Moonwatch Mountain, the summit plaza.
The bloodstains and debris on the arena platform were swiftly cleared away, leaving the blue stone clean and smooth once more.
The murderous atmosphere eased slightly, but never dispersed. Everyone still watched the arena, discussing the battles eagerly as they waited for the next group's matches to begin.
Once the battlefield had been tidied, the middle-aged man in white returned to the arena, followed by a Gray-Robed Youth.
The Gray-Robed Youth carried sheets of rice paper and a wolf-hair brush, with a cloth bag for storing dossiers slung over his back. He was the attendant clerk assigned to keep the records.
The two walked onto the arena, then approached the five Core-Realm Experts one after another.
Before each expert, the middle-aged man in white stopped to wait while the Gray-Robed Youth bent forward with his brush, listening intently and carefully recording each expert's assessment of the five competitors from the first group.
All five Core-Realm Experts had witnessed countless battles. Their comments accurately reflected the martial artists' performances, neither exaggerating their strengths nor concealing their shortcomings, providing a fair basis for the final rankings.
After recording all five assessments, the Gray-Robed Youth put away his writing tools, arranged the sheets of rice paper bearing the comments, and handed them to the middle-aged man in white.
The middle-aged man in white checked them carefully. Once he confirmed that everything was correct, he handed them back to the Gray-Robed Youth.
The Gray-Robed Youth accepted the dossier, bowed, then turned and strode briskly down from the arena.
He approached the foremost viewing seats and presented all the assessments from this round to the Prefect of Jintai Prefecture and the sect masters of the Five Great Sects, who sat in the seats of honor. They would review the records