Assessment Content

Chapter 3: Assessment Content

However, Xia Fan did not leave the teahouse right away. Instead, he stopped at the stairway landing and waited until Xiao Er brought over the newly ordered braised beef before calling him over and stuffing the meat into his pocket.

Faced with the guest's strange request, Xiao Er did not think much of it. After all, Xia Fan had been sitting at the same table as Wei Wushuang earlier, and the latter was still sitting blankly in his seat.

Only after "packing away" the beef did Xia Fan stroll out of the teahouse—this way, he had even saved himself lunch.

After all, his fellow townsman had personally told him not to stand on ceremony, that he could order whatever he wanted. Xia Fan also believed Wei Wushuang would not mind one plate of braised beef vanishing into thin air.

Honestly, he did not think poorly of the young man. His temperament was not bad; even after embarrassment and anger, he could still face himself honestly, which was already rare. Moreover, his family was quite well-off. If Xia Fan could win him over, life in Fenghua County would surely become much easier. Unfortunately, what Wei Wushuang had said was all true. Since he had joined the Scholar Examination only because his family forced him to, there was no need at all to take that risk.

His master had repeatedly warned him that dealing with evil anomalies was a serious matter. If one had not made up one's mind and prepared for every eventuality, one absolutely must not meddle in it lightly.

Judging by how his bargain-bin master usually dealt only with minor ghosts and charms, yet avoided Sorcery Art practitioners from the Bureau of Military Affairs whenever he encountered them, he had most likely not lied to him.

By afternoon, the Proctor finally gathered everyone in the center of the town and announced the content of this assessment.

Its subject was unexpectedly simple: fill an entire bottle with Source of Spirit Fire within the allotted time.

Spirit Fire was what common folk broadly called "ghost fire." Once its source had been dried and ground up, it could serve as a casting ingredient for several Sorcery Arts, making it a relatively easy material to produce.

Naturally, Xia Fan was not about to step forward and say that this phenomenon should be called phosphine flame, that it burned phosphine produced by decaying human bones—because those powders truly could trigger certain wondrous phenomena, and they were reproducible. The latter, in particular, was one of the most important tenets of scientific experimentation.

His common sense did not work here. Or rather, it operated here in another form he did not understand.

Precisely because Spirit Fire was not rare and was easy to collect—one only needed to bring a shovel and dig downward—the moment the assessment content was announced, a wave of commotion rose from the crowd.

It was no wonder the examinees were astonished. Even ordinary people could easily accomplish this, provided they had enough courage.

The Proctor ignored everyone's discussions and simply pulled away the red silk beside him, revealing a signboard and a long table beneath it.

A large pile of porcelain bottles sat on the table, clearly the containers to be used for the Scholar Examination.

The inked words on the signboard further explained the assessment rules, though they were equally concise, with only three clauses.

"First, the Scholar Examination will last seven days. During this period, you may not leave Qingshan Town."

"Second, you are forbidden from interfering with the villagers' daily lives."

"Third, you may not harm fellow examinees."

"Any examinee who violates any one of the above rules will be judged unqualified immediately!" the Proctor announced loudly. "Now then, the tenth Scholar Examination of the Da Qi Kingdom officially begins. I wish you all success!" With that, he turned and left, with no intention whatsoever of explaining further.

"Wait, seven days?" The crowd instantly erupted.

"Why leave so much time for something that can be done in a single day?"

"Wouldn't that mean everyone can qualify?"

"Who cares? Grab a bottle first!"

That remark seemed to remind everyone. The scene instantly became chaotic: those at the front who had gotten bottles would not leave, while those behind could not squeeze in. During the shoving, several porcelain bottles even slid off the table's edge and shattered to pieces. The examinees who had yet to get one feared they would lose their qualifications for lack of a bottle, so they pushed even harder. Someone fell by accident, and it looked as though the situation was about to turn into a stampede.

"Stop it, all of you!"

Suddenly, a crisp voice rang across the entire square.

A young woman leaped onto the long table, drew the wooden sword at her waist, and assumed a downward-striking stance. "If anyone takes another step, I'll smash every single one of these bottles!"

The uproar immediately froze.

No one even questioned her—because they had indeed noticed that the rules did not prohibit destroying the containers. Whether she would incur everyone's wrath if she truly did so was another matter; their inability to complete the assessment would already be a foregone conclusion.

"Junior Sister, what are you doing?"

A young man dressed in the same clothes as the woman stepped forward anxiously.

"Maintaining order, of course." The girl gave a lovely smile, then pointed her sword toward the crowd. "You there, please help the person who fell up! And you, and you—give them a hand too!"

"Why should I listen to you?" someone protested indignantly.

"Hm?" The girl lowered the sword in her hand a few inches.

The pressure instantly shifted onto the protester. Under everyone's burning stares, the named examinees obediently reached out their hands to the fallen people.

"Very good! The rest of you, come forward one at a time and collect your bottles from me! Don't worry, there are several more boxes of bottles behind this table. There are definitely enough for everyone. Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers, don't just stand there—come help me out."

With just a few simple sentences, she erased a potential stampede without a trace.

Xia Fan, trapped in the crowd and unable to move, finally got a chance to catch his breath. As he followed the flow of people forward, he curiously looked toward the young woman. She did not appear tall, no more than fifteen or sixteen. Her face had yet to shed its childishness, but she already possessed the foundations of a beauty. Her large eyes in particular were exceptionally lively, like a pool of clear spring water.

The brocade robe she wore was equally eye-catching. The pale blue fabric was clearly expensive at a glance, and a pair of feather-patterned ornaments was embroidered on each shoulder. Every line of the design stood out distinctly, as though they were real. Looking at the examinees dressed the same way as her, Xia Fan knew that this group was the "scion disciples" Wei Wushuang had mentioned.

"They're... from the Luo Family of You Province?"

"Twin Suzaku Feathers. It can't be wrong."

Hearing the people beside him whispering, Xia Fan could not help interjecting. "Hey, brother, is the Luo Family really that famous?"

"You've never even heard of the Luo Family?" The man gave him a suspicious look. "They're regulars at the Scholar Examination. Having someone qualify every time is nothing to them. One of the top three spots usually goes to the Luo Family."

"Right, I heard before that the Luo Family has quite a few genius disciples in this generation. One girl among them is said to be exceptionally gifted. Could they be talking about her?" another person added.

"No way... That move was far too reckless. It doesn't seem like something a genius would do. Didn't you see how dissatisfied her Senior Brother was with what she did?"

"Indeed. If she were not from the Luo Family, her Scholar Examination would be over right here."

"Heh. She offended so many people. Even if she is a scion disciple, she might not make it through the next few days unscathed."

Xia Fan did not agree with that assessment. The reason she had seized control of the scene in an instant had nothing to do with her identity. The key was that she had grasped the examinees' vital weakness, allowing her to move a thousand pounds with four ounces and use only a few words to intimidate everyone into immobility.

Even an ordinary person could have done the same, so long as they recognized the crucial point.

With someone maintaining order, the crowd actually moved faster. Before long, Xia Fan, who had been at the back, received his porcelain bottle.

By then, the girl had already stepped down from the table and been called aside by her Senior Brother.

Judging from their expressions, they seemed to be arguing. However, there was more worry than anger on the man's face.

As Xia Fan passed them from a distance, he caught several lines of their conversation. Clearly, neither of them had deliberately lowered their voices.

"...You should understand that we are not the only family taking the Scholar Examination..."

"The Fei Clan and the Fang family are watching us, and so are people from the palace..."

"Senior Brother, I know."

"Then why did you do that?"

"We will all enter the Bureau of Military Affairs... and the Bureau of Military Affairs' greatest duty is to maintain order in this world. There's nothing wrong with getting used to it in advance. Besides—" At this point, she turned her head, as though she knew Xia Fan could hear these words, and smiled at him. "At that time, we were at the center of the whirlpool. If we simply stood by with our hands tucked in our sleeves, we might have been swept up by the chaos too."

Looks like the little girl's five senses were quite sharp too.

Xia Fan added another item to his assessment that she was good at seeing through things.

Since you did not lower your voices, then I was not eavesdropping—after returning a perfectly justified smile, he shifted his attention back to the examination content.

The porcelain bottle in his hand was pure white, with the Bureau of Military Affairs' seal fired onto its bottom. It should have been specially prepared for the Scholar Examination. It was roughly the size of a mineral water bottle, and filling it would clearly require quite a lot of bone powder—no, Source of Spirit Fire. Considering there were around four hundred people taking this Scholar Examination, the total amount of Source of Spirit Fire needed would be astonishing. Without a vast graveyard, it would truly be difficult to manage.

The problem was that Qingshan Town was only so large. Even if all its residents were buried, there probably would not be enough to meet the Scholar Examination's needs.

Of course, since this was an examination, it was normal for some people to be eliminated. It seemed the assessment first tested the examinees' ability to gather information.

Xia Fan also noticed that while most participants were still questioning the assessment content, a small group had already silently left the central area. These people had likely realized that whoever found Qingshan Town's Spirit Fire Ground first would seize the initiative—and asking the locals, or having them lead the way, would both be excellent options.

However, after pondering for a moment, he ultimately chose to return to the inn first.

If the Scholar Examination had lasted only one day, he would certainly have followed that small group. But the Proctor had given them seven days. In other words, they would likely have to arrange their own food and lodging over the coming days. That modestly sized inn did not look nearly large enough to house everyone; it would be impressive if it could fit a hundred people. Thus, rooms were bound to be scarce resources, and most examinees would likely have to stay in the dilapidated houses outside.

As a seasoned "veteran" with extensive experience drifting from place to place, Xia Fan knew all too well the difference between a comfortable room and somewhere that merely kept out the wind and rain. Mosquitoes might only make it hard to sleep, but all kinds of venomous insects and snakes were genuine threats. Moreover, they were currently halfway up a mountain, surrounded by forest. The temperature and humidity between day and night could become completely different after a single heavy rain. If he caught a chill, let alone completing the Scholar Examination, even making it back alive would be difficult.

Therefore, he decided to rent a room and settle in first.