"Commander Ao, I need to quickly pa.s.s these grades to the superiors. They have been rus.h.i.+ng me for them." The Emperor talked to himself and closed all the grade scrolls from each Subordinate Country.
After a moment, he could not help it and took out that scroll from the Bai Yue Country. Again, he dwelled on it and still felt astonished.
…
The Star Gauze Palace was the supreme authority in the Great Luo Empire. They were unquestionably the number one powerhouse.
Its social status was supreme much like the Zhen Wu Holy Place from those Subordinate Countries.
Among the Subordinate Countries, they established themselves through martial arts. Basically, Stage Nine of the Genuine Force was their peak. Thus, they were named the Zhen Wu Holy Place.
However, in an empire like the Great Luo, naturally, the powerhouses behind the Royal family would have the strength in the Spiritual Force Realm. And the Star Gauze Palace was the leader among the many Spiritual Force powerhouses in the Empire.
The Star Gauze Palace commanded the entire country. Regardless of how reckless or bold you may be, you must obey them. And in the Great Luo Empire, those who dared to defy the wills of the Star Gauze Palace would be looking for their own death.
Now, outside the Palace, representatives from the Royal family waited respectfully. They had come to deliver the grade scrolls.
However, the Star Gauze Palace had their own set of rules. It did not matter if you were from the Royal family, you must obey their rules and no one dared to defy them.
After a moment, a man dressed in white walked out from the palace and said lightly: "Commander Ao, all the Great Palace Masters are in seclusion. I will take the grade scrolls for them."
This man did not just casually dress his clothing. Instead, it had some deep meanings.
Inside the Star Gauze Palace, there were strict systems. Each status and role had different articles of clothing.
Since this man was dressed in white, apparently, he was one of the ten Emissaries in the Star Gauze Palace.
And the five Great Masters of the Palace all wore a gold robe. Only, they would have different embroidery with different rankings.
Below the Great Palace Masters, it would be the eight Shakyamuni who wore purple robes.
Below the Shakyamuni, it would be Elders who dressed in bright red robes.
Although these Palace Emissaries were one level lower than the Elders, they were the young and vigorous group who all had potential as young elite warriors. They were the important seeds. Thus, their status would not be lower than the Elders.
In most times, they even held a higher social status than the Elders. Vividly, they could sit equally with the eight Shakyamuni.
Among the thousands of disciples in the Star Gauze Palace, only ten could be granted the eligibility to be cultivated as an Emissary. Except for death and sickness, they would usually not increase the waitlist.
Palace Emissaries were equivalent to the spokesperson of the five Great Palace Masters. From greeting the Masters to attending social gatherings, at the same time, it was also a form of cultivation and preparation.
That Commander Ao had obviously known the ident.i.ty of this Palace Emissary. He carefully handed over the grade scroll. After verification, he did not dare to stay and asked to leave.
That man in white did not see him off and gave out a brief word of courtesy. Then, he headed into the Star Gauze Palace with the scroll. Obviously, those five Great Masters were not in seclusion. It was because there was no need for a Palace Master to meet someone like Commander Ao.
After the Head of the Palace Masters received the scroll, he started to go through each of them. Initially, he did not reveal any special expression.
Suddenly, that Head Master raised his two red brows and made a creaking sound.
The other Palace Masters were all curious. With the personality of the Head Master, what could he have seen to have caused such "Yi" sound?
"Head Master, what is so interesting, why not share with us?"
"That’s right. Could something shocking have happened in this martial arts student exam?"
All these five Great Palace Masters were all outstanding warriors. Each of them were warriors in the Upper Sky Realm and had vast knowledge. Something as small as the martial arts student exam, in fact, they were not very interested.
Only, they had no choice but to implement such martial arts student exam. Currently, under the ruling of the Great Luo Empire, their supply of talents had been dwindling each year. It had caused a shortage of talent supply to the Star Gauze Palace.
Thus, they had to secretly inform the Royal Family of the Great Luo Empire to implement a national martial arts student exam. They intended to select talents from across countries without any boundaries.
Being the backbone of the Great Luo Empire, naturally, it was not suitable for them to come out into the light. Or else, others would think they were weak.
The Star Gauze Palace was known as a powerful and supreme Empire. If they had to re-supply fresh blood through this exam, then they would become a laughingstock.
Thus, the host of this exam was the Great Luo Empire. The other powerhouses had no idea that the Star Gauze Palace was behind it.
It was also the reason why that Old Man Ji Yin had dared to act boldly and throw out his name plate and order his disciple to kill at the Bai Yue Country.
From Old Man Ji Yin’s intelligence network, the origin of this exam came from the Royal families of the Great Luo Empire. There was not a single trace of the Star Gauze Palace being the ones behind it.
Since it was the Great Luo Empire, he could act without caution.
If he knew that the shadow of the Star Gauze Palace was behind this exam, most likely he would think again whether he would have thrown out that plate or not.
Most likely, he would still refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of being breaking the vase.
The Star Gauze Palace was an existence that the Ji Yin sect would never dare to offend.
"Have you heard of the Bai Yue Country?" The Head Palace Master asked randomly.
"Bai Yue? Isn’t that a Subordinate Country governed by the Empire?"
"I remember they were a middle ranking Subordinate Country. However, they never showed any outstanding performance that you could not find in any crowd."
The Head Master smiled lightly: "This time, in this crowd, you could find them instantly."
"Oh?"
"Head Master, why do you say so?"
The Head Master said meaningfully: "If they did not cheat on their result, the Bai Yue Country will no longer be a middle ranked one, but would become an upper ranking Subordinate Country."
"An excellent result?"
"Head Master, please tell us, don’t keep us in the dark!"
The Head Master laughed: "Although their overall grade was the number one among all the middle ranking, it was not a too big of an exaggeration. They had barely achieved an equal with those few upper Ranking Subordinate Country. However, in terms of individual scores, there is one martial arts student from the Bai Yue Country that definitely stood out! Guess how many points he got?"
"How many? Four hundred?"
"Four hundred? It seems that even among the offspring within the Great Luo Empire, only two or three of them had this score?"
The Head Master shook his head with a smile: "If it was four hundred points, it may be good, but not good enough to stand out. Think about it, if a crane wanted to stand among a crowd of chicks, how much taller would it need to be?"
"Could it be five hundred points?"
"Impossible? If it’s five hundred points, it’s a grade that would never appear from our estimation to the exam materials. Even if the strongest Stage Nine Warrior of the Genuine Force from the secular world went for the exam, he would need luck to acquire five hundred points with his formidable strength!"
"Yes, with the age of those martial arts students, five hundred points is such a demonic grade."
The other Masters all shook their heads. All of them watched the Head Master impatiently and waited for him to reveal the secrets.
The Head Master said leisurely: "Indeed, it was not five hundred points. However, you all did not guess too high but too low. The score of that martial arts student is six hundred points!"
"Six hundred points?" The rest of the Masters were all dumbfounded and looked at the Head Master with an exaggerated face.
The Head Master knew this matter was somewhat rare. Historically, the martial arts student exam had occurred many times within the Great Luo Empire. The highest score in history was only close to five hundred.
It was far less than the six hundred points.
Since he knew everyone would not believe him, the Head Master tossed out the scroll in his hand. As if it received life, an invisible power grabbed this scroll and floated towards the Masters.
When they saw the scroll, the expression on those Masters still displayed shock.
These Upper Sky Realm elite warriors had seen a lot in their lives. However, when they saw this unexpected news, they still could not help but feel surprised.
"Head Master, such a talent!"
"Yes, such talent, we must not let him waste his youth in a place like the Bai Yue Country. We need to bring him to here."
"Haha, everyone, I have not taken on any disciples for years. This little Qin Wushuang guy, let’s see, everyone you should not fight with me on this one, right?" This was the happy voice from the Third Master.
"Third Master, you have no shame in saying that you have not taken on disciples for years? In the past, we have selected disciples lining up for you to pick, you were so picky and did not take on anyone. That was because you had such high standard. This time, it’s not appropriate for you to complain about not having any disciples."
"That’s right, and in my group, I have very little talents. Head Master, this Qin Wushuang, you must give him to me." This time, the complaint came from the Fifth Master.
That Second Master was older and more mature. However, it did not mean he had no intention to head hunt for talents. When he saw that everyone started to fight for talent with a burning spirit, of course, he would not fall behind. Thus, he also opened his mouth to say: "Talking about taking on disciples, still, he should come to my group. Third, you are so picky. Most likely, you will not succeed in nurturing good talents if he goes to you; Fifth, the probability of you succeeding in nurturing that talent is too low…"
"Second Master, it’s not appropriate for you to talk down to us like that, right?" Those two Masters who had been singled out opened their mouths to complain.
Talking about the social status in the Star Gauze Palace, besides the Head Master whose strength was above everyone else, the remaining four Masters all had somewhat equal strength. No one wanted to back down.
That Fourth Master, although being a man with a cold face, he did not join the fight. Instead, he poured some cold water through these words: "Each of you are fighting over it with joy. That Qin Wushuang may have a high score, but who can promise that he did not get it because of luck? Regardless of his talent, we need to think otherwise."
Then, as if he felt that it was not enough, he added: "I am not interested in your compet.i.tion. A talented seed from the Subordinate, in the end, there is still a limit to his skills. Regardless of his talents, how could he compare to those with natural born Spiritual Roots? Hahaha…"
"Nature born spiritual roots…" That Second Master sneered: "Fourth, you think that natural born spiritual roots are cats and dogs and exist at any time? That rare genius, you could only meet them rather than asking for one."
Everyone spoke and gave suggestions. However, no one could make a decision.
That Head Master suddenly nodded and mused to himself: "It should be that way."
"What are you thinking about, Head Master?"
That Head Master said with a serious tone: "Regardless of that Qin Wushuang’s talent, we must first make sure the other empire would not head hunt him. If his results were to get out, in less than a month, powerful forces from the other Empires would want to take him. Everything, before the second exam, we still need to send someone to stabilize the situation and prevent other people from taking him!"
"Who should we sent?" All those Masters were eager in wanting to send out their trusted disciples.
"To prevent internal conflicts, it will not be one of your disciples. Let’s send a Palace Emissary!"
As soon as the Head Master made the decision, he immediately sent out the order: "Send ranking number six, Emissary Liu, to the Bai Yue Country immediately! He will bring Qin Wushuang to the Star Gauze Palace ahead of time! If any other empires want to head hunt him, regardless of their rewards and incentives, our Palace will double it!"