NOVEL NEXT Volume 1 Chapter 23: Dao Heart
Elder Wang looked at Feng Yudie, wearing a helpless expression on his face.
“Feng Yudie, fix your hair before entering the hall. Your appearance can affect your performance.”
After this reminder, Elder Wang turned his gaze to Pei Lengxue.
Since he hadn’t seen Pei Lengxue before when he visited the Hundred Lotus Sect, he was a bit puzzled. He asked, “You came here together with Feng Yudie?”
“Yes.” Pei Lengxue bowed and clasped her fists, “Junior’s name is Pei Lengxue. Young Master Ye asked me to accompany Senior Feng Yudie here.”
“A disciple of the Hundred Lotus Sect.” Elder Wang stroked his beard and asked, “The one who accompany Feng Yudie is not Young master Ye, but you?”
“Yes.”
Elder Wang was somewhat puzzled. When he visited the Hundred Lotus Sect earlier, he felt that Ye Ao seemed quite interested in having Ye Anping join the Profound Star Sect as an inner disciple. Therefore, upon hearing about Feng Yudie’s situation, he naturally assumed that Ye Ao would arrange for Ye Anping to accompany Feng Yudie.
However, now they had sent a girl with Trinary spiritual roots as an attendant, and he couldn’t understand Ye Ao’s thinking.
After hesitating for a moment, he waved his hand, saying, “Forget it. The Profound Star Sect’s requirements for disciples’ attendants aren’t too strict, but they’re not without requirements either. Let me kindly remind you, as Feng Yudie’s attendant, you need to accompany her during the selection. The entry standards will be lowered, but if you don’t pass, you still won’t be able to enter the Profound Star Sect.”
Pei Lengxue paused for a moment and then bowed again, saying, “I understand.”
“Alright, follow me. The first round is a written test.”
Saying this, Elder Wang led the way, heading towards a side hall.
Pei Lengxue couldn’t help swallowing nervously and paid no attention to Feng Yudie by her side. She hurriedly followed Elder Wang’s steps.
Initially, she hadn’t felt too nervous about coming here, thinking that the Profound Star Sect’s selection process was likely similar to the Hundred Lotus Sect’s, perhaps just a bit more competitive.
However, when she heard Elder Wang mention a written test just now, she instantly felt flustered.
While she had confidence in swordplay, spells, and alchemy, she lacked confidence in things like answering questions and writing essays.
What if she couldn’t pass the test? Wouldn’t her senior brother have sent her here in vain?
Seemingly sensing her anxiety, Feng Yudie immediately approached her and asked, “Junior Sister Pei, are you very nervous?”
“Not nervous.” Pei Lengxue glanced at her but then added, somewhat uncertainly, “I’m just not very good at things involving writing and words. Senior Brother rarely taught me those things…”
“In that case, I’ll find an opportunity to give you the answers later.”
“…Can you compose essays?”
“Of course.” Feng Yudie pursed her lips and proudly declared, “I have a perfect grasp of the contents of various Daoist scriptures. Hmph.”
At this point, Elder Wang, who was walking ahead, seemed to hear them whispering and sighed quietly. He warned, “Feng Yudie, if you plan to help her cheat, both of you will be disqualified, and neither of you will be allowed to participate in the Profound Star Sect’s selection in the future.”
“Ah, Elder Wang, I was just joking.” Feng Yudie answered awkwardly, then made a silly face at Elder Wang’s back.
“Eh…”
Elder Wang sighed softly, suddenly recalling a common saying: “You’re not of the same family, so you can’t enter the same door.” Although he had only seen Feng Yudie twice, he vaguely saw the shadow of her Master, True Immortal Tai Xu, on her.
Feng Yudie blinked at Pei Lengxue and lowered her voice, “Junior Sister Pei, wait for my signal later.”
“Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”
“Whether they catch us or not, well, if that happens, I’ll just follow you back to the Hundred Lotus Sect. We can practice together every day.”
Although Feng Yudie’s voice was low, Elder Wang walking ahead still heard it, but he didn’t say anything this time.
In reality, Feng Yudie’s spot had already been arranged by the Sect Master and the elders. As long as she didn’t cause a big fuss, the Profound Star Sect would surely turn a blind eye.
After all, not only does she have a Heavenly Spiritual Root but also the direct disciple of True Immortal Tai Xu. Moreover, she was also the orphan of the former Immortal Emperor.
If the Profound Star Sect expelled her, and she then joined one of the other four major immortal sects, the loss for the Profound Star Sect wouldn’t be as simple as a spirit vein or a heavenly opportunity.
Elder Wang’s current hope was that Feng Yudie wouldn’t be too blatant about it. If she made any small moves, he wouldn’t nitpick.
The two followed Elder Wang through a teleportation array next to the main hall. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a spacious area capable of accommodating thousands of people.
Redwood desks were placed every ten feet in the area, each equipped with writing materials. Many disciples participating in the selection had already taken their seats and were busy answering the questions.
Pei Lengxue wanted to use her vision to take a look at the answers of those disciples, but there seemed to be some kind of formation around each desk. She couldn’t even clearly see their faces, let alone their test papers.
Elder Wang went to a central platform in the area and received two wooden plaques from an old man with white beard sitting there. After looking at them, he crushed the wooden plaques.
In an instant, Pei Lengxue and Feng Yudie, who had been standing together, were each transported to their respective desks.
The next moment, Elder Wang’s voice directly reached the minds of the two.
“Very simple, the jade plaques on your desks have the questions written on them. Write your answers on the paper provided. The time limit is one hour. If you finish early, just say ‘I’m done,’ and the formation will teleport you out.”
“I’m done?” Feng Yudie questioned.
Immediately, a blue light enveloped her, and she was teleported out.
“Hiss…”
Elder Wang, standing in the center of the area, couldn’t help but take a deep breath. He quickly made a sword gesture with his hand and also teleported out of the examination room.
Three breaths later, he grabbed Feng Yudie by the back of her collar and teleported back into the examination room through the entrance formation.
“… …”
“Ah… Ahaha.” Feng Yudie awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, “Oops, I subconsciously read it out loud. Ahaha…”
Elder Wang looked at her with a somewhat resentful expression, then sighed helplessly. He went to get her a new wooden plaque and sent her to another seat.
Pei Lengxue was somewhat speechless, sighed, and decided to ignore Feng Yudie. She picked up the jade plaque on her desk and looked at the question.
When she saw the question, she couldn’t help feeling surprised.
The question only had two words on it — “Dao Heart” (道心).
Before, her senior brother had mentioned “Dao Heart” to her more than once.
Although what her senior brother said sounded obscure and difficult to understand, she currently had no idea what “Dao Heart” meant. However, her senior brother had instructed her to memorize everything he said as accurately as possible.
And she had indeed memorized everything clearly.
Pei Lengxue pursed her lips and immediately picked up the brush. She wrote on the paper in front of her: The so-called Dao Heart is about turning evil into good, transcending human desires, and upholding divine principles. The essence of heavenly principles and the faith of righteousness. Upholding benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Integrating knowledge and action, cultivating the innate moral sense in all matters…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Feng Yudie looked at the words “Dao Heart” and pondered for a moment. She whispered, “Xiaotian, how do you write this?”
Xiaotian above her head sighed,『Who was it that just told Miss Pei that she could memorize Daoist scriptures?』
“Oh, I’m just trying to improve my favorability with you, so I’m pretending a bit.”
『Ha~』 Xiaotian laughed coldly, 『When True Immortal Tai Xu told you to memorize scriptures in the past, you didn’t listen. Now you regret it, right?』
“Yes, yes, yes, I regret it. So, what’s the answer?”
『Heh, isn’t it you who said you could recite Daoist scriptures like flowing water?』
“Oh no, I just want to improve our relationship. Just a little show~”
『Heh~』 Xiaotian sneered, 『Earlier, didn’t you boast that you could recite Daoist scriptures fluently?』
“Alright, alright, I regret it. So, what’s the answer?”
『Ah..』 Xiaotian sighed and waved as it took out it’s Heavenly Dao Scriptures, flipping through it for a while before saying, 『I’ll read it to you once. The so-called Dao Heart is about turning evil into good, transcending human desires, and upholding divine principles. The essence of heavenly principles and the faith of righteousness. Upholding benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Integrating knowledge and action, cultivating the innate moral sense in all matters…』