by Dragon King
Su Han and Hao Ren seemed to have a close relationship, but it was highly unlikely that they were dating. Also, the male teachers were unwilling to think in that direction and didn’t want to admit that Su Han was no longer available.
“What other questions do you guys have?” Lu Qing said at a slow speed as if he were questioning them.
“Vice Principal, even if there’s nothing wrong about Ms. Su, but that student! We can’t just let that student off the hook!” A male teacher suddenly suggested, “He often skips school. According to school regulations, that should be an offense. We should at least give him a warning!”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! There’s nothing wrong with Ms. Su, but the student should be punished!” The other male teacher unanimously agreed with this opinion.
Lu Qing put on a straight face and didn’t say anything.
“Vice Principal Lu, if you can’t deal with this problem, we’ll go find the Principal!” After seeing Lu Qing’s indifferent attitude, the male teachers became decisive.
Lu Qing was only the Vice Principal, and on top of him was the Principal.
“Hao Ren got my approval beforehand. If you have any questions, you can go consult the Principal,” Lu Qing said.
“Let’s go! Let’s go find the Principal!”
At this current moment, all the male teachers were hotheaded. They weren’t scared of offending Lu Qing anymore and went straight to the Principal’s office.
Half a minute later, a roar was heard from the principal’s office. “What on earth do you think you guys are doing? Hao Ren is Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang’s son! If we give a serious warning to Hao Zhonghua’s son, what do you think the consequences are? Are you guys willing to take on the responsibilities?”
There was absolute silence for a split second in the Principal’s office.
Then, the male teachers quickly ran out of the office.
Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Su Han were in a taxi. They went to a small park a few kilometers away from school.
Everyone around them was once again jealous of Hao Ren as he led Su Han to the ticket window and bought two entrance tickets to the park.
It was very quiet in the park, but they did not have time to wander around. They quickly found a quiet spot where no one was around, and Su Han took out her White Jade Sword and created a red energy sphere.
Then, she used her power to carry them up high into the sky.
They were heading towards the Dragon God Shrine.
As they flew higher and higher, the sight of East Ocean City became smaller and smaller. After they were above layers of clouds, Su Han maximized their speed!
On Su Han’s waist hung a shiny token. That was the symbol of an official inspector, and no forces dared to stop them!
“Have you memorized everything in the handbook?” Su Han asked to confirm.
Su Han’s hair fluttered in the air as they continued ascending, and she looked beautiful from this angle.
“I’ve memorized everything,” Hao Ren said.
To memorize that super thick handbook, he had pulled a few consecutive all-nighters. His head was about to explode with all the information that was crammed in. After all, even Su Han couldn’t remember everything.
“I hope you won’t disappoint me,” Su Han said calmly.
Hao Ren stood behind Su Han and smelled the scent of her hair; it was fresh and sweet. He was a bit touched by what Su Han said.
Although Su Han didn’t show any emotions, he understood that Su Han had high expectations of him.
“I’ll try my best,” Hao Ren said decisively.
“Ok.” Su Han slightly nodded.
The longsword they were standing on shone brighter.
They flew for a whole hour, and then Hao Ren saw a large platform in the sky from afar!
Around the platform were many other cultivators who were flying at full speed toward it. They were cultivators who came to participate in the general exams at the Dragon God Shrine!
The whole platform let out a dim red light; it was enveloped in an energy sphere!
“During this time of the year, around the Dragon Boat Festival, the Dragon God Shrine will have the exams for three days. Only during these three days will the Dragon God Shrine be open to the public. Normally, only the official inspectors who hold tokens can enter. Of course, they sometimes bring back criminals, and they are brought in too. Otherwise, no one else can enter.” Su Han saw that Hao Ren was slightly surprised, so she explained to him.
“So, the Dragon God Shrine also has a prison?” Hao Ren asked.
“Dragon cultivators who committed crimes are locked within the Heavenly Prison here. All the four ocean dragon palaces have their own prisons,” Su Han said.
“The prison at the East Ocean Dragon Palace is probably the Ice Palace,” Hao Ren thought to himself.
As they talked, they arrived on the platform with Su Han using her long sword to carry Hao Ren with her.
Hao Ren looked around. There were rows of small rooms lined up, and there were probably thousands of them!
In the center was an enormous black palace, and around it was hundreds of large-scale battle arenas!
The platform which was floating high in the sky supported thousands of rooms, hundreds of battle arenas, and an enormous palace.
“Do you think this looks like the Nine Dragon Palace?” Su Han asked Hao Ren.
“A little bit…” Hao Ren said.
If the Nine Dragon Palace were a super city, then the Dragon God Shrine was a small city. In the Nine Dragon Palace, there were mountains, lakes, abandoned building, and towers that reached the sky. However, the Dragon God Shrine was an enormous platform that had a series of rooms, battle arenas, and a massive palace with tens of thousands of small rooms.
“The Dragon God Shrine was built based on the Nine Dragon Palace. However, we don’t have that kind of power to support a platform as big as the Nine Dragon Palace. This is all we can do,” Su Han said.
Hao Ren was left speechless.
The grand palace was a historical site in the Nine Dragon Palace, and it was the ancestral home of all five-elemental dragon clans.
The Dragon God Shrine was based on the Nine Dragon Palace. Although it was not as big, being able to support its size in the middle of the sky was already a great accomplishment. The sight of the Dragon God Shrine already showed off its power, and it was nothing to be reckoned with!
“Let’s not waste time. You only have a little time to prepare.” Su Han slowly descended and landed on the platform.
“The written exam starts tonight. Here’s your temporary identity token; I got it for you beforehand. Your room number is Ren Yin 246. Once you’ve found your room, don’t wander around because that’s not permitted.”
According to Su Han’s personality, she wouldn’t utter an extra word. However, this time when she took Hao Ren to the Dragon God Shrine, she explained all the things Hao Ren should know in detail in hopes that he would succeed.
From her ring, she took out a yellow wooden token and gave it to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren looked down and saw ‘Ren Yin 246’ carved on it. It didn’t seem special at all.
“I have to go report at the Dragon God Shrine, so I don’t have time to take you around. Go find your room and rest. There should be a set of clothes in your room and go change into them. Remember to put your temporary identity token by your waist. After 11 tonight, anyone that hasn’t put on the prepared clothes or the identity token will be killed as a trespasser.”
Su Han left those words with him and walked toward the black palace with her long sword.
Hao Ren was a bit freaked out by how Su Han uttered the word ‘kill’. On the Dragon God Shrine’s territory, it was better to not get on the wrong side of the terrifying official inspectors.
Among the rows of rooms, small roads connected them.
The roads were made of blue stones. The walls were grey, and the roofs had black tiles. The whole place gave off a mysterious old city fe
eling.
On the narrow paths, participants were rushing through. There were some who wore modern style clothing while others wore light-colored linen clothing. There were both males and females, and the busy passersby and the narrow streets together formed a weird yet interesting picture.
Hao Ren was brought here by Su Han, so he didn’t need to go get his temporary identity toke. But for many of the other cultivators here, they had to go get the tokens themselves.
No one other than the participants and staff members was allowed in the examination area for the written exam. The elders who came with the participants had no choice but to camp out around the site.
For this exam, no matter which clan the participants came from or what role they had, they were all regular participants.
“Ren Yin 243, Ren Yin 244, Ren Yin 245… Finally.”
Hao Ren followed the numbers and finally arrived at his own room.
All the rooms looked the same. It was a small room with an area of only half a square meter. Inside was a table, a chair, a set of clothes, and some writing tools.
Hao Ren injected some nature essence into the temporary identity token, and the array formation that had locked the room opened.
The set of clothes prepared was a long light brown robe. However, unlike the clothes the other participants he saw on the streets wore, Hao Ren’s had two little silver dragons embroidered on the shoulders.
404 Identity or Strength!?
Hao Ren changed into his long robe from his jacket.
The last time he went to the Nine Dragon Palace, Hao Ren was wearing a Dao robe that had embroideries on the sides. That was his first time wearing traditional clothing.
This ‘examination outfit’ was plainer than the one he used to wear. Other than the two little silver dragon embroideries on his shoulders, there were no other decorations on his robe. The material was also not rare at all, just something you could find anywhere.
The robe was just long enough to cover his ankles.
The rooms were only half a square meter big. From the long table, which was placed against the wall, to the other walls, it was just enough to fit one person.
Hao Ren sat on the chair and placed both hands on the table. There was barely room to move around.
The Dragon cultivators didn’t come to the Dragon God Shrine for a vacation; they were all here to take the exam. With the tens of thousands of exam takers, using such small rooms to fit everyone in was reasonable.
Hao Ren sat in the ‘Ren Yin 246’ room quietly. He was bored.
The people in the rooms beside him were also cultivators.
All the cultivators were anxiously waiting for the written examination to start.
Outside were some cultivators pacing around because they were too anxious to sit down.
Hao Ren was a bit bored and didn’t feel that well in the room, so he put his temporary identity token on and went outside.
There were many young cultivators outside; some were pacing back and forth, while others were talking in small groups.
When the others saw Hao Ren walk over, they were all in awe.
When he walked over, some stopped talking while others opened the path for him.
This showed that Hao Ren had a far higher status.
Hao Ren was looking down and wasn’t paying attention. The only difference he noticed was the two little silver dragons on the shoulder area of his robe.
“He’s an assisting inspector…”
“He should be really amazing…”
“Careful. Let’s not let him hear us.”
There were whispers all over the place.
Hao Ren finally realized that the light brown robe with two little silver dragons on it wasn’t just for anyone; it was only for assisting inspectors!
No matter which dragon clan one came from, or what role they had previously held at home, or even how strong their nature essence was, they were the same in the Dragon God Shrine.
However, there was one exception; the assisting inspectors!
At the Dragon God Shrine, the assisting inspector was far more superior than any other dragon cultivator.
Although they all took the same exam, assisting inspectors were the most likely to become official inspectors!
During the exam period, if normal Dragon cultivators started fighting with each other outside the arena, it was perfectly fine. However, if anyone dared to clash against an ‘assisting inspector’, then he or she would be automatically disqualified.
That was the special right of the ‘assisting inspector’!
That was why they were more cautious when Hao Ren walked over. They were scared of subconsciously bothering Hao Ren.
“I can’t believe I’d bump into you here.” A voice from behind suddenly sounded.
Hao Ren turned, and a familiar face walked over from another path. It was Wang Xi.
Wang Xi was from the earth-element dragon clan and had fought Hao Ren once before. Wang Xi was sent to the Martial Arts Dojo outside the mountain valley by Elder Sun.
Hao Ren looked at him. He thought Wang Xi looked taller than before. He saw by Wang Xi’s waist was an identity token marked by the words “Ren Mao 297”.
“Who is that person?”
“Who is he? Isn’t he scared that talking to an assisting inspector will cause him his rights to take the exam?”
“I know him. He’s Wang Xi, an earth-elemental dragon from the Wuyi Mountain. I heard he’s already reached Xun-level. The clan at Wuyi Mountain has focused all their attention on bringing up only him.”
“Xun-level… He must be really powerful. These few years, there haven’t been any strong fighters that have reached Qian-level or Kun-level.”
“Oh, it’s him! I heard he’s one of the seed players for this year’s official inspector position.”
The cultivators around them started talking amongst themselves.
Hao Ren watched as Wang Xi came closer. Hao Ren thought and said, “I didn’t think I’d see you here either.”
“Assisting inspector,” Wang Yi looked at Hao Ren and said in a condescending tone.
On the narrow path, the atmosphere started to become tense.
The ones who were more cowardly stepped back because they were afraid that they would get involved and get disqualified.
“So what, you have a problem with that?” Hao Ren looked at him with hostility.
“I’d beat you during the combat exams tomorrow,” Wang Xi stared at Hao Ren and said proudly.
The others were all afraid of Hao Ren, but he wasn’t!
He had fought against Hao Ren before, and knew that Hao Ren wasn’t that strong!
“If it weren’t for the East Ocean Dragon Palace supporting him, there was no way he’d be able to be an assisting inspector!” He thought. Since he had just recently achieved Xun-level, he was extremely confident that he had improved his ability and power!
Although Xun-level is below Kun-level, the person who had reached Xun-level could be considered as a master. If he were able to get a mystic crystal, then reaching Kun-level was possible!
“A little assisting inspector is no match for me!” Wang Xi thought. What he wanted was to reach for the sky, defeating all including the assisting inspectors.
Even with Hao Ren’s good manners, he was infuriated by Wang Xi’s aloof attitude.
“Dang, dang, dang…” The bell in the center of the black Dragon God Shrine rang loudly.
The platform that had been supporting the Dragon God Shrine gave out a deep red light.
The array formation of the Dragon God Shrine was up and working again, locking everything within it.
It was nine in the evening. The energy sphere was reinitiated, and any cultivators that had not reached the Dragon God Shrine by now were unable to enter. Also, the ones that were in the Dragon God Shrine couldn’t fly out anymore!
That meant that those dragon cultivators who were late were automatically disqualified.
“Hua, hua, hua�
�” Those who were wondering on the streets quickly returned to their rooms.
In two hours, the written exam would begin. From 11 in the evening, the official inspectors who were going to proctor the exam gathered together. That was why during this time, the participants had to sit tight in their own rooms; that was the thing they should do in their best interest.
“Hmph!” Wang Xi looked down at Hao Ren one last time and headed back to his own room.
“So, he’s at Xun-level…” Hao Ren thought as he watched Wang Xi slowly disappear into the horizon. He clenched his fist tightly and then slowly relaxed it. He walked toward his ‘Ren Yin 246’ room.
This should be the right time to see how far he has improved from all his training back at school.
405 Main Examiner’s Special Care
Hao Ren returned to his room, opened a transparent energy sphere with his identity token, and sat in it.
The messy examination area suddenly became silent.
The inspectors who wore silver silk robes stepped on their dharma treasures and entered the written examination area.
The structure made up of thousands of black-roofed rooms seemed like an enormous black Bagua map, surrounding the Dragon God Shrine at the center according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
These rooms that were used only once a year were the outer city of the Dragon God Shrine.
The black Dragon God Shrine and the nearby white arenas in four directions were surrounded by these tens of thousands of rooms, and the Dragon God Shrine could be considered as the inner city.
For this written examination in the middle of the night, the Dragon God Shrine sent hundreds of inspectors to supervise their respective areas.
Hao Ren knew if Zhao Kuo were to take part in the general examinations, he would come to this written examination tonight. But with the scale of the written exam at the Dragon God Shrine, finding Zhao Kuo was harder than reaching the heavens.
The hundreds of inspectors dashed through the alleyways between rooms, swiftly checking the situation in each room.
An inspector walked passed the path in front of Hao Ren.
He saw Hao Ren’s silver dragon embroideries on the shoulders, and his indifferent face got a little warm as he nodded slightly.
