The stones from the twenty University Institutes all shone with a brilliant white light.
Just then, the dean of Wind Wolf Academy collapsed to the ground. He spoke with venom in his voice, "Damn that Fake Lu Chao! He killed Yan Jun and got our Wind Wolf Academy completely eliminated! That bastard!"
Although the stones of all twenty University Institutes were bright, there was still a difference in intensity. Wind Wolf Academy’s was among the dimmest.
Right now, the people from the twenty University Institutes were focused almost entirely on their own results...
Until— Impossible!
It was unclear which of the Beast Flame leaders it was, but one of them suddenly cried out, "Impossible! Sky Cliff Academy, how can your Martial Carved Profound Stone be that bright? And Mad Snow Academy—how are you shining like that too?"
As his voice rang out, all the leaders and students from the twenty University Institutes whipped their heads around to look...
They saw the Martial Carved Profound Stones from Sky Cliff Academy and Mad Snow Academy shining so brightly they were almost blinding.
Sky Cliff Academy’s in particular outshone nearly every other stone in the arena. It was unbelievable.
Senior Sister Sky Cliff, clutching the Martial Carved Profound Stone, took a heavy step forward. "And why shouldn’t we be this bright?" she challenged.
’It’s settled,’ she thought with certainty. ’Our Sky Cliff Academy has successfully passed.’
At that moment, she couldn’t help but look toward Lu Chao, thinking, ’Thankfully, I wasn’t like the others last night, who only studied Senior Dongfang Ren’s Azure Flame Seven Wall Map. I also carefully studied the one from Dragon Flame Academy.’
Last night, Marquis Longyin had told them that of the two restored maps, one was by Dongfang Ren, and the other was from Dragon Flame Academy.
Some of the Small Institute students had only studied Dongfang Ren’s map, ignoring the one from Dragon Flame Academy.
But now, as Senior Sister Sky Cliff glanced around, she saw that all the Small Institutes with the brightest stones were the ones that had studied both maps.
She retracted her gaze and turned back to Zeng Quan and his group. "We answered your question better," she said. "So of course our stone is brighter."
Following her words, the lead disciples from Mad Snow Academy and several other Small Institutes stepped forward. They raised the Martial Carved Profound Stones high in their hands, then moved them toward the twenty University Institutes to compare the brightness...
Slowly, one by one, the lead disciples began to smile. Any whose stones shone brighter than those of the twenty University Institutes were all smiling.
