Chapter 6

The young men taking the Tian Dao Academy entrance examination, under the command of the stern instructor, took turns to pick up the black stone and hold it tightly for three breaths. Most of the time, the black stone would emit a faint glow in people's hands, with very subtle differences in brightness. Only a few people would pick up the stone without any change.

The dark rock had a very ordinary name: the Sensory Stone. In the Daoist scriptures, there was a volume that described the peculiar products of mountains, rivers, and seas, known as the Scripture of All Things. Chen Changsheng had seen the image of this stone in that volume and knew its magical properties—this black stone naturally contained a kind of energy similar to divine consciousness. When it came into contact with a human body, it would send a thread of energy into the body, stimulating the body's own true essence, and then, like fishing, it would bring a thread of that person's true essence back into the black stone. The more abundant the true essence and the stronger the divine consciousness of the person holding the stone, the more the black stone would be replenished, and the brighter it would become. After many years of experimentation, humans had summarized a set of rules to judge a person's strength based on the brightness of the black stone.

The Tian Dao Academy received too many applicants each year, so they added this entrance examination process. People kept reaching out to hold the black stone, some making it brighter, others not. Some continued to advance toward the building, while others were coldly signaled to leave the line by the teacher, creating a particularly oppressive atmosphere.

A young man held the black stone, but it showed no reaction. When he was signaled to leave, he was especially desperate, crying and begging for another chance, tightly gripping the stone and refusing to let go. He was immediately dragged away by the Tian Dao Academy's servants, only to be met with ridicule, which was meaningless.

The examination continued. Those who made the black stone glow showed expressions of joy, while those who did not were extremely disappointed. The laughter of the senior students could be faintly heard from the other side of the stream, and the teacher responsible for the Sensory Stone examination looked increasingly displeased. From the early morning until now, hundreds of people had held the Sensory Stone. Although many had made it glow, proving they had successfully cleansed their marrow, compared to previous years, the level of the candidates this year was too ordinary. Only one person had reached the third level of cleansing the marrow, and not a single person had reached the perfect level. As for the geniuses who could enter the Zhaozhao realm at a young age, there was not a single one. The teacher's mood was naturally not good.

Human cultivation differs greatly from that of the demon and magic races. At the beginning, it emphasizes the cultivation of wisdom and divine consciousness, using wisdom to understand the principles of heaven and earth, and using divine consciousness to harness the power of heaven and earth. Energy is used to refine the body, starting from the skin and hair, then the tendons and muscles, and finally deep into the bone marrow, making the body strong, capable of lifting stones, and healthy, free from common diseases, hence the name "cleansing the marrow."

The demon race is born with a body as hard as metal. If humans do not go through the process of cleansing the marrow, they cannot fight on the battlefield. Therefore, in human armies, at least initial success in cleansing the marrow is required to qualify as elite soldiers. Moreover, cleansing the marrow has even more critical importance in other aspects—it not only strengthens the tendons and bones but also sharpens the senses and greatly improves memory and analytical skills. In the summary of the Daoist scriptures, it is described as "seeing another world!"

The Great Dao has three thousand paths, which is just a broad statement. The world's knowledge is vast like the sea, and countless ink characters represent countless pieces of knowledge. Without cleansing the marrow to clear the mind and sharpen the senses, how can one dare to seek knowledge in the vast sea? Relying solely on courage to explore would likely lead to instant confusion, being overwhelmed by the waves and dying with broken bones. The addition of this examination step by the Tian Dao Academy in recent years, from this perspective, is actually very reasonable. If you cannot even cleanse your marrow, what right do you have to practice those profound methods?

Yesterday, in the Divine General's Mansion, Chen Changsheng had twice admitted that he had not practiced cultivation. Naturally, he had not successfully cleansed his marrow, which meant that when he held the black stone later, it would not change at all, and he would be dismissed from the examination line by the teacher. However, strangely, his expression was very calm, as if he was not worried at all.

At this moment, he was already very close to the table, with only three people in front of him. The person at the front was a young man in a thin blue robe. The young man walked to the table, without waiting for the Tian Dao Academy teacher to speak, and directly reached out to pick up the black Sensory Stone. For some reason, everyone felt tense at this moment.

Perhaps it was because the young man in the blue robe seemed too calm.

In early spring, the clouds over the capital were dense, and the sun was hidden behind them. The Tian Dao Academy was serene, but suddenly, the grass on both sides of the stream became extremely bright. The new green grass seemed to turn into emerald branches, the remaining dewdrops turned into pearls, and the clear stream water was filled with small fish staring at the sky, their bodies stiffened by the sudden brightness.

People instinctively covered their eyes, thinking it was the brightness brought by the sun breaking through the clouds. The next moment, they realized that even the brightest spring day could not be so bright. If it wasn't sunlight, where did this brightness come from?

The brightness gradually faded, and people's eyes adapted slightly. They lowered their hands and saw the Tian Dao Academy teacher with his mouth wide open, his face full of disbelief. At the same time, they saw where the brightness came from—the palm of the young man in the blue robe. The black Sensory Stone in his hand seemed to have turned into the hottest stone in a volcano, emitting countless rays of light from between his fingers, as if it were burning!

"Zhaozhao realm... it's actually... the Zhaozhao realm?"

The Tian Dao Academy teacher's voice trembled. At this moment, he looked at the young man in the blue robe as if he were a precious gem, hurriedly standing up, walking to his front, and greedily looking at his hand, at the light leaking out. No one thought the teacher was out of line, for the young man in the blue robe, with a still youthful face, clearly not over sixteen years old, was already in the Zhaozhao realm!

What did this mean? What is a genius? This is a genius! The senior students on the other side of the stream had long stopped their cold ridicule and looked at the bamboo pavilion below as if they were seeing a ghost. The senior student who had spoken the harshest words earlier was so shocked that he slid off the stone bench to the ground, completely unaware of the pain in his coccyx, and said in a trembling voice, "How is this possible? Senior Guan Bai also only entered the Zhaozhao realm at sixteen... this kid... is this kid just young-looking? Otherwise, how could this be!"

At this moment, a hoarse and cold voice came from behind them.

"If he is Tang Sanshiu, then nothing is impossible."

"Tang Sanshiu? He is Tang Sanshiu?" Everyone was even more shocked upon hearing this name. Someone said, "He is already number thirty-six on the Qingyun List... why would he leave Wenshui for the capital? For next year's Great Imperial Examination? But with his ability, entering the Tian Shu Ling should be no problem."

Someone explained, "Tang Sanshiu is the most proud and arrogant, not submitting to anyone, not even the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom, or even the wolf cub in the north. Since he is going to participate in next year's Great Imperial Examination, he must want to change his name. Therefore, he naturally has to come to the capital in advance, and since he is in the capital, he naturally has to enter our Tian Dao Academy."

Mentioning Tang Sanshiu's name, the students recalled the rumors about this genius from Wenshui and couldn't help but marvel. Someone said, "He can be proud of the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom, but can he dare to be proud of Qiu Shan Jun?"

"That's unknown, but judging from the brightness of the black stone earlier, he probably held back. Even if he hasn't reached the perfect level of the initial Zhaozhao realm, he can't be far off."

The students discussed heatedly, suddenly remembering the hoarse voice earlier, and turned around in surprise, only to find that the person who had arrived was the most terrifying Deputy Dean Zhuang of the Tian Dao Academy. They were startled and hurriedly bowed, dispersing like birds and beasts.

...

...

Geniuses or strong individuals naturally deserve the attention of the crowd. The young men and women taking the Tian Dao Academy examination did not recognize the young man in the blue robe, but they felt even more shocked, looking at his back with expressions of awe and fear. Chen Changsheng also admired the young man in the blue robe, as he did not have such talent and was somewhat envious.

The young man in the blue robe walked forward with a cold expression and soon entered the building deep within the Tian Dao Academy. The examination for the others continued, and it was soon Chen Changsheng's turn. He walked to the table, looked at the rough, black rock with countless tiny holes, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to hold the black stone, lifting it to his eyes to examine it closely.

He clearly felt a cool, pleasant breath emanating from one of the tiny holes in the black stone, entering his body through his palm, and then rapidly flowing through his meridians, trying to reach deeper places, such as the Sun Sea and the Burning Wheel, to search for his true essence. The cool breath clearly had no consciousness and was not malicious. He did not resist at all, allowing it to search everywhere. Of course, even if he wanted to resist, he had no ability to do so. He knew very well that there was a problem with his meridians, and before he started treating his illness, the breath would not find anything. Since there was no true essence flowing back or divine consciousness sensing, the black stone would not become bright.

As expected, nothing happened. The black stone remained a black stone, lying quietly in his palm.

He put the black stone back on the table and looked at the Tian Dao Academy teacher, saying, "It didn't light up."

In the eyes of the onlookers, he just picked up the stone and put it down. Such an obvious fact, yet he confirmed it so solemnly, which seemed somewhat ridiculous. Strangely, no one laughed. Looking at his serious expression, people felt something was odd... the young men who had not made the black stone glow usually felt embarrassed and saddened by their failure, and some might even cry like the embarrassed young man earlier. He, however, was very calm.

Did he not understand what this meant? He didn't seem to.

The teacher frowned slightly. He should have waved Chen Changsheng away, but because of the inexplicable silence in the room, he asked an extra question, "You don't practice cultivation?"

"I don't practice cultivation."

Chen Changsheng repeated the words he had said twice in the Divine General's Mansion yesterday.

The teacher looked at him expressionlessly, meaning that he should leave on his own.

Chen Changsheng bowed and then left.

However, he did not leave through the main gate of the Tian Dao Academy but toward the building.

The teacher was taken aback, realizing what he intended to do, and shouted in anger, "Stop!"