The literary exam continued.
In the tense, but stable final three days of the literary exam, Xie Nandu maintained her stable performance. By the end of the last round of competition, she was still in the first place. As for Zhu Xia, she got second place once due to a subpar performance in a certain round of the literary exam. But other than that, she was in first place for the other rounds.
The young daoist Gu Ming also topped the rankings in the remaining rounds apart from the round against Xie Nandu where he failed to clinch first place.
The spots for the final round of the literary exam were already determined, these three individuals were undoubtedly among them. Apart from these three, there were three others who had achieved impressive results throughout the journey. However, their names were overshadowed by the existence of these three individuals.
The final round of the literary exam was scheduled for early morning.
With what had transpired on the second day of the literary exam, many people gathered at the lakeside today.
Many prominent figures and numerous young cultivators came.
A lot of people actually came here for one purpose: that was to see Xie Nandu's defeat.
The Myriad Willow Convention had been held for so many years, and whether it was the written test or the martial test, there had never been a young cultivator from the secular dynasties who emerged as the champion. In the two hundred years of the Great Liang Dynasty, no one had even made it to the final round. So, for Xie Nandu to stand here today was already a historic achievement.
However, the foreign cultivators still did not want to see her emerge as the final champion, even though she was currently the most likely candidate.
"Even if she becomes the final champion, it should not be credited to the Great Liang Dynasty. She's a student of the academy, the academy should be considered as part of our foreign land cultivation world no matter what."
Before the start of the final round of the literary exam, many young cultivators could not help but worry that they might witness this young girl making history.
"Why deceive ourselves? She's a Liang citizen and the academy has always been associated with the Great Liang Dynasty. If she becomes the champion, it naturally belongs to the Great Liang Dynasty."
Someone spoke up, showing an understanding of the situation.
However, upon hearing this, the expressions of the others turned ugly. They naturally knew it too, it was just that they were unwilling to admit it.
"I believe that after losing last time, Gu Ming will surely strive harder after knowing humiliation. That girl may not necessarily become the champion. At the very least, there is the Saintess. She's been performing consistently throughout, and it is possible that she might become the champion today, right?"
Someone still did not want to see such a situation and spoke coldly, uttering some noncommittal words.
"The girl has come this far, but it's not necessarily due to her own abilities. Maybe it's because the Great Liang Dynasty is hosting this convention and they leaked the test questions to her. Otherwise, how could she possibly get first place all the way?"
A cultivator spoke like this, there was a lot of dissatisfaction in his words.
The jealousy that overflowed from his words was palpable to everyone.
Many people found this argument ridiculous, but at this moment, no one spoke up. They remained silent.
"How laughable."
In the crowd, someone laughed coldly, quickly attracting the attention of countless people.
When they saw who it was, people fell silent once more.
It was because that person's status was too high. Not only was the sect behind him powerful, but he was also a character on the Latent Dragon List. When he spoke at this moment, everyone naturally dared not refute him.
"If you don't know, so be it. Can you find peace of mind by coming up with so many reasons?"
He shook his head and walked away towards the lakeside. He was actually not planning to stay and watch the final literary exam.
After he left, the crowd became noisy once again.
However, Chen Chao stood at a distance, watching that person's receding back view, and was silent for a long time.
……
……
A gentle breeze blew, cicadas chirped, and the test papers finally arrived on the desks by the lakeside.
Then, silence fell as the participants began quietly answering the questions.
Only six people were qualified to participate in the final literary exam.
There was only Xie Nandu from the Great Liang Dynasty.
Bookman arrived at the scene to personally mark the papers.
The onlookers on the pavilion quieted down, looking over here rather nervously.
It had been many years since there had been such anticipation for the emergence of the final top scorer in the Myriad Willow Convention's literary exam.
After an unknown amount of time, as the bell rang, the first round of answering came to an end.
Unlike the previous exams, this final exam consisted of three rounds, with each round consisting of ten questions. The cumulative scores of the three rounds would determine the top scorer.
Of course, if the scores were close, they would continue testing.
At the end of each round, the scores would not be announced, but there would be an hour break.
Soon, an hour passed.
The second round began.
Bookman glanced at the few people present before collecting the answer sheets.
……
……
The three rounds of answering quickly concluded.
The six individuals by the lakeside got up and left.
Chen Chao hurriedly approached and handed a bag of honey dates, asking, "How did it go?"
Xie Nandu picked up a honey date, placed it in her mouth, and said with a nod, "Not bad, it's delicious."
"Who's asked you about this? I'm asking about your performance in the exam!"
Chen Chao was a bit annoyed.
Xie Nandu did not speak for some time. Then, she said rather solemnly, "These honey dates have been out for too long."
Hearing this, Chen Chao was completely speechless.
Fortunately, the rankings were soon released.
As many people had anticipated, Xie Nandu did not secure the top spot in one go. Instead, she shared first place with Gu Ming and Zhu Xia, who achieved the same score as her.
The three people were ranked first.
The additional tests could not be avoided.
Many people breathed a sigh of relief. This situation was actually what they all wanted to see. The woman in front of them had not been able to become champion in one go.
Chen Chao said, "Will there be seven or eight additional tests today?"
He was referring to the scene on the second day of the exam.
Xie Nandu did not say anything and just walked towards the lakeside.
Soon, the first additional exam had already started.
Chen Chao listened to the sound of the bell, his thoughts drifting.
It was unknown how long had passed.
Xie Nandu arrived next to him again and took the initiative to speak before Chen Chao could say anything, "There was a difficult question, Zhu Xia probably couldn't answer it.
Chen Chao furrowed his brows.
Zhu Xia had initially wanted to compete with Xie Nandu, but if she was eliminated now, she would only be in third place.
Would this blow be too big for Zhu Xia?
Sure enough, when the subsequent rankings were released, Zhu Xia indeed finished third place due to one question.
That saintess of the Myriad Heaven Palace stood in the distance, pouting with a hint of frustration. She had actually known during the test that she would lose, but accepting defeat was not something she necessarily had to accept.
Chen Chao shook his head, realizing this young girl had to grow amidst setbacks.
"In this case, you have to compete with him again."
Chen Chao lamented, "This person named Gu Ming is indeed quite remarkable. It is said that he has royal bloodline from the previous, previous dynasty. He's really quite extraordinary."
Xie Nandu responded, "He merely studied a little more, there's no need for such exaggeration."
After saying this, she walked towards the lakeside.
The current round of the exam had turned into a repetition of the second day.
However, nobody knew how many times they would tie today.
Perhaps today's competition would be even more exciting than that day?
……
……
By the lake.
Bookman smiled and said, "How are we competing today?"
He had prepared a number of questions, but he could also offer them other options.
Gu Ming said, "If Daoist Xie is willing, we don't have to write down the answers, we can just present them verbally here. If we can convince the other party, then it will be considered a correct answer."
Xie Nandu nodded and said, "Okay."
Bookman smiled and did not question.
Gu Ming opened his mouth and began asking a question.
Xie Nandu quickly came up with an answer.
Then, it was her turn to speak and the opponent answered.
This went on for over two hours, both of them asked more than ten questions.
Xie Nandu furrowed her brows. Thinking of a question, she then opened her mouth.
Gu Ming frowned and became rather silent.
The lakeside was very quiet.
Everyone was looking at Gu Ming.
They were praying for this young man to give an answer.
Because they did not want to see the Great Liang Dynasty's cultivator win.
But Gu Ming's expression became very ugly and beads of sweat kept rolling down his forehead.
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