Chapter 11682 — The First to Concretize His True Mandate

Everyone was stunned.

But they quickly understood: she had only a single layer of True Mandate and could not withstand Wei Zhao's onslaught at all. Withdrawing of her own accord was simply the wisest choice.

One after another, the other candidates who had only one or two layers of True Mandate likewise declared their withdrawal.

That left only three.

Among them was Liu Han, with five layers of True Mandate, along with two other candidates who had four.

Strictly speaking, if they truly threw themselves at Wei Zhao together, they would still stand a chance.

Of course, that was on the premise that one of them had, like Wei Zhao, independently grasped some inkling of the trick to combining inner and outer.

Otherwise, with Wei Zhao's ten layers of True Mandate sitting there before them, they could fight all day and probably not wear away even three layers, while they themselves might well be beaten to death in the meantime.

In the end, they wisely kept their silence.

"No one else wants to challenge?"

Monarch Song tilted his chin toward Wei Zhao. "Well then. You choose first."

Wei Zhao nodded. "Very well."

Thereupon, under everyone's watchful gaze, he began examining the jade talismans one after another.

A full hour passed, and he was still going.

The crowd waited in agonized impatience.

Had Monarch Song not been sitting there, they would likely have already begun cursing aloud.

Di Liankong said darkly, "Brother Lin, even if you do have the right of first choice, you might at least consider everyone else's feelings. Could you move a little faster?"

The crowd felt a surge of sympathy.

Wei Zhao shot him a glance. "I am merely exercising my right. If Brother Di finds it improper, why not challenge me again?"

"..."

Di Liankong was choked into silence, and finally forced out: "Exercising your right is all very well, but by doing this you are effectively reviewing everyone else's gains too. Whatever abilities the rest of us manage to learn next will all have been known to you in advance—is that not rather unfair?"

The crowd's sense of shared grievance deepened.

Anyone could work it out with their toes: to hold their own in the upcoming trial, their original strength would be of no use at all. These research achievements of the senior students before them were the true key to their standing.

And now Wei Zhao had, in effect, seen all their cards in advance.

Naturally, they could not stomach it.

Wei Zhao looked at him with amusement. "This is part and parcel of the right of first choice. Could it be, Brother Di, that you never thought of this until now?"

Di Liankong fell silent at once.

The others were likewise embarrassed.

They were no fools; every one of them had thought of this beforehand. The reason they had said nothing until now, and only now came forward as a group, was simply to seize the occasion and pressure Wei Zhao.

Unfortunately, Wei Zhao would not take the bait at all.

Having won the right of first choice, he would naturally exercise it to the fullest.

If this lot thought a few words could shame him into a hasty decision, they were far too naive.

Was Wei Zhao the sort to prize face over substance?

The crowd ground their teeth in fury, yet could only watch as Wei Zhao continued to examine them one by one.

Di Liankong watched this scene and smiled coldly to himself.

The more Wei Zhao behaved this way, the more resentment he drew.

Once that resentment reached its peak, Di Liankong need only give it a timely stir, and Wei Zhao would inevitably become the target of all.

When it came to that, no matter how strong Wei Zhao was personally, his only fate would be elimination!

After all, they were all candidates. How great could the gap in strength really be?

At last, Wei Zhao made his choice.

"I choose number seven."

Having said so, Wei Zhao put away the number seven jade talisman.

Di Liankong and the others looked on, their teeth itching.

Now, unless Wei Zhao chose to reveal it himself, they would never learn what his card was.

But soon everyone's attention fixed upon the remaining nine jade talismans.

Monarch Song announced, "The rest will be decided by drawing lots."

Everyone was taken aback. Had it not been said that they would each pick what suited them? Why had it become a matter of drawing lots?

Then Monarch Song added, "If you find it unsuitable, you may give it up and wait for the next round of drawing, until every one of you has made a selection."

"So that is how it is."

Understanding dawned on the crowd at once.

But this way, luck would inevitably play a great part. Whether one could pick something suitable truly came down to the will of heaven.

There was no help for it. Without the right of first choice, luck was all they had to speak for them.

Monarch Song waved his hand, and at once a jade talisman appeared before each person.

The crowd was instantly thrilled. Some were wreathed in smiles, but others wore somewhat dark expressions—clearly, the talismans they had drawn were not ideal.

After three rounds of drawing, everyone had finally made their selections.

As for the last remaining jade talisman, Monarch Song took it back.

"You have three days to prepare. Three days from now, the next round of trial selection begins."

With that, Monarch Song waved his hand again, and everyone, Wei Zhao included, was instantly teleported into a separate world.

Clearly, these three days were meant for their cultivation.

The crowd's hearts tightened, and they hastily steadied their minds and threw themselves into comprehending and cultivating with all their might.

No need to guess: whether they could pass the next round of selection depended entirely on how much they could accomplish in these three days.

The three days passed in a flash.

The moment the time came, everyone's vision swam, and they reappeared in the martial grounds.

Instructor Monarch Song, still wearing that same languid, devil-may-care air, surveyed them. "From the looks of you, it seems you have all gained a great deal."

The corners of everyone's mouths curled up in unison.

Three days was short—scarcely a blink for cultivators who thought nothing of secluding themselves for a hundred years at a stretch—yet for those present, these three days had transformed them utterly, from top to bottom.

Now, looking at Wei Zhao again, they no longer felt that former pressure.

Before, not knowing the attack paradigm that combined inner and outer, they had no way to efficiently break True Mandate. Facing Wei Zhao's ten layers, the pressure had naturally been crushing.

But now, True Mandate was no longer so insoluble a problem for them.

Ten layers of True Mandate still held an advantage, to be sure, but if played well, for the people they were now, it amounted to no more than a single chain of paradigm moves.

Any one of them, facing Wei Zhao, stood a real chance of winning!

Di Liankong especially.

With the three days over, his True Mandate had already recovered to five layers, and the spirit that Wei Zhao had ground down was fully restored.

Once again, he was in high spirits.

The rest of the crowd, meanwhile, burned with fervor.

And this was only the graduation achievement of ordinary students of the Heavenly Dao Academy. What of the achievements of the top students—or even those of great Heavenly Dao powers? What kind of spectacle would that be?

Just thinking of it made their blood race.

Monarch Song stretched lazily and announced, "For the first round of the trial, you may use any method you can think of. Anyone who strips a single layer of True Mandate from my body passes."