Lii Palace, Eternal Departure Hall.
Eternal Departure Hall was the main hall of Lii Palace, and also its most magnificent one.
This was where the Palace Master and Elders of Lii Palace lived and cultivated.
Normally, disciples were forbidden from entering Eternal Departure Hall, but at this moment, a disciple was kneeling inside the great hall, reporting something.
"Is that true? The examinee everyone’s talking about, the one who broke into the top 1,500 of the rankings, is really wearing a mask? And that’s still not his true strength?"
An imposing old man sat in a stately armchair, his expression turning to one of astonishment as he listened to the disciple’s report.
"It’s absolutely true! I heard it with my own ears!" the disciple kneeling in Eternal Departure Hall said with certainty.
This disciple was none other than Lu Xingzhen, who had come to report what he had heard from Bai Jincheng.
Lu Xingzhen was relaying, word for word, what he had overheard from Bai Jincheng to the Palace Master of Lii Palace.
And the old man sitting before him in the stately armchair was the current Palace Master of Lii Palace, Lei Mozhe!
"If that’s the case, then a truly rare super-genius has appeared among this year’s examinees." Lei Mozhe nodded, then looked at Lu Xingzhen and said, "Lu Xingzhen, you’ve done well. I will record one merit for you. You may go and receive your reward."
"Thank you for your grace, Palace Master!" Lu Xingzhen was overjoyed to hear he would be rewarded. He kowtowed respectfully and silently withdrew.
"Geng Yi!"
After Lu Xingzhen left, Palace Master Lei Mozhe called out softly. A moment later, a middle-aged man appeared by his side.
"Geng Yi is here!" the middle-aged man said, cupping his hands in a salute.
"Go. Send people to investigate. No matter what it takes, find this examinee and bring him to my Lii Palace. A disciple of such peerless talent must join our Lii Palace!" Lei Mozhe said decisively.
"Yes, this subordinate will not fail you!"
"Go."
Dui Palace, Eternal Life Hall.
"A genius of this caliber appeared among this year’s examinees? He hasn’t even entered the House, yet he’s already ranked in the Outer Mansion’s top 1,500?" the Palace Master of Dui Palace said in astonishment, finding it hard to believe.
"Yes. This subordinate has just returned from the Ranking Hall. A temporary ID has indeed entered the rankings, placing at 1,153. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it either. Furthermore, after investigation, we’ve confirmed the ranking is real," Fang Qingyang said respectfully.
This Fang Qingyang was the very same Elder Fang that Tang Yi and the others had met in the Fighting Palace.
While acting as a ’guide’ in the Fighting Palace, Fang Qingyang heard a commotion among the examinees. He initially wondered what was happening, but upon entering the Ranking Hall, he learned that an examinee had shot up the rankings, even breaking into the top 1,500.
Fang Qingyang was also stunned by the news. After confirming there was no error with the rankings, he had rushed back to report to the Palace Master of Dui Palace.
"Sigh... what does it matter how talented he is? Old Fang, you know the situation with our Dui Palace. A genius like that... I doubt he would ever choose to join us," the Palace Master of Dui Palace sighed.
"How will we know if we don’t try? Our Dui Palace has been quiet for a long time. Perhaps our moment to shine is just around the corner," Fang Qingyang said.
At that moment, Tang Yi’s figure unconsciously surfaced in his mind.
"Elder Fang, there’s no need to be discouraged. Dui Palace will get better and better. I guarantee it."
Those were the words Tang Yi had once said to Fang Qingyang. That sentence had moved Fang Qingyang deeply and sparked a desire for victory within him.
He wanted Dui Palace to prosper!
"Sigh... well, Old Fang, you go give it a try. See if you can find that examinee. If you do, make contact and see what his intentions are. Like you said, it’s worth a try, regardless of the outcome."
The Palace Master of Dui Palace spoke without a shred of confidence, as if he were just going through the motions.
However, Fang Qingyang nodded and said earnestly, "Alright. I’ll go take a look."
He turned and headed for the Fighting Palace, looking full of motivation.
It wasn’t just Lii Palace and Dui Palace. The other palaces also sent Elders or outstanding disciples to the Fighting Palace to investigate.
But in truth, even without Tang Yi, every palace would have sent people to the Fighting Palace to make contact with the examinees ahead of time. This was an annual tradition, a preliminary contest and competition among the Eight Palaces before the House Entrance Examination.
Contacting the examinees in advance was the best way to ensure they would join your palace after passing the House Entrance Examination.
The House Entrance Examination was for selecting examinees, but after passing it, it was the examinees’ turn to select you.
Therefore, in the days leading up to the House Entrance Examination, all the palaces would engage in open and secret struggles. The fight for outstanding examinees was exceptionally fierce. They might offer Cultivation Techniques or Martial Techniques, or directly gift treasures and Pills. In short, they would use every technique imaginable to secure new blood.
After all, what Palace Master didn’t want their palace to grow stronger? What Palace Master didn’t wish for a powerhouse to emerge from their own palace?
In the future, being able to say that so-and-so was once a disciple of my palace—how prestigious would that be?
None of the palaces, however, had expected such a formidable examinee to appear this year.
An examinee of this caliber pushed the competition between the palaces into high gear ahead of schedule. There was no warm-up; the intense clash was about to begin.
Meanwhile, the instigator of all this... the masked examinee, was in the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall, checking his results.
This masked examinee was none other than our protagonist, Tang Yi, the one who had obtained the Battle God System and received a great fortuitous encounter instead of dying after jumping off a cliff!
"The Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall can actually score a disciple and record their information based on just a few moves. Even if it’s not perfectly accurate, this is amazing," Tang Yi said excitedly, looking at the small Light Curtain from within the Qi Shield.
On that Light Curtain, the following information was displayed:
Name: Temporary ID 59416
Level: Unknown
Victories: 1
Defeats: 0
Score: 11,680 (Temporary)
Placement Matches: (1/5)
Placement incomplete. The above score is temporary.
Because Tang Yi had only fought one match and had hidden his strength, his true power had not been assessed by the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall.
And since he hadn’t completed his five matches, Tang Yi’s score was only a temporary one, based on his performance and the opponent he defeated.
Even so, his temporary score was over 10,000, which was an exceptionally good result.
Although Tang Yi couldn’t see the rankings from here, he thought, ’A score like this should be enough to place me within the top 3,000.’
"Amazing, right? Once you enter the Inner Mansion, you’ll find things that are even more amazing," Wang Bi’Er said with a smile from outside the Qi Shield.
Tang Yi hadn’t started matchmaking yet, so the two of them could still converse through the Qi Shield.
"Is the Inner Mansion really that amazing? How so?" Tang Yi asked curiously.
"Of course it is. As for how it’s so amazing, you’ll find out once you enter the West Mansion Inner Mansion, Brother Tang Yi," Wang Bi’Er said with a smile.
"Alright."
Seeing that Wang Bi’Er wouldn’t say more, Tang Yi gave a helpless shrug and said, "Well, I’m going to keep looking for opponents. I’ll talk to you guys again after I finish my five matches."

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