However, when almost everyone had arrived, he realized that the simplicity and perfunctory nature of the venue was not without reason—there might not even be five thousand people in the entire Ning’an Prefecture, and just those coming to take the exam numbered a thousand. It seemed that all the young people had come here to try their luck. Shangling Academy only enrolled a thousand students a year throughout the whole of Nanxia, but the number of people taking the Shangling exam reached several hundred thousand. If the venue were to be carefully arranged and the assessment conducted in detail in reality, it would truly be no easy task.

Samuel Thompson somehow found a hemp rope, tied one end to Evan Carter’s wrist, and the other end around his own waist, saying, “When the crowd gets big, if you really get lost, my mother will probably hang me up and beat me.”

At the hour of Si, the drum was struck three times, and the noisy crowd quieted down. In the distance, a vigorous and powerful voice was heard: “Begin!”

Centered on the bamboo pillar, milky-white, intricate array patterns suddenly spread across the bluestone slabs, and moments later, a brilliant light shone forth.

Evan Carter’s consciousness was abruptly pulled away. After a moment of weightlessness, when he opened his eyes again, he was already on a mountain path shrouded in morning mist. By the roadside was a stone inscribed with “Shangling Dreamscape.”

He climbed the steps, and after dozens of stairs and turning a corner, the path twisted and turned, and suddenly he was at the mountain’s summit.

At the summit, the morning sun was just rising, and a refreshing breeze was blowing. In front of him appeared the apparition of a man in blue robes with an extremely kind face, who cupped his hands in greeting: “Fellow Daoist, please sit in meditation.”

Evan Carter sat in meditation.

“Where is your home, fellow Daoist?”

“Minzhou, Ning’an Prefecture.”

“What is your name, fellow Daoist?”

“Evan Carter.”

“How old are you this year, fellow Daoist?”

“Fourteen.”

“Truly, heroes emerge from the young.”

With that, the man in blue continued, “Fellow Daoist, please close your eyes.”

Evan Carter closed his eyes.

“Fellow Daoist, please meditate.”

Evan Carter meditated.

The man in blue smiled, “One poke and you bounce, fellow Daoist, you really are obedient.”

Evan Carter: “......”

This exam system is actually quite smart.

Author’s note: Evan Carter: Quack.

Chapter 9: A Heart as Steadfast as Iron

Evan Carter followed the words of the man in blue, closing his eyes and meditating.

Suddenly, he heard him say, “Fellow Daoist, are you here to take the Immortal Academy entrance exam?”

Evan Carter: “Yes.”

He responded, and suddenly thought that this exam system had been calling him “fellow Daoist” from the start—could it have some recognition function built in?

“In that case,” the man in blue cleared his throat, “First trial, part one: circulate your vital energy through the Great Zhou Tian. Please begin, fellow Daoist.”

Evan Carter felt the meridians and acupoints within his body, and sure enough, they were completely unobstructed, unlike his body in reality.

The Small and Great Zhou Tian are the foundations of cultivating vital energy and entering the Dao. The Small Zhou Tian can be performed by anyone, but the Great Zhou Tian is more complex and requires skill developed through practice. Exhale, gather energy in the dantian, sink it to the qi sea, then to the Yongquan acupoint; inhale, follow the Du meridian through three passes, up to the Baihui acupoint at the crown of the head, and finally to the tip of the tongue, circulating in a loop. Each school’s internal cultivation has slight differences in the specific path, but the end result is the same: the eight extraordinary meridians and the 720 acupoints are all traversed by vital energy, circulating endlessly. Each time the Great Zhou Tian is completed, the internal energy deepens a little. This accumulation over time is what is called “cultivation.”

After Evan Carter was brought home by his master, he began learning to recognize acupoints and practice the Small and Great Zhou Tian, so this time it went quite smoothly.

The man in blue clapped his hands in praise: “Fellow Daoist, you must have laid your foundation from a young age. I am impressed. First trial, part two, please listen carefully.”

He then softly recited a poem:

“Through Zhongchong, the lone wild goose breaks the clouds,

Many times Laogong dispels the loneliness.

Turning past Daling, passing through Jianshi,

At Qūzé and Tianchi, do not waver.”

The meaning of this poem was clearly to guide the vital energy from the Zhongchong acupoint in the hand to the Tianchi acupoint in the chest and abdomen, passing through the four major acupoints of Laogong, Daling, Jianshi, and Quze along the way. The path was straightforward, not requiring any detours. Evan Carter followed the instructions, and along the way wondered whether the two brothers Henry Thompson and Samuel Thompson, who could barely read, would be able to understand the poetry.

After he finished, the system immediately recited another poem, and so on for five times, thus passing this trial.

The system’s voice carried a slight smile: “First trial, part three: ‘Mountains and rivers seem to end, yet willows and flowers bring another village into view.’ Fellow Daoist, do not open your eyes, first circulate the Great Zhou Tian.”

Evan Carter did as instructed, when suddenly he felt someone tap several acupoints on his back, sealing Jianjing, Zhangmen, and a few others.

For those cultivating immortality, if there are issues with talent, or if they are injured, poisoned, or make mistakes in cultivation, the acupoints and meridians can easily develop problems, hindering the circulation of the Great Zhou Tian. At such times, one must use vital energy to break through the blocked acupoints, widen the meridians, or reroute through other meridians. It all depends on one’s ability to control vital energy.

Evan Carter controlled the vital energy within his body to forcibly break through the blockage at Jianjing, bypassed Zhangmen, took the Tianzong route, barely completed a round of the Great Zhou Tian, then slowly gathered energy through the Great Zhou Tian, gradually breaking through Fengmen. Once Jianjing and Fengmen were open, the blockage at Zhangmen loosened, and after a few more rounds, it was resolved on its own.

The system again rapidly tapped several key meridians.

—This first trial was originally meant to test basic skills, so no matter what tricks the system played with the meridians and acupoints, there was always a method to follow. After a few rounds, Evan Carter broke through all the obstacles one by one.