Wang Fang was calmer than most. He replied, “I wondered who it might be. Tian Rong, you and I are—”

Tian Rong interrupted him before he could finish. “Fuck your mom.”

Redness started creeping onto Wang Fang’s face, but he still tried to control his temper. He raised his voice, “Although we share grievances with each other, there is no need to make such a spectacle of ourselves, is there?”

Tian Rong looked at him with dripping disdain and spat on the ground. He cussed for the third time, “Fuck your mom!”

Wang Fang’s whole face flushed with fury as he exploded, “Stand right there! I’ll send you to the Scarlet Tide Sect right now!”

Tian Rong didn’t hesitate. When he saw Wang Fang charging him with bloodshot eyes, he immediately turned tail and ran!

Wang Fang raced after the boy while roaring, “Stand your ground if you’re a man! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Tian Rong didn’t slow down, of course. He even looked back at Wang Fang and yelled, “Like I’m scared of you! Don’t chase me if you dare!”

And so one group ran, and the other gave chase. They traveled all the way to the north until suddenly, another two blue groups rushed out from behind and struck the yellow group’s flanks. Just like that, Lee Zhi’s vanguard was annihilated.

There was only silence in the examiner hall for a while. The examiners’ faces were interesting to say the least.

Try as he might, the middle-aged Confucianist ultimately lost his cool and remarked, “Miss Bao, how could she... this is utterly disgraceful!”

The Bao Clan was strong, so the middle-aged Confucianist didn’t dare to cuss Bao Yun out. However, he also felt like he would suffocate if he held it in, so he ultimately called her disgraceful through gritted teeth.

The younger cultivator laughed out loud. “All is fair in war. That has been the case since ancient times! Besides, it is not Miss Bao who wrote or yelled the famous insult, so why are you insulting her? Best watch your mouth, or not even the academy can protect you from the Bao Clan’s wrath!

“Anyway, you should worry about the yellow team instead. I wonder if you have the nerve to rank Lee Zhi first if they get crushed?”

As soon as he said this, every other examiner thought to themselves: Of course he does!

The old Confucianist glared at the younger cultivator with a face like thunder. He was already hatching a plot to suppress Bao Yun. As long as Lee Zhi was still the top scorer of the unified exam, it didn’t matter if he failed to win the martial test. Since Wei Yuan was no longer a threat, he didn’t mind giving the boy the number one spot in the martial test. Anyone was fine so long as it wasn’t Bao Yun. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Inside the illusory realm, Wei Yuan was still standing on the hill. He had seen how Tian Rong had goaded Wang Fang into a flying rage and lured him and his troops into his trap. He had seen how the blue team had annihilated the entire vanguard force almost flawlessly. Only two people in the blue team were injured, and they were back to full health as soon as they consumed their pills.

After the yellow team’s vanguard was wiped out, the blue candidates wiped blood on their faces and bodies before splitting into two groups. Then, they traveled south along the eastern and western edges of the illusory realm. It was clear that they were planning to attack Lee Zhi’s flanks.

His grasp of military strategy was so-so at best, but even he could tell that the blue group clearly held the upper hand. From the start, the blue team had over one hundred and fifty troops, whereas the yellow team only had one hundred and twenty. The numerical disparity had become even larger after the thirty troops comprising the yellow team’s vanguard were annihilated. With just ninety troops left, Lee Zhi would somehow had to defeat the blue team’s troops of one hundred and fifty. Unless he came up with a genius plan to turn this around, his defeat was all but certain.

Wei Yuan himself tried to come up with a genius plan that might turn this situation around. He couldn’t. That said, he also knew that his knowledge regarding military strategy was limited, so he stopped thinking as soon as he hit a wall. But even though he couldn’t come up with a solution himself, it didn’t stop him from holding the yellow vanguard in contempt.

Can’t believe that guy lost his head after just a few insults. He has no composure whatsoever. How can someone like that lead an army?

If it was me, all that barking would have passed me by as harmlessly as the wind and rain.

To be as immovable as a mountain. That was the root that all great generals shared.

Wei Yuan was still daydreaming when suddenly, he heard a shout, “Look! There’s a big oaf over there!”

Wei Yuan slowly turned his head. Standing not far away from his hill were a dozen or so candidates wearing blue shirts. They were all pointing fingers at him. They were the blue team’s vanguard, and it was them who successfully lured the yellow team’s vanguard into an encirclement and wiped them out in one go.

Before this, he was definitely wary of the blue team. He hadn’t seen Lee Zhi in action yet, but whoever was commanding the blue team was definitely a clever strategist. That was why he was reluctant to leave his hill. He was afraid that tens of people would pop out of nowhere and surround him. According to the history books, countless people had ventured too deep into enemy territory and ambushed because of their mistake. It was bad enough that they lost their battle and their lives, but they were written into the history books and laughed at for generations as well. Sometimes, it wasn’t a good thing to be remembered in history.

But after someone had called him a big oaf, his breathing suddenly became long and deep. It was only one breath, but it felt almost unending as Outlawed by Heaven and Earth circulated throughout his body. At the same time, a surge of indescribable wildness and fury welled up within him.

Wei Yuan didn’t bother wasting his breath. He began running toward the group.

Tian Rong was shocked when he saw the big oaf charging him. He also looked terribly imposing to say the least. Thus, he turned on his feet almost without thinking and ran away. Having experienced being hunted—no, luring the enemy into their trap one time, Tian Rong’s underlings responded just as quickly. They were a hundred zhang away in just the blink of an eye.

When they looked back and saw that the big oaf had only taken a couple steps though, they stopped in their tracks. Everyone in the group felt ashamed of their instinctive cowardice. They also thought that they were overreacting as the big oaf, as intimidating as he looked, was alone. They outnumbered him almost twenty to one, so why the heck were they running away? Embarrassed and angry, several candidates burst out cussing and suggested that they take out Wei Yuan first.

Personally, Tian Rong thought that it would be a mistake to do so. After all, his mission was to harass Lee Zhi’s central force. However, the candidates ultimately weren’t elite soldiers. When their emotions rushed into their heads, even he, their commander, couldn’t quite control them.

Meanwhile, Wei Yuan had returned to the hilltop. It was because he realized he wasn’t quick enough after just taking a few steps. He could still catch up to them, but it would be extremely troublesome if they scattered in every direction. Thankfully, Outlawed by Heaven and Earth boasted many miraculous abilities. There were ways to deal with fleeing enemies.

Once again, black wisps seeped out of his body. Outlawed by Heaven and Earth began cycling at an accelerated rate as his perception range rapidly increased to the forest behind the hill. As if on cue, a wild boar charged out of the forest and ran straight toward him. A wisp of black qi then crawled out of his forehead and entered the boar’s body.

The boar immediately let out an agonized howl and collapsed on the ground, writhing. It was because it was experiencing the pain of its primordial spirit being torn apart, an inner fire scorching its insides, a maze clouding its mind and more. While screaming in pain, the boar was also rapidly growing in size. The next second, it went from the size of a small lamb to a massive, one zhang tall beast!

The pain passed, and the wild boar struggled to its feet. Its tiny eyes had turned blood red in color, and its tusks had grown to the length of three chi. The tip was glinting sharply as well.

Wei Yuan felt that his mind had become one with the boar. Thus, he leaped into the air and landed squarely on its back. As soon as he gave a mental command, it let out a pair of white vapor from its nostrils and charged straight toward the blue group!

Tian Rong’s mouth slowly widened into an O shape. He didn’t even get the chance to scream before the boar was right in front of him, and the shadow of a spear crossed his vision. The next thing he knew, the only thing he could see was white.

The wild boar’s speed was insane to say the least. It ran through the vanguard force like a hill and took out half their numbers in just one charge. Most of them didn’t even know if they were stabbed to death by his spear, or crushed underneath the boar’s hooves. When Wei Yuan turned his mount around and charged again, only two candidates were still standing.

To the survivors’ credit, they were smart enough to run off in opposite directions. If Wei Yuan hadn’t gotten a mount, then he would be having a headache right now. However, a human could not possibly outrun a boar, much less a giant one. Thus, he easily caught up to the stragglers and killed them with his spear.

After wiping out the blue team’s vanguard, Wei Yuan realized that his enemies were easy. So easy it was like he was cutting vegetables on a chopping block. He was worried about falling into a trap and dying like the yellow team’s vanguard earlier, but now, he was pretty sure he could just break through the encirclement and kill them all.

After circling the area on his boar once and confirming that he had gotten everyone, he headed north.

In the north zone, the girl had already moved her sand table to an upland nearing the central zone. In front of a hillside, her main force was standing ready in a dense formation featuring three rows.

The examiner hall erupted into uproar once more.