“This candidate’s theoretical level, tsk tsk,” someone shook their head disdainfully, not caring at all that he was right there, “can you give more than three examples proving that immortals don’t exist?”

It would actually be easier for me to give examples of immortals existing, Andrew Brooks complained inwardly. “Well, the first one, for example, King Liu An of Huainan—he attained the Dao alone, and even his chickens and dogs ascended to heaven…”

This guy named Liu An absolutely doesn’t exist; there’s no such person in the Immortal Realm.

Chapter 6: The Winding Paths and the Great Official

Andrew Brooks’s interview score was quite terrible. If you use the eight-legged essay’s “breaking the topic, undertaking the topic, beginning the discussion, entering the topic, dividing the argument, concluding” to describe it, apart from breaking the topic, which he did very standardly, the rest were basically off track.

Breaking the topic is the general outline, and naturally there was no problem with that. Feudal superstition shouldn’t be believed, immortals and ghosts don’t exist—anyone with a clear mind would break the topic this way.

Undertaking the topic means following up on the breaking of the topic, further explaining the meaning. But by this point, Andrew Brooks’s words were already incoherent.

Everyone knew he was a straightforward guy. For him to go against his conscience and say immortals don’t exist was already quite a feat. If he could look himself in the eye and, with a straight face, truly convince himself that immortals really don’t exist, would he… even need to work on his emotional intelligence?

Of course, he also had his own strengths. For example, he was extremely familiar with many stories about immortals and ghosts—even those extremely obscure ones, he knew quite a few.

So, in the eyes of the many examiners, it was: this Andrew Brooks is an extremely knowledgeable guy!

Yes, extremely knowledgeable. No one thought they were facing a true immortal from the heavens. For a candidate applying for a position in the Personnel Bureau to have such deep knowledge of these supernatural topics, what other word could describe it but “knowledgeable”?

Of course, any matter can often be viewed from two or even multiple perspectives. Someone raised an objection to this bizarre phenomenon: “This Andrew Brooks, if he really doesn’t believe in feudal superstitions, why is he so well-versed in these things? I think there must be a problem. We don’t need these hypocritical types in our ranks—they’ll affect the purity of our team!”

The speaker was deeply pained, but the opposition also had their reasons. After all, everyone was a judge. “I know a little about this comrade. He’s indeed very diligent. He’s a fresh graduate this year and scored 643 points on the college entrance exam. He was actually already admitted to Phoenix Academy.”

Anyone who can score over 600 on the college entrance exam is clearly a smart person. Isn’t it normal for him to know a bit more?

As soon as this was said, someone exclaimed, “No way? Aren’t current students not allowed to take the exam?”

“He never even went to register!” the informant explained.

The whole room fell silent.

Everyone present had seen their share of ups and downs, and they could all sense the underlying meaning in that statement. Andrew Brooks scoring over 640 wasn’t a big deal—even if you scored over 690, it’s just a higher score.

But scoring over 640 and not going to register at the school—that’s not normal. Why didn’t this guy go?

There’s only one explanation: this guy originally intended to go to university, but shortly after the college entrance exam, he heard that Phoenix City was recruiting civil servants!

That’s why he didn’t go to register!

Anyone who could get such advance information—who would dare underestimate them? The six or seven judges and examiners immediately turned their eyes to the materials Andrew Brooks had submitted, carefully searching the “relevant relatives” section once again.

But everything in the materials reminded them: this Andrew Brooks was just the only child of an ordinary small-town family!

But… these materials are just surface-level things. Those with real backgrounds wouldn’t necessarily flaunt it—falsifying documents isn’t that hard. Everyone looked at each other, unable to make up their minds for the moment.

The one who had made things difficult for Andrew Brooks, and instead gave him a chance to show off, spoke up, “This candidate’s situation is a bit complicated. I suggest we assess the other candidates first and discuss this person later. What do you think?”

What do you think? Sounds good! Someone made a suggestion, and it’s easy to agree—who can’t raise their hand?

Actually, everyone was waiting—waiting to see the personal performance of that young master who had his eye on the Personnel Bureau position. If he truly excelled in the oral exam, then Andrew Brooks would be mercilessly abandoned.

The logic is clear: we don’t know whose child you are, and since your performance isn’t as good as someone else’s, there’s nothing more to say. We have to demonstrate fairness and justice in the exam.

Unfortunately, that young master’s performance was just too poor. Or maybe, he wasn’t originally so useless, but clearly, someone had already given him a guarantee—“You’re sure to win this time.” So, just in terms of the oral exam, he couldn’t even compare to Andrew Brooks.

In fact, it wasn’t just that he couldn’t compare to Andrew Brooks—his answers made some of the more astute people cover their foreheads: it was just too awful to watch!