After the written exam ended, all eight hundred candidates who hadn't made the list were driven out of the examination grounds, leaving only the two hundred who had passed.
Among the two hundred who remained, Su Yuan noticed something interesting.
Candidates with genuine talent and learning who hadn't greased any palms hadn't had their scores suppressed.
Among those Su Yuan—or rather, Su Youlin—knew was a candidate named Qi Junxiang, from a branch of a Cultivation Family in Cold Plum World. He had earned thirty-seventh place in the written exam on the strength of his own learning.
He was also one of only three ascenders from Cold Plum World to make it through the written exam.
One of the other two was naturally Su Yuan. The last was the richest Second Generation Immortal among the ascenders from Cold Plum World. He'd passed the written exam on Spirit Coins alone and ranked around one hundredth.
Those who had paid ranked lower, while those who hadn't paid ranked higher. That showed the examiners still had some brains. They knew better than to prop up too many useless gluttons.
If not a single person below them could get anything done, these high-ranking officials wouldn't be able to keep their seats, either.
On the examination grounds, over a thousand desks had been cleared away. The two hundred candidates stood respectfully in place, waiting for the Golden Divine Eye in the sky to test their aptitude.
Under the Golden Divine Eye, all cheating would be laid bare.
Whether they used a magic treasure to conceal the true grade of their spiritual root or a pill to temporarily force their aptitude higher, the Divine Eye would see through it.
Of course, disguises made with the 'Immortal Skin Mask' personally refined by the Thousand Faces Heavenly Monarch were