On this piece of white paper, the small golden number "One Hundred and Twenty" in the upper right corner was not eye-catching, but the Imperial Master stared at it for a long time, and then sighed softly.
His eyes were dazed for a moment, as if he was recalling the past.
After seeing the expression on the Imperial Preceptor's face, Fu Tao, the academy teacher, couldn't help but ask: "Master Imperial Preceptor, both Mo Li and Gu Xu answered all the questions correctly, why are their final scores different?"
The Imperial Master thought for a moment and replied: "Between heaven and earth, there are hundreds of 'ways', but these 'ways' do not exist independently. Instead, they are closely related to each other and ultimately lead to the same destination.
"Mo Li's answer is not wrong, but his thinking is still bound to the Tao of Talisman, and he is still just reciting the knowledge from the book.
"However, Gu Xu has noticed the similarities between the 'Tao of Talisman' and the 'Tao of Cause and Effect'. His answer is a completely new understanding of the art of Talisman and Seal Script."
Having said this, the Imperial Master paused for a moment, raised the white porcelain tea cup in front of him, took a sip of the 'Baifa Tea', and then said: "Many years ago, I also broke through the barrier of the Talisman Path after realizing this. Bottleneck and reach the level of 'Grandmaster'.
"Although Gu Xu is currently only a third-level monk, he already has the consciousness to integrate various Taoist methods. I believe that as long as his cultivation level can keep up, he will most likely become a great master in the future. The new Fu Dao master of the Qi Dynasty."
While speaking, the scene when the Imperial Master met Kong Xuan Sanren decades ago appeared in his mind.
At that time, Kongxuan Sanren was a handsome elder with white hair and a childish face. His words were humorous and he was a great inspiration to the Imperial Master.
Who would have thought that he would later fail to ascend and turn into a ghost?
…………
Fu Tao was silent for a while, obviously not expecting that the Daqi Imperial Master would give such a high evaluation to Gu Xu.
He is also a Talisman Master himself.
But since he first came into contact with the art of talismans and seal scripts when he was young, he has devoted himself to it and rarely spends energy studying other Taoism and martial arts.
Perhaps it’s because the threshold for learning Fu Tao is extremely high, requiring high qualifications and understanding.
Some talisman masters of the Daqi Dynasty had a sense of superiority deep down in their hearts, believing that the art of talisman and seal script was an elegant and superior knowledge.
In their eyes, sword cultivators and sword cultivators are both simple-minded and vulgar warriors with well-developed limbs. Monks who are good at poisonous poison have dark hearts. Those who learn the art of divination and prophecy are all liars...
Although the Imperial Master of Da Qi's strong recommendation to Gu Xu made Fu Tao feel a little unhappy in his heart, Fu Tao still recognized the Imperial Master's attainments in the Tao of Talisman.
"Perhaps this is the fundamental reason why my Talisman cultivation has stagnated in recent years?" Fu Tao thought silently, "I should try to understand some other Taoisms?"
…………
At the same time, several candidates were resting quietly in several side rooms.
There is a special formation in the house that can isolate the noise from the outside world and prevent them from being disturbed.
However, although these formations can isolate sound, they cannot block the curious eyes of onlookers.
There were still many people standing at the foot of the steps a few meters away, trying to get a clear look at the candidates through the carved windows.
Mo Li was very satisfied with his performance in the first session.
He believed that no one would get a higher score than him.
So, he sat on the straw mat beside the bed in a relaxed posture, reached out and picked up a banana from the low table beside him - this was a snack prepared by Longmen Academy for the candidates, while tearing open the banana peel, he slowly Chewing on the ground, he opened the notebook he carried with him and reviewed his notes again.
"The next step is the 'application' of Talisman Dao," Mo Li secretly thought to himself, "How will the National Preceptor and the Academy choose to examine us? Will they use illusions to simulate ghosts, and then let us use Talismans to Use the art of seal script to kill ghosts?"
Mo Li was not worried about this at all.
At least half of the talismans and seals in various books of the Daqi Dynasty were used to deal with ghosts and evil spirits.
And Mo Li was very familiar with them.
Inadvertently, Mo Li raised his head and saw many junior brothers and sisters from Longmen Academy standing on tiptoes to look at him outside the window. Some were making cheering gestures towards him, and some were mouthing to him, "Senior Brother Mo." , we will support you" or "Senior Brother Mo, you must bring glory to our Longmen Academy."
Mo Li felt a little moved.
However, as a person who is obsessed with Talisman and is often called a "nerd", he doesn't know how to respond to these enthusiastic junior brothers and sisters. He can only smile silently, then lower his head and continue reading his notes.
Although in the next two links, he is not sure of victory.
But he must also try his best not to disappoint those who support him.
…………
At the window of the room where Gu Xu was, there was a different scene.
In the hazy rain and fog, many female students from the academy stood. They wore wooden hairpins on their heads and gray and white robes from the academy, and they looked quite bookish.
Looking up from a distance, it forms an elegant ink painting with the misty rain all around.
With the power of true energy, they can easily block the rain and prevent it from getting their clothes wet. Even if I stand in the rain, my clothes are still fluttering.
At this moment, they were discussing the Talisman Competition with smiles, saying things like, "Senior Brother Mo looks so confident, he must have already secured the victory."
But in fact, their eyes were quietly glancing into the window not far away, wanting to take a closer look at the handsome young man in the room.
But at the same time, they also remained extremely vigilant, fearing that their restless gaze would be discovered by their companions.
"Hu Xiaoyun, what are you secretly looking at?" a female student joked to her companion.
"I...Sister Ya, look, a sparrow just flew over the roof." The young girl known as "Hu Xiaoyun" stammered.
The full name of the female student known as "Sister Ya" is "Wang Ya".
She smiled and patted Hu Xiaoyun on the shoulder, spotting her lie at a glance: "Don't lie to me. Where are the sparrows? You are obviously secretly watching Mr. Gu from the Exorcism Department."
A faint blush immediately appeared on Hu Xiaoyun's face: "I...I didn't! Today I am a staunch supporter of Senior Brother Mo, so I will not betray and surrender to the enemy!"
"That's good," Wang Ya smiled, "I hope you can keep in mind the stance of our academy students, but don't be seduced by beauty!"
Hu Xiaoyun nodded seriously.
She unswervingly told Wang Ya that she would never judge people by their appearance - Gu Xu was just an embroidered pillow with a superficial appearance, while Brother Mo was the one with real talent and learning.
However, at this moment, Gu Xu in the room suddenly raised his head and glanced out the window.
The female students outside the window were finally able to see his appearance clearly.
Wang Yaze stood firmly on the spot, stunned for a moment.
"Is my hair a little messy?" After a moment, she asked Hu Xiaoyun beside her.
"No." Hu Xiaoyun glanced at her neatly combed black hair and didn't understand why she would ask such a question.
"That's good." Wang Ya breathed a sigh of relief.
But she still couldn't help but take off the hairpin on her head and rearrange her bun.
…………
Gu Xu knew nothing about the little thoughts of the girls outside the window.
He also did not spend time guessing the form of the next few rounds of inspections - because he usually has deep skills and a solid foundation, he can naturally handle any form of challenge calmly, and there is no need to "fix the topic" at all.
So he began to continue to deduce the "star array" in his mind.
He began to sift through hundreds of permutations and combinations to select the best ones for offense, defense, escape, etc.
He believes that if he can master the "Star Formation" spell as soon as possible, his combat effectiveness will be greatly improved in future ghost-killing missions and this spring's "Luoshui Conference".
The academy thoughtfully placed a plate of fruit next to him.
He picked up an orange, peeled it off, and stuffed it into his mouth piece by piece. The sour taste rippled on his tongue.
Inadvertently, he raised his head and looked through the window at the gray sky.
His eyes seemed to penetrate the thick clouds and caught a glimpse of the bright stars in the sky - they were twinkling as if they were blinking at him, quietly waiting for his call.
…………
Half an hour passed quickly.
Gu Xu ate two oranges and a few winter dates, then walked out of the house to the melodious sound of the bell and returned to the "Siqi Hall" under the gaze of everyone.
The four desks are still in their original places.
Gu Xu sat on the original chair.
At this time, he found that in addition to pens, inks, paper and inkstones, there was also a thick stack of documents on his desk.
On the top piece of paper, there are four big characters written "Luoshui Conference".
"After examining the 'accumulation', it's time to examine our 'application' of the talisman and seal script," he guessed in his mind, "In this Luoshui Conference, where will the talisman and seal script be used? Is it difficult? Isn’t it necessary for us to set up a set of talisman formations on the ring to prevent the monks from hitting too hard and injuring the opponent’s life during the fight?”
At the same time, the other three candidates also sat down in their respective positions.
The person closest to Gu Xu is Shen Qiu.
He was holding his chin with one hand, his short legs were shaking constantly, and his eyes were wandering around.
When Gu Xu's eyes fell on him, he also smiled at Gu Xu - not like a provocation between opponents, but more like an encouragement like "Brother, I'll see how you perform later."
Soon, the Imperial Master of Da Qi also appeared in front of them.
I only heard him say with a serious face: "Teaching others to learn Talisman Dao not only requires helping others master the knowledge of Talisman Dao in books, but also teaching them to apply the skills of Talisman and Seal Script to practical problems - you, It is also necessary to have such ability.
"The document placed in front of you comes from the Ministry of Rites. It is the process plan design of this year's Daqi Dynasty's Luoshui Conference. It also contains data such as the salaries of the participants and the prices of various materials.
"You need to use these documents and use the technique of talisman and seal script to estimate the silver expenditure of this year's Luoshui Conference.
"During this process, you cannot directly perform mental calculations, nor can you use other spells or magical powers.
"Your talismans should come from books as much as possible - you can make small improvements to them, but don't create them based on intuition. After all, the students you will teach in the future are unlikely to have such abilities.
"Fu Jiaoxi, Du Jiaoxi and I will evaluate your performance based on the time you spend and the talismans you use."
The National Preceptor's words surprised everyone present.
They originally thought that the so-called "application" would require them to use talismans to conduct simulated combat, either to learn from each other or to exorcise evil spirits.
Unexpectedly, they were asked to use Fu Zhuan to estimate the budget of the "Luoshui Conference".
Especially the children of powerful families like Mo Li and Shen Qiu used to have special accountants to help them with such things.
But now they need to do it themselves.
This undoubtedly caused them some headaches.
Shen Qiu originally thought that he could put a talisman on his head to speed up his thinking, and then use his powerful spiritual consciousness as a practitioner to calculate the results in his mind.
But the Imperial Master's words "You can't do mental arithmetic directly" put an end to this idea of trickery.
He sighed, unable to think of any good solution.
When the second bell rang, everyone began to look through the documents and think about their own plans.
Loose cultivator Zhao Xinran was the fastest to find a solution.
She picked up a piece of white paper, picked up a pen and began to draw quickly on it, and soon she drew a handsome-faced boy in black, which looked very realistic.
Only his eyes were blank.
At this time, she changed to a thin wolf-hair pen and began to draw complex runes on the eyes of the young man in black one stroke at a time.
"Enchant the eyes!"
Gu Xu immediately recognized the spell she used.
This is a very unpopular spell recorded in books. By drawing runes on the eyes of the characters in the painting, they can be given spirituality.
Gu Xu once used this method to make the little book boy on the screen of his home come out of the painting and serve him tea and water and clean the house.
Initially, because of his lack of cultivation, the little book boy's IQ was extremely low and what he could do was very limited.
But later, he combined Kongxuan Sanren's "Puppet Manipulation" technique with "Episodes", allowing the little book boy to completely obey his will and make more complex actions.
He didn't expect that today, he would meet the second person here who knew the art of "touching the eyes and rejuvenating the spirit".
"There are indeed many talented people in Luojing City, which should not be underestimated." He sighed in his heart.
After Zhao Xinran finished drawing the runes for the eyes of the boy in black, the boy in black suddenly blinked his eyes, then stretched out his hand, held the edge of the paper, pushed hard, and crawled out of the painting.
Then he bowed deeply to Zhao Xinran and said, "Excuse me, are you my master?"
"That's right." Zhao Xinran nodded.
"Then what shall I call you?"
"Just call me 'Master'."
"As you command, Master."
Later, under the command of Zhao Xinran, the boy in black picked up the documents on the table, sat on the ground, and began to calculate the expenses of the "Luoshui Conference".
Gu Xu began to think about whether he should solve this problem in the same way.
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