Choose the sky

Heavenly Temple

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.

Occasionally, however, I would think of the word Master said to that terrifying creature by the stream many years ago. It took Yu Ren and Chen Changsheng a long time to finally master the pronunciation of the 1,601 characters, but they still couldn't understand the meaning. They couldn't get an answer even when they asked the middle-aged Taoist. It took a whole year on the volume, and then they started to read the last volume as before, until they could memorize it. When they thought they had finally got rid of the life of reciting Taoist scriptures, the middle-aged Taoist asked them to read it a second time, and the helpless children were forced to repeat it again, or it was because of the repetition that they read the Taoist scriptures this time. On the contrary, I feel a lot of hard work, and even feel a little miserable. It was at this time that they began to be puzzled, why did the master want the two of them to read these Taoism scriptures? Why not teach yourself to practice? It is clearly written in the Daoist scriptures that Taoists should practice Taoism and pursue longevity. At that time, Yu Ren was ten years old, and Chen Changsheng was six and a half years old. It was also in the fall of this year that a white crane came through the clouds, bringing greetings from an old friend from afar, and a silk letter with the date of birth written on it and a letter of birth. A marriage letter and a token——A certain high-ranking official who was rescued by a middle-aged Taoist wants to fulfill the promise of the year. The middle-aged Taoist looked at the marriage letter and smiled without saying a word, then looked at the two disciples. The others waved their hands, pointed at their blind eyes, and refused with a smile. Chen Changsheng looked bewildered and didn't understand what this meant, so he accepted the marriage letter in a daze, and he had a fiancée ever since. In the next few years, every New Year's day, the white crane would break through the clouds and arrive as expected, bringing greetings from the nobleman in the capital, and some interesting little gifts for Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng gradually became aware of what a marriage contract meant. Every night, by the starlight, he looked at the marriage letter lying quietly in the drawer. The fiancée, some quiet joy, some shy, more bewildered. In his peaceful study life, an accident happened when Chen Changsheng was ten years old. One night, after he recited the 1,601 characters in the last volume of Daozang for the 72nd time, he suddenly felt his consciousness drift away from his body and began to float in the woods in the green hills, and he couldn't fall asleep. , the body began to exude a strange fragrance. Not floral, not leafy, not powdery. It is light, but it lingers under the night wind for a long time; it is thick, and it floats into the nose

But it is so ethereal, unlike the fragrance that can appear in the world, it is elusive and extremely attractive. Yu Ren was the first to discover Chen Changsheng's condition. He smelled the strange fragrance, and his expression became extremely serious. In the slightly dark green hill covered by leaves, there are lions roaring and tigers roaring, cranes dancing and leaping dragons, and thunderous frogs that should only appear on summer nights. In the depths of clouds and mists that no one dares to enter in the east of the green hills, a huge shadow appears faintly. Under the gaze of countless beings greedy and awed, Chen Changsheng exuded a strange fragrance. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. He didn't know when he would wake up. Yu Ren was fanning desperately beside the couch, trying to blow away the scent on Chen Changsheng's body, because that scent made his mouth water, and made him have a very weird and terrifying thought, he had to fan the wind to blow this scent away. Thoughts are also fanned away. The middle-aged Taoist came to the wing at some point. He stood beside the couch, looked at Chen Changsheng who had his eyes closed tightly, and said something only he could understand: "Where is the cause?" One night passed. The moment the morning light fell on the green hill, the strange fragrance on Chen Changsheng's body suddenly faded away, and he could no longer smell the slightest trace. He returned to his previous appearance. The myriad of strange beasts in the green hill and the terrifying figure of the queen of the cloud were all unknown. Time to leave. Yu Ren looked at his junior brother who was sleeping, and finally stopped panicking. He sighed, and wanted to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead, only to find that his shoulders were so painful that he couldn't move because of shaking the fan desperately all night. Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and woke up. Although he slept all night, he knew what had happened. Looking at his brother in pain, his face turned pale, and he asked, "Master, what's wrong with me?" The middle-aged Taoist looked at him and remained silent for a long time Finally, he said, "You are sick." According to the middle-aged Taoist, Chen Changsheng's illness was due to congenital weakness, and the nine meridians in his body could not be connected. Forced to be excreted with sweat, the essence of the soul that is indispensable to human beings is contained in the sweat, which naturally carries a strange fragrance, which is a strange disease. "Then... can you cure it?" "No, no one can." "Incurable disease... is that life?" After that, the white crane never came to Qingshan again, and the news from the capital was cut off. It seemed that the other side of the marriage letter had never appeared. Chen Changsheng would occasionally stand by the stream, looking towards the west, and would think of this incident. Of course, what he thinks more about is his own illness, or his fate... He has not become weak, except that he is a little prone to drowsiness, he looks extremely healthy, and he does not look like a person who died prematurely. Doubt the master's judgment. But what if Master's judgment is correct? Chen Changsheng decided to leave the ruined temple and go to see the bustling world. While he was still able to see it, he wanted to see the legendary Mausoleum of Heavenly Books and cancel the marriage. "Teacher, I'm leaving." "Where are you going?" "To Kyoto." "Why?" "Because I want to live." "As I said, it's not a disease, it's life." "I want to change my life "In the past 800 years, only three people have successfully changed their lives." "Those are all extraordinary people, right?" "Yes." "I am not, but I also want to try." Kyoto, Mr. Chen Changsheng He is going, no matter whether he can cure his illness or not, he always wants to go, not only because he wants to

The fate was changed because the other side of the marriage certificate was in Kyoto. He packed his luggage, took the small sword handed over by Senior Brother Yu Ren, turned and left. A fourteen-year-old Taoist priest went down the mountain.