If it was the martial dao or the pill dao zone, then the possibility that someone might be able to answer all of the questions wasn’t entirely out of the question. But the general zone? Formation master w.a.n.g Xuetong couldn’t possibly be joking, could he? Everyone knew that the questions of the general zone comprised of all kinds of smaller studies and trades. The questions in there were so random that even the most learned person couldn’t possibly master all of them. Therefore, anyone who could answer all twenty questions in the general zone was already an absolute all-rounder genius. But… wasn’t that… impossible?
“Stop joking around, Master w.a.n.g.”
“Yeah, you’re not trying to tease us because we’re too quiet, are you Master w.a.n.g?”
w.a.n.g Xuetong smiled wryly. “I wish, but… this is the truth. Emperor Peerless, come take a look and confirm as well?”
Emperor Peerless landed next to w.a.n.g Xuetong with a s.h.i.+ft of his body and took the scroll. His eyes moved rapidly as he reviewed it. It took only a moment before some measure of seriousness entered his eyes. When he was finished, the seriousness had turned into admiration.
“It’s true, it really is true!” Emperor Peerless had travelled across the world and gained much knowledge and experience in the process. He’d seen all sorts of geniuses in his time. However, this was the first time he encountered something so bizarre.
And then, something even stranger happened. A new exclamation resounded from the pill dao zone. It was even louder than w.a.n.g Xuetong’s.
What now? Why were the judges at the pill dao zone fl.u.s.tered as well? Did someone score full marks there too?
“We have a perfect scroll too! Hahaha, this is brilliant! Pill King Blue Phoenix, come over here and take a look. This scroll is flawless!” The judge jumped out of his seat impatiently before pa.s.sing the scroll to Pill King Blue Phoenix. It seemed like he’d discovered a new continent from the shock and joy on his face.
Pill King Blue Phoenix was a level-headed one, so he accepted the scroll calmly. However, it didn’t take long before his eyebrows rose, he lost his cool and sprang up from his seat. “Genius, an absolute genius. Quick, find out who this person is! They are an absolute genius! The organization of these answers and the depth of knowledge this partic.i.p.ant displays is so impressive that it is literally perfection incarnate!”
Those beside him couldn’t help but shoot him a reminder. “We haven’t finished reviewing the rest of the scrolls yet, so we can’t unseal the numbers and check who he is.”
But Pill King Blue Phoenix was already shaking with excitement. “Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and review the rest of the scrolls. I have no doubt that this one stands at the top of the rankings. In fact, I dare say that the partic.i.p.ant who answered this is a top rate genius and the indisputable leader of the pill dao zone. An arena lord seat for the pill dao zone is theirs already!”
w.a.n.g Xuetong echoed his sentiment as well. “You’re right, a scroll like this deserves nothing but the top. I never thought that we’d accidentally discover such an amazing genius in this year’s Bounty Arena!”
He couldn’t help but look at a.s.sistant Temple Master Gao of the Temple of Cleansing Fire. The a.s.sistant temple master smiled wryly. “You’re not thinking that the Temple of Cleansing Fire is helping a partic.i.p.ant to cheat, are you? If that’s the case then allow me to say, there are absolutely no tricks going on in the selection. I swear this on the fortunes of the Temple of Cleansing Fire.”
To be frank, the idea had crossed both Pill King Blue Phoenix and w.a.n.g Xuetong’s minds. For that instant, they did wonder if the Temple had given out answer keys beforehand in order to promote a certain partic.i.p.ant. How could such incredible answer scrolls be explained, otherwise? Anyone who could answer seventy to eighty percent of the questions correctly was amazing enough, but a perfect score? That didn’t seem possible at all.
Even the two themselves dare not say that they could answer all of the questions perfectly.
But the supposedly impossible had happened regardless. Moreover, the Temple of Cleansing Fire had sworn on their sect’s fortunes that they hadn’t helped anyone unscrupulously. So not only were the owners of these two scrolls true geniuses, but more than one genius had appeared.
Everyone had high hopes for the results of the martial dao zone because of these perfect scores. Sadly, no such results appeared. The unexpected ‘stimulation’ still prompted the judges to review the scrolls a lot faster than normal. Everyone wanted to finish quickly and reveal who the two heaven-defying geniuses were.
Two hours later, the judges had reviewed every scroll. The results had also been ranked and were ready to be announced. The top three partic.i.p.ants of the martial dao zone shared almost the exact same results.
As expected, the perfect scroll was first place in the pill dao zone. Although the second and third place partic.i.p.ant’s scores were far behind the champion’s, they were also far ahead of the fourth place partic.i.p.ant. Just the same, the perfect scroll in the general zone was even further ahead of second and third place. The gap was so enormous that they were nearly incomparable. This difference was the greatest out of all the zones.
After the rankings were made, the seals on the partic.i.p.ant numbers were broken. Everyone wanted to know who were the two geniuses, so they matched the number to the name immediately.
Stunned amazement descended once more. The numbers on the two scrolls were exactly the same! This meant that the two scrolls… came from the same person.
The group felt that they had seen a ghost. How could this be? Inspiration flashed across someone’s mind. He cried out, “Only those who challenged both zones can have two scrolls!”
His words broke them out of their confusion.
“Yeah, that’s the only explanation why the same number has appeared on two different scrolls!”
“Tsk tsk, unbelievable, truly unbelievable. They both came from the same person? How… how is this possible?”
“Am I dreaming? Did this candidate seriously finish two exams in three days and take the first place in both zones? Are… are they trying to defy logic or something?”
“Just who is this person?” Everyone’s gaze suddenly turned a little odd. When they looked at Pill King Blue Phoenix once more, they noticed that a look of deep embarra.s.sment had colored his expression.
Who was it?
It was the ‘good-for-nothing’ Pill King Blue Phoenix criticized heavily earlier. It was the fellow that the pill king couldn’t be bothered to speak of. But he was wrong. This was no fop out to cause trouble. This was a true genius who’d challenged two zones at once and taken first place. Pill King Blue Phoenix was completely stunned by this turn of events. He muttered, “Blind, I was blind, I was so blind. I can’t believe I had mistaken a genius like him as a dandy. I am so ashamed. These eyes of mine have truly gotten old!”
He was a little close minded and fiery tempered, but he wasn’t completely without his merits. One of them was that he always admitted his mistakes. He never tried to disguise his faults, and he always strove to fix them. When he learned of his mistake, he openly admitted his faults without trying to explain or defend himself at all.
Everyone was impressed by his bearing. They were worried that the pill king would be biased towards that young man in order to save face. That was why no one had expressed much surprise or wear their heart on their sleeves. The group cheered after he openly admitted his mistake. Pill King Blue Phoenix’s actions meant that they didn’t need to worry about his feelings, and that they were free to be happy about this unprecedented genius.
w.a.n.g Xuetong was a great formation master, but right now he had tossed all the airs of a master to the back of his mind. He paced in excited circles, “I can’t wait any longer. This is a genius you cannot miss. It seems that partic.i.p.ating in this time"s Bounty Arena was a wise decision!”
Pill King Blue Phoenix nodded repeatedly. He had completely forgotten how terribly he treated that young man earlier.
Emperor Peerless was the only person who maintained his bearing of a great emperor. He chuckled. “It is unfortunate that this boy didn’t partic.i.p.ate in the martial dao zone. Still, the fact that he took two arena lord seats by himself is proof of his amazing talents. I must say that Pillfire City’s foundation is truly enviable.”
Even Emperor Peerless had voiced his approval enviously. It delighted the Temple of Cleansing Fire even further. This was undoubtedly great news as the accidental discovery of such an amazing genius was a momentous achievement.
a.s.sistant Temple Master Gao grinned from ear to ear. “I need to report this news to the temple master.”
He was just an a.s.sistant temple master, but also in charge of all matters, big and small, in the Temple. There was indeed a temple master, but he hadn’t dabbled in worldly affairs since several hundred years ago.
“a.s.sistant Temple Master Gao, I think we should announce the rankings first.” Pill King Blue Phoenix suggested.
w.a.n.g Xuetong also nodded. “Yes, the winners of the selection are the crowd’s biggest concern right now. I don’t think we should make them wait.”
The a.s.sistant temple master turned to look at Emperor Peerless. The emperor also nodded. “Let’s post the ranking first.”
His words carried more weight than the other two experts. Thus rea.s.sured, the a.s.sistant temple master agreed. “In that case, let us announce the ranking first.”
The a.s.sistant temple master led at the front of the group. The experts needed to be present as well. They needed to let the people know that the selection was completely fair, and that no tricks whatsoever were involved.
The entrance to the Temple of Cleansing Fire was quite jam packed. Crowds had nearly filled the public square in front of the entrance as well. A great ma.s.s of people filled any empty s.p.a.ce from the temple courtyard to Skyfire Avenue. Feverish sentiment filled the air.
The a.s.sistant temple master appeared first, followed by the three experts. The hub bub outside the Temple instantly instantly subsided at this. The rankings in the a.s.sistant temple master’s hands seemed to have a magical power of instantly silencing everyone. They all stared pa.s.sionately at the precious pieces of paper.
a.s.sistant Temple Master Gao met gazes with his own steady one before announcing, “The wait has been long. The listing of arena lords has been decided. We have three ranking lists here, each one representing a single zone. All partic.i.p.ants will be able to check their rankings. There are a total of nine seats, and a total of eight had the fortune to be chosen as arena lords. There is a special mark at the topmost of the ranking. You’ll know it when you see it.”
He made a sweeping motion and the three lists flew into the air to plaster themselves on the walls of the Temple of Cleansing Fire.