Third-Eye Manifestation

Read ten thousand scrolls, and the brush moved as though possessed by a god.

Before the writing desk, Xu Yan held his brush over white paper, his strokes pouring down like rain.

"The Gate of the Mysterious Female, qi transforms into the Three Talents. The Primordial Beginning suspended a millet pearl in the Great Void, unfolding the Cave Chapters over one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred breaths..."

These few lines of Daoist text from the Myriad-Character Stele seemed to hint at the cultivation method of ancient qi refiners.

For a moment, Xu Yan felt the spiritual power of heaven and earth in every direction tremble faintly, continuously flowing into the meridians within his body like streams converging into the boundless sea of his Baihui acupoint.

This strange phenomenon drew many glances.

Over at Pursuing Sun Academy, Master Yuan's expression darkened as he studied Xu Yan.

"That is Prince Wu'an's adopted son, Xu Yan?"

"This boy does have talent as a scholar. At such an age, his mastery of ancient script is already considerable."

"Still, he is a little short of the mark if he wishes to defeat Nie Ying."

Several teachers from Pursuing Sun Academy spoke in low voices.

An hour had already passed. Most of the scholars had put down their writing brushes, panting as they rubbed their aching eyes.

Jiang Qingshu was drenched in sweat, and even the brush in his hand trembled slightly. His vision had begun to blur, sweat dripping onto the writing desk.

He had deciphered twelve hundred characters of expanded script and edict script, and his annotated translations added up to a full forty-six thousand words!

That was already an astonishing number. Jiang Qingshu was only sixteen years old; among his peers, he was an unparalleled talent.

"Stop, Qingshu," Master Yuan said.

"Teacher, I can still decipher more." Jiang Qingshu gritted his teeth. From the corner of his eye, he saw several scholars from Shangyin looking utterly calm, and unwillingness rose in his heart.

"Other than Xu Yan, those from Shangyin are all senior students. You need not force yourself," one senior brother advised.

"Xu Yan has been known as a prodigy of expanded script since childhood. At ten, he could already decipher a thousand characters of expanded script. Judging by his condition, he still has strength to spare. Leave him to Nie Ying. Stop now," another senior brother said.

Hearing this, Jiang Qingshu drew a deep breath. His trembling hand paused, and he finally stopped.

Only a few people remained on either side of the training ground, their brush tips still moving without pause.

Among the young scholars who had yet to come of age, only Pursuing Sun Academy's Nie Ying and Xu Yan remained.

Who would win between Shangyin and Pursuing Sun would be decided here.

Everyone on the training ground fixed their eyes on the two of them.

"How many characters has Mister Yan deciphered?" a Shangyin scholar asked.

"Three thousand six hundred characters—almost a full scroll!" Someone craned his neck for a look and spoke in astonishment.

In ancient times, one bamboo scroll contained five thousand characters.

During the Dragon Gate Examination, one had to be able to decipher at least one scroll of ancient writing to make it onto the literary rankings.

On Pursuing Sun Academy's side, Nie Ying—the sharp-eyed, heroic young woman—wrote with extraordinary fluency, barely pausing at all. Her brush tip swept across the white paper like a blade, leaving behind one elegant, beautiful Great Yin gold-seal character after another.

The spiritual power of heaven and earth also swirled around her, apparently stirred by her writing.

Upon the Myriad-Character Stele, those expanded and edict-script characters flowed like wandering serpents, sketching out the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, mysterious and unfathomable.

Another half hour passed. Even the senior students could no longer hold on. One after another, they put down their brushes, wiped the sweat from their brows, and gently rubbed the sore corners of their eyes.

Only Xu Yan and Nie Ying were still writing on the entire training ground.

Xu Yan glanced at Nie Ying from the corner of his eye. His brows drew together slightly, surprise flickering across his face. Ever since childhood, he had never encountered anyone his age who could contend with him in ancient writing.

Nie Ying, however, remained expressionless, her gaze razor-sharp.

Separated by several dozen zhang across the training ground, the two faced each other from afar, yet neither brush tip stopped. Each feared falling a step behind the other. Before this, both had already read much of the Myriad-Character Stele's contents, deciphering the text in their minds while writing the translations with their hands.

To divide one's mind between two tasks—few scholars on the training ground could accomplish even that.

"How many characters now?" someone asked.

"Mister Yan has already deciphered one and a half scrolls!"

"Nie Ying is not far behind. The two are evenly matched."

Master Yuan, who had originally been brimming with confidence, began to harbor doubts. He had underestimated this expanded-script prodigy from Prince Wu'an's Residence.

Several incense sticks later.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, stirred by their deciphering of ancient writing, trembled without cease over the training ground. One moment it flowed around Xu Yan, the next it raced toward Nie Ying. The sky all around buzzed and shrieked, filling everyone with alarm.

The two were locked in fierce contention, neither yielding an inch. Their brush tips did not stop for even a moment.

Never mind whether the two of them were tired from writing—many scholars on the training ground felt exhausted merely from watching them write.

Yan Qing yawned and glanced at the sky. The sun was already close to setting, and he immediately said, "At this rate, when will they ever finish?"

"Master Yuan, how about setting the time limit at the Hour of the Dog?"

Master Yuan paused, considering it, then said, "We shall do as you suggest."

As he spoke, the two of them stopped their brushes almost at the same moment and turned their gazes toward the Myriad-Character Stele.

Clearly, they had finished translating all the ancient text they had memorized earlier.

The thick stack of papers on Xu Yan's writing desk made people's hearts pound.

"Who has deciphered more ancient writing now?"

"It seems Mister Yan has deciphered more—two full scrolls of ancient writing!" A senior brother from Shangyin activated his spirit sight, compared the results, and spoke.

At those words, Nie Ying's expression froze for a moment. Then her brows furrowed, and she said in a ringing voice, "Impossible!"

"Junior Sister Nie, come over and see for yourself." A Shangyin senior brother deliberately called out, hoping to make her come over and waste her time.

Such intentions were plain as day. Naturally, Nie Ying ignored him.

The scholars only saw her gaze tighten slightly. Suddenly, she raised two fingers together and bent them against the space between her brows.

The next moment, streams of spiritual radiance burst from the location of her Shenting acupoint. An ancient expanded pattern shaped like an eye quietly emerged upon her forehead, its radiance refracting outward like a sword piercing the heavens!

Everyone was so stunned by the sight that their jaws nearly hit the ground.

The entire grounds fell silent.

Yan Qing stared, then abruptly slammed a hand on the desk and rose to his feet. His eyes widened as he cried out in shock, "That is... the Third-Eye Manifestation Pattern! Master Yuan, where did you find this little girl?!"

Master Yuan glanced at Nie Ying behind him. His expression remained calm, a faint smile at the corner of his lips, as he said evenly, "It is a long story, but in the end, it is a stroke of good fortune."

"It is over... Mister Yan will lose now," a Shangyin scholar could not help muttering.

Xu Yan also stood there in silence, staring at the ancient expanded pattern on Nie Ying's forehead. He had read extensively, so naturally he knew what it was.

This was a type of fully formed "expanded pattern." It was not writing, but contained ancient Dao intent. Some ancient expanded patterns even held methods that passed down the Dao lineages of antiquity.

The vast world held all manner of wonders. Apart from appearing on ancient Daoist books and artifacts, these ancient expanded patterns could, in rare cases, grow upon the bones and constitutions of ordinary people.

It was a heaven-bestowed opportunity. This girl's bones, constitution, and bloodline were surely connected to an ancient clan from some lineage of antiquity.

Xu Yan pondered briefly, then his mind sank into the Human-Snake Ancient Jade.