Chapter 99: Mixed

Wang Yuanwu hesitated for a moment. He considered that Chen Mobai was a core member of his team and had helped him a great deal recently. Given Chen Mobai's age and cultivation level, it wasn't impossible for him to join the Divine Wood Sect as a True Disciple, so it would be good to befriend him.

So, Chen Mobai returned the spirit stones he had received from Wang Yuanwu over the past ten days, and in exchange, he received the "Crimson Flame Three Swords Talisman" that Wang Yuanwu treasured.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, please come back soon," said Qi Rui, who was watching nearby with a smile.

Shi Pengyi, standing nearby, also cupped his hands towards Chen Mobai; though he said nothing, his gesture conveyed the same sentiment.

Returning to his rented wooden house, Chen Mobai found that his original month-long lease had expired. However, due to the island defense battle, the Divine Wood Sect had extended a free month's rental to every rogue cultivator who had responded to the summons.

He opened the cover of the hidden tunnel beneath his bed and slipped inside. Amidst a flash of silver light, he returned to his long-unseen home.

After tidying his clothes, Chen Mobai pushed open his room door and headed towards school.

As he walked, his phone, now connected to Earth Star's signal, continuously displayed notifications of new text messages.

There were messages from his mother, Tang Pancui, and from Qing Nü.

There was also one from Song Zheng, who had attended two school-organized training sessions but felt they hadn't improved him much. Since he hadn't encountered Chen Mobai on either occasion, he asked if Chen Mobai knew of any external training classes that were effective for combat practice.

Upon seeing the message, Chen Mobai replied that external training classes were not as good as those organized by the Headmaster.

Scrolling to the end, he was surprised to find a text message from Yan Bingxuan.

She asked where the fish he had given her last time came from, as she wanted to buy two online.

Chen Mobai could only reply that the fish were raised in the old cold spring of a mountain pond near his mother's hometown and could not be bought online. He offered to bring her two more next time it was convenient.

After calling his mother, Tang Pancui, to let her know he was safe, Chen Mobai arrived at school.

Classroom 203.

When Chen Mobai walked in, about half of the students had already arrived.

"Over here!" The class monitor, Mo Simin, seemed to have forgotten their previous encounter and waved to him cheerfully.

Song Zheng, who was sitting in front of her, saw Chen Mobai approach, lifted his eyelids, and gave a slight nod, acknowledging him.

"Is Yan Bingxuan not here?" Chen Mobai asked casually after sitting down.

"She's already been admitted by recommendation, so participating in the combat trial doesn't matter to her," Mo Simin said, mimicking Yan Bingxuan's indifferent tone perfectly. "She said she'd rather use the time to cultivate more and improve her ice spirit root attribute points."

"That's true," Chen Mobai nodded, finding Yan Bingxuan's reasoning very sound.

If this entrance examination hadn't been crucial for his future in the Immortal Sect, Chen Mobai would have preferred to stay in the Tianhe Realm and continue to refine himself.

The recent battles with demonic beasts had thoroughly stabilized the somewhat superficial spiritual power he had gained from consuming Qi Replenishing Spirit Water. He even felt that as long as his spiritual energy refinement was in place, he could easily break through the bottleneck of Level 8 Qi Refining.

"Hey, long time no see, everyone!" At that moment, a spirited and revitalized young man walked in. It was Xu Yuan.

It was unclear where he had been cultivating during this time, but he had completely shed his previous indolent demeanor. He now resembled a drawn sword, brimming with fighting spirit and sharpness.

"Oh, you've broken through to Level 8 Qi Refining," Shi Jingjing exclaimed, a flash of spiritual light in her eyes revealing Xu Yuan's true cultivation level.

"That's right! Yuan Qing and I were sent to train in the army. After enduring torments you can't even imagine, I've been completely transformed!" Xu Yuan stood at the doorway, radiating an unprecedented surge of fighting spirit.

Shi Yuanqing, on the other hand, remained quiet. However, the childishness on his face had completely vanished. When he stood, he was as unmoving as a mountain, exuding an ineffable sense of gravitas.

"Then it seems you two should be able to reach the final round of this combat trial." Shi Jingjing glanced at Shi Yuanqing again, and her already faltering confidence in her own combat ability completely collapsed. She turned and buried her face in Cao Yaling's embrace, pouting with utter dejection.

"If those four Level 9 Qi Refining cultivators all go to participate in the Four Great Daoist Academies' combat entrance exams, I feel like I could top the rankings at the Ten Great Academies' competition," Xu Yuan declared. His words made Chen Mobai, who was previously engrossed in his phone chatting with Qing Nü, involuntarily look up and glance at him.

After confirming that this guy couldn't possibly defeat him, Chen Mobai lowered his head again and continued chatting with Qing Nü.

"Has the match schedule been released?" This was Qing Nü's message.

Recently, she had mostly been shuttling between the alchemy room and her small rented apartment, diligently helping him refine top-grade Tier 1 Qi Replenishing Spirit Water.

Since she had already been admitted by recommendation to the Ju Mang Daoist Academy, she had no concern whatsoever for the Daoist Academy and Academy entrance examinations.

"It hasn't reached us yet, but it might have been distributed to the school. After all, they said on the day we filled out our preferences that the match schedule would be released today." Chen Mobai replied.

Danzhu Academy. "There are 47 participants for the Daoist Academy entrance exam and 233 for the Academies," the Red-Robed True Man stated after reviewing the match schedule arranged by his subordinates. He then looked up at the Daoist Academy and Academy representatives, who were all present in the conference room.

"The numbers are a bit awkward. Should we perhaps remove one, or bring one up, so we can have even pairings?" a representative from the Sky Mending Daoist Academy suggested, which was met with silent disapproval from the others.

"Whether we remove one or bring one up, someone will be dissatisfied. We must uphold the fundamental principles of fairness and justice. I suggest we proceed with these numbers as they are. The extra person will be the one with the highest score, who will receive a bye and advance directly to the next round." Bian Yiqing of the Dancing Weapon Daoist Academy spoke, his measured words earning nods of approval from most of the Academy representatives.

"In that case, there's another problem," Shang Qing of the Ju Mang Daoist Academy said. He checked this year's scores for Danxia City and pointed to the two highest-scoring individuals, Gong Xiangyu and Yan Feng, who had identical scores.

Who should receive the bye, then? Once again, silence fell over the conference room.

"Lan Haitian, you haven't spoken yet. What are your thoughts?" Among the Four Great Daoist Academies, only Lan Haitian had not yet offered an opinion.

In such settings, the representatives of the Ten Great Academies generally looked to the Four Great Daoist Academies for leadership.

As soon as the Red-Robed True Man's words fell, all eyes turned to Lan Haitian.

"How about we have the participants from the Four Great Daoist Academies and the Ten Great Academies compete together?" As soon as Lan Haitian uttered these words, some found it difficult to accept.

"Wouldn't that be unfair to the 47 individuals who barely met the score cutoff for the Daoist Academies? They worked so hard to earn that qualification."

"It's just the combat trial being combined. The more participants and rounds there are, the easier it is to truly discern skill."