Chapter 25 p1
In Danxue Mountain.
The elders of the Vermilion Birds, Bifangs, Swan Geese, and other feathered lineages gathered for a meeting. The Celestial Feather Minister held considerable authority. Although they hadn’t obtained the seal yet, with Bi Feng’s limited abilities, he couldn’t possibly control Feng Chiyue. Besides, the Emperor’s Daughter had already stamped her seal on the announcement. The assessment was inevitable.
“Didn’t the Emperor’s Daughter have a grudge against her? Why is she speaking up for her?” the Swan Goose elder asked, puzzled.
“Who knows? Perhaps they’re birds of a feather,” the Vermilion Bird elder sneered. He wasn’t fond of the arrogant Emperor’s Daughter. In his opinion, she should show some respect to them, the elders, even if she was the Emperor’s Daughter. But in reality, she treated them with disdain, showing no respect whatsoever. Her gaze seemed to say that they were nothing but trash.
“The assessment is in three days. Should our juniors participate? What if they don’t? Will she really dismiss them?” someone asked.
“Why wouldn’t they participate?” the Vermilion Bird elder retorted. He squinted and shook his head. “Do you think our juniors will lose? They won’t lose to anyone in a fight. This is a perfect opportunity to show those from Phoenix Mountain who the true masters of the feathered race are!”
The feathered immortals of Phoenix Mountain were equally confident. Feng Bu Liu and Feng Yao, initially enraged by Feng Chiyue, fell into a long silence after seeing the announcement on the Chaos Mirror.
“Did she… reject you to prepare for the assessment?” Feng Yao wondered, trying to decipher Feng Chiyue’s motives. If she was truly wicked and ungrateful, the East Abode Master wouldn’t have raised her for over two hundred years. Perhaps it was just her sharp tongue? She glanced at Feng Bu Liu, who looked like he was about to collapse. “Everyone on the Chaos Mirror is saying that Feng Chiyue is impartial,” she said.
“Impartial? She’s merciless!” Feng Bu Liu retorted, unable to hold back his sarcasm. He massaged his temples and said, “She’s not just humiliating me. She’s humiliating the entire Phoenix race. If we had kept her back then, could we have straightened her out?”
“I’d rather not,” Feng Yao said, shuddering. What had Feng Chiyue done after returning to Phoenix Mountain? She had demanded that they transplant precious trees from Danxue Mountain, excavate the Phoenix Pool, and build a magnificent palace for her. She wanted a golden chariot to accompany her everywhere… The elders had disagreed, and she had thrown tantrums. The Phoenixes were already in a precarious state. How could they afford her extravagance? In the end, they had hastily sent her back to Dong’e Mountain, sighing in relief. “Are you confident?” she asked, changing the subject.
A cold glint flashed in Feng Bu Liu’s eyes. “Yes,” he said firmly.
In Dong’e Mountain.
Zhu Wan was also asking Feng Chiyue about the assessment.
She had ascended from the mortal realm. Back in her sect, they had climbed the ranks through countless assessments and competitions, starting as outer disciples, then becoming inner disciples, direct disciples, and finally, leading disciples. The sect’s resources were limited, so they could only nurture those who excelled. But in the Immortal Realm… there didn’t seem to be such concerns. Would an assessment even be effective?
“What did you assess back then?” Feng Chiyue asked curiously. Ming Jian Su had told her about life in the mortal realm, but she herself… wasn’t a good reference point for assessments.
“Mostly combat skills,” Zhu Wan replied honestly. She paused, then added, “Or trials in secret realms, to see who could obtain the most treasures. Or slaying demons and heretics.”
“That’s it?” Feng Chiyue raised an eyebrow.
Zhu Wan: “…” That was already a lot. It took up about eighty percent of a mortal cultivator’s time.
“How are you planning to assess them? Combat?” she asked. There were no ancient secret realms in the Immortal Realm. As for the battlefield between the Immortal and Demon Realms… it was guarded by immortals taking turns. They wouldn’t allow candidates for selection to train there. That left only combat, just like in the mortal realm, where strength spoke for itself.
Feng Chiyue’s answer was irrelevant. “The five elements have their strengths and weaknesses. Techniques have their levels of power. But compared to magical powers, being a good person is also important.”
Zhu Wan: “…” Coming from Feng Chiyue, that was rich. Seeing her expression, she decided not to worry. Perhaps Feng Chiyue would just call off the assessment before it even started.
The announcement remained on the Chaos Mirror for three days.
On the appointed day, emissaries, attendants, and feathered immortals waiting for selection all arrived, filling the hall with a cacophony of noise. Feng Chiyue, unusually, sat on the head table. The noise gave her a headache, so she grabbed Undefeated and slashed it through the air. The sharp sword intent shook the formations within the hall, threatening to collapse the entire structure. Everyone was startled and fell silent.
Satisfied with the silence, Feng Chiyue instructed the attendants to lead the candidates to their designated seats. With a flick of her wrist, a hundred streaks of light shot out, landing in front of the immortals like falling stars. She tapped the table with her sword and said casually, “Begin.”
Begin? Begin what? The immortals exchanged confused glances. After a moment, someone channeled their consciousness into the jade slip in front of them. A single glance, and many of their expressions changed! How many lineages were there in the feathered race? What were the taboos of the Man Man(蛮蛮) tribe? Why was the Gu Diao so hated? Was the Kun Peng a fish or a bird? How were they supposed to know? What did this have to do with the assessment?
Feng Chiyue knew what they were thinking from their expressions. This was exactly the reaction she wanted: complete bewilderment. Her eyes flickered, and she discreetly activated the “Virtuous Sound” technique. “The Celestial Feather Ministry was established for the benefit of our feathered race,” she said. “If you don’t even understand your own race, how can you understand other races? ‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.’ Don’t tell me you’re going to fail at the first step?”
The candidates: “…” They couldn’t help but think that what she said made sense.
Bi Feng wasn’t participating in the assessment, but out of curiosity, he also requested a jade slip from Feng Chiyue. He scanned through the questions related to the feathered race. Apart from those concerning the Bifangs, he couldn’t answer a single one. But that was normal. Only immortals from the past would bother remembering such things. Now that the feathered race was fragmented, who cared about the well-being of other lineages or their customs?
Feng Chiyue announced her standard. “After half an hour, those who answer eighty percent correctly will stay. As for the rest, go back and start over.”
Bi Feng frowned at her harsh words. “Minister, isn’t the standard too high?” he asked.
Feng Chiyue looked at him, intrigued. “Is the Junior Minister part of the bottom twenty percent?”
Bi Feng: “…” He was, but he couldn’t admit it.
The candidates below scribbled furiously.
Feng Chiyue, on the head table, took out the Chaos Mirror and started watching plays, ignoring everyone else.
Half an hour passed quickly. Feng Chiyue stretched lazily and tapped the table. Undefeated immediately understood. It shot down, collecting the jade slips, its posture threatening to strike anyone who refused.
Was she going to let Undefeated review them? Bi Feng wondered. But this time, Feng Chiyue picked up the jade slips herself. She wasn’t that hopeless. She multitasked effortlessly, quickly discarding most of the jade slips like trash, keeping only one in her hand.
“Minister?” Bi Feng called out.
“Keep the Dust-Rejecting Clothes from the Silver-Tailed Titmouse clan. Everyone else, get out of my sight. I’ll upload the jade slips to the Chaos Mirror. You can learn from each other’s experiences as failures,” Feng Chiyue said. She paused, then added, “Attendants and emissaries, choose a good day for your own assessment.”
So many jade slips… it was exhausting!
She was starting to regret this. She should have just slashed anyone who dared to complain at the Drum of Grievances Hall with her sword, setting an example for others. This would have saved her so much trouble. It was all Ming Jian Su’s fault, that heartless and unfeeling wretch! If she were here, she would have stopped her, wouldn’t she? She wouldn’t have let her strain her brain and do such tedious work.
Her face darkened, and Undefeated hummed in response.
The atmosphere in the Celestial Feather Hall grew heavy and oppressive. All the feathered immortals, regardless of their lineage, felt a sense of unease and fear. Was the East Abode Master’s sword intent truly that terrifying? Even though she was gone, her sword intent lingered. No wonder both the Supreme Palace and the West Sea had suffered defeat.
Who would dare stay any longer? Without a word, they all turned and fled, as if chased by a monster. Only one female immortal remained, dressed in a silver-gray robe. It was Que Chen Yi, the one Feng Chiyue had chosen to keep.
She had initially been overjoyed to pass the assessment, but seeing the fear on the faces of the other immortals, she wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She was the only one from her village who had the chance to become an attendant. She couldn’t afford to mess this up.
“Come here,” Feng Chiyue beckoned. She had mentioned uploading the assessment jade slips, but she didn’t have the time to do it herself. “You’ll be working at the Celestial Feather Hall from now on. First, copy all the assessment jade slips to the Chaos Mirror,” she instructed Que Chen Yi.
“Is that… appropriate?” Que Chen Yi asked hesitantly. But as soon as she spoke, several sharp gazes pierced her like swords. She shut her mouth, regretting her words.
The ones glaring at her were the emissaries and attendants who hadn’t left yet. According to Feng Chiyue’s announcement, they would also be assessed. If they didn’t participate, they might lose their jobs. If they did, they needed to prove their worth. Thus, the content of the assessment that had terrified the candidates was something they desperately wanted to know. As for whether the candidates were embarrassed, what did that have to do with them?
Bi Feng, however, had a strange smile on his face.
He knew that Feng Chiyue’s actions would offend even more immortals—and that was exactly what they wanted.
If the immortals didn’t erupt in outrage, how could they drive Feng Chiyue out of the Celestial Feather Ministry?
There weren’t many questions on the jade slips, only fifty. Que Chen Yi felt ashamed as she answered them because she couldn’t answer several of them. But now, after reviewing all the jade slips, she realized that very few immortals had answered even half the questions correctly. Many of the candidates were from prominent lineages like the Vermilion Birds, Swan Geese, and even Phoenixes, yet they didn’t know the answers either. Was their basic education truly that lacking?
On the Chaos Mirror, many wandering immortals and officials were waiting for the drama to unfold. In past assessments, there would always be injuries, and then the elders of the injured parties would come seeking revenge, leading to feuds between clans. What kind of excitement would the feathered race provide this time? They waited and waited, but instead of news about someone getting hurt, they saw the assessment jade slips publicly displayed.
“What is this?”
“Common knowledge about the feathered race? I know all of this. I should have been the one taking the assessment.”
“So many mistakes? Don’t they have any self-awareness?”
“As expected, those beast spirits are mostly illiterate. Our ancestors were right. I think we should let humans manage the Celestial Feather Ministry. They can’t govern themselves.”
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