The sea of literature, boundless and limitless.

Chen Xu sits in the exam hall, his mind fleetingly following the sea of literature, entering that vast world.

What kind of world is this?

All that is visible is the deep space, the starry sea.

When several waves splash, an inkstone sways, resembling a leaf-like boat, rising from the waves of the starry sea.

Inkstone, leaf-like boat!

Chen Xu's divine thought meanders; at this moment, he appears transformed into a beam of dust light, akin to a mayfly.

He floats gently, landing within the inkstone boat.

Infinite information floods in.

The sea of literature is akin to a bitter sea, and the inkstone is the boat within it.

Should the divine soul fall within and sail with the boat to reach the other shore, it signifies successful cultivation.

This path is destined to be long and turbulent; stepping into the boat, one doesn't even know where the other shore lies.

Along the way, none can ferry you except yourself; only self-ferry, striving onward!

Competing not with others, only with oneself.

The previous self, the past self, the present self, the future self.

The boundless starry sea, no sight of the other shore.

But such a vast world does not bewilder Chen Xu.

Conversely, at this moment, though a mayfly standing at the boat's prow, his divine thoughts give rise to a sense of grandeur.

The path stretches endlessly and is far; I shall seek it high and low—

Merely step by step, riding the wind, breaking the waves, and pursuing the search.

Just then, several waves leap from the starry sea into the inkstone, and at the center, the ink pool swells like a pond rising with water.

The next moment, the inkstone beneath Chen Xu's feet grows larger, wider.

It turns out that the waves leaping into the inkstone are transformations of the Cyan Smoke Poems he wrote previously, including 'Post Palace Poems', 'Pity the Farmer', 'Flowers Are Not Flowers·To Zhen Niang'...

Also 'Knight's Journey', 'One General's Success Leaves the Ages Desolate', 'Spring Mountain Moon'.

And the 'Mountain People's Strategy' he wrote in the courtyard exam hall!

One by one, the radiant words flow into the ink pool, transforming into literary Qi, as Chen Xu stands at the boat's prow, facing the waves.

At this moment, he is like a speck of dust, a mayfly, yet seems as limitless as the starry sea, as vast as the azure sky.

Chen Xu is immersed in the wondrous shock that the sea of literature has brought him.

The surging literary Qi rolls in the ink pool and also within his heart.

What use is literary Qi?

When literary Qi is grand, it can repel countless evils; when it ascends, it can reach azure clouds; if it can pervade the starry sea, it can illuminate sun and moon, overshadow mountains and rivers...

Even now with no one guiding him, Chen Xu manages to comprehend three parts.

Until a leisurely bell toll echoes—

Dong!

The Heaven-Equalizing Bell rings again.

Dong, dong, dong!

One toll, collect papers.

Three tolls, close the hall.

Thus the exam ends.

Chen Xu awakens as if from a dream, returning to reality.

Amidst tilted sunlight, the exam hall bustles with noise.

The examination officer leads the collection of papers, while the soldier overseeing papers continues shouting: "Silence, silence! Stop writing, any further will be treated as cheating!"

"Those who have submitted, leave quickly, do not linger."

Within the exam hall, seemingly pulling and tugging, a voice anxiously says: "Careful, hey, be gentle, don't place the test paper askew."

"What askew? How to collect papers, Shangguan warned us long ago. Do I need your teaching? What, you want to cheat?"

Who can respond to such words?

The examinees quiet down, the clerks urging: "Go, go, go, hurry up!"

And another clerk, collecting papers while covering his nose, says: "Ha, too smelly, these scholars really aren't refined."

...

For many scholars, enduring the greatest dirt in their lives might be the ordeal in the exam hall.

Truly absurd, ridiculous.

Witnessing these states, the literary Qi previously swirling within the inkstone instead shows signs of settling.

Chen Xu feels the extraordinary sensation brought by the newly opened sea of literature, standing to await the clerks to collect his paper.

It happens that an examination officer personally approaches Chen Xu's side, without a word, only glancing at the clerk beside him.

The clerk hastily opens a wooden box for sealing papers, quickly and neatly placing Chen Xu's test paper inside.

Especially the topmost sheet with the test poems, the clerk lifts the paper with gentle, extremely cautious movements.

The examination officer nods slightly to Chen Xu.

Chen Xu immediately bows in response.

The examination officer smiles, turning to leave.

Only whispering to the clerk beside him: "I have instructed for years at the Celestial South Dao Literature Academy, witnessing the talents and prodigies of Celestial South. I thought Yunjiang Prefecture would still be somewhat remote.

Now it seems Yunjiang Prefecture is quite commendable."

The clerk chuckles, saying: "Ge Tutor, Yunjiang is after all an entire prefecture, isn't it?"

Ge Tutor says: "Indeed."

Their voices fade, Chen Xu sharp-eared and clear-eyed, hears the conversation clearly.

His expression slowly becomes somewhat peculiar, suspecting these words are intentionally spoken for his ear.

...

Afterward, as the crowd grows, Chen Xu leaves the exam hall with many students, exiting the Imperial Examination Hall.

At the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall, an even greater wave of clamor assaults.

Voices sounding: "They're out, they're out, how did the exam go? Can you pass?"

"Ah, it shows you're tired, why does your complexion look so bad? Quickly, go back and rest."

Suddenly more cries: "Someone fainted!"

"Quick, call the doctor!"

"Doctor's coming..."

Outside the Imperial Examination Hall, some candidates fainted, and doctors were waiting—this was the norm.

During the local examination, it was still tolerable, but by the time of the provincial examination, with nine consecutive days of intense testing, it was said that a few would die each session.

In the surging crowd, Chen Xu saw Master Wu standing beside a carriage by the roadside, actually waiting for him in person!

Chen Xu immediately strode toward Wu Zhengze.

The Sea of Literature had been successfully opened, and he felt as if something in him had changed, though it also seemed that nothing had changed.

He still wanted to ask Master Wu about the specific uses of Literary Qi.

Just at this moment, Chen Xu suddenly felt an unusual gaze upon him.

He turned his head slightly and saw at the entrance of a small alley beside the teahouse opposite, a little furry head with bristles standing upright, leaning quietly against the wall, peering in this direction.

As Chen Xu turned to look, the little guy excitedly waved straight at him.

It turned out to be the little hedgehog demon, Wei Yuan.

Chen Xu smiled and was about to respond, but the little demon suddenly withdrew its head with a whoosh, its entire body instantly disappearing into the ground at the alley's entrance, gone without a trace.

In the next moment, a chilling cat wail was heard.

Jingle-jingle, as if a ghostly figure flickered away.

Inside the teahouse opposite, a servant complained irritably: "Lately, I don't know where a bunch of stray cats came from, always darting around in the alley.

Can't catch them, they're frighteningly fast, making a racket at night."

Chen Xu's heart sank slightly, suddenly recalling the phrase "Ten steps kill one, travel a thousand miles without pause."

In the Sea of Literature, the inkstone drifted with the waves.

Yet the Literary Qi in the Ink Pool suddenly surged out, abruptly transforming into a virtual Wu Hook, appearing out of thin air beside Chen Xu.

The Wu Hook, upon appearance, was actually transparent.

At that time, sunlight spilled over the mortal world, but no one had seen this Wu Hook.

Only beside the teahouse, unexpectedly sneaking back again, did that scoundrel cat let out a sharp "meow," suddenly standing on end.

The demon puppet turned abruptly, running into the depths of the alley.

The Wu Hook beside Chen Xu flashed, almost moving ahead of his conscious command, traversing dozens of yards in an instant, delivering a fierce slash.

"Meow—"

Too far apart, Chen Xu couldn't actually see the scene in the distance.

But just by listening and sensing some strange intuition, he suddenly could vaguely perceive that the Wu Hook had torn through the demon puppet's skin.

A bone-white cat skeleton leaped out from the torn skin, then picked up the tattered skin and turned to leap onto the side wall of the courtyard.

Limping away just like that.

Chen Xu only felt his heart pounding, the inkstone still drifting in the Sea of Literature, with Literary Qi surging, seemingly eager to continue the pursuit.

Yet Chen Xu finally restrained his impulsiveness at this moment; he couldn't pursue any further, as he hadn't yet learned how to resist the curse seal of the dying demon puppet.

The forces behind the demon puppet were too mysterious and powerful; now was not the time to expose himself.

As for just now—

Just now, the Literary Qi surged, and the Wu Hook took initiative to attack, seemingly as if it had its own consciousness, but that wasn't the case.

Actually, it was Chen Xu's own heart that moved.

He had long been resentful of the demon puppet, harboring an impulse to quickly rid himself of it.

Previously, he had managed to restrain this impulse well, but today, with the initial formation of the Sea of Literature, his Divine Soul Power was unprecedentedly strong.

To the extent that his heart and spirit made a decision before his reason could give any instruction.

This feeling of the heart and spirit being out of control, could it be the legendary... caprice?

Chen Xu forcefully gathered his heart and spirit, recalling the ugly monkey he had seen earlier in the Star Array.

But now he couldn't help but wonder if that was truly a living monkey.

Was it possible that it was actually Mr. Zhou's "caprice" in tangible form?

Caprice taking physical form, what kind of powerful caprice would that be?

And now, Chen Xu himself seemed to have his own "caprice."

No, no, no... this is not it!

Absolutely not!

How could a momentary impulse be compared to caprice?

One must know that this kind of thing only appears if you don't think about it; if you ponder it too much...

"Chen Xu!"

Just as Chen Xu's inner emotions were churning, almost uncontrollably, a thunderous shout suddenly echoed in his ears: "Chen Xu, wake up!"

As the shout rose, it was like thunder exploding in the Sea of Literature.

Amidst the surging waves, the inkstone dinghy pitched and swayed.

Suddenly, the Innate Qi, which had been dormant in the Dantian, leaped upward abruptly.

The rich power flowed through him, and Chen Xu immediately felt a rush of clarity in his mind.

All delusions dissipated at that moment under the support of this powerful force, and in an instant, he met Wu Zhengze's gaze, a mix of joy and worry.

Wu Zhengze asked Chen Xu, "Was it at the examination that you composed the Cyan Smoke Poem again?

Did you directly open the Sea of Literature in advance?"

Chen Xu calmed his frenzied heartbeat, the Innate Qi flowed continuously within his body, rolling and surging.

The increasing sense of power filled his body, naturally alleviating the previous feelings of being top-heavy and light-footed.

And on the Food Cauldron Celestial Book, Chen Xu's attributes were displayed:

[Essence: 162]

[Qi Blood: 162]

[Divine Soul: 199]

He had always distributed attribute points to himself, maintaining a balance among the three elements, never deliberately favoring any side.

Yet at this moment, his Divine Soul Attribute was distinctly stronger than both Essence and Qi Blood.

He hadn't intentionally added more to his Divine Soul.

The surge in his Divine Soul was triggered by the opening of the Sea of Literature!

Chen Xu's heart and spirit returned, about to respond to Wu Zhengze, when he heard Wu Zhengze sigh and say:

"To be naturally gifted isn't necessarily a good thing. You haven't yet been through long-term tempering and now you've opened the Sea of Literature.

I fear your physique may not support the Sea of Literature, with Qi Blood not matching the Divine Soul.

Easily brilliant..."

Wu Zhengze ultimately didn't finish the phrase "Easily brilliant and must suffer harm."

Chen Xu looked at the worried eyes of the master before him, momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond.

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