At the age of nine, he passed the imperial examination

  Before one's eyes, it has already reached the tenth day of the first month. On this day, the Western Mystic Mountain is covered with heavy snow, but the top of Moganshan and the surrounding twelve peaks where the nine palaces are built still have a lush green appearance, just like the scenery of the southern country.

  On this day at dawn, the great bell of Qingyin Pavilion in Taishang Daode Palace rang 12 times to mark the passage of time, and with a blink of an eye, another year has passed.

  At this time, the sky was just brightening, and the morning mist had not yet dispersed. In the Taishang Dao De Palace, groups of young disciples were led by the duty Daoist priest to various examination halls, standing quietly on guard. After Zi Yang and the other eight true immortals lit incense and set up the altar, and offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, the annual examination of the Dao De sect was about to begin.

  The moral sect's annual examination system is only aimed at young disciples who have not yet cultivated the nine realms of Taiqing. Although they are called young disciples, each realm of cultivation in the Three Pure Classics has a difficulty that far surpasses the previous one, so even though the people who receive the transmission of the Dao De Sect are all those with good qualifications and destiny to cultivate the Dao, starting from the age of five or six and still having to participate in the annual examination at the age of fifty is also common.

  The examination is held in the nine courtyards of the Taishang Dao De Palace, with different disciples gathered according to their respective levels. Each group of disciples wears a different colored uniform and waits quietly for the chief examiner, the Daozhang, to call out their names.

  Entering the Taiqing Sacred Realm for the first time is actually quite easy, and even a foolish disciple can cultivate it in two or three years. Ji Ruochen was born tall and majestic, looking even taller than an average eighteen-year-old youth, so standing among a group of young Daoist children who were at most eleven or twelve years old made him exceptionally conspicuous.

  However, he was already used to such things. When he was an assistant at the Longmen Inn, what kind of grievance had he not suffered? The boss once said that a great man can yield and stretch, we may not be great men, but we must also learn to yield and stretch.

  Under the gaze of countless eyes, Ji Ruocheng was calm and composed, examining the wooden sword and talisman as if no one else was around. At this moment, Yun Feng Daozhang walked in from outside the courtyard gate and approached Ji Ruocheng with a smile, asking: "Ruocheng, you're new to the Taiqing Ling Sheng realm, and your opponents in the annual assessment have deeper skills and moral character than you; don't you feel nervous?"

  Ji Ruocheng shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. Cultivation depends on oneself, whether others cultivate quickly or slowly has nothing to do with me."

  Yun Feng nodded his head in approval, saying: "It's rare for you to have no desire for victory or defeat, which is exactly what one should strive for in cultivating the Tao." As he spoke, he looked around and saw that there were only children standing in the courtyard. He lowered his voice and patted Ji Ruochen's shoulder, saying: "Focus on your studies and don't worry too much. I, your senior brother, was born with a dull talent, and it wasn't until I was 49 years old that I finally passed the annual examination. Although you started cultivating late, your progress is much faster than that of ordinary disciples. As long as you continue to work hard in the future, your achievements will be boundless."

  After Dusty nodded in response, Yunfeng glanced at the time and reminded him again before leaving on his own.

  This courtyard was called Chao Yin Yuan, with three rows of buildings in the front and back, the main building had four floors, located in a corner of the Tai Shang Dao De Palace, it was spacious but secluded, making it just right for young disciples to take their annual exams. Those high-level disciples who could already control powerful spells were either taking their exams in places with multiple layers of array formations and restrictions or directly moving to the back mountain. At this time, the three chief examiners were sitting on the second floor of the main building, making a final check against the name list in their hands, counting the number of disciples.

  Just as the chief examiner was about to announce the start of the exam, the door behind him opened and Ziyang True Man walked in slowly. He hastily put down the red pen and roster in his hand, rushed forward and paid his respects, saying: "I didn't know that Ziyang True Man had arrived, I couldn't welcome you, please forgive me."

  Ziyang Zhenren waved his hand with a smile and said, "Never mind, you go preside over the annual examination, I'll just go up to take a look myself."

  The head of the Daoist sect was shocked at that moment. The annual examination is an opportunity for senior true people in the sect to examine young disciples, so true people do not necessarily need to watch the annual examination of deeply cultivated disciples, and often only select their own interested annual examination to observe. Although the incense fire of the Daoist sect is prosperous, it usually takes about ten years to produce one or two outstanding talents. Ji Bingxian, Li Xuanzhen, Shang Qiushui, and Ming Yun all entered the Daoist sect nine years ago, and within a year, four disciples with great achievements appeared continuously, which was an unprecedented prosperity, but also rare. Therefore, in previous years, most true people were watching the annual examination of these four people. Disciples who have not yet reached the third level of building foundation are too low in their Daoist cultivation, and even if they watch, they can't see anything.

  Xiang today, the Purple Yang True Person took over as the master of the mountain gate. It was sudden for him to come and watch the annual examination of the Ling Sheng Realm disciples. The chief examiner, Dao Zhang, who had lived for 55 years, had never seen this before.

  Just as the surprise had not yet faded from his face, another person walked in from outside the hall. The chief examiner, who had just crawled up from the ground, thudded to the ground again and kowtowed, saying: "I didn't know that the Ta Micro Master had arrived, and I, Zhen Guan, failed to welcome you from afar. Please, Master, punish me!"

  It turned out that the one who came in was Taiwei Zhenren, and the examiner, Zhen Guan Dao Chang, was a descendant of Taiwei Zhenren. He was a direct disciple of Taiwei Zhenren's second generation. With a wave of his hand, Taiwei Zhenren said only "Get up" and walked over to greet Ziyang Zhenren, and together they ascended the stairs with their arms around each other.

  Until the two figures disappeared at the end of the stairs, Zhen Guan Dao Chang finally stood up, his heart filled with shock and uncertainty. He was just thinking about why this disciple's age test would attract two true people to watch when there was another soft sound from the temple door behind him.

  Zhen Guan was shocked and turned around like a whirlwind. As soon as he saw the newcomer clearly, he immediately knelt down on the ground and cried out: "Unable to welcome you from afar, Jing Xiao True Man, please forgive me!"

  "It doesn't matter!" Zhang Jingxiao waved his hand and went upstairs by himself. Zhen Guan was still in a state of shock, thinking to herself: "Today, Mingyun and Zhang Yinyin are also participating in the annual examination, how could Master Jingxiao not go to help his senior disciple or beloved daughter, yet he came here instead?"

  The more she looked at it, the more suspicious and uncertain she became. She slowly got up and stared blankly at the stairs.

  At this time, the temple door made another soft sound.

  Zhen Guan's whole body trembled, without lifting his head, he immediately turned around and flew down on his knees, saying: "I respectfully welcome the true person!"

  This time, Gu Shouzhēn was truly shocked! He stood there in stunned silence for a moment before turning to Ziyun Zhēnrén behind him and saying: "Ziyun Dao brother, I... just now did my foundation seem unstable?"

  Zi Yun stroked his beard and said, "The True Man of Guarding Truth has a body that is condensed with moisture, precious light that is contained without being revealed, and immortal energy that is restrained without being released. The foundation of the Tao is not just stable, in my opinion, within ten years, the True Man of Guarding Truth will again make progress."

  At this time, another person behind the two true men said: "This is really a rare sight to behold. It's hard to come by someone with such keen spiritual awareness, who can actually detect the aura of the true man guarding the truth. Hmm, it seems that he has been blessed with innate wisdom that has not yet been revealed, and belongs to the category of great talents who mature late."

  Zhen Guan Fu bowed to the ground, not daring to raise his head. Upon hearing this praise, he was both startled and delighted at the same time, and his voice even trembled: "Thank you, Yu Xuan Zhen Ren, for your praise!"

  Three true men were right in front of him, Zhen Guan didn't dare to lift his head at all. Suddenly, he heard someone say: "It's rare for the three true men to be here, let's go upstairs!" The voice was that of Yu Xū True Man.

  The distant sound of the bell woke up Zhen Guan, and he realized that the annual examination had already begun elsewhere. He stood up, feeling dizzy and unclear about what had happened, and when he looked back, he saw his two fellow disciples still kneeling on the ground, not daring to stand up.

  Zhen Guan only felt that his whole body was surging with true yuan, sometimes high and sometimes low, beating against his heart and making it fluctuate. It's necessary to know that the De Zong sect is vast and strict, he has been in the sect for nearly 50 years, but has never been so close to seven true people at the same time. All the true people have extraordinary abilities, now gathered on the floor, so close to him, after a few hours of examination, Zhen Guan said that maybe he can also get a little spiritual energy, and his cultivation will advance by a small step.

  He indulged in wild thoughts for a while, then counted on his fingers for half a day, before wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and muttering to himself: "The Eight Trigrams True Man has actually reached seven positions! Fortunately, fortunately, the Tai Yin True Man hasn't come..."

  Just as Zhen Guan's words had fallen, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him: "Can't I come too?"

  Zhen Guan fell to the ground with a thud and repeatedly said, "The disciple didn't mean it! Please forgive me, Tai Yin True Man! Forgive me!"

  In the midst of panic and shock, Zhen Guan knelt in the wrong direction, presenting his buttocks to Tai Yin True Man. Tai Yin True Man let out a heavy hum, swept his sleeve, and ascended the building on his own.

  The four upper seats had seven real people sitting, and now they saw that Tai Yin True Person had also come up. Zi Yang True Person smiled and said: "I just said that Tai Yin True Person would also come, Shou Zhen True Person, this time you have lost."

  Tai Yin snorted and said: "All seven true men have arrived, how can I not come? If I don't come, how would I know if there's any mystery or trickery involved?"

  Everyone knew that Tai Yin was a bit eccentric, and they all smiled but didn't say anything. Tai Yin also didn't say much, found a seat by himself, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and quietly waited for the exam to begin.

  At this time, on the second floor, Zhen Guan had already called up two fellow disciples of Fu Kao. The three sat down in front of the stage. Zhen Guan waved away the little Taoist priest who was attending to him upstairs and lowered his voice to a whisper: "Two fellow disciples, all eight true men are on the second floor now. What do you think they're here for with such a big show?"

  One left and one right, both paths were still in a cold sweat, at this time a clever one quietly pointed to the courtyard below. Zhen Guan looked in the direction of his finger, just seeing Ji Ruochen standing under the corridor of the wing hall, among a group of children, like a crane standing out from a flock of chickens.

  "This person... is called Ji Ruochen, right?" Zhen Guan flipped through the roster in his hand and asked in a low voice: "I heard that he has good innate talent, and reached the Taiqing Zhisheng realm in just four or five months. But this still can't compare to Li Xuanzhen and others, and it's even harder to mention him in the same breath as Ji Bingxian and Boyang Shizhong back then. Why is he so highly valued by the True People?"

  His junior brother sneered and said, "True Observation Brother is really muddled. The true immortals have vast magical powers, how can we guess their thoughts? Moreover, we are just minor Daoists with limited vision, how can we see whether Ji Ruochen has any innate talent or not? I heard that all eight true immortals have taken Ji Ruochen as a disciple, what an honor! Which other disciple has ever had this experience? Now the eight true immortals don't even attend Ji Bingxian's annual assessment, but suddenly gather here together. Unless it's for Ji Ruochen, who else could it be for?"

  Suddenly enlightened, Zhen Guan said with a hint of embarrassment: "It's still my junior brother who has a long-term vision. Alas, now that all eight true immortals are watching from upstairs, I'm also afraid of making mistakes and not being able to explain myself. Since it's like this, then I have a plan. Ji Ruochen has just entered the Taiqing Ling Sheng realm, and his Dao heart is slightly inferior to that of other disciples. The competition in martial skills is under the watchful eyes of everyone, and we are powerless to intervene. However, in the four areas of explaining scriptures, drawing talismans, lecturing on the Dao, and miscellaneous techniques, let's deliberately give him a higher score, so that he can take first place in this Taiqing Ling Sheng realm exam."

  Seeing the two junior brothers nodding, Zhen Guan again reminded them that this matter is of great importance and must not be leaked out after it's over. Afterwards, Zhen Guan beckoned to a stout Taoist priest, gave him an order, and the priest walked to the balcony on the second floor, subtly mobilizing his true yuan, and sang loudly in a leisurely tone: "The annual examination... has begun!"

  The fat Taoist's voice was like a bell, reverberating in the Tidal Sound Temple, undulating ceaselessly, truly like the tides rising and falling.

  On the fourth floor, Tai Yin Zhenren suddenly opened his eyes and coldly smiled, saying: "This true observation indeed has a clever mind. Yu Xuan Zhenren's law eye is unparalleled, and his ability to see people can be said to be the first among the Dao De Zong True People."

  Even if Yu Xuan was a true person with deep moral integrity, as soon as he heard this, his face immediately turned slightly red, and the sleeves of his Taoist robe moved automatically without any wind. He was nailed to the chair, motionless, only looking up at the sky with his eyes raised, as if he had suddenly become a stone statue. After a moment, Yu Xuan slowly said: "Tai Yin's words are not correct, Zhen Guan is actually Tai Wei's re-transmitted disciple, so if you say that his gaze is like a torch, you should give credit to Tai Wei instead."

  Taiwei Zhenren sat still for a long time before slowly humming a sound. The voice was not loud, but it had the intention of wind and thunder.