Above the Great Dao
Chapter 381 - 188 Chen Shi Achieves Success in the Imperial Examination_2

Chapter 381: Chapter 188 Chen Shi Achieves Success in the Imperial Examination_2

Chen Shi frowned slightly, "Why have the Heaven Listeners set their sights on me again?"

The last time, during the stone boat incident, he had been targeted by the Heaven Listeners, though they later disappeared, seemingly clearing him of suspicion.

Why target him again?

"Could it be because of the Mazu Temple incident? But in that case, shouldn’t Granny Sha and her group be the ones under scrutiny? Why target me?" Chen Shi was quite puzzled.

Returning to Huangpo Village, when Yu Zhu’s grandmother saw him, she exclaimed joyously, "Scholar Lord is back! Did you pass the imperial examination and become a Scholar Lord? Don’t bother cooking tonight, come eat at my house!"

Chen Shi replied awkwardly, "The governor was killed, the Academic Officer is also dead, the autumn exams were invalidated, I did not succeed."

"Are you still a Scholar now?" asked Yu Zhu’s grandmother.

Chen Shi nodded.

Yu Zhu’s grandmother then dropped the subject of eating at her house, asking, "How did the governor just die?"

"I heard people say that I killed him," Chen Shi honestly stated.

He rarely lied in front of his fellow villagers.

...

News of Scholar Chen’s return had quickly spread. Originally, several households had intended to propose marriage for Chen Shi, but hearing that he had killed the governor and had not passed the exams, they dropped the idea and greeted him indifferently: "Scholar is back? When will you go into hiding?"

Another villager mentioned, "I have a nephew who’s a bandit in the mountains, not sure if he’s dead; I could introduce you when the New Year comes."

That was all.

That night, as Chen Shi went from house to house to borrow cooking essentials, the villagers were not very enthusiastic, probably waiting for him to either flee to the mountains or be executed by the government officials.

"Scholar, you better hurry up and find a wife, have a son to carry on the Chen family name!"

Old Lady Wu Zhu said, "What do you think of Widow Wang from our village?"

In the following days, Widow Wang started to look at Chen Shi differently.

Chen Shi was glad for the peace, and, as usual, he first offered incense to his grandfather and godmother, and also paid respects to Zhu Xiucai. Zhu Xiucai, hearing about the deaths of the governor and the commander leading to the cancellation of Gongzhou’s autumn exams, could not help but sigh, "It’s not your fault, the times are against us, not your capabilities. How did the governor just die?"

He felt somewhat indignant, "It’s bad enough that two governors died in Xin Xiang, but a governor dying in Gongzhou too, and so many high officials along with him!"

"I heard people say it was me who killed them," Chen Shi said, not quite sure.

He had heard this rumor but upon careful inquiry, the tellers of the tale remained taciously cautious, daring not discuss it further.

Zhu Xiucai, stunned, said, "You should not blame yourself; we have another chance at the autumn exams. If it’s not this time, then we’ll wait three years. You’re surely talented enough, not succeeding is like heaven being blind!"

Chen Shi felt somewhat relieved in his heart.

The Heaven Listeners also followed them to Huangpo Village, some hanging from trees outside the village and others squatting on rocks, tirelessly monitoring Chen Shi’s every move.

"Ferryman and daughter watching, these creatures eavesdropping, how does one live a life?"

Chen Shi was so annoyed he itched to kill them, but realized that doing so would only attract more Heaven Listeners, so he refrained.

The next day, Li Tianqing listed the ingredients needed for crafting the Resurrection Pill; Chen Shi went to the county town to purchase ingredients. However, two ingredients required for the Resurrection Pill were quite rare and not available in the county town’s pharmacies, needing to be requisitioned from the provincial city.

He paid a deposit and waited two to three days to gather all the ingredients.

He also made another trip to Juxian Building to see its owner, Shao Jing, and discussed alchemy, saying, "I’m looking for a good Pill Furnace."

Shao Jing laughed and said, "This matter is simple; I have all kinds of pill furnaces available here."

Chen Shi chose an old Furnace of Eight Trigrams at the Juxian Building. The Pill Master who crafted it had put great care into it, repeatedly depicting various talisman patterns and Eight Diagrams that had already seeped into the body of the furnace.

Alchemy was a meticulous task, especially concerning the pill furnace, such as adjusting the fire, which required invigorating the Xun Trigram to fan the flames—how to stimulate it and how much to use all mattered.

If quenching was needed, the adjustment of the Zhen Trigram was necessary for thunder quenching.

Because it was so complicated, good Pill Masters were exceedingly rare.

Chen Shi knew nothing about this, but fortunately, Li Tianqing had considerable expertise in this area.

This old Furnace of Eight Trigrams was quite expensive, costing Chen Shi eight hundred taels of silver. Shao Jing smiled and said, "This is the treasure of an old Pill Master. Now that he’s old and can’t control the temperature, he has put it up for sale here to make some money for his coffin."

After paying, Chen Shi asked, "If an extremely rare Spirit Pill is produced, can Juxian Building handle its sale?"

Shao Jing replied, "If you wish to consign, Juxian Building can handle it for you. As for Spirit Pills, they need to be of good quality to sell well. If the quality isn’t high, their value isn’t great either, and there aren’t many buyers."

Chen Shi thanked him and took his leave.

Back in Huangpo Village, Chen Shi unloaded the medicinal herbs and the old Furnace of Eight Trigrams and handed them over to Li Tianqing. Just these herbs and the alchemy furnace had spent all the money he had earned from logging.

Li Tianqing bathed, changed, and calmed his mind. When his heart was as clear as a vast sky, a deep blue silence without a speck of dust, he began the alchemy process.

Chen Shi was quite nervous; his entire fortune was tied up with Li Tianqing.

If the alchemy failed, he would be utterly broke. If it succeeded, he would be rich!

Using his own Golden Core to ignite the alchemical fire placed in the Furnace of Eight Trigrams, Li Tianqing then shaped his hands into seals, skillfully and precisely changing various Seal Techniques.

Watching Li Tianqing perform alchemy was like appreciating art, breathtakingly beautiful, so Chen Shi stopped worrying and went back to his own business.

He believed that with Li Tianqing’s skills, he could definitely produce a Resurrection Pill.

After more than ten days, suddenly, many carriages arrived in Huangpo Village, bringing over a hundred brocade-clad guards and fully armored soldiers. One distinguished person after another stepped down from the carriages, asking the villagers, "Does Chen Shi live here?"

The villagers, having never seen such a display, were terrified. Granny Yu Zhu hurriedly gestured to Yu Zhu to quickly run and inform Chen Shi that officials had arrived and that he should run away immediately.

Someone recognized the leading official, exclaiming in surprise, "It’s the newly appointed governor of Xin Xiang Province and a group of high-ranking officials. What are they doing here?"

"They must be here to arrest Chen Shi!"

The villagers were anxious, glancing around. Learning the way to Chen Shi’s house, the governor of Xin Xiang Province clapped his hands. Suddenly, some government officials started beating drums and playing joyful music, heading towards the Chen family’s home in a festive mood.

"It doesn’t look like they’re here to capture a criminal; rather, it looks like a celebration!"

The villagers asked the accompanying guards, and one guard laughed and said, "Your village has brought glory to your ancestors! Your Chen Shi, the old Master Chen, has topped the examination in Gongzhou Province! From now on, he will be Chen Jieyuan!"

The villagers were baffled; hadn’t all the officials in Gongzhou been killed by Chen Shi?

And even the examination had been suspended.

How had he suddenly topped the examination?

And even become the top scholar!

Could it be that topping the examination didn’t require taking it anymore?

"The success of Chen Shi also brings honor to Xin Xiang Province, thus the governor brought us, along with these newly appointed Xin Xiang Province officials, to congratulate the old Master Chen and to meet him," said the guard.

—A typhoon is passing through Haikou, with maximum storms reaching category 17, currently at category 10 or 12, expected to reach category 15 tonight, and power outages may occur at any time. The building I live in is shaking, quite like being in a cradle, making me a bit dizzy and a bit scared.