Chapter 33: The Gate of the Moon-Owl

"So handsome!"
"Did you see that? He just smiled at me!"
"I feel like Cupid's arrow just pierced my little heart; my HP is already critical."
"I wonder if he’d be willing to be the bottom."
"?"
Liu Xishu sat down after a slight bow, his gentle, scholarly demeanor instantly capturing the hearts of the many high school girls present, causing a breeze of budding romance to sweep through the exam hall.
"The candidates this year are quite enthusiastic," Liu Xishu remarked with refined amusement, listening to the commotion below.
"I, for one, think it has nothing to do with the exam; most of them are just here for your pretty face," retorted Jing Mu, the grizzled older man beside him, with a noncommittal tone.
Ignoring the unrest in the hall, the announcement continued:
"The third chief examiner is the Vice President of the [Flame Emperor Guild], Zhu Xusheng. We thank the Flame Emperor Guild for providing the equipment for this exam!"
A middle-aged man with a rotund build rose from the seat on the right. The candidates' reaction to him was naturally not as intense as it had been for Liu Xishu—it didn't even match the response to Jing Mu.
Zhou Ke had heard a thing or two about the "Flame Emperor Guild."
"That’s the up-and-coming guild in Guangcheng. It’s been the talk of the internet lately," Tang Hongning said, appearing at his side.
"But why the Vice President? I thought we might see Zhu Yan, the one who awakened the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas: Zhurong Chapter'."
"Maybe he’s been shadow-banned for being too 'hot'; after all, his name has three 'fire' characters in it," Zhou Ke said with a tone of utter reasonableness.
"Is this some new brand of dad joke?" Tang Hongning asked with a forced, awkward smile. Not everyone could keep up with Zhou Ke’s unique line of reasoning.
In truth, if asked seriously, Zhou Ke could have answered the question.
The reason the Vice President was in the seat instead of the President, Zhu Yan, was simply that Zhu Xusheng was Zhu Yan’s father.
If one thought about it deeply, it was clear: how could the incredibly young Zhu Yan have founded a Magic Master guild on his own?
It was clearly his father’s conglomerate pushing from behind the scenes, hyping it up under the guise of "genius."
Although those in the know saw through it immediately, it certainly generated buzz. At the very least, over the past few days, the Flame Emperor Guild’s popularity was second only to the Magic Master exam itself.
Zhou Ke, having spent plenty of time scrolling through his phone, knew quite a bit.
He also knew that for this year’s Baiyue Province Magic Master exam, the Xiangrui Guild provided the personnel, the Shennong Guild provided medical support, and the Flame Emperor Guild was responsible for the equipment.

Compared to the former two, the latter's expenditure accounted for the lion's share.
While it might sound a bit shameless, this was a chance for the up-and-coming Flame Emperor Guild to make a public impression.
More importantly, it was a gesture of goodwill toward the Magic Association.
Only by doing so could the guild’s future development proceed smoothly, without anyone looking for trouble.
"There was originally a fourth examiner from the [Shennong Guild], but due to pressing matters, they were unable to attend in person. Let us thank the Shennong Guild for providing medical support for this exam!" the announcement said with a hint of regret.
The Shennong Guild wasn't being pretentious; anyone who had played games knew just how busy the "healer" class could be.
"It’s about time to start," Jing Mu said, glancing at his watch once the introductions concluded.
"This is my first time serving as a chief examiner, so I have no experience. I’ll defer entirely to Chief Examiner Jing Mu," Zhu Xusheng said with an ingratiating smile.
"Then let’s begin." Liu Xishu adjusted his glasses with his palm and then gestured.
Below the VIP seats, a tall man clad in deep black armor leaped up suddenly.
This leap was extraordinary, reaching a height of twenty meters, instantly stunning the candidates who had never seen such a spectacle.
The man gripped a bronze-colored key in his right hand, inserted it into mid-air, infused it with ether, twisted it, and pulled it down!
*Hum—!*
Something even more mysterious occurred. The moment after the man landed on one knee, the space where the key had traced split open.
The fissure slowly widened and expanded.
Finally, both sides transformed into solid bronze doors, and the space within swirled incessantly, turning into a chaotic, disordered vortex of color.
The vortex held every color in the world, deep and captivating enough to trap the gaze of anyone who looked at it.
"The subject of this exam is—the Gate of Bi Yue Wu!"
"The Gate of Bi Yue Wu, the fifth mansion of the Western Constellation, governs unity and protection."
The announcement continued, "This is a Gate of Combat. Wisdom is of little use here; victory is decided solely by martial strength!"
If Zhou Ke’s way of thinking were that of a normal person, his heart would have sunk at these words.
However, having lost his greatest trump card, he kept his dead-fish eyes wide open, looking even more indifferent than the chief examiners.
"So that’s how the key is used..." Zhou Ke mused, sneaking a glance at the bronze key in the armored man’s hand and thinking of the ghost key he had hidden at home.
"We will now proceed to the weapon selection phase and random team assignment by student ID. Time is short, so please ensure you finish within thirty minutes."

As the announcement faded, fine yellowish sand rose from the ground, and rows of weapon racks were displayed along the edge of the exam hall.
Sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes.
Hooks, forks, whips, maces, hammers, lances.
Tridents, staves, pikes, cudgels, lances, rakes.
The eighteen varieties of weaponry were all there, dazzling and complete.
"If you have any questions, you may report them to the proctors on the field."
Few people heard this, as the crowd had already turned restless the moment the weapon racks rose.
Almost every candidate rushed toward their preferred weapon, fearing it might be snatched away by someone else.
The man in black armor watched the energetic candidates sprinting past him and nodded with satisfaction.
His name was Wu Bai, a member of the Xiangrui Guild, at the tenth stage of the Candle Wick level.
Currently, he was only a low-level captain in a massive guild like Xiangrui, but if he could manage to break through to the Flame Ring level before next year, he would be promoted to the middle tier.
His aptitude wasn't considered great, and he remembered struggling through the Magic Master exam himself, much like these candidates.
Seeing them was like seeing his younger self, and he couldn't help but feel a rush of emotions.
"Excuse me, Proctor, I have a question."
"Alright, student, go ahead and ask!"
Perhaps it was the nostalgia, or perhaps the student was particularly polite, but Wu Bai tapped his chest and vowed to solve the problem.
"Is there a limit to how many weapons I can carry?"
"Uh... no." Wu Bai was stunned; no candidate had ever asked such a question in previous years.
After all, weapons didn't provide attribute bonuses just by being carried; on the contrary, their weight would only hinder movement.
Normal people only took one, and very few, being exceptionally cautious, might take two as backups.
He turned around in confusion, only to be shocked to see Zhou Ke carrying several halberds on his back.
"Oh, thanks." Without waiting for Wu Bai to process this, Zhou Ke added, "Perfect, I heard the price of iron just went up to 1.2 per catty."