Chapter 576: Minus Ten Points
The White Horse Constellation was where the Nine Great Clans of humanity and all the other most n.o.ble clans resided. One could say without exaggeration that those who lived in the White Horse Constellation were the elites and privileged members of human society. The vast majority of the Law Realm’s strongest human warriors were gathered here.
No white horses could be seen in the White Horse Constellation, only plenty of Prince Charmings who could ride upon white horses. Perhaps because of the Dragon Ascension Conclave, there were many young warriors wandering on the streets, their heads proudly raised, all of them like s.h.i.+ning knights on white horses from children’s fairy tales.
The city appeared to have no limit, and the buildings were all rather low; for some reason, the more deeply situated a city in the Law Realm was, the simpler the buildings were. The streets were paved with gray stones, and many homes had large stone statues in front of them, large cinnabar gates studded with bronze nails separating them from the outside world. At a glance, it was as if he had returned to ancient times.
There were many other races besides humans among the crowd. Be it in the Yu family or in Myriadopolis, Xia Fei had never seen so many other sapient species before. Some of them were like giant green slugs, ambling about with large heads. Others were a brilliant blue and appeared like festively decorated cars as they walked down the street. There were also ones who were so short that one might accidentally step on them while walking on the street.
In short, White Horse Constellation was a very bustling and very strange place. Humans and other intelligent races lived together here in this ancient, vast, and complex city.
Mu Fuping remained by Xia Fei’s side, not disturbing him at all. At times, she would explain the origins and races of these intelligent lifeforms as she pointed out any interesting points of the White Horse Constellation.
“Isn’t this Miss Fuping of the Mu family?”
“Mm, I recognized her, too. Who is that with her?”
“Don’t know, but he doesn’t seem like a member of the Mu family. He doesn’t have their emblem on his chest for one.”
“They’re standing at the spatial gate leading to Myriadopolis. Could this man be from there?”
“A warrior of a minor clan? Miss Fuping has a rather strange personality, but it shouldn’t be so bad that she would lower herself to interact with those minor clans, right?”
The streets here were wide and thronged with people. Mu Fuping and Xia Fei standing at the end of the street and looking around attracted quite a lot of attention.
Mu Qingping stamped her feet, believing that this was beneath her dignity, and the two strong men also unpleasantly frowned and savagely glared at the curious pedestrians.
Xia Fei could naturally hear the conversations of the pa.s.sersby, but he had a very thick skin and did not care what people thought of him. It was Mu Fuping who gradually grew more and more embarra.s.sed, becoming anxious to leave this bustling street.
At this time, Yu Xiaobei emerged from the spatial gate. He had set off earlier than Xia Fei, but he had arrived even later, and his servants had also been held back by the guards. The sight of Xia Fei and Mu Fuping going through the gate had ignited a flame of envy in Yu Xiaobei’s heart.
Xia Fei nodded at Yu Xiaobei, which could be considered a sort of greeting. Yu Xiaobei pretended not to see him, raising his head and walking away.
Xia Fei shrugged. He told the lady beside him, “Miss Fuping, thank you for your care. If there’s nothing else, I’ll bid farewell from here.”
Mu Qingping coldly snorted, muttering to herself, “I suppose that you have some tact. I can’t believe you would stand with my sister in the middle of the street!”
Xia Fei pretended not to hear. He had no intention of getting close to Mu Fuping, but she insisted on getting close to him. Young ladies like this were always trouble, and Xia Fei was determined to split off with her and head to the reporting area alone.
Mu Fuping was startled. “You’re also partic.i.p.ating in the Dragon Ascension Conclave, so why not go together?”
Xia Fei shook his head. “Miss Fuping, you’ve also seen it for yourself just now. These people on the street all have unfriendly gazes on me, presumably because I’m with you. If this goes on, I’ll become targeted by everyone before I can even get to the Dragon Ascension Conclave.”
Xia Fei spoke rather tactfully. Mu Fuping truly lacked experience when it came to the ways of the world. She felt that since Xia Fei had saved her life, he deserved a reward. It was a very simple starting point, but she had no idea how much trouble it would bring Xia Fei. After all, the difference in their status was too obvious.
Lightly nodding, Mu Fuping reluctantly agreed.
As he strode away, Xia Fei suddenly turned his head as if he wanted to say something. However, after a daze of several seconds, he swallowed back his words, gave a light bow, and left behind a very-disappointed-looking Mu Fuping.
“What were you about to ask her just now?” Phantom curiously asked.
Xia Fei said, “I suddenly understand why her father and all the other members of her clan are so hostile to me. It’s probably because this girl accidentally said something she shouldn’t have.”
“So why didn’t you ask?”
Xia Fei sighed. “Young ladies like are always a problem, so it’s best to maintain my distance with them as much as possible. Besides, how would making this blatantly obvious help? It’s not like I can just make other people shut up, right?”
Saying this, Xia Fei glanced around at several youths on the side of the road. They had emblems on their chests with the word ‘Noah’. Presumably, they belonged to the Noah Clan of the Nine Great Clans. These young warriors were now giving Xia Fei looks which could be described as unfriendly.
“Look there! As I said, regardless of which family they’re from, young ladies always bring trouble,” Xia Fei muttered.
…
With the pa.s.scard for the Dragon Ascension Conclave hanging around his neck, Xia Fei smoothly found the reporting area.
This was a rather luxurious mansion, outstanding even in the White Horse Constellation. There was a long line at the entrance, and the words ‘Dragon Ascension’ were written on the nameboard over the gate.
Without Mu Fuping at his side, Xia Fei followed the rules and took his place in line. The partic.i.p.ants coming from Myriadopolis could only enter through the side gate, while those from the Nine Great Clans or other n.o.ble residents of the White Horse Constellation could enter through the main gate without needing to stand in line.
This was the cla.s.s division of the circle. A member of a small clan had no status to speak of in the White Horse Constellation where the n.o.bles gathered.
The n.o.ble scions all had emblems on their chests, their heads held high as if they were the masters of this place. In truth, Xia Fei could also bear the emblem of the Yu family, but rather than respect, that would just win him disdain and scorn. After all, the Yu family was not some n.o.ble clan in the circle. Wearing emblems indicating the clan one belonged to was a privilege that only the rich and powerful could enjoy.
“There are quite a few people. Each of the big clans has sent several dozen people, as many as a hundred, to the Dragon Ascension Conclave,” Xia Fei muttered as he stood in line.
The young man standing one place in front of him waved his fan and nodded. “The Nine Great Clans all get ninety-nine spots, and any youth with a tiny bit of talent basically gets the opportunity to partic.i.p.ate in the Dragon Ascension Conclave. Small clans like ours just can’t compare.”
Xia Fei glanced at him. This fan-holding young man had a fair face and cherry lips, his steps exuding grace and elegance.
“My name is Ludi.”
“Xia Fei.”
Standing in line was rather boring. As the line slowly moved forward, Xia Fei chatted with this young man called Ludi.
“Why haven’t I seen any warriors from other races reporting?” Xia Fei asked. He had seen many other races on the streets, but none of them had come here.
Ludi blinked. “The White Horse Constellation is the gathering place for humans. Other races naturally have to report back with their own races. How do you not even know this?”
Xia Fei frankly said, “Honestly, had you not told me this, I truly didn’t hear a word about this.”
Ludi waved his fan and smiled. “The Dragon Ascension Conclave is a big deal. Normally, a single conclave will span over three years. This time, the White Horse Constellation is hosting the qualifying a.s.sessment and the actual a.s.sessment. Once it’s over, the elites of the various races will gather together for the overall examination, and the second stage of the examination can be held. Only then will the candidates for the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall be selected.”
Xia Fei creased his brows. “Just the test for joining Dragon Ascension Martial Hall takes three years? What’s so great about the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall?”
Ludi nonchalantly said, “Think about it; even the children of the n.o.ble Nine Great Clans are trying as best as they can to get into Dragon Ascension Martial Hall. Isn’t that enough?
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m just here to go through the motions. My father spent a lot of money to get me this spot so that I can gild myself a little. In any case, we’re both people who are partic.i.p.ants of the Dragon Ascension Conclave, so it will be much easier for us to marry someone from another clan.
Xia Fei softly chuckled. Ludi was a very frank speaker and seemed to have no desires or demands. From his fair and tender hands, Xia Fei could tell that this person had never paid much attention to martial arts. He was the cla.s.sic playboy who spent all his time evaluating the women around him.
After finally getting inside the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall, they had their ident.i.ties verified and received the guidebook for the conclave. By the time the procedures were all done, it was dusk.
Looking at the thin sheet of paper in his hand, Xia Fei could not bring himself to be happy.
“The first test is math?” Xia Fei frowned as he muttered. Not even in his dreams could he have imagined that the first test of the martial hall would be mathematics.
“What are you standing around for? It’s not every day you can go to the White Horse Constellation. I’m treating today. Let’s go to the Fragrance Courtyard and play a little,” Ludi casually said. As soon as he got out the door, he threw away the paper listing the exam syllabus without even glancing at it.
Xia Fei sighed. “Why is the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall’s examination even testing math?”
These words drew countless sighs. It appeared that there were many warriors like Xia Fei who were not good at math.
“What’s so weird about it? I heard that they even tested embroidery one time.” A muscular examinee sighed. “Unfortunately, this is the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall. They can do whatever they want.”
“It’s all over! From the seven topics on the preliminary exam, it seems like I won’t have a chance to enter the proper exam venue,” another examinee bemoaned.
…
Xia Fei naturally did not go playing with Ludi. He found an inn to stay the night, pulling an all-nighter to brush up on his math.
The next day, it was the first trial of the preliminary examination of Dragon Ascension Martial Hall: math.
As soon as Xia Fei saw the test paper, he gave up. Xia Fei could not understand the abstruse formulas and geometric designs, let alone answer the question.
When the results were announced that night, Xia Fei unsurprisingly got a zero.
On the third day, music theory! A martial hall’s examination was testing music theory! Xia Fei almost vomited blood.
Zero again.
The fourth day, painting. Xia Fei was utterly speechless. He simply drew a black turtle on the test paper.
This time, not only did he not get any points, he was so lacking in skills that he got negative ten points!
After three days of testing, Xia Fei’s list was at the very bottom of the ma.s.sive ranking list, obvious at a glance: -10 points!
“Someone managed to get negative points! It seems like I’m not the worst,” a towering figure of a man smugly said, gaining back some of his self-confidence through Xia Fei.
Everyone laughed. There was no doubt that the vast majority of people on the list had miserable results, but none of them was as miserable as Xia Fei who now had negative points.
In the crowd, Mu Fuping scowled. She secretly came to take a peek at Xia Fei’s scores every day, but the result left her feeling very disappointed.
Mu Qingping smugly said, “Haha! Xia Fei, that big idiot, he’s made a record in the Dragon Ascension Conclave! Has there ever been anyone who managed to get negative points? In my view, he should hurry up and withdraw to save himself the humiliation! Hmph!”
Mu Fuping immediately turned to leave, asking, “Where is Big Brother Xia Fei now? Three out of seven of the topic of a.s.sessment have already been wasted. This isn’t good at all.”
The faces of her two strong bodyguards darkened. After hesitating for a while, they finally stammered out, “X-Xia Fei went with his new acquaintance Ludi to the Fragrance Courtyard.”
“The Fragrance Courtyard? What place is that?” Mu Fuping curiously asked. On the side, Mu Qingping was already blus.h.i.+ng.
“A place for dancing,” one of the bodyguards said through clenched teeth.
“At a time like this, he’s still in the mood to go dancing? Come one; let’s go and find him,” Mu Fuping grumbled.
“You can’t!” The two bodyguards panicked. “Young miss, only men can go there. You absolutely mustn’t go!”