txolops Chapter 8 Assessment
Chapter 8 Assessment
The next morning, a few clear rooster crows echoed from the distant mountains and forests.
The rising sun shone through the window, casting its golden rays upon Zhao Cheng'an.
Zhao Cheng'an opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and stretched vigorously. Although he had only slept for three or four hours last night due to excitement, he now felt refreshed and full of inexhaustible energy.
Zhao Chengan feels that he can run several kilometers in one go without even panting.
In his previous life, he was a fragile programmer, and in this life, the original owner's physical condition was not very good either. Zhao Cheng'an had not experienced such a feeling of being full of energy for a long time.
After washing up and leaving the bamboo house, I ran into Xiao Wu's resentful gaze again.
It feels like black smoke is about to rise from my head.
Zhao Cheng'an coughed lightly, a polite but awkward smile appearing on his face.
The quizzes on ancient teachings were quite important in the Imperial Academy.
When Zhao Chengan arrived outside the examination hall, a crowd had already gathered there.
He found a secluded corner to stand in, waiting for the exam to begin. His gaze swept across the faces of the students one by one.
Unlike the last time he attended class, he did not find any trace of Chen Heng.
Xiang Yunyuan did not come either.
In addition, several other familiar students also seemed to be absent.
The original owner was a bit of a homebody and didn't have a deep impression of these people, only a vague outline in his mind. Zhao Cheng'an thought back carefully. Chen Heng seemed to have missed the exam several times in a row, while this was Xiang Yunyuan's first time missing the exam.
"Clang!"
The distant sound of a morning bell interrupted Zhao Cheng'an's thoughts.
Several servants dressed in gray hurried over and pushed open the school gate.
The students filed in and found seats.
Although the examination process for the ancient teachings course is quite strict, the results do not affect anything and are not even specifically recorded.
So the students around them weren't nervous.
Some even whispered and laughed with their familiar companions, discussing something.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed.
The aged figure of the Imperial Academy Master Shen Yanshan slowly entered the school.
The murmurs gradually subsided.
Shen Yanshan walked behind the lectern and sat down, his cloudy eyes sweeping over everyone.
"No talking or looking around during the exam."
Answer the questions carefully. You may leave after you have finished.
After he finished speaking, he gave the servant next to him a look.
Two servants stepped forward.
One of them held a stack of scrolls with portraits of students on them and began comparing them one by one with the people in the seats.
Another servant was responsible for distributing the exam papers.
The exam paper mainly contained two types of questions: calligraphy and classical texts.
The exam content was also easy to understand.
The former is similar to a cloze test, where you are given context and need to fill in the blanks; the latter is more like a reading comprehension exercise, where you need to list the interpretation, allusions, or extended meanings derived from the given text.
This wasn't Zhao Cheng'an's first time taking the ancient teachings exam, so he was familiar with the exam content.
He was more curious about something else.
How exactly does this seemingly ordinary exam determine whether a student possesses spiritual root aptitude?
The answer to this question came when he received the exam paper.
[Spirit Listening Paper: Low-grade spirit testing paper. It can hold faint traces of spiritual energy and is made from low-grade spirit mulberry bark.]
In addition, students do not need to prepare their own pens and ink for this assessment.
The calligraphy brushes needed for the exam have been placed on the brush holder, and the ink in the inkstone has been prepared.
Zhao Cheng'an picked up the brush and activated the power of the Qiankun Cauldron once more. Another line of small characters appeared before him.
[Qi-Inducing Brush: The brush handle incorporates a trace of low-grade spirit bamboo fiber, and the bristles are made from the tail hairs of spirit-infused demonic beasts. It can absorb spiritual energy and amplify the fluctuations of the writer's mind and spiritual energy.]
Zhao Cheng'an's eyes lit up.
It turned out to be the case.
The Qi-drawing pen can absorb spiritual energy from the writer, while the Spirit-listening paper is responsible for carrying it.
In this way, one can determine whether the writer possesses spiritual energy simply by looking at the content presented on paper, and even roughly judge the quality of their spiritual root based on the time spent studying.
This also explains why the ancient teachings course, which clearly had no impact on the Imperial Academy, was subject to such a serious examination process.
Not only were identities verified and proxy exams strictly prohibited, but even the chief examiner personally supervised the exams.
Thinking of this, Zhao Cheng'an secretly looked up and glanced at the chief officiant on the podium.
At this moment, Shen Yanshan was looking down at an ancient, thread-bound book when he coughed softly. Zhao Cheng'an immediately regained his composure and began to answer seriously.
"Evil cannot enter, nor can impurity invade. The pure light shines inward—"
Zhao Cheng'an picked up his brush and wrote "All Veins Return to Spring" on the back.
"Do not boast of your achievements, nor seek fame. The Way lies in non-action—".
The following should be "而无不成".
The assessment mainly focused on the content of the "Huangting Jing", "Dao Jing" and "Taiwei Yangshen Jing".
Although Zhao Cheng'an had only been in this world for a few days, he had been memorizing things every day.
Furthermore, due to his two lifetimes, his perception was extremely sharp, and his mind was sharper than ever before. He already knew these things by heart.
It was even easier than taking the college entrance exam in my previous life.
Zhao Cheng'an hardly needed to think; he simply picked up his pen and wrote down the answer.
However, after quickly completing the two fill-in-the-blank questions, Zhao Cheng'an felt a sudden unease and immediately realized something was wrong.
He glanced at the ink stains on the answer sheet, then looked down at the wolf-hair brush in his hand.
The handwriting above is unremarkable.
The small ball of spiritual energy that had been brewing within his body last night did not react at all.
It looks just like a regular exam.
"wrong!"
"That's definitely not how it is, and it's even very likely that the correctness of the answer isn't important."
Zhao Cheng'an thought to himself.
"Damn it!"
He couldn't help but curse under his breath again.
I was too nervous just now and didn't react in time.
So how can one showcase their qualifications in this assessment?
Time ticked away.
Zhao Cheng calmed himself down. He took a deep breath and focused his mind on his dantian.
I felt that very subtle, ethereal spiritual energy once again.
Zhao Cheng'an concentrated his mind and tried to transfer his spiritual energy to his right arm, and then channel it into the Qi-guiding pen in his hand.
The first attempt ended in failure.
The human body has complex meridians, and the newly generated spiritual energy is too weak; it will dissipate if one is not careful.
Zhao Chengan gritted his teeth and tried several more times before he felt he had grasped the knack.
At this point, about half the time had passed.
Zhao Cheng'an immediately wrote the four characters "万气自临" after "太微在上，清虚在心。一念甫，——。"
He then finished writing the remaining questions.
Then comes the meaning of the scriptures.
"Attain utmost emptiness, hold fast to stillness. All things arise and flourish, and I observe their return. For all things, in their myriad forms, return to their root. Returning to the root is called stillness; stillness is called returning to one's destiny."
"To explain the meaning of 'Attain utmost emptiness and maintain steadfast stillness'."
Zhao Cheng'an wrote on the back: "Emptiness" means a mind free of distractions, and "stillness" means a mind free of disorder.
The original owner's grades weren't too bad; at least he had a solid foundation. With Zhao Cheng'an's intensive study these past few days, this material wasn't too difficult for him either.
Zhao Chengan tried to reply in a concise and clear manner.
Even so, when he had written two-thirds of it, his spiritual energy was completely depleted.
Zhao Cheng'an tried several times but found that he could no longer mobilize any spiritual energy.
At this moment, he was covered in sweat, and his clothes were clinging tightly to his skin.
Zhao Cheng'an, however, relaxed instead.
He has done his best since things have come to this.
As for the rest, he could only leave it to fate. Zhao Cheng'an quickly finished the last few questions and then checked them from beginning to end.
The ink stains on them don't look too different, but some places seem to have a faint green sheen under the sunlight.
I confirmed that there were no problems with the content on the test paper.
Zhao Cheng'an raised his hand and stood up, approaching the Master of Ceremonies. He said in a low voice, "Master, I have finished answering."