I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 42: Card Bug
When Xue Xiang wrote the final text, he wrote thousands of words with great ease. But now, when he calmed down and read it, it was only a work of mediocre quality.

Even if you get a perfect score on the historical knowledge and classical texts dictation sections, you still won't get a high score on the written exam based solely on this essay.

Adding to the dismal performance in the training test, let alone the top twenty, he is very likely to fail completely.

He rubbed his face vigorously, intending to rewrite it.

The moment the thought arose, he abandoned it.

He knew it wasn't that his writing was bad, but rather that this was his current level, and writing another piece wouldn't improve his writing much.

Xue Xiang also considered simply choosing a famous piece and incorporating it into the final text.

With his current level of writing skills, he is fully capable of incorporating famous works while maintaining a balance in meter and parallelism.

In this way, it's inevitable that not only will the literary world be shaken by the Black Tiger, but also by the entire scholarly community.

But that's not how a plagiarist should act.

Once the great Confucian scholar is alarmed, he will surely be invited to verify it.

With such great scholars before them, how can they explain, based on their experience and qualifications, how they wrote their masterpieces?

After all, essays and poems are two different things.

The latter, relying on talent and aptitude, can produce excellent works even with only a basic understanding of literature.

Confucian writings have the power to educate and enlighten people's hearts; without sufficient accumulation of knowledge and experience, even if one produces them, one cannot explain them.

Therefore, Xue Xiang could not copy the entire text.

Barely, I could copy a sentence or two as a conclusion and incorporate it into the final text; that was already the limit.

However, one or two wise sayings alone cannot turn the tide.

He was sometimes quite annoyed. Why couldn't he transmigrate into a Confucian or Taoist world where he could simply plagiarize famous lines from Tang and Song poems and instantly boost his combat power?

It's unfair to force people to climb the ladder step by step.

"What should we do? Do we really have to come back another time?"

Xue Xiang clenched his fist.

Just then, Wenqi Black Tiger stepped down from the high platform.

Its enormous body exuded a powerful aura, and it soon arrived beside Xue Xiang.

Xue Xiang boldly reached out and touched the tiger's leg, only to find empty air. The black tiger turned its head and glared at him.

A dozen or so breaths later, Wenqi Black Tiger came to Wei Wendao, Xue Xiang's classmate in Zhaoyewu, and circled around him.

Suddenly, the black tiger with literary aura stretched out its claws and pressed them down on Wei Wendao's exam paper, then turned and left gracefully.

Instantly, the examination room erupted in commotion.

Another chime was heard, and the proctors shouted in unison, immediately stopping the disturbance.

"The literary style is acceptable."

Xue Xiang was startled.

He had heard Mengde say that articles with outstanding literary talent that conformed to the emperor's heart often gained the approval of Wenqi Heihu.

According to convention, a score of 45 or higher is unlikely to be lower than that of a student who demonstrates exceptional writing skills and talent.

Forty-five points is an absolute high score in the field of fixed texts.

"Maybe this is an opportunity, let's give it a shot? Let's do it, there's nothing left to lose anyway."

Having made up his mind, Xue Xiang began to write.

He copied the revised final version from the manuscript onto the answer sheet word for word, leaving only the final conclusion blank.

After doing all this, he sat quietly without moving.

Half an hour later, some people began to hand in their papers.

Soon, the peak time for submitting papers arrived, but Xue Xiang remained seated.

After another half hour, with one hour remaining before the end of the exam, 90% of the candidates had left the examination hall.

On the high platform, the aura surrounding the bronze statue of the saint showed signs of weakening.

Xue Xiang knew it was time to act, and began to write on the manuscript paper: "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me. I will choose their good points and follow them, and correct their bad points..."

The scholarly black tiger, who had been dozing under the statue of the sage for quite some time, suddenly raised his head and looked at Xue Xiang.

As Xue Xiangdi continued writing, Wenqi Heihu suddenly stood up, jumped off the platform, and walked towards Xue Xiangdi.

The tiger's eyes swept across the paper, and it was about to raise its claws when it discovered Xue Xiang's words written on the manuscript paper.

The tiger's raised paws were lowered again.

Xue Xiang felt a weight lifted from his heart and immediately crossed out the words on the manuscript paper.

Wenqi Black Tiger turned its head and walked towards the high platform.

Just as it was about to leap onto the high platform, Xue Xiang picked up his pen again and wrote on the manuscript paper, "The way of the Great Learning consists in manifesting one's bright virtue, in loving the people, and in abiding in perfect goodness..."

The Black Tiger of Literature returned, circling Xue Xiang, sometimes bewildered, sometimes glaring angrily. Seeing Xue Xiang cross out the words on the manuscript again, the Black Tiger of Literature exhaled two puffs of black smoke from its nostrils and turned to leave.

Black Tiger leaped onto the high platform, and Xue Xiang followed suit.

This was repeated seven or eight times, with Wenqi Black Tiger circling Xue Xiang and growling softly.

The chief examiner, Feng Jing, also frequently glanced in this direction, but due to the rules, he could not go down to see Xue Xiang's exam paper.

As the examination hall was about to empty, the halo around the saint's bronze statue was about to disappear completely.

But the literary-minded black tiger couldn't bear to part with Xue Xiang's writings, and in his anxiety, he frantically pawed at the ground with his tiger claws.

Finally, Xue Xiang picked up his pen and wrote on the exam paper: "Therefore, as heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so should a gentleman constantly strive for self-improvement; as earth's condition is receptive, so should a gentleman cultivate virtue and bear all things with magnanimity."

Wenqi Black Tiger paused for a moment, then finally raised its paw and stepped on Xue Xiang's document.

Immediately, the black tiger with literary energy quickly left, returned to the high platform, and with a whoosh, transformed into a clear radiance, dispersing into the holy statue.

Xue Xiang breathed a long sigh of relief.

He was simply exploiting a bug; he had heard Mengde say that the statue must be returned to the Academy of Arts when the time came.

As for Wenqi Heihu, he is purely a product of literary talent; his writing is so stunning that it will surely attract attention.

So Xue Xiang started exploiting the bug, and whenever Wen Qi Hei Hu was about to finish writing, he would add a line.

The literary spirit of the Black Tiger, drawn by the timeless Confucian classics, compels him to return.

After this happened many times, Wenqi Heihu had been pushed to his limit.

Only then did Xue Xiang write the final two sentences on the official exam paper, which were consistent with the text and reasoning.

The black tiger, already impatient with the tug-of-war, couldn't wait to strike with its claws.

After Wen Qiheihu left, Xue Xiang raised his hand, indicating that he was handing in his paper.

The examiner immediately took his exam paper and jogged over to hand it to Feng Jing, who had been eagerly awaiting it.

Feng Jing took Xue Xiang's exam paper and looked at it carefully, muttering to himself, "The handwriting is so-so, just neat enough."

Huh, I got all the history knowledge questions right?

Optional question, hiss…

Feng Jing gasped. This was the first time he had ever seen someone complete all the optional questions and do so in a way that even he couldn't find any mistakes.

He continued flipping through the pages and found that Xue Xiang's recitation of the classics was also completely correct.

It's important to know that the dictation of classical texts on the exam is also full of traps. Unless you have memorized the Four Books and Five Classics perfectly and have a thorough understanding of their meaning, you will definitely fall into the traps.

"He even finished all the optional questions in the dictation of the classics. Could this person be the legendary walking encyclopedia?"

Feng Jing's admiration was evident in his words.

He eagerly flipped to the final text, first reading the opening paragraph, and nodded slightly, "The concept is quite ingenious."

Then, continuing to read the text, I couldn't help but frown slightly. "The meaning is quite clear, but the talent is a bit lacking, and the writing style is rather immature."

What's going on?

He couldn't quite understand it.

Logically speaking, someone who can achieve Xue Xiang's level of historical knowledge and memorization of classical texts must be well-versed in poetry and literature and have a thorough understanding of the Six Classics.

There's no reason why someone like that should only be at this level.

Feng Jing, of course, had no idea that Xue Xiang was able to sit here and complete this exam paper entirely because of his photographic memory, coupled with months of hard study.

"Is this kind of article at best 'acceptable'?"

Feng Jing was baffled, but he had no choice but to patiently continue reading. When he came to the last two sentences, "As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement; as earth's nature is receptive, a gentleman should cultivate virtue and bear all things with magnanimity."

Finally, I couldn't help but applaud.

After applauding, he closed the paper, his brows furrowing again.

Although the final conclusion was absolutely a stroke of genius, it had the effect of adding the finishing touch to a masterpiece.

But if he were to judge the entire text, he would hardly score more than forty points. So why was Wenqi Heihu so surprised that he kept looking back?
Feng Jing couldn't understand it, nor did he want to break the rules. Since the black tiger had already made its move, he might as well give it a high score.

He placed the exam papers out of the inkwell. Exam papers certified by Wenqi Black Tiger did not need to be copied for grading; they only needed to be verified by the examiners in the final stages, focusing on two main categories: historical knowledge and classical text memorization.

After handing in his paper, Xue Xiang quickly tidied up his desk, putting the scribbled draft paper into his exam basket. Led by the examiner, he left the exam room.

Candidates who left early gathered in the examination hall, and the hall was opened to release them at dawn the following day.

As soon as Xue Xiang came out, he was picked up by Meng De, Zhou Mengyu, and Li Peng.

Li Peng was listless, Meng De was beaming, and Zhou Mengyu was full of ambition.

Perhaps knowing that Xue Xiang would fail the exam this time, none of them discussed the content of the written test, but instead chatted about wine and women.

Before we knew it, the east was turning white and the dawn was breaking.

Someone shouted that the results were out.

(End of this chapter)