"Hm?"
"Alright, let’s talk sitting down."
Tang Yi had wanted to say he was busy and refuse Bai Ye, but after a glance at Tang Piaomiao and the others behind him, he nodded in agreement.
Tang Haotian had told Tang Yi to help the outstanding disciples of the Tang Family enter the West Mansion to bolster the family’s strength. Learning more about the West Mansion’s House Entrance Examination right now would undoubtedly be a great help in getting in.
Having agreed, Tang Yi immediately sat back down in his previous seat.
Wang Bi’Er, Mu Xianling, and Zhu Yin all scrambled to sit next to Tang Yi, creating a scene reminiscent of three women fighting over a husband.
Even though Wang Bi’Er and Zhu Yin were best friends, at this moment, neither seemed willing to yield.
In the end, Mu Xianling and Wang Bi’Er ended up sitting on Tang Yi’s left and right, respectively, while Zhu Yin had to settle for sitting beside Wang Bi’Er.
Bai Ye shook his head and sat down next to Tang Yi. Without any further ado, he got straight to the point. "Brother Tang, let me give you some statistics first."
"Last year, over seven hundred people from our Thirty-six Cities of the North District also took the qualification exam. The average skill level was a bit lower than now, but we had more top-tier candidates. There were five geniuses who were Nine-star Battle Grandmasters and more than twenty who were Eight-star Battle Grandmasters. It’s different this year, with only a few Eight-star Battle Grandmasters and me as the sole Nine-star Battle Grandmaster."
"Both Eight-star and Nine-star Battle Grandmasters meet the standard for entering the West Mansion. Logically, with so many eight and nine-star Battle Grandmasters from our Thirty-six Cities of the North District, the success rate for the House Entrance Examination should have been very high."
"But!" Bai Ye paused, a deep resentment flashing in his eyes. He continued, "During the House Entrance Examination, one hundred sixty-six candidates from our Thirty-six Cities of the North District died, and two hundred twenty-three were severely injured. In the end, only seven people passed the examination and entered the West Mansion."
"And those seven who entered the West Mansion, without exception, also suffered considerable injuries. They ended up with the lowest scores and ultimately weren’t prioritized for training by the West Mansion, languishing into mediocrity within its walls."
Upon hearing Bai Ye’s words, everyone—whether it was Tang Yi, Tang Piaomiao and her group, or Mu Xianling—was visibly shocked.
They had long heard that the competition at the West Mansion was brutal, but they never imagined it would be this ruthless.
’Out of more than seven hundred people from the Thirty-six Cities of the North District, only seven passed?’
’A success rate of one in a hundred... That’s simply despair-inducing!’
’And there’s even a risk of being crippled or killed just by participating in the House Entrance Examination?’
’Over three hundred people were either severely injured or killed. That’s almost half the total number of participants from the Thirty-six Cities of the North District!’
’Does it have to be so exaggerated?’
’How can the rates of death and severe injury be this high?’
Seeing the terrified expressions on everyone’s faces, Bai Ye looked quite satisfied. He continued, "Across the entire Western Domain—the East, West, and South Districts, plus our own Thirty-six Cities of the North District—the total number of people who pass the qualification exams and go to the Headquarter to take the House Entrance Examination is about ten thousand."
"The East District gets three thousand slots, the West District gets three thousand, and the South District gets three thousand. Meanwhile, our North District only gets seven hundred. Don’t ask me why the North District has so few. It’s because the Thirty-six Cities of the North District are considered the Edge Land, so the Headquarter only allocates us this many slots. Besides, the North District has never produced any truly powerful experts, and our low acceptance rate into the mansion hasn’t helped. The Headquarter has always looked down on the North District, and they’ve cut our initial one thousand five hundred slots down to the current seven hundred and twenty—slashing them by more than half."
"However, out of these ten thousand-plus candidates taking the House Entrance Examination, the West Mansion only accepts two hundred as Outer Mansion Disciples!"
"In other words, if you want to enter the West Mansion, you must stand out from over ten thousand candidates and be one of the top two hundred. Only then do you have a chance! You can imagine how fierce the competition is!"
Hearing Bai Ye’s explanation, the crowd’s jaws dropped even wider. It seemed utterly unbelievable.
This was especially true for the candidates from Fengyue City. They had gone through intense competition just to secure their qualification slots, and now they had to compete with over ten thousand people for just two hundred spots. The difficulty was simply beyond words.
Some of the Fengyue City candidates who leaned in to listen to Bai Ye’s words even fell into despair, their confidence taking a severe blow.
"But... logically, the candidates from our Thirty-six Cities of the North District aren’t that bad, are they? Last year there were several Eight-star and Nine-star Battle Grandmasters. Why did only seven pass the exam? What about the other hundred-plus spots? Were they all snatched up by the other three districts?" Tang Baijie voiced her doubts.
"That’s right! The remaining hundred-plus spots were indeed all divided up by the other three districts!" Bai Ye confirmed with a solemn nod.
"What!"
"One hundred and ninety spots... If all of those were split among the three districts, that means each district had at least sixty-plus candidates enter the West Mansion as Outer Mansion Disciples. That’s almost ten times our North District’s number! It’s too unfair!" Mu Xianling said with a dissatisfied frown.
"It’s fair, but at the same time, it’s not."
Bai Ye turned to look at Tang Yi and said, "Brother Tang, do you know why I’m telling you all these statistics?"
Tang Yi shook his head and said, "I’m listening."
"The real reason only seven people from our North District were able to enter the West Mansion wasn’t because of the West Mansion’s policies, nor was it because our candidates were weaker than others. It’s because... the people of our North District are being ganged up on and targeted!"
Bai Ye dropped this bombshell, and it sent fierce waves crashing through everyone’s hearts.
But he wasn’t finished. He continued, "The total number of deaths from the East, West, and South Districts combined was only eighty—not even half of the North District’s total. The number of severely injured from all three districts combined was just over two hundred, which is about the same as the North District alone! Can’t you see what these numbers are telling you?"
"What!"
"The North District candidates are being targeted?"
"So you’re saying the North District’s high rates of death and severe injury are because of the other three districts?"
"The candidates from those three districts are openly killing North District candidates during the House Entrance Examination? That’s completely lawless!"
"No wonder, no wonder the North District’s acceptance rate has been so low all these years, and why the number of slots we get decreases year after year. So that’s how it is. So that’s how it is. I get it now!"
"Doesn’t anyone from the West Mansion manage this?" someone asked.
"Manage it? How?" Bai Ye gave a cold sneer. "Dying in the House Entrance Examination just means you weren’t skilled enough. Fierce competition stimulates more people to become stronger, which is exactly what the West Mansion wants to see! Why would they intervene?"
Hearing this, everyone felt that Bai Ye had a very valid point and couldn’t help but lower their heads in silence.
While their hearts ached, they also despised the vicious behavior of the other three districts.
"I understand what you’re saying, but what do we need to do?" Tang Yi asked.
Hearing this, Bai Ye glanced at Tang Yi, then clapped his hands together and said solemnly, "It’s simple. One word: Unite!"

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