Over here, while everyone was having a great time.
A girl rushed over and whispered a few words into Madam Li’s ear.
Madam Li nodded her head lightly. After a moment of silence, she said to the crowd, “Everyone, the princess is not feeling well today. I’m afraid she won’t be able to come to the banquet.”
Hearing this, many scholars were stunned.
Most of the people attending the banquet were here to see the princess. If the princess didn’t come, then the banquet would lose its meaning.
Many people couldn’t help but look disappointed.
Lin An was also slightly stunned.
Madam Li couldn’t help but sigh when she saw everyone’s reaction when they learned that the princess wasn’t coming, as well as everyone’s mood that had suddenly dropped.
“Everyone, I also feel unwell. Why don’t we end the banquet here?”
Most of the scholars had already lost the mood to stay. Seeing that Madam Li had spoken, they cupped their hands and left in groups.
Many people invited Lin An to have tea with them again, but Lin An rejected them on the spot. How could he have time to play with a group of scholars.
…
The next day, Lin An’s name caused a huge uproar in the capital!
The students who came out from Madam Li’s banquet told vividly about what had happened yesterday.
One spread to ten, ten spread to a hundred. In just one night, Lin An’s name had spread throughout the entire imperial city!
Of course, the most widespread were the poems and couplets written by Lin An yesterday.
“Good rain knows the season… This is really a good poem. That Lin An is definitely a great scholar!”
“There’s also the phrase ‘wind and rain come at night.’ It’s simply amazing!”
“I didn’t expect so many classics to be completed in just ten steps. Such talent is truly admirable!”
“It’s not just admiration. Even us scholars would feel inferior in front of him!”
“Actually, what struck me the most was the phrase ‘people laugh at me for being too crazy, I laugh at others for not being able to see through me.’ This phrase really benefited me a lot.”
Many talented and beautiful women, from the commoners to the nobles and cultivators, were all talking about Lin An’s ten poems from yesterday!
Lin An’s current popularity made him have to disguise himself to go out, otherwise, he would be blocked by an endless stream of fans.
Therefore, Lin An could only find a tool to change his appearance in the lottery machine. He disguised himself as an itinerant cultivator and went out to watch the fun.
According to Lin An’s information, the princess was going to launch an event to recruit a prince consort in the Imperial Palace tomorrow.
Therefore, he wanted to check out the situation. He didn’t want to be the prince consort, so he just wanted to watch the fun.
This trip still managed to gather some useful information.
There would be a training ground for the prince consort recruitment event tomorrow. There were three stages in total. The first stage would be the literary test, the second stage would be the martial arts test, and the third stage would be the court test. The contents of the court test required lots to be drawn, so it could be considered as a test of luck, if one drew a simple test, one would naturally be able to pass it smoothly. However, one of the test contents was too powerful, so the training ground was set up.
The next day.
Lin An rushed to the imperial palace early in the morning.
The royal family’s marriage invitation was a big deal.
Even though Lin An tried his best to wake up early, there was already a sea of people outside the imperial palace. Other than the cultivators who came to register, there were also many onlookers.
The line was very long, and it seemed to move a little slowly. If one wanted to queue up to enter the trial ground, they would probably wait until noon.
When they entered the arena, many cultivators who had queued up early in the morning were already waiting for the start of the trial.
Suddenly, waves of exclamations sounded from not far away, followed by the commotion of the crowd outside the palace. It was very noisy, and it was hard to hear what the commotion was about.
Lin An turned his head and saw that the palace doors were wide open. A few teams walked in under the protection of the imperial guards.
“Look, the disciples of the three great sects of the Cangyun Continent are here!” Someone with experience immediately shouted.
“I’ve long heard that the people from the three great sects will come to participate in the consort selection. I didn’t expect so many people to come.”
“As expected, not only is everyone’s cultivation level strong, but they’re also all good-looking talents!”
“The leader of the team is the Langya Sword Sect. The leader that’s the white-clothed swordsman should be the legendary descendant of the god of swords, Ye Changkong!”
“That’s right. The Crimson Shadowless Sword that he carried was personally bestowed by the sect master of the Langya Sword Sect. It can kill people without leaving a trace!”
“His cultivation shouldn’t be underestimated either. He’s already at the third level of the nascent soul realm at such a young age!”
The white-clothed swordsman leading the Langya Sword Sect attracted the discussion of the crowd.
Apart from the Langya Sword Sect, the other two sects also sent people over. The disciples were all extraordinarily valiant and their temperaments were unique.
Everyone entered with their heads held high and their chests puffed out. They naturally received the envious and respectful gazes of the other cultivators and scholars.
Before long, there were already piles of people entering the palace. The disciples from the various great sects and the students from the famous academies all had their own waiting areas.
In addition, the designated areas provided for the various great sects also provided tea and fruit drinks.
People like Lin An, who came alone and didn’t have any status, naturally had to stay where they were.
Dong!
Drums sounded both inside and outside the palace. It was deafening and made people’s blood boil.
Under the shrill voice of a eunuch, the first round of the competition began.
Everyone present also straightened their bodies, eager to give it a try.
Boom!
At this moment, a muffled sound was heard from the training ground. The barrier of the formation flickered slightly, and nine entrances were opened. Brilliant light flickered, and they each led to ninety-nine and eighty-one battle platforms!
“Everyone, please line up and enter the arena. The formation will randomly send you to the battle platform. The person who matches up will be your opponent!”
The eunuch stood in front of the throne room and shouted shrilly, his voice reverberating through more than half of the imperial palace!
A ray of multicolored light suddenly shot into the sky and turned into an imperial edict in the air above the palace. The densely packed golden boys showed the rules of the first stage to everyone present:
One, if all three battles cannot be won, eliminated!
Two, all three battles cannot use the same type of weapon!
Three, the opponent’s life must not be harmed!
…
The entire crowd burst into an uproar after seeing these requirements. Everyone was shocked. These requirements seemed to be a little too harsh!
The most ridiculous thing was the second condition. Most of the people present were sword cultivators. Other than sword techniques, they could also play with their saber techniques. If they couldn’t use their sabers, they could only use their bare hands!
The other cultivators who only knew how to play with unorthodox weapons were even more dumbfounded. They couldn’t even bring out the second type of weapon!
As for the disciples from the various major sects, they were all slightly involved in all kinds of weapons and martial arts. After all, they were from an academic sect, so they were able to bring out all kinds of weapons and polearms. So these people didn’t panic at all!
Lin An’s dao heart was as clear as a mirror to this sect, and he sneered in his heart, “This kind of rule is clearly meant to eliminate those freelance martial artists!”
Lin An casually found one of the nine entrances and entered. He didn’t particularly care about who his opponent was.