Era of Mist

After watching for a dozen or so seconds, Shi Tiexin felt he’d lingered long enough. Any longer, and a guard like him would draw too much attention. He glanced around and saw the other guards had mostly finished their tasks. With that, Shi Tiexin extended a powerful arm, draped it over the failed contestant’s shoulder, and began to truly escort him off the stage.

"Hey man, don’t feel so bad. Let’s get you off the stage first," Shi Tiexin said, comforting him with false kindness. "By the way, I saw you fighting. I thought you were actually really strong, and your six-colored aura was pretty bright. How did you end up failing?"

’Ahem. Right. Actually, I didn’t see him at all.’

’With so many people, from so far away, across so many colorful battlefields, how could I possibly have seen *this* guy through the wall of bodies! The truth was, to stay on the stage a little longer, I deliberately picked the person farthest away from me. But to say I saw nothing at all wouldn’t be right either—I must have caught a glimpse of him when I scanned the area.’

’Long story short, I just want to know how this guy failed.’

"See? See? You saw it too, right? I’m not weak!" The failed contestant seemed to clutch at a lifeline upon hearing Shi Tiexin’s words, but then his shoulders slumped as he poured out his woes. "Sigh, I’m such an idiot, really. All I knew was that martial prowess was also useful during the Heart Technique exam, so I focused on practicing my fists and feet. I never imagined that the Six Basic Heart Techniques had to be arranged so carefully!"

’Oho? Arranging the Heart Techniques? So that’s a factor!’

’Come on, tell me more! Spill the beans!’

"Hey man, don’t lose heart. I saw what happened. You were just unlucky and got caught by one move."

’That line was a silver bullet; it worked on anyone who’d been knocked out. As for what kind of move it was, where it landed, and how they were actually defeated... the losers probably didn’t want to dwell on the details, so glossing over them didn’t matter.’

Sure enough, the contestant continued his lament. "Sigh, I’m so stupid, I really am. Knowing Biology was my worst subject, I assigned it to my lower back, thinking it wouldn’t come into play. I never imagined that when I did a flip in mid-air, the glowing figure would stab me right in my lower back with a Biology-empowered thrust!"

’So there’s a rock-paper-scissors system of strengths and weaknesses to this?’

While escorting the rambling contestant off the stage, Shi Tiexin’s eyes widened as he observed the other fights more closely. Indeed, the other contestants were locked in fierce battles with the glowing figures. But looking closer, he could see subtle details in their offense and defense.

Shi Tiexin thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was because his perception had recently improved, but he suddenly understood the key to it all.

In a Wenxin Secret Realm like this, the key to the test for contestants cloaked in an aura of light was that very aura. Once you arranged the light across your body, you were still you, but your strengths and weaknesses were different from usual. Someone who normally had invincible fists, for instance, would find them to be a massive weak point if they assigned a weak subject to them.

Therefore, how one arranged the light of the six subjects became a science in itself. And adapting quickly to a set of weaknesses completely different from one’s own was the key to victory.

Of course, if you were a master of all Six Heart Techniques with no deficiencies whatsoever, then there was nothing to discuss—you could crush your opponent any way you pleased. After all, the glowing figures didn’t seem to employ any advanced martial arts. They mostly relied on head-on combat, supplemented by flanking and sneak attacks.

CRACKLE, POP, BANG. A blaze of multicolored light.

Fights between Martial Artists at this level were generally short. Out of the supposed two-hour provincial exam, probably an hour and a half was dedicated to dealing with the aftermath. The Martial Artists in the more than fourteen hundred secret realms fought with abandon. By the time Shi Tiexin had led the failed contestant off the stage, the medical team was already rushing back onto the circular platform.

CRACK! CRACK! The secret realms shattered one after another as contestants were ejected. This round of combat wasn’t especially brutal; compared to the last one, the proportion of people needing to be carried away on stretchers was much smaller.

Now that he’d squeezed some information out of the guy, Shi Tiexin started to console him in earnest. "Hey, don’t feel so bad. Look at all these other people—they didn’t pass either. With so many failing, there’s no shame in it. You can always try again next year, right?"

"What do you know! You don’t know anything!" The guy suddenly flared up. "They may have been defeated in the second test, but at least they passed the first one! Even if the ’Bronze List’ doesn’t sound very impressive and it’s the lowest of the three tiers, a Bronze List Scholar is still considered an official candidate! Unlike me! I... I’ll be over the age limit next year!"

’First test? Second test? Bronze List?’

’Dude, I honestly wasn’t trying to pump you for information this time, but you’re dropping some serious intel. Why don’t you elaborate?’

"My... my fate is so cruel! WAAAAH! I’ll be the laughingstock of my whole family! I can’t show my face in public anymore~~~!" The more the guy spoke, the more heartbroken he became, until he was covering his face, sobbing, and running off into the distance in tears.

Shi Tiexin couldn’t help but start to raise his hand. ’Hey, man, how about you finish explaining before you run off? Hey!’

In the end, though, Shi Tiexin lowered his hand and quickly returned to his post. No matter what, this gig as a stand-in was worth thirty value points—he absolutely couldn’t afford to mess it up. A quick mental review confirmed what he’d learned: even among those who passed the provincial exam, there were still different tiers and ranks.

’I wonder if the junior provincial exam has a similar system? Probably something like it.’

’Besides, there are new losers on the stage just waiting for me to "comfort" them! A quick glance... whoa, that’s a lot of people. More than failed the first test. There must be over nine hundred of them.’

"Losers, leave the stage!"

The Dragon Map Scholar had spoken again.

Shi Tiexin’s leg muscles tensed instantly, his eyes locking onto the farthest contestant. He was ready to sprint over and provide some "counseling."

This time, however, the defeated contestants were all quite brisk, with none of them lingering on the stage. After all, having passed the first test was still a success, so most of them were breathing a sigh of relief. Some were even smiling as they came down, apparently quite satisfied with their performance.

Shi Tiexin clicked his tongue and gave up, disappointed. ’Whatever, forget all that. I’ll just watch carefully and see how the experts pass this thing.’

"Third round, begin!"

WHOOSH! About five hundred glowing figures appeared. This time, they were even brighter than before. Of course, the contestants remaining on the stage were no pushovers, and their own auras shone with considerable brilliance.

Shi Tiexin watched carefully, hoping to learn a thing or two from the top contestants. He was surprised to find that the short girl nearest to him had actually made it this far. And from the looks of it, this next test wouldn’t stop her either.

"KILL—!"

Don’t let her small size fool you; that short girl was stacked... Ptooey, ptooey, my mistake. I meant she had a massive presence. She was probably a little over 1.6 meters tall, a good two heads shorter than the glowing figure opposite her, but her fighting style was exceptionally savage. He had no idea what school of Ancient Boxing Skill she practiced, but every move was ferocious, every punch landed with bone-jarring impact. Her do-or-die fighting spirit, a willingness to perish with her enemy, was incredibly strong.

Just looking at her physique, Shi Tiexin’s eyes narrowed. ’If I’m not mistaken...’ To avoid the embarrassment of jumping to the wrong conclusion, he took a moment to scan the other female contestants on the stage. ’Yep, can’t be wrong. There’s no one else this short.’ —If he wasn’t mistaken, this short girl had to be the older sister of that little, directionally challenged girl.

’And if my next guess is also correct, then she’s probably a member of my creditor’s family.’