fairy family

Chapter 185 Xie Family Jade, Palace Examination Begins

Time flies by.

After the New Year's Eve celebrations, the people of Huangshan County have begun another busy year, day after day, year after year.

On this day, on Mount Huangshan, a mountain peak was submerged in clouds and mist.

Suddenly, a Taoist priest rode in a beam of light, and after several turns, slowly descended. His gaze swept across the area and landed on a figure under an old tree on the mountain peak.

The man was young, dressed in flowing white robes, meditating with his hands clasped in a mudra. Two wisps of energy, like dragons and snakes, emanated from his nostrils, extremely agile and vibrant.

The Taoist priest stood there for a long time, and only after seeing that the other party had finished his practice did he quickly step forward.

Before the Taoist could speak, the young man in white said, "Master Xun, is your sudden visit today because the imperial examination is approaching?"

The Taoist priest, addressed as Master Xun, stroked his long beard and nodded, saying, "That's right. The palace examination will be held in three days. Although the examination will be held within Huangshan Mountain, we still need to leave the seclusion early to prepare."

The white-robed youth immediately stood up, nodded to the other party, and then looked at the two auras in front of him with a regretful expression:
"Although this mountain has spiritual energy, it is too thin. It has only produced two strands of snake and insect energy, which are not useful."

"I wonder if the spiritual energy on the cave island I acquire after obtaining the position of true disciple will be even stronger."

Upon hearing this, Xun Daoren couldn't help but laugh: "You haven't even joined the Dao Palace yet, but you can cultivate day and night with spiritual energy. Even if it's very thin, it's still a condition that ordinary people can hardly imagine."

Now that you have cultivated the inner energy of these two ancient Qi cultivators, no one can be your match in this palace examination, especially since you also possess the Heavenly Temple.

The young man in white laughed and said, "Master Xun is absolutely right. I was indeed greedy."

He cupped his hands in greeting to the other party and then said, "In that case, let us go down the mountain and return to our clan."

“Alright.” With a whoosh, Xun Daoren unleashed a stream of light, pulling the white-robed youth to his side. After hovering on the mountaintop for a moment, the youth flew towards the massive Huangshan Immortal City.

Along the way, the two chatted about the candidates with names and surnames in this imperial examination, as well as the important events that had recently occurred within their clans.

"There is nothing of great importance to you in the Xie family. You are the Xie family's precious gem for the next sixty years. Even if something great happens, it will not affect you. Just focus on your cultivation."

Xun Daoren paused for a moment, then suddenly said, "The two young ladies from the Snake family wrote to you two or three months ago, asking if you were going to take the imperial examination this year. After contacting you several times, they also said that there was a person down the mountain who had opened a temple and was ruthless."

"I remind you, when you take the imperial examination, you must not be careless with that person."

The young man in white closed his eyes and pondered, then said, "Sisters Aqing and Azi, I've remembered this."

He chuckled, "It seems that the Heavenly Temple at the foot of the mountain has probably offended these two girls. But it doesn't matter. That person is just from the foot of the mountain. I've never heard of him before. It must be an ancestral temple that was only established within the last year."

"To dare to participate in the palace examination after only one year of cultivation in the county school—either he has given up the competition for the position of true disciple, or he is ambitious but lacks talent. I will use this person as a whetstone to test whether the current Heavenly Temple is more capable, or whether the methods of the ancient Qi cultivators are more superior."

Seeing that Xie Baiyu had gleaned so much from his brief explanation, Xun Daoren nodded and said:

"Just keep it in mind."

He added, "By the way, it's not just that person from the mountain who's going to take the imperial examination; your cousin is also planning to take it this year. She's already registered, but she didn't go through the Xie family; she registered directly through the county school in the mountain area."

Upon hearing this, Xie Baiyu's calm gaze finally shifted slightly, and he exclaimed in surprise:

"My cousin Qingjie is in such a hurry."

Immediately, the man's expression returned to calm, and he sighed softly: "The clan only wants to suppress her for two or three years, so as to avoid competing with me and ensure that the Xie family can produce two true successors."

Unexpectedly, she couldn't even endure a year, disregarding the greater good of the clan.

Master Xun remained calm and collected, simply listening to Xie Baiyu's mutterings without interrupting.

Until Xie Baiyu spoke calmly:
"Please trouble Master Xun to tell the clan that Bai Yu understands the importance of this matter. In this palace examination, I will use my supreme power to overwhelm everyone inside and outside the palace, and no one will be able to defeat me."

Only then did Master Xun speak, saying:
"good."

the other side.

The seventh market town is located within the county school.

The Seventh Scholar personally emerged from seclusion and entered a quiet room. He sat upright in a chair facing the stone door, his eyes slightly closed.

After waiting for more than three hours, he heard the sound of the stone house opening and then suddenly opened his eyes.

A slender, aloof figure gracefully emerged from the quiet room. Upon emerging from seclusion, the figure paused in surprise, then bowed deeply to the Seventh Scholar.
"Student Xie Qingjie greets the headmaster."

The usually stern-faced Seventh Scholar smiled and said, "There's no need for such formality."

He lifted Xie Qingjie's body with a flick of his wrist, and then said:

"The palace examination is in three days. I came here specifically to pick you up and to ask you if you really want to take the exam this year, instead of waiting another year?"
The exam hasn't started yet, so you still have a chance to back out.

Xie Qingjie's face was pale and she looked sickly, but her eyes were bright and she said resolutely:
“Returning to the student, we will take the exam this year. The student will never back out.”

Hearing the woman's firm reply, the Seventh Academician could only sigh:
"So be it. If you're slow on one step, you'll be slow on every step. You must have made that decision a long time ago to come down the mountain to study."

Since that's the case, I will no longer try to persuade you; I will simply fully support your decision. If any members of the Xie family try to obstruct you, I will protect you.

Xie Qingjie's expression relaxed slightly, and she immediately bowed to the Seventh Scholar.

Suddenly, Seventh Scholar remembered something and narrowed his eyes, saying:
"By the way, the student in our workshop who opened the Heavenly Temple in the same batch as you is also taking the exam this year."

Xie Qingjie was slightly taken aback when she heard this.

Although she had descended the mountain, she was still from a mountain family, and she had people in her clan secretly supporting her. That's why she dared to take the imperial examination the following year, while Yu Que was just a person from the foot of the mountain, and had even offended the Seventh Instructor, so he didn't even dare to attend the county school, yet he was also going to take the exam this year?
Suddenly, Xie Qingjie became even more curious about this mysterious classmate.

So, she, who didn't care much about foreign affairs, couldn't help but ask the Seventh Scholar a few more questions.

When she learned that Yu Que had already become an eighth-rank immortal three months ago, the woman realized that Yu Que was not just reckless and arrogant, but also had some strength and confidence.

However, the woman was calculating in her heart:

"Even among the nine families on the mountain, their disciples usually only participate in the palace examination two or three years after the temple has been established."

I took the exam this year out of necessity, and the risks were enormous; it wasn't well-regarded by many… As for Yu Que, does he not intend to compete for the position of true successor?”

As the two were talking, she overheard the Seventh Academician beside her commenting on Yu's shortcomings:

"Having only reached the eighth rank, he has already come to take the exam; he has no chance of becoming a true successor."

"Hey, what a fine seed of Heavenly Temple Dao! Why has it led you to this predicament, stuck in the middle, neither here nor there? It's a real shame."

Xie Qingjie could clearly sense that there was a mocking tone in Seventh Scholar's voice.

She lowered her head, pondering silently, without uttering a single word.

This woman only thought to herself:
"This child is so similar to me. He must also be in a difficult situation, unable to enter the Dao Palace and thus unable to be free, which is why he can only take the exam this year."

She was aware of the rumors and gossip surrounding Yu Que. A sense of shared misfortune arose in Xie Qingjie's heart.

........................

Meanwhile, within the Alchemist Guild.

Yu Que had been cultivating peacefully, waiting for the elder to summon him out of seclusion in the next few days with the First Flight Talisman.

Then a noise came from outside the door:
"Boy, hurry up and get out of the pass, don't keep this old man waiting."

So he quickly stopped practicing, stepped open the stone house, and saw the old leader pacing around in the quiet room.

"Senior, why are you here?"

He spoke in surprise, a hint of unease in his heart, thinking something serious had happened.

To his surprise, the old leader glared at him and said, "Didn't you see he came to call you? I've been waiting for almost half an hour."

These words surprised Yu Que even more. After asking again, he felt quite flattered.

He was always the one who went to wait in front of the other's door, but this time it was the other way around.

Yu Que quickly bowed and greeted the old man, afraid that the old man would feel that he was being disrespectful.

After a long murmur, the old leader hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said:

"We've decided to take the exam this year, and there's still a chance to back out, so why don't we..."

Unexpectedly, Yu Que didn't even listen to the end of the sentence before gritting his teeth and saying, "It's this year, no changes!"

The old leader sighed softly:

"Although you are an eighth-rank, and those scions of noble families are also eighth-rank, and their family gods do not exceed three, they can cultivate other extraordinary techniques in addition to their immortal lineages. They also have various treasures to protect their bodies and rare pills to nourish their health. They are not comparable to you."

Yu Que narrowed his eyes, his expression remaining firm and unchanged.

These past few days, besides diligently cultivating his Taoist skills and refining his Yin spirit, he has been cramming on knowledge of immortal arts, with the content related to the annual palace examinations taking up the majority of his time.

Therefore, he already had a clear understanding of the differences between scions of aristocratic families and those from humble backgrounds.

To be honest, he did waver at times, but after much deliberation, he decided to take the test this year.

Firstly, although those people from aristocratic families possess not only their lineage but also other clan traditions and special skills, their supernatural abilities are still quite remarkable, and they also wield the Crowfire, so they may not be that bad.

Secondly, while scions of noble families possess many treasures, Yu Que holds a magic weapon and a talisman, indicating that his wealth is not insignificant. Moreover, the use of such magic weapons and talismans during the imperial examinations should be restricted, potentially affecting his performance.

As for the third point, Yu Que secretly inquired with the old leader and discovered that, excluding himself, there were actually three or four temples that went to refer to this year.

Considering the matter of the spiritual energy revival, he had a feeling that he should not delay and should make vigorous progress to catch up with this palace examination.

In addition, Yu Que was also thinking to himself:
"Although each palace examination usually only produces one true disciple, that is based on the fact that it is difficult for the Heavenly Temple to produce one."

Nowadays, there are more and more temples, and in the history of Huangshan, there have been cases of two true disciples.

In his view, with so many people taking the imperial examinations this year, and so many from prominent families, they must know something.

Only good things and good opportunities will be sought after.

In the quiet room, the elder leader saw that Yu Que did not speak, and thus understood that the boy was stubborn and would not change his decision.

"In that case, I will take you there."

With a flick of his sleeve, a cloud of smoke rose from beneath his feet, lifting Yu Que up and slowly flying towards the outside of the quiet room.

Before long, the two flew away from the Alchemist Guild and headed straight for the majestic and continuous Huangshan Mountain Range behind the county town.

Yu Que was quite amazed by this method of flying through the clouds and mist, and found it much more comfortable than riding a paper crane.

He looked around and asked in surprise, "Are you going straight there instead of with the other Daoists in the gathering?"

Besides Yu Que, there are six or seven other members in the Alchemist Guild who also plan to take the palace examination this year.

The elder member of the association gave the first answer:
"They had already set off with the group from the county school."

Upon further inquiry, Yu Que learned that ordinary examinees from the county town at the foot of the mountain, if they did not have someone specifically escort them, had to set off seven days in advance to avoid being delayed on the way.

Upon arriving at the Huangshan Taoist Palace, candidates must spend another full day verifying their identities. Only candidates residing in the mountain's celestial city are allowed to arrive at the examination venue one or two days in advance.

Whoosh!

An old man and a child flew by, and the county town beneath their feet became smaller and smaller, with everyone looking like ants and the houses looking like paper cutouts, small and interesting.

Suddenly, the old leader let out a soft exclamation.

Yu Que followed the other person's gaze and saw another streak of light fly out from the Seventh Market, swiftly heading towards Huangshan. It was even faster than the two of them, and quickly overtook them.

The old leader was originally flying leisurely and unhurriedly.

Now he was energized and snorted, "You little brats, how dare you surpass this old man!"

Yu Que's figure suddenly swayed, startling him so much that his heart skipped a beat.

The clouds beneath their feet suddenly billowed, quickly obscuring the other streak of light and rushing ahead.

With a whoosh, a dozen or so streaks of light flashed across the sky above Huangshan County, some fast and some slow, all heading straight for the clouds.

When a celestial city appeared in the sea of ​​clouds, they pressed their escape light and entered the city one by one.

Inside the immortal city, a row of buildings with staggered eaves and brackets came into Yu Que's eyes. Their magnificent scale made him feel like a country bumpkin who had entered the city.

Before long, Yu Que was taken to a huge altar in the city, which could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.

He and the other candidates from various places who had arrived in the Immortal City early lined up to be examined by the palace examiners. Then, according to their assigned numbers, they sat cross-legged on the stone prayer mats in the altar and waited patiently.

The densely packed examinees sat silently, like chess pieces.

The palace examination was part of the imperial examination for immortals, and naturally it was divided into two subjects: civil and military.

However, the importance of the written exam is far less than that of the county exam. It is mainly used to eliminate candidates who are too ignorant, do not follow the rules, or are too risky.

Yu Que only crammed for a few months and passed without any trouble, then boarded the cloud ship to the martial arts exam.

(End of this chapter)