No hope for eternal life

At this moment, Mu Xun completely felt the helplessness that Mu Changsheng had felt on the stage before, but like Mu Changsheng, he was a person who would never admit defeat until the very end.

Therefore, Mu Xun has been looking for opportunities to create some distance between himself and his opponent Guo Ru. Since he cannot defeat him in close combat, he will use secret techniques to crush his opponent.

Unfortunately, Guo Ru also knew Mu Xun's information and knew that Mu Xun was good at secret techniques, so he chose close combat at the beginning of the competition.

Mu Xun subsequently tried to break out by attacking left and right, but Guo Ru was well prepared and did not give Mu Xun any chance to use his secret technique.

"Swish." Mu Xun was accidentally stabbed in the shoulder by Guo Ru's long sword. The wound was so deep that the bone was visible.

Mu Xun endured the pain and repelled the opponent's sword, thinking to himself: "No, if we continue like this, we will definitely lose."

Then, Mu Xun felt helpless again, as his strongest means were all secret techniques, and he could not use them. He could only compete in swordsmanship with a sword cultivator who was twice his age. This was almost asking for trouble.

At this moment, Mu Xun was deeply aware of his disadvantages. As a sword cultivator, he could not comprehend the sword intent, and no matter how powerful the secret techniques he practiced were, it would be difficult to make up for it.

In the end, Mu Xun lasted for twenty-six breaths before being defeated by Guo Ru's sword.

Mu Xun suffered his first defeat in the martial arts test. He went down the stage to heal his wounds in disappointment. At the healing station, he met Mu Changsheng, who was also in trouble.

"It's normal to lose. Those guys have practiced for 10 to 20 years longer than us. If you win, you will be regarded as a monster instead." Mu Changsheng smiled and comforted Mu Xun.

Mu Xun shook his head when he heard this and said, "If you can't comprehend the artistic conception, you will never be able to enter the mainstream."

After this defeat, Mu Xun became more eager to comprehend the sword intent, and it was almost turning into an obsession.

Mu Changsheng continued to persuade her: "You have to eat one bite at a time. You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. The artistic conception requires a feeling, and you can't rush it."

"Mr. Mu is right." Song Zhi took the opportunity to walk over and said, "I have some insights recently, and I can share them with you two gentlemen. The so-called artistic conception, after all, is just a means and tool for cultivators. The cultivator is the main thing, and the artistic conception is supplementary. The order cannot be messed up."

"The cultivator is the main thing, and the artistic conception is secondary!" Mu Xun and the others felt suddenly enlightened after hearing Song Zhi's words.

"Thank you Miss Song for your guidance." Mu Xun thanked her solemnly. He felt as if he had gained some understanding.

Mu Changsheng smiled and said: "Miss Song has such a deep understanding of artistic conception, I think she is not far from understanding it."

"It does feel about the same." Song Zhi smiled and nodded. She took the initiative to mention the artistic conception to Mu Changsheng and the others in order to avoid appearing too abrupt when she displayed her artistic conception skills later.

"Then I wish Miss Song to comprehend the artistic conception as soon as possible and make a stunning debut in the county examination." Mu Changsheng said with a smile.

"Mr. Mu, you are too kind. In comparison, the two young masters are more qualified to make a name for themselves." Song Zhi said with a chuckle.

On the arena, after competition after competition, among the one hundred Foundation Establishment Realm county examination cultivators, no one was able to create a miracle and defeat the Golden Core Realm cultivator.

On the contrary, the healing station where Mu Changsheng and the other two were was crowded with people, naturally, who were all the Foundation Establishment cultivators who had been defeated.

"Boom!" The sound of a bell came slowly, representing the end of this round of foundation-building and golden elixir battle.

Just like when the first round of monster hunting competition ended, two light curtains lit up again in the sky on the east and west sides of the enclosure, representing the rankings of the Foundation Establishment Realm and Golden Core Realm in this round of competition.

Just as the referee said, the longer a Foundation Establishment Realm county test cultivator persists, the higher his ranking will be, while the longer a Golden Core Realm county test cultivator takes, the lower his ranking will be.

In this round of rankings, Mu Changsheng ranked sixth and Mu Xun ranked ninth. It can be seen that it is very good that the two of them can persist for so long. Many people were defeated at the first encounter.

In this round of competition, the one who impressed Mu Changsheng the most was Lu Chengyun, who ranked first in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Most people liked to practice various offensive secrets, but this person did the opposite. He seemed to be best at defensive secrets. Therefore, he persisted for nearly half an hour in the competition.

Then, the chief judge of the county examination on the high platform said: "Now, please invite the first-placed Lu Chengyun and Meizhou to come on stage to receive their awards."

Below the stage, as Lu Chengyun and the other person went on stage to receive their awards, five stages were erected on the east and west sides of the enclosure. Next up was the challenge round, and these stages were to be used for subsequent competitions.

From now on, Mu Changsheng and other Foundation Establishment Realm county examination cultivators will no longer have any intersection with those Golden Core Realm county examination cultivators. The two sides, one in the west and one in the east, will each conduct their own competitions.

In the subsequent challenges, no one chose to challenge Mu Changsheng and Mu Xun.

It was normal that no one challenged Mu Xun because he was the favorite to win the championship. As for Mu Changsheng, it was normal that no one challenged him because the news of him defeating Zhang Yuxu in the monster hunting competition had already spread. There was no doubt that it was Zhang Yuxu's doing, who deliberately spread his information.

It is worth mentioning that when Song Zhi challenged her opponent, her strength suddenly increased, she defeated her opponent and advanced to the top 25.

The reason why Song Zhi's strength increased greatly was because she understood the artistic conception of the technique. With the blessing of the artistic conception, the power of her techniques and the speed of casting were greatly increased.

After Song Zhi stepped down, Mu Changsheng took the initiative to congratulate her: "Congratulations to Miss Song for your sudden enlightenment. You have a chance to be among the top ten in the county exam."

Since Song Zhi had previously said that she was about to comprehend the artistic conception, her sudden realization at this moment seemed extremely reasonable, leaving Mu Changsheng without any doubt.

Mu Xun, who was standing by, also congratulated him, and did not notice anything unusual.

Song Zhi said modestly: "It's just a moment of good luck. Whether I can get into the top ten in the county exam is still a matter of debate."

……

After several hours, the challenge was completely over, and the top 25 in the county examination were officially determined. The next step was to select the top ten in the county examination.

The top ten candidates in the county examination will represent the entire Nansha County and go to the imperial city to participate in the imperial palace examination. Therefore, the selection of these top ten candidates is of great importance.

Finally, the chief referee of the county test on the high platform began to announce the rules of the competition: "In the next competition, the top ten, top three and first place will be selected. In order to ensure the fairness of the ranking, each monk in this round of competition will compete with the other 24 monks. The ranking will be determined by the number of wins. If there are the same number of wins, the two will compete again."

"In addition, anyone who is injured during the competition can go to the healing station to heal their injuries after the competition. Only after they are fully recovered can they continue the competition."

"Well, the rules are the same as the county exam." Mu Changsheng thought to himself: "But this seems to be the most feasible and fair competition rule."

Just like the county exam, there were five competitions going on at the same time. Someone announced, "Ring number one: Zhang Yuxu vs. Song Wan, ring number two: Mu Xun vs. Su Douyang, ring number three: Mu Changsheng vs. Xu Minghan, ring number four: Cai Xuan vs. Lu Chengyun, ring number five: Wang Tianzhou vs. Li Deng. You all should hurry up and get on stage."

Mu Changsheng raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Everyone is a strong opponent."

Perhaps the county government wanted to make this first round of competition more exciting, so the people who appeared were all the favorites to win the county exam. Except for Mu Changsheng, the others were all first in their respective counties.

Perhaps Mu Changsheng was able to be listed among them because of his previous record of defeating Zhang Yuxu.

Afterwards, Mu Changsheng and Mu Xun took the stage respectively.

Mu Changsheng stood opposite his opponent Xu Minghan, and the intelligence about the opponent immediately emerged in his mind: "The first place in the Kaifeng County Foundation Establishment Realm County Examination: Xu Minghan, 23 years old, peak foundation building cultivation, sword cultivator and strength training cultivator, has comprehended the sword intent..."