661: Chapter 209: The Initial Test of the Literary and Martial Arts petition (Part 1)_1 661: Chapter 209: The Initial Test of the Literary and Martial Arts petition (Part 1)_1 The literary match took place somewhat farther away; although it was also outdoors, the surrounding security was much more stringent.
At first glance, the martial contest seemed to attract more attention, but everyone knew the last ten victors of the literary match would be the ones most valued.
The strong selected from the martial contest were only powerful in force, while those chosen from the literary match were capable of manding thousands of troops.
A huge crowd had already gathered inside and around the drill field early on, with some people arriving the night before just to secure a good spot.
More than a hundred thousand soldiers from the Landias Empire surrounded the three petition sites, making them impenetrable yet allowing for thoroughfares, while the security maintained order on the periphery.
After all, such grand events are meant to be widely known to the public.
Today was the first day of the Grand Literary and Martial petition.
The morning was for the literary match, the afternoon for the martial contest, and the evening for the magic trials.
The reason for scheduling the magic trials in the evening was to make the magical glows that would arise during the petition more noticeable.
Early in the morning, Ye Yinzhu had already arrived at the site of the literary match.
Zi, Ming, and Glacis, not having petition passes, could only wait outside for him.
Although the number of participants in the literary match was not as high as in the martial contest, there were still well over ten thousand.
The participants were divided into ten groups, with over a thousand in each group.
After answering questions, the next group would take their turn.
Ye Yinzhu, after all, was a graduate of the Milan Magic Martial Academy.
The preliminary test questions were very simple, consisting of fixed topic Q&A about military affairs.
After joining the fifth group in the petition, he quickly pleted the questions and was the first to hand in his paper and leave the field.
Zi and the others had been waiting outside for him.
Seeing Ye Yinzhu emerge, the three immediately surrounded him.
“His Excellency, the Zither Emperor, how did the test go?” Glacis asked.
Ye Yinzhu smiled slightly, saying, “No problem.
Although there were quite a few questions in the preliminary test, they were all relatively simple.
Anyone familiar with military affairs or with some practical experience could answer them.”
Aside from strength and the registration fee, there was one strict requirement for participation in the Grand Literary and Martial petition: age.
Participants had to be under thirty years of age.
Emperor Maximo of the Landias Empire certainly didn’t want to find an old man for a husband for his daughter.
The only thing that surprised Ye Yinzhu was that women could equally participate in the Grand Literary and Martial petition, and indeed, he saw Miss Kleyena’s presence on the literary match field.
Although they were not in the same group, it was hard to miss someone as beautiful as Kleyena, especially when she entered the petition site amidst the adulation of all around her.
After the literary match ended, the four of them didn’t bother going back to the hotel.
They ate some food they had brought with them and waited for the preliminary round of the martial contest in the afternoon.
If fewer people had watched the literary match in the morning, the area around the martial platform was teeming with spectators in the afternoon, despite the scorching sun.
Looking out, it was impossible to see the end of the crowd.
Cheers were constant, as if calling out the names of their favored petitors.
The martial skill testing area was simply a large drill field that had been enclosed.
At the very front, there was a platform with a raised stage on top.
At the moment, the stage was empty, but the platform was filled with a hundred people.
In front of each person was a high table, on which a Crystal Stone was placed.
Anyone who had been to a Martial Skill Association recognized the stones on the tables.
They were specifically used to test the strength of Douqi, with highly accurate results, able to precisely determine the level and even the exact degree of strength.
Clearly, it was for testing the Douqi of the petitors today.
The number of participants in the martial contest was much higher than in the literary match, with more than twenty thousand.
After all, cultivating martial skills was a mon practice on the Continent.
However, when Ye Yinzhu saw so many people, he couldn’t help but gasp.
To think, the Landias Empire and its allies managed to attract so many young people below thirty who had reached the Green rank during the Grand Literary and Martial petition, showcasing its formidable strength.
In this aspect, not even the Milan Empire and its two allies could pare.
More than twenty thousand participants were arranged into a hundred teams for the Douqi test.
Among the crowd, Ye Yinzhu saw many familiar figures, and of course, almost all of them had once been his adversaries.
For instance, Hillary, the son of the Marshal of the Flore Kingdom, the Red Lion Prince whom he had met a few days ago, as well as various young powerhouses from the Seven Nations, Seven Dragons ranking battles—all were in the queues.
Ye Yinzhu lined up midway in the teams, and because it was a martial skill test, he had taken off his Divine Source Magic Robe and casually bought a set of Martial Garb to wear from Landias.
The preliminary round had already started, and from a distance, the hundred Crystal Stones at the front of the martial skill testing ground began to shine with beautiful radiance.
The test for each person would last about five minutes.
The light’s strength and duration emitted by the test stones in response to the Douqi would determine one’s power level.
Although Ye Yinzhu was standing in the middle-back row, his eyesight was very good.
He could clearly see the glow emitted by the stones on the platform.
These young contestants mostly emitted a green light from the test stones, and most of them were at the Beginner Green rank.
Occasionally, a few deeper green lights would spark cheers from the surrounding crowd.
For Ye Yinzhu, all that was left was the boring wait.
His mind had already drifted to the Landias Palace—Sura, could you really be the Phoenix Princess?
Today was only the preliminary test, and it was clear that the high ranks of Landias were not present.
It seemed he would have to wait until the final to confirm whether Sura was indeed the Phoenix Princess.
While Ye Yinzhu was lost in his thoughts, suddenly, a tidal wave of exclamations erupted from all directions, instantly pulling him back to reality.
On the test platform, amidst the many green lights, a faint purple light shone exceptionally bright.
And standing behind that test stone, was none other than Prince Barde of the Red Lion.
Indeed, he had the strength of a Purple Star Dragon Knight, Ye Yinzhu thought to himself with a nod.
But what good would it do him to have the assistance of the Red Lion?
Of course, the only one who could remain so indifferent to the Prince Barde of the Red Lion at Zi rank strength was probably only Ye Yinzhu among all the people present.
What did Zi rank signify?
It represented power.
Reaching the strength of a Zi rank Great War Master before the age of thirty was one in a million—a genius among geniuses.
The widespread exclamations from the crowd, as well as the murmured discussions among the martial artists taking the test, were not in the least bit surprising.
“Who is that guy?
He’s actually at Zi rank.
It’s over, it looks like there’s no hope for us this time.”
“Brother, don’t lose heart.
It’s normal, that’s the Red Lion Prince of Bo Pang Kingdom we’re talking about.
Look at the conditions for his cultivation; how can we pare with that?
Besides, there are five spots in the martial skill petition.
Even if the Red Lion Prince is strong, he can only take up one spot.”
“Is the Red Lion Prince really under thirty?
How is it possible to cultivate to Zi rank at such a young age?”
“That I don’t know.
However, I’ve heard he has a rank Nine Magical Beast, the Fire Cloud Lion, as his mount.
His strength couldn’t possibly be weak.
Moreover, it’s said that Prince Barde was once likely to inherit the throne of the Bo Pang Kingdom, but he has always pursued the martial path and doesn’t like power.
That’s why he remains a prince.
In Bo Pang Kingdom, he symbolizes the martial artist, and it’s said that he is destined to be the next Marshal of Bo Pang.
In Bo Pang, he’s even referred to as the War God.
Look, the purple light emitted from his test stone is probably at the Second Rank Zi rank level.
I say, in a few years, even Marshal Xi Duofu of the Spear of Milan Empire will be surpassed by him.”
…
Various mentaries continued to rise, and the appearance of Prince Barde of the Red Lion became a highlight on the martial skill test field, igniting the enthusiasm of the surrounding crowd with continuous cheers.
Most cheers were for the prosperity of Landias and praising Falan.
Maybe it was Prince Barde’s presence that sparked the petitive spirit in the rest of the warriors; in the subsequent tests, although no Zi rank appeared, the color blue became increasingly mon among the multitude of Green ranks, with a few emitting a deep blue light.
Cheers were almost non-stop.
The hundred test stones on the platform became the focal point of the entire arena.
Finally, amid the waves of cheers, it was Ye Yinzhu’s group of a hundred to take the stage.
Ye Yinzhu clearly remembered what Kleyena had said—the preliminary test would select a thousand people to move on to the next round.
Although Douqi did not represent absolute strength, the gap between Blue rank and Green rank was still very evident.
Unless one had skills like the Dong Long Soldiers, the difference of an entire rank in Douqi could not be pensated for by skill alone, so the test method of Landias was relatively fair.
Yinzhu showed his number plate and placed his hand on the test stone.
The staff mechanically repeated the same phrase, “Pour your Douqi into the test stone until I say stop.”
Ye Yinzhu nodded, his Douqi circulating within him.
With his strong control, a pale blue light began to shine on the test stone.
With over twenty thousand participants in the martial skill test, Ye Yinzhu was certain that there wouldn’t be more than a thousand at or above Blue rank.
He did not want to attract attention; displaying the strength of an Initial Blue rank was more than enough to let him progress to the next round.
Sure enough, the faint blue light immediately caught the attention of the test personnel, who carefully watched the changes in the blue light on the test stone and quickly recorded something on the test chart.
About five minutes later, Ye Yinzhu’s test was over.
“Okay, you can go down and wait for the announcement of the results later.”
Due to the large number of martial skill petitors, all tests were not pleted and tallied until close to evening.
(To be continued, if you wish to know more, please visit for more chapters—support the author, support the genuine reading!)
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