Random recommendation: This isn’t okay either!

Dou Zhao’s gaze was like a knife, sweeping over Old Ju’s head. Wherever it passed, people and gods alike avoided it.

Perhaps everyone was thinking, or perhaps they were simply silent. In any case, no one met Dou Zhao’s gaze. It cut through the wind and split the leaves all the way, finally landing on Qin Zhi Zhen, who had casually closed the door.

Qin Zhi Zhen didn’t have a smug smile, although he did want to laugh a little.

He had a steady personality, showing neither joy nor anger on his face. He calmly received Dou Zhao’s gaze and naturally stepped forward.

His black clothes were like iron armor, neat and cold. In his palm, he held the illusory shadow of Yan Luo Tianzi, which gathered into a mysterious light source, enveloping him in a faint, noble, dim glow.

He put this hand behind his back, his other hand pressing on the hilt of his knife, and so he slowly… stepped forward.

Neither honor nor disgrace surprised him; he walked with his head held high and with large strides.

“My Great Qin Empire has always emphasized civil rule. Qin, this humble one, read classics at the age of three, using the *Jing Xu Xiang Er Ji* as my enlightenment…”

He thought as he spoke. After all, the journey was too short. He only managed to say this sentence before he had already reached the screen wall.

Carefully deliberating every word has the advantage of not having to worry about speaking too quickly and being proven wrong. He hadn’t even had time to mock them when he already grasped the complexity of this essay topic. How could it be explained? It would require three to five hours. To write this article well, if one considered perfecting it, it would require repeated revisions and polishing, which would take upwards of eight hours. And then there was the possibility of writing inconsistencies or misinterpretations…

If Gan Chang An were here, it would be great! That kid picked up a pen and wrote grand essays that weren’t bound by words at all; he could write the person who set the topic to death.

He thought of a wonderful sentence but didn’t say it aloud: “All gentlemen look out at the ocean and sigh, while I see the hunt and my heart rejoices.”

“It seems this topic isn’t difficult?” Dou Zhao asked in a timely manner.

Qin Zhi Zhen grinned, a brilliant smile: “Oh, is it very difficult for Cabinet Member Dou?”

Dou Zhao nodded frankly: “Compared to pinning you to the ground and beating you, it’s a bit more complex.”

Qin Zhi Zhen said: “So you can’t win.”

“Don’t just talk big.” Dou Zhao lifted his chin, indicating for him to go and solve the topic.

Qin Zhi Zhen then took large strides forward. Seeing that he was about to run into the screen wall, he raised his hand and tore it—

Refining the Void!

A gap appeared in the void, as if a door had been opened in the screen wall. Within his entire range of vision, space flowed and trembled.

He walked directly in. The void rippled like water, and the screen wall was restored as new.

Dou Zhao opened his mouth, wanting to curse, but feared he couldn’t hear him.

Moving the examination hall away and walking out the back door is also called solving the topic? Is this how the Great Qin Empire emphasizes civil rule!? This is truly the Western Di!

“Passing in this way is possible, but without solving this topic, the problem will always exist, and it’s hard to say it won’t affect future development…” Huang She Li walked forward: “Let me do it.”

As she spoke, the spiritual light around her body transformed ten thousand times, actually resembling a blooming lotus.

Vaguely, the illusory shadow of a Bodhi tree appeared, floating on her flowing yellow robe.

Her eyes concealed the Thunder Sound Pagoda, and her heart held the Bodhi tree.

By this time, they had already realized that it was not without reason that Book Mountain had sent Zhao Wu Yan to substitute for Zhi Zhong Xuan. Perhaps they had anticipated something precisely and planned to have Zhao Wu Yan solve the problem in a similar situation… but there was no need.

Today, all the members were gathered. The Tai Xu Cabinet had the Tai Xu Cabinet’s way of doing things; no one else’s arrangements were needed.

Huang She Li hadn’t formally entered the state of enlightenment yet. Simply by summoning the Bodhi, spiritual light frequently appeared, and literary thought surged like a spring. The hidden clues within the text of this grand theory, the ink names and their meaning, almost leaped out one by one into her eyes.

But a figure in white clothes had already surpassed her.

“Why make it so complex?”

Chong Xuan Zun smiled dismissively. He casually lifted a Moon Wheel Knife, his large sleeves fluttering, and walked to the text screen wall.

Everyone was waiting for his brilliant article. He did indeed raise his knife and wield it, yet it was only one stroke—

In an instant, the knife light was like splitting snow!

Huang She Li still thought he was going to directly chop the screen wall to pieces. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to scold his recklessness or praise his style. She felt foolish, and then she felt he was truly handsome. Under the Bodhi tree, her mood was still complex.

But after the knife light passed over, the area in front was empty!

The abundant two thousand three hundred and sixty-one screen wall texts seemed like a heavy snowfall fluttering in the air.

After the snow had fallen completely, the words became text again.

They were still the same words, yet they had become a completely different article, and they had a nearly perfect response to the previous text.

Word by word became steps, building into an arched bridge. Clear water trickled, flowing from under the bridge’s arch.

It turned out that the solution to this topic had such a crucial requirement—the answer had to be framed within the topic. It wasn’t just about analyzing the text’s meaning, not just about connecting the text’s context, but it also had to use the combination of these texts to respond to another kind of combination.

Perhaps only Chong Xuan Zun, who could cut through delusion with a single glance, could directly reveal those obscure textual traps and point his knife towards the final answer.

The text screen wall became a text arch bridge, spanning the small river of years.

Pedestrians could naturally come and go on the bridge.

“Good article!” Jiang Wang, who had been waiting bored, sincerely praised: “Brother Chong Xuan raises his knife like a poem, truly a scholar!”

Chong Xuan Zun casually grabbed his long knife, turning it into moonlight. He stepped lightly onto the arch bridge, like a cloud and a gentle breeze. Hearing such praise, he actually shook his head: “It’s neat, but not perfect enough.”

“This article could have had a more wonderful counter-argument, but the person who set the topic, using what they thought was so-called ingenuity, framed the response within these texts.”

He sighed softly: “Heavy on the axe and chisel, lacking in spirit and essence. This is also a common problem with the Diligent Academy.”

Jiang Wang didn’t speak.

Everyone crossed the bridge in silence.

After crossing the stone bridge, there was snow. In the vast snow-covered ground, there was a patch of bamboo forest, and Qin Zhi Zhen’s back.

This guy was probably also a little embarrassed, squatting there alone and busy with something.

The snow-covered ground here severely suppressed the five senses. Even with Jiang Wang’s eyesight, he could only see vaguely—

Qin Zhi Zhen seemed to be erecting a stele of some kind, using that ink-colored knife to carefully chisel.

It made people’s hearts heavy… perhaps carving a grave for someone?

Within the entire Diligent Academy, no one else had this kind of friendship with Qin Zhi Zhen…

“What are you doing?” Dou Zhao just stepped over, poked Qin Zhi Zhen in the back, and half-bent down to examine his carving. His tone was clearly relaxed: “You just needed to refine the void and walk to the end! With the Great Qin Empire’s emphasis on civil rule, your esteemed self is still personally waiting for us here?”

Qin Zhi Zhen didn’t turn back or talk back. He said very seriously: “This patch of snow-covered ground and bamboo forest is a very complex seal. I am trying to break it.”

“I understand.” Dou Zhao nodded: “The void is also sealed!”

Everyone didn’t speak. After all, Dou Zhao alone was enough to scold Qin Zhi Zhen.

Qin Zhi Zhen was originally no match for Dou Zhao’s scolding and was even more unreasonable, so he simply didn’t say a word and focused on solving the seal.

Thinking of how潇洒 he had crossed the text screen wall in front of the flustered Dou Zhao, he felt that these sounds in his ears were just buzzing, very powerless.

After a round of scolding, Jiang Wang stood out: “I want to say a fair word—”

“Cabinet Member Qin is busy with proper matters. Can’t the arguments wait until we get out?” He was sorrowful and compassionate, his words bitter but sincere, even bringing out his Buddha-nature: “Focus on the bigger picture, Brother Dou!”

Dou Zhao’s teeth itched with hatred. If he weren’t focusing on the bigger picture, Tian Xiao’s knife would have chopped down long ago, right? Chop Jiang and Qin together. Let’s see who still pretends to be a good person here!

But Jiang Wang gave him a wink. Thinking of this person’s contribution to his knife skills over the past year, he temporarily turned his head away.

Jiang Wang walked up front and squatted down with Qin Zhi Zhen: “No need to be polite.”

Qin Zhi Zhen reacted a little and said: “Thanks!”

Jiang Wang observed the seal formation in front while saying: “Are you familiar with Zheng Hou?”

“I’m asking… what is your relationship like?”

“Forget it, can you bring out his Cause and Fate Immortal Palace?”

“Ah?” Qin Zhi Zhen finally turned back.

“…You continue your research.” Jiang Wang turned his head back.

Qin Zhi Zhen finally finished carving the text for the Town Xuan stele he had just written. The text was concise, the arguments were strict, and the writing style was very heavy. He wrote praise and sighs for the Diligent Academy, and a response to the grand literary spirit that was like rivers and seas in this segment of history—

Then he smashed this stele fiercely into the snow-covered ground like a heavy sword!

A chilling intent floated like a suspended cloud.

Above that ethereal cloud energy, one could see a mirage of ten thousand li mountains and rivers.

The wind blew, the snow shook, and the bamboo forest was actually green.

This one book, one most, one new, one chapter, one section

Look one by one!

“Hiding the pen in bamboo, concealing the paper in snow, using literary energy as an inkstone, arranging time and space.” Qin Zhi Zhen’s voice became more and more sinking: “My guess was not wrong. This is indeed Dean Zuo Qiu Wu’s famous work… The Six Yao Mountains and Rivers Ban! It’s just that massive literary energy was used to cover it.”

“You made a fuss for half a day and only now understood the topic.” Dou Zhao twisted his head in disbelief: “Then you’ve been pretending with this air for half a day, fiddling around, paralyzing whom? Your teammates?”

I can do it too.

“The path of seal formations is vast and profound. One must first identify it, then solve it.” Qin Zhi Zhen slowly said: “If you don’t even understand this, then don’t discuss it with this monarch.”

Dou Zhao had a proud nature, but he wouldn’t quibble.

He believed that the knife could solve everything, but in a situation where Zhong Xuan’s life and death were unknown, that was indeed not a very good choice.

Being mocked by Qin Zhi Zhen in the seal formation, he would definitely study diligently and practice when he went back. But at this time, he just curled his lips: “Then how long do you need?”

Qin Zhi Zhen calculated seriously: “Three days.”

He did indeed dabble in everything and understand some things. Besides reaching the absolute peak in knife skills and achieving extreme perfection in Tian Fu, he also mastered a lot of knowledge from various schools. But after all, he couldn’t be at the top in everything.

His writing lacked some spiritual energy but won in its steadiness. In seal formations, he had a very solid foundation, but lacked some height.

After all, it was Zuo Qiu Wu who wrote *My View on the Evolution of Ancient Seal Techniques*. This great master had very deep insights into ancient seal techniques and was also a rare seal formation expert in contemporary times. The seal formation he created was not that easy to crack.

“It is indeed the Six Yao Mountains and Rivers Ban. To solve this seal formation, the most important thing is to understand which section of mountains and rivers it transports, and then dismantle it symptomatically. This is a topic of seal bans, a topic of history, and even more a topic of political theory…” Ju Kui spoke at this time: “I will cooperate with Cabinet Member Qin and should be able to shorten this time to one day and a half. Cabinet Member Chong Xuan can come and make the final political theory judgment.”

Legalists have always had some insights into prohibitions and seals. Ju Kui was also considered an expert in this field.

“Cough!” Jiang Wang cleared his throat: “I do have some understanding of seal formations.”

Dou Zhao raised an eyebrow—

Who asked him?

As he spoke, the Zhen River True Monarch had already walked into the middle of the bamboo forest. His light boots stepped on the snow, leaving a long string of clear footprints, as if they were traces of history.

Relying on Qin Zhi Zhen’s preliminary work and standing on his colleague’s head, the problem was indeed clearer. During this period of time, Jiang Wang already had a relatively profound understanding of the Six Yao Mountains and Rivers Ban.

If one wanted to follow the standard solution method, similar to how Ju Kui and Qin Zhi Zhen slowly dismantled the details of the seal formation, perhaps one day and a half to break the ban was indeed the limit.

But he had a different solution method—

The Six Yao Mountains and Rivers Ban, its importance lay in the mountains and rivers.

Just like a blue bird passing through the forest, his figure was only a shadow. The hem of his fluttering clothes brought the wind. When the eight winds moved, the bamboo forest swayed wildly.

It was like a complex book being picked up and shaken to remove dust.

Yet it stopped in an instant.

Because nine ancient stone bridges had already appeared in the sky above the bamboo forest, suppressing this forest and making the wind stop and the snow warm.

Nine Towns of the Long River, breaking the ban with a ban!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The deep earth seemed like an earth dragon turning over.

This snow-covered ground was originally where literary energy gathered. Because of the ban law being suppressed and bursting, the literary energy was dense in the sky, vaguely showing a picture of ten thousand li mountains and rivers.

Jiang Wang stepped on the leaves in the bamboo forest, strolling between the green shadows shaking the green… he drew his sword horizontally!

All the green bamboo split open and became green slips. They surrounded Jiang Wang and flew around. On each piece of green slip, texts appeared due to the washing of literary energy. These texts described characters and customs, truly depicting clear mountains and rivers.

The terrifying power of the Six Yao Mountains and Rivers Ban was only completely released here.

But at the same time, a green giant tripod rose horizontally from one side of the sky. The so-called ten thousand li mountains and rivers were actually like a rolled-up curtain, only printed as a section of pattern on the tripod’s body.

Using the Nine Towns stone bridges to suppress the Six Yao changes, using the Green Heaven Sword Tripod to carry the mountains and rivers, examining the ban was like observing a pattern in the palm of one’s hand, and breaking the ban was even easier than turning one’s hand.

Where did the mountains and rivers carry the green tripod, who calculated the Nine Towns using the Six Yao!

Jiang Wang received his sword and hung it at his waist—

Heaven and earth were silent for a moment.

He stretched out his left hand horizontally in the air, grabbing the roll of green slips.

The bamboo forest was no longer visible; the green shirt was in the middle of the snow.

Boom boom boom!

At this time, only vast snow fell.

The ten thousand years of literary energy seemed like a large avalanche!

Everyone didn’t speak, carefully feeling the surging literary energy, perceiving the bitter quality and literary heart of the world’s first academy within it. The changes of the Diligent Academy, the stories of the Diligent Academy, these literary energies were not directly described, but they were more or less stained.

God-drowning eyes, delusion-cutting thoughts, beginning and end…

Each was different but all were top-tier pupil techniques in the world, using their gaze to cut this piece of heaven and earth into concrete and minute parts, leaving nothing hidden.

This time, this piece of heaven and earth was different again.

How could it be boundless? Not far ahead was the mottled wall of the academy. The so-called bamboo forest consisted of only ten or so Mao bamboo roots.

A moon gate was opened on the wall. After the door was a warm spring scene.

After the snow on this side melted, one could see a person leaning by the door inside the moon gate.

His appearance was ordinary. He wore Confucian scholar’s clothes, hung a bamboo sheath long sword, leaned against the door motionless, seeming to be sleeping in a dream, already not knowing how many days, how many years…

He was already old, his eyebrows and hair covered in frost, his qi and blood declining. Only the outline of his eyebrows and eyes vaguely resembled an old acquaintance… precisely the one-hearted sword practitioner who practiced sword in the bamboo forest that year, “practicing sword one more time every day,” Cui One More!

A hazy spring wind blew, warming his face. He slowly lifted his trembling eyelids and opened his eyes. The vast snow in his eyes had already been swept away, instantly becoming firm. His scattered gaze seemed like countless iron filings quickly gathering into a stubborn sword. With his unique sharpness and stubbornness, he once again gazed at this old scene—

Then he saw… the eight people from the Tai Xu Cabinet.

At that time, a large avalanche descended from the high sky. The collapsing literary energy was like a tiger and a dragon. The howling sound was very close, roaring in his ears, almost deafening him.

Jiang Wang, whom he had seen many years ago, held green slips in his hand, a long sword hanging at his waist, standing at the very front.

Behind him, some were squatting, some standing, some walking, some stopping. They were all famous figures of today, each with absolutely top-tier style… they all looked up together.

The wind and snow were all far away.

The story seemed to be from yesterday.

Cui One More was like being struck by thunder. He opened his mouth, and tears flowed from his eyes.

Thank book friend “Chihūn Yān” for becoming the alliance leader of this book! This is for the 860th alliance of Red Heart Patrol Heaven!