On the Path to the Great Dao

In the midst of their conversation, Fu Leisheng had already finished writing an eight-legged essay. Though it was also over two hundred characters, it was perfectly structured—covering the introduction, elaboration, exposition, entry point, lead stock, middle stock, rear stock, and concluding stock. Concise yet profound, exquisitely crafted, with ornate parallel prose that rolled off the tongue.

Tian Huaiyi praised it as marvelous, blew dry the ink, and said, "The county magistrate just died, and now Xinxian County has no magistrate. This makes cheating on the county exam much easier. By the time a new magistrate is appointed from above, this matter will be long over, and no one will bother investigating."

Fu Leisheng replied, "It's just for scholar status—who's going to check?"

Tian Huaiyi continued, "There's also Shen Yusheng. His literary fortune is flourishing, blessed by the true god with a Divine Embryo. I'm afraid it'll draw a lot of envious eyes. Master, you must protect him well. His future is boundless. He doesn't need to take the county exam anymore—the lowest he'll achieve is juren status."

Fu Leisheng nodded, looking troubled. "The provincial exam is only in autumn. Only after passing as a juren will he be safe from having his Divine Embryo cut out. We need to protect him until then. Fortunately, the Zhao family has fallen."

Hearing this, Tian Huaiyi also smiled. "Fortunately, the Zhao family has fallen. If they hadn't, Junior Brother Shen's Divine Embryo definitely wouldn't be safe!"

Though Xinxian County still had some influential families, none wielded power on the scale of the Zhao household.

The new provincial governor hadn't yet taken office and was still chopping off heads from the Zhao clan—there were so many it hadn't finished yet. With so many aristocratic clans in the provincial capital, they were all gripped by fear for their own survival right now, with no spare attention for digging up a Divine Embryo in the countryside.

Recalling the past, Fu Leisheng said, "Back in the day, our county produced a supreme Divine Embryo that transcended first-grade—a Congenital Dao Embryo, they called it. I heard it got dug out by someone."

Tian Huaiyi replied, "I know about that too. He took the county exam the same year as me. During the major exam, the true god descended upon him. I was still channeling my true qi, trying to unleash a spell, when I heard the clamor—a kid from the countryside had received the true god's blessing and been granted a Divine Embryo. It caused quite a stir. Later, I heard that child from the countryside couldn't keep his Divine Embryo and died." Fu Leisheng sighed. "I heard about it too. Word is, in the literary exam, that kid scored first out of all fifty provinces on the eight-legged essay. Everyone who read his policy discourse praised it to the skies. In the martial exam, he broke the record too. The range of his spell release exceeded the limit of the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword, reaching thirty-six zhang! Before him, the farthest record for the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword was only twenty-seven zhang! He pushed it forward by nine zhang single-handedly! That record still stands unbroken."

Tian Huaiyi asked, "Does Master still remember that kid's name?"

Fu Leisheng shook his head. "It's been too long—who remembers?"

Tian Huaiyi said, "Several examiners were right next to me, and I overheard them discussing it. They said that child's Congenital Dao Embryo could fetch a good price—folks in the western capital would surely bid high. Funny coincidence, too—the one who got the Congenital Dao Embryo was named Chen Shi."

He waved Chen Shi's answer sheet and laughed. "Same name as our rebel junior brother."

This coincidence left even Fu Leisheng clicking his tongue in amazement. "What kind of heaven-defying talent must that Chen Shi have had to earn a Congenital Dao Embryo? If this Chen Shi has even half his talent, the Wencai Academy will be burning incense in thanks."

He shook his head and turned to leave, only to pause abruptly.

"Huaiyi, you must protect Shen Yusheng—just like I protected you back then!"

Fu Leisheng's voice was stern. "It's hard for noble sons to emerge from poor families, and even harder to keep them safe. That's how the world works. But no matter what, we have to try to protect them—otherwise, there's truly no hope!"

Tian Huaiyi's expression turned solemn as he bowed. "Master, rest assured. Huaiyi will give it his all to ensure Junior Brother Shen's safety!"

The divine descent this time caused no small stir. Tian Huaiyi ordered that no one was to leak Shen Yusheng's name or the grade of his Divine Embryo to the outside.

Yet by afternoon, nearly the entire Xinxian County knew that a child named Shen Yusheng had received the true god's descent during the literary exam, been granted a Divine Embryo—a first-grade one called the Literary Prosperity Mysterious Embryo, on par with the Purple Jade Divine Embryo.

This infuriated Tian Huaiyi. He summoned the examiners and berated them, demanding to know who had leaked the information, but no one admitted it.

Though he knew it was one of their own, he had no proof and could only suppress the matter for now.

The next day was the martial exam, held at the Martial Training Ground outside the city.

The martial exam was simple: without using a Divine Embryo, students had to condense true qi into sword qi and pierce a straw mat hanging ten zhang away to pass.

However, they needed to execute all six sword styles.

Chen Shi and the other Wencai Academy students arrived at the exam ground and prepared. Outside the martial exam area, crowds thronged—family members of students had come to watch, along with private tutors.

Since cheating was hard in the martial exam, it was much laxer, with no issue of outsiders spectating.

On the Martial Training Ground, only three in ten students could fully release all six sword styles, and even fewer could reach ten zhang out.

Most struggled to complete the six styles, let alone reach ten zhang with accuracy. Plenty hit a mat, but often it was someone else's in the row.

Seeing this, Chen Shi relaxed.

He'd thought his haphazardly learned Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword wouldn't pass, nowhere near standard. But now it seemed far better than most students.

"My martial exam score won't be outstanding, but with a good enough literary exam, I can still easily pass as a scholar!"

Soon it was Hu Feifei's turn. The little fox demon was formidable: thrust, slash, wipe, lift, cloud, chop—the six styles executed to perfection. Sword formula, hand seals, posture—all impeccable, and elegantly graceful too.

Her sword qi whistled through the air with a piercing shriek; the moment the sound rang out, the mat ten zhang away was pierced!

Behind the first row of mats were others, spaced one zhang apart, but most students' sword qi couldn't break more than the first. These mats bore few sword marks.

Hu Feifei's sword qi punched through seventeen mats in succession before its power finally ebbed.

Tian Huaiyi and the examiners stared in shock, all turning to look at her.

Sword qi of such power—even Divine Embryo Realm cultivators might not manage it. It approached the utmost limit of the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword!

"Wencai Academy—truly a cradle of talents."

One examiner stroked his beard with a smile. "Congratulations, Lord Tian."

Tian Huaiyi laughed. "It's all thanks to my master's guidance—what does it have to do with me?"

He gazed out at the field, where Chen Shi had stepped up to the mats, eager to begin.

Tian Huaiyi peered from afar and quickly noted Chen Shi's shaky fundamentals—the key scoring points. Clearly, Chen Shi hadn't trained specifically.

"The starting stance for the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword is off, posture's wrong too, sword formula half-baked, movements not fluid enough."

He shook his head to himself. "In this martial exam, only Hu Feifei stands out. Shen Yusheng isn't participating—he's already got his Divine Embryo, no need. He can prep for the autumn provincial exam. For Master's Wencai Academy to produce two supremely talented students is already impressive..."

Fu Leisheng immediately spotted Chen Shi's flaws too and couldn't help but wonder: "Could someone else have slain the county magistrate and his wife that night?"

Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed from the field, startling many students mid-channeling. Some dissipated their hard-gathered sword qi in shock; others trembled, sending sword qi flying wildly—nearly killing a few students.

Tian Huaiyi whipped his head around to see a sword qi streak through the air, exploding the front mats in its path. It howled with thunderous roar, piercing all twenty-seven mats across thirty-six zhang in an instant!

Tian Huaiyi's heart pounded wildly, his pupils contracting.

Ten years ago, the top scorer across fifty provinces had unleashed sword qi to thirty-six zhang, setting an unbreakable record. Thus, the martial exam only prepared twenty-seven mats, with the twenty-seventh at thirty-six zhang. No one had broken it since.

Until today!

He shot to his feet, staring anxiously toward thirty-six zhang and bellowing at the supervising bailiffs, "Run! Get running! See how far that sword qi really goes!"

The supervising bailiffs were dumbfounded but bolted toward the twenty-seventh mat upon hearing him.

Outside the Martial Training Ground, Fu Leisheng grew urgent too, shouting at the bailiffs, "Galloping Horse Talisman! Use the Galloping Horse Talisman!"

The bailiffs hastily activated their Galloping Horse Talismans but still couldn't catch the sword qi.

Tian Huaiyi surged forward with all his might, chasing after it.

This was a record-breaking strike—they had to precisely measure the utmost limit of this sword qi's power, exactly how far it went!

But just as he started, a gust swept through. At sixty or seventy zhang away, a massive tree's canopy suddenly lost half, countless branches and leaves raining down.

Tian Huaiyi halted, fury erupting, veins bulging on his forehead. "Wind-Fixing Talisman! Where's the Wind-Fixing Talisman? Who embezzled it?"

The Wind-Fixing Talisman was essential for the martial exam, drawn on wooden plaques. Before the exam, a talisman master had to retrace them with black dog blood and cinnabar to activate their power.

The plaques were staked around the field to stabilize the wind; otherwise, a strong gust could deflect students' sword qi—endangering others and skewing scores.

Chen Shi's sword qi had been thrown off by the sudden gale, veering skyward—no way to judge where its power ran out.

"My lord, it's not their fault."

One examiner hurried up to Tian Huaiyi and whispered, "There aren't many Wind-Fixing Talismans to begin with—the farthest they can stabilize is thirty-six zhang."

Tian Huaiyi came to his senses and nodded lightly, his anger fading. "I was too hasty."

Just then, another thunder-like boom rang out—Chen Shi's second sword qi unleashed, its whoosh laced with rolling thunder, hurtling forward at tremendous speed!

Tian Huaiyi didn't pause to speak, charging ahead—and realizing with a jolt inside: "That was Junior Brother Chen's sword qi!"

He hadn't seen who launched the first one; only now did he spot it was Chen Shi.

This second sword qi's speed was less than the first—the first was a thrust style, the fastest in the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword. This one was a slash style.

Unlike the chop style, which split an object down the middle, the slash style sheared it across its cross-section—like decapitation severing the neck, or waist-slashing cutting at the midsection.

The slash style carried rotational force; slower than thrust but vastly more powerful.

Even at full sprint, Tian Huaiyi couldn't catch this sword qi, alarming him: "This sword qi's power is ridiculous! Can't catch it, absolutely can't... Activate the Galloping Horse Talisman!"

He paused, triggering his own.

At the same time, an absurd feeling arose: "This isn't a life-or-death battlefield—just a students' martial exam—and here I am using a Galloping Horse Talisman!"

Outside the field, Fu Leisheng too sprinted desperately after the sword qi.

Both were dead set on witnessing the limit of Chen Shi's strike, running flat out. Tian Huaiyi's Galloping Horse Talisman gave him greater speed, while the ahead slash-style sword qi began to weaken and slow.

Fu Leisheng and Tian Huaiyi rejoiced inwardly—they finally overtook it, only to see the sword qi travel another dozen zhang before dissipating.

The two arrived one after the other at the dissipation point, smiles on their faces. They turned back—and the smiles froze.

They had run beyond the Martial Training Ground, a dozen zhang outside, roughly eighty zhang from where Chen Shi had launched.

*Whooosh—*

Another whoosh pierced precisely between them—a wipe-style sword qi, exquisite and precise like a snake flicking its tongue, with a narrow attack range.

But its precision made it denser, thus faster and farther-flying.

A *thud* sounded behind them—the sword qi, deflected slightly by wind, pierced a tree trunk clean through.

"Eighty-four zhang," Tian Huaiyi exhaled heavily.

Another sword qi followed—this a lift style.

It rose from the ground, exploding earth in its wake like punctured balloons.

Several examiners and bailiffs chasing this way nearly got bisected from below, dodging frantically.

"Sixty-two zhang," Fu Leisheng said woodenly.

Next came the cloud style, sword qi spinning like a wheel.

"Seventy-one zhang." Tian Huaiyi's eye twitched.

Finally, Chen Shi pinched the sword formula for chop style. Sword after sword qi chained forward like a relay, power building relentlessly!

The ground cracked ceaselessly under it. With the grandest strike at the end, the field's barricade stakes shattered to splinters.

"Seventy zhang." Fu Leisheng's brows knotted in a frown.

With all six styles of the Noon-Midnight Evil-Slaying Sword complete, Chen Shi awkwardly mimicked the other students, bowing disciple-style to the examiners' seats before withdrawing. But the seats were empty—every examiner had run off.

"Master, what do we do?"

Tian Huaiyi's mouth twitched in a smile-not-smile, cry-not-cry expression. "He surpassed the top scorer from ten years ago by so much. Should we report honestly... or fudge his scores down a bit?"

If not fudged down, this performance would stun even the western capital into investigating. One probe, and they'd uncover Chen Shi's literary exam cheating—those policy discourses weren't his own!

Then, master and disciple alike would end up on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

Fu Leisheng murmured, "Even fudged down a bit, it'll still be earth-shattering. How much do you fudge it by?"

Tian Huaiyi's head spun.

The record was broken by too much—cheating to downplay it would be impossible!

End of chapter.