Looking at the stern expressions upon everyone’s faces, with some displaying dismay, Chen Chang Sheng felt a little confused. The Capital had many parks and gardens which contained similar labyrinths that even little children could complete, even if this forest was exceedingly vast in size and its design was to be a little more complex, it couldn’t possibly compare with the difficulty of the Academic Exam?
“This forest is called the Dallying Forest.”
Luo Luo knew that though he had read the Scripture in its entirety, he had little familiarity with many things that were common knowledge. She explained to him in a low voice: “It’s said that this was originally used by Wang Zhi Ce as a recreational game to relax when studying, while he was at the Capital. At the time he had used a brush and paper, but as his designs became increasingly complex, it became increasingly difficult to complete.”
She continued: “Many years later, the reigning Pope of the time felt that this game was useful for tempering the minds of young people and could also be used to test the strength of someone’s divine sense, therefore, an evergreen forest was constructed in the Garden of Dawn, according to the design.”
“It’s difficult?” asked Chen Chang Sheng.
“Wang Zhi Ce named this game ‘dallying’; due to its difficult nature, it could squander away all your time,” explained Luo Luo.
Something that was considered difficult by a legendary figure like Wang Zhi Ce could only be truly challenging.
Chen Chang Sheng considered for a while before asking: “Many of the solutions used by Wang Zhi Ce should have been disseminated, why haven’t I have seen any of them recorded in any books?”
Luo Luo answered: “Wang Zhi Ce used brush and paper, but relied upon calculation and planning, for something he considered to be a minor recreational game, he didn’t bother recording it in his notes, therefore, his solution remains unknown.”
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the never-ending trees and said: “Using a brush and paper, you can sketch out innumerable designs in a short period of time; with the design becoming something this vast, a person traversing it cannot possible match the speed of sketching on paper, to find a solution within 2 hours is indeed difficult.”
“That’s why your divine sense has to be strong enough.”
Luo Luo looked at him and carefully said: “Using the divine sense as a brush, the stronger your divine sense is, the farther you can perceive, this is the equivalent of being able to sketch farther ahead; being able to evaluate this quicker.”
“So this is a test of the divine sense and ability to perceive, I think… there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Thinking of his distant Fated Star, Chen Chang Sheng felt confident, but he suddenly thought of something and asked: “There is only a single correct path?”
If there was only a single correct path, then examinees that couldn’t use their divine sense to determine the correct path could still resort to following others.
“According to the calculations and estimates done by His Holiness in his youth, this forest has more than 4,000 entrances, and over 700 exits. There are at least 3,927,400 different solutions, or more specifically, routes. If an examinee was to successfully solve this quandary through one of the routes, then anyone unlucky enough or shameless enough to be on the same route, would regrettably have to start over again.”
The lector from Temple Seminary looked at the examinees and said: “Please choose your individual entrances.”
At that moment, one of the young scholars from Cassia Mansion asked: “It should be fine as long as the route taken is different, therefore, can we enter from the same entrance and split up once we reach a farther location?”
The lector’s eyebrow lightly twitched as they answered: “That is not allowed.”
According to the regulations for this year’s Martial Trial, only examinees that manage to pass through this forest would have the right to participate in the final duelling phase, anyone that failed would be directly disqualified, while the first to pass this stage would be rewarded with an advantage in the duelling phase.
An important rule was that the Martial Trial had to be completed alone – the Grand Examination intentionally sought to break down the barriers between the various schools and sects and recruit them into the folds of the Imperial Government or Orthodoxy, therefore, it naturally forbade the various schools and sects from acting together; this was an evident distinction from the Grand Meeting of Zhu Shi.
Cassia Mansion was a famous school from the Southern Domain that frequently participated in the Grand Examination and Grand Meeting of Zhu Shi, it couldn’t have been unaware of this rule.
The words of that scholar were obviously directed at someone else.