Dragon Canon

Chapter 17: Honest

A person stepped out of the now open entrance. The examiners were not, in fact, alone in the examiners’ hall. There were disciples from their respective factions attending to their needs. Naturally, they hurriedly rushed forward to stop the intruder, whoever they were. However, they quickly stopped in their tracks when they saw the array protecting the examiner hall parting open on its own and admitting the intruder, astonished.

The man was wearing a scholar’s outfit. He had swords for eyebrows and stars for eyes. When the examiners saw him, some people were astonished, some people were scoffing internally, and some were staying cool.

Zhang Sheng was unnaturally pale just like last night. However, every examiner’s skin immediately started prickling like it was being poked at by a needle, or licked by flames. Astonishment gripped all of them!

The older cultivator asked probingly, “I thought you haven’t recovered your powers, Junior Brother Zhang. It would seem I was mistaken. I offer you my congratulations.”

The scholar replied indifferently, “Only by recovering my strength can I face down the demons and monsters.”

The old Confucianist was fiery-tempered, so the veiled jab landed on him like a slap to the face. He immediately erupted, “You dare—”

Before he could finish, Zhang Sheng raised his left hand and waved. There was a loud slap, and the old Confucianist’s head swung to the side while blood spewed out of his mouth and nostrils! He had actually slapped the old man from across the room!

Everyone was stunned to say the least. The scholar then said indifferently, “I didn’t give you permission to speak.”

Enraged, the middle-aged Confucianist shot to his feet and pointed a finger at him. However, Zhang Sheng also slapped him across the face before he could open his mouth!

“I didn’t give you permission to speak either.”

For a moment, stunned silence enveloped the examiner hall. The two Confucianists were high cultivators from the Four Sages Academies. How was it possible that they were unable to put up any sort of resistance whatsoever?

Furious, the two Confucianists mustered their mystic powers and got ready to retaliate. They never got the chance. When Zhang Sheng lifted a fair, slender index finger in front of his forehead, a blue light suddenly floated out of his fingertip. The next moment, it was raining inside the hall. The rain was so thin it resembled a fog and carried a lazy warmth that felt like a spring drizzle in Jiangnan. However, the examiners felt as if a mountain was sitting on their backs and preventing them from moving a muscle!

The pressure was such that the bones of the two Confucianists popped and cracked like crazy. Their mystic powers crumbled, and they collapsed helplessly back into their chairs, unable to lift even a finger.

Out of all the examiners, Daoist Fu Feng was the only one who retained his freedom of movement. Everyone else was just barely hanging on. Just resisting the cutting and suppressive effects of the rain was using all of their strength. Literally, they did not even have the energy to speak. It was only then the examiners realized how powerful Zhang Sheng was. He had singlehandedly suppressed five examiners!

As if that wasn’t enough, their Dao Foundations were groaning and wailing non-stop. They seemed terribly afraid of the rain.

The knowledgeable ones immediately recalled a legendary Dao Foundation. It was the immortal sword, Blue Rain!

Blue Rain was both the most flexible and the hardest sword in the world. Its greatest strength was its ability to cut a cultivator’s Dao Foundation directly. Even a few hits was enough to cause the grade of their Dao Foundation to drop. This was no joking matter. One misplaced strike, and their Dao journey could end just like that. Naturally, the group didn’t dare to allow even a single drop to hit their bodies.

Zhang Sheng walked to the center of the hall. It was only then he said, “There’s no need to be alarmed. I simply wish to have a calm and peaceful conversation with you all.”

The examiners immediately inside their heads. You call hanging an immortal sword above our heads a calm and peaceful conversation?! But of course, they didn’t dare to make a peep or crack an expression that might be interpreted as hostility. God knows that the rain would immediately turn into sword qi and turn them into pincushions if they did.

The Buddhist monk hurriedly replied, “Do speak your mind, Senior Brother?”

The rest of the examiners couldn’t move, but they could still turn their eyeballs and stare at the monk in shock and disbelief: This guy can speak?!

The Buddhist monk noticed their gazes and realized his mistake. He hurriedly stuffed a fruit into his mouth.

Oh? He can still move? A dangerous glint flashed in Zhang Sheng’s eyes as a second immortal sword poked its tip from behind his pupils.

Aghast, cold sweat poured down the monk’s shaven head furiously. He immediately entered a trance and drifted off in spirit.

Now that he had suppressed the whole room, Zhang Sheng finally said, “I’ve always known that there are irregularities taking place during the unified exams, but I never imagined you lot would be so brazen as to arbitrarily docking points on trumped-up charges! These two slaps were for my disciple. If either of you aren’t satisfied, I’ll remove my immortal sword shortly. You may challenge me to a duel at any time then!”

He looked at the old Confucianist first and said, “If I can’t end you in three strikes, then I will enter the cycle of rebirth and restart my life immediately!”

He then looked at the middle-aged Confucianist and declared, “You’re a tad more troublesome than your colleague. It would probably take four strikes to end you.”

Liu Sigu’s weathered face flushed crimson, while the middle-aged Confucianist’s face alternated between pale and green. Neither uttered a word, nor could they. Their eyes darted about frantically, but of course the other examiners were either staring skyward or closing their eyes, refusing to meet their gazes. The examiners knew full well that every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. Even if the two Confucianists had done them a favor earlier—and they hadn’t, not even a little—they would have to be crazy to get involved at this juncture. There was simply no reason for them to shield the duo from disaster whatsoever.

It was then Zhang Sheng put away his rain of sword qi and stared at the two Confucianists, sneering. “I can’t change the scores of the previous two tests, but this one? Heh! You may grade the students as you wish, but I’ll tell you right now that my immortal sword has quite the bad temper. If it doesn’t like what it sees, it might just cut you where you stand!

“Of course, I will accept my due punishment when I return to the Palace, but it won’t be a life for a life. Hah! Just who the hell do you think you are?”

Everyone felt a chill running down their spines. It was only now they realized his resolve.

Upon regaining their freedom, the examiners let out sighs of relief and immediately turned to look at the two Confucianists. Just a moment ago, the duo looked furious enough to bring down fire and brimstone upon Zhang Sheng. But now that they could actually move, their faces became perfectly still, and their gazes were focused solely on the martial test happening beneath their feet. Not even the eight winds could threaten their composure. And of course, they didn’t speak of the incident at all.

If not for the fact that one side of Liu Sigu’s face was still swollen, and the middle-aged Confucianist’s mouth was bruised, it would be as if the two slaps had never taken place.

Zhang Sheng kept waiting and waiting, and yet the two Confucianists never issued a challenge. Hell, they hadn’t even cussed him out or made a threat or something. In fact, he was the one who was starting to feel awkward, unsure whether to keep his immortal sword floating above their heads or put it away.

He had to admit that he was impressed by their ability to turn the other cheek like it was nothing.

“What extraordinary fortitude!” He ultimately let out a sigh.

The two Confucianists continued to watch the martial test as if they couldn’t hear anything.

His immortal sword was just itching to cut a head or two, but alas, his opponents had withdrawn into their turtle shells. It wasn’t like he could grab them by their hair, kicking and screaming, and cut off their heads there and then. He wasn’t them after all.

The attendants were one thing, but the examiners knew very well that a genius like Zhang Sheng could kill one, even multiple examiners in the examiner hall, and still the Palace of Absolute Beginning would not allow to pay with his life. At worst, they would sentence him to a couple decades of self-reflection before negotiating with the Four Sages Academies. They would offer the academies some polite platitudes and pay some immortal silver as compensation. That would be the end of it. Zhang Sheng would be released a few years later, but the dead would remain dead.

There was still one thing that puzzled them, however. This Fengyuan unified exam was significantly different from all previous exams. Besides the examiners, multiple great cultivators must be overseeing this exam as well. But if that was true, then why was Zhang Sheng able to act as he pleased? Not even the great cultivators from the Four Sages Academies were making any noises.

By now, the martial test had continued for some time. The situation was starting to become clear.

The two teams were currently occupying the north and south zones of the battlefield. They had both finished scouting the terrain and the enemy’s deployments. Not a single scout had died or taken a wound from another scout throughout the process. It was a miracle in its own right.

In the south zone, Lee Zhi’s military formation was standing near the eastern mountains at first. After the enemy scouts came and went, he shifted it to the west.

In the north zone, a cute and beautiful girl was standing at her command post. After Lee Zhi’s scouts had scouted the area and left, she moved the command post a hundred zhang forward and occupied a small upland near the central zone.

Back in the south zone, Lee Zhi gazed northward with all his might but could only barely make out the edges of the central zone. Standing to his left was a girl carrying a jade tray neatly stacked with over a hundred pills. All the pills issued to an ordinary soldier were contained within this tray.

The boy said, “In warfare, quality matters more than quantity. By pooling these pills, I can afford every member in my personal guard of thirty elites three pills each. This way, they’ll be able to fight from the beginning until the end!”

The girl looked up at Lee Zhi and said enviously, “You truly are a military genius, Senior Brother Lee!”