Chapter 4: New Mission, Lesser Yang Dao Examination

"Therefore, as long as I can secure a B Class in next year's Zhengyang Field Dao Examination, I can truly inherit the position of Temple Master of Xuanzhen Temple."

Li Yinsheng spoke matter-of-factly, "With a Temple Master, the Zhengyang Dharma Vein naturally won't disband Xuanzhen Temple."

"Martial Nephew," Junior Martial Uncle Jiang said, looking at Li Yinsheng with a face full of earnest concern. "I told you long ago not to push yourself too hard. Look at you, cultivating bitterly day and night—you've cultivated to the point of delirium.

"Don't cultivate at night for the next few days. Get a good night's sleep."

Li Yinsheng was speechless.

Although he had long anticipated that his martial uncle definitely had no confidence in him, he still felt immensely mocked.

Of course, this was normal.

The Zhengyang Dharma Vein's Dao Examination was held every three years. Instead of having cultivators of all ages participate together, it was divided into two fields.

One field was restricted to young disciples under twenty years old. This was to screen out young disciples with potential who had not yet fully matured from within the Dharma Vein and various Daoist Temples, in order to focus on cultivating them as early as possible.

The other field allowed cultivators of any age and position from the Dharma Vein and Daoist Temples to participate. This was to filter out cultivators with sufficient strength, making it easier to assign them major responsibilities.

The field restricted to young disciples was known as the "Lesser Yang Field," while the one open to any cultivator was called the "Zhengyang Field."

The results of both fields would be graded into five classes from highest to lowest based on the cultivators' performance: A, B, C, D, and Wu.

Although receiving a grade in either the Lesser Yang Field or the Zhengyang Field held considerable weight, their implications were entirely different.

A grade in the Lesser Yang Field represented potential, while a grade in the Zhengyang Field represented true strength.

Therefore, only those who achieved a B Class grade in the Zhengyang Field were qualified to be called a Temple Master.

However, with his previous cultivation, let alone the Zhengyang Field, he couldn't even achieve a B Class in the Lesser Yang Field.

In every Dao Examination, the disciples of the higher-up Zhengyang Dharma Vein would participate alongside all the disciples of the subordinate Daoist Temples.

The quota for A Class was extremely small, essentially swept up entirely by the most outstanding disciples of the Zhengyang Dharma Vein.

Most of the remaining Dharma Vein disciples could also be graded as B Class, thus occupying the majority of the B Class quota as well.

Under these circumstances, many Daoist Temples didn't even have a single disciple who could secure a B Class.

For example, Tingyun Temple, where the person who visited yesterday belonged, was hailed as one of the top ten among various Daoist Temples, yet it often took two or three examination cycles for one of their disciples to obtain a B Class grade.

That disciple would then be nurtured by the entire Daoist Temple as a future pillar.

For Great Daoist Temples ranked even higher, like Shouyi Temple and Songyue Temple, they usually only produced one or two B Class disciples per cycle.

Although Li Yinsheng had never participated in the Lesser Yang Field Dao Examination before, he asked himself honestly: with his previous cultivation, managing to scrape a C Class in the Lesser Yang Field would be considered lucky.

As for the Zhengyang Field, which placed no restrictions whatsoever on a cultivator's age or position...

Not only would all the Stewards and Temple Masters of the Daoist Temples participate, but many cultivators from within the Dharma Vein would also join.

Even Daoists—who ranked above Temple Masters in Daoist Temples and held considerable status within the Dharma Vein—could potentially end up with a B Class grade if they were unlucky.

Of course, the Dao Examination of the Zhengyang Dharma Vein, whether it was the Lesser Yang Field or the Zhengyang Field, was not mandatory. Therefore, such prominent figures wouldn't participate in every single cycle.

Li Yinsheng estimated that with his current mere fifty years of cultivation, combined with his mediocre proficiency in Magic, he would probably only amount to a D Class level in the Zhengyang Field.

But he had only claimed the reward once.

If he just received it a few more times, he had not the slightest doubt about whether he could snatch a grade of B Class or higher in the Zhengyang Field. Let alone B Class, even A Class wasn't impossible.

His main concern was whether claiming such a reward a few more times would drive him crazy.

With the sun high in the sky, Mu Xiaoyu came out of her bedroom and stretched lazily, facing its warmth.

Yesterday, she had been tormented for several hours by her handsome senior martial brother, moving just like a Mortal Martial Master practicing martial arts. The ordeal had left her entire body aching and her eyes seeing stars.

However, upon waking up today, she found her body completely relaxed and her spirit brimming with energy, as if last night's soreness had only been a dream.

Mu Xiaoyu dragged a long table out of her bedroom and placed it in the courtyard. She lay on it, basking in the sun, while popping the candied crabapples she had taken last night into her mouth.

Last night, she had brought all the steamed buns from the dining hall back to her room. She ate five before going to sleep, and after waking up in the morning, she ate four more paired with spring bamboo shoots. Nearly half a jar of pickled spring bamboo shoots was already gone.

There was also wild honey, which she had eaten quite a bit of as a snack.

She had to admit, although life on the mountain was exhaustingly tiring, those spring bamboo shoots and honey were truly delicious! They tasted even better than the supposedly "Prince's Mansion Imperial Tributes" back home!

"So comfortable..." Lying on the long table, feeling the lazy warmth and the sweet-and-sour taste melting in her mouth, Mu Xiaoyu squinted her eyes in sheer contentment.

That was until a broad shadow blocked her sunlight.

Mu Xiaoyu opened her eyes and flashed a smile uglier than crying at the obstacle blocking her sun. "Senior Martial Brother..."

"It seems Junior Martial Sister has no lingering fatigue," Li Yinsheng said with a slight nod. "Although the early stages of the Qingxuan Scripture may seem similar to mortal martial arts, they are actually completely different.

"Mortal martial arts rely on tempering the muscles and bones, squeezing Qi Blood from the marrow. Although this grants the strength of an ox and the speed to chase down a galloping horse, it ultimately overdraws the body's fundamental Primordial Energy.

"Even with constant nourishment throughout one's life, one will still be riddled with injuries and illnesses in old age, all due to excessive overexertion.

"The Qingxuan Scripture does the exact opposite. It solely aims to strengthen one's Primordial Energy. The subsequent vigor of Qi Blood will simply be the result of natural nourishment from this Primordial Energy."