Chapter 132: The Written Exam Begins
That young man was somewhat thin, but by no means frail. Beneath his simple clothes, it seemed as if a great deal of strength was hidden. He squinted, looking at the rising sun in the east, with a mix of longing and fear, not daring to approach, and thus displaying a deliberate coldness, much like Chen Changsheng’s attitude toward the bustling mortal world.
The sun climbed higher, breaking through the thin clouds on the horizon, finally appearing before everyone’s eyes.
Everyone still stared at Chen Changsheng, buzzing with discussion—they had heard he hadn’t even succeeded in marrow cleansing, so what right did he have to claim the top spot in the Grand Examination?
Gou Hanshi raised an eyebrow slightly, feeling that Chen Changsheng today seemed different from when he had seen him on the Divine Path that day, though he couldn’t quite discern what had changed.
Mao Qiuyu, naturally, wouldn’t line up with the ordinary teachers and students. Seated on the viewing platform in the Li Palace, he looked at Chen Changsheng in the distance, thinking with mild surprise that he had actually succeeded in marrow cleansing, but why did it feel a bit strange?
Chen Changsheng was about to ask Tang Thirty-Six if he recognized that lonely young man in the Star-Gathering Academy’s team, when Instructor Xin walked over.
“You must win,” Instructor Xin said, patting him on the shoulder with earnest gravity.
Chen Changsheng didn’t quite understand. In the past few days, Instructor Xin had visited the National Academy several times without saying such things, only trying to relieve his pressure. Why, on the day of the Grand Examination, would he speak like this?
“I’ve bet my entire fortune on you winning,” Instructor Xin said, looking at him. “If you don’t get the top spot today, remember to fish my corpse out of the Luo River tomorrow.”
In the current situation, if Chen Changsheng failed to take the top spot, the most affected wouldn’t be the National Academy, but the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education behind it. If the Bureau couldn’t hold up, Instructor Xin would have no future. So, betting his entire fortune on Chen Changsheng winning was a very reasonable move.
Chen Changsheng didn’t know what to say. Tang Thirty-Six remarked, “No wonder the odds changed so drastically last night.”
When it came to financial matters, the Tang clan of Wenshui never lagged behind. Though they didn’t care about the small stakes of the Grand Examination betting, they still kept a close watch.
Instructor Xin said, “If it were just my fortune, how could it affect the overall odds?”
They looked toward the viewing platform in the Li Palace, toward the National Academy’s greatest backer.
There, His Eminence Merisaca squinted slightly, impossible to tell if he was asleep or awake. No one knew how much money he had staked on Chen Changsheng.
Likewise, no one knew how much Mo Yu, sitting beside him, had staked on Chen Changsheng.
Yes, Miss Mo Yu believed Chen Changsheng could take the top spot. Though there was no reason for it, inexplicably, she felt he could do it.
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The Grand Examination consisted of three parts: the Written Exam, the Martial Exam, and the Combat Matches, with no fixed order, determined annually. This year, the Written Exam was held first. When the schedule was announced five days ago, many believed it was the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education’s way of favoring the National Academy—or, more precisely, Chen Changsheng.
The Written Exam would be held in the Zhaowen Hall of the Li Palace. With some time before it began, Instructor Xin lowered his voice, hurriedly introducing the opponents who would compete alongside the three youths of the National Academy today. Though he had sent the relevant materials to the National Academy days earlier, only now could he match names to faces.
As he listened, Tang Thirty-Six’s expression grew increasingly grim. Chen Changsheng remained silent as ever. This year’s Grand Examination was filled with formidable foes, along with some experts who had registered under false identities or were hiding within various sects. These people now all targeted the National Academy and Chen Changsheng, and the pressure they bore was easy to imagine.
Just then, a faint commotion rippled through the crowd. Many stood on tiptoe, looking into the distance. Chen Changsheng and the others turned around to see a carriage slowly emerging from deep within the Li Palace, moving along the straight Divine Path. Over a dozen maids followed silently beside it, with Lady Li walking at the very front.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, the carriage passed the stone pillars, arrived at the venue, and stopped in front of the National Academy’s position.
Luoluo stepped down from the carriage and bowed respectfully to Chen Changsheng: “Greetings, Master.”
The crowd erupted in uproar. The students preparing for the Grand Examination were especially stirred. Some who had only recently arrived in the capital had heard the rumors but only now realized they were true—that Princess Luoluo had indeed taken that youth named Chen Changsheng as her teacher!
Since the youth was the princess’s teacher, he must possess genuine talent and learning, many thought. But to take the top spot? Still impossible.
The few young scholars from Huaiyuan Academy looked toward the National Academy with cold expressions.
Zhuang Huanyu stared straight ahead, as if unaware, but his sleeves trembled slightly.
Gou Hanshi and the others from the National Academy’s opposite side bowed to Luoluo.
Chen Changsheng reminded Luoluo, who turned and nodded slightly in their direction, returning the greeting.
“You came to cheer us on? Did His Holiness the Pope agree?” Chen Changsheng asked her with concern.
“Master, I am a student of the National Academy, so of course I must represent it in the Grand Examination.”
Luoluo thought for a moment, then added, “His Holiness has already agreed.”
As they spoke, they didn’t lower their voices. Luoluo’s clear, youthful voice drifted across the square before the Li Palace, reaching everyone’s ears.
The venue erupted in chaos!
Zhuang Huanyu could no longer hold back and turned to look.
The few young scholars from Huaiyuan Academy frowned slightly, as if displeased.
Those preparing for the Grand Examination were shocked by this news and were unwilling to accept it.
Only Gou Hanshi and the other three from Lishan remained calm, their expressions unchanged.
Many were confused or dissatisfied, but the first to dare voice an objection was Su Moyu from the Li Palace Affiliated Academy, the most rule-abiding and straightforward: “If Her Highness participates, how can the competition proceed?”
His Eminence the Bishop opened his eyes, tightened his sacred robe in the cold wind, and said calmly, “Her Highness will participate but will not be ranked.”
The crowd was stunned. Only then did they realize that if Princess Luoluo insisted on participating as a student of the National Academy, they, their academies, and their sects had no reason to stop her. Now that they learned she wouldn’t occupy a spot in the top three, what more could they say?
With nothing left to say, time continued to pass. A clear bell rang from deep within the Li Palace, and the Grand Examination officially began.
Hundreds of young men and women stood before Zhaowen Hall. The morning breeze ruffled their robes, and the rising sun shone on their youthful faces.
The elders from various academies and sects had already left, leaving only the students. On many faces, the word “nervous” was clearly written.
Among the National Academy, only Xuan Yuan Po was nervous. During the Star-Gathering Academy’s entrance exam, he had already exposed his weakness. Though he had read many books under Chen Changsheng’s guidance over the past few months, the thought of facing dense lines of ink text made his breathing uneven.
“Time is the most important thing. Answer what you can, skip what you can’t, and move on directly,” Tang Thirty-Six told him. “The three exams are consecutive. The Martial Exam follows immediately after the Written Exam. Even if you do well on the Written Exam, if you fail the Martial Exam, you won’t reach the Combat Matches, and you’ll end up with no results.”
Xuan Yuan Po nodded, thinking that was the only way. Chen Changsheng knew Tang Thirty-Six was also reminding him not to waste too much time on the Written Exam—whether he could pass the Martial Exam was the biggest concern. As for his Written Exam results, no one worried about them, as evidenced by the gazes of those before Zhaowen Hall.
Many people were still looking at Chen Changsheng, but unlike before, their eyes no longer held doubt or mockery, only faint jealousy or complex admiration.
After the National Academy’s battle with the Lishan Sword Sect at the Green Vine Banquet, and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion’s commentary during the Qingyun Ranking update, no one questioned Chen Changsheng’s scholarly abilities. People were shocked to discover that, after Gou Hanshi, a monster who had thoroughly read the Daoist Canon had once again emerged among the younger generation.
No one believed Chen Changsheng could take the top spot, but everyone acknowledged that in the Written Exam, he was fully capable of challenging Gou Hanshi and securing the best ranking. The odds set by major gambling houses across the continent for the Written Exam alone proved this—his odds now ranked second only to Gou Hanshi.
The second bell rang, and the examinees entered.
Zhaowen Hall was enormous, with dozens of doors opening simultaneously. Under the hawk-like gazes of the National Church priests and officials from the Bureau of Rites, hundreds of young people filed in. No one knew who would later transform into a dragon, who would swim into the Great Zhou Dynasty’s fishing basket, or who would be cruelly snatched from the water by the hawks.
The soundproofing array was activated, and the wind-sheltering curtains of Zhaowen Hall dropped, allowing only clear light to enter, blocking out wind, rain, and noise.
The hall’s floor was vast, with hundreds of desks and mats arranged without feeling crowded, creating a spacious atmosphere. Each desk was spaced far apart, so even with excellent eyesight after marrow cleansing, it was difficult to discreetly peek at a neighbor’s answers, especially with over twenty priests at the Ethereal Illumination realm or above constantly patrolling.
The priests distributed the exam papers, and the examinees began flipping through them. The rustling of paper merged into a sound like a heavy downpour.
Some didn’t flip through the papers but began grinding ink to calm their minds, like Tianhai Shengxue.
Some idly daydreamed, like Luoluo. Since her results wouldn’t count, she didn’t bother to waste energy on the questions. Soon, a priest approached her desk, bowed respectfully, and whispered a few words. She then rose and followed him away, presumably to rest in a side hall.
Some closed their eyes to rest, like the thin-clothed youth Chen Changsheng had been secretly watching.
Some did what they needed to do—flipping through the papers to glance at them, grinding ink, looking at people they found interesting, closing their eyes to rest, reaching for tea from the instructors when thirsty, rubbing their eyes when tired—as if today were just an ordinary day. Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi were like this.
Not forcing calmness was true calmness, and that represented confidence.
The third bell rang, and the examinees began writing.
Chen Changsheng lifted his brush but didn’t set it to the paper. He paused, looking at the ink characters on the page, silent for a moment.
From the old temple in Xining to the bustling capital, from an unknown young Daoist to the center of attention, it had taken him ten months.
He set his brush to the paper and began writing.
Not far away, Gou Hanshi also began answering the questions.
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(Today has been the worst day for my mental state since the start of “Ze Tian Ji.” I locked myself in a writing room for three thousand words, and it took me a full six hours to write them. This damn state of mind appears at the most critical time at the end of the month… For this, I have a strong urge to curse. There’s only this chapter today; I really can’t write anymore. I hope tomorrow will be better. But to avoid being seen as slacking off today and overcompensating tomorrow or the day after to fake a surge for monthly votes—you see, I’m such a sensitive and melodramatic person today—I’ll take advantage of this rare opportunity of only one chapter today to ask everyone to cast your monthly votes for “Ze Tian Ji”! Thank you! Thank you for your support these days! Let’s make “Ze Tian Ji” number one in monthly votes!)