Choose the sky

Happy to open the book

Like every morning for the past fourteen years, Chen Changsheng woke up at five o'clock, opened his eyes immediately, spent five breaths of meditation, turned over, put on his overshoes, made the bed and folded the quilt, and began to wash. In the front hall of the inn, I ate a bowl of duck congee and four hot steamed meat buns from the first cage. After returning to the guest room, I rinsed my mouth again with last night’s old tea, adjusted my clothes in front of the bronze mirror, and then walked to the small courtyard. ——Now he is not in the small temple in Xining Town, and he does not need to chop firewood and carry water. He closes his eyes and begins to meditate in front of the early morning mist and the distant sky light. When you feel refreshed, you have completed your homework. Walk from the side door to the gradually bustling streets of Kyoto, merge into the crowd very unremarkably, and start your day's life. He had a list in his hand with the names of several colleges in Kyoto, and after asking Fangshi steward for the address of the first college, he quickened his pace. He didn't notice that there was a carriage following him behind him, and he didn't notice that the horse had unicorn blood

Not to mention the somewhat concealed blood phoenix logo on the shaft. Countless years ago, the heavenly book came to the world, the wisdom of the people was opened, and countless schools of mathematics were developed, but all changes remained the same, and their origins were all included in Taoist classics, agriculture, business and science, and the criteria for judging these , now recognized as the most authoritative, is the Great Zhou Dynasty's annual Great Court Examination. The Great Court Examination was created by Emperor Taizu of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Whether you enter the court as an official, join the army as a general, or enter the state religion as a priest, the results of the Great Court Examination are the most important criteria. The most important thing is that the Emperor Taizu made a decree that only those who entered the top three in the Great Court Examination are eligible to enter the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books to view the Books of Heaven—because of this regulation, many powerful people in the world will come to Kyoto at the beginning of each year—the first time that year. During a grand imperial examination, Emperor Taizu stood on the city wall, watching the geniuses from various sects in the mainland rush in like crucian carp, smiled and said a very famous sentence, which established the status of the grand imperial examination. The southern countries, especially the Changshengzong and other sects outside the world, are naturally extremely dissatisfied with this rule. In their view, although the Mausoleum of the Book of Heaven is located in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Heaven is a divine stone descended into the world, and of course it is the common wealth of the whole continent. For this reason, the South has boycotted the Great Court Test several times, and the relationship between the two sides has become extremely tense. It's just that the Tianshu Mausoleum is too important to practitioners. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty is strong, it has no way to risk the world's disgrace and monopolize it. The southern forces have no way to resist the temptation to enter the Tianshu Mausoleum to view the stele. Even after the demons are repelled During the years when the two sides drifted apart, the South publicly resisted, and there were still many powerful southern sects who participated in the Great Court Examination in their own names. After the supreme sage came to power, the Great Zhou Dynasty finally reached an agreement with the southern powers. The sects of the southern countries can send missions to participate in the Great Zhou Dynasty's Great Court Examination. The officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty were rewarded with honors, while the rest were treated equally. Furthermore, the Dachao Trial had a brand new name in this new agreement. For countless years, the Great Court Examination has selected countless strong men. It is said that the most powerful men on the mainland have all had the experience of coming to the capital of the Zhou Dynasty to participate in the Great Court Examination. The more well-known fact is: the contemporary state religion Pope, the Southern Saint The elders of Nvfeng used to be the best in the imperial examination, not to mention some geniuses of the Western Monster Race once incarnated as humans to participate in the imperial examination. The acting Pope saw through Xingzang, and directly suppressed it into green smoke with great magic. That was a story many years ago. Now people are more concerned about next year's imperial examination, whether Qiushan Jun of the Changshengzong will participate, how many of the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom will be able to enter the first class, and whether Xu Yourong will make a breakthrough ahead of time, leave the Saintess Peak and return to Kyoto, who In the wilderness of the demons, will the powerful genius who is known for his coldness and mystery appear in front of the world for the first time, or will he continue to chase each other bloodily with the powerful demons? Apart from these, the people in Kyoto are most concerned about which talents will appear in the Kyoto Academy. Yes, there are many academies in Kyoto. The Holy Empress is in power, the government is strict, the officials are clear, and the people's lives are getting better. In the past few decades, Haiyan and Heqing have been called prosperous times. All kinds of academies have sprung up like mushrooms after the spring rain. Even a few years ago, there were many private academies specially aimed at the imperial examinations and secretly taught by the strong state religion. Of course, the most famous and powerful academies are the ones with the longest history, and two of them have a history even longer than that of the Great Zhou Dynasty. There were six academies on Chen Changsheng's list, and the Tiandao Academy he went to at this time ranked first. In fact, in the entire continent, Tiandaoyuan is qualified to be ranked in the top position - in the past two hundred years, the students of Tiandaoyuan have won the first place 24 times in the grand imperial examination. The students are all talented without exception. This academy has sent many important priests to the state religion, and has dedicated countless spiritual geniuses to various sects. The most important thing is that the contemporary pope of the state religion was once a student of this academy . Tiandaoyuan has the best score in the history of the Great Court Examination, and naturally it is also the most difficult to enter, but the number of applicants is still the largest. Chen Changsheng walked to the entrance of Tiandaoyuan, looked at the majestic and majestic black jade courtyard gate, and looked at the name of the courtyard inscribed by Emperor Taizu himself. Dispelled by the bustling environment of the courtyard like a vegetable market and the pungent smell of sweat and ink, he lowered his head subconsciously. When he left Xining, he had already calculated the time correctly. When he arrived in Kyoto, it was the spring enrollment date of the various colleges. He could also imagine that the number of applicants for the Tiandao Academy would inevitably be extremely large, but he did not expect that the number would be so terrifying. . Especially the group of young people at the gate of the courtyard who looked tired, stood crookedly, and pointed at the crowd, which made him a little uncomfortable. The clothes worn by those youths were similar in style, generally black, with a gold belt around their waists, which should be the uniforms of the Heavenly Dao Academy. Chen Changsheng knew that these people should be old-year students who failed the imperial examination at the beginning of the year.

Ping, for the freshmen who came to apply for the Tiandao Academy today, he would definitely not have a good face. Hearing those harsh words and seeing the mockery in the eyes of those young people, he lowered his head subconsciously. He bowed his head not because he was afraid of anything, but because he had some mild cleanliness, no matter physical or psychological, so he didn't want to smell the sweat smell from the crowd, and he didn't want to hear those words. "Look at that i***t, who looks like a pig, with a few pockmarks on his face, but still wants to stick a fan in his neck, thinking he is a moulting son? Don't even think about it, the thousand layers of meat on the girl's neck I almost broke my fan!" "That's right, seeing his sloppy footsteps, he has only just washed his marrow within two months at most, and he is afraid that his muscles and bones have not been beaten, yet he dares to apply for my Heavenly Dao Academy? He thinks Where are we here? Orthodox Academy? Haha... I don't understand what these idiots are thinking, do they think that they can understand Daozang with their weak and pitiful spiritual consciousness?" Don’t you dare to say this? You sympathize with that i***t for a while, but I sympathize with his parents. Humiliation for a while is the next best thing. The money spent before can’t be recovered. If I were that i***t Fatty’s parents, why don’t you use the money to go to the teaching altar to ask for some pills to eat, lose some fat, and at least marry a wife.” “So what if you marry a wife? Even Hanmei Dan will only take care of himself. Eight sons and daughters will be fat and stupid like him. Is it a good thing to raise a litter of pigs?" The students laughed and talked about the applicants without any scruples. Controlling the volume, maybe even deliberately trying to make the person being discussed listen, is extremely hateful. The fat boy who was being discussed was blushing, but he didn't dare to resist at all, because those students were telling the truth, he had just washed his marrow more than ten days ago, and it was basically impossible for him to be admitted to the Heavenly Dao Academy. The most important thing is that even if he is lucky enough to enter the academy, he cannot offend these seniors. Chen Changsheng walked through the crowd, listening to those obscenities, raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking that if he was the one being talked about, he wondered if he could hold back. Fortunately, he lowered his head, and his breath was too ordinary, so inconspicuous in the crowd, it was difficult to be noticed, so he was lucky to avoid being ridiculed, passed through the gate of Moyu courtyard smoothly, and left go in. Because he was thinking about these things and lowered his head, he didn't notice that there were two huge stone walls on both sides of the stone path leading to the entrance of Tiandaoyuan, with strange flowers and gods carved on them, and hundreds of names densely written in the middle , it seems to be some kind of list, many eyes fall on those names, with enthusiasm and admiration. The family servants who came with the freshmen who applied for the examination were not allowed to enter the Tiandao Temple, so the environment suddenly became quieter after entering the courtyard. Chen Changsheng took out a clean white handkerchief from his sleeve, wiped off the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and exhaled, feeling a little more relaxed. Follow the student in front to the back of the long queue. There are a lot of people applying for the Tiandao Temple, and the queue is very long. It looks like the legendary Baizhang Qi snake in the Western Demon Realm. It extends from the distant building to the grassland, and even passes a clear stream in the middle. The freshmen who applied for the exam were all standing on the wooden bridge on the river, blown by the cold wind in early spring, their faces turned livid. Soon, some people came out of that building. They were all teenagers and girls. Their faces were as green as their companions on the bridge. They were very ugly. Since they were not frozen, it must be that the exam was not going well. The people who were still waiting in line saw their distraught appearance and suddenly became nervous, and they were no longer in the mood to chat. Chen Changsheng didn't know anyone, so naturally he didn't chat. He looked at the building in the distance, and seemed a little curious. He only cared about the entrance examination of Tiandaoyuan now, whether it was the same method as mentioned in the book, and why did those who failed pass so quickly? Lost? Or is it true that the exams at the Heavenly Dao Academy have changed? The crowd kept moving forward, crossing the grass and the river, before approaching the building, they came under a row of bamboo sheds. Looking at the stern-faced Tiandaoyuan teacher behind the stone table, and at the black volcanic block on the table, Chen Changsheng recognized what it was, and remembered an old year's pile he had seen in the Dao scroll. Litigation, slightly startled.

Chen Changsheng stopped and looked back at the teacher, a little puzzled. Then he remembered the people he had seen before, and he understood where the other party's anger came from. They all retreated dejectedly, the teacher thought he should do the same, but he continued to move forward on his own, thinking that this made the other party a little unhappy. He didn't want to waste time on unnecessary quarrels and misunderstandings, he bowed seriously to the teacher who was getting up, and explained directly: "Teacher, I am not making trouble." The teacher was about to scold him for being here. Waiting for the intention of making trouble in the solemn examination room, suddenly hearing him say this sentence first, he couldn't help but hesitate, he was a little choked up, coughed twice, and shouted: "Then you should retreat quickly!" The young people who were waiting for the test behind Chen Changsheng were anxious and impatient. Seeing him refusing to leave at this time, they thought he was playing a scoundrel, and were very angry. Crazy. Chen Changsheng listened to those words and laughter, but his expression didn't change at all. He really didn't look like a fourteen-year-old boy, and he was so calm that he was a little at a loss. He looked at the teacher, bowed again very politely, and said in an orderly manner: "I have never practiced, but I can still apply for the entrance examination of Tiandaoyuan." The teacher was stunned, not knowing what the young man wanted to say. Even if the marrow failed, how can I continue to take the exam? Where have there been exceptions over the years? Even if there is, why is it your turn? Chen Changsheng said: "According to the Remarks of Chapter 17, Fourth Law, and Article 8 of the Tiandaoyuan's regulations, the examination paper for admission is the only criterion. Eleven years ago, there was a case from the Qing Officials Department." Looking at him plainly The teacher subconsciously prepared to reprimand him, not because he disliked the poor and loved the rich, but because he didn't believe it at all. How could this young man, who obviously came from a remote village, know more about Tiandaoyuan than himself who had been recruiting the first pass for several years? the rules of the school? What remark item... Is there this in the school rules? Why don't I have any impression? However, just when he was about to send someone to take the young man away, he suddenly heard the word "clearing officials", and he couldn't help being startled, and retracted what he was about to say. The Cleaning Department was originally a seemingly inconspicuous institution under the official department of the Great Zhou Dynasty. As the Holy Empress came to power, the Cleaning Department, run by Zhou Tong, a famous cruel official who was favored by her old man, suddenly became different. How many veterans loyal to the royal family will die inexplicably in those few ordinary-looking buildings. Gradually, this name frightened all the officials and dignitaries of the Zhou Dynasty. Although Tiandaoyuan is not under the jurisdiction of the Cleaning Department, it is unavoidable to be a little apprehensive. What makes this teacher a little disturbed is that in order to wash away the bad name, the Cleaning Department pays the most attention to the reputation among the people. "Truth", if there is really the one mentioned by the young man in the rules of the Tiandao Academy, then I'm afraid there will be trouble... Seeing Chen Changsheng's calm expression, the teacher suddenly felt a little unconfident, hesitated for a while, Frowning and yelling at the back of the team, he turned around and left without knowing where he went. The crowd's scolding and ridicule gradually subsided and turned into whispers. I don't know what happened.

After a while, the teacher came back, looking at Chen Changsheng with complicated eyes. Chen Changsheng knew that the other party should have checked the rules of the court earlier, and he saw the note he had mentioned - he had been studying in the temple since he was a child, and the three thousand volumes of the Dao were all in his mind, and countless classics and articles were memorized backwards. I have read the rules and regulations and etiquette details of various countries many times, so naturally I can't remember them wrong. "Even if you continue the exam, you won't have any chance, so why waste your time?" The teacher looked at Chen Changsheng expressionlessly and said, with a serious expression on his face. Chen Changsheng said: "Students still want to try." The teacher said: "If you haven't succeeded in washing the marrow, how can you do those questions? And you will be sad, so are you sure you want to take the test?" This sentence is actually true, washing the marrow After purifying the mind, the biggest difference between him and ordinary people is the strength of the body and the strength of the mind. This is an innate encounter and cannot be changed by manpower. It is impossible to solve those difficult problems without washing the marrow, and it is even very possible. Seriously injured—so the small table in the bamboo shed and the black induction stone on the table became a must-pass in the assessment. As long as the black stone cannot be brightened, it will be eliminated. This has become a practice or common sense, so before No loser raised any objections until Chen Changsheng, an outlier, appeared. Chen Changsheng saluted and said: "Students are sure to take the exam." The teacher's face was a little ugly, thinking that since you just came across the rules and regulations by chance, you will waste your own time and everyone's time, Then go as you please, if you really become an i***t after your spiritual consciousness is injured, you will have to blame yourself. "Then you go." Chen Changsheng saluted again, without further words, walked out of the bamboo shed, and walked towards the building deep in the Heavenly Dao Temple. The teacher said nothing more, looked at the remaining students, and said with a frosty complexion, "Next."......Failed to pass the induction stone assessment, but continued to take the entrance examination of Tiandao Academy. For more than ten years, Chen Changsheng was the first person. Those teenagers who watched him leave couldn't understand what happened, and those who knew some inside information didn't take it seriously--after all, taking advantage of loopholes is just taking advantage of loopholes, failing to wash the marrow, regardless of memory or analysis. Calculation skills are only average, and it is impossible to solve the admission test questions of Tiandaoyuan. Chen Changsheng's behavior is at best an interesting episode. That building is the No. A building of Tiandaoyuan. Looking at Chen Changsheng who walked into the building, many people didn't take it seriously. However, Tang Thirty-six, a young man in green who had successfully entered Tiandaoyuan after finishing the assessment ahead of schedule, was deeply moved. He glanced at Chen Changsheng twice. He also didn't think Chen Changsheng could pass the examination, but he admired the seriousness and even stubbornness of the other party, because it easily reminded him of himself. At this moment, the vice president of Tiandao Academy appeared beside him, and said with a smile: "Do you think that boy has a chance? I don't think so. Who was the last person admitted to Tiandao Academy as an ordinary person? That person is Wang Zhice , and this continent, there has been no one like Wang Zhice for hundreds of years." Wang Zhice was a legendary figure in this continent. Ordinary people who have never practiced. After graduating from Tiandaoyuan, he has been doing ordinary clerical work in the imperial court until he was forty years old. Suddenly, there was a loud cry at night in Kyoto. He became the deputy commander of the human coalition and played a decisive role in the battle to defeat the demons. To this day, his portrait is still hanging in the Lingyan Attic. The world has not seen Wang Zhice for a long time. Tang Thirty-Six said: "I don't think he can pass the examination, and I don't think he is the next Wang Zhice, but I think that if you want to become such a great person as Wang Zhice, you must at least be like the young man just now. The spirit of failure, and living rigorously enough——I never thought that geniuses are so great, and the truly scariest people are those who treat themselves the hardest." The deputy dean shook his head and said: "Wang Zhice was studying in ethnology, Eating frozen porridge in the world of ice and snow without letting go of the book, how much can the boy learn?"

Tang Thirty-Six said: "At least that young man is much better than other mediocre people." The vice president took a look at him and said, "It really is Tang Tang. He is so different in his way of seeing things and people." Tang Sanshiliu said. Thirty-Six frowned slightly, and said, "Please call me Tang Thirty-Six." The vice-principal laughed and said, "If you enter my Heavenly Dao Academy, your name will change again if you think about it." Tang Thirty-Six said seriously "That's inevitable." The vice president glanced at the building, feeling the faint fragrance overflowing from the windows, and asked, "Do you want to continue waiting?" Tang Thirty-Six said, "Yes. "The vice president asked: "Why?" Tang Thirty-Six said: "Although it is impossible for him to pass, I really want to know how many points he can get." The test paper on the case is extremely thick, like a seat. The hills are average. Chen Changsheng didn't know the specific content of the test paper, so he was inevitably a little nervous--as we all know, the reason why it is extremely difficult to get into the Tiandao Academy is because the admission test questions cover everything, from the true meaning of Taoism to the first debate of the heavenly scriptures to the art of war, and even Exam questions on crops often come up. Even in the perfect state of marrow washing, it is very difficult to answer all the test questions before the incense is burned, let alone he is just an ordinary person. He sat in front of the desk, closed his eyes and meditated for five breaths, then opened them, reached out and opened the first page of the test paper. When doing this movement, his emotions were a bit complicated, it was curiosity about the unknown and uneasiness from nowhere, but there was still a little expectation for unknown reasons. His fingers froze suddenly, and a trace of doubt flashed in his bright mirror-like eyes. It is said that the test questions in Tiandaoyuan are difficult. If you want to compare the essence of the scriptures, you often look for the most obscure chapters in the most remote places, but why... the first test question on the first page looks so familiar to you? Cen Shenzi and the Seventh Pope Debate on the True Meaning of the Thirty-one Candidates? When did you see it yourself? It seems to be when he was three years old... It was an inconspicuous short passage in the Huainan Annotation of the South China Classic, but he confirmed that he had read it, recited it, and read it and recited it again when he was fifth and eleventh. . More than familiar, he is already familiar with these. Chen Changsheng was a little puzzled, but he was still a teenager after all, and he was more pleasantly surprised. He stopped thinking about it, picked up the ink pen, and began to write the chapters and fragments in his mind, the insights expressed by the former sages on the paper. After copying it, he turned to the second page. Not surprisingly, what he saw was the familiar chapter again... The Dao is all-encompassing, and the entrance examination questions of Tiandaoyuan are almost all contained in three thousand volumes. He can memorize all three thousand volumes backwards. How can such an exam be so hard to defeat him?