Muscular Rabbits Legion: “No one can escape from the novice village!”
Chapter 571 - 541 Rules

Chapter 571: Chapter 541 Rules

The scholar who had been speaking stared in shock; he clearly hadn’t expected that among the students who came for the Book Mountain examination, there would be such a beast—one who would resort to violence at the drop of a hat!

The Peng Demon King didn’t care about that at all. Ever since he met Rabbit, he had been annoyed almost every day.

Just now, at the South Heavenly Gate, he was even more stifled with anger, and now, finally able to act, he didn’t say a word as he transformed into a beam of golden light and rushed towards the scholar.

Before the scholar could react, a bird’s head was almost stuck to his face, and then with a swoop of a wing coming around, only a loud thump was heard as the scholar, along with his brush, was sent flying...

Seeing this, the other scholars quickly distanced themselves.

One of them, Big Beard, did not retreat but instead made a gesture with clasped hands: "Friend, are you here to register for the Wenchang Palace’s examination?"

Yi Zheng was startled for a moment. Wenchang Palace?

The Peng Demon King swiftly sent a telepathic message: "We are here to register for the Wenqu Palace."

Yi Zheng promptly said, "No, I am here to register for the Wenqu Palace."

Upon hearing this, the other party’s eyes lit up, and then he looked at Yi Zheng coldly and snorted, "You have some nerve, Rabbit! How dare you resort to violence on Book Mountain and injure someone?"

His change of expression was faster than the transformations in Sichuan opera, completely baffling Yi Zheng.

It wasn’t just Big Beard whose expression changed in an instant; those around him also let out a sneer, their eyes filled with contempt.

Although Yi Zheng didn’t understand the reason behind this, his fierce temper wasn’t going to tolerate such treatment.

Yi Zheng’s ears instantly stood up as he glared at Big Beard and said, "So what if I did?"

Big Beard sneered, "You ignorant Rabbit, it’s against Book Mountain’s rules. The participants of the Heaven and Earth Association examination must not resort to violence; those who do will have their examination qualifications revoked! You just engaged in violence, and everyone saw it, right?"

Those who had been watching the situation with cold eyes suddenly seemed inspired, immediately forming a united front and chiming in with, "Yes, yes, we all saw it."

Someone else added fuel to the fire, "That big bird acted violently without a second thought, and we all saw it as clear as day."

"Engaging in violence in a Heaven and Earth Association examination really is unheard of—an act of reckless bravado!"

The crowd spoke up one after another, all pointing fingers at Yi Zheng.

Yi Zheng was completely dumbfounded; he hadn’t provoked these people at all, so why were they all acting as if they couldn’t wait to skin him alive?

But Yi Zheng was too lazy to figure out why; his temperament wasn’t one to coddle the opposition.

Thus, Yi Zheng tilted his head back with an air of a nouveau riche and said, "We’re so far from Book Mountain; what does it matter if I engaged in violence? I don’t believe they all have the Thousand-Mile Eye to know what happened here."

Big Beard sneered, "Who knows? You won’t shed tears until you see the coffin, Rabbit. You committed violence in full view of everyone, and we are all witnesses. When we get to Book Mountain, we will naturally report to the Wenqu Star Lord.

When that time comes... hmph!"

As Big Beard spoke, he narrowed his eyes, the implication clear—you’re finished, Rabbit!

Upon hearing Big Beard’s words, the others responded, "Yes, yes. When we get to Book Mountain, we will naturally report to the Wenchang Star Lord and the Wenqu Star Lord."

"We scholars, endowed with moral righteousness, how could we shield someone who has transgressed?" someone said, standing tall and righteous.

The others also chimed in, each beginning to declare their stance, speaking over one another.

Yi Zheng, watching these people gang up on him, felt utterly bewildered.

When he had arrived, he clearly saw that these people didn’t like the look of each other, yet when it came to him, they all united against him as if they were close brothers. Those in the know would realize they didn’t get along, while those not in the know might think they were actually brothers.

At this moment, the Peng Demon King sent a telepathic message, "Rabbit, it seems we’ve encountered gangsters at the joint examination."

Yi Zheng looked at the Peng Demon King in astonishment.

The Peng Demon King said, "I’ve never participated in the Heaven and Earth Association examination either, but years ago a friend of mine did, and he told me about the underhandedness here.

I had thought that since the Wenqu Star Lord invited you, there wouldn’t be any trouble.

Now it seems we’ve run into trouble."

Yi Zheng said, "What’s happening? There are gangsters at the Book Mountain joint examination? Didn’t the Wenqu Star Lord say that those who come here are all Great Scholars? That in their own small worlds, they are like Saints? With every word they speak a lotus blooms, and their writing is splendid and magnificent?"

The Peng Demon King replied bitterly, "What the Wenqu Star Lord said is true, of course, but I forgot to tell you, this Heaven and Earth Association examination is not just the examination by the Wenqu Star Lord’s side—there’s also the examination by the Wenchang Star Lord!"

Yi Zheng looked puzzled.

The Peng Demon King immediately began to explain.

It turned out that not only was the Wenqu Star Lord present on Book Mountain, but the Wenchang Star Lord was there as well.

The Wenqu Star Lord advocated for perfection, selecting one in ten thousand, in the recruitment of talent.

The Wenchang Star Lord, on the other hand, championed education for all without discrimination.

Thus, although everyone went to Book Mountain to take part in the Heaven and Earth Association examination, some were there for the Wenchang Star Lord, whose requirements were quite low; others were there for the Wenqu Star Lord, whose standards were exceedingly high, and most ordinary people simply did not qualify.

Although the standards differed, the content of the exam was the same for everyone, and they all took the exam together without being separated.

Therefore, many newcomers or those participating for the first time were unaware of the subtleties involved.

Yi Zheng had rather bad luck; the group he encountered were candidates for the Wenchang Star Lord, coming from various backgrounds, with all sorts of people from different walks of life, each with their own little schemes and calculations clattering away.

This resulted in scenes of mutual glaring upon meeting and sarcastic exchanges at first word.

In the eyes of the Great Scholar, being here was to refine oneself and to visit the sacred land of literati.

But in their eyes, this was a juicy piece of meat, a shortcut to the Heavenly Court, something worth fighting for.

And to fight, the fewer competitors there were, the better.

It didn’t matter why you were eliminated, just as long as you were out of the game!

Most importantly, Yi Zheng had previously stated that he was applying for the Wenqu Palace, meaning he was going through the Wenqu Star Lord’s side.

Over the years, those who applied for the Wenqu Star Lord were mostly true Literary Geniuses and Great Scholars, who might have extremely high literary accomplishments, but tended to be less capable in combat.

Even if there were one or two with high realms, the lack of combat experience meant their performance didn’t stand out.

This led to the scenario where the candidates from the Wenqu Star Lord’s side generally had lower strength and were easy to bully.

Ultimately, even though the Wenchang Star Lord and Wenqu Star Lord were friends, their different educational philosophies led to fierce disputes.

Each time the Heaven and Earth Association examination took place, everyone would compete with each other, using the number of students enrolled and the quality of the writing as standards to determine winners and losers.

At such times, if one could help their corresponding Star Lord to recruit the other’s students, this was considered a major bonus in everyone’s eyes.

The Peng Demon King also indicated that this was the candidates’ own idea and that the two Star Lords never encouraged it.

However, somehow, the two Star Lords ended up endorsing this practice; perhaps, in their view, it was also a form of assessment?

As a result, an additional route was added to the examination.

If you could sabotage enough of the opponent’s candidates, your chances of being admitted were greatly increased.

The specific number of opponents sabotaged was calculated proportionally.

After all, the number of candidates applying for Wenchang Palace each year was as numerous as the fish crossing the river; on the other hand, the number reporting to the Wenqu Star Lord consisted of only a few "Big Cats and Little Cats."

If the tally was based on equal numbers, it would be highly unfair.

Therefore, the proportion method was established.

For example, if a hundred people applied for Wenchang Palace and ten for Wenqu Palace,

then a candidate from Wenqu Palace only needed to sabotage ten candidates from Wenchang Palace to be exempt from the examination and be admitted to study at Wenqu Palace.

On the other hand, a candidate from Wenchang Palace only needed to sabotage one candidate from Wenqu Palace to be exempt from the examination and be admitted to study at Wenchang Palace.

That being said, the Wenqu Palace side was still fair; those who came there were Great Scholars who disdained taking shortcuts and wanted to enter Wenqu Palace on the strength of their capabilities, so there were virtually no instances of Great Scholars from Wenqu Palace sabotaging the candidates from Wenchang Palace.

But the candidates from Wenchang Palace were different; they were like sharks that smelled blood, swarming in and trying every possible method to sabotage others.

These were the so-called examination hooligans that the Peng Demon King spoke of!

Therefore, when Yi Zheng revealed that he was applying for the Wenqu Star Lord’s side, these people immediately bared their fangs.

Was there anything more alluring than encountering a "Rabbit" who had applied for the Wenqu Star Lord, lacked in strength, and had also made a blunder, all by himself?

This was simply a bonus point delivered to their door!