Chapter 304

Chapter 304: The First Morning Class

As dawn broke, the bell atop Shuxiu Peak began to ring “dong, dong, dong,” echoing far and wide with Hongyin’s voice: “With the first light of dawn, let us begin our questioning of the scriptures.”

The new disciples were about to attend their first morning class!

The upper sect had its own rules, forbidding disciples from being late or leaving early and not allowing them to take leave unless absolutely necessary. All thirty-seven thousand new disciples had to be present, while the miscellaneous disciples were free to attend or not.

Lazy disciples yawned and jogged along the mountain path from Huifan Peak beside Shuxiu Peak. Those who lived farther away floated over using artifacts or talismans. Then there were people like Li Hui, who, as a personal disciple living in a cave residence with his Master, had to arrive within the time limit of a stick of incense.

With thirty-seven thousand disciples plus the miscellaneous ones, there could be as many as fifty thousand present. Looking out, the crowd appeared dark and dense, but once they entered the questioning square, it didn’t feel overcrowded.

Each disciple possessed a command token, making it nearly impossible to skip class.

From the high platform above, a gaze swept over the crowd, and Li Hui saw a square-faced man who looked at him with a fierce intensity, as if they were bitter enemies. This was the guy who embellished stories and caused him to lose the chance to inherit the strongest treasures of the Mirror Lake faction.

“I am the sixth true disciple of the Haotu Sect, named Yuan Ciheng. Today, I will teach everyone the first lesson.”

“Listen carefully! The questioning square is divided into one hundred and eight layers. Each time a true disciple teaches, it consumes a lot of mental energy because every layer of the lecture hall is different.”

“Today is especially crucial as it determines your respective classrooms. In other words, if you are a miscellaneous disciple who can attend class with outer disciples, your knowledge and understanding are certainly greater than those of other miscellaneous disciples. If you are an outer disciple attending class with inner disciples, it also signifies that you are superior.”

“Open the bamboo slips in front of you; there are thirteen questions to answer within the time limit of half a stick of incense. The bamboo slips will automatically determine correctness. After that, there will be thirteen more questions with a time limit of a quarter of a stick of incense. The third round expands to twenty-six questions, also with a time limit of a quarter of a stick of incense.”

The disciples understood the significance of the questioning and knew that being ranked higher in the layers represented greater knowledge and achievement.

As long as they reached the top thirty layers, they would be considered academic elites! Those in the top ten layers would be the true academic elites! The top five layers were merely for show, as even true disciples might not be able to reach them.

Li Hui took out a dessert carefully prepared by Chef Zhao and was just about to take a bite when he suddenly heard a reprimand from the stage: “Li Yingjun, causing trouble in class! Stand for a quarter of a stick of incense and do not answer the questions.”

“Hey, I see; this guy loves targeting his own.” Li Hui stood up gracefully, facing the crowd and giving a salute, which drew a burst of laughter.

With suggestions to help Li Maocai, he was obviously not an outsider. Yuan Ciheng looked serious and suppressed all the gazes, resting on the high platform.

Nearby disciples exchanged glances and subtly shook their heads. These small actions naturally did not escape Li Hui’s keen eye, and he felt a chill in his heart: “Someone is targeting me; Brother Yuan’s intentional punishment is to remind me!”

After standing for a quarter of a stick of incense, when Li Hui slowly sat down and opened the bamboo slips, he found the questions quite basic and quickly began to write with a flourish.

Before the surrounding disciples even reacted, ripples appeared on the table in front as it shifted toward the higher-level classroom.

Someone transmitted a message: “Damn it, how is he answering so fast? Notify the seventy-third layer classroom to stop him!”

Li Hui, feeling bored, decided to play along! Let’s see how high he can reach; the more they tried to stop him from advancing, the more determined he would be to reach the top.

Moments later, ripples formed around him as four disciples encircled Li Hui.

The boy in front looked up at the high platform and secretly gestured. The boy on the left reached into his robe, preparing to take out a porcelain bottle, when suddenly his body trembled.

“Am I immobilized?”

“Damn it, why was there no warning? Is this some sort of talisman?”

When the bamboo slips presented new questions, Li Hui swiftly answered them. As for the four disciples aiming to trap him, they wouldn’t even have a chance to answer this round; they’d be stuck in the seventy-third layer classroom for two years.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the forty-sixth layer classroom, and Li Hui furrowed his brows. Who was targeting him? This was truly formidable; shadows danced, and ten disciples surrounded him from all sides.

“Being able to enter the forty-sixth layer classroom indicates that their knowledge is substantial, placing them among the top five thousand new disciples.” Li Hui secretly attempted to use the immobilization talisman but found it blocked by great power, unable to trap these ten people.

“They came prepared, wanting to suppress me as a personal disciple? Since they are so ruthless, don’t blame me for being totally decisive.” Even a clay figure has some stubbornness; how much more so for a cultivator who has survived countless trials on Wan Nest Island? Not to mention a fatal response, he certainly wouldn’t let these people have an easy time.

As the ten people around him felt confident and prepared to act, they suddenly experienced a chilling sensation. In the depths of fate, it felt like they had lost something. One of them sniffed and sneezed, sending his bamboo slip flying onto the ground. As he bent to pick it up, he heard a cry of pain beside him: “Ugh, my stomach hurts so much! It can’t be that the Rare Treasures feast yesterday had a problem, right?”

“Your face looks green; I get it now. It’s not the feast that had a problem; your body can’t handle the heavenly kite, leading to toxic reactions.”

“Quick, quickly notify the tutors for help!”

The scene turned chaotic, and the ten of them encountered a series of misfortunes, determining whether they could endure for two months depended on luck; they were highly likely to die inexplicably.

Li Hui picked up the bamboo slips, which revealed twenty-six questions, with the first one increasing in difficulty. By the last question, it already involved knowledge from Condense Essence and Bosa stages.

He quickly answered the first twenty-two questions, but when he reached the twenty-third question, his expression suddenly became serious.

The question asked about how to enhance advantages during advancement from Condense Essence to Bosa.

“The heavenly marrow worm can enhance the penetrating power of the spirit, making it suitable for this context. Additionally, using treasure talismans to form a talisman formation may subdue the Thunderfire tribulation. Swallow thunder into the belly and fire into the bones, using this to temper the body…”

Don’t think the twenty-third question was difficult; the last three questions were even more challenging and covered knowledge about the Myriad Forms Stage regarding the spirit and essence.

Li Hui took a different approach, discussing the transformation of a ghost cultivator into a Yin Spirit, gradually explaining various peculiar characteristics displayed by the Remnant Soul of the Cold Armor Emperor, flowing smoothly for hundreds of words.

After finishing this question, he heard a soft “zhi” sound as azure Smoke and Mist rose from the bamboo slips, visible to all disciples nearby.

“What’s going on? Who is producing smoke in the classroom?”

“Fool! That’s not smoke; it’s azure screen energy, also known as the spirit bird’s display. Someone has answered the first of the last three questions and received confirmation.”

Li Hui glanced up for a moment and then looked down to read the twenty-fifth question, taking a deep breath as it surprisingly asked the disciples to discuss Buddha nature and demonic nature.

“This, this…”

“What is Buddha nature, and what is demonic nature?”

“Compassionate heart for all; saving living beings, sweeping the ground without harming the lives of ants, cherishing moths near the lamp! No, wait! Thoughts are complicated; there is a benevolent aspect and an evil side as well. Yin and Yang rotate, ancient Dao endures; Buddha is Dao, and demon is also Dao, merely a branch. In the end, both should return to the Dao…”

Li Hui took a deep breath and cast aside his complicated thoughts, addressing the question directly from his heart. Not long after, another soft “zhi” sound arose.

The disciples gazed in awe, and someone exclaimed, “Purple Mist comes from the East, surpassing the rainbow; the heart of Dao is solid! Today, someone is likely to enter the top three layers.”