Chapter 513: Exam

The questions were numerous, detailed, and simple—so simple that Pan Yun had never seen them before, nor had she deliberately studied them.

For example, which family holds the highest authority in the Daoist tradition, and where exactly is this manifested?

That's easy—the Zhang family of Long Hushan, the only Daoist lineage in the imperial court with hereditary noble title.

But why ask how many elders the Zhang family currently has, what character denotes their highest generation, what official posts they've held in court, and what contributions they've made to the empire and the Daoist tradition?

Pan Yun bit down on her pen.

How many elders does the Zhang family currently have? Is that something written in textbooks?

Senior brother never told her, and the academy never taught it.

Pan Yun looked at the next question: cultivation levels?

She knew this—the Five Times and Seven States. She had deliberately studied it; Great Ming's cultivation divisions were identical to those of her past life.

No—she should say her past life's divisions matched Great Ming's, since experts had extracted these levels from the Daoist tradition.

Next question: do martial artists in the Jianghu use the same classification system?

Probably yes?

Could martial artists have their own separate system?

Intellectually, Pan Yun wanted to answer yes, but based on years of exam experience, her intuition told her the answer was no.

Pan Yun bit down on her pen again.

Next question: write out in full the imperial title granted to the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi of Long Hushan's Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion.

Pan Yun bit her pen tightly.

Why? Why ask such a simple question?

Draw a complete imperial Daoist degree certificate diagram.

She knew this!

Pan Yun immediately began drawing.

Before the exam, Seeing Miao Zhen had said the Dao Record Office might test this exact question, so they had practiced with Wang Cong's degree certificate, tracing every edge and corner meticulously.

Pan Yun finished drawing the complete certificate, glanced at the next question, and paused.

List the imperial departments that manage Daoist priests, from highest to lowest;

List the imperial departments that manage Buddhist monks and nuns, from highest to lowest…

Pan Yun clicked her tongue, writing as she muttered inwardly: Seeing Miao Zhen is truly a master at predicting exam questions—in such a short time, she'd nailed three of them.

Pan Yun answered with tears in her heart, and before she could catch her breath, the bell rang—the papers were collected, and they were immediately herded in groups of ten to a side courtyard for the next exam.

As soon as they entered, Xue Jingxuan, who had been waiting, frowned and said: "Each of you, select one ritual implement and demonstrate your Daoist music."

Pan Yun moved swiftly, grabbing the Three Pure Bells—heehee, she'd performed several rituals with senior brother, always using the Three Pure Bells; at Mount Sanqing, to prepare for exams, she'd always used the Three Pure Bells.

Senior brother said: for the preliminary exam, you must master at least one instrument; for the retest, three; and by the time you take the official degree exam in Jingcheng, you must master twenty-four—these twenty-four include not just instruments but other ritual objects too.

Because when taking the degree exam, examiners may require you to collaborate on a major ritual, randomly assigning roles, and you might be given any ritual implement.

The preliminary exam isn't this strict.

Xue Jingxuan nodded slightly as they each chose their instruments, then called them forward one by one for evaluation.

After Daoist music came scripture recitation, then the Nine Steps, swordplay—and finally, a randomly assigned ritual performed in teams.

"Random" meant the examiners would randomly assign two teammates and randomly draw a ritual task.

For the final task, Pan Yun was lucky—her team drew a funeral ritual.

She knew this well—she'd assisted senior brother in three such rituals.

Pan Yun smiled, her lips barely lifting when Xue Jingxuan raised his head and said: "Funeral Rite—Ritual of Breaking Hell. You have half a quarter-hour to prepare." Pan Yun's mouth dropped open. She spun to ask the Daoist beside her: "Brother Daoist, why is there a Ritual of Breaking Hell? Isn't a funeral just about Opening Heaven's Gate and the Snow Mountain Rite?"

"Did you only answer those two on your exam? Then you're done for—I answered three."

Pan Yun: "... The point is, I don't know the Ritual of Breaking Hell!"

The other grinned: "I don't know it either."

Pan Yun: "... Then why are you happy?"

"I didn't know it, but I got the answer right on my paper—I'll definitely have one more point than you."

Pan Yun clenched her fists.

An older Daoist beside them hurried them: "Hurry up—if you don't know, just hold your instruments. I'll lead the Nine Steps."

Though she didn't know it herself, Pan Yun quickly cooperated, afraid of ruining her companion's exam. She raised the Three Pure Bells and asked: "How many strikes?"

The older Daoist gave her an approving glance: "Nine strikes."

Pan Yun understood.

Not a single note, not a single beat, not a single detail was wrong!

Though she'd never learned the Ritual of Breaking Hell, she knew the Three Pure Bells—close enough to assist properly.

Pan Yun's calmness encouraged the younger Daoist beside her: "Then what about my ritual sword?"

The older Daoist looked torn, then said: "Better abandon the sword—just recite scriptures and guide from the side. The sword requires precise footwork; you've never trained it, how can you manage?"

"I've learned Opening Heaven's Gate."

"This is Breaking Hell—it's different," the older Daoist said. "Opening Heaven's Gate is used for all deceased. Only those who committed grave sins and fell into hell—or those who accidentally fell in—require Breaking Hell, to pull their souls out of hell and guide them to Heaven's Gate. One misstep here is fatal."

Pan Yun nodded vigorously: "Unfortunately, I'm young and never had the chance to assist my senior brother in rituals for the wicked, so I've never learned Breaking Hell. You look much older—have you never encountered such a ritual?"

The other flushed crimson under Pan Yun's pressure and reluctantly chose to recite scriptures from the side.

Pan Yun had avenged her one-point loss—she felt refreshed.

Her team completed the Ritual of Breaking Hell with narrow success—the examiners gave them seven and a half points.

The examiners didn't hide their judgment: "You lose one point."

The finger turned, pointing to another young Daoist: "You lose one and a half points."

Then he nodded to the elder Daoist Priest and said, "Yun Chenzi, you did it without the slightest error, and as the lead, you completed it the best."

Yun Chenzi smiled so widely his eyes curved into crescents, quickly bowed, and walked out.

Pan Yun's group was scheduled for the later round, so when they came out, many fellow Daoists who had already finished the exam were standing outside. Seeing them emerge, regardless of whether they knew each other or not, they rushed over and asked, "Fellow Daoist, what ritual did you draw?"

"Breaking open the Hell of the Dead? That's harder than ours. Ours was the ritual of praying for blessings, giving thanks, dispelling illness, and extending longevity."

Pan Yun lifted her eyelids and sighed—such an auspicious Jiao Sect rite was her favorite, because she had learned it most thoroughly.

Not only had she learned it thoroughly at Mount Sanqing, but in her previous life, they had also been very fond of this kind of blessing ritual; on the other hand, rites like Breaking Open the Hell of the Dead, she had never performed.

It seemed that for people of the 26th century, descending into hell was not a terrifying matter.

Pan Yun was deep in thought when Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He's voices came: "Little Xiao Shishu, Little Xiao Shishu—"

Pan Yun came back to herself, quickly stood on tiptoe to look for them: "Are you two finished with your exams?"

The two young Misses were standing together with a group of female Daoists, and Pan Yun also saw Sister Xuan Li. (End of Chapter)