Finally, there was the lineage of Celestial Master Sa. It seemed that nothing was left after him, but his status as the ancestor of the Mao Sect could not be denied.
Even now, the Zhang family’s ancestral hall still enshrined four portraits.
Speaking of this, Chu Tian interrupted him and asked, "Brother Ma, how do you know there are four portraits in their ancestral hall?"
"Uh..." Upon being asked this, he glanced around and whispered something in Chu Tian's ear.
"Really?" Chu Tian asked loudly in surprise, then added, "Are you from the Northern Ma family?"
Ma Deju froze and asked, "How did you know?"
"Uh... I guessed!"
"You just said that the Zhang family invited your great-grandmother to be a guest..."
"I figured you were from the Ma family, otherwise, would ordinary people use the word 'invite'?"
"It must be someone from the Ma family, who is as famous as Southern Mao, to be qualified, right!"
"Besides, their Zhang family is just a branch of Southern Mao. How can they be compared to the masters of the Northeast Ma family."
"For our old Ma family, of course, we must use 'invite'! Right, Brother Ma!"
Chu Tian's final flattery made Ma Deju very comfortable.
He patted Chu Tian's shoulder and chuckled, "Heh heh... Brother Tian, you flatter me!"
The two of them were exchanging pleasantries.
At this moment, the people around Chu Tian suddenly stood up.
They all rolled up their sleeves, their eyes shining with excitement.
The older people around them patted their shoulders, cheering them on.
Chu Tian was stunned: "What the hell... what are they doing?"
"Are we starting a fight?"
Lin Yu looked at Ma Deju and Chu Tian, who were staring at each other, "looking" at something.
Lin Yu glared at Chu Tian and said, "Letting you two chat, you didn't hear the rules, did you? Serves you right!"
Chu Tian looked up and saw that the Lin family patriarch on the stage had disappeared, indicating he had finished explaining the rules.
Looking at the crowds gathered in twos and threes, all under thirty years old.
They were preparing to head to the Luo family’s villa.
Chu Tian was dumbfounded and grabbed Lin Yu, saying, "Good sister, tell your brother the rules!"
"Yeah, yeah, sister, tell me too!"
"Hmmph..." Lin Yu didn't refuse to explain, and playfully counted on her fingers!
Ma Deju was startled and instantly understood. He reached into his pocket, rummaged around, and took out a five-pointed star folded from colored paper.
He handed it to Lin Yu and said, "Here..."
Lin Yu slapped his hand away and said with slight annoyance, "What kind of junk is this? I want money!"
This stunned Ma Deju.
He was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Just as Chu Tian was about to break the awkwardness, Lin Ran emerged from behind Lin Yu.
He grabbed Ma Deju's hand and snatched the five-pointed star from him.
He said, "Brother, don't mind my sister. I'll explain it to you! How about this belongs to me?"
"Second Brother, are you stupid?" Lin Yu frowned.
Lin Ran glanced back at him and chuckled.
Then he pulled Ma Deju along, enthusiastically explaining.
Leaving a wide-eyed and indignant Lin Yu, who grabbed Lin Chi beside her and said, "Big Brother, Second Brother is bullying me!"
Lin Chi glanced at her and said calmly, "Forgive him. Do you know what that five-pointed star made of colored paper is?"
Hearing this, Chu Tian became curious. Before Lin Yu could speak, he asked, "What is it?"
"It's... the Ma family's Nine-Character True Word Dragon Summoning Technique's medium!"
"It's a consumable. As long as the holder inputs a large amount of 'qi' and recites the Nine-Character True Word, they can summon a true dragon to fight for them."
"The strength of the true dragon is related to the qi of the user."
"The more qi injected, the stronger the true dragon."
"Of course, the strength of the person who made the five-pointed star medium is also a factor."
"The greater the 'qi' capacity of the medium, the greater the summoning potential of the true dragon."
"Of course, powerful members of the Ma family can also create top-tier mediums."
"It is said that ordinary people can use it, and can summon the most powerful Dragon God, but..."
Lin Chi shook his head at this point.
"But what?" Lin Yu asked.
"It's lost!" Lin Chi said with a look of regret.
Lin Yu's mouth gaped open, and she felt endless regret.
Meanwhile, Chu Tian's eyes darted around. This Ma Deju was quite impressive.
If he could get a can of these things, wouldn't he be able to summon a dragon army in times of danger?
He had to find a way to get more of this stuff from him.
Chu Tian and the others left ahead, with those over the age limit behind.
Their faces were filled with regret.
They would wait until everyone had entered before going in to spectate.
Of course, among the crowd walking with Chu Tian, there were many opportunistic individuals.
However, upon reaching the entrance of the villa, they were scanned by an advanced instrument that reported their bone age.
These opportunistic individuals were politely stopped by Luo, who did not trouble them.
They only broke one of their arm bones!
This made Chu Tian flinch. The Luo family was truly overbearing!
If they were to supervise exams in the outside world and were discovered, wouldn't they twist people's heads off?
On the way here, Chu Tian also learned the rules of the competition from Lin Yu's sister.
The contestants only needed to use the special cards provided by the Luo family to choose their opponents and regions.
Once the opponent accepted the challenge, both parties needed to present one or an equivalent amount of cards to the notary personnel dispatched by the four Yaman families.
Then, the competition in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting would commence.
The skill level of the contestants would be judged by the notary personnel dispatched by the four Yaman families.
Finally, the winner would receive all the cards.
The time limit was three hours. When the colorful cannon sounded, it signaled the end of the intellectual combat.
Fifty contestants holding the most special cards would be selected.
These contestants would then proceed to the next round of the competition.
These so-called cards were somewhat like chips in a gambling house. The more cards you won, the more chips you had, allowing you to make larger bets and win more chips.
At this moment, Chu Tian had arrived at the entrance of the Luo family’s villa. Staff members were distributing a card to everyone entering.
The card was exquisitely made, apparently of some kind of metal material.
The patterns were clear, and the front was inscribed with:
The Luo River, deep and autumn, is as green as dark ink; Chaotic rocks crisscross, pouring down the roaring rapids.
Clear and bright, the bottom is visible, leaving no dust; Sunlight shines on the clear sand, stirring up shell beads.
The autumn wind on the Southern Mountain is already bleak; Reflections above and below confuse the empty green.
When shall we carry wine and sail a small boat? A foot-long carp, cold enough to be grilled.
On the back was printed: a large character '洛' (Luo), occupying the entire back of the card.
Chu Tian remembered learning the poem on the front, but it had already entered his stomach with the rice and been digested!
Upon entering the Luo family’s villa, Chu Tian was purely there to spectate.
He didn't know anything about qin, chess, calligraphy, or painting!
On the contrary, Lin Yu seemed very interested.
Even Lin Ran and Lin Chi’s eyes lit up.
For a moment, Chu Tian didn’t understand. Were these two also talented and knowledgeable: talented men?
However, these two dashed off with their cards in front of Chu Tian and disappeared, heading straight for the 'Qin' section.
Chu Tian couldn't call them back from behind.
This made him curious, and he decided to go and see what was going on.