Gate of God

Ping Yang suddenly heard Fang Zhengzhi’s voice and this jolted her out of her thoughts.

Borrow the Blazing Qilin Spear...

For fun?!

What did he mean?

This was the combat examinations, who ever borrowed or lent weapons in here? Even though they were temporary allies, this did not mean that they were going to be on the same side the whole time?

How shameless must he be in order to even think of asking?

Furthermore, the Blazing Qilin Spear was one of the 10 greatest treasures in the Great Xia Dynasty.

At the very least, he should respect the Blazing Qilin Spear and be polite about it. He had to promise to treat the Blazing Qilin Spear well.

What did he mean by for fun?

In an instant, that shred of a good impression that she formed disappeared into thin air.

Ping Yang was furious. She had gone through so much begging and pleading just to get this Blazing Qilin Spear, yet now, someone was asking to take it out for a spin...

"No way!" Ping Yang rejected him outrightly.

"Oh, I see, then it’s okay!" Fang Zhengzhi did not seem to mind and was not disappointed at all.

Ping Yang’s clear gaze stared through Fang Zhengzhi. Did I reject him too outrightly? I guess I could have let him take a look.

She was rather generous if people asked nicely.

After all, Fang Zhengzhi would not dare to steal her Blazing Qilin Spear.

That was her special right.

Just as she was thinking about it, Fang Zhengzhi asked again, "If you can’t lend me your Blazing Qilin Spear, do you have any other treasures? Maybe a good sword that you can lend me. You’re a princess after all, I’m sure you have something?"

"I’m sure you have something?"

Fang Zhengzhi’s voice echoed through the World of the Sage.

All of the candidates were stunned when they heard this. They could not believe how shameless Fang Zhengzhi was.

"Fun... I will make sure you have fun!" Ping Yang could not take it any longer.

The Blazing Qilin Spear in her hand began to roar. She did not send it flying at Su Donglin, sending it towards Fang Zhengzhi instead.

The golden light was extremely domineering.

Fang Zhengzhi jumped. He had thought that he was rather sincere. She could have lent anything other than the Blazing Qilin Spear.

He wasn’t particularly picky. It could have been a blade, a pole...

Why would she attack him all of a sudden?

He may not have experienced the power of the Blazing Qilin Spear personally, but he was not blind. There was no way he would defeat it head on.

As such, Fang Zhengzhi began to run.

Ping Yang chased him manically at the back.

Of course, Fang Zhengzhi could not run too far. He had to ensure that Su Donglin did not escape their control.

As such, he ran circles around Su Donglin.

Ping Yang raged and followed behind him, chasing for her life. However, due to the differences in their cultivation level, she was much slower.

The entire scene began to look very strange.

The battle had turned into a chase between the two of them.

All of the candidates did not know what to think of this development.

"What’s going on?"

Just as they were trying to figure out what was going on, Su Donglin raged.

"Fang Zhengzhi!" Su Donglin could almost breathe fire.

Is this the time to be borrowing weapons? And then, after trying to borrow weapons, he’s playing catching in front of me?

What is the meaning of this!

Do I mean so little?

Su Donglin had lost count of how many times he had been ignored by Fang Zhengzhi. He hated this feeling; he had always been the center of attention.

"Go to hell Fang Zhengzhi!" Su Donglin could no longer suppress his rage. He couldn’t even be bothered to change his sword as he charged at Fang Zhengzhi.

A strange black shadow appeared on the tip of his blade once again. This time, it was even darker, almost like a bottomless abyss.

Fang Zhengzhi, who was running around, felt the blade flying towards him.

Then, he smirked, "You’re finally angry!"

Without hesitation, he sped up and the electricity around him exploded outwards. A bolt of purple electricity passed through Ping Yang.

Even though Ping Yang was wearing the Red Flame Flower Armor, she still did not dare to face the electricity head on.

As such, she could only use the Blazing Qilin Spear to block it.

Fang Zhengzhi used this opportunity to leap into the air, his white jade blade glimmering in the air. The white light glowed like the stars in the Milky Way.

At the same time, Yan Xiu also attacked. The fan in his hand glowed radiantly as it linked up together with his tree field.

It turned into a whole new drawing.

A huge wave of suppressive force fired towards Su Donglin. It brought with it immense sadness and the branches of trees.

Upon seeing this, he finally reacted. As a spectator for most of the battle, he could clearly see that Su Donglin had attacked Fang Zhengzhi with everything he got.

From the start, Su Donglin had no way of retreating.

He could not possibly pass up this incredible opportunity.

Two blades appeared to his left and right.

"Hack together!"

"Kaboom!"

Fang Zhengzhi and Su Donglin clashed, then, Yan Xiu and Wang Chuanping’s attacks hit.

"Sh*t!"

Su Donglin spat out a mouthful of blood as he stared at the four people in front of him. He was immensely pale and tired from the battle.

He held a broken sword in his hand...

Fang Zhengzhi’s blade trembled slightly, humming as it did. But, it did not break.

This meant that in the clash, Fang Zhengzhi had come out on top by a little bit.

Combined with Yan Xiu and Wang Chuanping’s attacks, Su Donglin did not stand a chance.

"Have I lost?!" Su Donglin was stunned. He had never expected to lose in the first round, but the fact was that he was out. He was quite badly injured.

As the other candidates looked at the bloody Su Donglin, no one could believe that he was out.

"Su Donglin lost?!"

"Isn’t that a little too quick..."

"It did not look like he gave Fang Zhengzhi any trouble at all?"

The candidates looked at the defeated Su Donglin. No one was willing to accept the truth that was laid out in front of them.

Before entering the World of the Save, everyone was thinking of how to defeat Fang Zhengzhi, or of how Fang Zhengzhi would avoid Su Donglin’s challenge.

But the fact was...

Su Donglin’s defeat had opened up the Imperial Combat Examinations.

The First-Class Roll, advanced Heavenly Reflection State Su Donglin, was knocked out in the first round?!

No one could believe this. All of them refused to believe it despite seeing it with their own eyes.

In the middle of the crowd, an initially calm pair of eyes glimmered.

Nangong Mu ruffled his clothes and his lips parted, "Fang Zhengzhi huh? I wonder how much effort I would need?"

No one heard Nangong Mu speak because he was too soft. It was almost as if he didn’t speak.

But if anyone had heard it, they would have been shocked beyond words.

Fang Zhengzhi had proven that he was on par with Su Donglin. What did Nangong Mu mean by how much effort would he require?

Nangong Mu did not look at Fang Zhengzhi any longer and his expression returned to one of calm.

Not far away from Nangong Mu, Xing Qingsui, who was dressed in black, was also staring at Fang Zhengzhi. He exuded a strong aura of battle intent.

"Interesting, this combat examinations will be interesting!"

"Master, is it time to act?" A middle aged man standing behind Xing Qingsui spoke up. He was dressed unassumingly and looked rather frail, but he had a scar on his neck.

It looked like his throat had been slit by a knife. However, no one knew how he avoided death.

"No, I want to observe further!" Xing Qingsui shook his head.

...

Inside the Imperial Academy, King Duan and Han Zhangfeng frowned. They had never expected this battle to end so quickly.

Furthermore, Su Donglin did not even injure Fang Zhengzhi.

"I had heard that Su Donglin was quite powerful, but lacks experience. It really showed today!" Han Zhangfeng looked at the bloody Su Donglin and shook his head.

"Su Donglin had never been in battle, so he didn’t understand the importance of a cool head!" King Duan nodded, then looked to the Ninth Prince.

"Ninth Brother, what do you think about Su Donglin’s first round exit?"

The Ninth Prince was still stunned. He stiffened slightly upon hearing King Duan’s question.

"About that..."

"Forget it, you’ve been addicted to horse racing all these years. I doubt you have any interest in this. If you’re ever free, come roam the camps with me and expand your horizons."

"Thank you brother. However, you mentioned battle experience just now. Has Fang Zhengzhi ever been on a battlefield?"

"Him? He’s a hillbilly. What kind of battle experience can he have? He may have some hunting experience. His victory was based on some wit. If he was ever in a real battle, I think he will wet his pants. It should show when he fights Xing Qingsui." King Duan chuckled dismissively.

"Mm, King Duan is right. Xing Qingsui has been under the tutelage of Xing Hou all this time. He probably knows all the tricks by now." Han Zhangfeng nodded in approval.

"Official Han’s words are exactly my sentiments. However, there is a problem. Fang Zhengzhi and three others defeated Su Donglin, who shall move on to the second round?" King Duan asked.

"Wang Chuanping challenged Su Donglin, so he should pass!" Han Zhangfeng immediately understood what King Duan was driving at.

"Okay, since Official Han is the Chief Examiner, we will do just that. Brother, do you have any objection?" King Duan did not even wait for a reply before glancing at the examiners.

...

Inside the World of the Sage, a huge door appeared in front of Wang Chuanping. At the same time, a crisp voice echoed throughout the space.

"Su Donglin is out, Wang Chuanping advances to the second round!"

All of the candidates, who had not even collected themselves after that shock, all turned to Wang Chuanping.

Their eyes filled with surprise.

Never did they expect that the winner would be Wang Chuanping!

"What’s going on?"

"Why is Wang Chuanping through to the second round?"

"I’m guessing it’s because he challenged Su Dongping?"

Some of those who had entered in the competition before guessed this. Such scenarios had happened before.

Under such circumstances, the judgement lay with the Chief Examiner.

Sometimes, the first one to attack would be deemed the winner. Sometimes, the one who inflicted the heaviest damage would be deemed the winner. Other times, the one to issue the challenge would be handed the credit.

However, for the current case, Fang Zhengzhi should have been he logical winner. Afterall, he had done the most work.

Without Fang Zhengzhi, Yan Xiu and Wang Chuanping could not have succeeded.

But the fact was that Wang Chuanping was through.

All of the candidates could not understand the decision. However, the decision did not contravene any rules so no one protested.

They all looked at Fang Zhengzhi, expecting him to protest.

However, when Fang Zhengzhi heard it, he was extremely happy.

"Hahaha... that’s great, I didn’t make it through!" It was almost as if Fang Zhengzhi had expected this to happen.

"That’s great?!"

All of the candidates could not believe their ears, Is he out of his mind?

Ping Yang was immensely conflicted. She should have been angry about being struck by Fang Zhengzhi’s lightning. However, in the next moment, Su Donglin was defeated.

She wondered why she was so ‘cooperative’ just now. Was she smart, or dumb?

Now that she heard what Fang Zhengzhi had said, she was even more conflicted.

"Why are you so happy?"

"Of course I’m happy. I never wanted to go to the second round this way." Fang Zhengzhi looked at Ping Yang with disdain.

"This way? You don’t want to enter the second round through battle? Then what do you want?" Ping Yang felt that she was always being schooled by Fang Zhengzhi. However, the truth was she couldn’t understand what Fang Zhengzhi was thinking.

"I want to go through there!" Fang Zhengzhi did not explain any further, simply pointing away from himself.

Fang Zhengzhi was actually pointing towards the broken bridge. The mist still covered the other side, and no one knew how big the gap was.

It was impossible to see what was on the other side.

"You want to cross the broken bridge?! Why... why?" Even Ping Yang was shocked. She knew what the broken bridge was.

"Fang Zhengzhi wanted to cross the broken bridge?!"

"Is he dumb? Based on his abilities, he can easily find someone weaker than him and bully them!"

"Why is someone so dumb already in the Heavenly Reflection State whilst I’m still in the Star Conglomerate..."

All of the candidates were shocked to hear what Fang Zhengzhi had to say. That was a very willful thing to consider doing.

If he couldn’t cross the broken bridge, he would be out.

Fang Zhengzhi ignited the discussion around him. He looked at the broken bridge, deep in thought, almost as if he could see the other side.

"Did you forget our goal?"

"Our goal? You’re referring to that sword... right?" Ping Yang seemed to remember something.

"Exactly, since we want to find that sword, we cannot fight our way through this examination. As such, we must try the broken bridge." Fang Zhengzhi asserted.

"But what if you can’t go over? Then won’t you be out? Then, how would you enter the second round?" Ping Yang did not understand.

"I already thought this through. I will first find someone to accompany me. If I can’t cross it, I will push him down. That way, I can enter the second round." Fang Zhengzhi said honestly.

Ping Yang was stunned, then her eyes glimmered.

"Fang Zhengzhi... there is no one on this Earth who is more shameless than you! However, your idea is not too bad. Furthermore, it sounds like a lot of fun. I have decided to stay with you. I will even help you catch someone to stay behind with you." Ping Yang said excitedly.

"It’ll be great if you can get one for me too!" Yan Xiu chimed in.