Chen Xu didn't care about Luo Wenhuan, but Luo Wenhuan was very much concerned about him.

Throughout the day, he watched intently several times.

The calmer Chen Xu appeared, the more restless Luo Wenhuan felt.

However, the provincial examination is a long journey.

This time, it spans nine days, consisting of three major examinations.

The focus of the first examination is the Four Books and Five Classics, and the topic on the first day appeared in the form of the Ink Meaning Scripture.

The main difficulty of this day is the sheer volume of questions, making them hard to memorize.

By dusk, the total number of questions for the day reached three hundred.

Later, the entire examination hall was filled only with the sound of pens and ink on paper, along with the heavy and anxious breathing of many examinees.

In such a large Imperial Examination Hall, it seemed like a bottomless abyss.

The setting sun cast long shadows across half the hall.

The climate was humid, the air thin.

Huff, huff—

That was the sound of the examinees straining their brains.

Until the bang sounded three times once more.

Bang, bang, bang!

The Ceremonial Officer on the Observatory stretched out his voice and shouted, "Collect the papers—"

There was a commotion, as someone in a hurry knocked over an inkstand.

Immediately, urgent cries of despair rang out: "No, my answer sheet!"

But there was no way to redo the answers; time had run out.

A paper with obvious stains was destined to be disqualified.

Of course, the examinee could still continue the examination, but there was no need to speculate on the final outcome.

And it's no use saying these examinees are Scholars; even in the provincial exam hall they remain unstable.

In fact, even those with the Scholar status may encounter various problems at the metropolitan exam.

Mistaken strokes, misspelled characters, stained answer sheets, blowing away of exam papers, fainting halfway through... even being marked with "feces stamps" for failing to hold back bodily needs—these are common blunders in the examination halls.

Even at the end, many are struck down by sudden illnesses.

The grievances in the examination halls, from the government exam, academy exam to provincial and metropolitan exams, have always intensified layer by layer.

Who ascends to the top without seeing countless bones?

This wasn't Chen Xu's first time in the examination hall, but this time, his feelings were even more profound.

After collecting the papers, it was meal time.

Chen Xu casually drank two sips of water and ate a handful of fried rice.

Then he closed his eyes to rest.

Overall, the first day's exam wasn't particularly difficult; the main issue was that the nature of this exam exerted great pressure on examinees' emotions.

At midnight, the world was silent.

Thin starlight shone from the dark blue sky, as Chen Xu lay half-resting in the small examination shed, breathing softly, almost imperceptibly.

This is actually a breathing method that returns to the Innate state.

Although the Heaven-Equalizing Bell watched over the Imperial Examination Hall, making it impossible for Chen Xu to adjust his breath for cultivation, his physique was still far superior to ordinary people.

He was calmly resting, caught between sleep and wakefulness.

As the starlight dimmed further, he unexpectedly fell into a strange dream.

In the dream, it seemed countless dimly colored, semi-transparent giant pythons were rising into the sky.

They flew through a hell interwoven with water and fire, in a vast and barren world devoid of the colorful dust, yet filled with countless peculiar and distorted voices shouting.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."

"Heeheehee..."

"The heavens are unjust, the sages are dim!"

"The sages are dim... why don't I seek the light myself?"

"Ahhhhh!"

"Heeheehee..."

Laughing or crying, seemingly tearing out the heart or liver, yet also madly jubilant.

And a distant, hazy voice asked:

"A millennium of Literary Fortune, with the weary study of the sages' words and a vast and enduring history... Scholars, having read so many books, I ask, does it bring any fairness?"

"I ask, I ask..."

"Is there fairness and justice in the world?"

"To allow the elderly to have dependence, the young to have nurturing, the long to progress, the short to hold on..."

"To let all grievances be appealed, to let all injustices return to fairness."

"Sacrifice for all spirits, change heaven and earth."

"Rectify chaos!"

"Ahhhh—"

Finally, all the shouts converged into endless sound waves.

That sound wave rolled like a raging tide, booming towards the sky.

On the dark blue firmament, those giant pythons that flew out of hell formed into a huge arch with overhanging eaves and pointed corbels.

On top of the arch, the dragon's head stood proudly.

This is a Dragon Gate!

The next instant, a great object unexpectedly leapt out from within the tide.

It was all blackish-green, with a long body, a fish tail and fins, and a stubby-nosed fish head.

This was clearly a strange creature, neither quite a dragon nor not, a large green carp.

Carp leaps over Dragon Gate!

In Chen Xu's mind instantly arose this phrase.

Yet, the next instant, he awoke sharply, immediately denying it in his mind—

No, how could this thing leap over the Dragon Gate?

At that moment, despite being in the dream, he had an extreme sense of insignificance and void within himself. But when the notion of denial arose, this grand world suddenly seemed to suffer an attack from some invisible giant entity.

Boom, boom, boom!

The Dragon Gate woven by the giant pythons instantly shattered, the hell of rolling water and fire vanished like smoke.

There was an angry scream: "Ah! What kind of demon ruins my foundation..."

Bang!

The grand scene instantly collapsed, everything in the dream turned back into nothingness.

Chen Xu then awakened, realizing that he had just been dreaming.

However, he had already reached the Golden Core Stage, so how could he easily dream?

Unless there was a heart and spirit resonance, only then did he see the secret in the dream.

Or perhaps there was some strange object in the examination hall that invaded his dream!

What possibility could it be?

Chen Xu opened his eyes, and his gaze suddenly met the wind lamp hanging from the ceiling of the examination shed.

The lamp flickered dimly, the yellowish shade swaying in the dark night, seemingly casting a layer of old and dreamy color over the world.

In the examination hall, near and far, there were snores, murmurs, and even sobs.

Occasionally, there were alarmed shouts: "No, save me!"

"No, it wasn't my fault, why eat me?"

"Ah! Save me! Spare me..."

One wonders what those alarmed examinees were experiencing in their dreams.

Chen Xu had heard Feng Yuanbai say that although the Imperial Examination Hall is a place for Scholars to gather, it theoretically maintains an aura of righteousness and longevity, with the Heaven-Equalizing Bell watching over it, which should guard against all evil.

However, in reality, since every year there are Scholars who perish due to the exams, along with the grievances of countless unsuccessful candidates accumulating.

As a result, the evil grievances within the Imperial Examination Hall are indeed ubiquitous.

Any examinee with weaker willpower might easily be influenced by these grievances, disturbing their heart and spirit, exhausting their Essence Qi, and affecting their exam performance.

More severe cases could even directly extinguish their life lamp!

And this, is indeed part of the examination.

All examinees undergo the same test, if one's righteousness is insufficient and suffers the intrusion of grievances, then whom to blame?

It is merely a matter of skill falling short.

Chen Xu regulated his breathing, calming his heart and spirit.

As he listened to various chaotic sounds around him, he couldn't help but ponder:

Was everything experienced in the dream truly caused by the grievances within the Imperial Examination Hall?

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