How Am I Supposed to Patch Such a Huge Hole?!

About two hours later, the entrance to Yongning Temple had already fallen empty. The examinees who had originally crowded there had all entered their respective examination rooms.

Duan Rong sat in the examination room of C-16. All manner of tools were laid out inside, every single one available, and all of them brand-new.

Just then, a tremendous peal of the bronze bell rang out from afar, like silk tearing through the clouds.

At this time, the drawing ceremony had begun in the Great Hero Hall. First, incense was burned and the Buddha worshipped. Then the abbot of Yongning Temple drew that day's examination topic from the urn prepared by the proctoring monks.

Once the topic was revealed, monks began calling out through the various courtyards, "First round: Gilded Buddha Head."

Immediately afterward, soldiers from the Protectorate General's Office began distributing stone materials and a paste made from gold-mercury alloy to each examination room.

Each courtyard had one monk and two supervisors from the Protectorate General's Office, the three jointly overseeing the examination.

Once the stone and gold-mercury alloy paste had been handed out, the examinees in every room got busy. The two supervisors from the Protectorate General's Office patrolled the courtyard, while the lean, fair-faced monk sat beneath the eaves with Buddhist beads in hand, his eyes opening and closing from time to time.

For some reason, Duan Rong had the vague illusion that whenever the proctoring monk opened his eyes, he seemed to cast a glance in Duan Rong's direction.

But Duan Rong had no time to concern himself with that. This assessment mattered greatly to him as well. If he failed this time, he would have to wait another two years. Though he believed his skills should be up to the mark, only nine would be selected from