Awaken Chapter 16

The Age of Darkness.

With demons in turmoil and disaster everywhere, the only belief of the human race was to survive.

However, in this era, there emerged a man who shocked the heavens and the earth: the first literary sage, or the Great Sage.

Martial arts suppressed the eight deserts, and Confucianism taught the world.

The literary and martial arts were unparalleled.

Inside the room, the dishes laid out by Wu were not touched for a moment as Zhou Ling explained the rumours of the Great Sage, causing Xu Qingnian to be both shocked and filled with longing.

It was already midnight.

Xu Qingnian remained in Zhou Ling’s home, and after hearing the rumours of the Great Sage again, Xu Qingnian could not help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart.

“But the things I can know are extremely one-sided, after all, the Great Sage is too far away from us, and many of his deeds are recorded in ancient books, if you are interested, there might be relevant books in the provincial academies of various provinces.”

After saying some relevant information about the Great Sage, Zhou Ling informed Xu Qingnian that he could go to the various prefectural provinces that had books.

“Understood sir.”

Xu Qingnian nodded, he also understood the matter of the Great Sage, which Zhou Ling naturally did not understand very well.

But Xu Qingnian also had other thoughts in his mind.

“The Palace of Literature in the middle of my mind belongs to that generation of Literature Saints?”

There were five Sages of Literature from ancient times to the present, and it was not easy to determine which generation of Sages of Literature the Palace of Literature in Heaven and Earth in his own mind belonged to.

Although there were many doubts in his heart and he wanted to continue to ask Zhou Ling, Xu Qingnian still suppressed them.

One of them was that Zhou Ling did not see the ground to know.

The second was that there was no need to ask too many things.

In fact, after she returned yesterday, Xu Qingnian regretted asking about the Wen Gong, although she could just lie and cover it up, but this was in front of Zhou Ling.

If that Lord Cheng of the South Yu Mansion heard about it, it would be a problem.

In the future, I have to rely on myself and not ask too many questions as much as possible.

Xu Qingnian had thoughts in mind.

It’s just like Zhao Dafu, who merely spoke to himself but suffered an unwarranted disaster, something Xu Qingnian doesn’t want to happen a second time.

“Qingnian, chatting over, there is one thing that I want to ask you to see if you have any ideas.”

Zhou Ling spoke up, warmed a cup of tea and inquired.

“What is it?”

Xu Qingnian was somewhat curious.

“You have already entered the Confucian path and are considered a true scholar, if you want to develop better, you can go and take the imperial examinations, I wonder if you are willing to do so?”

Zhou Ling slowly spoke, and after saying this, he took another sip of tea.

“Take part in the imperial examinations?”

Xu Qingnian was a little surprised to hear this.

He hadn’t really thought about joining the imperial examinations, after all, he was an errand boy and a martial artist, so shouldn’t his future promotion path be that of a constable, a constable head, a gold medal constable head?

At the top, he would probably be the boss of an institution like the Jin Yi Wei.

Studying? The imperial examinations? That seemed a bit far away.

“En, the imperial examinations.”

Zhou Ling nodded and said in a very certain tone.

“But sir, I’m only an errand boy after all, isn’t it a bit inappropriate if I go to the imperial examinations?”

Xu Qingnian thought about it and gave this answer.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to the imperial examinations, he just felt that there was something wrong with it.

“There is nothing wrong with it, reading is not a matter of origin, so what can you do if you are a servant or not? You have a heart of gold, it’s just that you’ve studied for two years less.”

“Besides, on the 15th of next month, it will be the examinations of the South Yu Province. I don’t want you to win in one go, but to show your face in the Confucian forest.

“Qingnian, are you willing to stay in this county for the rest of your life?”

Zhou Ling’s first two sentences did not touch Xu Qingnian, but the last sentence did.

Yes.

Could one stay within this county for the rest of one’s life?

This was obviously impossible.

Xu Qingnian did not aspire to be a king and an ancestor, but he was not willing to spend the rest of his life in a small county either.

Furthermore, with the threat of the supernatural arts, it was even more impossible for Xu Qingnian to stay here.

It was indeed possible to go to the outside world.

But Xu Qingnian wanted to stay away for a while, he was more prudent and cautious, so he didn’t want to leave Ping’an County without any roots.

The outside world was exciting, but it could also eat people.

Now that Zhou Ling has asked him to join the imperial examinations, Xu Qingnian feels a bit uncomfortable and unprepared.

However, Xu Qingnian did understand Zhou Ling’s intentions.

Given her current situation, it was obvious that she would not be able to pa*s the Prefectural Examination, but the main purpose was to allow herself to meet more people and have her own connections, a sort of rainy day.

“To take the government exams, don’t you have to take the countryside exams first? And the student doesn’t have any merit, so I don’t think it’s possible to take the government exams directly, right?”

Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, although he had entered the rank, shouldn’t the path to the imperial examinations be a step-by-step one?

He hadn’t even taken the boy’s exams himself, so taking the government exams directly was a bit of an exaggeration.

“It’s true that ordinary people need to follow a step-by-step approach, but you’re different, you’ve already entered the rank, so you can skip the boy’s exam, plus with my nomination, you can skip the countryside exam.”

“Qing night, I see that you are not older than twenty, you have entered the rank at the age of twenty, when you arrive at the South Yufu, I guess many people will be willing to befriend you, then you will be able to jump out of the small pool of the county in a natural way.”

Zhou Ling shook his head.

It was true that it was not possible to take the government exams directly, but Xu Qingnian could skip the child exams directly after he had entered the rank, after all, not all those who took the government exams could enter the rank.

Plus, with his recommendation, it would not be a big problem.

In the Confucian lineage, merit is not really important, what matters is the rank.

After all, merit is given by the imperial court, while rank is recognised by heaven and earth, and where is the imperial court as big as heaven and earth?

You can’t just change the court.

But you can’t change the world to practice Confucianism, can you?

Zhou Ling’s words made Xu Qingnian feel a bit moved.

If there was no crisis of the supernatural arts, Xu Qingnian would not have minded, and it would have been great to become a great Confucian and then take the imperial examinations.

But with the crisis of the foreign arts, his world had to expand quickly.

Staying in Ping’an County all the time, the information always felt suppressed.

It was as if a Confucian question had to come to Zhou Ling and ask questions, and asking questions about the east and west would always arouse suspicion.

If one went to the South Yufu, one would naturally understand everything by reading more.

The environment affects the pattern.

After determining this point, Xu Qingnian did not dwell on it, and nodded and said.

“Then I’ll be grateful to you, sir, for recommending me.”

Receiving Xu Qingnian’s reply, Zhou Ling nodded in satisfaction.

“En, the recommendation is small.”

“But taking the government exams is not just for you to really go through the motions, you should still study.”

“These days, you should come often, I have some books for you, in case you pa*s the government test it will be a surprise.”

Zhou Ling spoke up and said.

But in reality, the reason for Zhou Ling to come over was not so much to pa*s the retest, but to not want Xu Qingnian to place too poorly.

Pa*sing the retest?

Zhou Ling definitely knew that it was impossible, Xu Qingnian’s entry into the ranking could only mean that he was suitable for the Confucian Way, but to pa*s the examination on his first attempt?

The main thing was that Xu Qingnian hadn’t studied much.

If he could pa*s the Imperial examination.

He, Zhou Ling, would never be in the tenth rank in his life.

“Alright, then these days, the student will have to bother you a lot, sir.”

Xu Qingnian nodded his head.

“No harm, no harm, the hour is late, why don’t we rest here?”

Zhou Ling smiled.

For nothing, he, Zhou Ling, was already overjoyed to pick up a student who had entered the cla*s overnight.

After all, if Xu Qingnian gave him some guidance, he could pa*s the provincial exams and then go to the capital to take the exams, and he could win the exams, and if he became one of the top three, he would be overjoyed.

If he doesn’t win the examination himself, but his student does, his fame will be felt for ten miles and eight villages. Even the South Yufu would have to respect him as a guest of honour.

This wave is called “saving the country with a curve”.

Of course, selfishness is selfishness, but love of talent is also love of talent, and Zhou Ling is at least a scholar, so naturally, he will not overdo it.

“You’re welcome sir, I’m going home to rest, it’s not too late for a student at this hour.”

Xu Qingnian politely refused.

He was not used to living in someone else’s house, so he might as well go home.

Hearing Xu Qingnian say this, Zhou Ling didn’t say anything more.

He got up to say goodbye to Zhou Ling, and Xu Qingnian was about to leave.

Zhou Ling also followed suit and got up to see Xu Qingnian out, but at the end, Zhou Ling lowered his voice and said, “By the way, don’t say anything about your entry into the rank, especially not to your master mother.”

He came inexplicably, making Xu Qingnian a little curious, but it was nothing, and Xu Qingnian nodded.

Soon, Zhou Ling and Wu sent Xu Qingnian out the door before they returned to the mansion.

Xu Qingnian didn’t think much of it and went straight home.

It was night.

To get back to his house from Mr Zhou’s house, he had to take a shortcut, not to mention the distance if he took the main road, and he would easily run into his colleagues, and it would always be troublesome to exchange pleasantries.

So Xu Qingnian took the shortcut as usual.

However, as Xu Qingnian walked on.

Inexplicably, Xu Qingnian felt that something was wrong.

Her body was a little hot.

It was not a good feeling.

There was only a short pause.

Xu Qingnian continued to walk, intending to return quickly, fearing that something might happen.

Half a quarter of an hour later.

Xu Qingnian stopped at the same spot.

Because her body was too hot.

It was as if he was standing under a blazing sun, his body was itchy and hot, very uncomfortable.

“What’s going on?”

Xu Qingnian frowned as he immediately sat down with his legs crossed and ran his Zheng Yang Gong, trying to suppress it a little.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yang Gong did not have any effect at all, and even had a feeling of adding fuel to the fire.

Luckily, Xu Qingnian did not panic.

He immediately mobilised the Hao Ran Zheng Qi in his body to see if he could suppress it.

And with the appearance of the Hao Ran Zheng Qi, it was like a cold spring gushing into his body.

All the dryness and discomfort disappeared and was replaced by a coolness.

Refreshing.

Very refreshing.

This feeling made Xu Qingnian’s body tremble lightly.

However, just as Xu Qingnian was still comprehending this refreshing feeling, a voice suddenly rang out.

“You were actually able to suppress the Golden Crow Power.”

“Cultivating two supernatural arts at the same time?”

“You’ve got a lot of guts.”

The voice rang out, and soon an extremely familiar figure appeared in Xu Qingnian’s eyes.

It was that South Yufu fugitive!

In an instant, Xu Qingnian quickly got up and looked at the other party with an extremely guarded gaze.