Chapter 723 (2/2)

“Whatever. I’ll try to write down as much as I can,” Song Shuhang muttered to himself.

In the next moment, he grabbed the writing brush and dipped it in the ink inside the inkstone. Luckily, he had studied a little how to write Chinese characters with a writing brush when he was a child, and he still remembered how to use a writing brush.

After sighing again, he picked up the writing brush and wrote on the paper the first few verses of the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯…

Once he had finished writing the first few verses, he could only stare around blankly. He had no idea what came after!

What could he do?

Perhaps he should ask for help the nearby fellow daoists?

Thereupon, Song Shuhang said, “Fellow Daoist next door, do you know what comes after the verse ‘A gentleman must cultivate one’s moral character, and there is nothing better than sincerity and honesty’? Can you reply if you can hear my words?”

Well, the rules only stated that he had to write down from memory the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ within five minutes. They said nothing about not asking for help the nearby fellow daoists!

But, unfortunately for Song Shuhang, the walls that surrounded the various ‘examinees’ not only prevented them from seeing each other, they also prevented the sound from pa.s.sing through.

Although the sound of the ink sticks getting ground and that of the writing brushes pa.s.sed through them, words were apparently blocked. The nearby scholars were unable to hear his voice and lend him a hand.

Then, just like this, five minutes pa.s.sed quickly.

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“Rumble, rumble, rumble~”

The walls surrounding the ‘examinees’ lowered and disappeared into the ground.

Amidst the ten examinees, the nine scholars had a confident expression on their faces, and the white papers in front of them were full of characters.

After grinding the ink, the scholarly disciples had finished writing down the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ in less than one minute.

Song Shuhang gazed at the position adjacent to his—sitting there was True Monarch Eternal Fire’s only son, ‘Saber Wielding Scholar’ Su Wenqu.

Song Shuhang subconsciously glanced at the paper with the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ in front of Su Wenqu.

In the next moment, he was dumbfounded!

Firstly, Su Wenqu’s paper was full of characters… secondly, what he used to write were those ‘ancient characters’!

Song Shuhang then looked at his own paper… filled with simplified Chinese characters after he translated the content.

s.h.i.+et!

He unexpectedly had to use those ancient characters to write the text down?

From the looks of it, this test was tailor-made for ‘scholars’. As such, why had someone completely unrelated like him been dragged to this place, getting forced to take this test together with them?!

Was it possible that it was because of the l.u.s.trous scholar?

❄️❄️❄️

After noticing Song Shuhang’s gaze, Su Wenqu turned his head around and looked at him. Actually, he had been paying attention to Song Shuhang since the very beginning. After all, amidst the ten examinees, only Shuhang wasn’t a scholar.

Next, he glanced at the content of Song Shuhang’s paper. Shuhang had used simplified Chinese characters to write down the content of the text, and he had written only the first few verses…

Su Wenqu’s face couldn’t help but twitch.

“Fellow Daoist, can I ask you something? What happens if you fail this test?” Song Shuhang was somewhat worried. He wouldn’t get punished, right?

“Fellow Daoist, I’m sorry, but it’s also my first time coming to this strange place,” Su Wenqu said, somewhat embarra.s.sed.

But right at this time, that dignified voice echoed again. “All those that successfully write down from memory the text will be able to leave this place, and they will obtain the ‘Heaven and Earth Wors.h.i.+pping Brush’, a scholarly treasure of the Third Stage rank. Those that failed the test will make a fresh start in twenty breaths and will have to write down the text again. The time limit is still five minutes.”

Song Shuhang: ?

F*ck, is this an infinite make-up test s.p.a.ce?

He had no idea how to write the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ correctly. Even if he was given a hundred opportunities, he would be unable to write down the entire ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ using ancient characters!

How could he get out of here?

“Fellow Daoist, I’ll take my leave first in that case. I wish you to swiftly finish your test,” Su Wenqu said in a soft voice. At the same time, he spread out in front of Song Shuhang his copy of the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯.

He had only twenty breaths of time. Hopefully, this unfamiliar fellow daoist would be able to memorize the content of the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ within this period of time and successfully write it down from memory.

“Thank you.” Song Shuhang stared with rapt attention at the content of Su Wenqu’s ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯, trying to memorize everything he could.

However, the text was written using ancient characters, and the way these characters were written was completely different from simplified Chinese characters. Moreover, the content of the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯ that Su Wenqu wrote down didn’t have the automatic translation feature.

Song Shuhang had a lot of trouble remembering everything.

Now, he could only rely on the powerful memory cultivators had and firmly keep in mind the shape of each one of those ancient characters.

Twenty breaths pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble~” The walls rose from the ground and surrounded Song Shuhang once again.

The test had started again.

And yet, Song Shuhang remembered less than one-third of the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯…

It was over.

At this time, Song Shuhang remembered once again the fear of taking a test…