Chapter 271: Chapter 266: The Second Trial
That’s right. He already had the answer. While everyone else was still busy judging, Mu Chen was already finished. Lin Xiao shot Mu Chen a surprised glance. He had taken less than five seconds from the moment he opened his eyes to judge and then closed them again. He, of all people, knew that he had personally placed the two Original Stones in that ring. No one knew better than him just how difficult those two Original Stones were to appraise. ’Is this kid just putting on an act,’ he wondered, ’or has his Spirit Selection technique really reached such a terrifying level?’
’A Third Grade Spirit Selector... does a Spirit Selector’s Grade really mean everything? Of course not. He himself was a Spirit Selection Master without a formal Grade. Only he knew that there were some extremely special existences among Spirit Selectors. Therefore, Mu Chen’s current performance was utterly shocking to him.’
The minute passed quickly. Everyone had already stopped channeling their Pupil Techniques. After another glance at Mu Chen, Lin Xiao announced loudly, "Time’s up! All contestants, please place the Original Stones you have selected that contain Spirit Crystals on the right side of your table. Place the ones without Spirit Crystals on the left side. In a moment, professional staff will come up to evaluate your accuracy. A single mistake means you will be eliminated. Now, please step back two paces from your tables."
Hearing this, Mu Chen placed both Original Stones on the left side of the long table, then quickly took two steps back, maintaining a set distance. As soon as Lin Xiao finished speaking, everyone retreated two steps in unison. Seeing that everyone had complied, Lin Xiao nodded to the dozens of people in white robes to the side and said, "You may begin."
The white-robed personnel bowed to Lin Xiao before fanning out toward the contestants’ positions. Then, multicolored Pupil Techniques once again covered the entire stage. Only this time, they belonged not to the contestants, but to the examiners.
"Pass!"
"Eliminated!"
"Eliminated!"
...
The announcements rang out, bringing joy to some contestants on the high stage and sorrow to others. However, when a white-robed examiner arrived at Mu Chen’s table, he froze. Mu Chen looked up at the examiner and saw an ordinary-looking, middle-aged man. His eyes were currently covered by two masses of cyan light, and his pupils scanned back and forth over the two Original Stones. Once, twice, three times... but he still couldn’t reach a conclusion.
Shaking his head, the man glanced at Mu Chen and then turned to walk toward Lin Xiao. Mu Chen’s brow furrowed. ’Judging by the man’s cuffs, his Spirit Selector Grade has already reached the Fourth Grade. But a Fourth-grade Spirit Selector actually took so long to examine these two Original Stones? Mu Chen, on the other hand, was a complete layman who knew nothing about Spirit Selection. His ability to see through these Original Stones relied entirely on his bizarre Purple Sky Demon Pupils. As such, things like the aura, patterns, and texture of an Original Stone were a complete blank to him.’
’The reason I could so quickly determine that neither Original Stone contained a Spirit Crystal was because my Purple Sky Demon Pupils saw completely through them. They were empty inside—undoubtedly two Waste Stones. But why couldn’t a Fourth-grade Spirit Selector see through two Waste Stones? Or... could it be that these aren’t Waste Stones at all, but the Fake Original Stones Lin Xiao mentioned earlier?! If they really are Fake Original Stones, won’t I instantly be thrust into the spotlight? Identifying Fake Original Stones in five seconds... no one would believe that.’
Mu Chen didn’t know what the white-robed examiner said to Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao just nodded, said something, and then looked away. The examiner then strode back to Mu Chen’s side and said softly, "Pass!"
The surrounding contestants weren’t the least bit surprised to see Mu Chen pass. They muttered one after another, "If I only had two Original Stones, I’d have passed quickly too."
"Exactly. But it’s fine, I passed too, even though I had fourteen Original Stones," said another contestant who had just been complaining.
Hearing him speak, everyone’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the fat contestant. The fatty was staring nervously at the white-robed examiner in front of him, swallowing hard from time to time. The examiner also frowned and muttered to himself, "What rotten luck. The ring with the most Original Stones ended up in the group I’m examining." He said this while judging the stones one by one.
Mu Chen glanced at this examiner’s Spirit Selector Grade—a Fifth Grade Spirit Selector. He was an entire Grade higher than the examiner who had just judged him. Mu Chen could imagine that the pile of Original Stones the fatty had chosen must contain quite a few Fake Original Stones. After all, putting fifty Original Stones in a ring was clearly a move meant to eliminate the person directly.
But when the white-robed man put down the last Original Stone, he stared at the fatty with wide eyes and said, "P-...Pass... This is the most shocking thing I’ve seen in all my years! You managed to survive a situation that meant certain death! Good kid! Keep it up in the competition. I can already see your name in the top ten!" As he spoke, the examiner patted the fatty’s shoulder and asked, "What’s your name?"
The fatty said with a tremor, "I... My name is Zhu Sai..."
"Zhu Sai? Tsk tsk, your name sounds an awful lot like ’pig head.’ Why would you have a name like that? Though I’ll say, you’re definitely not a blockhead!"
The examiner said with a laugh and moved on to the next contestant. His joyful expression suddenly turned stern. He casually picked up an Original Stone and said, "This is a Fake Original Stone. You chose incorrectly. Eliminated." After speaking, Primordial Power surged at the examiner’s fingertip. Without any obvious movement, he simply traced a star-shaped symbol on the Original Stone. Then, with a BANG, the entire Original Stone exploded into a cloud of dust. And inside the stone, there was indeed no trace of a Spirit Crystal.
At that moment, Mu Chen’s keen Spiritual Power quickly wrapped around the dust from the shattered Fake Original Stone. He completely recorded its aura and began to analyze it. In the end, he had to admit a certain fact: the two Original Stones in front of him had an aura that was completely identical to the one that had just been shattered. ’That was close. Thank goodness Master gave me these miraculous eyes. Otherwise, there would have been no way to deal with these Fake Original Stones.’
An hour passed. All the examiners finished their work, but the final statistics left Mu Chen stunned. Only 360 people had passed the first round. In other words, the very first round of the Spirit Selection Conference had already eliminated 640 contestants.
Lin Xiao cleared his throat, his voice tinged with surprise. "I had already anticipated the results of today’s competition. After all, the final reward is related to the selection of the last Honorary Elder. Therefore, the difficulty was more than ten times greater than in previous years. I had originally estimated that if two hundred people passed the first round, my expectations would be met. However, what I never expected was that 360 Spirit Selectors would successfully advance to the second round! That’s nearly double my projected number! The Fenglan Empire is proud of you all!"
"However, wherever there are winners, there must also be losers. We will absolutely not criticize the Spirit Selectors eliminated in this first round. This is not a disgrace! Because this Spirit Selection Conference is exceptionally special! Without the addition of Fake Original Stones, I believe that over eighty percent, or perhaps even all one thousand of you, would have passed the first round! You are all the pride of our Fenglan Empire. You are still young; you still have time and potential. Perhaps next time, you will be the ones advancing and continuing to stand on this high stage! Let us give a round of encouraging applause to these elites of our next generation!"
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP...
Instantly, a countless number of hands began to clap. Encouraged by the applause, the Spirit Selectors who had just misjudged the Fake Original Stones all raised their heads. They looked toward the stands, where millions of people were gathered. Among the clapping crowd were even the emperor of their Fenglan Empire and countless other dignitaries and nobles. This was all a sign of their approval!
For some reason, the successful Spirit Selectors around Mu Chen also subconsciously raised their arms and began to clap. A deafening round of applause echoed throughout the Imperial Square. Suddenly, Mu Chen felt as if he were back in Luofeng City, except the applause back then had not been for him. He wanted to join in the atmosphere and clap with everyone else, but it seemed he had lost the right to clap ever since he was old enough to understand.
Gazing at his own incomplete right arm, a glimmer of resolve appeared in Mu Chen’s eyes. Amidst the thunderous applause, he made a silent vow. ’In the future, I too will have the right to clap...’
Finally, sent off by the applause, all the eliminated contestants left the high stage. Only the 360 solemn-faced contestants remained. The reason for their solemn expressions was, of course, Lin Xiao. His face was grave as he looked at the Spirit Selectors who had advanced, and he spoke seriously, "Children, I have already said my words of praise. But I hope my praise brings you not pride or arrogance, but the motivation to take another step forward. They were indeed eliminated. We call them the ’eliminated.’ But that title is not reserved solely for those eliminated in the first round. If you are eliminated in the second round, you too will be one of the ’eliminated,’ with no difference in status from them."
"So I must tell you, continuing to stand here does not mean you have achieved ultimate glory. Rather, it is an opportunity for you to aim for even greater heights. This opportunity is not one that comes easily. Because what you are about to face is a trial even more difficult than the first. I hope that the number of you remaining after the second trial will, like now, once again exceed my expectations!" Here, Lin Xiao paused before continuing, "Since you are all ready, then let the second match... begin!"
