After they left.
“Brother Lin Yun, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Clan Leader Zhu said.
He was worried, a gut hunch—with what he knew of Clan Leader Mo, that smug certainty meant hidden cards they didn’t see.
“No bother, I’ll handle what comes, besides, those 5,000 Tribulation Pills were squeezed from Mo anyway—if I lose them back, I’m not out,” Lin Yun smiled.
Just then, the last survival arena wrapped up.
The prefecture exam’s top hundred were set!
Round one, survival, was done.
Lasting to the end in each arena? Their strength spoke for itself.
“Martial Exam Prefecture Round Two—Elimination Matches!”
“First bout, He Qi versus Gao Song!” the referee bellowed.
The named pair took the stage.
After a brief clash, Gao Song easily won, bagging a victory.
Next, second match, third…
One bout after another played out for the crowd.
“Twelfth match, Lin Yun versus Feng Zhen!”
Lin Yun, waiting below, finally heard his name.
“Hero Lin Yun, these survivors from the first round have some chops, be careful,” Clan Leader Zhu cautioned.
Lin Yun nodded, heading to the arena.
On stage.
A curly-haired bloke faced him, looking grim—up against the hyped-up Lin Yun.
“Lin Yun, I’m second-rank Mahayana, you beat Wei Qi, the gap between us must be huge, how about you go easy—like no soul-sense or mysteries?” the curly-haired man grinned.
“Sorry, can’t promise you anything, competition’s harsh,” Lin Yun said calmly.
The man’s face twitched—he’d hoped Lin Yun would get cocky.
If Lin Yun played big and eased up, he’d have a shot!
Most genius types tripped over their own pride, but Lin Yun didn’t bite?
“Both of you, match starts now!” the referee declared.
The curly-haired man drew a sword, lunging at Lin Yun with a *swish*, aiming to strike first.
He unleashed mysteries, soul-sense buffs, every trick in the book.
Against Lin Yun, he had to go all out!
Lin Yun sprang forward like a cheetah, his sword a streak of light.
Eighth-layer Taixu Power erupted, raw force surging through the blade.
*Clang!*
Swords clashed, shockwaves bursting, kicking up wind.
The curly-haired man’s face twisted, he flew back, crashing off the stage, pale.
One move.
More than enough!
Lin Yun had held back—eighth-layer Taixu Power only, eleventh would’ve wrecked him.
“Lin Yun wins!” the referee called.
“Won dead easy, didn’t even show his hand.”
Sighs rippled below.
Lin Yun stepped off, back to his spot.
“Hero 林云, congrats on another win,” Clan Leader Zhu clasped his fists, smiling.
“Still early days,” Lin Yun chuckled, shaking his head, eyes on the stage.
Matches rolled on.
One after another, relentless.
Everyone fought tooth and nail for the top twenty.
Close-matched pairs slugged it out, brutal battles to the finish.
Then there were lopsided ones like Lin Yun’s, over in a flash.
Like Cao Zheng—pure domination, Lin Yun hoped to scope his tricks.
But Cao’s foes couldn’t push him to reveal much—nothing to glean.
Elimination wasn’t one-and-done, multiple rounds, ranked by wins.
Round two, Lin Yun’s foe, Li Changyi, surrendered before he moved.
Knowing he couldn’t win, he bowed out to save strength for later—losing to Lin Yun injured would tank his next fights.
So, Lin Yun took round two without swinging.
Then rounds three, four, five, six.
Six matches, all wins!
Some just gave up.
Six rounds stretched from morning to afternoon.
After the sixth, only 20 remained—Dongyuan’s top twenty were set.
Lin Yun was in, Cao Zheng too, both six-for-six.
Elimination done, the envoy stood.
“Congrats to you lot for hitting Dongyuan’s Martial Exam top twenty, you’ve fought long today, rest up, tomorrow morning we crown the champ!”
For the 21st-to-100th eliminated, the envoy’s aides handed out imperial ‘Martial Scholar’ tokens on the spot.
These badges were their pride, proof of skill—top hundred in the prefecture exam was no joke, they were talents.
They could use them to snag posts in lower counties or towns.
For many in the 21-100 range, that token was enough.
Tokens distributed.
“Envoy, come to my palace, top grub and celestial brews are waiting!” the Prefecture Lord rose.
He led the envoy off-site.
Today’s matches wrapped, the crowd dispersed amid chatter.
“Junior sis, I got the Martial Scholar token—no one’s bullying us now!”
“Father, I didn’t hit top twenty, but I nabbed a Martial Scholar token.”
…
The 21st-to-100th who scored tokens rushed into the crowd, joyfully hugging kin, some teary-eyed.
Others, flunking hard, vowed to retry next year!
“Clan Leader Zhu, Zhu Xu, let’s go, tomorrow’s the main course,” Lin Yun said.
Today just picked the top twenty—unreachable for many, a stroll for him.
Tomorrow’s crown fight? That might test him.
The trio left.
“Rong’er, let’s head out, time to prep—when he flops tomorrow, our revenge kicks in!” Clan Leader Mo’s gaze dripped venom.
Lin Yun in the top twenty? No shock, they’d expected it.
They knew today was just the warm-up.
The real show was tomorrow!
