CH-12: Comprehension Exam

Two days after the spiritual root examination, the comprehension exam took place in the same venue. About 300.000 participants were divided into groups of 6.000, each group had two hours of time to understand and copy the scripture, going on for more than four days. On this four-day period, every participant would also get their definite results, and whether they could continue to martial exam or not.

As noble scions, it was our turn first. Even though groups were decided on random, they still could not have commoners take the exam before us. We also had the Dean of Calligraphy, Yuan Zhang Shufa, oversee us, instead of the officials who oversaw commoners. One should know that the position of a Dean is only below the Principal, a Peak Birth Of Self Reverend, a top dog in the entire world. Although they did not have cultivation as high as the Principal, all of the deans were at least Early Stage Birth Of Self Reverends, still respected powerhouses. Yuan Zhang Shufa then flicked his hand, sending each of us paper, ink and brushes. One of the papers was the scripture we were supposed to copy.

'If it is stored in paper and not in a jade scroll, it must not be that profound.'

Certain martial skills and cultivation techniques could not be stored on paper, as the writing them itself needed immense Qi that was beyond of what paper was capable of holding. Copying a cultivation technique or martial skill of that calibre required full mastery of those skills and techniques, to not sully them with the half-baked understanding of those practicing them. They could easily temper with the technique's intent, in the best case they would not be able to copy to technique due to that, in the worst case your Rank 4 Supreme Grade technique could be degraded to Rank 1 Low Grade technique, even losing the Law connection it had. One could say that Yuan Zhang Shufa had a higher status than other Deans due to this, as he was the one that was responsible for the top techniques of the Institute.

"Your time is eight incense sticks, those that finish early can hand their papers in, stay silently and wait for the given time to end. Your scores will be revealed in four days. You may start now."

I calmly took the paper that had the scripture, giving it a quick read. 'Isn't this Calm Mind Sutra?' Calm Mind Sutra was one of the most basic cultivation techniques. Even if it is called a cultivation technique, it would be better to call it a meditation technique. It would help one who recites it calm their mind, making it easier to fall into a trance that is needed for cultivation. As the direct line of Lin Clan, I already knew far more profound ones than this so it was of no use to me. 'Now to read it with qi infusions...' I had no problem comprehending the scripture, as one's soul quality and quantity affected one's comprehension. It is also why the Second Elder gave such an ultimatum, that Lin Bloodline enhanced the soul, thus giving a boost in comprehension. Not passing was not an option for Lin Clan to begin with.

'Hm, the profundity of scripture is higher this time around, just a bit above the threshold the paper is capable of holding. I see, what an amazing technique of writing! Infusing Qi partially to not overwhelm the paper, but still achieving such profundity with ingenious places to infuse it, it is possible that Yuan Zhang Shufa did this himself! The scripture must not be that ordinary after all!' With great zeal I started to read the scripture again, as I finished it I had already figured out what the scripture was about.

'The name is Calm Mind And Peaceful Heart Sutra. It is capable of calming one's mind and reducing the difficulty of heart demon tribulations. Such a boon to those fully comprehending this, as expected of the Institute, points were never the reward. Shame that my Cleansing Heart And Soul Mantra was still a tad better, but maybe I can improve on it with this?'

Heart demons were tribulations of minor realms starting from Foundation Establishment, basically insecurities of a cultivator took form. If one had failed their heart demon tribulation during the breakthrough, in the worst-case scenario they would go into Qi Deviation and injure themselves. This would make the next breakthrough attempt harder. It is also why certain people could not breakthrough even though they had enough talent to do so, their Dao Heart was not strong enough.

I wrote the Calm Mind And Peaceful Heart Sutra for one of the papers, carefully writing it as well as I could. 'Gotta impress the Dean, right?' Finishing my writing, I gave a quick glance at the venue, looking to find Iyana and Ye Tian. The former was likely waiting for me to finish first as she did not want anyone to find out she was regressed, the latter in comparison, seemed to struggle. 'No, he too did comprehend it fully, he is just trying to lay low giving an incomplete one. You will be face-slapping anyway, so why conceal your strength to such a degree? Not to mention that even Dean figured out you had already fully comprehended the scripture, bad move.'

Not letting Iyana wait for too long, I handed my papers, both the one I comprehended and the one I revised upon after that. I called it Understanding And Reflecting One's Self Scripture. Although it was not fully finished, it would be enough to score points with the Dean. 'Maybe I could become his core disciple.' I was not boasting without a base, this scripture had all my understanding of modern psychology, Dao Heart and Heart Demons. The last one lacked a bit as I had not experienced it yet, and Dao Heart was something even Altar Activation Grandmasters had difficulty to understand fully. Yuan Zhang Shufa raised his brows upon seeing my second paper but kept to himself. 'Shoot, next time I guess.'

There was still 5 incense of time remaining, so I inspected my fellow noble scions. There were a couple of promising ones, nearly comprehending all of the Mantra. There were even jade beauties around. Slowly they started handing their papers, some of the Lin branch juniors looking at me with reverence while doing so. As the time was up, papers could no longer bear the Mantra and burnt to ash, leaving those who did not hand their papers praying that they had passed the threshold their families had set. Returning to the inn I talked with İyana.

"Do you think he would take me as a disciple?"

"Who would want a pervert like you as their disciple."

"Come on, don't be like that. You know I like calligraphy. No wonder you had no disciples, who would want to learn from you when you have such attitude."

"You! Just to let you know, I had Golden Core True Persons lined up to listen to my sermons, just a Calligraphy Dean and you are this excited, looking at the gold afar only to miss the jade near!"

"Alright, calm down. I did not say anything okay? You can take out your anger in the martial exam. You will be seeded in the top 32, while I will be seeded in the top 16."

"Where do you think they would place Ye Tian then?"

"They won't, he has to face slap still. Ah, I meant to prove himself in martial skills... Anyway, take a look at this." I took out the Understanding And Reflecting One's Self Scripture, having written it again in the inn.

"Did you make this?"

"Yep. Since you are so wise and have gone through so many tribulations I thought you could help me refine it. My understanding of Dao Heart and Heart Demons are just a speck of dust compared to yours."

"And you still made something like this? What does the Lin Clan feed you with? Do you know what this is even capable of?"

"Well, I made it so one could understand themselves after overcoming their Heart Demons, slightly increasing their chances of reaching Birth Of Self, maybe also hasten it."

"You are still downplaying it. If you had completed this, let alone increasing it slightly it would increase the chance by at least 30%! It is even possible to gain ideas about Ascension! Please tell me you did not give him this."

"Well, I may have..."

"You idiot! Are you seeking death? If you are gonna off yourself like this at least cut connections with me! I don't want to die a dog's death like you!" 'Ugh... Looks like I fucked up big this time.'

"Well, what happened happened. I will ask the Second Elder to convey a message to Clan for me. But I don't think they would kill me like that, this is just a scripture I came up with after comprehending a Mantra. I'm basically a golden goose. It is even possible that the Principal may take me as his disciple." That was wishful thinking on my part.