Chapter 134: Listening to the Waves in the Forest Sea (Part 2)
The Boiling Time Forest covered an extremely vast area, but for cultivators who had successfully undergone marrow cleansing, walking through it did not take much time.
The key to passing through this holly shrub forest lay in using one’s divine sense to find the path. Thus, only those with the confidence to walk out of the forest sea would begin their entry. Conversely, the moment a candidate stepped into the forest, it essentially meant they could traverse this sea of trees—it was merely a matter of how long it would take.
The news coming back from the martial examination site surprised the people in the Zhaowen Hall. Mao Qiuyu picked up the record book and noticed that the time Chen Changsheng took from starting to spread his divine sense to entering the forest sea was actually shorter than Liang Banhu’s. Prince Chenliu, watching from the side, said in shock, “Does Chen Changsheng really have such powerful divine sense?”
“If his divine sense were truly that strong, how could he have failed to complete marrow cleansing?”
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy said expressionlessly. He simply did not believe that Chen Changsheng possessed such formidable divine sense.
Prince Chenliu pondered for a moment and said, “Earlier, when I looked at Chen Changsheng, it seemed he had already succeeded in marrow cleansing.”
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy sneered, “Even if he succeeded in marrow cleansing, so what? Taking this long to complete it means his divine sense is likely mediocre. That boy probably couldn’t even see the path clearly in the Boiling Time Forest. Knowing he had no way through, he gave up and just charged in recklessly.”
The Zhaowen Hall fell silent again, because the dean’s reasoning made sense. At that moment, among the hundreds of candidates in the Boiling Time Forest, many were undoubtedly just as he described—unable to fully map out the terrain with their divine sense from outside the forest, they had no choice but to enter the forest sea, hoping to stumble upon a way out by luck.
Chen Changsheng might be in the same situation.
Everyone turned to look at the Bishop seated in the center. The Bishop still had his eyes closed, as if asleep, completely oblivious to their discussion.
What happened next quickly turned the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy’s face sour.
News from the Boiling Time Forest kept arriving at the Zhaowen Hall. A priest unfolded a map and marked the current situation—the red dot representing Chen Changsheng’s position had not stopped moving since entering the forest sea. Though his route was inevitably winding, his direction was always forward. His steady pace, in particular, showed that he was confident and sure of himself.
As time passed, the red dot representing Chen Changsheng’s position kept moving toward the edge of the forest sea, tracing a line that looked complex but was actually the most efficient path possible. The Zhaowen Hall grew quieter and quieter. People stared at the tip of that line, and though they couldn’t yet see the full picture, they generally understood there would be no problem.
The priest Xin, who had been standing outside the hall, saw something and wiped the sweat from his forehead, a faint smile appearing on his face.
A priest reported the latest from the martial examination. The striking red dot on the map moved forward again, but this time, it directly exited the range of the Boiling Time Forest.
The Zhaowen Hall remained silent. The Bishop still had his eyes closed, showing no sign of worry.
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy said nothing.
Prince Chenliu sighed with emotion, “This guy’s divine sense is so powerful—who could have predicted that?”
Indeed, no one had expected that Chen Changsheng, who couldn’t even succeed in marrow cleansing, would possess such formidable divine sense.
Mao Qiuyu said, “After the Grand Examination, let’s ask that child about the process of fixing his destiny star.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Since Chen Changsheng had such powerful divine sense, the destiny star he fixed must also be extraordinary. Naturally, it should be recorded clearly, as a point of glory for the Great Zhou Dynasty.
A little later than the Zhaowen Hall, the commoners gathered outside the Li Palace also learned the latest from the martial examination and erupted in cheers.
Hearing the faint cheers in the distance, Mo Yu said to Prince Chenliu, “No one dared to bet on Chen Changsheng getting a ranking. Why do you think they’re cheering?”
Prince Chenliu was momentarily stunned, then understood the reasoning. The joy he had just felt vanished without a trace.
Mo Yu smiled without saying a word.
No commoner had bet on Chen Changsheng winning, yet they cheered because he passed the martial examination. Naturally, this was because everyone knew that Chen Changsheng had no chance in the combat rounds. Since this boy from the National Academy wouldn’t cost them any money, the public could afford to be generous and applaud him.
Stepping out of the forest sea, a cool breeze greeted him, refreshing the somewhat tired Chen Changsheng. As for the stunned or even shocked gazes, he deliberately ignored them. The Li Palace priests and candidates responsible for recording the martial examination results outside the forest sea could hardly believe he had come out so quickly—Chen Changsheng had passed through the Boiling Time Forest in an extremely short time, even faster than Liang Banhu. However, it was still impossible to confirm whether he was quicker than that single-clothed youth who participated in the Grand Examination under the identity of a student from the Picking Star Academy.
Looking back at the forest sea, thinking of the faint sound of green leaves rustling like waves he had sensed while walking through it with his divine sense, he fell silent for a moment.
The Green Vine Banquet and the Azure Cloud List had proven he was not a waste, but being well-read in the Daoist scriptures and possessing vast knowledge—in this world that valued strength above all—was ultimately just a beautiful but hollow decoration. What this world truly valued was still power, those direct forces that could influence life and death.
Today, for the first time, he had proven to this world that he possessed such power.
But it wasn’t enough. Passing through the Boiling Time Forest was only the first half of the martial examination. To reach the combat stage, he still had many things to do.
Leaving the forest sea and crossing a meadow, he arrived before a beautiful spring river.
That river was called the Qu River. It flowed through the Li Palace and eventually merged into the Luo River. But in this section at Chaoyang Garden, due to the gentle terrain and historical dredging, the Qu River’s surface was wider than the Luo River in the capital city. At its narrowest point, the distance between the two banks was at least several dozen zhang.
The Qu River’s surface was very calm, the water a deep green. For those literary scholars, such a scene might inspire much poetic sentiment and artistic conception. But for Chen Changsheng and most of the candidates, this river blocking their path was like a bronze mirror covered in green rust—the impression it gave was really not good.
The feeling of viewing a scene depended on the viewer’s own mood.
This year’s Grand Examination martial test was truly clever.
The first half required candidates to cross the forest sea.
The second half required candidates to cross the green river.
As long as a candidate crossed this Qu River, as smooth as a mirror and about several dozen zhang wide, and reached the opposite shore, they would pass the martial examination and qualify to participate in the Grand Examination’s combat rounds.
The problem was, this was no simple task.
Especially since the rules clearly stated that aside from the soles of their shoes, if any part of a candidate’s body got wet by the river water, they would fail.
Chen Changsheng walked to the riverbank and looked toward the green forest on the opposite shore, naturally recalling the lake in the National Academy.
So this was the other shore Priest Xin had spoken of.
(Still haven’t eaten dinner, starving. Going to find food first. The next chapter will definitely be extremely late… Uh, four hours left. Bow, thank you, please cast your monthly votes.)
Thanks and Apologies
On the monthly vote rankings, we took first place. At that moment, I was in my little writing room. Hands clasped, silently and sincerely, I express my deepest gratitude to everyone.
I’ve been writing books for over a decade, and I’ve often competed for various rankings, but never like this month. The feeling was so complex that sometimes I wanted to deliberately forget about it.
A middle-aged man—yes, whether I admit it or not, at thirty-seven, I am indeed a middle-aged man. I used to sneer at the so-called middle-class, midlife crisis in American Beauty, but now all those issues have come. Yet you still want to gain more, even more than when you were young, with an even stronger greed for the world.
Because now it’s your turn to support many things.
I want to earn more money, be liked by more people, write better stories, gain greater fame, and give my parents, family, and wife a better life.
Greedy—that’s the root of all this exhaustion.
It’s really been tough, but thankfully everyone has helped me through it. A thousand words come down to this: relying on everyone to earn money, relying on everyone to gain face. Truly, over the years, I’ve depended on you all too much.
A life under pressure isn’t what I like, and a rhythm of overthinking isn’t something I can accept. But things keep happening, and you have to think and act.
My mood right now is very complicated. Hmm, very complicated, because of some things.
In my little writing room, I wrote a thousand words, very silently. I don’t plan to write anymore. There will be no update today.
At this moment, failing to deliver the update I promised—this is the rhythm for everyone to scold me.
But I really can’t write anymore. Maybe it’s because the pressure suddenly disappeared, leaving me a bit weak and my mind numb.
Outside the window, lightning flashes like beautiful blue roses—much better to look at than a computer screen.
But on the day we won the monthly vote championship, shouldn’t I at least have two chapters, six thousand words?
So that’s a deficit of four thousand words. In July, there was still a deficit of seven thousand words.
At this moment of celebration, let me indulge myself.
Tomorrow when I wake up and open my eyes, I’ll repay everyone.
Thank you for every monthly vote and recommendation vote you cast. Today, I only updated two thousand words. I myself think this is shameless. So, to make everyone feel their votes were worthwhile, before September 20th, I will write with great effort and care—at least one hundred and twenty thousand words.
I’ll get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll get up and continue bearing the pressure, continue thinking endlessly, continue writing the story.
To earn money, and also so that we can continue to freely carve our mark on this world.
Apologies again.
Thank you again… “Ze Tian Ji” latest chapter from Genesis Chinese Network, the newest, hottest, fastest web novel site!
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