I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 43 Announcement of Results
With a whoosh, everyone squeezed towards the red wall on the east side.

A moment later, some people screamed, some cried out, and some roared madly.

"Brother Xue, you, you, you are a human being?"

Mengde gripped Xue Xiang's sleeve tightly, pointing angrily at his face as if he wanted to devour him.

Zhou Mengyu and Li Peng stared intently at Xue Xiang, their faces filled with disbelief.

The first list displayed was of the top fifty students, including their names and scores in each subject.

Xue Xiangwen scored as high as 95 points in the written test, 88 points in his cultivation, and 183 points in the overall test, ranking 37th.

A score of 95 on the written test is the second highest on the list.

There were only Wei Wendao and Kuang Liesheng ahead of him, tied for 96 points.

Xue Xiang's ability to achieve such a score despite his extremely poor performance in the cultivation test was astonishing to Meng De and the others.

Xue Xiang showed no joy whatsoever; instead, his face remained cold and stern as he calculated the scores.

This is because what is being released at this moment is only a trial list, and it is a list that does not include bonus points.

He had previously lost his newspaper to Li Shaobai, and Yunmeng City compensated him. Xie Haiya also helped him get extra points.

He had heard Xie Haiya mention it briefly, but only added three points.

At the time, Xue Xiang didn't think that three points were anything important.

But now, once the list is released, a large number of candidates have the same score.

Three-pointers are extremely important.

He quickly calculated, and soon he could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

Soon, the second list was also posted.

Meng De ranked ninety-third. He excitedly spun around on the spot, shouting, "I won! I won! I won! Deyuelou, I'll book it for three days! Everyone go! Everyone go!"

Of the three, only Xue Xiang responded to his madness with a disdainful look; Zhou Mengyu was anxious and uncertain; and Li Peng was distraught.

Before long, the third list was posted. The group looked at it at the same time, but they couldn't find Zhou Mengyu's and Li Peng's names.

In an instant, Zhou Mengyu's eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

This is his fifth attempt, and this is his last chance.

"Brother Zhou, every path leads to success. Now that you're in charge of 'Cloud News,' what makes you any less capable than a deputy director?"

Xue Xiang comforted him.

Zhou Mengyu closed her eyes and shook her head in anguish.

"Brother Zhou!"

Li Peng exclaimed and jumped up, "I got it! I got it! Look, third to last!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Zhou Mengyu's name was third from the bottom.

"what!"

Zhou Mengyu gasped, her throat tightened, and she collapsed softly into Li Peng's arms.

This situation has occurred dozens of times on site, yet it hasn't caused the slightest disturbance.

Not long after, Zhou Mengyu was woken up. Her body convulsed again, and snot and tears streamed down her face. She finally calmed down and said with lingering fear, "Third to last? It's still not stable. This is just a trial list, not the final list."

Meng De laughed and said, "It's called a test list, but it hasn't been posted outside."

In fact, there was rarely any difference between the preliminary and final results over the years.

Zhou Mengyu remained deeply worried.
On the contrary, Li Peng, who had long expected to fail the exam, adjusted his mindset well, saying, "Three out of the four of us passed, which proves that we have good luck in the exam."

Enough of that, let's look forward to next year.

Brother Meng, you can't leave out the wine you owe me.

Brother Xue was originally an official, but now that he has obtained the status of a city student, he will surely rise step by step. In the future, you must not forget me, Li.

"And Old Zhou, I remember clearly the flower wine you promised me at Shihua Pavilion..." Li Peng laughed and joked, and the atmosphere relaxed.

Xue Xiang thought of someone, apologized to the three of them, and then turned and left.

Before long, he found Su Ziming.

Su Ziming also saw him, snorted coldly, and came forward, "You're not simple, Xue Xiang. You've managed to make it this far."

"What am I? I'm only thirty-seventh. But Brother Su, you're twentieth in the high school entrance exam. You're good enough to be appointed to an official position."

Xue Xiang's most desired destination right now isn't Jiangnan, but Su Zimo.

"Even if he were granted an official position, he would only be a deputy section chief-level clerk. What does that amount to?"
If Su wanted to become a deputy section chief in Jiufenshan, he could easily rank 200th in the exam.

Although Su Ziming ranked twentieth in high school, it was within his expectations, and he didn't experience much emotional fluctuation.

On the contrary, the fact that such a vicious attack failed to kill Xue Xiang made him very unhappy.

Just as Xue Xiang was about to clash with Su Zimo, a young man stepped forward with his hands clasped, "Brother Xue, congratulations!"

It was Wei Wendao, a genius student from Zhaoyewu.

"Congratulations! Brother Wei, you've won first place! I'm truly impressed."

Xue Xiang returned the greeting with a cupped hand. Seeing that Wei Wendao was followed by several people, Xue Xiang said loudly, "Brother Wei, my title of 'Second Master of Fishing' is entirely undeserved. It is you who won first place in the examination, which is a genuine reputation for talent."

Such a golden opportunity—if we don't seize it to show off and make a name for ourselves, we'll be letting Liu Zongyuan down.

Wei Wendao was wondering why Xue Xiang would suddenly mention "Mr. Two Fishing" when the two men behind him, having been alerted, came forward to greet him.

"Could it be that Brother Xue is the legendary Master Er Diao?"

"Is it the one who fishes alone in the snow-covered river?"

"..."

"It is indeed I, Xue. I dare not call myself a second-rate fisherman."

Xue Xiang bowed respectfully to the group, but his eyes glanced sideways at Su Ziming, seemingly in a provocative manner, but actually urging Su Ziming to quickly set up a stage for him, as he couldn't wait to start his performance.

Sure enough, Su Ziming couldn't stand Xue Xiang's gaze and sneered, "It's widely known in the marketplace that these two poems about fishing have long been recorded in fragments and rare copies..."

"Alright, alright, I know you have a sharp tongue, Brother Su, just tell me what you want?"

"If you're so capable, write one right now. The exam is over, shouldn't we be celebrating? You're really talented, you can't possibly not write a poem of Er Diao's caliber."

Su Ziming's sarcasm was like cold water splashed into a hot oil pan.

"With Mr. Er Diao in front of me, and on the occasion of passing the imperial examination, how could I not compose a poem?"

"Indeed, indeed, we are now able to witness the brilliance of Mr. Er Diao."

"........."

Since ancient times, there has never been a first place in literature.

Most of the Confucian scholars outwardly referred to Xue Xiang as "Master Er Diao," but the majority did not take it seriously.

Those who wanted to learn from the experience and those who wanted to see the joke together stirred up a commotion, which eventually became public opinion, and a group of Confucian scholars gathered in this direction.

Su Zimo became even more enthusiastic, desperately building the stage higher and higher, wishing he could even put his head at Xue Xiang's feet to help him climb higher. "Does Mr. Erdiao look down on us and refuse to teach us?"

He wasn't just provoking without thinking.

One theory is that the female Taoist priests' paintings at the time were too simple.

Secondly, with the current academic achievements so highly regarded, any poems or essays written must be timely and appropriate for the occasion.

What is appropriate for the time and occasion is nothing more than celebratory poems, but historically, there have been no truly excellent celebratory poems.

As long as Xue Xiang's perfunctory poems cannot reach the level of the two fishing poems, Su Zimo will immediately stir up public opinion that the real author of the two fishing poems is someone else.

Soon, the commotion in the examination hall also alerted Wei Yang and Feng Jing, who were drinking tea in the tower.

The two chief examiners could not leave before the examination hall was open to the public.

(End of this chapter)