Chapter 196

: Storm and Fire
Translator: 
Sparrow Translations 
 Editor: 
Sparrow Translations
Han Zhangfeng was not the only person to lose his cool.
The entire Imperial Academy exploded into chatter upon seeing Yan Xiu and Fang Zhengzhi appear on the screen.
No one could explain why Fang Zhengzhi, Yan Xiu, and the three others could all pass the Twin Stone Tablets.
Could it be that they had managed to memorize all 3000 words on the first tablet and copy them over to the second one flawlessly?
How is that possible?
At this moment, everyone could only think of one possibility.

Did they cheat?!

…
What could they possibility have done to cheat and give all five of them superhuman memory?
No one could figure it out. The candidates of the combat examinations were also equally stumped.
Fang Zhengzhi was standing idly in the third round.
This was also a plain. There were rocks piled neatly on one side and a stone house stood to the east of the plain. It was surrounded by a forest of trees.
In the plains, each of the candidates were hurt rather badly.
However, they all stopped battling, staring in awe at the five figures who had appeared on the plain.

Fang… Fang Zhengzhi?!


Five people?!


Why is it five people… how did they make it to the third round?

All of the candidates remembered the three hostages that Ping Yang caught. They were thought of as being extremely unlucky. But now, two of them stood in the third round.

Gulp!
One of the candidates swallowed his saliva with difficulty.

Could it be that… they crossed the Broken Bridge?!


If it’s five people, wouldn’t it mean that they crossed the Twin Stone Tablets as well?
Another candidate added.

How is that possible?! I will never believe that all five of them passed the Twin Stone Tablets!

Their shock was possibly even greater than Han Zhangfeng and the others in the Imperial Academy. After all, they had paid in blood to get to the third round.
But Fang Zhengzhi and his group were unblooded.
They didn’t even have a scar.

Oh, so you are only in the third round?
Fang Zhengzhi looked at the surrounding candidates. He seemed slightly surprised, but a different kind of surprised as compared to the other candidates.

What do you mean by only?

The candidates were completely thrown off by the comment.

Then, you all can carry on!
Fang Zhengzhi did not see a need to explain himself to them.
He just snatched the mold from one of the hostages and placed it inside his Heart Protection Mirror.
This mold contained the 3000 characters on the Twin Stone Tablets and was of significantly higher value.
He wanted to keep it as a souvenir.
Furthermore, it was the key ingredient to press.
That being said, it was not that easy to make the mold for 3000 words in under 15 minutes.
If not for the abilities that he had gotten in this world, allowing him to form the mold so easily, he would not have finished it in such a short time.
If this was the previous world, he would probably take more than an hour to form the words.
Fang Zhengzhi did not explain this to the other candidates, and did not bother wandering the battleground. The number of candidates was less than he expected.
This meant that there were people already through to the fourth round.
There were only four worlds in the World of the Sage. Entering the fourth round meant that one was into the final round of the combat examinations.

Is that the las barrier?
Fang Zhengzhi looked at the stone house some distance away.
He had no idea what was inside. Everyone who entered had no memory of what had happened inside. Also, no one had every come out of the stone house…
…
The rain in the capital showed no signs of stopping. In fact, it grew in intensity, eventually turning into a downpour.
 
Very little people roamed the streets in this weather.
Even the guards of the city showed signs of frustration as they stood at the gates.
 
Just at this moment, a group braved the rain and walked towards the city. They were all armored soldiers. However, as they walked, it was almost as if the rain parted for them, never actually landing on their armor.
This scene alone was sufficient for others to know that they were all at least in the Heavenly Reflection State.
Each of the soldiers rode a fine stallion. Each one was pitch black and their hooves were covered in scales. They kicked up clouds of mist as they galloped.
The guards at the gate immediately rid themselves of their frustrations. Those expressions were quickly replaced with ones of respect.
They did not stop as they passed through the gates.
They were headed for the palace complex.
 
When this group of soldiers passed, the guards heaved a sigh of relief. However, their eyes glimmered with curiosity and nerves.
Calm seemed to return after the soldiers left.
But things were not as they seemed.
 
15 minutes after the group of soldiers passed the gates, a black robed man wearing a hat appeared in their field of view.
The guards tensed once again.
This figure was not as open with his cultivation level and abilities as that group of soldiers. However, the guards could tell that he was not a simple person.
In fact, anyone who was traveling alone in such torrential rain would attract attention. Furthermore, this person wore his hat very low, obscuring his face from view.
 

Freeze, take off your hat!
Two of the guards reacted instinctively.
 
The figure stood still in the rain.
However, he did not take off his hat. He stood there quietly, almost like a black statue.

Didn’t you hear me, I asked you to take off your hat?
The two guards bellowed once again, their spears raised. They glimmered after being washed by the rain.
A line of archers above them were also alerted to the scene.
They quickly drew their bows and tensed. They were ready to shoot at a moment’s notice.
Security at the capital was incredibly tight.
There were two guards outside the gate, eight more inside, and a line of archers above. There were no less than 20 guards.
 
No one dared to act rashly with such a troop guarding the gates.
 
But the black robed man moved.
After the bows were drawn, he began to move excruciatingly slowly. He raised his hands, almost as if he was surrendering.
 
The guards began to tense.
Their training told them that these people were always extremely dangerous. They would not let down their guard until the threat was gone. This man had to first take off his hat and announce his identity.
If it was someone suspicious, they would instantly raise the alarm, activating the guards in the city, including those in the guard camp.

Take off your hat slowly. Do not try to resist. There are at least 10 arrows aimed at you!
The guard warned. This was both a warning and a test.
The black robed man did not speak. He raised his hand slowly and pointed it at the two guards.

Fire!

The guards’ expressions changed. They had already seen the black robed man draw something from his sleeves. His sleeves were pitch dark, but there was something glowing faintly.
That was a scary sight.

Bang bang bang…

The sound of arrows releasing pierced through the sky.
10 arrows pierced the rain without any loss to their momentum as their bright tips, glowing faintly in the rain, flew towards the black robed man.

Hum!

A ray of light shone from the man’s sleeves. In a swift motion, he broke all ten arrows and shot through the rain. He passed by the bodies of the two guards and left a small crack on the city walls.
It was a swift knife stroke.
 
The two guards looked at the black robed man in disbelief.
However, they could not speak. Their throats had already been slit. Each slit was as clinical and clean as the one on the city wall.
The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping.
A second wave of arrows was fired, but the black robed man had left.
It was almost as if he never appeared at the city gates.
He had killed two guards.
Then he had left?
This did not make any sense, especially for someone as skilled as him. But that was what he did, and he did it all without saying a single word.
…
On the banks of a lake, a red rock stood tall in the rain. It was almost like a raging fire in the rain and it looked like it was going to boil away all the rain in the sky.
A lady in a white dress stood atop this rock. She held a green umbrella in her hand. There was an ink painting on the umbrella.
However, this painting was clearly no ordinary painting.
From the stroke of the brush, to the red stamp at the back of the painting, everything about it screamed that it was worth more than jade or jewels.
 
However, this painting was drawn on the umbrella. And the lady was using it in the rain.
She raised her head slightly as she looked in the direction of Yan Capital. Her silky black hair flew in the wind as her white veil was blown up by the rain, revealing a beautiful face underneath.

What a great view…
The lady seem to moan lightly. She sounded like she was talking to herself, but also like she was greeting the black figure walking towards her.