Chapter 293
Chapter 293
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 293
Chapter Title: Chapter 293 Martial Arts
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Chen Shi was utterly astonished and immediately stood up.
“You didn’t see that?”
He loudly questioned Bi'an and Fu Yuan. “We’re cheating! He’s writing the exegesis for me!” Bi'an and Fu Yuan paced solemnly through the grand hall.
An examiner shouted, “No clamor allowed! Sit down!”
Chen Shi was about to speak again when Zhang You chuckled. “Chen Jieyuan, take a seat. This grand hall was built precisely for cheating. Even if you turned in a blank sheet or wrote calls for rebellion, what you’d hand in would still be a polished, impeccable essay. You’d still make the list.”
Chen Shi’s eyes widened in disbelief. “This grand hall is for cheating?”
Zhang You smiled. “The heirs of our thirteen great clans have always taken the exam here. That’s the tradition. This literary test is just a show for outsiders. There should have been thirteen of us this year, but with two extras, that makes fifteen. We just didn’t expect the other twelve brothers to vanish without a trace—neither alive nor dead—leaving only us three.”
He glanced at Young Master Xiao. The missing twelve had been Young Master Xiao’s allies.
He had survived because he wasn’t one of Young Master Xiao’s allies. Chen Shi had raided the Qixia Temple, but he hadn’t been there.
Young Master Xiao sat there, watching the clerk write for him. “Does Chen Jieyuan find this unfair? Don’t forget, you’ve enjoyed the same unfairness. You’re one of us now.”
Chen Shi sat back down and fell silent for a moment, a touch of sorrow in his voice. “Just now outside, my father told me how fair and strict this grand exam would be. He said these two divine beasts would see through everything, that no cheating—no matter if it involved ghosts or gods—could escape their eyes. But he never imagined that once we entered this hall, even the perceptive Bi'an and Fu Yuan would aid in the cheating. He always believed the literary test of the metropolitan exam was impartial.”
“No whispering.” An examiner said impassively.
Zhang You ignored the examiner and smiled faintly. “That’s why your father’s essays were renowned in the capital back then, driving up the price of paper. His writing came from genuine feeling and substance, unlike ours—these clerks’ empty eight-legged essays.”
Chen Shi sighed softly and murmured, “A juren from a humble background—what can he compete with the great clans on? Take my father: he was deceived his whole life.”
He recalled how Chen Tang had forbidden him from bringing any weapons, so earnest and cautious. He couldn’t help feeling sorrow for the juren in the other exam halls. They believed the literary test was a fair contest. They might not match the clan heirs in the martial test, but in the literary one, they were confident they wouldn’t fall short.
They had studied diligently by dim lamps, believing the sages’ teachings could be applied: cultivate the self, regulate the family, govern the state, pacify the world. How naive, like scholars straight from the books!
Young Master Xiao turned to look at him. “That’s why we need the True King to reclaim the court and set things right. Chen Jieyuan, Brother Zhang You—you should aid me!”
Chen Shi replied indifferently, “Have you washed your neck clean yet?”
Young Master Xiao sighed, a hint of resentment in his tone. “Your prejudice against me runs so deep.”
Chen Shi looked at his own exam sheet. The clerk ignored their words, pen flying in ornate parallel prose—grandiloquent but utterly hollow.
“And his understanding of the classics is wrong too. Thunder in the heavens, great strength. The gentleman treads not on the unritual. He thinks it means thunder in the sky, so the gentleman avoids unritual acts. What nonsense.”
Chen Shi sneered inwardly. *This line clearly means: when facing the ignorant of rites, first summon thunder in the sky to prevent their primordial spirit or nascent soul from emerging, then surge one’s qi and blood to strengthen the body, use martial might to strike them down, and trample the unritual beneath your feet! This is the sage teaching us how to fight, how to defeat our foes.*
He sighed inwardly and murmured, “They just don’t want me topping the list, stripping me of my chance to shine.”
His enthusiasm waned. With the thirteen clans controlling the court and twisting the sages’ teachings, what good would his writing do, no matter how fine? The top three in the literary test were decided in this hall, but he wouldn’t take first.
The three clerks soon finished their sheets, placing them before the trio and weighting them with paperweights. After an hour, the examiners collected the papers, finally allowing them to leave the hall.
Chen Shi stepped out of the Ministry of Rites, the sunlight outside blinding.
Chen Tang approached, urgency in his step but his demeanor still calm and unhurried. He drawled slowly, “How did it go?”
Chen Shi kept a straight face. “Not bad. It was a topic Scholar Zhu covered.”
Chen Tang visibly relaxed and laughed. “If Scholar Zhu covered it, no problem. His talent is exceptional. When he taught me, I thought he was just an ordinary ghost scholar. But from county exams to provincial, metropolitan, and palace trials, I advanced triumphantly with few rivals.”
Father and son walked and talked. Chen Shi said, “Scholar Zhu’s learning is so profound. He taught you, Fifth Uncle, me—Grandpa probably studied under him too. Why did he hang himself outside Huangpo Village?”
Chen Tang paused slightly. He had pondered this, but had no answer.
Scholar Zhu’s talent was immense, his strength great, versed in profound arts. A supreme expert like him wouldn’t take his own life. Yet he had hanged himself.
At the time, he was merely a xiucai, not top scholar or anything. What had despaired him so utterly that he chose death?
“I don’t know,” said Chen Tang.
Chen Shi replied, “I didn’t know before, but after taking this exam today, I finally do.”
Chen Tang looked at his son’s profile and felt he had matured greatly.
That afternoon, the martial exam took place on the drill grounds of the Divine Mechanism Battalion outside the capital.
The Divine Mechanism Battalion’s drill grounds were a firing range for guns and cannons. This was the arts exam, testing spells.
Targets were set on the mountains east of the capital: ten-li, twenty-li, forty-li, sixty-li, eighty-li, and hundred-li targets.
Each distance had twelve targets, each marked with a number, with soldiers standing by with flags. A hit raised a yellow flag; a miss, a white one.
The goal was simple: from the altar on the drill grounds, within the time of one incense stick, hit all six targets successively, unlimited attempts, any spell allowed.
Chen Shi arrived at the grounds. From afar, the ten-li targets were pinpricks; ordinary eyes couldn’t see them. Only talismans like Heavenly Eye or Divine Eye Talismans would do.
The twenty-li targets required a nascent soul to discern.
To see the hundred-li ones, likely only a primordial spirit could. And the spell limit for Incarnation Realm cultivators was precisely a hundred li away.
But this arts exam tested not just range but accuracy too. A spell reaching a hundred li was hard to control precisely—a real challenge even for Incarnation Realm juren.
Without a nascent soul, even the ten-li target was impossible.
The literary exam had been draconian, but the martial one lax: crowds of capital citizens packed the outer grounds to watch the spectacle.
Many juren preceded Chen Shi in the arts exam. Twelve stood at numbered altars, holding their breath, summoning nascent souls or golden cores to unleash spells.
Their spells varied: wind, fire, water, thunder; blade, spear, sword, halberd; even ghost control or object-moving arts, the unorthodox paths.
Some talisman masters drew in midair, displaying superb talisman skill, spellcasting via symbols—dazzling.
Of the twelve juren, only five hit the first target, two the second. None reached the third; the rest were unthinkable.
After this group, another twelve took the altars. The chief examiner lit an incense, letting them unleash freely.
Among these twelve, one cultivated Flying Head Technique. His head suddenly flew from his neck, trailing throat bones and heart-liver, soaring through the air—eye-catching.
Chen Shi drew near, tiptoeing to peer into the headless body. After head and organs flew out, no blood flowed; the other organs still moved.
“Don’t fly too far—watch out for others’ spells hitting you!” an kind-hearted examiner warned. Midway, the heart-liver dropped, struck by some spell.
Heart-liver fell, then the head. The headless body lurched up, dashing toward them—tens of zhang away—when suddenly blood gushed from the neck like a fountain. He collapsed with a thud, dead.
The crowd outside gasped, murmurs rising. Divine Mechanism soldiers raised “Silence” signs. The next group of arts examinees proceeded more cautiously: Chen Shi’s batch.
Soon, all twelve hit the ten-li target, drawing stares from the chief examiners.
Then they hit the second, sparking an uproar. Examiners hurriedly checked their backgrounds—no clan heirs.
Two missed the third; three more the fourth.
Examiners gaped; the crowd whispered. Normally, poor juren were clan heirs’ foils. Even the talented hit only the first or second. The third? Forget it!
But this group mostly hit the third!
Then uproar from the crowd: four hit the fifth! “Those four are at nascent soul perfection!”
Examiners stared in shock.
These twelve juren’s cultivation arts were no worse than clan heirs’—rivaling core disciples’! The remaining four unleashed spells, trails of light streaking toward the hundred-li target!
Moments later, soldiers at the targets raised white flags—all misses.
The four juren looked glum, but examiners were stunned. Their spells fell short of the hundred-li target—but not by much! These nascent soul juren bordered on Incarnation Realm strength!
Their arts were extraordinary!
The twelve stepped down, passing Chen Shi and saluting. “Instructor!” “Instructor!” “Instructor, take the top spot!”
Chen Shi nodded to each, puzzled inwardly. *Why call me instructor? Did they join Heavenly Court too? No—they joined the Red Mountain Hall Talisman Society. I’m temporary instructor there, drawing fifty taels silver a month.*
Then another twelve ascended.
Uproar erupted anew. Ten-li: all hits! Twenty-li: all hits!
Thirty-li: all hits!
This group outdid the last—even five hit the fifth!
The sixth was Incarnation Realm territory; even they couldn’t pierce a hundred li. They descended, saluting Chen Shi in passing.
“Instructor!” “Instructor!” “Instructor for three top honors!”
Chen Shi watched them go.
Succeeding juren brought wave after wave of shocks: nascent soul realm, yet rivaling Incarnation experts!
And they were rural folk, no backing—farmers’ sons or petty tradesmen, themselves talisman makers, alchemists, carpenters: base callings.
They even surpassed many minor clan heirs!
Worse for examiners: there were too many such juren!
In the past, one or two rural standouts were rare, destined for key posts. Now dozens—and the number swelled rapidly!
Descending, they always passed Chen Shi, crying “Instructor!”
“These are the juren Chen Shi brought to the capital!” someone exclaimed.
Chen Shi was deeply moved. This thrilled him more than his own metropolitan topper or three honors!
These companions who’d traveled with him to the capital weren’t buried in this exam; they hadn’t failed their elders’ hopes. This metropolitan exam would shine in history for these poor scholars’ brilliance!
He smiled. What joy in one top scholar?
Leading two or three hundred juren to all pass as jinshi, shoving clan heirs aside—that was the thrill!
Then he sensed eyes on his back. He turned, meeting Young Master Xiao’s gaze—icy, hostile, wary, no longer conciliatory.
Chen Shi smiled faintly, ignoring him.
Suddenly, uproar everywhere. Juren, examiners, and crowds surged to their feet.
Some cast Heavenly Eye spells, summoned bright mirrors; others sprouted third eyes on foreheads or eyes on palms, peering at the distant slope.
“Someone hit the hundred-li target!” “Not a clan member!”
“A girl—stunningly beautiful!” the crowd cried.
Chen Shi looked: Hu Feifei stood dashing on the altar, smug. *Sister Feifei sneaked in?*
Chen Shi blinked. *Did Uncle Hu really know capital bigwigs to stuff her in?*
Finally, Chen Shi’s group: Young Master Xiao and Zhang You included.
Chen Shi took Altar Two, gazing at the distant targets. He invoked Heavenly Eye; the hundred-li ones sharpened. Young Master Xiao on One, Zhang You on Three.
Suddenly, Young Master Xiao raised a hand. Firelight filled the sky, sweeping forth, incinerating Targets One and Two en route, bulldozing to the sixth a hundred li away!
On the slope, twelve yellow flags rose.
Young Master Xiao descended coolly. “Chen Shi, I hit them for you. No need to bother.”
Chen Shi eyed his back, killing intent blazing so fiercely Young Master Xiao tensed, back rigid, cold sweat beading. His gait twisted unnaturally.
“Proxies don’t count.”
The Ministry of Rites Vice Minister’s voice boomed. “Chen Shi, retest.”
The shout dispersed Chen Shi’s killing aura. He glanced at the Vice Minister, then raised a hand. Countless pebbles whirled skyward, howling off to pierce every target a hundred li away—none missing!
Chen Shi turned and descended. On the slope, yellow flags rose one by one.