Chapter 131- The Final Two (2/2)

Was it to help the Imperial Court and Orthodoxy acquire new talent? To set an appropriate barrier for entrance to the Mausoleum of Books? Its purpose did indeed coincide with these aims, but its true purpose was to identify and allow for the nurturing of true geniuses amongst the younger generations for the struggle against the demon race.

The individual battle strength of the demon race was far too strong, humans and yao could only rely upon numbers to make up for the difference, from a thousand years ago when it had first started, they had understood that it was only through nurturing more peerless experts, could they achieve a lasting advantage on the battlefield.

Upon the long path of cultivation, the Ethereal Opening realm was the most important hurdle that had to be passed.

By passing through this boundary, one would become a focal point of the human world, yet age was also an important consideration; an individual aged 30 who was in the late stage of the Meditation Realm was not as important an asset to the human world as someone aged 13 who was in the early stage of the Meditation Realm.

This was something easy to understand; even if you were to be able to reach the realm of Star Fusion at the age of 800 years, you would already be near the end of your time and will have no hope of entering higher realms of cultivation, what impact can you have in the war against the demon race?

Therefore, similar to the Rankings within Heaven, Earth and Humanity that were disseminated by the Council of Divine Ordinance, the Grand Examination focused upon the latent capability and talent of examinees: their future.

Talent and latent capability can be said to represent the same thing, but with the latter being more subjective; brought together, what is displayed will be their capability.

The Martial Trial was the phase that allowed for one to most directly achieve their goal using their own method.

For geniuses such as Xu You Rong and Luo Luo, their bloodline talent was something inborn, it wasn’t something that could be scrutinised, but its strength could be demonstrated. Firstly, the strength of divine sense, this decided the distance of one’s Fated Star and the short-term progress of cultivation. Secondly, the quantity of True Essence, this was related to the diligence and ability of the cultivator to perceive Heaven and Earth.

The examinees, under the guidance of leading Officials, crossed the Garden of Dawn and arrived at the easternmost region of Li Palace, they didn’t see the youth who had handed in his paper the earliest, only seeing a thicket of evergreens that were about the size of two people in height that had been trimmed tremendously straight. Some of the examinees that were from the Capital knew of the origins of these copious green woods; finally understanding that this year’s Martial Trial was this topic, they inadvertently let out a silent wail within their hearts.

Let us switch from these examinees who were currently in the Martial Trial and their current predicament, and instead return to the Academic Exam that was still ongoing within the Hall of Zhao Wen.

Some students currently had brush tips grinding against their teeth, faces pale, akin to being on the verge of fainting; some students, under the cold Spring air, had faces full of sweat and steam rising from their bodies, giving the current scene an indescribable sense of tension.

This year’s questions were too difficult, encompassing too broad a knowledge area and requiring too deep an understanding, far surpassing those of previous years. No matter how much they racked their brains, there was a limit to their endurance; there were constantly examinees who had lost in the battle against the question setters, handing in their answer papers early, followed by the sounds of crying emanating from the Hall of Zhao Wen.

An increasing number of gazes from the examiners and clergy fell upon Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng, yet it seemed as if they were unaware of these gazes; they continued on their answers, their brushes unceasing in their motion.

Through the passage of time, the Hall of Zhao Wen came to have just over ten people remaining, most of the positions had already been cleared, making the hall ever more empty, deserted. For those remaining, they had already given up on answering the last few questions and were beginning to check their answers for mistakes; Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng continued with answering the questions.

The early Spring Sun, rose from the horizon to a zenith, the numbers remaining in the Academic Exam increasingly dwindled, even Tian Hai Sheng Xue and the four scholars from Scholartree Manor had already handed in their answer papers; Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng continued to silently work on their answers, they had already reach the final page of the questions.

The examiners and clergy within the hall could not sit still any longer; one-by-one they left their seats, holding their tea as they approached the exam area; fearing that they might disturb the two of them, they didn’t get too close, but remained at a distance. Observing this scene that would rarely appear within the Grand Examination, none of them let out a single sound, yet their expressions became increasingly spectacular.

For these past years, no one had managed to answer all the questions in their entirety for the Academic Exam. The reason for this was due to the question setters being elderly clergy from Li Palace that concentrated on studying classics of The Way.

These elderly clergy members might have had unremarkable cultivation, and little in the way of political power, but a lifetime under books had given them vast knowledge and it had become customary for them to set the hardest possible questions for the last few as a proof of their worth; these questions would have been difficult even for the question setters to answer unassisted, let alone the examinees.

Gou Han Shi was renowned for having read the Scripture of The Way in its entirety; Chen Chang Sheng currently also had the same accolade; perhaps this had incurred the wrath of these elderly clergy members of Li Palace, causing this year’s questions to be far more difficult than usual, especially the last few questions, which were difficult and abstruse to the extreme, akin to wanting to humiliate Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng.

The examiners and clergy were well aware of this, seeing that both Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng had managed to reach the last page and would be able to answer all the questions in their entirety, they were naturally astounded.

Tian Hai Sheng Xue had already handed in his answers, and was standing by the doorway of the hall, he turned around to glance at the two who were currently still answering the questions and quietly frowned. As the most promising successor to the Tian Hai family, he had never let up on the demands he had set for himself, yet those last few questions were far too difficult; he didn’t understand how Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng could continue answering, was the gap in knowledge really that great?

The scholars from Scholartree Manor also handed in their papers, logically speaking, they should have felt suitably proud for this, but seeing the remaining two, calmly holding their brushes, they couldn’t bring themselves to feel this. They were not surprised with Gou Han Shi being able to continue for this long, he was renowned for his learning; but they were certain that Chen Chang Sheng would be unable to answer the last few questions and that he was currently just refusing to give up due to conceit, this caused their faces to inadvertently reveal a sneer of contempt.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Silence within the Hall of Zhao Wen was interrupted by the scuffling of a sleeve against tables and chairs; the sounds of discussion faintly began to rise, unable to be supressed any longer; it emanated from the eastern side.

Gou Han Shi had finished his answers, standing himself.

At almost the same time, from the western side, came the sound of table and chairs being moved, the sound of papers being tidied.

Gazes turned towards that direction, only seeing Chen Chang Sheng clasp his paper to his chest, preparing to hand it in.

Silence once again descended upon the hall.

Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng were separated by a distance of 30 odd metres (40 odd yards), they quietly observed each other, before lightly bowing and exchanging formal greetings.

This was the first time they had caught sight of each other since the first peal of the bell, though of course, they both knew that the other was present.

The Academic Exam has ended, the silencing array outside of the hall was dispersed and sounds came in like waves.

The masses that had come to see the Grand Examination were confined to a faraway location, yet their clamour could still be heard at the examination grounds, it did not take much to imagine how lively it currently was.

The masses who were here to participate in merriment already knew of the details to the Academic Exam, they knew that Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng were the last to hand in their papers and that they had actually managed to answer all the questions. This caused unbridled elation amongst them and calls of joy to arise; two youths that had read the Scripture of The Way in its entirety, handing in their papers at the same time, the image of this was just too captivating.

Gou Han Shi was famed across the world and the favourite for taking first place in the academic phase, he was deeply respected by everyone, but alas, he was also from the Southern Domain.

Chen Chang Sheng had managed to offend all the youths in the Capital due to his betrothal with Xu You Rong and the Autumn Rain incident, but he was indisputably from the Zhou Empire, in a time such as this, he had become a representative for the citizens of the Capital, a source of pride for the people of Zhou, causing some of the spectators to actually cheer for him.

Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng couldn’t clearly hear what was being said by the masses; they received towels from the attending deacons, soaked them in the basins provided and wiped their faces and hands. After cleansing themselves they followed the officials and left the Hall of Zhao Wen, this was clearly a privilege exclusive to the two.

Reaching the evergreen tree in front of the divine avenue, Gou Han Shi turned towards Chen Chang Sheng and asked: “The Zhou though ancient, its fate is as such. What did you think of this question?”