Chapter 133: Listening to the Waves in the Forest of Time (Part 1)
That scholar from the Locust Tree Academy was slightly plump, his face bearing an unhealthy pallor, as if he rarely saw sunlight. When he spoke to the instructor from the Ancestral Sacrifice Institute, his gaze was fixed on Chen Changsheng and Luoluo, his expression blank, the slightly upturned corners of his mouth filled with mockery and warning.
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, these people really overthink things. He shook his head and ignored it, patting Luoluo’s hand to signal her to choose an entrance. Luoluo had indeed intended to help him during the martial examination, and being exposed like this now made her somewhat angry. She shot a cold look at that Locust Tree Academy scholar. Remembering Luoluo’s status as a princess, the scholar felt a faint trace of regret, but the words had already been spoken and could not be taken back. He could only clasp his hands behind his back, deliberately putting on an air of lofty integrity as if pleading for the people.
After the instructor from the Ancestral Sacrifice Institute finished explaining the rules, more than twenty examinees scattered, following the stone paths along the edge of the holly shrub forest to find their entrances. This forest of time truly was as vast as an ocean; standing at its edge, one couldn’t see its full scope, and naturally couldn’t tell which entrance was better. They could only rely on instinct—or luck—to choose.
Chen Changsheng never believed in things like instinct or fate. He picked the nearest entrance, while Luoluo unhesitatingly chose the one next to his. His choice was casual, and Luoluo followed his lead completely. The other examinees, seeing this scene, couldn’t help but feel their emotions churn once more, giving rise to envy, jealousy, and melancholy.
It didn’t take long for the examinees to select their entrances. At that moment, dozens of priests from the Li Palace emerged from nowhere, holding pens and notebooks to record the examinees’ academic records and names. Beside each name, they noted the time, marking the official start of the martial examination, with the clock now ticking.
Not a single examinee rashly charged into the Forest of Time—the maze designed by Wang Zhice couldn’t be conquered by luck alone. They stopped outside the holly shrub forest. Some sat on stones by the path, some leaned against trees, and others simply sat on the ground. Regardless of their posture, everyone closed their eyes, began to meditate, and released their spiritual sense.
Only two people didn’t close their eyes.
Gou Hanshi and Tianhai Shengxue stood outside the forest, quietly gazing at the sea of trees, lost in thought.
Over twenty strands of spiritual sense drifted into the Forest of Time, some strong, some weak, with subtle differences in their aura. But these differences could only be roughly perceived by cultivators above the Gathering Stars realm. Even someone like the instructor from the Ancestral Sacrifice Institute couldn’t judge them by perception alone.
The instructor from the Ancestral Sacrifice Institute was watching Chen Changsheng. Many of the Li Palace priests responsible for recording were also watching him, just like the examiners during the written test earlier.
Chen Changsheng, who had declared he would take the top spot in the Grand Examination, was inevitably the focus of everyone’s attention on today’s test field. True heavyweights like Gou Hanshi and Tianhai Shengxue, on the other hand, drew less attention, because everyone knew these two young cultivators, who had already crossed into the Penetrating Obscurity realm, were formidable—but no one knew Chen Changsheng’s current situation.
Everyone in the capital knew that, at least ten days ago, Chen Changsheng hadn’t yet succeeded in marrow cleansing. So what about his spiritual sense strength? Had he fixed his destiny star? If he had successfully fixed his destiny star, why was marrow cleansing still delayed? Did this mean his spiritual sense was terribly weak?
People were curious about how far he could go in the Grand Examination. For instance, could he even get through this Forest of Time, at least avoiding elimination in the martial examination round?
Chen Changsheng had never considered the possibility of being eliminated, especially after learning the specific procedures for this year’s martial examination.
He sat beneath a weeping cloud pine at the edge of the holly shrub forest, eyes closed, legs crossed, palms slightly suspended. His spiritual sense had already left his body, delving deep into the sea of trees.
The barriers formed by the green trees, the dense paths between them—through the perception of his spiritual sense, they became blurry images in his consciousness. All the real scenery changed color and shifted light in his perception. An ordinary person would find it strange, but for a cultivator, deconstructing and reassembling these into a true picture wasn’t too difficult.
Especially for cultivators with strong, stable spiritual sense.
Chen Changsheng’s spiritual sense was strong and stable—otherwise, his destiny star wouldn’t be in such a distant place, and Luoluo wouldn’t have climbed over the wall from the Hundred Herbs Garden to find him at the National Academy.
He closed his eyes, using his spiritual sense to probe the paths within the Forest of Time. It didn’t take long for him to thoroughly explore the several acres of forest near the entrance.
He had to admit, the design of the Grand Examination was exquisite. The process of using spiritual sense to perceive this forest was very similar to finding one’s destiny star or observing oneself in meditation. Reasoning backward from the exam setter’s perspective, it seemed that examinees likely needed to have cultivated to at least the Meditation Observation realm to have any chance of walking out of this forest.
Chen Changsheng suddenly wondered: when Wang Zhice used to play this game in his spare time while studying, was he trying to train his spiritual sense through this method? Everyone on the continent knew that Wang Zhice’s spiritual sense wasn’t strong—otherwise, he wouldn’t have only started cultivating in middle age.
His spiritual sense drifted through the Forest of Time. At the same time, many other strands of spiritual sense also floated within the sea of trees. He faintly sensed their presence but couldn’t communicate with them. As his spiritual sense delved deeper into the forest, he even perceived more and more people—it turned out many examinees were still trapped inside the Forest of Time.
The scholars from the Locust Tree Academy sat with eyes closed in deep thought, brows furrowed. The other examinees also had their eyes shut, expressions somewhat pained—only by using spiritual sense to survey every area of the Forest of Time and memorize this grand map of the Morning Sun Garden could they begin to calculate and find a viable path. For these young people with limited years of cultivation, this was an extremely difficult task.
Just then, Gou Hanshi stepped forward and walked into the sea of trees. Tianhai Shengxue followed only a moment later, also beginning to move. Before long, the two disappeared among the tender buds of early spring.
The Penetrating Obscurity realm was truly extraordinary.
The Zhaowen Hall was very quiet.
After the written test ended, the Archbishop, Mo Yu, Prince Chenliu, and great figures like Mao Qiuyu had all come into the hall. From time to time, Li Palace priests came to report on the martial examination’s progress. The news that Gou Hanshi and Tianhai Shengxue had entered the sea of trees caused no stir—it was only natural for those in the Penetrating Obscurity realm. In their view, Gou Hanshi and Tianhai Shengxue’s performance was even a bit too cautious.
Not long after Gou Hanshi and Tianhai Shengxue entered the forest, an examinee emerged from the Forest of Time, completing the first half of the martial examination.
That person was Liang Banhu, the fifth verse of the Divine Kingdom’s Seven Laws.
The great figures in the hall weren’t surprised by this either. They had their own understanding of the examinees’ levels in this year’s Grand Examination. Aside from Gou Hanshi, the remaining three youths from the Lishan Sword Sect were already outstanding in strength. Whoever emerged first from the Forest of Time was normal. Only Prince Chenliu asked curiously, “Where’s Guan Feibai?”
The next to emerge from the Forest of Time wasn’t Guan Feibai either, but… Zhuang Huanyu.
This time, the atmosphere in the hall finally shifted. People looked toward Mao Qiuyu, and Prince Chenliu offered a few words of congratulations. Clearly, after defeating Qi Jian back then, Zhuang Huanyu hadn’t slacked off in his cultivation. In terms of spiritual sense strength alone, he—who had been dropped to eleventh place on the Azure Cloud Rankings by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion—clearly had top-ten strength.
“If Guan Feibai can’t get first, he can’t even get second. I wonder how furious he must be.”
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy said with a hint of sarcasm. The Zhou people’s feelings toward those disciples from southern sects had always been complicated.
The first half of the martial examination wasn’t ranked by who emerged first from the Forest of Time, but by the time taken to pass through it. The people in Zhaowen Hall had already obtained the starting time records. They knew that Liang Banhu, Guan Feibai, Zhuang Huanyu, and others had set off simultaneously. Since Zhuang Huanyu emerged first, he naturally ranked ahead of Guan Feibai.
At this point, the chief examiner for the written test shook his head and said, “Liang Banhu isn’t first, and Zhuang Huanyu naturally isn’t second either. Guan Feibai can’t even make the top three.”
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy frowned slightly and said, “Are you counting Gou Hanshi and Young Master Tianhai in that?”
The chief examiner replied, “Before you entered the hall, someone had already emerged from the Forest of Time. They took a third less time than Liang Banhu.”
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. They cast questioning glances, except for the Archbishop, who sat in the center, still with eyes closed, as if asleep.
Someone had been faster than Liang Banhu, and by such a margin? How strong must their spiritual sense be?
“Who is it?” the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy asked in surprise.
“The registered name is Zhang Tingtao. Of course, everyone knows who he is.”
That chief examiner looked toward the dean of the Star-Gazing Academy and teased, “Even if he uses a fake name, this one is far too ordinary.”
The dean of the Star-Gazing Academy, adhering to the consistent style of Great Zhou’s military men, said without concealment, “If he’s willing to represent Star-Gazing in the battle, he can call himself whatever he wants.”
Everyone thought that made sense.
“The furious Zheshou…” Prince Chenliu sighed. “I’m really curious how he grew up.”
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy said, “What I’m more curious about is how Chen Changsheng is doing now.”
Hearing this, everyone’s gaze turned to the Archbishop.
The chief examiner said, “Chen Changsheng’s written test results are certainly excellent. It’s just unknown who will be first and second between him and Gou Hanshi.”
Everyone thought this was only natural.
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy looked at the Archbishop, who seemed to be asleep, and said with a hint of sarcasm, “No matter how good the written test results are, what’s the point if he can’t even get through the Forest of Time? If he’s eliminated directly and can’t even make the top three, what’s all this talk about being the top candidate? I wonder if someone can still sleep so soundly then.”
The Zhaowen Hall fell silent. No one spoke.
In the capital and within the state religion, the deans of the Six Ivy Academies held a special status. Figures like Mao Qiuyu and the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy didn’t need to fear anyone. And everyone in the hall knew that the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy belonged to the new faction within the state religion, like the bishop of the Ancestral Sacrifice Institute, and had always been close to the Tianhai family.
The Archbishop’s declaration on behalf of Chen Changsheng was, without a doubt, a severe provocation to him, the Li Palace Affiliated Academy, the Heavenly Dao Academy, and other institutions. Clearly, the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy had already begun preparing his counterattack. If Chen Changsheng failed to secure the top spot, the Teaching Pivot Office and the Archbishop would inevitably face immense questioning (zhiyi), even direct attacks.
As mentioned earlier, if he couldn’t even get through the Forest of Time, what was there to say about being the top candidate?
Time passed slowly. After who knows how long, a priest entered the hall and reported, “Chen Changsheng of the National Academy has begun entering the forest.”
Hearing this, everyone was slightly startled. The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy raised his eyebrows so high they seemed ready to fly off, his eyes full of surprise and doubt.
“How can he be faster than those from the Locust Tree Academy?”
(This chapter counts as making up for the day I missed. It’s the last day of the new book month. I clasp my hands together and ask everyone to kindly cast your monthly votes. Please let Ze Tian Ji take first place in the monthly vote rankings, thank you.)
Look, Over There, It’s Pitch Black
I actually didn’t want to write a vote-pulling chapter. Because Ze Tian Ji hasn’t done that yet. I’ve always thought about what way to win would make us look the strongest. Calm and resolute—that fits my aesthetic philosophy. But… these are all lies.
As long as you’re in the arena, wanting to fight for honor, how can you be calm? Resolute is possible, but there’s still unease. The desire to win and fear of losing—even when I’m eighty years old writing novels and competing with everyone for the vote rankings, I’ll still have that same mentality.
The reason I haven’t opened a vote-pulling chapter until now is because there’s no killing intent. And the reason there’s no killing intent is… the updates are too even. I’m not saying there are too few updates, because compared to the me everyone knows, this month’s updates aren’t few. Except for those days when I was in Shanghai for activities, I basically kept to two chapters a day.
Hmm, yesterday I couldn’t keep up. Yesterday I was ****.
“Even” means no sudden peaks, no bursts. Without bursts, there’s no killing intent, and I feel embarrassed to open a vote-pulling chapter.
In fact, for Ze Tian Ji, I plan to never burst, to keep writing calmly and resolutely, preferably without missing updates, with two chapters a day—that would be the most wonderful thing in the world.
But you all have been bursting, constantly voting and tipping, which makes me feel ashamed, and even more embarrassed to open a chapter.
Then today, I was taught a lesson. Yes, besides writing stories and trying to make them good, I should do more. While you all help me, I should work alongside everyone. To make things easier for you, I should do more, because although this is our shared endeavor, in the end, I’m the one who benefits the most.
So, here I am, with the utmost sincerity, asking my dear readers to cast your precious monthly votes. I ask all friends who don’t usually vote to check your personal center, find that monthly vote, and cast it for Ze Tian Ji.
It’s the new book month, with only one day left. I hope Ze Tian Ji can win the championship on the monthly vote rankings.
The championship—that’s pride. When I write Ze Tian Ji, I have a hope: to always make everyone feel proud.
Yes, we are indeed breaking new ground. Because it’s unfamiliar, it’s inevitable to feel a bit anxious.
Look, over there, it’s pitch black.
But what of it? Aren’t we still together? Writing, reading, chatting, shooting the breeze, sharing the joys and sorrows of stories, shouting everywhere that there are no wise men in love, clashing fiercely in our worldviews, then loving each other, hearts swaying, unable to restrain ourselves, then cheerfully and seriously continuing these days. So the new home is quickly cleaned and brightened, ready to welcome guests. Good.
I bow, thank you all, and appreciate your hard work.
Please continue to sway.
Sincerely.
(I struggled for a long time to type out the character for “swaying”…)
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(The long-lost, **bold period formatting**…)