Among the boys and girls in the square, twenty heard a summons in their ears. Stepping into the grand hall, they saw different numbers appearing upon the prayer mats. Daring not delay, each hurried to find their numbered spot, sat cross-legged, and began circulating their cultivation mantras.
High above, another hall hung suspended in midair, though when the examinees below occasionally glanced up, they saw only azure skies and white clouds.
Inside this aerial hall stood seven desks, six of which were occupied. The six figures wore distinctly different attire: one Daoist, two cultivators, two Confucian scholars, and one Buddhist monk. Before them, the hall below appeared completely transparent, revealing every single candidate seated cross-legged within.
These six were the evaluators for this unified examination, holding the power of life and death over the examinees' futures. Each possessed an extraordinary bearing, yet all turned a blind eye to the empty desk beside them.
Down in the lower hall, pillars of light began rising from the incense burners beside the first batch of candidates. The pillars varied in thickness, some dim and others brilliant.
Of these two pillars of light, the left represented innate bone aptitude, while the right represented karmic destiny. Before half the allotted time had passed, the light pillars of over half the candidates stopped growing, measuring only a chi or so in height. A few breaths later, only the final candidate's pillar of bone aptitude continued to rise, eventually reaching three and a half chi. Thick as a fist, it held a thread of gold swimming continuously within. His karmic destiny pillar, though two chi tall, was a dull gray with nothing remarkable about it.
Up in the aerial hall, an elder cultivator said, "Innate bones are moderate, but carry the sharp edge of metal. His rating may be floated slightly upward."
The other evaluators nodded in agreement. With no controversy, all six evaluators penned their appraisals in their respective ledgers. A stone stele stood in the center of the evaluation hall; as the six completed their notes, the candidate's name and final score appeared upon it. The final score was the average of the marks given by all evaluators.
With the chime of a bell, the examinees in the hall departed, and the next batch filed in. Li Zhi was among this second group.
Li Zhi sat down and closed his eyes. In an instant, two pillars of light surged violently from the incense burners on either side of him!
The left pillar was cyan, rolling with surging billows, rising past eight chi before coming to a halt. The right pillar was a radiant gold, shooting up nearly a full zhang! Countless specks of light then surfaced within the bright golden pillar, coalescing into a small tripod cauldron.
In the evaluation hall, the elderly Confucian scholar stroked his beard with a smile and said, "Upper grade in both innate bones and karmic destiny, and a bell or cauldron is an auspicious sign of the highest order. Even in all my years, I, Liu Sigu, have rarely seen such talent. Duke Huien has indeed sired a fine son!"
The elder cultivator remarked, "It seems Four Sages Academy will gain another excellent disciple this time. Perhaps he might even enter your tutelage, Elder Liu."
The old scholar laughed even more heartily. "You flatter me, you flatter me!"
In truth, each evaluator held a roster, clearly detailing which child from which household was slated for which immortal sect. Li Zhi, the eldest son of Duke Huien of Southern Qi, was destined for Four Sages Academy. However, rosters and available quotas did not always match; for instance, five prominent clans were vying for the three slots allotted to the Palace of Grand Beginning. Who would claim them depended first on the examinees' performance, and second on the evaluators' discretion.
As for those who were not on the rosters, their prospects went without saying. After all, even the quotas for second-rate grotto-heavens had already been divided up, leaving only scraps for the rest to fight over.
Liu Sigu lifted his brush and wrote "Heaven-A" and "40" beside the number nineteen that represented Li Zhi in his ledger.
According to tradition, whether for bone aptitude or karmic destiny, a pillar of light under three chi was Mortal Grade, four to six chi was Earth Grade, seven to nine chi was Heaven Grade, and anything over a zhang was Transcendent Grade. If a pillar of light resonated with heaven and earth, it would produce various phenomena, which were also divided into tiers; ritual vessels such as bells, cauldrons, and incense burners were of the highest class. As long as a phenomenon manifested, the evaluation would be adjusted upward accordingly.
The Heaven-A that Liu Sigu wrote was a rating under the old system, while forty was the score under the new system—both the maximum possible. Following the old system, the other evaluators gave identical appraisals, all rating him Heaven-A. Only under the more finely divided new system did their scores fluctuate slightly.
In the end, Li Zhi's rating was Heaven-A, with a score of thirty-eight. While this score might not appear completely maxed out, Li Zhi intended to cultivate the Mortal Sovereign's Dao, where karmic destiny took paramount importance and basic foundation was not the decisive factor.
Over the next two batches, several more prodigies emerged—some with nine-chi foundations, others with nine-chi karmic destiny—yet none were as well-rounded as Li Zhi.
When the fourth batch entered, one candidate's karmic destiny suddenly surged, breaking through a full zhang in the blink of an eye!
The evaluators were startled and focused their gazes in unison. The candidate was a youth whose features were as delicate as a girl's. His foundation was ordinary, measuring only five chi, but his karmic destiny was truly astonishing. Surpassing a zhang, it did not stop, climbing another half-chi before finally settling. The first Transcendent Grade had appeared!
A true child of karmic destiny!
The six evaluators instantly grew solemn, falling into contemplative silence.
The immortal sects' original intention in granting these quotas had been to recruit children of karmic destiny from Fengyuan Commandery, a place where winds and clouds converged. The problem, however, was that these quotas had already been carved up before the examination even began. This candidate was not on any evaluator's roster at all, creating an awkward dilemma. If a genuine child of karmic destiny appeared and the immortal sects refused him, the favoritism would be far too blatant.
Just then, the youth's karmic destiny shifted again. The pillar of light turned dark red, revealing a surging sea of blood!
The young monk suddenly chuckled and said, "So it is the Stupa Blood Sea! Such karmic destiny burns the fingers of your sects, but to my Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land, it has its uses. This humble monk shall take this child!"
The Daoist robed in the colors of the Palace of Grand Beginning opened his eyes and asked placidly, "Do you have a surplus quota?"
The monk chanted a Buddhist moniker and replied, "Naturally, there is no surplus quota. However, this humble monk can request one immediately—the moment the Daoist test concludes, I will ask for it."
The others nodded one after another without further objection, though inward chills ran through them. For this monk to obtain a quota at a moment's notice meant his backing in the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land was profoundly deep; he was not someone to be crossed lightly.
None of them had any intention of contesting him for the youth anyway. As the monk had said, although the youth was a child of karmic destiny, his fate carried a monstrous killing tribulation—one directed at both himself and others—making him extraordinarily troublesome to handle. Furthermore, every evaluator had their own roster to consider; where would they find room for this boy?
The evaluators opened their ledgers and were about to write when the monk suddenly added, "This humble monk is set on having this child, so please show some leniency when putting brush to paper. If this child's ranking ends up too low and he loses his karmic affinity with me, that would hardly be pleasant. This humble monk is devoid of worldly desires, save for a single obsession: I hold grudges."
The evaluators hastily assured him they would not let the master's affinity slip away, and only then did the monk let the matter rest.
A line of characters appeared upon the stone stele: Duan Yusheng, Heaven-C, thirty-five.
Down in the hall below, after another batch of candidates had passed, Wei Yuan heard his number called.
Wei Yuan walked into the grand hall along with the other examinees. Spotting his number glowing upon a prayer mat, he walked over and sat down.
With the clear chime of a stone chime striking his ears, the Daoist test began.
Wei Yuan calmed his mind and began circulating his energy according to the method taught in the formula.
Chapter 10