Chapter 206: The Second Round of the Writing Competition

The final results were announced as scheduled.

This round of the wilderness survival advancement competition was even more intense than Miss Vilyric had imagined. With a score of over 2,000 crystal jade, she barely managed to secure the 21st position. Although she achieved her goal of obtaining a guaranteed spot in the top 100, she noticed that Hong Yan, Cheng Fengqi, and others had surprisingly fallen out of the top 100.

Even Murong Yun, who scored a hefty 1,500 crystal jade, ended up only in the middle range, which was quite unexpected.

This also indirectly indicated that there were numerous strong contestants among those participating, all brimming with confidence and engaging in fierce competition, causing the crystal jade scores to concentrate dramatically at the upper levels.

Of course, the most unreasonable Cat Daughter still held an absolute first place with an astonishing score of over 17,000, even pulling ahead of second place by several multiples. She had now become the hottest topic and dark horse in all of Xingyuan City, sparking endless discussions.

After all, the name Kong wasn’t on anyone’s radar regarding the well-known “Ancient Spirit Realm Top 100 List.” Aside from a very few hidden figures, such as the Twelve Peaks Master of Cangyun, whose true identities were completely unknown, this list could almost be said to include all strong practitioners in the world, even featuring characters like the Seven-Day Demon Lord.

New and fresh things always arouse greater interest, but that Cat Daughter was also paying the price for her spirited performance.

“Do you really not want me to go with you…? Ugh, it’s just a competition, it should be fine, right?”

Sitting cross-legged on her bed and using an exquisite wooden comb to groom the curled-up white cat in her arms, the Cat Daughter looked pitifully at the black-haired girl and Princess Ling, who were getting ready to leave but had firmly rejected her request to join, her ears drooping like a forsaken little kitten.

“No—way.”

The Priestess once again formed an X with her hands over her chest, her attitude resolute.

“I see you completely don’t understand. The Four Saints Selection Tournament is not just a competition. You’re currently being illustrated in little picture books and figurines circulating around Xingyuan City. If you step outside, I guarantee you won’t make it 300 meters before being surrounded by nosy paparazzi. I don’t want to deal with that kind of trouble.”

“Honestly, who told you not to keep a low profile? Collecting crystal jade through such a shady method? This is what you get for bringing it upon yourself. Before the finals begin, just stay in the room and feed your cat!”

Miss Xiao Kong immediately protested.

“How can you call it cheating? I simply collected some ownerless crystal jade that scattered in the forest due to various accidents, and I didn’t rob it from anyone. Is that a crime?”

“Oh? Is that so?”

Narrowing her eyes at her, Vilyric added, “So when you say ‘some,’ that means the entire forest that stretches over a couple of states? Also, while you’re picking up trash, why did you go and snatch the Church of Truth’s archbishop, even wiping out their gathered forces?”

“Ugh…”

The Cat Daughter, feeling somewhat guilty, quietly buried her face in Miao Miao’s soft cat fur, mumbling something incoherent like, “Who told them to spill crystal jade everywhere they went… and clearly, they were the ones looking for trouble. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing…” but Vilyric chose to act as if she didn’t hear it.

It was clear that she had initially portrayed an aura of calm and mystery, but ever since the journey began, she seemed to be getting increasingly twisted… Could this be her true nature?

In any case, after leaving behind Miss Xiao Kong, who was under house arrest, and asking Murong Yun, who lived next door, to help look after her, Vilyric and Hen set out to participate in the upcoming literary competition that would be held at the city’s venue.

Although she had also received a guaranteed spot as one of the top 100 contestants and wasn’t listed on the “Ancient Spirit Realm Top 100 List,” being among the top twenty still didn’t attract as much attention as being first. In fact, throughout the history of the Four Saints Selection Tournament, there had often been many nameless strong figures who chose to live in seclusion, so Vilyric’s level wasn’t enough for her to be depicted in a portrait widely circulated in the city.

At least roaming around casually wouldn’t be a problem.

Before long, the two girls arrived at the central area of the convention hall where the literary competition was to take place.

Because the literary competition consisted of over a dozen categories, it was comparatively more complex than the martial arts competition, so progress was relatively slow. It wasn’t until the sixth day after the wilderness survival tournament ended that it was finally time for Vilyric and Hen to register for the “Earth Elemental Pulse” category.

To be honest, while there were many categories in the literary competition, the overall format was quite monotonous due to the constraints of the content. It was basically hard to come up with the chaotic tricks usually seen in the martial arts competition; the so-called match was fundamentally just the same old few things—

Originally, that’s how Vilyric thought.

However, upon arriving at the venue and seeing those enormous formation plates set up in the center, the Priestess’s previously low expectations suddenly stirred some curiosity.

“Eh? What’s that?”

With her vast knowledge, Miss Hen quickly saw through its essence.

“That’s an Earth Pulse Compass, a sophisticated instrument used by the Earth Balance Administration and similar organizations to estimate the flow direction of the earth pulse. It can also simulate different earth pulse environments for a practice-like effect.”

Princess Ling explained succinctly as usual.

“Just think of it as a sandbox for the earth pulse.”

“I thought we’d be writing exams again… So the competition must be related to these things, specifically what?”

Planning to use Miss Hen’s near-omniscient knowledge of celestial secrets to satisfy her curiosity ahead of time, Vilyric was somewhat surprised that the silver-haired girl didn’t reply but instead glanced at her, then calmly turned around and took a step forward.

“You’ll know soon enough; there’s no need to rush.”

“…?”

A bit confused, the Priestess tilted her head, not knowing what the other party was up to this time, and could only hurry to follow.

Although the Ancient Spirit Realm didn’t focus on heavy martial arts, in a world where one could cultivate spiritual energy, most people clearly preferred to spend their efforts honing their bodies or profound techniques rather than studying and writing every day.

Compared to the nearly 300,000 contestants in the previous wilderness survival advancement competition, fewer than 50,000 made it to the second round of the literary competition. After dividing into over a dozen categories, participants in relatively niche categories like the Earth Elemental Pulse were naturally even scarcer.

Even though it was just a round of elimination, those who entered the second round would probably be around a thousand people; the central venue alone was spacious enough to accommodate all the contestants.

At this moment, the staff were doing the final adjustments on the earth pulse compasses. It seemed the core of this competition indeed revolved around these hundreds of devices.

The biggest difference between the literary competition and the martial arts competition was that due to differences in environment and format, each round of the former required a supervising official with sufficient prestige, and as the “Four Saints Selection Tournament,” that was someone at least at the level of the national protector sect leaders, somewhat similar to the civil service examination system in Blue Star’s history.

This time was no exception.

However, it also surprised everyone.

Suddenly, three loud bell chimes resonated from the platform above, and the ceremonial officer’s solemn shout echoed throughout the venue with the help of props!

“His Holiness the Holy Monarch has arrived!!!”

“…Huh?”

“What, what? Who?”

“The commoners pay their respects to Your Majesty!”

The originally lively and urgent atmosphere at the venue abruptly fell silent, and chaos ensued almost instantaneously. Although some smart individuals quickly bowed in respect, most contestants, spectators, and even people like Vilyric and Hen, who didn’t need to kneel, stood there, exchanging confused glances.

What’s going on?

The literary competition had been going on for about ten rounds now. Previously, it was always the national protector sect leaders taking turns to supervise, but it was the first time the Eastern Yuan Holy Monarch personally appeared, and with no prior notice, it naturally caught everyone off guard.

After a moment of commotion, everyone who had regained their senses hurriedly remembered to pay their respects, but the Holy Monarch’s authoritative yet somewhat gentle voice had already echoed through the venue first.

“Please be at ease. I’ve come today merely as a supervising official. All formalities will be simplified. You need not feel anxious or panicked; just proceed to carry out the events as planned.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Hmm?

In the crowd, the unassuming black-haired girl suddenly frowned and looked up at the regal figure being surrounded by everyone on the platform.

That guy… did he just glance in their direction?

   

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