Chapter 85: The tests (2):

Jun Jie soon began to call out all the names that were already outer disciples of the Moon Valley. Everyone was here apart from Yang Yang. Well, that's already not a good impression. You shouldn't be late for your first exam. I frowned and quickly asked Yu Xuan to go and check where he was. Before Yu Xuan left the hall, Yang Yang ran past him and shouted that he was present. He was the last person on the register so everyone knew who he was.

Jun Jie looked at me as I nodded and gave my confirmation. "Yang Yang, why are you so late?" I asked. Yang Yang stood up from his seat bowed and muttered "I apologise my Lord. I overslept even when I specifically asked someone to wake me up," and glared at Fan Yun Fei, his roommate. I suppose I can understand why Fan Yun Fei did that. If Yang Yang didn't come there will be less competition for him. I gestured for him to sit back down.

Next Jun Jie began calling out the names of those who registered to come to this test. People who aren't the Moon Valley's outer disciples. There were many names I haven't heard of. But one name was very familiar. That name was Xie Si Yuan. "Xie Si Yuan? Are you Wu Ling Feng and Xie Qiang Dan's son?" I asked as he nodded. "My mother is Wu Ling Feng, the head of the Phoenix clan and my father is Xie Qiang Dan, the head of the Xie clan," explained Xie Si Yuan.

The Phoenix clan's most famous martial arts skill was the Song of Phoenix and the golden dragon. It was a skill that required the participation of both a female and male cultivator. These two must be connected in their hearts to be able to use that skill. There has only been 1 pair of cultivators who've successfully learnt all 10 stages of the Song of Phoenix. And they are Wu Ling Feng and Xie Qiang Dan. Their love story was really popular 20 years ago. The Xie family wasn't a martial arts family yet the two still managed to fall in love.

The Wu family had no more sons to inherit their clan neither did the Xie family. Hence, Wu Ling Feng and Xie Qiang Dan came up with this proposition. The proposition is that the first son will have the Wu family surname and the second son will have the Xie family surname hence the two brothers don't have the same surname. In terms of skill, the older brother Wu Tsiu Lee was much more advanced however, Xie Si Yuan wasn't that bad. So why is he here?

"Xie Si Yuan, your parents are both really respected elders in the martial arts world. Why are you not learning with them but you came over here to take the Moon Valley entrance exam?" I asked curiously. I've got a feeling he might not be as naive as he seems. "My lord, in terms of skills, I know I'm well below my older brother. Hence, I wish to learn more from the Moon Valley, after all, they've won the martial arts competition twice in a row," explained Xie Si Yuan. His motive seems too simple. I gestured for him to sit down however, I made a mental note to watch him.

"Us winning, the martial arts competition is all thanks to Shuang Guan Tao. I'm sure he will continue to lead us to victory this year," I exclaimed looking at Tao Didi. My words have another meaning obviously. Usually, it was meant to be the Sect leader who would lead them in the competition. But I usually hate these sorts of things and I made Shang Guan Tao do it. Shuang Guan Tao must've guessed that I wanted him to do it this year hence he quickly voiced out his disagreement. "Senior brother, I'm afraid I've to let you down this time. You see during the week that the competition is being held I'm afraid I'm away on my honeymoon. So sadly, I cannot help you this time," he said whilst smirking. I glared at him but I couldn't say anything else. I turned towards Shang Guan Yue however, he too quickly said no with the excuse that he was preparing for the wedding with Tian Hua. That I cannot refuse as well. "Senior brother looks like you've to go this year," stammered Shang Guan Tao as I glared at him. We were whispering all of this conversation so no one realised what conversation we will be having.

As soon as the register finished I stood up and prepared to take my speech. "Right, students I'm sure you're all prepared for the exam. This exam is split into 5 parts. The last four parts are to do with the four arts so: the playing of any instrument, the drawing part, the game of go, and the literature part. The first part of the exam is obviously the martial arts part. We've helped you decide who is going to be whose partner so good luck," I explained. I pulled down a string and immediately the name of whose going against who came out. I changed it a little and I noticed that both Shang Guan Yue and Shang Gaun Tao had realised. They immediately looked at me in concern however I reassured them whilst explaining that I will tell them everything later. They nodded and begin to compose themselves. Shang Guan Yue was overseeing the martial arts part of the test.