I Am the Rules

As the Illusion Realm dissipated, Wei Yuan's consciousness returned. He saw the Martial Assessment hall in utter chaos, with some crying, some laughing, and others trembling on the ground, a growing wetness spreading beneath them.

Amidst the din, a girl's voice suddenly rang out from not too far away. It was clear and sweet, incredibly pleasant to hear. "You pig-riding bastard, I'll fight you to the death..."

Wei Yuan glanced over and saw a girl in a goose-yellow dress not far away, like a doll made of jade, beautiful without a single flaw. She seemed to have just regained consciousness and sprang up from her seat. But the moment she noticed the gazes of the other examinees on her, she instantly fell silent, a look of panic and lingering fear on her small face that made one's heart ache.

Wei Yuan certainly remembered this girl; she was the main general of the Green Team from the north who had taken a shot from him. Later, Wei Yuan had discovered she wasn't dead and had gone back to finish her off with another shot.

Looking at the girl's tearful expression now, Wei Yuan felt a pang of guilt. But guilt was guilt, and the follow-up shot still needed to be delivered.

The Daoist Priest was also quite vexed by the noisy children and quickly ushered all the examinees out of the hall.

Wei Yuan slowly got up, waiting for the girl in the goose-yellow dress to leave first before blending into the crowd and heading out. Although the girl didn't recognize him, others still saw through him.

Just as he was about to exit the hall, Li Zhi suddenly emerged from the shadows nearby, blocking Wei Yuan's path.

Wei Yuan's heart tightened, and he waited for Li Zhi to speak. However, Li Zhi remained silent and didn't move aside. They stood facing each other, while the other examinees walked past them, leaving the hall. In the blink of an eye, only Li Zhi and Wei Yuan were left in the hall.

The Daoist Priest didn't rush them, merely standing outside the door with his back to the two confronting each other.

Li Zhi stared intently at Wei Yuan, his eyes slowly reddening. Gritting his teeth, he said, "This utter humiliation, I, Li Zhi, will never forget! If you have the guts, tell me your name!"

At this point, Wei Yuan couldn't back down. Besides, they had already fought in the Illusion Realm, and with the Heaven and Earth Madman on his side, Wei Yuan felt dealing with Li Zhi would only take a move or two. He immediately replied, "Wei Yuan."

Li Zhi shouted, "Good, Wei Yuan, I'll remember you! You won this time, and a bet is a bet. I can afford to lose! But you're just a few years older, nothing to be proud of. I, Li Zhi, am only eight years old this year! Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river! You wait for me, one day, I'll win back exactly how I lost!"

With that, Li Zhi turned and rushed out of the hall. Once he was in a secluded spot, he secretly wiped his eyes.

The Martial Assessment had concluded, and the battle of wits had just begun in the Evaluator Hall.

The minds of all the evaluators were a complete mess. No one had expected such a situation. If a few evaluators hadn't ended the Martial Assessment early, Wei Yuan would likely have hunted down and eliminated every last straggler hiding in the dense forests and bushes before he was satisfied.

Almost all the examinees who had secured spots in the Immortal Sects and Cave Heavens were annihilated by Wei Yuan without achieving any merit. Those who had some achievements were ordinary examinees, either vanguards or scouts, their meager accomplishments only worth one or two points.

The current situation was that if they strictly followed the regulations, everyone except Wei Yuan would receive zero points.

The elder cultivator spoke first, "We need to discuss how to assign scores."

The old scholar opened his mouth and said, "I believe the first place should go to Li Zhi! As the commander of the Yellow Team, he led the team to annihilate the Green Team, and his elite central army remained intact. He has shown the talent of a commander at such a young age. If he isn't first, who is?"

The young cultivator sneered, "Did he annihilate the Green Team? Are your eyes playing tricks on you, old sir?"

The old scholar's expression remained unchanged. "The Green Team was annihilated by Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan is a member of the Yellow Team. As the commander of the Yellow Team, any merit earned by anyone in the team is his merit. This has always been the case. Of course, Wei Yuan's contribution is immense, and he can share the first place."

The young cultivator laughed in exasperation, "Then what about the Yellow Team's failures? Should those also be attributed to Li Zhi?"

The old scholar said as a matter of course, "Merits are merits, and failures are failures. How can they be mixed up?"

The young cultivator trembled with anger, but he was no match for Liu Sigu in an argument. The old scholar had spent his life debating with people, while the young cultivator was young and proud, needing to save face. How could he win an argument against the old scholar?

Daoist Fu Feng interjected, "The regulations only distinguish between the Green and Yellow Teams; there is no mention of a commander. Even if the Yellow Team had a commander, why should it be Li Zhi and not someone else? Is it just because he is Duke of Grace's son?"

Unexpectedly, the old scholar declared loudly, "Precisely because he is Duke of Grace's son! And because Cui Hanwang fully supported him!"

This statement was so righteous that it immediately silenced Daoist Fu Feng.

Everyone knew that the powerful aristocratic families had deep roots, with the saying "Seven Surnames Thirteen Clans." The foremost among them were even comparable to Immortal Sects. In such a grand unified Martial Assessment, leadership could only be obtained through one's background, and indeed, only through background. Bao Yun leading the Green Team and Li Zhi leading the Yellow Team were both examples of this. While the team assignments were said to be absolutely fair, there were hidden calculations; no matter how they were divided, Bao Yun and Li Zhi would never be on the same team.

Daoist Fu Feng naturally understood these things, but the old scholar stating it so brazenly and matter-of-factly instantly made Daoist Fu Feng's foundation tremble, his face turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

The old scholar continued, "This mess needs to be cleaned up. Regardless of what others think, in my assessment, Li Zhi gets thirty points."

At this moment, the middle-aged scholar coughed, breaking the silence. "Everyone saw the Martial Assessment just now. The Green Team was annihilated first. Li Zhi managed his troops effectively, remained calm in the face of crisis, and as the leader of the Yellow Team, he deserves thirty points."

The young cultivator sneered, "Li Zhi lost two battles, and that's called managing his troops effectively? What does the annihilation of the Green Team have to do with him? If it weren't for Wei Yuan, hmph, Miss Bao would have wiped him out multiple times by now! If Li Zhi can get thirty points, shouldn't my young lady get fifty?"

The middle-aged scholar said, "Wei Yuan is from the Yellow Team."

The young cultivator retorted, "Didn't he also wipe out the Yellow Team?"

This was a difficult question to answer. The middle-aged scholar and the old scholar exchanged glances and said, "Accidentally harming a teammate, the evaluation should indeed be reduced accordingly."

This was a slippery statement, but the young cultivator wouldn't let it go. He pressed, "Then how much are you planning to reduce it by?"

The two scholars cursed inwardly, but Zhang Sheng was watching, so they couldn't answer this question carelessly. The middle-aged scholar didn't dwell on the issue and instead said, "Miss Bao's Green Team was annihilated, and she herself achieved no merit. According to the regulations, she should receive zero points!"

"Bullshit!" The young cultivator roared in anger.

In an instant, the evaluators were arguing fiercely again, leaving Zhang Sheng out of it. However, everyone knew that arguing was pointless, so when their opinions clashed, they could only assign their own scores.

Zhang Sheng didn't touch the roster book in front of him, merely watching everyone quietly.

The old scholar Liu Sigu was the first to pick up his brush, directly writing down "Li Zhi, thirty." Then, he wrote the second name: Wei Yuan. After writing the name, he pondered for a long time, his brush strokes as heavy as a thousand pounds. He first wrote a "two," paused in mid-air for a moment, and finally added an "eighteen."

Seeing this, the young cultivator sneered inwardly, thinking that this old fellow was also a paper tiger, and under the pressure of the Immortal Sword, his bones weren't that hard after all.

The young cultivator also picked up his brush, first giving Bao Yun thirty points, then Li Zhi. The young cultivator was not polite, directly awarding fifteen points.

After he finished scoring Li Zhi, he suddenly noticed the old scholar look up, glance at him, and then pick up his brush to write: "Bao Yun, one."

The middle-aged scholar also seemed to awaken at this moment, sweeping away his previous hesitation. He also wrote: "Bao Yun, one."

The young cultivator was dumbfounded.

He looked around. The monk had written "Wei Yuan, thirty," and gave Bao Yun and Li Zhi only three points each. He was currently busy scoring others, mostly one or two points. The elder cultivator appeared indifferent, giving both Bao Yun and Li Zhi twenty-five points.

Daoist Fu Feng scored Wei Yuan thirty, Bao Yun ten, and Li Zhi five. Besides these, there were a few who received more than twenty points; it was clear these were the families he needed to favor.

In reality, the magnitude of the scores wasn't as important as the relative difference. The young cultivator realized now that he was still too naive. He should have dragged it out until the end and given Li Zhi a zero. But there was no turning back once the brush had moved; the scores written could not be changed.

By this point in the Martial Assessment, aside from the monk, the scores had little to do with the participants' performance. Everyone had dropped all pretense and was fighting openly, no longer holding back.

Zhang Sheng quietly watched everyone's act.

Just then, a watery light descended from the sky, landing directly on the stone tablet in the hall. The watery moonlight, as fine as a thread, placed an immense pressure on everyone, like facing an abyss or standing before a great sun!

The evaluators' thoughts froze. Then, they watched as all the names on the stone tablet vanished and reappeared, each with a corresponding score. Topping the list was Wei Yuan with twenty-five points. Bao Yun followed with three points, Li Zhi with two, a few others with one point, and the vast majority with zero.

A high, distant, and desolate voice echoed through the hall, booming as if from above, "This is fairness!"

The scores on the stone tablet then melted away like ice and snow, and new scores appeared. Twenty points were added to everyone's total. In the end, Wei Yuan had forty-five, Bao Yun twenty-three, Li Zhi twenty-two, and the rest followed in order.

"This is to save face for each of your families."

The few evaluators were as silent as cicadas, daring not to speak. When a True Monarch spoke, how could they possibly argue?

Every True Monarch was a pillar of heaven, capable of supporting a medium-sized family out of thin air. Even ancient, high-ranking families like the Bao and Cui families treated True Monarchs with respect. Moreover, that fine thread of moonlight was well-known even among True Monarchs; after all, there was only one person in Taichu Palace who held the positions of both the Azure Sky and Water Moon Palace Lord.

The voice then turned stern, reprimanding, "The Taichu Palace evaluator Zhang Sheng acted recklessly and insulted his colleagues. Though there were reasons, he must still be severely punished!"

After a pause, the voice continued, "...Zhang Sheng is fined three years' salary as a warning to others!"

The evaluators were all sincerely convinced, showing no outward signs of dissent.

High in the air, a figure shrouded in watery moonlight said, "You are all old friends. If you have any objections, we can discuss them further. If not, then this is settled."

Several imposing figures surrounded him, each exuding an extraordinary aura. Two of them nodded slightly, while the other two merely grunted, offering no explicit agreement. These two were dressed as scholars, but their folding fans were conspicuously broken, missing half their length. The other was dressed as a cultivator, radiating a treasure light, clearly adorned with renowned magical artifacts. However, his resplendent robe was missing a sleeve, making him look somewhat odd.

Three of the five agreed, while two offered no opinion. The matter was thus settled, and the grand examination concluded.