Chapter 167: 160 The Road of Answering Questions

"In that case, we must part ways here."

Standing beside the White Lotus Pond, the four people who had traveled a thousand miles together were about to separate.

After hooking a Spirit Fish, the Spirit Fish would point out the road to Jianzhou; each person would embark on a different journey, eventually converging in Jianzhou. The road ahead was arduous, and everyone was vying to be first. This was a journey where each relied on their own means; even fellow sect members could not travel together, and the time had come for the four to bid farewell.

"Then, see you at the assembly."

Che Sha said solemnly, "Big Brother, we will come to find you when we reach the assembly. Although you might sit at the very front and we can only look at your back, we will always acknowledge you as our Big Brother..." Halfway through, she suddenly pursed her lips and cupped her hands in a salute. Wusun Tong also performed a salute, then lowered his head and left.

Watching their hurried backs, Tang Zhao's expression was calm as he said:

"They are laughing."

"Mm, laughing at you."

"Isn't it laughing at you?"

"Heh—"

Jiang Shenyi wore a "those who know, know" smile and said, "My turtle is placed in a bag, and people outside can't see it. That turtle shell of yours is too big, you can only tuck it under your arm; who do you think they are laughing at?"

Tang Zhao was currently tucking a basin-sized turtle under his arm. The turtle had its head retracted, revealing only the shell—a perfect picture of a "shrinking turtle." Indeed, the size of this turtle was too awkward; if it were smaller, he could just toss it into any bag, and if it were larger, he could simply place it on the ground and sit on it to play the part of a Turtle Immortal. It was only this size—neither big nor small—that made it look like a monster revealing its true form whether carried on his back or held, leaving him no choice but to tuck it like a book.

In fact, the reason his companions found it funny was that the image of him tucking the turtle contrasted too sharply with his usual refined temperament. If seen by a stranger, it would just be... alright?

Jiang Shenyi patted Tang Zhao and said, "Junior Brother, do not worry. I see your Reception Envoy is unusual; perhaps it is because you made your Talisman Page well that you received a hidden reward above a Golden Scale? I see this turtle's appearance is strange; perhaps it is an ancient divine beast? Like a Black Tortoise or a Spinning Turtle."

Tang Zhao chuckled, "Is that encouragement from you, Senior Brother, or self-encouragement? Are our Reception Envoys not of the same race? Your omen is even better, 'topping the list'... isn't that stronger than a Golden Scale? A good sign."

The two exchanged some snide remarks, and Jiang Shenyi said, "Since our donkey race earlier ended in a draw, why not compete again this time? Let's see who gets a higher evaluation after arriving in Jianzhou? The loser pays for all food and lodging on the way back."

Tang Zhao naturally replied:

"Fine, a palm-strike to seal the oath?"

"A palm-strike to seal the oath!"

After the two struck palms, they each went their separate ways while clutching their turtles. Tang Zhao suddenly realized something, turned back, and shouted angrily in Jiang Shenyi's direction, "Senior Brother, you didn't bring any money at all! How can you pay for anything on the way back? Won't you still be eating on my tab?"

"Ah, this fellow student—" someone called out behind him.

Tang Zhao turned around and saw it was the scholar from just a moment ago. His face turned slightly red: this scholar had hooked a Golden Scale, and he had just been complaining with Senior Brother Jiang that even a Golden Scale was not as good as their turtle; it inevitably seemed like sour grapes.

The scholar's expression was solemn as he said earnestly, "Fellow student, although we only met by the pond, I know you are a person of overflowing talent; I only regret that time is pressing and we cannot become close friends. See you in Jianzhou! Perhaps in the Heaven District, you and I can sit side by side."

Tang Zhao also responded solemnly, "I accept your kind words. Since you have obtained a Golden Scale, you are certainly no ordinary person; may I ask your name?"

"Qingqu Academy, Yue Shen."

"Zhuoyu Villa, Tang Zhao."

After leaving the crowd, Tang Zhao came to White City, rented a small room, and had a chat with his own Spirit Envoy.

Although the rules for the Sword Province Road had been spread all over the city these past few days, Tang Zhao still needed to hear them from his own Spirit Envoy.

Taking out a Talisman Page, Tang Zhao handed it to the front of the turtle shell.

This was also a necessary step; one had to feed another Talisman Page to prove that the previous Talisman Page was made by one's own hand before the Spirit Envoy could truly be awakened.

Hearing a sound of exhaling, a strange-looking head emerged from the turtle shell, swallowed the Talisman Page in one gulp, chewed it up with an expression of enjoyment, and shouted loudly, "Haha, it's finally Gui Ye's turn to appear! You are the Talisman Sword Master I have chosen, and I am your Reception Envoy! Follow Gui Ye and let's embark on the Sword Province Road together."

Although he had long known that Spirit Envoys were magical, seeing a turtle speak with his own eyes still felt very strange to Tang Zhao.

In this world, non-human species could not speak. Fierce Beasts were immensely strong and could even use powerful arts, but their intelligence was extremely limited. Wild beasts were even less worth mentioning; Senior Sister Xue's owl was fed with special Rune Formulas and precious Spirit Medicine, and while it understood human nature and could follow commands, it was still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from speaking human language.

This turtle spoke clearly, and its voice even carried temperament... was it a naturally occurring exotic species, or had some method been applied to it?

Tang Zhao suspected the latter; the lotus pond alone was stocked with ninety-nine Spirit Fish of various species, and it was impossible for all those aquatic creatures to be naturally occurring Spirit Race. Naturally occurring spirit species would be too cheap.

As for the method, Tang Zhao immediately thought of Talisman Puppets.

Powerful Talisman Sword Masters could create puppets with spirituality; for example, A Xiao at Xue Xianyun's place had its own consciousness, though it was often foolish. But even A Xiao could not speak; it was hard enough for a parrot to mimic speech, let alone engage in free conversation.

In the end, in this world, apart from a human soul, there was no method to grant true intelligence to another entity.

Even the fairy sister in his Glasses was still missing a bit of wit.

Tang Zhao stared at the turtle and pondered: could it really speak human language, or were hundreds of sentences pre-recorded, and it automatically chose to play them based on the situation?

Although curious, Tang Zhao did not rashly perform an inspection. Firstly, the Reception Envoy represented the Host, Longyuan, so it was inappropriate to be so rude right away; secondly, one should maintain respect for any existence that possessed intelligence.

It was just that this turtle's head had distinct edges and really did look a bit like a bird; could the prototype of this Talisman Puppet really be a Spinning Turtle with a bird's head and a snake's tail?

It was just too ugly, so ugly that Tang Zhao had the thought of putting it into the water pool in his Glasses to upgrade it.

The turtle tilted its head to look at him and said, "You Talisman Sword Master, why do you keep staring at Gui Ye? Are you a bit stupid? Come, Gui Ye will give you something good." With that, it spat out a thick booklet.

"One Thousand Questions on Rune Formula Difficulties."

Here it comes, here it comes, it's this god-forsaken thing!

This set of "Thousand Questions on Rune Formulas" exam papers was the most widely circulated thing in White City recently. Every candidate who hooked a Spirit Fish would receive this copy. It was a thick volume of exam papers, and it was said that every question was difficult enough to make one doubt life. Last night, White City was filled with all sorts of wailing and howling.

Although Tang Zhao was someone who made his own practice books on the mountain, the feeling of writing his own questions was different from having a question bank thrown in his face. Feeling the solid weight of the practice book in his hand, Tang Zhao's face turned green involuntarily.

"Seven days, do I have to finish one thousand questions?"

The turtle patiently comforted him, "How could it be seven days? Don't you still have to hurry on your way? There isn't seven days of time at all, is there?"

"..."

Tang Zhao repeated, "In other words, I have to hurry on my way, answer questions, and finally rush to Jianzhou in these seven days?"

The turtle said, "That is certainly not all..."

Then, it spat out a scroll, which was a map.

"There are nine roads on the map. Besides varying in length and difficulty, each road has at least one checkpoint. You can choose any road to pass through checkpoints, answer questions, and hurry on your way simultaneously. I guarantee you will enjoy a fulfilling and unforgettable journey for a period of time."

"Don't look at some roads as quiet with only one or two checkpoints, thinking they are suitable for traveling; in fact, fewer checkpoints mean fewer opportunities. Some checkpoints are troublesome, but after breaking through them, you can gain quite a few benefits. Perhaps it will be... the answers to dozens or hundreds of questions! On those roads with few checkpoints, you won't get any hints and will have to work behind closed doors, which will instead delay your results."

Tang Zhao mused, "Is the final ranking determined entirely by exam scores? Does arriving early or late make no difference?"

The turtle said, "That is the case. However, there are benefits to arriving early; the sooner you reach Maze City, the more you can lie in wait, resting while others do the work, waiting for the others to come to you."

The nine Sword Province Roads did not intersect, but they all converged at the same place in the end—Maze City!

"Inside Maze City, there is a Great Array that leads directly to Jianzhou. It will open on the final day to receive everyone and take them to Jianzhou. Before that, everyone must stay in Maze City. It is a magical city. You can enjoy the fun of exploring this mysterious little city, or you can seize the time to exchange answers."

Tang Zhao asked in surprise: "We can even exchange answers? Plagiarism is allowed too?"

The turtle said: "To put it bluntly, it is letting you copy from others. This is part of the rules. However, there is a small restriction—if your answer to a certain question is copied by someone else, that answer becomes void."

"Wait!" Tang Zhao suddenly realized: "Someone copies my answer, they are fine, but my answer becomes void?! Is this reasonable?!"

That turtle said as if it were only natural: "How is it not reasonable? Who told you to let others copy you? If you copy others, then there is no problem, right?"

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment. After reacting for a while, he said: "Isn't this encouraging everyone not to do the questions themselves, but to just wait to copy each other? The level of Rune Formula attainment doesn't matter; as long as your martial arts are better than others and you can snatch it, isn't that enough?"

That turtle shook its head and said: "Not entirely. Maze City only has the last day or two of time, and there are a full one thousand questions. Can you finish copying them? And who would you copy? Even if you get the answers, how can you guarantee they are correct? If your Rune Formula skills are not refined, even if the answers are laid out before you, you wouldn't know what to copy. Moreover, the layout in Maze City is very magical. If we only talk about martial arts, the weak are not necessarily weak, and the strong are not necessarily strong. If your Rune Formula attainment is strong, you can dominate in Maze City!"

That turtle finally said: "There is one ultimate protective talisman. If one is willing to hand in a blank paper, the Jieyin Envoy can teleport the Talisman Sword Master into the array. Personal safety is guaranteed, but all questions will be voided, and a score of zero will be recorded."

Tang Zhao understood. This was to tell those who plagiarize not to push people too far. If you push someone into a dead end, they might fight to the death, enter Jianzhou directly, and leave you with nothing. It seems Longyuan probably still does not wish for people to die. After all, the Talisman Sword Masters who can come here, regardless of their level, are all top Disciples of their respective sects and families, and in the future, they will at least be Talisman Sword Masters capable of standing on their own. Cutting off the future of someone's sect and creating a life-and-death feud for no reason is also detrimental to the reputation of Longyuan.

"Young man, which path are you going to choose?"

Tang Zhao pondered without speaking, then suddenly asked: "Since we all have to answer questions and be ranked, what is the use of the quality of the Spirit Fish caught?"

The turtle said: "Of course it's useful. If you catch me, you can choose from nine paths, giving you plenty of room for choice. If you catch a loach, you only have one random path to choose from."

Hmm...

It doesn't seem very useful either? I don't know which path is better anyway. It's still just blind guessing.

Tang Zhao said: "One last question, if I catch a Golden Scale, how many paths can I choose?"

The turtle said proudly: "Also nine. We are on the same level—no, actually, I am a notch higher than the Golden Scale. It looks pretty, but it is a dead object, stupid and dull. Gui Ye is the one-in-a-hundred hidden surprise!"