The examinees, under the guidance of leading Officials, crossed the Garden of Dawn and arrived at the easternmost region of Li Palace, they didn’t see the youth who had handed in his paper the earliest, only seeing a thicket of evergreens that were about the size of two people in height that had been trimmed tremendously straight. Some of the examinees that were from the Capital knew of the origins of these copious green woods; finally understanding that this year’s Martial Trial was this topic, they inadvertently let out a silent wail within their hearts.
Let us switch from these examinees who were currently in the Martial Trial and their current predicament, and instead return to the Academic Exam that was still ongoing within the Hall of Zhao Wen.
Some students currently had brush tips grinding against their teeth, faces pale, akin to being on the verge of fainting; some students, under the cold Spring air, had faces full of sweat and steam rising from their bodies, giving the current scene an indescribable sense of tension.
This year’s questions were too difficult, encompassing too broad a knowledge area and requiring too deep an understanding, far surpassing those of previous years. No matter how much they racked their brains, there was a limit to their endurance; there were constantly examinees who had lost in the battle against the question setters, handing in their answer papers early, followed by the sounds of crying emanating from the Hall of Zhao Wen.
An increasing number of gazes from the examiners and clergy fell upon Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng, yet it seemed as if they were unaware of these gazes; they continued on their answers, their brushes unceasing in their motion.
Through the passage of time, the Hall of Zhao Wen came to have just over ten people remaining, most of the positions had already been cleared, making the hall ever more empty, deserted. For those remaining, they had already given up on answering the last few questions and were beginning to check their answers for mistakes; Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng continued with answering the questions.
The early Spring Sun, rose from the horizon to a zenith, the numbers remaining in the Academic Exam increasingly dwindled, even Tian Hai Sheng Xue and the four scholars from Cassia Mansion had already handed in their answer papers; Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng continued to silently work on their answers, they had already reach the final page of the questions.
The examiners and clergy within the hall could not sit still any longer; one-by-one they left their seats, holding their tea as they approached the exam area; fearing that they might disturb the two of them, they didn’t get too close, but remained at a distance. Observing this scene that would rarely appear within the Grand Examination, none of them let out a single sound, yet their expressions became increasingly spectacular.
For these past years, no one had managed to answer all the questions in their entirety for the Academic Exam. The reason for this was due to the question setters being elderly clergy from Li Palace that concentrated on studying classics of The Way.
These elderly clergy members might have had unremarkable cultivation, and little in the way of political power, but a lifetime under books had given them vast knowledge and it had become customary for them to set the hardest possible questions for the last few as a proof of their worth; these questions would have been difficult even for the question setters to answer unassisted, let alone the examinees.
Gou Han Shi was renowned for having read the Scripture of The Way in its entirety; Chen Chang Sheng currently also had the same accolade; perhaps this had incurred the wrath of these elderly clergy members of Li Palace, causing this year’s questions to be far more difficult than usual, especially the last few questions, which were difficult and abstruse to the extreme, akin to wanting to humiliate Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng.
The examiners and clergy were well aware of this, seeing that both Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng had managed to reach the last page and would be able to answer all the questions in their entirety, they were naturally astounded.
Tian Hai Sheng Xue had already handed in his answers, and was standing by the doorway of the hall, he turned around to glance at the two who were currently still answering the questions and quietly frowned. As the most promising successor to the Tian Hai family, he had never let up on the demands he had set for himself, yet those last few questions were far too difficult; he didn’t understand how Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng could continue answering, was the gap in knowledge really that great?