Ze Tian Ji Way Of Choices Chapter 134 – Listening To The Waves Of The Sea Of Trees (Ii)

Chapter 134 – Listening to the Waves of the Sea of Trees (II)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

(TN: Way of Choices will be on break from December 25th, 2017 – January 7, 2018)

The Dallying Forest encompa.s.sed a vast area, but to cultivators who had succeeded in Purification, it did not take too long to cross. The critical factor in pa.s.sing through this holly forest was using one's spiritual sense to find a path, so only when an examinee was confident that they could cross through the sea of trees would they enter the forest. The reverse was true as well. An examinee's entering the forest essentially signified that they had the ability to walk out of the sea of trees. It was just a question of how much time they would use.

This new development in the martial test caught the people in the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words by surprise. Mao Qiuyu took up the record book and realized that the time Chen Changsheng had spent from sending out his spiritual sense to walking into the sea of trees was even shorter than the time that Liang Banhu had used. Prince Chen Liu had also spied this fact from the side and exclaimed in shock, "Could Chen Changsheng possibly possess this strong of a spiritual sense?"

"If his spiritual sense was truly this strong, how come it was impossible for him to succeed at Purification?"

The Li Palace Academy Princ.i.p.al's face was expressionless as he spoke. He simply did not believe that Chen Changsheng could possess such a powerful spiritual sense.

Prince Chen Liu muttered to himself for a few moments before saying, "Earlier when I saw Chen Changsheng, he seemed to have succeeded at Purification."

The princ.i.p.al sneered, "So what if he succeeded at Purification? To only succeed at Purification after such a long time, his spiritual sense is presumably mediocre. I'm afraid this youth simply couldn't understand the paths of the Dallying Forest, knew that he couldn't pa.s.s through and decided that things couldn't get any worse, so he blindly rushed in."

The Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words fell silent once more, as everyone felt that the Princ.i.p.al of the Li Palace Academy's argument was rather reasonable. Of the several hundred examinees currently in the Dallying Forest, many were almost certainly just as described, completely incapable of using their spiritual sense on the outskirts of the forest to get a complete and clear map. Helpless, they could only enter the sea of trees and charge into a path, relying on their luck. Chen Changsheng might also be under such circ.u.mstances.

The crowd turned to the archbishop seated in the center. The archbishop still had his eyes shut as if asleep, simply unaware of what they were talking about.

What happened next caused the Li Palace Academy Princ.i.p.al to quickly take on a rather unsightly expression.

News on the situation in the Dallying Forest was constantly being delivered into the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words. A priest unfurled a map to mark the present situation. The red dot representing Chen Changsheng had never stopped after entering the sea of trees, but was constantly moving. Although the route it took was inevitably rather twisted, the direction was always forward. His stable movements and speed signified that he had already planned his movements in advance and was very confident.

As time pa.s.sed, the red dot representing Chen Changsheng continued to move closer to the perimeter of the sea of trees, walking a seemingly complex, but actually the most direct path out. The Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words grew quieter and quieter, with the crowd transfixed on the front of that line. Although it was still not completely clear, there was a general understanding that Chen Changsheng would not encounter any sort of problem.

Priest Xin, who had been standing outside the hall this entire time, seemed to see something and wiped the sweat from his forehead, a faint smile appearing on his face.

A priest came to report on the newest developments in the martial test. The striking red dot on the map moved forward again, only this time, it had moved right out of the Dallying Forest.

The Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words was still quiet, and the archbishop's eyes remained shut. He seemed not the slightest bit concerned.

The Princ.i.p.al of the Li Palace Academy was speechless.

Prince Chen Liu sighed, "Who could have expected beforehand that this fellow's spiritual sense would be this strong?"

Truly no one had expected this. Chen Changsheng, who had not even been able to complete Purification, surprisingly possessed such a potent spiritual sense.

Mao Qiuyu said, "After the Grand Examination concludes, we should inquire as to how this child fixed his Fated Star."

The crowd nodded one by one in agreement. Since Chen Changsheng possessed such a powerful spiritual sense, the Fated Star he had fixed also had to be unusual. It naturally had to be recorded clearly for the glory of the Great Zhou.

A little after the Hall of s.h.i.+ning Words came to know, the spectating crowd outside the Li Palace also very quickly learned of the newest developments in the martial test and erupted in cheers.

As she listened to the distant cheers, Mo Yu said to Prince Chen Liu, "None of them dares to bet on Chen Changsheng's taking first rank of the first banner, so tell me, why are they cheering?"

Prince Chen Liu's expression froze as he came to comprehend her meaning. His newborn joy was instantly extinguished.

Mo Yu smiled.

None of the common people had bet on Chen Changsheng's winning but they were overjoyed that he had pa.s.sed the martial test. This was naturally because they were all well aware that Chen Changsheng had zero chance in the one-on-one matches. Since this Orthodox Academy youth would not lose them any money, the common people were naturally charitable enough to cheer for him.

Upon walking out of the sea of trees, Chen Changsheng was welcomed by a cool breeze which roused his somewhat exhausted mind. As for those astonished and shocked gazes, he intentionally ignored them. The Li Palace priest standing outside the sea of trees responsible for recording the grades, and those fellow examinees of his, had never imagined that he would come out so quickly. Chen Changsheng had needed only a brief span of time to cross the Dallying Forest, even shorter than Liang Banhu's record. The only question that remained was just who was faster, him or that thinly-clothed youth partic.i.p.ating as a student of Star Seizer Academy.

He turned his head back to the sea of trees. When he thought about how he had faintly been able to hear the waves of leaves as his spiritual sense ventured through the forest, he fell into a contemplative silence.

The Ivy Festival and the Proclamation of Azure Sky had proved that he was not trash. However, being well-versed in the Daoist Canon and having an erudite learning in this world that respected the strong was only a beautiful and empty decoration. What was most important in this world was still strength, that direct strength that could influence life and death.

Today was the first time he proved to the world that he had this strength.

But this was still not enough. Pa.s.sing through the Dallying Forest was only the first half of the martial test. If he wanted to reach the one-on-one matches phase, he still had to do much more.

After walking out of the sea of trees and crossing a meadow, he arrived at a beautiful spring river.

This river was called the Qu River. It flowed through the Li Palace and ultimately converged with the Luo River. However, the part of the Qu River that pa.s.sed through the Garden of the Morning Sun was much wider than the Luo River as it pa.s.sed through the capital, due to the terrain and the dredgings that had been performed on it over the course of history. At its widest, the two sh.o.r.es were several dozen zhang apart.

The Qu River's surface was very calm, its water a deep green. To the scholars or literati, this scene might seize them with the urge to write a poem or draw a painting. However, to Chen Changsheng and the vast majority of examinees, this river barring the way before them was like a bronze mirror covered all over in a green rust. There was truly nothing picturesque about such a sight.

One's emotions when viewing things depended on the viewer's mood.

The martial test for this year's Grand Examination was truly quite marvelous.

The first half tested examinees through crossing the sea of trees.

The second half had the examinees cross this green river.

As long as examinees could cross the several-dozen-zhang-wide Qu River, flat as a mirror, and reach the opposite sh.o.r.e, they would be considered to have pa.s.sed the martial test and have the right to partic.i.p.ate in the one-on-one matches.

The problem was that this was not a simple matter.

This was especially because the rules stated very clearly that other than the bottoms of one's shoes, if any part of the examinee were soaked by the river water, their attempt would count as a failure.

Chen Changsheng walked to the sh.o.r.e and gazed at the green forest on the other side. He naturally began to think of the Orthodox Academy's lake.

Ah, so it turns out that this is the other sh.o.r.e that Priest Xin spoke of.