Chapter 168: 161 A Hundred Boats Competing in the Current

The sky is high, the clouds are light, and the wind is clear.

It is good weather suitable for traveling.

"Let's set off—first stop, Jiu Yuan!"

Standing on the mountain peak, Tang Zhao points toward the distance with high spirits; his finger is like a sword, a sword pointing toward the peak of Kungang!

This is the "chuuni" spirit that he only lets erupt when no one is around; at this moment, he is immersed in it, full of vigor.

On his shoulder, the turtle stretches out its head, one front leg reaching forward, striking a matching pose.

No special rehearsal is needed; the turtle naturally cooperates, not just because Gui Ye also harbors a burning "chuuni" soul, but also because it feels this youth is worth cooperating with.

When choosing the route last night, Tang Zhao had given it a surprise.

At that time, Tang Zhao did not immediately choose which of the nine paths to take, but first opened the Thousand Questions to see the difficulty of the problems.

The difficulty of the problems relates to how he makes his choice; if most are too difficult, it is better to choose checkpoints with hints, and if the difficulty is average, he can finish them himself, then set off leisurely and choose a smooth path to enter Maze City directly.

The first question...

A freebie.

Turn the page, look at the back.

The tenth question, a freebie.

The hundredth question...

Hmm, it has a bit of difficulty now.

This is not a question that can be scanned at a glance; it requires calculation. Tang Zhao calculated it on his draft paper; it is not difficult.

Continue further back.

Question five hundred.

This question has a train of thought, but it is complicated after all; it needs to be deduced for a while.

Question eight hundred...

By this point, the questions need to be thought about carefully; he seems to have some ideas, but he must think slowly, and it will take at least... a cup of tea's time to sort out the train of thought, and a quarter of an hour to solve it completely.

It seems that arriving here, one has entered the difficult zone.

Question eight hundred and one...

Is this question serious?

Tang Zhao suddenly widened his eyes, staring at the question.

The problem with this question is not whether it is difficult or not; it is that kind of... hard to describe...

It is just that a bunch of symbols he completely did not understand suddenly appeared, completely exceeding the level of intermediate or even advanced Rune Formulas. It is very much like the feeling Tang Zhao had when he looked at an introductory Rune Formula book alone before he had learned them. Ever since he studied systematically and had the help of his Glasses, he had not had this feeling of reading "heavenly books" for a long time.

Of course, there are only thirty-seven Base Fu in total, and the most basic symbols are still the same, but the extremely abnormal variants among them, the connections he could not understand, and even the layered, piled-up methods, all made the Rune Formula turn into another appearance.

To use a method Tang Zhao also does not understand, it is like in a high school math exam, suddenly mixed with a large amount of deep advanced mathematics concepts, making even examining the question very difficult.

It is just aimed at making people unable to understand it.

"Is this question... meant for people to do?"

Hearing Tang Zhao staring blankly at the test paper, the turtle behind him stretched out its head to take a look, revealing the turtle's unique, meaningful expression.

That is right, this question is just not meant for people to solve properly. The previous questions can screen the level of the Talisman Sword Master themselves, while the later questions are completely obscure, strange, and difficult, basically losing their screening significance.

Even Sword Smiths and Grandmaster Sword Smiths cannot know them all; many questions are the private stash of the Host and the Libationer. To answer correctly, one must pass through checkpoints and obtain hints.

Of course, not everyone has to pass checkpoints and get hints. Only young people who have high requirements for themselves want to compete for high scores; like those who cannot even answer the first eight hundred questions, or get stuck at five hundred or three hundred, whether they answer the last two hundred difficult questions or not is about the same—even if given a hint, they still cannot answer.

Since this youth has hooked himself, looks ambitious, and is also a man of talent... then he must pursue perfection. When the time comes for him to ask which path is easiest to get clues, he will recommend it to him...

Suddenly, he saw Tang Zhao use his finger to push the air in front of his Glasses, and his gaze changed instantly.

After a while, he picked up his pen, brushed, brushed, brushed, wrote a few lines on the paper, paused for a while, and then wrote a few more lines.

"So it is a shorthand version of a special Fu Formula Array; it is not particularly difficult when broken down. Like this..."

He thought for a while, wrote for a while, and pushed the air for a while, tossing and turning for half the night. In the end, the old turtle retracted its head and went into its Turtle Shell to sleep.

Early the next morning, the turtle was woken up and saw the questionnaire neatly placed to the side. Tang Zhao was slightly tired but still full of energy, saying: "Spirit Envoy, help me recommend the fastest path!"

What could the turtle say? Of course, it promised him.

Among the nine paths, two are very fast.

One of them has no checkpoints at all except for Maze City, but it is a detour, requiring one to wind around in the Kungangqunshan for several days before reaching Maze City. This one should be prepared for those who hate risk and prefer safety, guarding their own answers, not pinning any hope on external gains, and not facing any danger.

The other path is much straighter, only passing through a checkpoint in the middle.

Jiu Yuan.

This Jiu Yuan is a checkpoint mainly for sightseeing; it is a model landscape built by Long Yuan using his own sect as a prototype, containing many exhibits, mainly to show how Long Yuan started from scratch and worked hard to build the scale it has today.

It is said that many scenic spots have a restoration ratio of one to one.

Originally, Long Yuan intended to move this attraction into Jianzhou, and even included visiting Jiu Yuan in the schedule of the Talisman Assembly, but it met with quite a bit of opposition. The former Host of Mogan Peak was especially fiercely opposed, saying they were using public office for private gain. Long Yuan had not yet reorganized his forces and it was not convenient to offend the public, so he moved Jiu Yuan to the road to Jianzhou.

Since it took a lot of effort to build, this place cannot be wasted; there are a full four paths leading here. One of them leads directly to Jiu Yuan, and the other three are full of checkpoints, with a thousand difficulties and obstacles before reaching Jiu Yuan. Jiu Yuan not only provides safe sightseeing but also provides food, drink, and a place to rest, where one can relax one's Spirit and rest up, preparing for the final Maze City.

The turtle confirmed repeatedly: "Besides visiting the exhibits, Jiu Yuan is just tea, snacks, and shops selling various souvenirs and commemorative books. There are no hints that can help you answer the questions. Are you sure your answer is correct and you don't need extra hints?"

Tang Zhao said: "No problem."

The turtle sighed and said: "Fine, then let's set off. Going to Jiu Yuan is fine, it broadens one's knowledge there. With Gui Ye pointing the way, I'll let you see good things others can't see."

"Let's go!"

Standing on the hillside, Tang Zhao took out his vehicle.

As soon as it saw this vehicle, the turtle's small bean eyes widened into large beans, saying: "This... what kind of vehicle is this?"

Tang Zhao laughed: "My custom-made Art Tool luxury car, it has only run on Jiugao Mountain before, but now that I've reached the Kungang plateau, it's time to go for a spin. Get on, Gui Ye. Except for me, you are the first to ride in it. Originally I wanted to name it 'Harley', but later I changed it to 'Six Dragons'."

The turtle recited the name "Six Dragons" and whispered: "Quite a coincidence. But what is a Harley?"

The man and the turtle got into the car and turned into a streak of fire, heading toward Jiu Yuan.

"So that's how it is, seven paths." Jiang Shenyi pondered in silence.

"Then let's choose this path. There are three checkpoints in total, neither too many nor too few." He pointed to one of the paths.

Beside him, Xiao Wugui dutifully reminded him, "Look closely, the checkpoints on this path are primarily focused on slaughter and are somewhat unorthodox. Once you reach those places, you can only rely on martial arts to break through; no matter how high your level of Rune Formula is, it won't be of any use."

Jiang Shenyi laughed, "Exactly. We Sword Masters naturally prioritize martial arts; whatever checkpoint trials there are, we'll just fight our way through. Any Rune Formula competition is just a crooked path. Whoever wants to test me, I'll just smash their head in."

Xiao Wugui said excitedly, "Good, Gui Ge appreciates this spirit of yours, let's go!"

On the main road, a scholar walked forward calmly. Although his build was thin, he seemed to have a mass of Haoran Righteous Qi supporting him, making him as upright as a desert poplar: "Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles. Among all the great paths, I shall take the most difficult and longest one."

In his palm, he cradled a sky-blue water basin, and a Golden Scale swimming within it spoke to remind him: "If we are delayed too long on the road and arrive at Maze City too late, I fear there won't be much time to reference other people's answers."

The scholar laughed, "What reference? Isn't that just plagiarism? Furthermore, it harms others to benefit oneself. How could I do such a thing? To know what you know and know what you do not know—why must I debase myself for the empty name of a ranking? If someone can solve a problem I cannot, I can naturally ask them for guidance in person after the banquet and treat them as a teacher; that is also acceptable. Why must I commit that act of harming others to benefit myself before the banquet?"

The Golden Scale swam a circle in the water, as if dancing joyfully.

"Ah, ah, ah—it's such a headache, I can't solve a single problem!" A young girl with disheveled hair lay prone on the desk, flipping through the questions, "Which cutthroat came up with these kinds of questions? Could it be that I really am a Rune Formula simpleton just as Father said? Could it be that I am actually going to set the worst record in the history of Feitian Cave? That wouldn't be very good, would it? I'll get beaten."

"However, heaven never closes off all paths. This rule actually gives me a chance. Little Golden Fish, you lead the way; I want to be the first to arrive at Maze City. I'll collect answers in the city. If there are no other Sword Students, then I should be the strongest, right? Don't look at the fact that I can't do a single problem; I'm going to get a perfect score!"

"Young Master... these problems are not simple."

"Don't worry about the problems. What I care about is Maze City. It's truly a good place; let me dissect a few more skeletons there and paint a few more bone paintings. You and I shall walk along the path with the most people; if we encounter those worth admiring, we might as well collect them and dissect them."

"Yes... the rules seem to forbid... killing each other..."

"It wasn't explicitly forbidden, so naturally, it is allowed. It's just that one must use some technique. As long as you are clever enough, those high and mighty powerhouses will instead appreciate your performance."

"The Rune Assembly is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers..."

"Dragons and tigers? The true dragons and tigers, those people from the Seven Great Factions, don't even need to walk this boring path. Those who let others pick and choose them are nothing but busy little ants. It would be better to become my collection and sublimate their mediocre and boring lives. I will give them the best final destination."

A thousand boats set sail, ten thousand vessels vied for the current.

Within a day or two, the young people led by ninety-nine Spirit Fish walked out of White City and headed toward Jianzhou. These Talisman Sword Masters were already the best of the younger generation in the Rune Assembly, but they still had to display their unique talents for higher rankings and more ambitious goals, competing for supremacy.

On the city walls, several pairs of eyes looked down at their retreating figures. Some were expectant, some curious, and some were high and mighty, looking on with disdain.

There were even those harboring other intentions.

A hand spread open, receiving the message that had just arrived:

"Is that so? He wants to go to Jiu Yuan?"