Wang Wu snapped back to his senses and followed the pull of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy until he stopped in front of a five-story pavilion—this was the residence for female examinees. His brows knitted tightly. Was it truly an examinee secretly cultivating… or some external cause, like an accidentally acquired spirit beast that didn't know better?
Before long, two of Wang Wu's colleagues hurried over. The three exchanged looks and nodded. No matter what, they had to investigate and confirm first.
They showed the pavilion's female steward their green jade pendants engraved with the character "Supervisor", then entered with grim faces.
The steward's heart pounded as she followed behind. What happened? What on earth is going on?
In the end, the three located Mo Que'er's room. The sensation of spiritual energy was even stronger here—there was no mistake: someone inside was brazenly drawing in the world's spiritual energy.
This was a crime of the highest order!
It was the first time Wang Wu and the others had encountered anything like this. For a moment, none of them dared to touch the situation rashly. One misstep, and their careers would be ruined forever—no chance of rising again.
"Who's staying in this room?" Wang Wu asked the steward.
There were too many female examinees for her to remember them all, but she did remember the one in this room. She had never seen such a beautiful girl before, so she had paid special attention.
"Reporting to Clerk Wang: the one living here is Mo Que'er."
Wang Wu and the other two froze.
Of course they knew Mo Que'er—fourth place in last year's exam, and the top seed this year. And the Mo family's Mo Xuan had already become an immortal; the whole clan's momentum had surged, their fame soaring.
If it were an ordinary commoner's child, Wang Wu and the others would have kicked the door down and seized them first, asking questions later.
But the one inside was Mo Que'er.
The three traded glances—none of them dared to make a move.
To reach their current rank, they were hardly reckless brutes. They all knew something—at least a little—about "cultivation quotas." If Mo Que'er was secretly cultivating, it was indeed a grave taboo… but if she placed in the top three this year, who would dare say a word?
A thorny mess.
Yet it was their duty; they couldn't ignore it.
After a quick discussion, they sent one man racing back to the yamen to report to their superior.
Wang Wu and another clerk stood at the doorway, feeling the violent fluctuations of spiritual energy. They were in deep trouble. The past few years had been smooth—why did they have to run into something like this this year?
Whether the final outcome was good or bad, these clerks would not escape unscathed.
Cold sweat and hot sweat poured down Wang Wu's back. At last, the fluctuations settled. A moment later—creak—the door opened from within, and Mo Que'er stepped out, having finished cultivating.
Wang Wu and the other clerk both felt their eyes brighten.
Mo Que'er seemed bathed in a sea of pure white light—so sacred, so untouchable.
Mo Que'er swept her gaze over the three at the door, gave the steward a slight nod, and went off to eat lunch.
Only after a long while did Wang Wu regain his senses. He shoved his dumbstruck colleague. They hurried after her. By now they were sure: it had been Mo Que'er cultivating in secret—how else could she look so transcendent?
Mo Que'er found an elegant little tavern, chose a small private room by the window, summoned the waiter, and ordered over a dozen dishes. From her storage pouch she took out a silver ingot and paid. These days her pocket money was truly more than she could spend; it was fortunate she had a convenient storage pouch, or an ordinary purse would never hold it all.
The waiter didn't recognize anything unusual, but Wang Wu and his companion, standing nearby, certainly did. They both went rigid in shock.
That little pouch… could it be the legendary storage pouch only immortals possessed?
Heavens—Mo Que'er, a mere examinee, had one?!
Mo Xuan, riding Xiao Ba, soon reached the skies above Qing Shan's commandery capital.
He glanced down at the colossal city below—larger even than Beijing on Earth—and felt almost nothing.
After growing accustomed to the three Dao Lords' immense Immortal Heavens, this mortal city was… just that.
Nothing special.
His horizons were simply higher now.
Mo Xuan put away Xiao Ba, which would attract crowds, and drifted down leisurely. Sensing Mo Que'er's aura, he flew straight over and entered the tavern through the window.
"Great-Grandfather! You're here!" Mo Que'er threw herself joyfully into his arms. It had been some time—they truly missed each other.
Mo Xuan patted her little head and smoothed her hair, then flicked a glance at Wang Wu and the other clerk. Hmm?
Seeing the "Supervisor" jade pendants at their waists, he immediately understood.
Wang Wu and the other clerk, swept by Mo Xuan's glance—an immortal who had appeared from nowhere—both s*ck*d in a cold breath. Their livers and gall bladders felt like they were shaking. They hurriedly bowed and, very sensibly, withdrew from the tavern.
Not long after, the clerk who had run back to report arrived, drenched in sweat. His superior had also asked his superior, and finally the answer came back: "No issue."
Wang Wu and the others understood at once.
Mo Que'er was absolutely locked in as top three this year.
Ah—having an immortal in the family really was different.
Mo Xuan accompanied Mo Que'er through lunch, gave her a few reminders, then went to the commandery governor's office to report in.
The commandery governor, Lu Zhishan, was one hundred and thirty this year—third son of the noble Lu clan's head. Gifted with brilliance from childhood, he knew the clan lacked the resources to secure cultivation quotas. He took the Grand Examination only once, won fifth place, then entered officialdom and rose smoothly until becoming the governor of an entire commandery.
Nourished daily with spirit grain and spirit medicines, Lu Zhishan looked not yet thirty-five. Among ordinary mortals, he was the picture of success—high-spirited and accomplished.
Lu Zhishan had already received word: this year's chief examiner was Huang Xiuxiu, an immortal woman of Qianzao Sect, and the proctoring immortal was Mo Xuan of the Mo family, from Mingyu County.
He had prepared a feast and the finest guest rooms—but from morning until past noon, neither immortal showed up.
Lu Zhishan remained outwardly calm. Qianzao Sect's female immortals tended to have larger airs—the privileges of beauty, so to speak.
As for Mo Xuan—newly ascended though he was—his assets now could even exceed those of ordinary Earth Immortals. An entire spirit island! The Lu clan's ancestors had produced an Earth Immortal, and even then they only rented a tiny spirit island.
And Mo Xuan also had a Hongwu warship. The Lu clan had only two transport spirit ships; there wasn't even a large enough place in the capital to dock a Hongwu warship!
Compared to those two, the three cultivation quotas didn't even seem that valuable anymore.
It was easy to foresee: the Mo family would become the next great noble house—perhaps even surpassing the Lu clan.
So if Mo Xuan carried himself grandly, it was only natural. Lu Zhishan was thinking exactly that when—
Mo Xuan strode into the hall, gave Lu Zhishan a slight nod, and sat down on a chair as if it were his own home.
Lu Zhishan startled and hurriedly rose to bow and greet the immortal.
Mo Xuan waved a hand, indicating no need for formality.
Lu Zhishan exchanged pleasantries. Hearing Mo Xuan had already eaten, he ordered the feast cleared away. As they spoke, Lu Zhishan studied him—so young! He looked no different from the examinees taking the exam this year.
Lu Zhishan maintained himself well, but crow's-feet still rimmed his eyes, and his vitality was not what it used to be.
Only immortals truly possessed eternal youth.
Mo Xuan was an excellent conversationalist and had no immortal "airs" at all. He chatted with Lu Zhishan from local customs to astronomy and geography, then to Mo family marriages, then to spirit-island aquaculture, then to the recent Grand Examinations…
Unknowingly, even the sky had begun to darken.
Lu Zhishan drank several cups of tea, visited the latrine twice, and still couldn't keep up with Mo Xuan's tempo. Their knowledge reserves were simply not comparable. Mo Xuan had soaked in the Grand Academy library for over two centuries; his reading volume already rivaled immortals a thousand years old.
Lu Zhishan could speak fluently only about affairs within Qing Shan Commandery. For everything else, he listened carefully and nodded along.
Mo Xuan lifted his thick brows and rose.
Lu Zhishan, puzzled, rose as well.
A fragrant breeze swept into the hall. A slender figure in goose-yellow appeared—tall, sweet-faced:
Huang Xiuxiu, immortal woman of Qianzao Sect.
The three exchanged greetings. Seeing it was already late, Lu Zhishan went to arrange the evening meal.
Mo Xuan had met Huang Xiuxiu a few times before. Back when he had just entered the academy, she was already a famous figure—most notably for the time she went alone to the academy dining hall, wandered an entire afternoon, and still couldn't find it. Her "directional blindness" had reached legendary heights.
So her lateness didn't surprise Mo Xuan at all. He had even been thinking: if she still hadn't arrived by the day before the exam, he would go pick her up.
Huang Xiuxiu, of course, wouldn't tell Mo Xuan that she'd left five days early out of fear of taking a wrong turn. She entered An Prefecture on the first day, found Qing Shan by the third… and finally reached the capital today.
She had a map, yes—but if she turned even slightly, she would lose all sense of east, south, west, and north.
In this world, direction-finding really was a nightmare. The three suns and the moon hung overhead without rising or setting, there was no compass; immortals had map tools like a "GPS," but mortals could only rely on memory and asking around.
Huang Xiuxiu's expression stayed calm as she greeted him warmly:
"Junior Brother Mo—lately you've been making waves. No matter where one goes, one hears your name."
Mo Xuan chuckled awkwardly. It was just good luck.
Huang Xiuxiu immediately returned to her specialty:
"Junior Brother Mo, you're not young anymore. You should consider finding a cultivation partner. Got anyone you fancy? I can go speak on your behalf."
Mo Xuan broke into a sweat and shook his head hard—no, no, none.
Huang Xiuxiu's habit of jumping to conclusions and matchmaking at random had caused several emotional disasters at the academy. Better to keep his distance.
After dinner, Lu Zhishan personally escorted the two immortals to the west wing guest rooms.
With nothing to do, Huang Xiuxiu wandered over to Mo Xuan's room and teased:
"Junior Brother Mo, the layout of our rooms is pretty much the same as in your Romance of the Western Wing story, isn't it?"
Mo Xuan's Romance of the Western Wing was a localized version he had adapted for this world…
(He rewrote the tale: Cui Yingying, a noble heiress; Zhang Sheng, a poor scholarly examinee; they meet on Qing Yuan Festival, fall in love, the family opposes; both later reunite at the academy as cultivation partners. No servant "Hongniang," since this world has no true servants; forcing her in would create melodramatic love triangles, which Mo Xuan disliked.)
The story was good—except…
It caused a naming disaster.
At the time, the academy happened to have a male student actually named Zhang Sheng, and a female student actually named Cui Yingying, from the same commandery. Worse, Zhang Sheng wasn't poor at all—he was noble!
Mo Xuan had been cornered in his dorm by Zhang Sheng demanding an explanation: "How is my Zhang clan 'impoverished'?!" It nearly came to blows.
In the end, Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying really did become a couple—so it turned into a happy coincidence.
Huang Xiuxiu loved the story and had specifically come to meet Mo Xuan, and that was how they became acquainted.
Mo Xuan rolled his eyes repeatedly. "It's late. I'm not seeing you out."
Huang Xiuxiu returned to her room and sighed. What a block of wood.
In a blink, the day of the Grand Examination arrived.
Before dawn, the examinees were already lined up like dragons preparing to enter.
The examination grounds were in the north of the capital, a huge area set aside—over ten thousand mu—quiet and isolated. On exam day, strict orders were enforced and the entire city fell silent.
High walls surrounded the grounds, built from stone blocks without a crack. The gates were thick, iron-plated, painted vermilion, studded with brass nails.
Armed soldiers patrolled everywhere, armor clanking sharply.
Twenty gates were set around the grounds. Examinees queued at their designated gates by exam number, and had to pass three severe inspections before entering.
Male and female exam halls were separate—men to the left, women to the right.
When the sky fully brightened, over two hundred thousand examinees had finally entered.
Naturally, the exam wasn't held in a single plaza with two hundred thousand desks—finding your seat alone would take days.
This was a world where Dao arts could reshape reality. The Grand Examination wasn't only to choose three "almost pre-decided" cultivation slots; more importantly, it was the lifeblood that supplied the prefectures, commanderies, and counties with talent. The empire's finest minds gathered here.
Inside the grounds stood specially built exam towers, each at least five stories high. Every floor was divided into small private rooms—two rows facing a corridor.
Each room had blue-brick flooring, uniform pearwood desks and chairs, complete brush-ink-paper-inkstone sets, and a small bed for resting. In spare space, one could pace a few steps.
Each room had a fixed number. By exam number, candidates could easily find their own. If they got lost, they could ask the soldiers.
Mo Xuan and Huang Xiuxiu rode with Lu Zhishan by carriage to the grounds.
A clerk reported:
"Reporting to the two immortals: this year's examinees, 223,871, have all entered."
Huang Xiuxiu nodded and gave the order:
"Seal the gates."