Chapter 91: The Azure Cloud Decree

  Ning Cheng grabbed a nearby Qi Practitioner and asked, "Friend, I just heard that with 76 points, one can get into the Qing Yun Academy?"

  The monk stared at Ning City for a long time before speaking wordlessly, "You've just arrived in Mozhe City, right? Do you know what 76 points represent? Go take a look at the six large screens on that side and check out the scores from the preliminary round. Then you'll understand what 76 points represent."

  Ning Cheng followed the monk's pointing finger and looked over, a row of six large formation screens. He walked to the first formation screen and immediately saw what was going on.

  These six large screens display the ranking of the preliminary round scores, with the first screen showing the results of the first preliminary round. The array screen only shows 500 people. Based on the calculation that each preliminary round has 5,000 participants, this is a 10-to-1 ratio for making it onto the rankings.

  The highest score in the first preliminary round was only 71 points, and the top 500 on the big screen had only a few dozen points.

  The second big screen is the result of the second preliminary round, but the first place score in the second preliminary round is as high as 94 points, and the second place has only 63 points. The 500th place also has only a few dozen points.

  Ning City didn't realize until after the fourth preliminary round that his score of 76 was actually third place in the written test scores of the four preliminary rounds.

  The fifth big screen is blank because the fifth preliminary round has not been held yet. The sixth big screen is also blank.

  Ning Cheng asked another person, "Excuse me, is this sixth large screen set up for the final ranking of the preliminary round? Does it mean that the 2,500 people who made it onto the first five large screens will all advance to the next round?"

  "How can it be so simple? This sixth large screen is the ranking of the preliminary round's final score, but it's not ranked according to what you said. In the end, 1,000 people were selected from the 2,500 people in the previous five rounds of the preliminary round to participate in the re-examination. The selection rule is based on the score from high to low."

  "Isn't it unfair that the questions for each preliminary round are different?" Ning Cheng didn't know if the questions for several rounds were the same or not, but he guessed they should be different.

  "Where is absolute fairness? But since no one raises an objection, it means there won't be a problem." This person obviously doesn't know much either.

  Ning Cheng didn't know what the questions were for the preliminary written test, so he simply stopped thinking about it. There were still a few days left before the fifth round of the preliminaries. From young to old, he had taken countless exams and others could take them, how could he be afraid of exams?

  At this time, he was going to the Qingyun Academy. He wanted to ask about the Qingyun Order first. If the Qingyun Order could be used, he would also ask if it could represent the Qingyun Academy in the written test. Even if it couldn't represent the Qingyun Academy, with so many sects and academies on this square, he should be able to find a place to participate in the written test.

  Compared to the crowded situation outside some low-level academies and sects, there were very few people in front of the five major five-star academies. Everyone knew that without a good spiritual root, it was better not to go to the five-star academy and lose face.

  "Excuse me..."

  "What color is the main spirit root?" Ning Cheng's words had not yet come out, when a middle-aged man sitting in front of the Qing Yun Academy residence lazily interrupted Ning Cheng's words.

  Ning Cheng could only say, "I don't have a main spiritual root..."

  "Slap." The middle-aged man slapped the table in front of him, "Who let you come here without a main spiritual root? Do you think the Five-Star Academy is a place for you to fool around? If everyone was like you, how would we get anything done? Get out."

  Ning Cheng was about to pull out the long spear behind his back and shoot it over, a mere Qi gathering cultivator dared to be so arrogant.

  "I'd like to ask if Qingyun Order can join Qingyun Academy?" Ning Cheng's tone turned stiff.

  "What? You have the Qingyun Order?" The middle-aged man who was cultivating his aura was shocked, immediately stood up, and his tone changed by 180 degrees. "May I ask if you brought the Qingyun Order with you? Let me check."

  Ning Cheng handed over the Qingyun Order to this middle-aged man, who turned it over and examined it for a long time, his face constantly changing color.

  More than a dozen breaths passed before he asked, "Where did your Qingyun Order come from? Is it from the sect or an unexpected personal gain? Are you a loose cultivator?"

  Ning Cheng didn't think of hiding it and simply said, "That's right, I am indeed a loose cultivator. This Qing Yun Order was obtained by me in an accidental opportunity..."

  A middle-aged man's eyes flashed with joy for a moment, then he coughed and his expression turned serious as he continued to say, "What do you want?"

  Ning Cheng looked at the middle-aged man's face and felt that this Qingyun Token was still somewhat useful. He directly expressed his thoughts, "I have a friend who wants to use this Qingyun Token to join the Qingyun Academy. If possible, I'd also like to ask if it's possible to add another spot for me to take the written exam using this token? If not, then I'll just have to settle for one..."

  "Alright, I understand. Your request can be fully satisfied. I'll put away the Qingyun Order. You fill out this form here and I'll give you a spot to participate in the fifth preliminary round of written exams." The middle-aged man interrupted Ning Cheng's words once again.

  This time, Ning Cheng felt that something was off. He took the Qingyun Token over, not to take this initial exam spot, but his main goal was to get a spot for Ji Luo Fei to join the Qingyun Academy. Then he himself would pass the exam and enter the Qingyun Academy, so both of them could join the Qingyun Academy and have someone to take care of each other.

  But the man just said give him a spot in the preliminary written test, without saying agree to a spot to join Qingyun Academy.

  Ning Cheng did not fill out the form, but instead asked in doubt, "My main requirement is not a spot for the written test, but rather a spot to join Qingyun Academy..."

  The middle-aged man snorted, interrupting Ning Cheng's words again, "Each Qingyun Order can only make one request, I've already fulfilled one of your requests. If you dare to be unreasonable and make a scene again, don't blame me for calling the law enforcement over."

  Ning Cheng finally understood that this guy was going to take away his Qing Yun Token. This shameless guy, he had never seen anyone like him before.

  "Give me Qingyun Order for now, I won't make any demands." Ning City was furious and wanted to teach this middle-aged man a lesson immediately, but he still suppressed his anger.

  "This middle-aged man looked at Ning Cheng with disdain and said, 'Do you think the Green Cloud Order is a joke? This was issued by my Green Cloud Academy. Once each requirement is completed, it will be taken back. Now we have already promised your request. Hurry up and fill out the form, otherwise it will be considered as giving up.'"

  Ning Cheng's anger reached its peak, and the Qi gathering cultivator's eyes flickered, clearly not daring to make a big deal out of this. He said extremely bluntly, "In that case, I'll just barge in and look for someone who can talk, see if you, a mere Qi gathering cultivator, can take charge?"

  The Qi-gathering cultivator saw that Ning City was not sealed off, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes. At this moment, a Yuan-building cultivator wearing the uniform of Qingyun Academy walked over. This Yuan-building cultivator swept his gaze across the two of them, asking somewhat unpleasantly, "What's going on here?"

  "Master Shifu, this person doesn't have a main spiritual root..."

  The cultivator who was speaking was cut off by the cultivator called Jing Shi Shu, who glared at Ning Cheng and said coldly, "This is the Five Star Academy. Without a main spiritual root, if you dare to continue causing trouble here, don't blame me for being impolite."

  Ning Cheng didn't want to continue the nonsense, he was ready to return to Qing Yun Sect. This Zhu Yuan cultivator didn't even listen to the whole conversation before getting angry, and on top of that, Qing Yun Academy used this kind of person to select registered disciples, it's clear that Qing Yun Academy is not great.

  Just as Ning Cheng was about to take the Qing Yun Order, he suddenly saw Lan Yue and an old man in the Qi Yuan stage walking towards him. Ning Cheng didn't continue to explain, he turned around and left. A Qing Yun Order wasn't anything to him. This grudge didn't need to be avenged immediately, when he had the chance, he would definitely make this Qi Yuan cultivator who swallowed his Qing Yun Order pay back with interest, skin and bones included.

  At this point, even if he were to join Qingyun Academy, he would no longer be interested. Qingyun Academy is at most just a five-star academy, not worth his fawning over.

  Lan Yueyue had a grudge against him. He was no longer afraid of this woman, but the Ning Cheng, the Jie Yuan cultivator beside her, did not want to get in touch with him.

  If he didn't feel that this big comparison was an opportunity for him, he would have taken Ji Luofei away. As for agreeing to Kou Hong's matter, he could come and find Meng Yujuan later.

  The middle-aged man who was gathering his energy saw that Ning City didn't explain, turned around and left. In his heart, he was overjoyed. He had already thought it through - if Ning City really said the Qingyun Order out loud, he would say that Ning City got one Qingyun Order, and he was in the process of explaining to Ning City that generally speaking, only one request could be made with a Qingyun Order.

  The Qingyun Order's role in the Qingyun Academy is far from being just a mere quota. The holder of this order not only can join the Qingyun Academy but also obtain an extreme-grade artifact and a genuine top-level cultivation method that everyone envies. Although he selects disciples outside the Qingyun Academy, he is merely a disciple of the outer court; once he obtains the Qingyun Order, he immediately becomes an inner-court disciple and enjoys various privileges.

  As for Ning Cheng who took out the Qingyun Order, he had already made up his mind. As long as he waited for the right moment, he would eliminate Ning Cheng.

  ……

  Each time the preliminary round has a quota of 5,000 people, which seems like a lot, but in reality it's actually not many. Ning Cheng asked around from four-star colleges to three-star colleges and various sects, asking nearly twenty or thirty places, yet he couldn't get even one quota.

  He condensed his true energy to the first layer, which was not as good as the ninth layer of gathering energy. The questions for the written test in the preliminary round were the same for both the True Energy and Gathering Energy cultivators, but they would be separated in the final round. Once separated, the first layer of True Energy was undoubtedly the worst among all the True Energy cultivations.

  "Is that Ning City?" Ning City suddenly heard someone calling him from behind, he didn't even need to turn around, and he knew it was Zhu Muer. This woman is really everywhere, judging by her happy tone, she probably got the competition spot.

  Ning Cheng turned around and indeed saw Zhu Muer excitedly waving at him, so he walked over with a smile, "What a coincidence, Zhu Muer."

  (Here is the second update for today, goodnight!)