Chapter 16 Gathering Firelight

Holding the myriad lights of human homes, An Qi'sheng's gaze was deep and profound.

Countless scenes seemed to flow out from within the points of light.

There was a scholar reading late into the night, his head suspended by a beam, his awl piercing his thigh, bitterly studying poetry and classical texts, enduring hunger and cold, hoping to find a future.......

There were small vendors counting their silver coins at night, calculating the gains and losses of the day, and pondering over the various trivial matters of replenishing goods tomorrow, racking their brains for a living......

There were poor couples shedding tears in silence, feeling that life was bleak and hopeless......

There was a filial son sitting by the bedside, watching his critically ill mother in the dim light, his face flickering between light and darkness......

And there were even wealthy merchants and gentry holding banquets at night, with singing girls dancing and wine cups clinking.....

Within a cluster of lights, there seemed to be a myriad of human conditions and the appearances of all living beings.

"Master, what are you collecting these lights for? Didn't you say you wanted to take something to fight against Tianyi Zhenren? Could it be these lights?"

The yellow dog looked at the lights curiously, completely unable to sense anything strange about them. How could this be used to fight against Tianyi Zhenren?

"The red dust is dotted with lights, not as brilliant as the sun, but they have a special effect."

An Qi'sheng casually pinched, and the lights disappeared:

"There are still a hundred days until Donglin, it's time to go to Qingzhou."

He had passed through various prefectures and counties, and collected an unknown number of lights. Now, after counting them, it was almost enough.

Invisible to anyone, after the lights entered his body, they were invisibly guided towards his heart.

Inside his chest cavity, within his heart, in the flesh and blood temple that wriggled and vibrated, a scarlet 'god' sat cross-legged, holding a cluster of light that flickered uncertainly and was infinitely complex.

The lights flowed into that complex cluster of light.

As the lights flowed, they vaguely transformed into the shape of a bronze lamp.......

"Are we leaving now?"

The yellow dog perked up, a little worried:

"Master, you used to practice spells from time to time when you were on the mountain, but since you came down from the mountain, I haven't seen you practice spells for a long time.......”

It had been more than a year since they came down the mountain.

In this past year, it had followed An Qi'sheng for an unknown number of miles, but along the way, it was the one who slayed demons and monsters, and it was also the one who punished evil and promoted good. Except for the time it suppressed the heretical evil Taoist, it had never seen its master cultivate even once.

It couldn't help but feel a little worried.

An Qi'sheng smiled without saying a word, raising his eyebrows to look.

Below him were the lights of the entire city, the rising of human energy, and above the dome of the sky were the stars and the moon hanging in the middle of the sky. Between heaven and earth, only the wind and clouds moved.

After looking for a long time, he flicked his sleeves and stepped away:

"The Great Dao is very easy, but people prefer shortcuts. I used to practice hard day and night, obsessed with techniques and skills, but now, I rarely practice......"

The Great Dao is like a circle, boundless. Cultivation is like a line. If there is only one path, it is like a line. If there are more paths, under the crisscrossing, it becomes more difficult to see the original face.

Learning a lot is naturally a good thing, but sometimes, it is not a good thing.

A gentleman holds on to one, and can govern all things, but if one cannot be obtained, what is there to talk about all things?

Being large and complete is certainly the Great Dao, but when the foundation is not yet able to bear it, it is just being greedy and unable to chew it.

He had only been in this world for three years, and his pace was not too fast, but he always had to slow down.

This was one of the reasons why he traveled the world.

The yellow dog was stunned, shaking its head in a human-like manner:

"I don't understand......"

It muttered, also slandering in its heart that the master didn't like others being mystical, but he was becoming more and more mystical himself, always saying things it couldn't understand.

"Hmm?"

A soft snort came:

"Slandering master in your heart, you deserve a beating!"

Bang~

An invisible air current seemed to transform into a large palm, slapping the yellow dog so hard that it cried out in grievance:

"Master, I am a pure doggy.......”

.......

As autumn approached, the heat in Qingdu City had not yet dissipated. Although the wide streets were not shoulder-to-shoulder, the flow of people was still quite dense.

As the Wanfa (Ten Thousand Dharma) Assembly approached, Qingdu City became more and more lively, with cultivators from all over the world, martial arts heroes who had received the news, and wealthy merchants gathering here.

Few of them were truly invited by the Tianyi (Heaven's Will) Sect.

But there were still many people who gathered around, some hoping to meet someone with discerning eyes at this assembly who would take them under their wing, and others who had prepared a lot of gold and silver to exchange for 'immortal pills' to prolong their lives.

For a time, Qingdu City was extremely lively, and many inns could be said to be fully booked, and the better the inn, the more fully booked it was.

Sa Wuling did not arrive late, but there were more people who had arrived earlier than him.

After searching seven or eight times, he only found a small inn, and the room was also allocated to him by others.

"Huff~"

Sa Wuling took off his cloak, revealing his shiny bald head, and with a flip of his hand, released the small white bone in his hand.

The white bone grew in the wind, transforming into an eight-foot-tall white bone demon.

Crack, crack~

Yan Xiake slightly moved his skeleton.

The white bone demon had abilities such as resizing, water and fire immunity, and diamond indestructibility, all of which were the methods of that An Zhenren. Although he could master them, he was still a little unaccustomed to them.

"Hero Yan, what do you want me to do?"

Sa Wuling was full of energy, and before Yan Xiake could speak, he took the initiative to ask.

Yan Xiake was a little surprised by the change in his attitude, but he didn't care too much, and directly opened his mouth:

"Someone from my former class is in charge of this imperial examination. Although he can't decide the ranking, adding a spot for you is not too big of a problem. After all, the current Daqing......"

He shook his head and didn't continue.

Sa Wuling already knew what he meant. Even the imperial examination could be casually stuffed with people, which showed how rotten Daqing was at its core.

"If you can't decide the ranking, how can I pass the metropolitan examination?"

Sa Wuling's heart skipped a beat:

"You wouldn't be.......”

"There are still seven or eight days before the metropolitan examination. Although it's a bit tight, it's not a problem to get a ranking even if I can't get the top spot."

Yan Xiake's skeleton 'creaked':

"Although Yan is dark-faced and ugly, he was once chosen as the top scorer."

Sa Wuling suddenly understood, and then became a little curious:

"Hero Yan, I don't mean to offend you, but it is said that Daqing's palace examination also has requirements for appearance. How can your appearance......"

Being ugly is fine for being an official, but it's a bit difficult to be chosen as the top scorer.

Not only Daqing, but it seems to be the same in all dynasties.

After all, to some extent, the title of top scorer is quite significant, and being too ugly is also an eyesore.

".......Good question."

If Yan Xiake had flesh on his body, his face must be twitching at this time.

Even so, his skeleton trembled once before slowly saying:

"Do you know what San Yuan (Triple Crown) is?"

"Could it be that you are a San Yuan?"

Sa Wuling raised an eyebrow, and the half eyebrow that was not properly glued drooped down.

Daqing has a vast territory, and it is impossible to gather scholars from all over the world in one place for examination.

Although the palace examination is held every nine years, it is not enough for scholars from all over the world to come and participate. After all, it takes two nine years for some large states to reach Qingdu City.

However, there are also many scholars with lofty ambitions.

They will travel thousands of miles to Qingdu to participate in the palace examination held every nine years.

Prefectural examination, metropolitan examination, palace examination.

Those who are first in all three major examinations are San Yuan!

This dark-skinned man originally looked like an old bear that had become refined. Originally, it was impossible for him to become the top scorer, but if that was the case, it was somewhat possible.

"No."

Yan Xiake shook his head and replied calmly:

"I am Liu Shou (Six Firsts)."

County examination, prefectural examination, academy examination, prefectural examination, metropolitan examination, palace examination, those who are first in all six examinations are Liu Shou!

He was originally tall and not particularly handsome, but when he was selected as the top scorer, none of the officials in the court objected, because he was already a five-time topper!

The achievement of Liu Jia was also a manifestation of the old emperor's achievements.

"So it's Yan Liu Shou!"

Sa Wuling was a little awed.

Civil and military top scorer, the talent of Liu Shou.

He was instead curious, how could such a person be reduced to being a constable?

Yan Xiake saw the doubts in his heart, but did not explain. There were too many internal matters that could not be explained in a short time.

He only asked Sa Wuling to take out the books he had asked him to buy one by one, and began to point out the essentials of the metropolitan examination.

The chief examiner of the metropolitan examination was his classmate, so he naturally knew his preferences. It was certainly impossible for Sa Wuling to pass the metropolitan examination with his foundation, but it was not a big problem to get a ranking by catering to his preferences.

In the following days, Sa Wuling gritted his teeth and began to write articles under Yan Xiake's guidance.

Cultivators have clear minds and learn things quickly. Although Sa Wuling could only be considered to know the characters, he made rapid progress under the guidance of Yan Xiake, a six-time topper.

It only took four or five days to go from writing gibberish at the beginning to being barely readable.

In this way, seven days quickly passed.

On this day, Sa Wuling, like a bride getting into a sedan, went to the examination hall with Yan Xiake's company.

The momentum of the Wanfa Assembly was huge, attracting countless martial arts heroes and wealthy merchants.

But it could not overshadow the brilliance of the metropolitan examination.

The Tianyi Sect aims at incense and has no ideas about the court's selection of officials or the appointment and removal of officials.

And for ordinary people, the imperial examination is undoubtedly the most significant way to get ahead, and the metropolitan examination is even more known as the 'Dragon Gate'.

Where people's hearts are, there will naturally be repercussions.

Three streets away from the examination hall, Yan Xiake had to stop.

He raised his eyebrows to look. Above the examination hall, which ordinary people could not see, the red light soared into the sky, and vaguely a dragon of literary fortune seemed to be entrenched in the clouds, overlooking the entire examination hall.

On the side of the dragon of qi and fortune, a faint sword intent rose.

The dragon of literary fortune, the Tianyi Sect Taoist.

One is to prevent demons and ghosts from mixing in, and the other is to monitor the fluctuations of Taoism.

With two levels of barriers here, Yan Xiake's white bone body, although ten times stronger than before, did not dare to approach easily.

"Carefully ponder, there should be no big mistake."

Yan Xiake whispered an explanation.

Sa Wuling was somewhat confident:

"It's just the last step, nothing can go wrong."

"Hopefully."

Yan Xiake had no better way.

He could only watch Sa Wuling go to the examination hall with his book box on his back. In the distance, the Dragon Gate had already opened, and a group of people filed in, undergoing heavy inspections before entering the examination hall.

Looking at the solemn examination hall where literary fortune gathered and had a thousand years of heritage, Sa Wuling felt a little nervous again, and couldn't help but touch his hand:

"Hand, if you encounter something you really don't know, you have to help me once......"