Chapter 18: The written test is a sign of another breakthrough. ...
Soon it was the day of the written test.
Early in the morning, more than one hundred disciples from the Tianzi class gathered in Qinglu, waiting for the exam to begin.
The selection of inner disciples is considered an annual major event for the entire sect.
In the early years, when Tianyan Sect had not yet become one of the three major sects, some people with extraordinary talents had the opportunity to be directly accepted as disciples by the elders.
In recent years, as Tianyan Sect has become one of the three major sects and its strength has grown, more and more cultivators have been scrambling to join Tianyan. Under the pressure of competition, the current sect rules have been issued:
Anyone who wants to become a disciple of Tianyan must first study in the outer sect and pass the outer sect assessment before being eligible to be selected by the elders as an inner sect disciple.
In other words, only by passing the assessment can one have a chance to be selected by the elders. But if one fails the assessment, even if one is a peerless genius, one cannot enter the inner gate.
The current inner disciples had all experienced this before, and they were somewhat concerned about the annual assessment. This was especially true for the few disciples who had only joined the inner sect in the past two or three years, who were paying extra attention to it.
In Qinglu, in addition to the disciples of the Tian class, the onlookers included not only the disciples of the outer sect Di class, Xuan class, and Huang class, but also many inner sect brothers and sisters.
This atmosphere of being watched by so many people made many people more nervous.
Some of them stood by the bamboo forest, some sat under the sword platform, some looked up at the sky, and some looked at the ground. Without exception, they all held books in their hands, muttered to themselves, and seized the last opportunity to recite one or two more original sentences from the classics.
Only a few people in Class A seemed confident.
The disciples who were watching were surprised to see this scene.
"Why do the Tianzi class students look so nervous this year? It's just a written exam, and only half of them were eliminated. Why do the students in Class B and Class C look so unsure?"
"Well, didn't Instructor Wu say that the scope of the written test has been broadened this year? This will increase the uncertainty."
"Hey, the competition in the outer sect is getting more and more intense every year. I think even if it were me, I might not be able to pass the exam now."
"The competition is great, but the opportunities are also great. Didn't the Sect Master say a few days ago that the first place winner in this year's outer sect assessment can become a disciple of Lingshan Daojun and become his personal disciple?"
"That's right. That's the Taoist Master Lingshan, the world's number one swordsman. During the Battle of Changgeng, he personally killed the demon Kun Sheyang, who had been causing trouble for years, and saved the Western Extreme Spiritual Vein that was almost overturned. Who wouldn't want to be his disciple?"
"But I heard that Daojun was seriously injured because of this. For so many years, Daojun has been in seclusion. I heard that even Senior Brother Chu has only seen Daojun once or twice."
"No matter what, even if I only receive guidance from Daojun for one day, it will be enough."
…
Mu Fuyun sat cross-legged by the bamboo forest, listening to what these people said. His mind wandered and he thought of the monk in white.
Can Taoist Lingshan, the best swordsman in the world, be more powerful than him?
As time slowly approached, more and more people gathered in the Qinglu. Several instructors arrived one after another and gestured for the disciples to take their seats.
After a while, everyone sat down and several invigilators counted the number of students in each class.
Then, Instructor Wu stood in front, glanced around, and then raised his hand slightly.
Suddenly, a mustard seed bag with a sealing talisman paper on it, which was suspended in the air, opened automatically. More than 160 scrolls and the sect's special pens and ink flew out of it and landed on everyone's desk one by one.
"The written test will last three hours and will consist of thirty questions. In addition to answering the key points from the classics, you will also need to provide your own interpretations. Your answers will be reviewed by the eight outer sect instructors and then submitted to the inner sect's head disciple, Chu Ye, who will preside over this assessment. This will be judged fairly and impartially. Only those who rank in the top eighty will pass the written test and participate in the martial arts test."
Hearing words like "Chu Ye" and "fairness and justice", hesitation flashed across the faces of several disciples, and they looked in Mu Fuyun's direction intentionally or unintentionally.
If Chu Ye was said to be fair and just, in the past, everyone inside and outside the sect would have believed him.
But just two months ago, he broke the sect's rules and stuffed Mu Fuyun, who had extremely poor physique and knew nothing, into the Tianzi Jia class.
Now, if we put him together with words like "fairness and justice", it will naturally arouse others' doubts.
However, the rules of the assessment are clearly written in black and white in the Tianyan Discipline Hall, and even the head master cannot shake them.
In addition, Chu Ye had never made any mistakes in his past behavior and everyone in the sect admired him. His closeness with his junior sister Mu Fuyue was also witnessed by everyone, so this kind of doubt quickly passed.
What's more, Mu Fuyun's strength is too weak and no one takes her seriously.
How could a person who missed more than three years of classes and only entered the outer sect in the last four months compare with the disciples who had studied diligently for more than three years?
But after a moment, those people withdrew their gaze and stopped thinking about it.
At this time, the bell standing at the gate of Qinglu was rung, and the deep bell sound came into the examination room.
More than one hundred and sixty scrolls were simultaneously unfolded in front of the disciples.
"Please start writing."
Some people picked up their pens in a hurry, not even bothering to read the questions, and dipped them in ink first.
Mu Fuyun did not rush to pick up the pen, but first quickly browsed through the thirty questions from beginning to end.
It was pretty much as she expected. Two of them were related to the history of the Tianyan Sect, eight were related to basic swordsmanship, and the other ten were all from the classics on the list Xu Huaiyan had given her.
As for the remaining ten questions, they were obviously much more profound. Some seemed to be asking about basic moral principles, but in fact they covered a wide range of topics, from the history of the sect, the sword school, to the subtle differences between the mysteries of different mental methods. As long as there was any one thing that was not clearly remembered or was ambiguous, the disciple would not be able to answer a single word of the entire question. It was indeed a test of the disciples' ability to be knowledgeable and to integrate knowledge.
As he picked up the pen, Mu Fuyun looked up at the disciples around him. Sure enough, there were a few disciples from other classes whose eyes were fixed on the scroll, with a somewhat flustered look on their faces.
However, people like Zhan Yao, Xu Huaiyan and others were still calm and composed, with nothing unusual happening. Zhan Yao, in particular, had already picked up his pen and started writing without a single pause.
At the same time, a larger scroll appeared in front of the other disciples who were watching the situation outside the examination room, and the thirty test questions automatically appeared on it.
"W-What is this? I've been studying for almost three years, and I didn't even know this tome existed in the library!"
"That's because you're lazy and don't study hard. This volume is right in the middle of row 78, so it's not particularly uncommon."
"I'm ashamed. No wonder there are so few people who can enter the inner gate every year. Some years, there are not even one."
The disciples outside were discussing enthusiastically, and Mu Fuyun, who was sitting at the desk, had already started writing down his answers.
With her photographic memory and her hard work day and night, she had read and memorized 90% of the books on the first floor of the library in the past two months. Even if she could not compare with the top students like Zhan Yao who had read everything, she could easily rank in the top half and pass the written test.
In the first hour, she finished answering the first twenty standard questions, and in the remaining two hours, she concentrated on solving the remaining ten questions.
Although he had only been practicing swordsmanship for over two months, there were always similarities among all matters of cultivation, no matter what path one took. Mu Fuyun had quite a few insights, and with just a little thought and a rough draft in his mind, he could write them down fluently.
However, after only two hours, her writing suddenly paused, and then the pen in her hand hovered in mid-air and did not fall for a long time.
At this time, Zhan Yao, who was sitting diagonally in front, put down the pen in his hand, quickly browsed through his scroll from front to back, then brushed his sleeves, put the scroll away, stood up and handed it to Instructor Wu.
Then he left calmly.
Inside and outside the examination room, most of the students were shocked by her action of handing in her paper nearly an hour early.
"Is this the strength of the top student in Class A? He can answer such a difficult question in such a short time."
Several outer disciples who were one or two levels lower looked at Zhan Yao's back with envy and admiration in their eyes.
The people in the room felt more and more pressured, and wrote furiously, not daring to slack off for fear of wasting even a little bit of time.
In this way, Mu Fuyun's long pause seemed a bit abrupt, and several people had already noticed her abnormality.
"That's Senior Sister Mu's sister, right? Why is she sitting there motionless? Has she written everything she can and can't come up with anything else?"
"You can't answer it in just two hours. I'm afraid you're just here to make up the numbers."
Although the discussions outside could not be heard, the people inside could see their gazes.
Xu Huaiyan, who was sitting not far away, noticed something was wrong and couldn't help but cast a worried look in Mu Fuyun's direction.
Mu Fuyun put down the pen for the moment, looked up at the hourglass, and without paying attention to other people's comments, he straightened his back, put his hands on his knees, and began to regulate his breathing and luck.
For some reason, she felt the spiritual energy in her body surge faster, and something was about to break out of the ground.
——This feeling was not unfamiliar to her at all. It was a sign that she was about to break through the realm again.
But now was not the right time, so she had to use all her luck to force it back.
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