In the crowd, Xue Huan was playing with the bronze fish symbol. "You said this is a key?"
Xuan Ling nodded: "That's right, but it's only half. The two pieces of the fish must be combined to form a real key."
Xue Huan couldn't help but think of the dynasties in the secular world. The fish token was a certificate of identity for ministers. It was divided into two halves, left and right, with a "same" shaped mortise and tenon in the middle to fit together.
The left fish token in the minister's hand would be placed in the inner court as a "base", and the right fish token would be carried by the holder as an identity certificate when entering and leaving the palace.
Unexpectedly, this invention would be used as a key by monks.
She looked at the back of the fish token in her hand, and sure enough, there was a mortise and tenon in the shape of the Chinese character "同". If she found the other half of the fish token, she could fit the two halves together to form a complete bronze fish.
I just don't know where the door is that can be opened by this copper fish key?
Xue Huan naturally had an association: "Do you think this fish talisman could be the key to a treasure trove?"
Xuan Ling: "Who knows?"
This trip to the black market was quite fruitful. Xue Huan didn't plan to continue shopping and decided to go home.
Yunshao Courtyard.
The barrier set up by Xue Huan was still intact, with no signs of being destroyed.
She cast a cleansing spell on herself, sat cross-legged on the bed and began to practice.
Three days passed in a flash, and it was time for the entrance examination of Lingyao College.
Xue Huan had breakfast early in the morning and took Xiao Shitou in the comfortable carriage provided free of charge by Narcissus Pavilion to Lingyao Academy.
Xuan Ling went out for a walk by himself.
Xue Huan let him go. After all, they were not in an employment relationship and had no right to interfere with each other's freedom.
Lingyao College has four gates in total, and the east gate is the main gate. The carriage from Narcissus Pavilion sent Xue Huan to the gate, but when she arrived, she was told that the exam would be held at the south gate.
Xue Huan, who was not yet a student of the academy, was unable to enter the academy and had to take a long detour to the south gate.
After getting off the bus, Xue Huan saw that many candidates had already arrived outside the South Gate, about three or four hundred. These people were roughly divided into two groups. One group was dressed in bright and colorful clothes, with a confident and arrogant look on their faces. They were obviously children of aristocratic families.
The other group is civilians.
When Xue Huan got off the car, many people cast their eyes at her. The people from the aristocratic families saw that she was a stranger and knew that she was a commoner, so they looked away without interest. The commoners, on the other hand, saw that she was wearing pearly robes and the hairpin on her head was also a magic weapon, so they thought that she was from an aristocratic family. After all, commoners could not afford such an outfit, so they also looked away.
Xue Huan's lips curled up slightly. Was she being excluded by both sides at the same time?
She didn't care and walked to a place that was not connected to either side, waiting quietly.
While waiting, she observed the candidates and found two "familiar faces" among them, one was Zhou Lekang, and the other was the woman in the yellow skirt with whom she had had two conflicts.
Zhou Lekang sat there with a gloomy face, and two lackeys beside him served him by massaging his shoulders and legs.
Xue Huan was very confident in her medicine. Unless Zhou Lekang cut off the thing, the burning pain would always be with him. But today, he seemed to have been detoxified.
But it's not surprising. After all, the Zhou family is a family that has been passed down for hundreds of years, so it's reasonable that they have some strange methods that are unknown to outsiders.
After a while, a grand and spacious carriage drove over, and a young man with dyed purple hair got out of the carriage. The young man had picturesque eyebrows and eyes, but a rebellious temperament. Someone from the aristocratic family greeted him, "Young Master Xiao."
This young man was none other than Xiao Jian from the Xiao family.
Xiao Jian ignored the man, put his hands on the back of his head, and walked towards Xue Huan with a clattering sound, looking like a playboy.
After waiting for another ten minutes, the allotted time arrived. The south gate opened wide, and a middle-aged teacher came out and said to everyone, "Hello everyone, I am the teacher who will be your first round of assessment. My last name is Zeng. Please follow me."
Everyone followed Teacher Zeng into the academy.
The door closed behind him.
At this time, someone else arrived. Seeing that the door was about to close, he hurried over and banged on the door: "Wait, I'm here to take the exam too——"
Unfortunately, the door was not opened.
The guard waved his hand at the man and said, "Don't shout. If you're late, you won't have a chance. You should come back next year."
"Uncle, please, please be flexible. I finally managed to get here. My family is in debt because of this exam. If I can't pass this time, I won't be able to face my parents anymore. Woohoo..."
The guard frowned. "Rules are rules. If everyone behaves like you, what will become of society? Okay, stop making noise here and go."
The boy stood outside the door, watching the candidates leaving, and hiccuping while crying.
The children of the aristocratic families just laughed it off and didn't take it to heart.
Some civilian candidates expressed sympathy, some felt relieved, and some tried to gain a sense of superiority by belittling the young man. There were all kinds of people.
Teacher Zeng took everyone to a square where stones were placed all over the ground. Facing everyone's puzzled eyes, he announced the questions for the first test.
"The stones in front of you are all raw spiritual stones, but the academy has made special treatments on them, making them difficult for spiritual consciousness to penetrate. You need to pick out the raw stones containing spiritual stones from them. The time limit is one stick of incense. Those who pick the right ones will pass, and those who don't will be eliminated.
"Remember, everyone has only one chance. Once you've chosen, you can't change it. If you don't get any spirit stones and want to choose another one, it's impossible."
As soon as Teacher Zeng said this, the whole place exploded.
"The first test is actually about this?"
"This level should test the strength of our spiritual awareness and luck."
"What should I do now? My spiritual sense can only reach ten feet away, and it won't last long."
Xue Huan was also a little surprised by this form of assessment, but she had nothing to fear when it came to testing spiritual awareness. She wasn't exaggerating, but probably no one present had a spiritual awareness that could surpass hers.
Spiritual consciousness is a spiritual power extended from the spirit, and the strength of the spirit is determined by the strength of the soul. These three have the same origin, but cannot be completely equated.
As for Xue Huan, having lived two lives as a human, her soul strength is naturally stronger than that of ordinary people. She also has experience in the soul world and has practiced the "Soul Flame Art" which constantly tempers her soul. Her soul has reached the strongest level that her body can accommodate.
If her body's strength could keep up, her soul would be even stronger. However, precisely because she was limited by her body as a container, she had to frequently compress her soul, causing its density to reach a terrifying level.
To make a simple analogy, if the soul is compared to fuel, under the same combustion conditions, the soul of an average person can last for ten seconds, while hers can last for ten minutes.
It can be said that there is a world of difference.
"Okay, the first test begins now." Teacher Zeng lit the incense used for timing.
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