“Answer to Question 2:
Talisman rank selection: As a Qi Refining cultivator, although I can barely use mysterious-rank early-stage talismans, it would drain my spirit energy all at once, which is unwise. Therefore, I would choose yellow-rank top-grade talismans.
Talisman type selection: When facing an evil cultivator, I would primarily use thunder-attribute talismans.
Countermeasure: First, use a Thunder Shield Talisman to protect myself.
Next, use a combination of ten Fireball Talismans, ten Wind Blade Talismans, and ten Thunderstorm Talismans, arranged with the Fireball Talismans on the outer layer, Wind Blade Talismans in the middle, and Thunderstorm Talismans in the innermost layer.
Finally, after taking a hit from the evil cultivator, I would feign a heavy injury and detonate the talisman combination while the evil cultivator is off-guard.”
It had been mentioned in the talisman identification section that combining Fireball Talismans and Wind Blade Talismans could create even more powerful fire walls and fire blades. While attacking the evil cultivator, they could also serve to hide the Thunderstorm Talismans.
Once the Thunderstorm Talismans quietly closed in on the evil cultivator, it would be very difficult for him to evade.
When she got to the third question, Gu Ningyun’s brush paused for a moment.
Wasn't this a coincidence? She had just happened to categorize and organize this during her revision.
...
Time passed quickly when she was fully immersed in answering the questions.
By the time Gu Ningyun finished the last question and put down her brush, only one stick of incense remained unlit in the incense burner.
Gu Ningyun quickly checked her answers and folded one corner of her small stack of answer sheets to prevent them from getting mixed up after they were collected.
When the last stick of incense burned out, a flash of spiritual light appeared on the desk, and the brush, ink, exam questions, and answer sheets vanished.
Gu Ningyun looked up and saw that several stacks of answer sheets had already piled up in front of Martial Uncle Liu.
“The 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 assessment is over. The results will be out within two days.”
After Martial Uncle Liu left, the scene immediately became as boisterous as a pot of boiling dumplings.
“It's finally over! I’ve been staying up all month to memorize the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》. I’m about to collapse!”
“I started memorizing early, so I was a bit better off. But these questions were way too ridiculous! I thought they would be ordinary Q&A questions.
Like, 'What are the twenty common minerals on the market?' and so on. Instead, they were all practical application questions!”
“Don't even talk about it. It’s enough to bring one to tears. I didn't even finish half the questions.”
“The first question was ridiculous, okay? Getting slashed by a sword, poisoned, bitten by a demon beast, and having demonic qi enter the body... This person must have the worst luck in the world...”
Wails filled the exam hall. Gu Ningyun and the others exchanged glances, lowered their heads in a tacit understanding, and left the exam hall quickly and discreetly.
...
The assessment for the four arts of cultivation was held in the afternoon. When Gu Ningyun and the others arrived, they saw the Preaching Peak plaza divided into four areas—corresponding to the four exam halls for alchemy, arrays, talismans, and artifacts.
The five of them split up. Gu Ningyun and the other three chose the subjects they were best at. Jun Luo planned to join Gu Ningyun for the first batch of the talisman-drawing assessment. Once that was done, the second batch of the array assessment would begin.
Entering the talisman assessment area, a martial uncle was already waiting at the very front of the hall.
The hall was set up with sixty sets of desks and meditation mats. Perhaps to avoid interference, the seats were separated by about three meters.
Gu Ningyun and Jun Luo found a corner and sat down.
After waiting for about one stick of incense, the seats in the hall were mostly filled. The proctoring martial uncle waved his hand to close the array.
Immediately, the familiar talisman-drawing set from the Talisman Hall appeared on the desk in front of Gu Ningyun.
However, compared to the set provided for free in the Talisman Hall's cultivation chambers, this set only contained thirty sheets of talisman paper.
It seemed their assessment tools were standardized, which was very fair.
“You have half an hour. You may draw any talismans you wish. Once you have finished them all, hand them to me for scoring. Begin.”
Gu Ningyun only knew how to draw Swift-Walk Talismans and Fireball Talismans. She planned to draw fifteen of each.
Sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, Gu Ningyun adjusted her state to its peak before picking up the talisman paper and beginning to draw.
Her usual practice paid off. From the moment she touched the paper, she entered a state of spirit energy frequency synchronization. She drew one talisman after another, each one a yellow-rank top-grade Swift-Walk Talisman.
After finishing fifteen Swift-Walk Talismans, she felt the spirit energy reserves in her body and found that two-thirds remained.
So, she pushed on and drew fifteen Fireball Talismans in one go.
After finishing, she looked up and let out a soft breath, only to lock eyes with the proctoring martial uncle.
Gu Ningyun: ??
What she didn't know was that when she drew top-grade talismans and her spirit energy perfectly synchronized with the world's spirit energy, the resulting fluctuations could be detected by talisman cultivators who had spent years immersed in the Dao of Talismans.
From the moment she started drawing her first Swift-Walk Talisman, the proctoring martial uncle's gaze had been fixed on her desk.
Subsequently, his expression had cycled through doubt, inquiry, shock, disbelief, and awe, eventually settling into numbness and a questioning of his own life choices.
Under the proctoring martial uncle’s strange gaze, Gu Ningyun organized her talismans, left her seat, walked to the front, and handed them to him.
The proctoring martial uncle took the talismans and checked each one carefully.
He checked them very seriously, but Gu Ningyun’s sharp eyes noticed that the martial uncle’s hands seemed to be shaking slightly.
Does the cultivation world have Parkinson’s too?
Before she could think further, the proctoring martial uncle finished his inspection and took out a tablet.
He manipulated the tablet, and a scoring interface appeared.
“Identity jade token.”
Gu Ningyun handed over her token.
The proctoring martial uncle tapped the token against the tablet, and her name appeared on the scoring interface—Qixia Peak | Ruiyu Pavilion | Gu Ningyun.
Next, she saw the martial uncle enter a score of one hundred behind her name for the New Disciple Competition | Talisman Assessment.
Her breath hitched.
Suppressing her racing heart, Gu Ningyun took back her identity jade token and barely managed to keep her voice steady. “Thank you, Martial Uncle.”
“It is no trouble.”
He placed the thirty talismans into a box and attached a label with Gu Ningyun’s name on it.
“The talismans must be handed over to the sect as proof of scoring. They cannot be returned to you.”
“I understand, Martial Uncle.”
The proctoring martial uncle paused. “You are very talented in the Dao of Talismans. Would you like to add me as a friend? If you have any questions while drawing talismans in the future, you may come and ask me.”
Gu Ningyun’s eyes lit up. “What is your name, Martial Uncle? I’ll add you.”
“Talisman Peak, Tan Chenyin.” After receiving Gu Ningyun’s consent, Martial Uncle Tan dragged Gu Ningyun from the sect column to his friend column and sent her a message.
“I’ve sent you a message. You can see my name there.”
Gu Ningyun reached out with her divine sense and saw Martial Uncle Tan’s message.
He had sent her the number “1”.
Gu Ningyun: Alright, alright. Spamming “1” really is everywhere.
After adding Martial Uncle Tan as a friend, other disciples began to hand in their talismans one after another.
Gu Ningyun glanced at Jun Luo, who was still drawing, and left the exam hall without disturbing him, heading straight back to Cloud Residence.
All four exam halls were protected by arrays, so the contents inside could not be seen from the outside.
The group had already agreed beforehand that those who finished their assessments first didn't need to wait.
They would go straight back to prepare for the second phase of tomorrow’s individual competition—the individual combat matches.
Rate on N.U.
