PDLP Chapter 64: Nine apertures are open, one is closed.
Chapter 64: Nine apertures are open, one is closed.
Luo Qingyi walked closer, nodded slightly, and spoke in a cool voice.
"Haiyue Palace, Luo Qingyi." She first gave a brief self-introduction, then raised her head and looked into Zhao Cheng'an's eyes, "I hope to get to know Fellow Daoist Zhao."
Zhao Cheng'an looked at the proud young woman before him, and although he was puzzled, he remained calm on the surface.
He nodded slightly and introduced himself with neither arrogance nor servility.
"The Imperial Academy of the Seven Kingdoms, Zhao Cheng'an."
Zhao Cheng'an realized that Luo Qingyi seemed to have come simply to get to know him, without any other intentions. The two exchanged a few brief words, without delving into anything deeper, before nodding to each other and parting ways.
Luo Qingyi walked back along the bluestone path to a secluded pavilion by the river.
A female elder of the family, dressed in magnificent palace attire, was waiting there.
The female elder looked at Luo Qingyi as she walked back and stepped forward with a puzzled expression to ask her.
"Qingyi, you wouldn't even give an ordinary genius a second glance. Why would you suddenly take the initiative to befriend a lowly cultivator from one of the Seven Kingdoms?"
In the eyes of the female elders, Zhao Cheng'an's cultivation level was only the fourth level of Qi Refining, and his aptitude was only above average. He was really quite unremarkable and not worth Luo Qingyi taking the initiative to talk to.
Luo Qingyi looked at the lanterns floating on the water, her voice calm.
"I saw a sense of kinship in him."
"The same kind?" The female elder was even more puzzled.
Luo Qingyi turned her head. "This person is very confident. And his confidence doesn't stem from ignorance or arrogance, but from absolute confidence. During today's assessment, the proctor from Qingmu Academy kept his eyes on him, which confirms this."
"The more mediocre one's performance in cultivation and actual combat, the more it indicates that one has special talents in other areas."
The middle-aged female cultivator wore a thoughtful expression. "Is this what they mean by 'the worse the grades, the better the results'?"
"Well……"
Luo Qingyi paused for a moment, looking at the night sky in the distance, and continued, "Although the Dao Court's Grand Examination consists of three subjects, their weightings are not entirely the same. The talisman subject carries the highest weight, followed by combat strength, and then cultivation level."
"Elder, you should understand why this is."
The female elder realized what was happening and nodded.
Luo Qingyi continued:
"Because there are simply too many ways to improve one's cultivation level. Whether it's taking high-grade pills, setting up a spirit-gathering array, or improving one's bloodline and obtaining a Daoist title, all of these can greatly increase the speed of cultivation."
"However, talent and aptitude are the rarest treasures in the cultivation world that cannot be acquired through any external force."
Luo Qingyi looked at the family elder, a rare smile appearing on her usually cold face.
That smile instantly brought her whole demeanor to life, like the bright moonlight parting the clouds.
But the smile quickly vanished, and calm returned.
Luo Qingyi turned to look in the direction Zhao Chengan had left, her tone resolute.
"Zhao Cheng'an will surely achieve an amazing result in tomorrow's rune assessment."
"We can wait and see."
……
……
Zhao Chengan returned to his dormitory and gently closed the door.
Why Luo Qingyi would specifically seek him out for a conversation was strange. Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
Zhao Cheng'an took off his outer garment and hung it on the wooden rack beside him. He blew out the candle on the table and lay down on the bed to rest.
Outside the window, the night view of the waterside pavilion was as still as water.
The scales on the void sea sky were dim and soft, casting a tranquil silver glow.
Along the waterside corridor, lights shone one by one in the rooms. Through the paper-covered window frames, one could see blurry figures hunched over their desks, making the most of their last moments to ponder and review documents.
Only the windows in Zhao Cheng'an's area were completely dark.
In another study, the candlelight flickered, casting intermittent light and shadow on the four faces sitting around the desk.
Chen Heng held the few pages of manuscript left by Zhao Cheng'an in his hand, his back straight, his eyes slowly moving across the paper.
This wasn't the first time she'd seen these runes. She had studied them carefully when Zhao Cheng'an taught her techniques like the Lightness Technique, and had even received personal guidance from him several times.
But each time she watches it, she gains something new.
These manuscripts are like a streetlamp lit in the fog. Although they cannot fully illuminate the way ahead, they are enough to calm people down and help them move forward step by step according to the light.
Xiang Yunyuan sat opposite Chen Heng, holding a few thin pages of manuscript in his hands.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing was heavy. Seeing the disassembly and reassembly of the runes above, he felt as if he had found a treasure, as if a whole new world had opened up before him.
Those intricate pathways of spiritual energy circulation played out in his mind, captivating him completely.
In contrast, Sun Fuli and Xu Baiheng were in rather dire straits.
Looking at the complex formulas and rearranged symbols on the paper, they felt as if their brains were being churned with glue. The writing seemed like gibberish to them, utterly incomprehensible.
Sun Fuli rubbed her sore eyes, opened her mouth and yawned widely, tears welling up in her eyes.
Xu Baiheng was also feeling drowsy, her head bobbing up and down, almost hitting the table.
But the thought that tomorrow's assessment results would determine their future fate forced them to grit their teeth and continue reading.
The night passed quickly.
The next morning, Zhao Cheng'an opened his eyes on time.
He sat up in bed, feeling refreshed and invigorated, his body brimming with spiritual energy thanks to the circulation of Qi.
After washing up, Zhao Chengan walked into the cafeteria.
As soon as he entered, he saw Chen Heng and the others sitting in the corner.
Zhao Cheng'an carried his tray over and sat down in an empty seat. He glanced at the people around him, and his eye twitched involuntarily.
Chen Heng appeared to be in relatively normal condition, though there was a faint weariness in her eyes.
Sun Fuli and Xu Baiheng, both with huge dark circles under their eyes and pale faces, were weakly drinking thin porridge with spoons.
The most tragic one was Xiang Yunyuan.
His eyes were bloodshot, and he exuded a morbid excitement. He poked at the steamed bun in his bowl with his chopsticks while muttering to himself.
"The Qi circulates throughout the body, using fire to refine the wood..."
"So that's how it is, so that's how it is..."
Xiang Yunyuan suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed softly.
"Ah! I get it!"
Looking at his eccentric appearance, Zhao Cheng'an was almost afraid that he would suddenly die in the cafeteria.
"How's your study progress with my manuscript, which you were looking at last night?" Zhao Cheng'an put down his soup spoon and asked the group.
"Brother Zhao, my foundation is really too poor. Reading your manuscript is like reading a book written in heaven. I understand nine out of ten things, but I don't understand the last one."
"I stayed up most of the night and felt like my brain was about to explode. I only remember a few basic symbols so far."
Xu Baiheng also sighed and nodded silently.
Xiang Yunyuan looked at Zhao Chengan with a fervent gaze, "Brother Zhao, your thinking is truly amazing! I never imagined before that runes could be combined and learned in this way."
He then sighed, "It's a pity the reading time was too short, otherwise I would have gained even more. But even so, I benefited greatly."