Chapter 5: The Blue-Clad Youth, Thirty-Six
The youths participating in the Heavenly Academy entrance examination, under the command of that stern-faced instructor, stepped forward one by one to pick up that stone and grip it for the span of three breaths. Most of the time, that black stone would faintly glow in people’s hands, with only the slightest differences in brightness and dimness. Only a few, when they picked up the stone, saw no change at all.
That dark, rugged rock had a very ordinary name: the Sensing Stone. In the Daoist Canon, there was a scroll that described the strange products of mountains, rivers, and seas, called the *Sutra of the Myriad Creations*. Chen Changsheng had once seen an image of this stone in that text and knew of its wondrous property—this black stone naturally contained a kind of energy similar to spiritual thought. When it came into contact with a human body, it would send a strand into that person, stimulating their own true essence, and then, like fishing, it would draw a wisp of that essence back into the stone. The more abundant the true essence within the person holding the stone, the stronger their spiritual perception, the more replenishment the black stone received, and the brighter it would glow. Over many years of experimentation, humans had developed a set of rules to judge a person’s level of strength based on the stone’s brightness.
The Heavenly Academy received too many applicants each year, so they added this preliminary screening process. People kept reaching out to grip the black stone, some glowing faintly, others brightly. Some continued forward toward that building, while others were coldly gestured by that teacher to leave the line. The atmosphere in the queue was especially oppressive.
One youth gripped the black stone, but it showed no reaction. When signaled to leave, the youth was utterly desperate, crying out and begging for another chance, clutching the stone tightly and refusing to let go. He was immediately dragged away by the Heavenly Academy’s servants, earning nothing but a round of mockery, all for naught.
The examination continued. Those who made the black stone glow wore joyful expressions; those who didn’t were crushed with disappointment.
From across the stream, faint sounds of ridicule came from the senior students. The teacher in charge of the Sensing Stone test grew increasingly grim-faced. Since the morning’s examination began, hundreds had already gripped the Sensing Stone. Although many had made it glow, proving they had successfully completed Marrow Cleansing, compared to previous years, the performance of this year’s candidates was far too ordinary. So far, only one had reached the third level of Marrow Cleansing, and not a single one had achieved the complete Marrow Cleansing realm. As for a young genius who could enter the Meditation Realm, there was no sign at all. Naturally, the teacher’s mood was poor.
Human cultivation differed greatly from that of the demon and goblin races. In the beginning, it emphasized learning to open the mind’s wisdom, meditating to nurture spiritual perception, using intellect to understand the principles of heaven and earth, and borrowing spiritual perception to harness the power of heaven and earth. Energy was used to temper the body, starting from the skin and hair, down to the fascia and muscles, and deep into the marrow. When the body was strengthened enough to lift stones, and health was robust enough to resist common illnesses, this was called Marrow Cleansing.
The goblin race was born with bodies as hard as metal and stone. If humans didn’t undergo Marrow Cleansing, they couldn’t even fight them on the battlefield. Thus, in human armies, at least a preliminary success in Marrow Cleansing was required to qualify as an elite field soldier. Beyond that, Marrow Cleansing had even more critical importance in other areas—it not only strengthened bones and tendons but also cleared the eyes and opened the apertures, greatly enhancing memory and analytical abilities. As summarized in the *General Treatise of the Daoist Canon*, it was like seeing another world!
The Great Dao had three thousand paths—this was merely a broad statement. The world’s texts were vast as an ocean, with countless ink characters representing endless knowledge. Without Marrow Cleansing to sharpen the mind and clear the heart, how could one dare to wade into that sea of knowledge? Relying solely on courage to charge in would only lead to instant disorientation, shattered bones, and death under the crashing waves. From this perspective, the Heavenly Academy’s addition of this screening step over the years was actually quite reasonable. If you couldn’t even succeed in Marrow Cleansing, what right did you have to cultivate those profound techniques?
Yesterday, at the General’s Mansion, Chen Changsheng had twice admitted he had never cultivated. Naturally, he hadn’t succeeded in Marrow Cleansing either. This meant that when he later gripped the black stone, it would show no change, and he would be dismissed from the examination queue by the teacher. But strangely, his expression was very calm, as if he wasn’t worried at all.
By now, he was very close to that table, with only three people ahead of him. The one at the very front was a youth in thin blue clothes. That youth walked up to the table and, without waiting for the Heavenly Academy teacher to speak, directly reached out and picked up the dark Sensing Stone. For some reason, at that moment, everyone felt a bit tense.
Perhaps it was because that blue-clad youth seemed far too composed.
In early spring, the capital was thick with clouds, the sun hidden behind them. The Heavenly Academy was tranquil. Suddenly, the grass on both sides of the stream became extremely bright. The tender green new shoots seemed like fine branches of jade, the lingering dew drops turned into pearls, and in the clear stream, tiny fish stared wide-eyed at the sky, their bodies stiffened by the sudden light.
People instinctively shielded their eyes, thinking it was the sun breaking through the clouds. But the next moment, they realized that even the brightest spring day couldn’t be this brilliant. If it wasn’t sunlight… then where was this light coming from?
The brightness gradually faded, and eyes adjusted slightly. People lowered their hands and saw the Heavenly Academy teacher with his mouth wide open, his face full of disbelief. At the same time, they saw where the light came from—from the blue-clad youth’s palm. That dark Sensing Stone had turned into something like the hottest rock from a volcanic crater, emitting countless rays of light from between his fingers, as if it were burning!
“The Meditation Realm… could it be… the Meditation Realm?”
The Heavenly Academy teacher’s voice trembled as he spoke. Now, looking at that blue-clad youth as if he were a precious jade, he hastily stood up, walked over to him, bent down greedily to stare at his palm and the light leaking out. No one thought the teacher was being improper. After all… that blue-clad youth’s face still held a hint of childishness, clearly no older than sixteen, yet he was already in the Meditation Realm!
What did this mean? What was a genius? This was a genius! The senior students across the stream had long stopped their sneers. They stared like they’d seen a ghost at the area under the bamboo awning. The one who had spoken most harshly earlier was so shocked he slipped off his stone stool and fell to the ground, yet he felt no pain from his tailbone. Trembling, he said in astonishment, “How is that possible? Senior Brother Guan Bai only entered the Meditation Realm at sixteen… This kid… is he just young-looking? Otherwise, how could it be!”
Just then, a hoarse and cold voice came from behind them.
“Since he’s Tang Thirty-Six, why wouldn’t it be possible?”
“Tang Thirty-Six? He’s Tang Thirty-Six?” The crowd was even more shocked at the name. Someone said, “He’s already ranked thirty-sixth on the Azure Cloud List… Why would he leave Wen Shui and come to the capital? For next year’s Grand Examination? But with his ability, entering the Heavenly Book Mausoleum should be no problem.”
Someone explained, “Tang Thirty-Six is the most aloof and proud. He won’t submit to anyone, not even the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom, nor that wolf cub from the north. Since he’s taking next year’s Grand Examination, he must want to change his name. Naturally, he’d come to the capital early, and since he’s here, of course he’d enter our Heavenly Academy.”
Hearing the name Tang Thirty-Six, the students recalled the rumors about this Wen Shui prodigy and couldn’t help but murmur in admiration. Another said, “He might not submit to others among the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom, but does he dare not submit to Autumn Mountain Lord?”
“That’s anyone’s guess. But judging by the brightness of the black stone earlier, he might have held back. Even if he hasn’t reached the full Initial Meditation Realm, he can’t be far off.”
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, they suddenly remembered the hoarse voice from before. Startled, they turned around and found it was the Heavenly Academy’s most fearsome Vice Dean Zhuang. They were so frightened they quickly bowed and scattered like birds and beasts.
…
…
The strong, or rather, geniuses, deserved to be bathed in the gaze of the crowd. The youths and maidens taking the Heavenly Academy exam didn’t recognize the blue-clad youth’s identity, but their awe was even greater. Watching his back, they showed expressions of fear and reverence. Chen Changsheng, watching that blue-clad youth, also felt great admiration. He didn’t have such talent, and he was truly envious.
The blue-clad youth walked forward coldly and soon entered the building deep within the Heavenly Academy. The rest of the examination continued, and before long, it was Chen Changsheng’s turn. He walked to the table, looked at that dark rock with its rough surface and countless tiny pores, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gripped the black stone. He raised it to eye level and began to examine it closely.
He clearly felt a cool, refreshing breath seep out from one of the stone’s tiny pores, enter his body through his palm, and then race through his meridians, trying to reach deeper places—like the Sun Sea or the Burning Wheel—to search for his true essence. That cool breath clearly had no consciousness and no ill intent, so he didn’t resist at all, letting it wander freely. Of course, even if he wanted to resist, he had no ability to do so. But he knew well that his meridians had some issues. Before he began treating himself, that breath couldn’t possibly find anything. Since there was no true essence returning and no spiritual perception responding, the black stone naturally wouldn’t brighten.
No surprise occurred. The black stone remained black, lying quietly in his palm.
He placed the stone back on the table and said to the Heavenly Academy teacher, “It didn’t glow.”
To the onlookers, he had simply picked up the stone and put it down—such an obvious fact—yet he confirmed it with such solemnity, which seemed a bit ridiculous. Strangely, no one laughed. Watching his composed expression, people felt something odd… The youths who had failed to make the stone glow earlier all looked embarrassed, dejected by their failure, or even wept like that disgraceful youth before. But he… was far too calm.
Didn’t he understand what this meant? He didn’t seem like it.
The teacher frowned slightly. He should have directly waved Chen Changsheng away, but because of the strange silence in the air, he inexplicably asked an extra question: “You don’t cultivate?”
“I haven’t cultivated.”
Chen Changsheng said the same words he had repeated twice yesterday at the General’s Mansion.
The teacher stared at him expressionlessly, as if to say, then why don’t you leave on your own?
Chen Changsheng bowed in salute, then turned to leave.
But the direction he left wasn’t toward the Heavenly Academy’s main gate—it was toward that building.
The teacher was stunned for a moment before realizing what he intended. Furious, he roared, “Stop right there!” (To be continued)