“Tick-tock, tick-tock.”
Time passed slowly.
Xie Bing approached the exam with the determination to fill every blank, even if she had to fabricate answers, remaining calm, collected, and serious.
The information she had memorized these past days transformed into countless block characters in her mind, rapidly assembling into combinations.
Xie Bing took a deep breath. Her pen moved as if guided by a divine force.
First, she answered the first question: “The High Tang poet Li Bai is known as the ‘Immortal of Poetry’, and the Mid Tang poet Du Fu is the ‘Historian of Poetry’. The eras they lived in were different…”
Stroke by stroke, elegant and graceful characters recorded her understanding and insights.
She was completely focused, unaware that as she answered diligently, a silvery light flickered gently within her Spiritual Sea of Consciousness. The silver glow, thick as liquid, gradually grew and expanded.
After writing a full four A4-sized pages, Xie Bing let out a long breath and looked at the “Bonus Question”.
The name “Bonus Question” itself held profound meaning.
Generally speaking, “Bonus Questions” were optional—you could answer them or not.
However, Xie Bing immediately recalled that the System’s task reward had two parts. If she gave up now, she would definitely regret it.
At first glance, the question seemed very difficult, but upon careful analysis, Xie Bing found her train of thought immediately:
Lu Xun’s statement was actually a negative sentence, indicating he was arguing with someone, saying Tao Yuanming was not entirely serene and tranquil. In that case, she just needed to answer from the opposite perspective.
Xie Bing had brushed Tao Yuanming’s “Withered Chrysanthemum” a hundred times. Her understanding of him deepened, and her Sword Intent grew stronger, allowing her to grasp deeper meanings.
Thinking this, a slight smile appeared at the corner of Xie Bing’s lips. Stray hairs fell beside her ears. She re-tied her hair with the Frost Hair Ribbon, and then calmly began her answer.
— Although Tao Yuanming’s poetry is primarily plain and natural, he also possesses a bold and vigorous side. Lu Xun called it the “Vajra Angry-Eye Style”. Besides “I pluck chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, and leisurely gaze at the southern mountains,” Tao Yuanming also wrote lines like, “Jingwei carries wood and stone, to fill the blue sea. Xingtian brandishes shield and battle-axe, his fierce will forever remains,” proving he wasn’t floating on air day and night…
[System: Examination time is over. Stop writing, put down your brushes. Everyone stand!]
Xie Bing was not flustered. This time, she had even finished early!
[System: Assessment complete. Your score: 99 points. Grade: Excellent.]
Xie Bing was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected such a high score. It seemed that cultivating Sword Intent and knowledge-based questions were actually mutually reinforcing processes.
[Dispensing assessment reward: Stepping into Foundation Establishment Third Layer! Skill Book upgraded to Night Glow Book, promoted to an offensive Magical Artifact, effect amplified by fifty percent!]
Just when Xie Bing thought it was over, the System fell silent for a long moment, then transmitted a soul-stirring announcement:
——[Spiritual Sense Refinement of “Demeanor” complete. Unlocking High Antiquity First Phase, Second Segment “Pre-Qin and Han”. Unlocking Mid Antiquity Third Phase “Wei-Jin and Sui-Tang”. Flow between two points now possible. Unlocking Divine Consciousness — Literary Galaxy.]
A surge of awe suddenly surged in Xie Bing’s heart.
Moonlight streamed down, enveloping Xie Bing, bringing a cold, chill sensation.
She closed her eyes, her Divine Consciousness immersing itself into her Sea of Consciousness.
A great river of silver.
Insignificant as she was, she stood beside the Milky Way, reaching out to brush past the leaping silver block characters.
This river shimmered with silver light.
Its flow was countless transparent streams of Spiritual Energy, just like the transparent radiance she emitted during her Spirit Root test.
This river was her Divine Consciousness.
Ahead lay a patch of gray dense fog. Xie Bing walked within the gray fog. An ancient, eternal melancholy and sigh surged within her heart.
This river was not just her Divine Consciousness; it was the very origin of Huaxia literature.
Or perhaps, it was the entire materialized literary history of Huaxia.
She broke through layers upon layers of dense fog, finally arriving at the very source.
Brilliant, magnificent silver light flickered, dazzling and enchanting. Xie Bing took a deep breath, crouched down, and casually scooped at the origin of the Milky Way.
Silver sand-like river water slipped through her fingers. Within this long river were poems and verses.
She saw silver block characters assemble into: “Long and arduous is the road of cultivation; I shall search above and below.” On the banks of the Miluo River, Qu Yuan faced the iron cavalry of the Qin army, casting himself into the river in grief and fury.
She saw the river flow endlessly forward. Cao Cao, ancient and straightforwardly sorrowful, chanted: “The old steed in the stable still dreams of galloping a thousand li; the noble man in his twilight years never abandons his ambition.”
She raised her head. Through the heavy veils of mist, she seemed to see the dying Lu You shouting before his death: “When the Royal Master reclaims the Central Plains in the north, remember to tell your father at the family sacrifice.”
She saw Cao Xueqin, destitute and impoverished, yet still wielding his brush: “Pages full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears; all say the author’s mad, who tastes the flavor inside?”
She saw…
She saw too much, too much…
Yet, everything returned to gray silence and dimness.
Standing on the banks of the vast Milky Way, her vision suddenly blurred with heat.
…
The Literary Galaxy flowed gently, shimmering without end.
As long as the river didn’t stop, Xie Bing’s Divine Consciousness grew stronger day by day.
She hadn’t slept for several days straight. Propping her chin on one hand, her head kept nodding downwards.
Her deskmate Ming Wen mirrored her posture, dozing off together.
In a daze, she heard Yu Yan pose a question.
“‘The doors of the esoteric are truly there; do not wander recklessly. Cultivation does not happen overnight; how can the Dao be lightly attained?’ Xuan Yao, what do you make of this?”
Xuan Yao was called upon by Yu Yan. She immediately smiled lightly and replied, “This is advising cultivators to train solidly, step by step, is it not?”
“Indeed. The path of cultivation is long. Every stage of Spiritual Power is a gate of death. Although the twenty of you can establish your foundation, the mountain of enlightenment towers high. It is very possible you may not progress an inch in your entire lives, at most extending your lifespan to a hundred years before returning to the yellow earth…”
Xuan Yao’s voice was crisp and pleasant, like wind chimes amidst the clouds: “How could that be? The path of cultivation is comfortable and free. How could one return to the yellow earth?”
She asked naively, seemingly puzzled as to why one would stagnate at a certain realm.
Yu Yan’s red hair danced lightly. His brow held a faint hint of anger, “Xuan Yao…”
Though puzzled, Xuan Yao was extremely sensitive to Yu Yan’s moods. She immediately hung her head, pitifully saying, “Perfected Yu Yan, Xuan Yao was wrong. Please don’t be angry, okay?”
Acting coquettishly, she lowered her head and admitted her mistake.
The dancing red hair paused slightly. The fire in Yu Yan’s heart was extinguished just like that. Finally, he only shook his head with a complex gaze.
“Born with Five Spirit Roots, you are doted upon by the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps you cannot understand the hardship of cultivation… Forget it, forget it…”
Xuan Yao’s apology quelled the anger in Yu Yan’s heart. But Xie Bing was deep in thought.
Xuan Yao was very much like a high-ranking official asking, “Why don’t they eat meat?”
As the true Daughter of Heaven’s Dao, she lived up to her name. She could cultivate to the top simply by breathing and drinking water, easily skyrocketing in cultivation. Now she had already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage Third Layer, soon to break through into the Fasting Stage.
In her past life, the reason Xuan Yao could so easily defeat her blackened self together with her Ex-husband Brother was because her cultivation had already stood at the pinnacle.
But now, among the twenty of them, someone still couldn’t advance an inch.
In the classroom, a very subtle disharmony appeared. Someone immediately looked towards a youth in the very corner, their eyes full of malice.
After Perfected Yu Yan finished his lecture, other highly respected Perfected would teach them other subjects. Generally, this Foundation Establishment Class would end within half a month.
During the break, Xie Bing walked around the Star-Plucking Terrace Academy to relax and saw a group of people gathered ahead.
“It’s been half a month. How are you still at Foundation Establishment Layer 1? Could it really be as Master Perfected Yu Yan said, that you won’t progress an inch in your life, and just end up as a handful of yellow earth?”
They were disciples under Yu Yan of Crimson Flame Peak. The leader was Fifth Senior Brother Jin Huo.
He was also the junior brother of Yan Lixuan, whom Xie Bing had made cry last time.
“Hahahaha…” Someone burst into laughter, their laughter mocking.
“I say, it’s truly a waste of time on him. We won’t be people of the same level in the future. We’re here to seek the Great Dao. He’s just a wild wolf; sooner or later someone will skin him to make a wolf-fur robe.”
“Tsk tsk, you really are a waste. Sharing a class for Foundation Establishment with you is truly a disgrace!”
From where Xie Bing stood, she saw a thin and weak youth surrounded in the center.
The youth had a fair, oval face, red lips and white teeth, and ink-black hair. The white robe he wore had large patches of deep-blue lightning patterns, indicating he was a disciple of Thunder Extinction Peak of Taixu Sect.
However, unlike the others, he had a long white tail behind him. Because he was being surrounded and humiliated, it now hung limply down like its master, the fluffy tail wilting.
Xie Bing had an impression of this youth. He was simply too distinctive. He had also been picked up by the Perfected of Thunder Extinction Peak. They said he was naturally useless trash, and a white wolf at that, expelled by the Wolf Clan and fox groups.
His circumstances were actually similar to Xie Bing’s. The difference was, his Shifu treated him well enough, but in this Cultivation World where the strong were revered, strength was still paramount.
It had taken the youth decades just to barely establish his foundation, even longer than Xie Bing. Compared to these Martial Brothers, he was even more trash-like, so everyone looked down on him.
Under normal logic, he was probably exactly the type Perfected Yu Yan described—someone who couldn’t advance an inch in their lifetime.
No, he wasn’t even human.
He was a member of the Demon Race.
“Youngest Junior Brother, no… considering your age, we should probably call you Senior Brother,” Jin Huo shook his head with a tsk. “But seeing that it took you so many years just to build your foundation, how could you deserve to be Senior Brother?”
“I’ll have a little discussion with Brother Su Zhao. You don’t mind, do you?”
The youth remained silent, like a wounded lone wolf, head drooping, licking his wounds alone.
A savage smile emerged at the corner of Jin Huo’s lips. He raised his palm, and a ball of pure fire abruptly appeared in his hand!
The fire directly enveloped Su Zhao, piercing into his abdominal cavity!
Cultivators had different Spiritual Roots, so their cultivation directions and dharma formulas differed. The Five Elements countered each other. Crimson Flame Peak’s fire overcame thunder. There were many ways cultivators could torment others. Using the fire that countered Su Zhao’s thunder attribute to torture him would cause even more unendurable pain.
As expected, Su Zhao was struck to the ground by the flames, curling into a ball. His white wolf tail curled up with its master. He clutched his stomach in agony, beads of sweat oozing on his pale forehead, yet he didn’t utter a single sound.
“Tsk tsk, Senior Brother, you’re no good, too weak.”
Jin Huo laughed loudly, stepping one foot onto Su Zhao’s back. “Quick, call me ‘Father’, and Father will let you go.”
Su Zhao suddenly raised his head. Ferocious eyes full of hatred stared back as he ground out fiercely:
“Dream on!”
Jin Huo sneered coldly, shaking his head, “The son isn’t obedient. Watch how Father teaches you a lesson.”
A “bang” sounded from his palm as another, even denser and more refined ball of fire appeared.
The flames leaped lightly, about to envelop the youth’s body. But a little yellow book floated in mid-air, blocking the fire.
The fiery light blazed and expanded, yet it could not advance an inch, nor could it burn the little yellow book in the slightest.
Jin Huo roared furiously, “Who dares to stop me?”
A junior brother gently tugged at his sleeve, “B-Brother, does this book look… a little familiar to you?”
“How would I be familiar with a book?” Jin Huo snorted.
“Th-Think again…” the junior brother weakly prompted.
The leg Jin Huo used to step on Su Zhao froze instantly.
In that instant, memories flooded his mind: the glorious incident of Senior Brother being beaten to tears by that waste Object Cultivator Xie Bing, crying all the way back to Crimson Flame Peak.
—That yellow book!!
His eyes widened in disbelief. He whipped his head around, meeting the expressionless gaze of Xie Bing.
Jin Huo stumbled back a step, staggering: “!!!”
Why was she everywhere?
Jin Huo took a deep breath. “You just got lucky that day, that’s all! Don’t think you can win just by relying on one book. Let me tell you, in this world, Sword Cultivators are king!”
The junior brother weakly reminded again: “Xie Bing can also use a sword.”
He choked for a moment, then stiffened his neck and continued, “So what?! Let me tell you, Xie Bing, mind your own business! You’re just an Object Cultivator. Fighting me would be seeking your own death!”
Xie Bing couldn’t be bothered with him. Who wanted to fight him?
“Perfected Yu Yan said that any form of fighting or brawling is prohibited within the Star-Plucking Terrace Academy. Violators will be severely punished.”
“…So what?”
He suddenly had a very bad feeling.
“So, I’m not fighting. I’m just returning it to you.”