"Ten years of hard study go unnoticed, but one success brings fame throughout the land."
The leading martial artist from the mountains and seas smiled before rushing forward and struck the gong in his hand.
The clear, resonant sound of the gong echoed throughout the city in the blink of an eye.
He flashed and appeared in front of Shen Qian. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he produced a 30-centimeter-tall silver box from somewhere and handed it to Shen Qian.
"Congratulations! This is a gift prepared for you by the Provincial Department of Education. The Ministry of Education will also provide further rewards later. Please check your mail."
Shen Qian quickly thanked him and took the box.
"His name is clearly displayed on the golden list, a spring branch has been plucked from the sky!"
At this moment, the second mountain and sea spirit standing in mid-air shouted, then threw the stone tablet in his hand, and with his finger as a brush, wrote three large characters on it in the blink of an eye.
The Stele of the Top Scholar!
On the back of the stone tablet, information such as the deceased's place of origin, name, and past resume were already written.
Boom!
The stone tablet fell with a thud and stood on Nanqiang Street at the entrance of Xingfu Community.
"In June, the rice paddies turn golden with blossoms, and Jingcheng harvests the sweet fragrance of osmanthus!"
Shan Hai, who was carrying the archway, shouted again and threw the archway in his hand. With a loud "bang", the archway landed on Nanqiang Street, crossing both sides of the street and standing next to the stone tablet.
"Dare to aspire to great heights through years of study, for heroes emerge from among the young!"
Shan Hai, who was carrying the plaque, laughed loudly at the end, threw the plaque in his hand, and tore off the red cloth on it at the same time.
The plaque has four large characters on it.
The top scholar has been selected!
The fallen plaque was precisely embedded in the archway, which was the so-called "Zhuangyuan Archway".
There are twenty-six such archways for top scholars in Jingcheng to date, but only this one has been erected in the last ten years.
The four powerful experts from the Mountain and Sea Realms introduced themselves to Shen Qian and offered their congratulations.
These four people did not work in the Department of Education, but in the Provincial Martial Arts Bureau. This time, they came to Jingcheng from Mingcheng as "special envoys of ceremonies" to present Shen Qian with a specially made Zhuangyuan Archway.
This is an annual tradition.
That's the kind of prestige a provincial top scorer should have.
After offering their congratulations, the four politely declined Shen Qian's invitation to stay for dinner and quickly vanished into thin air.
After Shan Hai left, Shen Qian finally had time to feel some joy in his heart.
The fact that he achieved the top score in the liberal arts exam was truly beyond my expectations.
The main problem is with subjects like Chinese, humanities, and art appreciation, which are subjective in nature. No one can be sure they will get a high score.
Looking back, I think I performed quite well.
Just as Shen Qian was about to open the silver box to take a look, a large group of reporters suddenly surged onto the rooftop. In addition to the private media outlets that had arrived before, several official media outlets, such as the "Jingcheng Daily," also came.
Clearly, the news had already spread throughout the city when Shan Hai offered his congratulations.
Shen Qian's bracelet was vibrating at an unprecedentedly crazy frequency. Shen Qian knew that his chat software must have crashed, and he guessed that his phone calls and text messages were also crashing.
Shen Qian, who was clearly a top contender in martial arts, surprisingly became the top scholar in the civil service exam, leaving everyone completely baffled.
"Chen Qian, as the newly crowned top scorer in the humanities, what are your thoughts right now?"
"Chen Qian, as we all know, you weren't particularly outstanding in humanities subjects before. Could you share with us your journey to turning things around?"
"Most of the city's residents just watched the whole thing live, and just ten minutes ago, there were still many people attacking you online. What would you like to say to them right now?"
“Classmate Chen Qian…”
Before Chen Qian could react, the reporters had already asked a whole host of questions.
Looking at the smiling, "friendly" faces in front of him, Shen Qian felt a strange urge to laugh, because just a few hours earlier, many of these people had been asking him questions with completely different attitudes.
Shen Qian closed his eyes, and the "sounds" that had quieted down began to resound again.
Shen Qian heard surprise, praise, and gossip from many people. There were still some people who wouldn't let go of the news of Shen Qian's "failure in the martial arts exam," but those voices were temporarily suppressed.
Shen Qian opened his eyes, just about to say a few words to the reporter from Jingcheng Daily who had the best attitude, when the sky suddenly darkened.
Everyone was startled, then looked up in surprise... What happened now?
Shen Qian also looked up, but frowned slightly, because he sensed a sense of oppression.
Then, another group of people emerged from the sea of clouds.
There were ten people who came, all of them walking on air.
This scene caused an uproar among everyone.
Ten mountains and seas!
When did powerful experts from the Mountain and Sea realms become so common? Four left just now, and ten more have arrived.
Moreover, judging from the direction they were heading, they were also heading towards Xingfu Community.
In stark contrast to the festive atmosphere just now, these ten warriors from the Mountain and Sea Realm, dressed in black standard battle robes, had cold and stern expressions, exuding a chilling aura.
Shen Qian narrowed his eyes, because he had already recognized the identities of these ten people from the gold trim on their cuffs, and the leader was someone he had met just a few days ago.
"The Ministry of Justice's Criminal Investigation Division is ordered to arrest someone; bystanders, please stay out of the way!"
Tang Shengzong, who was walking at the front, shouted loudly, and the aura of mountains and seas rushed over, startling everyone on the rooftop into retreating.
The Criminal Division of the Ministry of Justice?
As media professionals, many residents of Jingcheng may still be confused about what department this is, but these reporters' expressions changed immediately.
Although the Military Law Department has a relatively weak presence now, it is still one of the nine departments of China. In terms of ranking, even the Police and Armed Forces Division is below it.
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