Chapter 43

Under the Qianjin Platform, the remaining examinees were startled. That meant the teammates were both collaborators...

And competitors!

The difficulty had suddenly skyrocketed beyond measure.

These four pouches each held different clues. If one knew all of them...

Finding the final location would obviously be simple.

This naturally required teammates to work together, snatching the other pouches from rival teams.

But teammates were also competitors.

Who would dare go all out to seize the pouches?

In the end, wouldn't they just be making a wedding dress for someone else!

"Hahaha, then I, Li Changsheng, will head to that final place first and wait for tonight's victor!"

With that...

Li Changsheng turned and drifted away.

"Don't lose heart."

Jiang Mu Ming suddenly rose.

He said, "Who knows? The one who makes it to the end might just become my disciple?"

"You can never be sure."

"But getting to the end won't be easy."

Jiang Mu Ming waved his long sleeve, dispersing like a cloud of mist.

Leaving only his voice lingering in the air.

"You must be prepared to risk your life!"

Tonight's grand exam held not only the Academy's trials for everyone...

But also Zhuge Yun, who had been hiding among the examinees all along!

And Wu Zuo Shi from Beyond Heaven!

Even if Jiang Mu Ming hadn't known the original plot, Zhuge Yun's true nature had been fully exposed back in the first trial of heart-questioning.

Facing the River God's question...

His choice wasn't to pick the sword, but to strike directly at Jiang Mu Ming.

He wanted to seize the sword!

Still, that counted as being true to himself, since this Wu Zuo Shi had never been a good person.

Master of the Mysterious Gate Formation and the arcane arts of the martial world...

He had always been vicious and ruthless!

And in the second trial, he had also grasped the chilling, murderous intent from Jiang Mu Ming's poem.

But Jiang Mu Ming let him pass anyway.

Because he wanted to see how much Ye Dingzhi, Baili Dongjun, and the others had grown in strength after comprehending the Dao from his poem!

After all, this Wu Zuo Shi from Beyond Heaven, though close to the Half-step Profound Spirit realm...

Excelled only in strange and devious techniques.

Moreover, there were actually two Wu Zuo Shi—Zhuge Wucheng and Zhuge Wucai.

Only when they worked together did they approach Half-step Profound Spirit strength.

Alone, their power dropped sharply, which was why even in the original plot, they couldn't take down Ye Dingzhi or Baili Dongjun.

But what Jiang Mu Ming wanted to see wasn't a barely managed defense.

What Jiang Mu Ming wanted to see was the four of them defeating their opponent!

"That's right, the Academy's final exam is extremely dangerous."

Seeing Li Changsheng and Jiang Mu Ming both leave, Lei Mengsha finally got to speak.

He quickly added, "If any of you want to quit, you can leave now!"

"If you don't want to leave, then you can pick your teammates now."

"Each takes one pouch, departs at a different time, and sets out separately."

But having come this far, how could any examinee be willing to give up?

They began to talk among themselves.

Discussing team formations.

And the most popular one was naturally Ye Dingzhi, the first to grasp the poem's mystery in the second trial!

In the end, Ye Dingzhi chose to team up with Baili Dongjun, Wang Yixing of Wangcheng Mountain (under the alias Zhao Yujia), and Yin Luoxia.

Yue Yao, on the other hand, chose to team up with Zhuge Yun, Yan Feifei, and Song YanHui.

Once everyone had formed their teams.

The Academy's final exam officially began!

The Thirty-Two Pavilions of the Brothel Directorate, the highest place in Tian Qi City.

A bright moon hung high.

On the tower, two people lay reclining.

Drinking fine wine to their hearts' content.

Enjoying themselves.

"You two really have no sense of propriety," Miss Yue Luo said with a light shake of her head and a soft laugh. "Don't you know that someone who shouldn't have slipped in has infiltrated this grand exam?"

As the mistress of the Thirty-Two Pavilions of the Brothel Directorate, she naturally had her own channels of information.

Li Changsheng seemed somewhat drunk.