Chapter 62

Eighteen years ago, Meng Xun was still a junior secretary with limited experience, his face full of youthful innocence, and he did not have the right to participate in the grading of the civil service examination papers. At that time, due to the promotion by a chief examiner, he was assisting on the side, handling some trivial tasks.

Because of this, Meng Xun witnessed that astonishing scene. Even after many years, Meng Xun still clearly remembered the shock on everyone's faces in the hall.

This incident caused a great stir at the time. It was only afterward that Meng Xun learned that everything was related to a candidate surnamed Yang from Jin'an City.

Time flies, and the same scene is replaying.

Rustle! Rustle!

A strong wind blew, and the examination papers rustled. The papers on more than a dozen desks could no longer hold on, and they began to fly off the tables, carried away by the wind. In the blink of an eye, only two or three desks were left, and it seemed they wouldn't last much longer.

The only thing that remained completely still was that stack of papers!

"Alright, close the main door!"

Meng Xun waved his hand and said.

The clerks, as if waking from a dream, came to their senses and hurriedly closed the main door.

"Did you all remember those papers?"

Meng Xun turned around and looked at the group of civil servants and clerks behind him.

"Remembered, remembered..."

Everyone replied.

The strong wind had completely messed up the papers in the hall. However, the papers on those dozen desks were too special, and too many people were watching. Although they were eventually blown away, the places where they landed were clearly remembered by everyone. With a bit of effort, they could be found quickly.

"Then let's get to work."

Meng Xun flicked his sleeve and immediately strode toward the conspicuous stack of papers. He scooped them up with his hand and held them.

"Yang Ji!!"

Seeing the name at the top of the paper, Meng Xun was startled, his gaze momentarily wavering. Was this just a coincidence, or was there some hidden reason he didn't know?

While Meng Xun was deep in thought, a cautious voice whispered in his ear:

"Sir... What exactly happened just now? Why couldn't the wind even lift a single paper?"

Meng Xun shook his head and came back to his senses. Turning around, he saw a young clerk bowing beside a desk, his face full of fear and yet unable to suppress his curiosity.

"You'll know about this kind of thing in the future."

Meng Xun patted his shoulder and said no more.

"Is that so..."

The young clerk's eyes were filled with undisguised disappointment.

Meng Xun smiled but said nothing, his mind racing with thoughts.

The era of the "Literary Sage," when scholars could become sages through their studies, had long passed, and even scholars themselves had almost forgotten it. In the legendary era, scholars were "worth a thousand gold per word"!

Those talented and erudite scholars not only had their literary aura burst from their heads, forming a mighty river of energy, but the words they wrote were "pearls of wisdom" and "worth a fortune."

"Words worth a thousand gold" referred not only to the value of their writings but also to the weight of their words, which were as heavy as "a thousand gold." Hence, there was the saying "treasure every word as if it were gold" — how could it be just that the wind couldn't move them?

In today's world, which values martial arts and suppresses literature, who would know that the ink of the Literary Sages was immune to fire and water, and could not be cut by knives or axes? Thrown into the sea, it could part the waters; thrown into a fire, it could extinguish the flames.

Those legendary masterpieces could shine as brightly as the sun and moon, endure as long as heaven and earth, repel demons and evil spirits, and stabilize the nation's fate!

— How could they be inferior to martial arts masters?

Unfortunately, all of this has become legend. The once brilliant era of the Literary Sages now only leaves behind fragments for future generations to mourn and remember!

"If there are no unforeseen circumstances, the top candidate in this literary examination will be among this stack of papers."

Meng Xun took a deep breath and came back to his senses.

He was clear in his mind that, based on the performance just now, this student named Yang Ji was absolutely the one with the most spiritual energy among all. Such a level of writing, in the era of the "Literary Sage," was not particularly remarkable, but in the current era of literary decline, it was astonishing. That's why everyone was so shocked to see the wind unable to move the papers.

The history teacher is likely to choose his successor from this young man. If even he is not qualified, it would be hard to find another qualified candidate in the entire Pingchuan City.

"Someone, seal these papers. Gather all the chief examiners and clerks for a review!"

Meng Xun slapped the desk and made a decisive decision.

The court has its rules, and the literary examination has its procedures. Although Meng Xun was almost certain that the top candidate in this literary examination would be this person named "Yang Ji," it still needed final comparison and verification...

...

In the mountains, time seemed to stand still. Yang Ji practiced in the deep pool, making rapid progress every day. His cultivation had reached the peak of the first level of martial arts, a limit where the effects of daily practice should have been minimal. However, Yang Ji, with the help of the "waterfall," continued to make steady progress.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Yang Ji practiced under the waterfall, his body glowing with bloodlight, his strength formidable. Each punch he threw was powerful and awe-inspiring, piercing through the waterfall and sending his拳劲透出一丈多远。

在瀑布下锻炼了二十多天，杨纪精神饱满，肌肉结实，全身的力量就像麻绳一样，拧成一股，而且越拧越紧。与文科举结束时相比，杨纪的力量明显增加了很多。

“吼！——”

瀑布下，魔虎的咆哮声此起彼伏，这是杨纪的“太合魔虎拳”练到巅峰的征兆。二十多天的修炼，杨纪废寝忘食，对这门拳法的理解也达到了一个新的巅峰。

杨纪就这样在瀑布下修炼，足足三个时辰后，血光耗尽，筋疲力尽，才爬上了岸边。

“累死了！……”

杨纪翻了个身，躺在地上，累得舌头都要伸出来了。武者虽然厉害，但也还没有脱离人的范畴。连续三个时辰不眠不休地打拳，所有的体力都耗光了，杨纪只感觉额头上全是滚烫的汗水，一层层不停地涌出。

“力量的增长差不多达到极限，到底还差点什么……”

杨纪盯着湛蓝透明的天空，百无聊赖地想道。

这段时间的修炼，杨纪的身体已经锤炼得坚韧无比，虽然力量还没有超出其他一重巅峰的“武者”那么远，但抗击打能力绝对远远超出同级高手！

按照原本的估计，杨纪现在的力量应该已经达到了“武道境第二重”，然而力量确实增加了，但杨纪却并没有踏入武道第二重。

“还是缺乏经验啊……”

杨纪皱着眉，望着天空叹息道。

他虽然自问不缺乏努力，也不缺乏天赋，但对于武道境的了解还是太少太少，还是缺少一个合格的武道引路人。

这种角色，本来应该是每个武者身后的宗族，以及各自的长辈来扮演的。但杨纪在宗族中的特殊处境，使得这一块几乎空白。

“瀑布这里的锤炼可以暂时结束了。”

杨纪心中暗自琢磨，眼中闪过一道睿智的光芒：

“或许，我应该先回趟平川城，多观察观察那些武道二重的强者，从他们身上找一找进入武道二重的方法。”

杨纪原本以为，只要力量够了，就会自然而然地进入下一个境界。但如今看来，武道显然不只是力量，显然还讲究方法。

这般想着，杨纪慢慢闭上了眼睛……

半个时辰后，杨纪恢复体力，砰的一声，一个鲤鱼打挺站了起来。

“可以回去了。”

杨纪脑海中电光一闪，随即心念一动，全身血光涌动，一股庞大的热力散发出来，将身上湿透的衣服瞬间蒸干。

呼！

风声一荡，杨纪犹如离弦之箭般，迅速离开了水潭边……

……

杨纪回到平川城，街上人流涌动，参加“文科考”的“学子”大部分消失了，现在城里到处都是准备参加“武科举”的学子，到处议论纷纷，一片紧张的气氛。

还有几天就是武科举的日子，大街、酒楼、酒肆、茶楼、客栈……，到处都是高谈阔论的学子，这些人甚至还有说到兴头，直接下来比划切磋的。

呼吸八段、九段、十段，武道境……，街道上什么层次的人都有，到处一片浓郁的武风。

因为这个原因，朝廷里也明显加强了守备程度，街道上经常可以看到披坚执锐，盔甲里血光涌动的甲士，只要有人闹事，立即就有甲士过去。

武科举和文科举不同，不是动笔杆子，更多是要动“拳脚”。年轻人血气方刚，一时意气，提前在大街上打起来也并不是什么奇怪的事。

“武科举还有一段时间，正好借此买本《武典》来看看。”

杨纪心中暗道。

“武科举”和“文科举”不同，文科举一开始就考得很深，会考三经五典的“涵义”，也会考策论。

但是武科举不同，在童生试的级别，策论是直接取消的。只考《三经》《五典》的内容，而且也不会考得很偏。不过在取消策论的同时，内容也极大地扩展了，增加了《武典》的考核内容。

对于武科举的文字部分，朝廷一向是浅尝辄止的，只要保证朝廷的“武童生”识字，而且不笨，不糊涂就可以了。

但这并不是说“武科举”就很容易了，恰恰相反，武科举的要求更加精深。

“武秀才”的级别需要精通《三经》《五典》和《武典》，同时也重新增加了策论的内容，但不是诗词歌赋，而是与武道相关的“排兵布阵”！

到了“武举人”的级别，不仅需要文采华章，而且精通山川地理，同时还会考问到大军征战，治国策略……

总之，武科举的等级越高，涉及的学问、知识越深奥，要求也就越高。文道只有“童生”、“秀才”两个级别，但武科举在“秀才”之后还有“举人”、“贡生”、“进士”、“状元”几个级别。

其中的艰难不足为外人道也，也难怪很多武者对武科举的要求“望而却步”！

...

In the mountains, time seemed to stand still. Yang Ji practiced in the deep pool, making rapid progress every day. His cultivation had reached the peak of the first level of martial arts, a limit where the effects of daily practice should have been minimal. However, Yang Ji, with the help of the "waterfall," continued to make steady progress.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Yang Ji practiced under the waterfall, his body glowing with bloodlight, his strength formidable. Each punch he threw was powerful and awe-inspiring, piercing through the waterfall and sending his fist energy more than a dozen feet away.

After practicing under the waterfall for over twenty days, Yang Ji was full of energy, his muscles firm, and his strength tightly coiled like a rope, becoming tighter and tighter. Compared to when the literary examination ended, Yang Ji's strength had clearly increased significantly.

"Roar! ——"

Under the waterfall, the roar of the magic tiger echoed continuously, a sign that Yang Ji's "Taihe Magic Tiger Fist" had reached its peak. For over twenty days, Yang Ji practiced tirelessly, and his understanding of this fist technique reached a new peak.

Yang Ji practiced under the waterfall for a full three hours, until his bloodlight was exhausted and he was completely drained of energy, before he climbed up to the shore.

"Exhausted!..."

Yang Ji flipped over and lay on the ground, so tired that his tongue almost hung out. Although martial artists are powerful, they are still human. After three hours of continuous punching without sleep, all his energy was drained, and Yang Ji felt beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, layer upon layer.

"Strength has almost reached its limit, but what is still missing..."

Yang Ji stared at the clear blue sky, feeling bored and aimless.

During this period of training, Yang Ji's body had been tempered to be incredibly resilient. Although his strength had not surpassed that of other peak