Chapter 530 - 231: The Great Exam Concludes, National Top Scorer

The entire hall fell silent in an instant.

"Colleagues."

Zhu Mingyi’s voice carried clearly through the speakers, reaching every person’s ears.

"As you all know, I gathered the prodigies from every province here in the Imperial Capital. The established procedure was to select this year’s undisputed top scorer."

"To that end, I specifically added an additional test round after the final assessment."

He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce through the dark screen and land on an unseen figure.

"But now, I have decided to exclude Lin Ye from this additional test."

His words were met with dead silence.

It was followed by a wave of hushed, irrepressible murmurs.

’Excluded?’

’What does that mean?’

Before anyone could figure it out, Zhu Mingyi dropped an even bigger bombshell.

"I declare that Lin Ye is this year’s top scorer of the Great Xia Martial Arts College Entrance Exam."

"As for the remaining ranks, from second place down to eleventh, they will be decided by the other ten candidates who also received perfect scores. They will compete in the additional test round we have arranged to determine their final placement."

BOOM!

The decision was like a clap of thunder, exploding in everyone’s mind.

Everyone looked at each other, utter disbelief written all over their faces.

They finally understood.

Director-General Zhu Mingyi wasn’t canceling the additional test.

He was pulling Lin Ye out of the final contest for top prodigies entirely!

This...

This was tantamount to directly appointing the top scorer!

In the crowd, the director from the Yanjing Education Department’s face alternated between pale and ashen. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately, he couldn’t utter a single word.

’What could he say?’

’Object?’

’On what grounds?’

’Xia Lianxue’s score, which had been utterly decimated? Or the fact that she had also lost to the instructor in the end?’

As if he could see the confusion in everyone’s minds, Zhu Mingyi glanced at Yi Jiugao beside him and spoke again, his voice turning a fraction heavier.

"Excluding Lin Ye is a form of protection for Xia Lianxue, Xiao Lingchen, and the other prodigies."

Protection?

Upon hearing that word, the crowd was first taken aback, but then it dawned on them, and an indescribably complex emotion washed over them.

Aside from Lin Ye, which one of them wasn’t a proud prodigy, a chosen one who had never known defeat?

They were the hopes of their respective provinces, the future pillars of Great Xia.

It was impossible to favor one over the other.

If they were truly made to face a monster like Lin Ye—one who defied all logic—in the final test...

Their fate would likely be no better than that of Qin Wushuang, whose Dao Heart had been crushed.

To be so thoroughly crushed by a peer on the national stage, under the eyes of the entire country... that blow would be enough to cast a shadow over their hearts that could last a lifetime.

"Indeed... It would be too cruel for them..."

"This is to protect these promising young talents!"

"Sigh... You have to admit it. That Lin Ye... he’s truly on a completely different level."

"A brilliant decision by the Director-General!"

Zhu Mingyi surveyed the hall and made his concluding remarks.

"The selection for Longyin Academy will begin soon. They are bound to meet again there."

"Before that, I want to give the younger generation—like Xia Lianxue, Xiao Lingchen, and even Dongfang Zhen—a chance to continue growing."

"For them to face Lin Ye directly right now would be premature. It would be too cruel."

"Of course, this is a deviation from established procedure. Therefore, this decision requires the approval of over ninety percent of the colleagues present. Now, will those who agree with my proposal please raise your hands."

The words had barely left his mouth.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Kai Nian was the first to raise his hand high, his face beaming with irrepressible excitement.

Immediately after, the powerful figures around him—the very ones who had been giving him the cold shoulder earlier—also raised their hands, one after another.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Arm after arm shot up in the observation hall. In just a few seconds, they had formed a dense forest of raised hands.

Zhu Mingyi and He Zhenghong, who stood beside him, watched this scene of unanimous approval, a flicker of surprise flashing in their eyes.

They had expected the proposal to pass.

But they had never imagined it would be unanimous!

Not a single person hesitated, and not one voiced opposition!

This could only mean one thing.

The sheer, despair-inducing dominance Lin Ye had displayed in the combat test—a level of power that created an unbridgeable gap—had utterly convinced everyone in the room.

...

The three men walked through a long, metal corridor as the surrounding light gradually softened.

"If Longyin hadn’t already made an exception to specially enroll someone this year, I would have seriously considered recommending to the Headmaster that we recruit Lin Ye directly, waiving the assessment entirely."

Yi Jiugao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, a hint of imperceptible regret in his voice.

At his words, both Zhu Mingyi and He Zhenghong stopped in their tracks, astonishment plain on their faces.

"Longyin... has special enrollments?" Zhu Mingyi asked, finding it hard to believe.

Longyin Academy, the most prestigious institution in the Great Xia Martial Arts Realm, was renowned for its strict standards and fairness. Since when did it have backdoors like "special enrollments"?

Yi Jiugao shook his head, his voice level. "Normally, it would be impossible. But this person was personally approved by the Headmaster."

His eyes flickered as he added, "That person... is special. Very special."

"He’s only seventeen, not even old enough to take the college entrance exam, yet he has personally suppressed and annihilated four small-to-medium-sized rifts."

The color drained from Zhu Mingyi and He Zhenghong’s faces.

’To suppress a Celestial Abyss single-handedly!’