Chapter 186: Is Miss Vilyric Both Literary and Martial?

In Xingyuan City, the ancient street has existed since the city’s founding, undergoing several renovations, and has now become the economic center of the entire city. This street runs through nearly half of the central area, ending at the headquarters of the Holy Sect, where the Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch resides.

A group of four strolled along the bustling street, brushing shoulders with the endless stream of visitors. Even with the extensive experience of a certain priestess who had traveled far and wide, she couldn’t help but express her admiration.

“This place is indeed lively. Even among those countries larger and more prosperous than Dongyuanzhi Kingdom, the crowds in their capitals don’t compare to this, is it because of the Four Saints Selection Tournament?”

“There’s no doubt about it.”

Murong Yun cleared the way for the three relatively delicate girls ahead while turning slightly to smile as he explained.

“I’ve been to Xingyuan City a few times before. Though it was just as bustling back then, fitting for a capital, it pales in comparison to today’s grandeur.”

“This grand event truly captivates the hearts of people everywhere,” he continued.

The Four Saints Selection Tournament is not merely a simple competition; its significance is akin to the ancient imperial examinations of Blue Star, but far exceeds them in importance and value.

Achieving a good ranking in this tournament naturally leads to the opportunity to ascend Lingyin Fairy Island and seek out spiritual destiny. Even if it doesn’t guarantee instant success, it is crucial enough to serve as a turning point in the lives of most ordinary individuals.

It’s not only about increasing one’s abilities; it’s also about the transcendent status of Lingyin Fairy Island, which stands above the four kingdoms. Having this credential is like a golden ticket, ensuring a smoother path in life regardless of future plans.

After all, any earthly organization associated with Lingyin Fairy Island, such as Lingyin Marketplace, requires individuals to have passed the qualifying selection of the Four Saints Selection Tournament to be considered for upper management roles.

Such positions are highly coveted and regarded as golden opportunities.

Of course, the slots for each Four Saints Selection Tournament are limited, and only a select few are able to ascend the island. However, even if one is unfortunate enough to be eliminated by a stronger opponent, excelling in the competition held in the four national capitals can still attract considerable attention, earning a reputation that serves as a stepping stone into various sects or the officialdom.

Ultimately, the Four Saints Selection Tournament is essentially a kind of alternative job fair for talent, rigorously weeding out the best and sending them to the island, while the vast majority are absorbed internally within the four kingdoms.

Moreover, this grand festival has a lengthy cycle, often spanning decades, so anyone with ambition wouldn’t easily miss this opportunity.

After all, how many decades can an ordinary person live in their lifetime?

Thus, it’s no surprise that heroes from all corners gather in the four capitals, creating such a prosperous scene.

Though she had unknowingly spent nearly half a year in the Ancient Spirit Realm, calculating closely, it was still about a week until the opening of the preliminary rounds of the Four Saints Selection Tournament.

With so many participants, even just from Dongyuanzhi Kingdom, there would be millions, making the logistics of file compilation, registration, and number assignment a monumental task. What Vilyric and the others needed to do now was simply to register at the enrollment point set up in the ancient street.

From a distance, she spotted a prominent large building surrounded by numerous armored soldiers. Vilyric recognized it as the Eastern Yuan Guard, the elite forces under the rule of the Eastern Yuan Holy Sect, which governed this capital.

Similar to the Black Scale Army they had encountered before, the Five Elemental Sect and the Eastern Yuan Holy Sect jointly managed Qiguo and each sect maintained a powerful protective army directly under their command.

Although not overly numerous, the Eastern Yuan Guard had about fifty thousand in formal ranks, but they were the elite forces meticulously cultivated by each sect.

The structure of Dongyuanzhi Kingdom resembles a vassal system, where nearly half of the land and over two-thirds of the military power was held by hundreds of scattered sects. This significantly reduced the burden on the kingdom’s official military expenditures and management while still allowing them to maintain absolute dominance, largely due to forces like the Eastern Yuan Guard and the Five Scale Army.

Thus, their extraordinary strength was evident.

While there were patrolling guards responsible for maintaining order and reviewing cases in Xingyuan City, the Eastern Yuan Holy Sect had specifically deployed the more elite Eastern Yuan Guard, clearly to ensure everything was orderly at the registration site.

As the crowd flowed into the registration hall, the interior of the sizable building quickly unfolded before Vilyric’s eyes.

The Four Saints Selection Tournament was not merely a martial arts competition; it was a comprehensive evaluation of individual capabilities. Anyone with a special skill had a chance to stand out.

In the registration hall, clear signs and barriers divided the area into Literary and Martial sections, with participants bustling in and out, ensuring neither side experienced the embarrassment of a lopsided crowd.

Naturally, Vilyric was not entirely unaware of the specifics of this grand event.

The so-called Martial refers to pure combat, where participants truly showcase their skills, with defeating opponents as the sole winning condition.

However, the Literary section is far broader and much more complex than simply reciting poetry or flaunting literary prowess, involving a wide range including military strategy, governance, legislation, cultural examinations, geography, astrology, and even arcane calculations, split into over a dozen subcategories.

As a long-standing tradition that has continued for nearly a thousand years, even with the long intervals between each Four Saints Selection Tournament, more than thirty have been held to date, leading to a well-established system and rules that prevent aspiring talents from being left out.

Interestingly, the timings for both the Literary and Martial evaluations, and even the subdivisions within the Literary section, are entirely staggered. Therefore, if one has the capability and ambition, they can simultaneously register for multiple events to fully demonstrate their overall skills.

Before coming, Vilyric and the others had already discussed what projects to register for; Xiao Kong and Murong Yun only intended to participate in the Martial competition, while Hen had chosen just one of the Literary options. Ultimately, securing a victory in any one of them would allow them to ascend Lingyin Fairy Island, so which one chosen was inconsequential.

But for the priestess herself…

“Uh… Although I originally planned to just throw a few punches, the Literary section does have many interesting projects. Should I give them a go…?”

Hearing someone’s mutter to herself, Murong Yun was instantly taken aback.

“Eh? Miss Vilyric actually has expertise in the literary arts?”

“Hey, what do you mean by that! Do I look like I’m just a brute? How dare you think I only know how to throw punches, you jerk! Do you want me to hammer you?!”

“Uh…”

   

---