"The auspicious hour has arrived!"
Within the palace complex of Wang City, teams headed for the examination grounds hurried toward the central Palace of Stored Fragrance.
That was Great Yue's fixed annual examination venue.
There were nine martial arenas in all, each corresponding to one of the Nine Provinces. After successive arena eliminations, the truly outstanding experts qualified to participate in the palace examination would be selected.
Or rather, that was how the Champion Scholar, Second Place Scholar, and Third Place Scholar came to be.
Entirely unlike those teams, Wei He and Mu Chengwei were taking two separate paths.
They took a detour from the central main road and advanced inward from the left and right sides.
No matter how the war drums thundered outside or how the crowd roared, it had nothing to do with them.
They had long since been tacitly recognized as candidates who had secured qualifications for the palace examination.
Thus, they only needed to await the final palace examination. Or rather, they were not walking the same road as those martial artists.
Following the road hemmed in by high walls between the palaces, Wei He soon arrived at the exclusive resting area assigned to him by the army department.
It seemed to be a secluded palace, with a small martial arena, resting chambers, a pill room for taking medicine, and even specialized masseurs responsible for relieving fatigue.
When Wei He arrived, Li Rong was sitting cross-legged in the martial arena, quietly waiting for him.
"I just received word. The Buddhist Sect has given Mu Chengwei tremendous support. When you go onstage, you must be careful. They've realized that Mu Chengwei's overall strength may not match yours, so they will certainly resort to tricks."
Dressed in white, Li Rong wore a solemn expression. She took a