A Talent of Stunning Brilliance

"Dao can be spoken is not the eternal Dao?"

"Dao, can be spoken, is not the eternal Dao?"

"Dao can, spoken not, eternal Dao?"

"Dao can be spoken? Not the eternal Dao?"

Seeing Zhou Bai casually write another line, Christina felt every hair on her body stand on end. The sentence had no punctuation, yet it could be read however one pleased. Each reading yielded countless meanings—mysterious beyond mystery, impossible to describe.

"What does this mean?" Christina asked. "You... how did you write something like this? It's kind of amazing."

"Heh... this is amazing?" Zhou Bai said smugly. "I've got plenty of insights into the Dao! The True Fragrance Law is beyond your comprehension, so I'll give you a few simpler lines."

Zhou Bai lifted his brush again. "A name that can be named is not the eternal name. How about that? Isn't it fucking incredible?"

Christina's eyes widened instantly. She slowly exhaled through her nose, brow furrowed, as though she had fallen into some profound train of thought.

Seeing that he had stunned this silly cat, Zhou Bai grew pleased. Looks like the Dao De Jing really works? Well, it is all mysterious beyond mystery, impossible to describe. I'll just write these two lines—they already encompass everything under heaven. You can figure out the rest yourselves.

Feeling extremely satisfied with the two lines he had written, he handed in precisely those two lines when it came time to submit his paper. Then he left the examination hall with the other candidates and was assigned to a lounge hall.

A teacher stepped out and said to the crowd, "Everyone, rest here for a while. With the cultivation of several senior teachers, they'll be able to finish grading everyone within half an hour at most. Please be patient."

The candidates each found a place in the hall and sat down.

Zuo Dao, whose Primordial Spirit Value had reached 105 and who wore his hair long, stood motionless where he was. With every breath, Spiritual Machine seemed to churn within him. He was seizing every moment to cultivate.

The bald young man who had answered the vice principal's question earlier walked over to Zuo Dao and grinned at him. "Zuo Dao, what did you write on your paper? Hehe, I comprehended a rune, though I have no idea what it does."

Zuo Dao said coldly, "A breathing technique."

"A breathing technique?" The bald young man's eyes lit up. Breathing techniques were the foundation of cultivation. By drawing in and exhaling Spiritual Machine through such a technique, one could slowly increase one's Primordial Spirit Power.

"You're amazing. You actually comprehended a breathing technique from the Heaven-Stealing Diagram. Your comprehension is probably number one among our class."

Zuo Dao did not reply. Instead, he looked upward. His mind was not on this class at all. He had stronger opponents and more terrifying goals to pursue.

Stronger. Stronger still. I have to become stronger.

Seeing Zuo Dao turn to leave, the bald young man said in surprise, "Why are you leaving?"

Zuo Dao said blandly, "There's nothing worth watching. The top spot can only be mine. This class... isn't good enough."

On the other side, Jing Xiu walked up and happily said to Zhou Bai, "Big Brother Zhou, I comprehended a song from the Heaven-Stealing Diagram. What about you?"

"A song?" Zhou Bai was instantly shocked. She could comprehend even that? Then are the two lines I wrote too few? I should've added a couple more lines if I'd known.

Zhou Bai felt some regret. What a shame. I only remembered the opening two lines of the Dao De Jing. The rest is a little hazy. I should've memorized a few more lines.

Jing Xiu looked at Zhou Bai. "Big Brother Zhou?"

"Oh, I only comprehended two lines." Zhou Bai frowned. "You said you comprehended a song... if I just wrote something random on it, couldn't I also claim that I comprehended it?"

"Probably not." Jing Xiu guessed, "The Heaven-Stealing Diagram is the vice principal's magic treasure. He should know what can be comprehended from it."

Just then, Christina, who had remained silent ever since the examination ended, said faintly, "Don't worry. With just those two lines, your score won't be bad. Tell me, where did you hear them? There's no way those are words someone at your level could say."

"Heh." Zhou Bai smiled. "Those two lines shocked you already? Let me tell you, profound words bearing great meaning like these roll right off my tongue."

He recalled another line and said, "The Dao of Heaven reduces what has surplus and replenishes what lacks..."

Christina was stunned again. She blankly contemplated Zhou Bai's words and said in disbelief, "This... this line, this is all the style of ancient Daoist scriptures, an indirect portrayal of the Heavenly Dao. How could you possibly have this level?"

Even if she were beaten to death, she would not believe Zhou Bai had come up with such words himself.

Christina said, "What comes next? What's next?"

Zhou Bai thought for a moment, curled his lip, and said, "I forgot the rest."

"..."

Though it definitely had not been said by Zhou Bai, at that moment Zhou Bai's image in Christina's heart suddenly became much grander, carrying an unfathomable air.

Seeing Zhou Bai staring blankly into space as he conversed with Christina in his mind, Jing Xiu asked again, "Big Brother Zhou, what two lines did you write?"

Zhou Bai said casually, "Dao can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; a name that can be named is not the eternal name."

"Huh?" Jing Xiu listened to the words, utterly unable to grasp their deeper meaning. Furrowing her brow, she said, "What does that mean? I don't understand."

Meanwhile, at the examination site.

Twelve hundred answer sheets rose and fluttered through the air, flowing up and down around the Heaven-Stealing Diagram.

Of all the papers that approached the Heaven-Stealing Diagram, some drifted toward the examiners, while others floated down to the ground and turned gray, falling into a neat row.

"Don't make any mistakes, everyone." Zhao Shouyi stroked his beard and said, "After the Heaven-Stealing Diagram exchanges information with the contents of the papers, it will automatically determine whether what these candidates wrote could have been comprehended from the Heaven-Stealing Diagram. Don't waste time reading the nonsense."

"Oh? Someone actually comprehended a health-preserving method of breathing and walking from the Heaven-Stealing Diagram." The female examiner with a ponytail smiled as she looked at a paper. "That counts as fairly good comprehension."

Beside the female examiner, a man whose gaze was sharp as a blade put away an exam paper and said coldly, "Hmph, nothing but rambling nonsense. What are candidates these days even thinking?"

Vice Principal Zhao Shouyi smiled faintly. "Xing Jun, don't be so harsh. You should understand the mindset of these little ones. They want to pass the entrance examination, get better scores, and write a little more."

As he spoke, he took an exam paper in one hand and frowned. "What the hell is this?" On the paper before him was a drawing of a naked beauty lying languidly on a bed.

"Zero points!" Zhao Shouyi was so angry that the corners of his eyes twitched. "Who allowed them to draw on their exam papers? And it's even... even..."

The female examiner with the ponytail took the paper and immediately laughed. "What exquisite sketching skill. It even seems to conceal a set of sword techniques." She looked at the name on the paper and said, "This Qian Wangsun has some talent. Principal, it wouldn't be right to give him zero points. At his level, his comprehension might even be first in this class. Oh, and his Primordial Spirit Value is 99 too, right? He might even take the top spot."

"Hmph, a frivolous character." Zhao Shouyi said with a cold face, "Look at his previous scores and calculate his total. If necessary, suppress it a little. We absolutely cannot let someone like him take the top spot."

Just then, Lü Chongyang, who had been standing to the side without speaking, laughed. "Teacher, I don't think you need to worry about Qian Wangsun taking the top spot."

As he spoke, he handed over the paper in his hand.

"Take a look. This is Zuo Dao's paper. Tsk, tsk... a talent of stunning brilliance. Young people these days really are... extraordinary."