I proved immortality through the imperial examination.

Chapter 50: The Final Stage
Thirty breaths later, everyone stepped onto land.

Almost instantly, the vast ocean disappeared, replaced by a towering mountain. The setting sun cast its last rays, a gentle breeze carried the evening breeze, and the mountain was shrouded in mist, a sight that captivated the eye.

Everyone bowed and thanked Xue Xiang profusely.

More often than not, they were introducing themselves, hoping to be remembered by Xue Xiang, the destined rising star of Canaan County.

Xue Xiang brought out his acting skills, displaying humility and deference.

"Look, smoke from the chimneys."

Someone exclaimed and pointed west.

Suddenly, a new awareness swept into everyone's minds.

This time, the information is more concise.

In summary, there are only three points.

First, ahead is a military dependents' village, one of the villages "polluted" by the relics of the Han Gu Elder.

Because of the influence of literature, the villages enclosed within the ruins are isolated from the outside world.

The people living inside are real and authentic.

Second, this is the final level.

Third, a simple incantation for refining characters, used in conjunction with the refining character array.

the above,

The information was simple, yet it left everyone completely baffled.

They did not tell everyone how to obtain literary energy from the relics of sages.

They didn't even tell us what constitutes winning or losing.

How to define good, and how to define bad.

As they assessed the information, the group made their way toward the direction of the smoke.

Soon, a densely populated village came into view.

Nestled at the foot of verdant mountains, hundreds of houses, some built of wood and stone, others of brick and tile, stand crookedly, forming a village.

In stark contrast to the distant green mountains, the village is almost devoid of trees, and the loess soil is cracked.

Judging by the time, it was time for dinner, but only two or three houses in the village had smoke rising from their chimneys.

Someone with sharp eyes pointed to a perfectly round area on the threshing ground on the west side of the village, marked with various symbols and emblems.

There are more than twenty of these perfectly round creatures scattered around the corners and surrounding areas of the threshing ground.

"It must be a script refining array."

As everyone was getting excited, several figures peeked out from the village entrance, but were driven back into their rooms by an elder with long eyebrows.

An elderly man with long eyebrows greeted the crowd, introducing himself as surnamed Han and the village chief of the military dependents' village.

Xue Xiang answered on behalf of everyone, claiming that he was a scholar on his way to the provincial capital to take the imperial examination, but he had taken the wrong road and mistakenly entered the military dependents' village.

Village Chief Han, leaning on his patina-covered cane, sighed and said that it had been several years since any outsiders had come to visit.

The last time outsiders came was eight years ago, and they were also students like them taking the exam.

Village Chief Han explained that the village suffers from chronic drought, and the villagers barely survive on spring water and local produce from the distant mountains. He added that they had nothing to offer in return.

At this moment, all the Confucian scholars were in the mindset of answering questions.

They knew that the third trial would not be so simple as to allow them to enter the text refining array, extract the text energy, and then leave.

The mission in the third stage must be related to the military dependents' village.

The problem facing the military dependents' villages now is obvious to everyone: drought.

"Village chief, could you please describe the drought situation here?"

Village Chief Han said, "If you count them carefully, we've been suffering from drought for over thirty years. Lately, everyone has been relying on that green mountain in front of us to make a living. The fields have long been abandoned, and we have to walk five or six miles to the mountains to fetch water."

As he spoke, he pointed to the rocky beach to the west, "That used to be a stream, and it would swell up when there was a heavy rain."

Now, digging down a foot or so, it's still dry soil.

"If you all want to stay overnight, no problem. But if you need food and drink, you'll have to find them yourselves in the mountains."

"Thank you, village chief. You can go back and rest now."

Xue Xiang knew what everyone was going to do next.

“I’m not leaving. I know you all. You all know magic. Eight years ago, those people came and caused trouble.”

Village Chief Han pointed to the distant green mountains, "If it weren't for them, these green mountains would be barren and desolate by now."

"Do whatever you want, I'll just keep quiet." With that, he leaned on his cane and sat down under a withered tree.

With important business at hand, no one dwelled on it.

Kan Jiachan from Foshan said, "I've heard my elders say that in our trial realm, all the great Confucian and Taoist masters who have perished and whose obsessions remain undiminished."

The vast literary energy it forged itself failed to return to the literary lineage and the heavenly way, forming miasma that covered ten miles in small areas and a hundred miles in large areas.

I don't know much about Han Gu.

But clearly, these villages, including military dependents' villages, were shrouded in the lingering influence of his literary legacy.

Clearly, the miasma here has formed a unique "cultural lineage and celestial heart".

This kind of cultural lineage and heavenly heart is similar to the cultural lineage and heavenly way, but much weaker, and can only be effective within the cultural miasma.

Therefore, our poems and prose can manifest a grand and magnificent scene here.

According to Village Chief Han, candidates had entered this place for trials eight years ago, which is enough to prove that the area is rich in literary and artistic traditions.

The more this is the case, the more it proves that Elder Han Gu is remarkable.

Given the strength of the miasma he displayed, his lingering resentment has most likely not completely dissipated; everyone should be careful.

Wei Wendao nodded, "I know a little about this as well."

There's no need to worry too much. Since this place has been chosen by the academy as a training ground, it's definitely safe.

Even if the old man Han Gu truly harbors lingering resentment, his influence will inevitably be limited after so many years, so there's no need for concern.

The key now is to quickly alleviate the drought in this area.

I predict that once the drought eases, we will surely overcome this challenge.

Lu Weimin said, "No wonder they asked us to collect literary energy; it turns out it was meant to manifest here."

"Gentlemen, I am but a humble person, and I will make a fool of myself in front of you."

Unable to contain himself, Bai Qi, a Confucian scholar from Yong'an City, was the first to unleash some of his accumulated literary talent, exclaiming, "Suddenly, a cold sound pours from the paper, splashing like jade and leaping like pearls across the stone slab."

Do not say that scholars lack great power; a single poem can inspire a dragon's roar on the water.

In an instant, the literary energy surged eastward, pouring into the rocky beach and transforming into a raging torrent of water, its waves crashing and surging.

Everyone cheered, and Bai Qi was also very pleased with himself.

However, the impressive display lasted only a few seconds before everyone was astonished to find that the surging water, like water poured into sand, quickly disappeared into the dry ground.

Even more terrifying, the literary energy that Bai Qi had hidden in his sleeves actually drifted out on its own, transforming into waves that surged toward the rocky beach.

This portion of literary energy was what Bai Qi intended to refine and take away.

He never dreamed that, because the poem he wrote was so grand in scale, and the land was so severely arid, it would cause such a disaster.

After the evolved water dragon surged for a while, it poured into the ground, bringing with it the remaining literary energy of his.

Unexpectedly, the remaining water dragon, which manifested as literary energy, surged and roared on the rocky beach for a while before dissipating underground.

The parched land was merely dampened.

"This this……"

Bai Qi was dumbfounded and panicked.

With a whoosh, his figure vanished from the spot, exiting the trial.

Everyone was shocked.

Fear stems from the unknown, and the third challenge deliberately avoids explaining what constitutes a good or bad outcome.

Bai Qi seized the initiative and actually managed to get himself out of the trial field, which made everyone extremely nervous.

"Although Brother Bai's intentions are good, they are ultimately not in accordance with the way of a gentleman. A gentleman acts according to his ability; if he is not capable enough, he will force himself to do something and bring about his own failure. We should take this as a warning."

“Brother Zhou is absolutely right. I think the drought in this military dependents’ village is incurable. The surface is so dry that it’s as if there’s an abyss beneath the soil, and no amount of water can fill it.”

"What should we do?"

"I think we should enter the text refining array first, refine the text energy, and then we can think of a solution once we have our own text energy."

"Seconded."

"Makes sense."

"..."

Many people said they "seconded" or "it makes sense," but ultimately no one was willing to take any action.

With the Bai Qi tragedy as an example, no one wants to take the next step.

(End of this chapter)