Longzang

Chapter 10 Not transgressing the rules

Among the boys and girls in the square, twenty people heard a summons and entered the hall, where they saw different numbers appear on the prayer cushions. The crowd dared not delay, quickly finding their assigned numbers, sitting cross-legged, and beginning their practice.

High above, there was another palace suspended in the air, but when the examinees below occasionally looked up, all they could see was a clear blue sky and white clouds.

Inside the sky hall were seven tables, six of which were occupied. The six people were dressed differently: one Taoist priest, two Buddhist monks, two Confucian scholars, and one Buddhist monk. In front of these six people, the hall below was completely transparent, revealing the candidates sitting cross-legged inside.

The six people were the judges for this unified examination. They held the power of life and death over the candidates and each of them had an extraordinary demeanor, but they all ignored the empty table next to them.

At this moment, in the main hall below, the incense burners around the first batch of candidates began to emit pillars of light, some of which were dark and some were bright.

The left pillar of light represented innate talent, while the right pillar represented destiny and fortune. Before half the time was up, more than half of the candidates' pillars of light had stopped growing, their height reduced to only about a foot. After a few more breaths, only the last candidate's pillar of innate talent continued to increase, eventually reaching three and a half feet, about the thickness of a fist, with a golden thread constantly moving within it. However, his pillar of destiny and fortune, although two feet long, was dull and unremarkable.

In the sky hall, the older cultivator said, "His aptitude is average, but he has the sharpness of gold, so his rating can be slightly raised."

The other judges nodded in agreement. Since there was no dispute, the six judges wrote their evaluations on their respective lists. A stone tablet stood in the center of the judging hall; as the six judges finished their evaluations, the candidate's name and final score appeared on the tablet. The final score was the average of all the judges' scores.

With the sound of a bell, the examinees in the hall left, and the next batch of examinees filed in. Li Zhi was among the second batch of examinees.

Li Zhi sat down and closed his eyes. In an instant, two beams of light shot out from the incense burners on both sides!

The beam of light on the left was cyan, with rolling waves inside, and it grew to more than eight feet before finally stopping; the beam of light on the right was bright gold, reaching nearly ten feet! Then, countless points of light appeared inside the bright gold beam of light, converging to form a small cauldron.

In the deliberation hall, the elderly scholar stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "His innate talent and destiny are both top-notch; he is destined to be a prime minister. I, Liu Sigu, have never seen many talents like him in my entire life. Duke Hui'en has indeed raised a fine son!"

The older cultivator said, "It seems that the Four Saints Academy has gained another excellent disciple this time. Perhaps he can even join Elder Liu's tutelage."

The old scholar laughed even more heartily: "Of course, of course!"

In fact, each judge has a list, clearly indicating which immortal sect each student will attend. Li Zhi, the eldest son of Duke Hui'en of Southern Qi, will be attending the Four Saints Academy. However, the list and the number of places are not necessarily equal; for example, five families are vying for the three places at Taichu Palace. Ultimately, the winner depends on both the student's performance and the judges' performance.

Those who weren't on the list are left unsaid; after all, even the spots for second-class grotto-heavens have been filled, leaving only scraps for them to fight over.

Liu Sigu picked up his pen and wrote 'Tianjia' and 'Forty' after number nineteen, which represented Li Zhi, in the booklet.

According to tradition, regardless of one's physical constitution or destiny, a pillar of light less than three feet is considered of human character; four to six feet is of earthly character; seven to nine feet is of heavenly character; and more than ten feet is of superior character. If the pillar of light can resonate with heaven and earth, various extraordinary phenomena will occur. Common phenomena are also divided into different grades, with sacrificial vessels such as bells, tripods, and incense burners being of superior quality. As long as extraordinary phenomena occur, the evaluation will be adjusted accordingly.

Liu Sigu's evaluation of Heavenly Armor was based on the old system, while forty was the score under the new system, both given as the highest possible. The remaining evaluations, based on the old system, were all the same, all Heavenly Armor. The only difference was the more detailed scoring under the new system, resulting in slight fluctuations. Ultimately, Li Zhi's evaluation was Heavenly Armor, with a score of thirty-eight. While Li Zhi's score might not seem exceptional, he was pursuing the path of a benevolent ruler, prioritizing fortune over fundamental character.

In the next two batches, several more geniuses emerged, some with a solid foundation and others with great fortune, but none were as well-rounded as Li Zhi.

When the fourth batch of candidates arrived, one person's luck suddenly surged, and in the blink of an eye, he broke through the ten-foot mark!
The judges were all startled and stared intently. They saw a young man with delicate features like a girl. His foundation was mediocre, only five feet tall, but his luck was astonishing. It didn't stop after surpassing ten feet, but increased by another half foot before finally stopping. The first super-grade talent had appeared!

There really is a chosen one!
The six judges immediately became serious and fell silent in thought.

The Immortal Sect's original intention was to recruit a few chosen ones from Fengyuan County, a place where powerful figures gather, which is why they allocated the quotas. However, the problem is that these quotas were already filled before the exam even started. This candidate isn't even on the lists held by the judges, which is awkward. If a chosen one emerges and the Immortal Sect doesn't accept him, it would be too obvious.

Just then, the person's fortune changed again, the pillar of light turned dark red, revealing a surging sea of ​​blood!
The young monk suddenly smiled and said, "So it's the Blood Sea of ​​the Floating Pagoda! This fortune is too hot for you few to handle, but it's of some use to my Great Baohua Pure Land. I'll take this child!"

The Taoist priest, dressed in the colors of the Taichu Palace, opened his eyes and asked calmly, "Do you have any extra spots?"

The monk chanted a Buddhist prayer and said, "There are naturally no extra spots, but I can ask for one right away. I'll take it as soon as the Daoist test is over."

Everyone nodded in agreement, saying nothing more, but secretly they all felt a chill. The fact that someone could so readily request a monk's spot clearly indicated deep roots within the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, and they were not to be easily offended.

No one intended to compete with him for the young man. Just as the monk had said, although the young man was a chosen one, his fate was fraught with calamities, affecting both himself and others, making him extremely difficult to deal with. Besides, each judge already had a list; where would there be room for this young man?

As the judges opened the roster and were about to write their names, the monk suddenly said, "I've decided to take this child. Please be gentle with your writing. It would be a shame if this child's ranking were too low and we missed our chance. I'm a man of few words, except for one thing: I hold grudges."

The commentators unanimously agreed that they would not let the master miss his chance, and the monk finally gave up.

A line of text appears on the stone tablet: Duan Yusheng, Tianbing, thirty-five.

In the hall below, after another batch of candidates had been replaced, Wei Yuan heard his own number.

Wei Yuan followed the other examinees into the main hall and saw his number flashing on a futon, so he went over and sat down.

With a clear chime sound, the Taoist test began.

Wei Yuan calmed his mind and practiced his internal energy according to the method shown in the manual.

(End of this chapter)