I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts-Chapter 272 - 171: The Show Begins

The rain in Fulong City was getting heavier.

One after another, people holding umbrellas slowly emerged from the curtain of rain.

Today is the Awakening Day at Shang Academy.

High-ranking officials from various parties gathered here, not only to show their support but also to make a statement.

It shows how seriously they take the awakening.

"Where’s Geng Jiu? Why isn’t this new dean present on such an important occasion?"

The raindrops pattered loudly on the umbrella above.

The falling rain formed a curtain before Sun Yun’s eyes.

His voice wasn’t loud, just enough for the other Tier Seven Awakened around to hear.

"Indeed! Where is Geng Jiu?"

"Why doesn’t he show up on such an important occasion? Is he avoiding it?"

"He was summoned into the palace by the Alliance Leader first thing this morning."

It was Elder Bing who spoke, and as soon as he finished, the others fell silent.

The prestige of Gongyang Jin extends far beyond this.

"I must say, Geng Jiu is quite a stubborn one; I admire him."

"For seven consecutive days, he has been summoned by the Alliance Leader and beaten to the point of internal injuries, yet he hasn’t revealed a bit about the affairs at Shang Academy!"

"Even the Alliance Leader might not have come across such a hard nut to crack before?"

With Sun Yun’s firsthand information, everyone now knew about Geng Jiu being summoned and beaten.

Combined with Geng Jiu’s high ability in refining elixirs, it explained why he could be as vigorous as ever the next day.

"Heh, so what? After today, no matter how capable he is, he must give us an explanation."

Someone sneered.

Now, the sum of tribute on Geng Jiu’s scroll had reached a terrifyingly high number.

First place, the Yuwen Family, 950,000 gold coins.

Second place, the Qin Family, 900,000 gold coins.

Third place, the Wen Family, 880,000 gold coins.

...

Twenty-sixth place, the Sikong Family, 510,000 gold coins.

A list of twenty-six entities each spending over half a million gold coins in tribute.

Many of the high-ranking officials assembled at Shang Academy had a lot to do with this.

Han Zhan swallowed their money; if he couldn’t get the job done, he’d have to pay back double.

And even if the job was done, no one intended to let him keep the payout without demanding it back.

Everyone was plotting their own schemes.

Amidst these little intrigues, the entire awakening ceremony finally commenced in the rain.

First, the teachers of Shang Academy did a points tally ranking.

The top ten would earn the awakening qualification.

The first-ranked student was an avid supporter of Han Zhan’s products.

He had invested tens of thousands in elixirs.

But compared to the great families, his approach was more opportunistic.

His final score was 35 points.

A surprisingly low number.

Teacher scores were divided into two parts: regular performance and exam scores, with the former taking 30% and the latter 70%.

This group resorted to all kinds of tactics to prevent students with high regular scores from succeeding in exams, even forming alliances to target them.

At times, things got extremely chaotic.

The 35 points of the first place give some evidence of this.

After the final scores were announced, the top ten students began to come up one by one.

The families ranked in Han Zhan’s scroll’s top five also had students coming up.

After fifteen awakeners were selected, the awakening officially began.

During this process, none of the high-ranking officials spoke.

Han Zhan’s figure was yet to be seen.

When the final awakener completed the awakening, a young man holding a black umbrella slowly walked to the front from the rain curtain.

The black umbrella concealed the upper half of his face, only revealing the wicked smile at his lips.

The hearts of everyone skipped a beat.

Silently, they exclaimed, he’s here!

The rain fell even harder.

Inside Wofeng Palace.

The rain curtain in the sky was split into four.

Two clashing Sword Qi created a large white mist.

That was rainwater shredded and then evaporated.

"The speed at which your Sword Dao has improved surprises me."

Holding the Wide-Blade Giant Sword, Gongyang Jin faced a white expanse.

Han Zhan did not speak; his answer was a sword light that pierced through the mist.

A smile appeared on Gongyang Jin’s face.

Like a plum blossom blooming in the three-nine winter amidst the wind and snow.

Such smiles could only be seen by those closest to her.

Then she restrained her smile.

She treated the other swordsman with the utmost seriousness and gravitas.

She raised the Giant Sword in her hands.

The mist on the sword was scattered with one swing.

With her lifted hand, a cold gleam like a star in the night sky, collided once again with the tip of the Moonlight Longsword in the rain.

Clang!

An extremely sharp sound echoed, forming a sonic boom around them.

The white mist exploded in all directions.

Gongyang Jin did not take a step back.

Han Zhan also did not take a step back.

But soon, countless vigorous Sword Qi turned into small water swords in the rain, hurtling backward towards Han Zhan!

Within the blink of an eye, countless tiny wounds appeared on his body, and the seeping blood dyed his white robe red.

Han Zhan remained immovable.

Purely in terms of swordsmanship, he had lost.

"The time is just about right."

He glanced down at the blood-stained marks on his body and spoke indifferently.

"Given the time, someone should have stepped forward to hold me accountable."

"Chen Tao returned to Fulong City last night."

Gongyang Jin reminded him at the right time.

With Chen Tao back, the first person to stand out and question them, with enough weight, must be him.

"No wonder, I was wondering why the Chen Family gave me seven or eight hundred thousand gold coins to rank sixth on my list. It seems he had already planned for today."

With a core member like Chen Tao taking action, the other Anti-Xia Alliance high-ranking officials following him did not have to be so timid.

"Your Sword Dao deserves your current Tier Six Peak strength."

"Given time, reaching my level is possible."

Gongyang Jin’s words were the best acknowledgment of Han Zhan’s hard work for the past seven or eight days.

The recognition from a Sword Dao genius held substantial weight.

Han Zhan sheathed the Moonlight Longsword and returned a broad smile to Gongyang Jin.

"Aren’t you going to change your clothes before going?"

Seeing Han Zhan’s intention to leave, Gongyang Jin called from behind him.

"No need, going like this is perfect."

"Ending the Awakening Day so hastily, isn’t this a little disrespectful to us?"

Chen Tao, holding a black umbrella, spoke coldly, colder than the rain chilling the skin to the bone.

"As the dean of Shang Academy, he openly took so much tribute in gold coins."

"And in the end, he only granted five irregular awakening slots. Behind these top five, there are still over a dozen high-ranking members of the Anti-Xia Alliance who paid large sums."

"Does Geng Jiu intend to pocket this money?"

"Bring out Geng Jiu, I want to confront him and ask him if he disregards the top-ranked families!"

"Yes, that’s right!"

"Bring out Geng Jiu!"

"Geng Jiu, come out!"

More and more high-ranking members of the Anti-Xia Alliance stood out, applying public pressure.

At that moment,

A young, blood-stained gentleman in white slowly approached from afar.

Endless rain fell,

He steadied his steps under a white umbrella.

"Geng Jiu, present."