CHAPTER 27: QUALIFIED FOR THE SECOND ROUND.

Inside the grand lobby, all the apprentices were getting restless. The elders were taking too much time than expected.

"Do you know what is going on?" a voice asked.

"How would I know?"

"I believe something must have happened."

"Indeed, something must have happened. Perhaps they discovered one of us cheated."

"What! Who would be so foolish as to cheat? Besides, is it even possible to cheat in such an exam?"

Quickly, various conjectures came from the people as they tried to guess the situation with the elders.

Ma Long had long lost interest in the people surrounding him with flattering smiles. He knew they were all hoping to ride on his growing fame, and he did not mind.

However, the absence of the elders gave him a bad premonition. Something was up. That was certain—but what could it be?

The calm and quiet Yuan Lan also creased her brow. The long absence of the elders unsettled her. She might not show it, but she was worried.

The clan mission was to use this competition to raise the fame of their clan. Thus, they had poured all their resources into her to nurture her in hope she would become first in the competition.

But now...

Creak!

The door was pushed open, and the five elders entered the lobby. Instantly, the noisy lobby descended into perfect silence.

All the apprentices had their eyes locked on them, hoping to understand what was going on. Unfortunately, the elders’ faces were expressionless.

Elder Kang stepped forward. "The first round is over, and now we’re moving to the second round. If you don’t hear your name, you’re out of the competition."

Listening to this, all the apprentices wore a solemn expression. This was it! The moment they’d been waiting for.

"Yuan Lan..." Elder Kang began calling the names slowly.

When the apprentices heard her name, they looked at Yuan Lan with various conflicted expressions.

As expected from the genius of the Yuan clan, they thought.

However, Ma Long’s face was ugly. How could this be? He should have been the first person to be called. Why did they have to call her name?

Did she perform better than me?

His thoughts were in disarray, but the elders seemed not to care.

"Ma Long..."

Listening to his name, Ma Long forced out a bright smile before he looked at the quiet Yuan Lan. He did not know why her name was called first, but he would not let this happen again.

One by one, names were called. Those that heard their names couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As time went by, fear crept up in those that did not hear their names. Out of the hundreds of people that sat for the exams, ten percent of them only passed the first round.

"And the last name is Jun Wu," Elder Kang called.

Jun!

The apprentices were shocked.

There was only one Jun in the Soaring Cloud Region—the uncrowned king of the region. Quickly, all the apprentices tried to look for the Jun.

Ma Long widened his eyes. His eyes scanned the crowd, trying to quickly find him.

Yuan Lan was also stunned.

Her clan had worked for the Jun clan several times. Her father would not hesitate to praise how powerful and terrifying the Jun aristocrats were.

In the Mystic Academy, there were many Jun studying there, and each of them commanded power and authority that any average clan could never hope to control.

Apart from that, their talent was terrifying. Each of them was a genius in martial arts.

Watching the others scanning the lobby, Jun Wu remained seated in his seat with an air of indifference. Now that he had passed the first round, he was getting closer to his goal.

While the apprentices were trying to find out who Jun Wu was, Elder Shen stepped forward.

"Follow me," she commanded and led them through another door.

Quickly, the apprentices abandoned their thoughts of finding the Jun descendant as they followed Elder Shen.

Jun Wu also got on his feet and followed them.

Seeing him, all the apprentices were stunned.

What is he doing?

Didn’t he fail the first round?

An older apprentice could not control his annoyance and shouted, "What are you doing? Go back. This is for us who passed the first round."

Jun Wu did not bat an eye at the older apprentice and continued walking forward. Seeing this, the middle-aged man was furious.

"Go back now or don’t blame me if I call the elders," he threatened.

With his outburst, all the apprentices, including Elder Shen, halted in their tracks and looked at the middle-aged man and Jun Wu.

The apprentices were surprised when they saw Jun Wu, but they chose to remain quiet. They wanted to see how Jun Wu would escape from this trouble.

Trying to sneak in when you failed was a great offence in the association. And they couldn’t imagine the punishment.

Ma Long clicked his tongue in disdain. "Allowing such a brat in this level of competition is already bad enough."

The others nodded.

How could a kid who has not even studied the Compendium of Array Formation dare to call himself an Array Formation apprentice?

What gave him the guts?

With a look of ridicule, all the apprentices waited for Elder Shen to lash out at him.

"What is going on here?" Elder Shen asked in a cold, sharp voice.

"Elder Shen, this brat is trying to sneak into the second round," the middle-aged man responded and looked at Jun Wu with a smirk playing on his lips.

Jun Wu stood quiet and confident, as if all the piercing gazes around him were nothing but air.

Elder Shen looked at the middle-aged man in disdain. "At your age, you’re still trying to trample on others to satiate your vanity? Who told you he did not pass the first round?" She looked at him from head to toe in disgust.

"This is the reason you can never become an Array Formation Master."

"Let’s go. If anyone dares to cause any trouble again, I’ll send them packing." Her voice was sharp, leaving no room for doubt.

Huh!

Everyone was stunned. They looked at Jun Wu with wide eyes.

He passed!

How?!

Even the calm and peaceful Yuan Lan could not help but widen her eyes.

Elder Shen did not care about them as she continued to move forward. She pushed open the door at the end of the corridor and then appeared in an open field.