Choose the sky

Reach for the stars

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.

In today's world, practice is mainly based on the authentic Taoism of the state religion, and the main source of true energy is the sky full of stars—the word Guangming pays attention to is the word "brightness", and it is the starlight that illuminates the night sky—Break the seat and shine into the seclusion , and then gather the stars, relying on the energy of thousands of stars sprinkled on the world, to transform the body and soul of mortals. This is the ultimate goal of practice. From this, one can imagine the status of the word "star" in the practice world. All sects in various countries have stargazing towers, and there are countless stargazing towers in Dachuan, but it is rare to see names like Lanxingduoxing, because it would seem a little disrespectful to the stars. But the second academy on Chen Changsheng's list was surprisingly called Star Reaching Academy. Reaching for the Stars——This academy took such an aggressive name, but the national religion didn't have any objections. This matter itself is very aggressive. In the whole world, only this academy dared to use this name, and was qualified to use it. Because this academy is directly under the military of the Great Zhou, it has cultivated countless brave and resolute young people over the years, and the number of generals who have emerged is as numerous as stars. In the shocking war with the demons many years ago, the early days of mankind were on the verge of extinction. From the dean to the ordinary students of the Star Reaching Academy, they rushed to the battlefield one after another, and nine out of ten people died in the battle. The solitude is like a grave. Because of this, the Academy of Reaching the Stars has gained respect that no one can match in the human world, and it also has an unimaginable aura. For such an academy, let alone Reaching for the Stars, even if it wanted to use Fenxing as its name, who would dare to raise an opinion? Everyone in the world is well aware of the bloody, brutal and glorious history of Star Reaching Academy, and Chen Changsheng is no exception. Master listed the Star Reaching Academy as the second place on the list, but in fact, in his mind, the Star Reaching Academy was ranked first, so although he was a little depressed not being admitted to the Tiandao Academy, he didn't care too much about it. He believed that Zhaixing Academy would definitely not be as favoritism as Tiandao Academy, at least it would not go too far. With that in mind, he came to the star-struck Academy and began preparing for the second exam. The Academy of Reaching the Stars is really different from the Academy of Heavenly Dao. Although there are crowds of people outside the courtyard gate, it is not known whether it is because of the eagle-like gazes of the heavily armed elite soldiers at the gate of the courtyard, or because of the martyred generals written all over the gate of the academy. The stone tablet of the name was too depressing, and the venue was quiet without any noise. After filling out a simple registration form and receiving their number plates, under the leadership of several military officers, more than 600 teenagers to be tested walked into the gate of the courtyard. Similar to the assessment of the Heavenly Dao Academy, the Academy of Reaching the Stars also prepared an early exam, the purpose of which was to weed out those ordinary teenagers who failed to wash their marrows in advance, so as to reduce the pressure on the subsequent formal admissions exams, but the Academy of Reaching the Stars had military personnel after all. Due to the nature of the square, the method is much simpler and more direct than that of Tiandaoyuan - there is no induction stone here, only a stone plate. The stone disc was huge, much like a millstone—in fact, it was originally a millstone temporarily removed from the stone mill outside the back kitchen of the Academy of Reaching the Stars, and it weighed three hundred catties. Candidates who can lift this millstone and walk up the 30 stone steps, even if they have passed the first test, are eligible to take part in the formal admissions examination.

The weight of three hundred catties, unless the marrow is washed successfully and the muscles and bones are loose, it is difficult for ordinary people to lift it, let alone such a long stone step. Many teenagers who failed to cleanse their marrow looked at the millstone, and their faces immediately changed color. Many of them retreated dejectedly. Arrived, shook his head again and again, unwilling but helplessly gave up. Of course, there are also some ordinary teenagers bravely relying on their original strength to try to challenge, but none of them succeed. It is not uncommon to hold up this millstone without washing the marrow. It is actually not uncommon in the admissions examination of the Star Reaching Academy. With his natural power, he threw the millstone directly to the lake with ease... But after all, this is not a very common thing. The instructor felt a little regretful, looked at the time of day, and decided to speed up, let the candidates declare their own level, and then let the candidates who have successfully washed the marrow take the test first, and then let the ordinary teenagers try. It's a pity that until the end of the day, there is still no ordinary teenager who can perform miracles. Just when people felt bored and many onlookers were about to leave, a burly young man walked into the arena with a number plate, lifted the millstone with great ease, kicked it, and connected it to the thirty-level stone. He was out of breath, blushing, and even carried the millstone back to its original place! There was an uproar. The young man raised his hand to signal to the surroundings, and arrogantly walked up the stone steps again, walking towards the depths of the academy. What's interesting is that he was born too simple and honest, no matter how he tried to show pride, in the eyes of the onlookers, he was just cute, without any ridicule, only a good-natured laugh. After the burly boy left, many people began to speculate about his origin, until someone suddenly mentioned that the cyan pattern that was faintly visible on the boy's ankle before, everyone fell silent in astonishment, because... that means that the boy is very likely to have a monster. family blood, and may even come from the Western Demon Realm! For hundreds of years, because the human race and the monster race have jointly resisted the demon race, although the relationship is not harmonious, it can be regarded as peaceful. Some demon nobles who can change form even live in the human world, and there must be some in the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty——but after all, human monsters have different paths, and the human world, whether official or private, doesn't mention it much. It's fine if the monsters don't mess around. The burly young man who was suspected to be from the Yaozu successfully lifted the millstone, as if he had opened a door. Then, two Orion youths from Dalaoling, also relying on their own original strength, He lifted the millstone and walked up the stone steps. Although it looked very hard, he still won rounds of applause. The officer who was doing statistics with a pen at the top of the stone steps nodded slightly, and seemed very satisfied with this year's results. Time passed, and finally it was Chen Changsheng's turn. The crowd of onlookers looked at this young man with a childish face, who kindly helped him a few times, and then stopped paying attention. Because this boy is obviously still young and not fully developed, not to mention as tall and burly as that monster boy, even the two Orion boys are far inferior in stamina, no matter how you look at it, it is impossible to lift such a heavy millstone. In Tiandao Academy, Chen Changsheng relied on his familiarity with the rules and regulations of the academy to directly skip the step of washing the marrow and selecting. At this time in the Academy of Reaching the Stars, he may still think of other methods, but I don't know if he was influenced by the academy. Influenced by the chilling but passionate atmosphere, or just wanting to try, he didn't do anything. He walked to the millstone and squatted down slowly, holding both sides of the millstone firmly with both hands, took five slow and deep breaths, and poured all the energy in his body between the waist, abdomen and arms, and let out a low hum. Sudden effort! There was a sudden silence in front of the slanting stone steps, and those who were chatting about something suddenly forgot to answer, and opened their mouths wide to look into the arena. The millstone rose slowly, and was finally lifted to his chest by Chen Changsheng, no more, no less, just one inch over the assessment standard! His face was a little red, but his expression was still calm, and there was no panic or tension in his eyes. boom! There was warm applause in the arena, and people kept cheering for the boy, cheering rhythmically, trying to help him move his feet.

Chen Changsheng took a step forward, but after just one step, his knees trembled a little. It was one thing to lift the millstone, quite another to carry such a heavy millstone up the stone steps. His breath became a little messy, and his face became more and more red. He didn't make any sound, and it could be seen from his slightly protruding cheeks that he was gritting his teeth hard. He walked up the stone steps step by step. .........Chen Changsheng did not succeed in washing the marrow. His muscles, bones and muscles are logically only as strong as that of an ordinary boy. Even, because of his childhood illness, he should be weaker than an ordinary boy. But precisely because of his illness, which was still difficult to treat, the three people in the ruined temple outside Xining Town, including himself, cared most about his body. As soon as he was sensible, he began to be forced to recite the three thousand Taoism in the ruined temple. At the same time, the somewhat godlike Taoist master dug up countless herbs and boiled it into a medicinal soup for him to take a bath. Keep helping him to get over his body. For more than ten years, the people he is most familiar with are the three people in the temple, and the smells he is most familiar with are the smell of books, medicine and sticks. After a long period of treatment and torture, his illness was not cured, and he could not become as gifted as a monster boy, but he was supposed to be extremely weak, but now his body is not weaker than ordinary people, and even worse. Better, although this is only superficially healthy and strong, it also makes him very happy. A young man who has been ill since he was a child and has been shrouded in darkness since he was ten years old will care more about physical matters than others, and he will care about those details very much. Therefore, today at the Academy of Reaching the Stars, he walked silently. Before grinding, he only wanted to pass this test with his own strength. He wanted to lift that heavy millstone, prove something to himself, and at the same time express his gratitude to his master and brothers. …… One step, two steps, three steps, four steps. Chen Changsheng's breathing became heavier and heavier, and his face became more and more ugly. His extremely tight black hair was already wet with sweat, but his eyes were still calm and sure. The cheers and cheers on both sides of the stone steps have stopped. Everyone looked at the young man with his head bowed and struggling to walk tremblingly on the stone steps. They were very worried and admired. Several times the young man seemed to be about to fall, but he didn't know where it came from. His strength actually supported him to persevere! The instructor looked at Chen Changsheng on the stone steps, with an expression of appreciation in his eyes. ...... Seven steps, eight steps, nine steps. Chen Changsheng's pace became slower and slower. The admiration in the instructor's eyes is getting stronger and stronger. He was very surprised at the level shown by this young man—as a soldier, what he cares about is the perseverance and courage shown by Chen Changsheng—he has decided that even if Chen Changsheng fails to lift the millstone to the stone steps, he will Let him pass this initial test. As for whether this will affect the reputation of the academy and the Dazhou military... The instructor looked at the nervous people, feeling a little relieved, and thought to himself that it shouldn't be. It seemed that most people thought the same as him. Children who work hard and earnestly deserve special rewards. …… Thinking about these things, the instructor was a little distracted and didn’t keep looking at the stone steps. Until a certain moment, he woke up and suddenly noticed a sudden change in the expressions on people’s faces. He turned his head and saw that there was another person beside him.

It was a drenched, exhausted teenager. The instructor thought he didn't have to be embarrassed, smiled and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. Chen Changsheng walked up the stone steps. The heavy millstone lay beneath his feet. He succeeded.