Wuling Sect ushered in the "Cheng Guan En Trial" once every ten years.
On this day, the Chengguan Tower built on the bank of Tianshui Lake became busy early.
This Chengguan Tower is adjacent to the Assembly Hall. It is a vast and majestic building. On the back is the mountain that reaches the clouds, and on the front is the sparkling Tianshui Lake. Amidst the scenery of the lake and mountains, the entire tall building is majestic and majestic. It is four stories high and has arched eaves at every level. , each floor is a bright and spacious hall, decorated luxuriously and dignified, with extraordinary bearing. On weekdays, this is used by the sect to receive distinguished foreign guests. When it comes to the Chengguan Enshi, the monks who have formed elixirs in the sect will gather here. Upstairs, watch the disciples who participated in the grace examination fighting downstairs.
At this time, the rows of hollowed-out wooden windows upstairs in Chengguan were all open. Someone had already arranged a table in front of the window. On the table were exquisite refreshments. At this time, Enshi Kaibi had not yet arrived. Hours later, some alchemy monks have already arrived here, either drinking tea or gathering together to talk with each other. According to the rules of the Wuling Sect, monks must form an elixir and cannot accept disciples. However, monks who form an elixir are usually either busy with practice or busy with matters within the sect. They rarely have time to pay attention to the good and bad of the many disciples in the sect, so this once-in-ten-year review The grace examination has become an important opportunity for those monks who want to recruit disciples.
There is a stone platform built with jade and bluestone between Chengguan Tower and Tianshui Lake. This stone platform is where the Qi refining disciples who participated in the "Chengguan En Trial" competed.
With this stone platform as the boundary, there are arrangements on the left and right sides of Chengguan Tower.
A few futons have been arranged on one side of the stone platform, but not everyone can sit here to watch this grace test. Only monks who have reached the foundation building level can. Speaking of which, foundation building monks are very important to Qi refining disciples. They are definitely not interested in the fighting skills competition. The huge difference in cultivation makes the fighting skills on the stage no matter how fierce and exciting it is, it is like child's play to them. Among the foundation building monks who came to watch, only a few were too bored to watch the excitement. , the rest of the foundation-building monks were ordered by their masters. Their masters were either in seclusion or traveling, or it was inconvenient to come due to official duties, so they wanted to sit here and look at the Qi Refining disciples who participated in the grace trial. Which ones are expected to become their junior brothers or junior sisters.
On the other side of the stone platform, a large area extending along the lakeside is where the Qi Refining disciples gathered to watch the grace test. There was no table, only a few rows of futons in front. Those who came later had to bring their own futons or use the You can only stand and watch, so this area is also the largest.
Under Tang Ping's instigation in advance, Qian Chao and the other five people arrived early, so the five of them sat closer to the front. They each found a futon and sat together. It was the first time for all five of them to experience this grace test. So they are full of curiosity.
In fact, this "Cheng Guan En Exam" has another name in Wuling Sect. The seniors in the sect generally call Cheng Guan En Exam "Xiao Bi". Since there is "Xiao Bi", there is naturally "Da Bi". , "The Great Competition" refers to the "Qiongcao Discussion" held every sixty years, held in the Qiongcao Courtyard of the sect, and only high-level monks in the sect can participate. It is to select disciples for the alchemy monks, and the Qiongcao theory is to see which of the foundation-building monks have hope for the alchemy, so the importance to the sect is judged, but for everyone who participates, it is It is a major event related to one's future and destiny, so at least the Qi Refining disciples privately call this Cheng Guan En Trial the "Qi Refining Competition".
The five of them sat relatively close to the front, and there was still some time before the opening ceremony. When the other four friends were talking together, Qian Chao carefully observed the stone platform in front of him. The stone platform is round, with a moist azure color throughout, and is about one foot high. There are stone steps on both sides for disciples participating in the competition to get on the stage. This Chengguan Tower is an important place in the sect. On weekdays, there is a ban on flying through it. When it comes to the grace test, the seniors who have formed the pills have to walk up to the Chengguan Tower as a sign of grandeur, not to mention those who participate in the fight. As a disciple, if you want to get on stage, you can only walk up step by step. Of course, after taking the stage, you can do whatever you want during the fight, but only on the stage. When you get off the stage, no matter you win or lose, you still have to step down obediently. This can be regarded as the rule of the Five Spirits Sect.
The stone walls of the stone platform are carved with complex patterns. The bottom is sea water waves, the top is surrounded by auspicious clouds, and in the middle are stars, strange beasts, swords, scrolls, spiritual herbs, etc., which are carved in a circle around the stone platform. These are upside down. Forget it, what caught Qian Chao's attention was the five stone pillars surrounding the stone platform that were more than two feet higher than the stone platform. The thick stone pillars were also full of complicated carvings, and there was an unknown figure on the top of each stone pillar. The stone beasts are crouching. The five stone beasts have different shapes, but their heads and faces are all facing the center of the stone platform.
After experiencing the incident at Xiaolianhua Lake in Youming Valley, Qian Chao's heart skipped a beat when he saw the stone pillars, especially the five stone pillars piled together, and then he naturally focused on those stone pillars.
Sitting in Qian Chao's position, he could only see three of the five stone pillars, and the other two were blocked by the stone platform. The complex carvings on these three stone pillars were all different. Qian Chao tried hard to distinguish them, trying to find out the individuality among the carvings. The clues came, but after looking at it for a long time, I found that the carvings were just like the carvings on the stone platform and stone wall, and seemed to be just for decoration. Qian Chao refused to give up, so he closed his eyes and opened them again. When he opened his eyes again, the blue light flashed lightly, and the scene in front of him surprised him: the complicated carvings on the stone pillars were just as he expected, and they were just for decoration, but what was inside the stone pillars From top to bottom, there were shimmering runes that he had never seen before. Not only did he not recognize those runes, it was even difficult to count them because the senior master who left these runes behind When writing, it was done almost in one go. The runes left behind were wild and candid, and difficult to identify, just like the original wild cursive handwriting of a calligrapher. The same was true on the other two pillars. Although the runes could not be recognized, they Qian Chao also vaguely concluded that the runes on the three pillars were different.
Seeing this, Qian Chao can conclude that the five stone pillars surrounding the stone platform together form a formation. As for the usefulness of the formation, it is easy to judge. There is a saying about the Cheng Guan En Trial that "there is no blood on the platform. "Favor does not hurt anyone". The function of this formation is probably to ensure that even if the two disciples on the stage are jealous of each other, they will not leave any room for action. In the end, they can only decide the winner. Regardless of victory or defeat, the two Even if your energy is exhausted, exhausted, or even paralyzed on the ground, you will still be unscathed.
In addition, Qian Chao’s biggest gain is: it turns out that runes can be written like this!
Because of his spiritual roots, Qian Chao is not good at five elements magic, but he has put a lot of effort into refining weapons, talismans and formations. In the final analysis, weapon refining, talismans and formations are all for different applications of runes, so he can They are collectively classified as "the study of runes". Since meeting Mr. Zhuang, Qian Chao has had the opportunity to become a master of the study of runes. From Mr. Zhuang's mouth, he knew that this study of runes has the saying of "turning complexity into simplicity". He reluctantly He can understand the reason, but he has only just touched the edge of "complexity", and is far from "simplification". More importantly, the most important thing in turning complexity into simplicity is how to transform it. Mastering this The word "hua" can not only reduce complexity into simplicity, but can also reduce complexity into complexity or even create something out of nothing. Unfortunately, based on his current cultivation and knowledge, those are too far away. Qian Chao usually carves runes on the spiritual weapons when he is refining them. He is respectful and cautious, not daring to make any mistakes. The runes he carves are also neat and neat, arranged in an orderly manner and with great ingenuity. This is why he has become " The reputation of "money system" spiritual weapon. It can be said that whether it is refining weapons, making talismans or setting up formations, the runes left by Qian Chao are as neat as a Mongolian boy who has just started learning calligraphy. He never expected that they would be so wild and majestic. The full text of runes appeared before my eyes like a tiger descending from a mountain and a golden snake dancing wildly...
He couldn't tell the difference between the horizontal hooks and runes, and the meaning of the vertical twists and turns, he didn't even understand. With his knowledge far exceeding that of ordinary disciples, he could only barely figure it out. He recognized three or two runes, but he couldn't figure out how these three or two runes worked in the entire formation, and how to ensure that the lives of the disciples fighting on the stage were not in danger, even if he tried, he couldn't figure it out, but the more he thought about it, He didn't understand, so he became more and more fascinated, and felt more and more like he had found a treasure. He stared at the crooked and specious runes, immersing his whole mind in them, until a slender hand stretched out and dangled in front of his eyes. He had to cover his eyes before he came back to his senses.
Tang Ping retracted her arm, looked at Qian Chao in a daze curiously and asked, "Hey! What are you thinking about? Are you afraid of being knocked down as soon as you get on stage?"
Qian Chao withdrew his gaze and said he was not in a hurry. Chengguan Tower has always been here anyway, so he would just come over and study it in detail another day.
"Of course not," Qian Chao replied, "But you, it seems that you are really going to participate in this grace test like Brother Lu?"
When the five of them got together today, Tang Ping said listlessly that Tang Bonian and her master Guhuo Fairy also asked her to participate in this Cheng Guan En Examination and signed her up. Coincidentally, it was Lu Pingchuan. is also like this.
"Oh, yes!" Tang Ping sighed and said, "My sixth grandfather and my master teamed up to bully me, saying that they had never seen the things we had done in the past, and now they wanted to take the opportunity to see my years of cultivation. I don’t know what the two old guys thought about forcing me to participate because of what it was like. They are a decent and quiet daughter, but they would only be happy to see me fight with them till I get bruised and bruised."
Yan Xuan, who was next to Tang Ping, was immediately amused and burst into laughter.
Qian Chao and others were also amused by Tang Ping's remarks.
Among the five of them, only Qian Chao and Li Jian were originally going to participate in the Cheng Guan En Examination, because they expected that Bai Lin and Yun Xi would definitely challenge at this time, and now Tang Ping and Lu Pingchuan were both Their respective masters and elders either forced or coaxed them to participate. Now it seems that only Yanxuan may be a complete spectator in this Cheng Guan En Examination.
There were more and more people present, and a large group of people around the five of them and deep inside were already dark and waiting.
Li Jian looked back at the seemingly endless crowd behind him and asked curiously:
"So many people have to take part in the Cheng Guan En Examination. How long will it take for it to end?"
Tang Ping also looked back and said:
"Well, there are really a lot of people, but not all of them are going to compete on the stage. Among those people, excluding those who have masters, there are still many who have not broken through the Xiaowu level, and some people Those who have little confidence in themselves are unwilling to show off on stage. There are not many others left, and the competition on stage is also very fast. The winner between two people is not a matter of life and death. Basically, it can be decided in just a few face-to-face encounters. Come up with the pros and cons.”
Li Jian nodded after listening.
Yanxuan also looked back at the excitement behind him. He seemed to have discovered something, so he turned around and asked:
"Those people over there, what are they doing?"
Tang Ping followed Yan Xuan's gaze and looked over. Qian Chao, Li Jian and others also looked over.
At this time, there were already overcrowded people behind the five people. Many people came a step too late and could only stand at a distance. Looking past the black crowds, you could see that at some point, several exquisite painting boats had docked by the lake. Several wooden tables were placed on the shore of the boat. A bunch of people were crowded in front of the wooden tables and didn't know what they were doing. It looked very lively.
"Well," Tang Ping took a look and said, "It should be for betting at the beginning of the market. I heard from the senior brothers that it happens in every grace test. The winning or losing of two people fighting on the stage is the winner. There is nothing strange about it."
Hearing what Tang Ping said, the other four people were all surprised. Seeing the performance of the four people, Tang Ping asked, "You don't know?"
"How to bet?" Qian Chao asked.
"Of course I bet with spirit stones. There are two people on the stage fighting each other. They have already set the odds. Each of the two people on the stage has different odds. If you buy the right spirit stone, you will make a small profit. If you buy the wrong spirit stone, you will lose. It belongs to the banker." Tang Ping replied.
"You just said that everyone's odds are different. How do those who sit in the bank and gamble know the size of everyone's winning chances? Even if the cultivation level on the stage is good, the winning chances are not small, but what if you encounter someone more powerful? Then his winning chances Hasn't it become smaller again?" Qian Chao asked.
"Yes," before Tang Ping could answer, Yanxuan also interjected and asked, "Where did they get so many spiritual stones to gamble? Look, there are many people there. What if, I mean what if everyone wins too much?" , then wouldn’t they lose everything and even lose their family fortune?”
"You don't understand this?" Tang Ping didn't answer, but looked at Qian Chao with a smile. Seeing Qian Chao slowly nodding, he continued, "You have figured it out," and then turned to Yanxuan and the others and said, " It is actually not difficult to figure out the winner of the disciples who are on stage. It just depends on who is taking charge. There must be people from Jingshiyuan participating in the decision-making. Almost all Qi Lianqi disciples have to go to Jingshiyuan to receive orders. Every time they receive Whether the assignment was difficult or easy, whether it was completed, the length of time it took to complete, whether it was injured, etc., those at the Jingshiyuan will make a note of it. In addition to keeping these records, they can also use them to estimate the fighting skills on the stage today. The outcome of the competition among the disciples. However, the only ones whose odds are difficult to determine are those who came from the aristocratic families a year ago. Those people will not be short of spiritual stones at all, and it is impossible to go to Jingshiyuan to receive missions. So it’s hard for them to find out the details of those people, and they can probably only determine the odds based on the reputation of those people’s family backgrounds.”
Seeing that Yanxuan still had questions, Tang Ping continued: "There must be those dudes in the sect sitting in the village with the people from the Jingshiyuan. Well, actually, it's mainly them. People from the Jingshiyuan will look at their faces. These people They can be considered well-behaved. They only dare to sit in the bank and earn some spiritual stones. As for how to arrange the grace test, they don't dare to interfere. However, it is no problem to get the list of arrangements for the grace test through their elders in advance. I understand. Who is competing with whom, plus the people from Keishiyuan help set the odds, it is difficult to lose. Besides, those people's elders have plenty of spiritual stones in their hands for them to squander, and they don't feel bad even if they lose them all. "
After listening to this, Lu Pingchuan's hands already felt itchy. He rubbed his hands and said excitedly:
"I didn't expect such a good thing. We will buy a few lots after the competition. Sister Tang knows a lot. We will buy whoever you say wins and make a fortune from him, hehe!"
Before Tang Ping could answer, Li Jian asked:
"Does the sect just ignore this?"
Li Jian was born as a general. In his grandfather's army, his grandfather and his second uncle were very strict in running the army. Gambling was strictly prohibited in the army. If caught, he would insert arrows around the camp and others would kill him. So he saw someone publicly taking advantage of Cheng Guan'en. After trying to gamble on such an important matter, I felt uncomfortable.
"Brother Li!" Tang Ping said, "Not to mention that there is someone in charge of the Cheng Guan En Examination. Even if it is Qiongcao Dharma, it only happens once in sixty years. There will still be someone in charge."
Li Jian was surprised, while Tang Ping gestured to the foundation-building monks sitting opposite the stone platform and continued:
"Look over there, those fellow foundation-building brothers sitting over there. You see, they are all sitting upright now, with expressionless faces. But once the competition starts, if you find them, they will also be in groups. They gathered together secretly. No need to ask, they must have itchy hands, but they respected their status and had no shame to crowd together with the Qi-refining juniors to buy or lose, so they had no choice but to gamble with people with similar cultivation levels. Bundle."
As she spoke, Tang Ping looked towards Chengguan Tower again. Seeing that the windows upstairs were already filled with monks who had formed pills, she opened her mouth and said:
"And there, on the Chengguan Tower, those seniors who formed the elixirs all behaved in front of others in a fairy-like manner, solemn and majestic. They were all doing this deliberately in front of us juniors. It was really when their fellow monks gathered together. When there are no outsiders together, they are just like ordinary disciples. They make jokes and jokes without any formality. When they should be unreasonable, they will definitely be unreasonable. .”
"You can't!" Yanxuan was a little surprised when she heard that. She really couldn't imagine what those Dan-Jie seniors were acting like.
"Alas! What can't be done!"
When talking about this, Tang Ping thought about her apprenticeship. Fairy Guhuo once talked about how Tang Bonian was so messy. Thinking of the second brother, Tang Ping felt angry and resentful. said:
"Master, she may really want me to go on stage to practice, but my sixth grandfather has told me a long time ago that when I get to the stage, I can only win but not lose. Huh, I don't know which senior the old guy wants to bet with." Win or lose is decided.”
"Ah! Isn't it?" Yanxuan was even more surprised, "Could it be that Senior Tang also..."
Li Jian looked at Tang Ping in disbelief.
"It's not surprising, Brother Lu," Tang Ping said and looked at Lu Pingchuan, "Your master is on good terms with my Sixth Grandpa. The two of them are really smelly... well, they have similar temperaments." She originally wanted to say, "We have similar temperaments." ", but after thinking about it, I felt that it was inappropriate to speak of an elder like this, so I quickly changed my mind. However, except for Lu Pingchuan, everyone heard it and couldn't help but laugh secretly.
"Do you think the reason why your master asked you to participate in this Chengguan grace test is to let you experience it? He must be hoping that you can help him kill everyone on the Chengguan Tower!"
"That's what happened," Lu Pingchuan was overjoyed after hearing this, "Then I have to win a few more games and ask Master to share some with me later."
Hearing this, Li Jian sighed:
"Immortals, immortals, and people with magical powers are still human beings after all!"
After a while, it seemed that it was time for the Cheng Guan En Trial to begin. At this time, the place was already full of people. The Qi Refining disciples in the sect, whether they were on stage or not, were all gathered here. If you look at it from the stone platform, It was so densely packed with people that there was no limit to the darkness. At this time, even Jiuxuan Nei, which was usually the busiest, seemed deserted. The monks who usually flew in and out of the sky were gone. They all came here to watch the fun.
The lingering sound of bells came.
From the Chengguan Tower, a thin old man walked out. The slightly raised goatee under his chin was very conspicuous. He was none other than Li Yun, the chief elder of Qixia Mountain. Behind him were four disciples. , carrying a large wooden sign. What was on the wooden sign could not be seen because it was completely covered by a piece of red brocade.
"It's Master Li." Yanxuan said.
This Li Li is the chief elder of Qixia Mountain, with a high status. He was the one who presided over Yanxuan's apprenticeship ceremony. The Cheng Guan Enexamination of Wuling Sect has always been hosted by the five sects in turn. This time it seems that It’s Qixia Mountain’s turn.
Li Yun came under the stone platform and climbed up the stone steps. When he stood facing the dark Qi Refining disciples under the stage, all the noise suddenly disappeared, and it was completely silent and extremely quiet.
"Disciples, the Cheng Guan En Trial is about to begin. During the competition, everyone in the audience must abide by the rules and do not make mistakes. We are not allowed to use anger on the stage to fight privately after the competition."
The voice was not loud, but it sounded as real to everyone present as if he was speaking directly into their own ears. Then Li Yun spoke for a while, basically telling all the disciples who participated in the Cheng Guan En Examination that this was a rare opportunity. It was time to show off all his abilities, and then he handed over the matter of maintaining the order of the imperial examination to several of his apprentices, and then walked down the stone platform and returned to Chengguan Tower.
After Li Yun left, one of his tall disciples came on stage and explained the rules of the grace test in detail. In fact, many Qi Refining disciples in the audience already knew the rules, and no one dared to marry so many people in Chengguan Tower. Dan acted recklessly in front of me. What everyone is most concerned about is when the wooden sign covered with red brocade can be displayed to everyone, especially those who are going to participate in this grace test. When they will take the stage and who they will compete with are all written on it.
Li Yun's tall disciple finally said that he ordered people to uncover the red brocade on the wooden sign that had been erected, and told everyone that the sign was the list of people who would participate in the competition today, and those whose names were not on it would be there. When participating in the competition in the next few days, the list on the sign will change every day, and everyone is told that those with the first names should prepare in advance and not to delay.
All the disciples present, thousands of eyes, all looked at the big wooden sign. The characters on the wooden sign are not big, and they are densely written. Fortunately, the people present are all practitioners. Not to mention that the characters on the wooden sign are not big, even if the words on the wooden sign are as small as regular script. , even from a hundred feet away, these people can clearly distinguish the shades of ink of those words.
Qian Chao and others no longer paid attention to what the person on the stage was still saying. They stared at the wooden sign carefully, especially Tang Ping. She was tricked by Tang Bonian into participating in this grace test. She had to take a look. Is he there today? If so, who is his opponent? Well, Lu Pingchuan also wants to know, but he can only urge Qian Chao to help him.
"Hey!" Qian Chao made a very surprised sound.
"What's wrong?"
Qian Chao pointed to the wooden sign and said, "The left column is the 16th row down."
Tang Ping looked over as he said, and couldn't help being stunned. She muttered: "Liang Bake!"
When Li Jian heard that it was Liang Bike, he immediately looked over.
Yanxuan was also a little confused and said softly:
"The name ranked first in the third column in the middle looks so familiar."
Tang Ping and Qian Chao followed it and looked for it. The name was indeed familiar.
"Wu Ruiyuan, in such a short period of time, she has broken through the fifth level!"
(The above two names may be unfamiliar to you. Among them, Liang Bake once appeared in the bronze carriage carrying Qian Chao into the spiritual world. Because he wanted to bully Qian Chao, he was beaten solidly by Qian Chao. , after entering the Wuling Sect, Liang Bake became a disciple of Mu Xiufeng. And Wu Ruiyuan appeared in Youming Valley. The younger sister among the Wu sisters, and another sister named Wu Ruishan. This pair of sisters came from a rare Wu family. A family where women are superior to men and are famous for refining various poisons.)
…
Just as the Cheng Guan En Examination was getting underway in the sect with great excitement, outside the sect, there was news from Shang Jie, who had been arranged by Qian Chao to monitor the movements of Hanchichi.
"Senior Brother Shang, here we come."
"Several people?"
"On a."
"Hmm, that's strange. Why are you alone this time?"
Yes, a beautiful man with picturesque features and eyes like a peerless beauty appeared. Shangjie had seen this man many times, but unlike the previous times, he seemed to come alone this time, and there seemed to be no one following him behind him. The extremely thin guy, and unlike in the past, who always wandered around, this time the man actually entered the cold pool directly from a hidden entrance!
"Look...he...went in!"
"Wait a little longer and see if there are anyone else." Shang Jie said excitedly. He had been monitoring here for a long time as Qian Chao told him, but he didn't want to be too impatient.
After waiting for a long time, but neither the man came out nor anyone else came, Shangjie finally took out the talisman given to him by Qian Chao from his storage bag.
"Okay! I can finally go back to meet Junior Brother Qian."
