"Oh my god! It really is him. There's no shame in losing to him!"
"Losing to an examinee who managed to rank second on the West Mansion Outer Mansion leaderboard before even entering the West Mansion... it's not too embarrassing for us. Even though he's from the North District, his strength is undeniable. We have to admit defeat."
"Sigh, it looks like the North District examinees are going to shine this year."
"With him leading the way, it would be hard for the North District examinees *not* to shine."
Realizing the North District examinee might be the same person who ranked second on the West Mansion leaderboard, the eliminated examinees erupted in discussion.
'The same person? Second on the West Mansion leaderboard?' Hearing the eliminated examinees' words, Elder Wan Sibo was completely dumbfounded. 'What kind of Demon has the North District produced this year for him to be this powerful?!' he thought.
'So these two batches of examinees really were forced into elimination by the overwhelming power of a single North District examinee!'
'And the genius examinee who caused such a stir a few days ago by reaching second on the Outer Mansion leaderboard... could that really be this North District examinee?'
'Who on earth is this North District examinee? Just how strong is he?'
Before Elder Wan Sibo could dwell on it, a soft hum—BUZZ—resonated, and dozens more flashes of light appeared in the yellow-lined area!
The fifth time! Dozens more examinees had been eliminated by crushing their Help Stones at the same time!
A sight that was once a rarity was now happening for the fifth time in a row today!
'Do they have to cause so much trouble?!' Seeing this, Elder Wan Sibo, who had at first been surprised, confused, and curious, feeling all sorts of emotions, was now completely numb. He felt nothing, as if he were witnessing a perfectly ordinary event.
When those dozens of examinees were teleported to the yellow-lined area, Elder Wan Sibo walked over and asked, "Are you examinees from the Three Major Zones? Did you run into a group of examinees from the North District? Were you defeated by a single North District examinee and forced by him to crush your Help Stones?"
"Elder, how did you know?"
Seeing that Elder Wan Sibo seemed to be a Prophet who had spoken the absolute truth, the examinees who had just been teleported out of the Little Extreme Sacred Land stared at him in shock.
From the examinees' expressions, Elder Wan Sibo knew he was right. 'It really was the handiwork of that North District examinee again!'
'This North District examinee is something else,' he thought. 'To eliminate so many examinees from the Three Major Zones in such a short time... If I'm not mistaken, he's the one who eliminated the first two batches as well!'
'In that case, this North District examinee has eliminated five batches of examinees from the Three Major Zones in total!'
'The number of people eliminated has surpassed one hundred!' 'That's just too badass.'
'This North District examinee is very likely the one ranked second on the leaderboard. Heh, the second-ranked examinee is actually from the North District. How interesting. No, I can't just stand here! I have to report this to the Hall Master. A talent like this might not enter our Dui Palace, but we must be the first to know about it!'
After a moment of thought, Elder Wan Sibo made his decision.
"Elder, how did you know we were examinees from the Three Major Zones? And how did you know we were defeated by an examinee from the North District and forced to crush our Help Stones?"
While Elder Wan Sibo was lost in thought, one of the recently eliminated examinees, his eyes wide with curiosity, asked again.
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Elder Wan Sibo snapped back to reality. He thought for a moment, then put on an act, extending a hand and pinching his fingers together in front of the examinees. "You ask how this old man knows?" he said. "To tell you the truth, this old man actually has the ability to predict the future. I just divined your circumstances with a quick calculation!
I knew that this year, your fortune is cursed. You were destined to meet a villain from the North District who would waylay and rob you, blocking your path forward. I'm afraid your situation this year won't be very good. But don't worry, this old man has also calculated that after you overcome this tribulation, good fortune will smile upon you. As long as you cultivate well and absorb this good fortune, you will be able to successfully enter the West Mansion when you take the exam again next year."
After speaking, without even looking at the examinees' reactions, Elder Wan Sibo flicked his embroidered sleeves, puffed out his chest, and strode away with the profound air of an immortal sage.
"So... so amazing."
The examinees stared at Elder Wan Sibo in utter shock. 'The West Mansion truly lives up to its name as the greatest Influence in the Western Domain,' they thought. 'It's full of hidden masters with incredible Divine Techniques. To think there's even someone who can act as a Prophet!'
'He's practically a god...' ... On the high platform, the Hall Masters and Elders of the West Mansion were watching the images on the central Light Curtain. Just then, Elder Wan Sibo arrived at the Dui Palace's designated area.
The Dui Palace had a total of three Hall Masters. Besides Murong Liu, the Sixth Hall Master, there were two others.
They were Hall Master Pan Borong and Hall Master Guo Yangyun. Murong Liu was in charge of the Dui Palace's cultivation grounds. Halls such as the Eight Palaces Deer Battle Hall and the Divine Will Hall were all under his management.
Pan Borong managed Cultivation Resources, while Guo Yangyun handled internal affairs, discipline, and so on.
The three Hall Masters each had their own duties, with a clear division of labor.
The entire Dui Palace was managed jointly by the three Hall Masters, assisted by ten Chief Elders. Fang Qingyang was one of these ten Chief Elders.
Although the Dui Palace had the fewest members and was the weakest, it still boasted over a thousand people. While it might fall short compared to the other Palaces, it was far more powerful than some minor sects. The three Hall Masters and ten Chief Elders alone possessed the power to annihilate a Minor Sect, to say nothing of the thousand-plus disciples of the Dui Palace.
"Elder Wan Sibo, aren't you supposed to be in the elimination zone, handling the dismissed examinees? What brings you here?"
Seeing Elder Wan Sibo arrive, Hall Master Pan Borong was taken aback for a moment before asking in confusion.
"Sibo, is something the matter?" Murong Liu also asked.
Elder Wan Sibo glanced at the Hall Masters and Elders from the other Palaces, as well as the Chief Examiners in charge of each district. Seeing that no one was paying him any mind, he quickly walked to Murong Liu's side and began whispering in his ear.
"Is this true?"
After listening, Murong Liu's eyes went wide as he stared at Elder Wan Sibo in disbelief.
"It's absolutely true!"
Elder Wan Sibo nodded earnestly. Then, with a flip of his hand, he produced a small booklet from his embroidered robes and said to Murong Liu, "This is the list of dismissed examinees. Sixth Hall Master, please take a look."
With that, Elder Wan Sibo handed the booklet to Murong Liu. Taking the booklet, Murong Liu immediately began to flip through it, his astonishment growing with every page.
The booklet was densely packed with names—the list of examinees who had been eliminated by crushing their Help Stones and being teleported back to the yellow-lined area. It also noted the examinees' personal information, their origins, the time of their elimination, how many were eliminated at once, and so on. It was extremely detailed.
And on the last page, the hundred-plus names listed there were all examinees from the Three Major Zones. Not a single one was from the North District!
Furthermore, there were five separate batches where ten or more people were eliminated at the same time. One of those batches was as large as forty people!
'Forty people crushing their Help Stones to be eliminated at the exact same time?'

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