Chapter 1876 - The Enforcement Squad

style="font-weight: bold">Translator: StarveCleric  style="font-weight: bold">Editor: Millman97

Qin Xiao was a descendant of Ancient Sage Zi Pi, and he had already reached Saint 9-dan pinnacle a year ago. With his abilities, he was confident that he would be able to clear the examination of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism with ease, but contrary to his expectations, the format chosen for this year turned out to be a free-for-all elimination round.

If it had been the usual round robin tournament, he was certain that he could have gotten into the top hundred. However, when it came to a free-for-all elimination round, there were simply too many variables involved for him to guarantee his victory.

Nevertheless, he felt that it should not be too difficult to him to get into the final hundred survivors as long as he moved carefully. Unfortunately, it seemed like lady luck was not on his side. Shortly after he entered the examination grounds, he had encountered the strongest competitor in the entire examination, Yan Yixiao. Before he knew it, he had already been eliminated.

At the perimeter of the mountain, one of the middle-aged men who had been standing together with Nangong Yuanfeng earlier walked up to Qin Xiao and said, “Yan Yixiao is the strongest expert in this examination. You need not feel too bad about losing to him!”

He was from the lineage of Ancient Sage Ran Yong, Ran Fei.

All of those who had been eliminated would be teleported right to this location. In order to ensure that everything proceeded smoothly, the Scholastic Masters of the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism were able to peer into whatever was happening within the mountain in real time.

“I know that losing to him was inevitable, but… I feel so indignant inside!” Qin Xiao clenched his fists tightly in frustration.

He knew that there was no way that he could have triumphed over Yan Yixiao; the disparity in their strength was simply too great. Nevertheless, it was still an awful feeling to be eliminated as soon as he stepped onto the examination grounds.

“Yan Yixiao is Yan Xue’s younger brother, and he has received the latter’s guidance. Of the two thousand examinees gathered here, there are some who have reached Great Sage 1-dan Introspective Convalescence realm, but even they would face difficulty dealing with Yan Yixiao, let alone you!” Scholastic Master Ran Fei consoled with a smile. “If nothing goes wrong, it’s likely that he’ll emerge with the highest results in this examination…”

Ensuring that one was able to squeeze into the ranks of the last hundred survivors was just the prerequisite to entering the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism. As for the ranking of the last hundred survivors, it would be determined by how many people they had eliminated over the course of the examination.

Yan Yixiao’s fighting prowess could be said to be the unrivaled among the two thousand examinees, and to make matters worse, he had teamed up with six other top-notch experts. Anyone who was unlucky enough to encounter his team was bound to be eliminated; there was no other way around it.

“Ancient Sage Zi Yuan’s lineage has always produced generation after generation of experts. I guess this is something that can’t be helped…” As much as Qin Xiao was unwilling to face his defeat, he had no choice but to grudgingly accept it.

All of a sudden, there was radiant burst of light in front of Qin Xiao.

Putong!

A silhouette crashed onto the ground not too far away.

Seeing the fellow who had just been teleported here, Qin Xiao widened his eyes in astonishment.

“Isn’t that the descendant of Ancient Sage Zi Heng, Shi Yuan? He is in Yan Yixiao’s team, right? After all, he was the one who eliminated me earlier…”

As one of the seven people in Yan Yixiao’s team, how in the world did he get eliminated?

Who in the world would dare make a move on Yan Yixiao’s team, or could it be internal conflict?

Putong!

In his moment of shock, a blur flashed across Qin Xiao’s eyes as another silhouette fell to the ground. He was also from Yan Yixiao’s team.

Putong! Putong! Putong! Putong!

Following which, another four people fell to the ground with awkward looks on their faces.

“Aren’t all of them…” Qin Xiao was stunned by what he was seeing.

They were all familiar faces! They had all been with Yan Yixiao when he was eliminated earlier on. How in the world did all of them get eliminated one after another in quick succession?

Did Yan Yixiao make a move on them, or did they encounter some kind of formidable expert?

Unable to curb his intrigue, Qin Xiao rushed forward and asked, “You lot… what…”

But before he could finish his words, another silhouette fell to the ground.

Putong!

When Qin Xiao got a close look at the other party’s appearance, he froze on the spot, petrified. Even Ran Fei staggered weakly and nearly tripped over his own leg.

The person who had just been eliminated was none other than the examinee whom he had just confidently declared would be the champion of this examination… Yan Yixiao!

Yan Yixiao struggled up from the ground as he glared at the mountain peak with inferno burning in his eyes. Unable to suppress the fury burning in his chest, he roared, “Fan Xiaoxu, this isn’t over yet!”

This was the worst humiliation that he had ever suffered!

He was an Introspective Convalescence realm expert, and many viewed him as the strongest contender for the champion seat. He had thought that it was finally time for him to showcase his prowess and dominate the examination, but who could have known that Fan Xiaoxu would grab him by his neck and throw him out, as if dealing with a little chick? To make things worse… he had found himself completely unable to retaliate.

This was a stain that he would never be able to wash away in his life!

He quickly looked around him, and upon seeing Scholastic Master Ran Fei, he walked up to the latter, clasped his fist, and reported, “Ran Fei laoshi, I suspect that Fan Xiaoxu from Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s lineage is cheating. I implore the enforcement squad to head over and investigate him!”

“Cheating?”

“That’s right. I met Fan Xiaoxu half a year ago, and while he wasn’t weak, he was still nowhere close to being a match for me back then. Yet, he actually managed to defeat me with the utmost ease earlier…” Yan Yixiao clenched his jaws and spat.

“I see.” Scholastic Master Ran fei nodded. “I’ll inform the enforcement squad to investigate the matter.”

He had no idea how Fan Xiaoxu could be cheating, but since someone had reported the claim—not to mention that the ‘someone’ was the strongest contender for the champion seat—it was his responsibility to look into the matter.

Thus, he took out his Communication Jade Token and passed down a series of instructions. Following which, he turned his gaze back to Yan Yixiao and reassured, “Don’t worry. If Fan Xiaoxu is truly cheating, we will surely be able to find something. We have eyes all over the mountain, so there’s nothing he can do that can escape our notice…”

Given the significance of this examination, cheating was strictly prohibited. Of course, if Fan Xiaoxu had truly defeated Yan Yixiao with his own strength, there was nothing that could be done.

“Un!” Yan Yixiao heaved a sigh of relief.

“You mentioned earlier that you were eliminated by Fan Xiaoxu, right? May I ask how many people he has rallied to his side to be able to defeat so many of you at once?” Scholastic Master Ran Fei asked.

In his view, it was likely that Fan Xiaoxu had managed to gather many experts to his side. After all, such actions were explicitly mentioned to be allowed in the examination.

If that was not the case, it meant that Fan Xiaoxu had singlehandedly overcome the collaboration of all seven of them… which was, of course, a ridiculous notion. Even Great Sage 2-dan experts would be unable to pull something like that off!

“He…” That question jolted Yan Yixiao’s memory of what had happened earlier, and his cheeks began twitching intensely. “He was alone… There was another person that was with him, but that person didn’t make a move at all!”

“Are you telling me that he singlehandedly defeated all of you?” Scholastic Master Ran Fei was dumbstruck. “Was it a one-on-one?”

“No, that’s not it… We attacked him together in order to save time…” Yan Yixiao’s face turned even redder.

It was in view of the prowess that Fan Xiaoxu had displayed that he wanted to invite the other party into his team. Yet, the other party had simply snubbed his invitation, and that had really infuriated him. Thus, he had ordered the entire team to attack Fan Xiaoxu together.

Who would have thought that despite the experts that he had rallied to his side, none of them were able to withstand even a single blow from Fan Xiaoxu?

“So, despite challenging him as a team, you still ended up getting eliminated by him alone?” Scholastic Master Ran Fei widened his eyes, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Yan Yixiao was reluctant to say it out loud, so he nodded discreetly in response.

“This…” Scholastic Master Ran Fei was so shocked that he could not even close his mouth anymore. To be able to defeat so many experts singlehandedly… could it be that Fan Xiaoxu’s cultivation had already reached Great Sage 2-dan Great Philosopher realm?

But it should not be possible for anyone to reach that cultivation realm prior to entering the Great Phrontistery of Confucianism.

Shocked, Scholastic Master Ran Fei was about to probe deeper when there was another burst of light, and another group of fellows rained onto the ground.

Putong! Putong!

“It’s the enforcement squad…”

“Isn’t the enforcement squad supposed to eliminate others? How did they end up… being eliminated themselves?”

Qin Xiao, Yan Yixiao, and the others felt light-headed.

It was just a moment ago that the enforcement squad had been dispatched to investigate Fan Xiaoxu… but who could have predicted that all of them would end up being ejected from the mountain!

“What in the world happened? You don’t have any jade tokens, so it shouldn’t be possible for you to be ‘eliminated’!” Scholastic Master Ran Fei exclaimed.

The head of the enforcement squad struggled to his feet as he explained, “Fan Xiaoxu captured us and set up a Teleportation Formation to send us out…”

“He set up a Teleportation Formation to send you all out?” Everyone was stunned.

…

Meanwhile, on the mountain, Zhang Xuan turned around to look at the dazed Fan Xiaofeng and said, “Let’s go and find Fan Xiaoxing!”