Becoming a Sage Starts From Condensing the Essence of Time - Chapter 99

Chapter 99: Bamboo Painting to Seek the Dao, Primordial Spirit Forms on Its Own (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Second Headmaster raised his hand and flicked his sleeve.

The Heart Questioning Forest became transparent. The figures of every examinee who entered the forest became extremely obvious. Their positions became extremely clear.

“Huh? Master An has only walked so far?”

“Did he lose his way? If that’s the case, it’s a pity…

“Master An is good at being an ink bamboo. Don’t lose your direction for the bamboo in this secluded bamboo forest. That would be a joke.”

When the officials of the Ministry of Rites saw An Le standing motionless in front of a bamboo, they were all surprised.

They thought that An Le should have walked far away, but they did not expect him to still be not far from the forest. He had even been surpassed by many Confucian scholars who had just entered the forest.

The Second Headmaster looked at An Le. His gaze became more and more solemn, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

Under the thatched cottage.

The chess pieces landed on the chessboard with crisp sounds.

Third Headmaster Wang Banshan narrowed his eyes. “It’s starting. They’ve entered the Heart Questioning Forest.”

First Headmaster Zhu Huoxi chuckled. “That’s right. Guess how long it will take for this child to leave the forest?”

Looking at the chess piece that Zhu Huoxi had almost finished, Wang Banshan threw the chess piece in his hand back into the chess box. He stretched and chuckled. “First Headmaster, chess is too boring. Why don’t we write down our guesses on paper and see who gets it right?”

Zhu Huoxi stroked his beard and nodded with a smile, fulfilling the requirements of this lousy chess basket.

The two of them got up and entered the house. They wrote down the answers on paper and folded them before returning to the chessboard.

An Le stared at the bamboo in front of him for a long time. It was an old bamboo with a few stripes on it as if it was left behind by time.

He reached out and touched it. It was extremely cold. The bamboo branch swayed slightly and immediately shook off the bamboo leaves.

The bamboo seemed to be shy.

At this moment, An Le was surprised. He seemed to have a different impression of bamboo.

Bamboo also had a soul.

At this moment, he did not look for any path out of the forest, nor did he pursue the path left behind by his predecessors.

He began to observe the bamboos one by one, observing their expressions and temperament.

The ink bamboo he had once drawn was less lively and more inflexible. It was also different from real bamboo.

An Le wanted to truly master the ink bamboo painting.

This would be the ink bamboo that belonged solely to An Le.

The forest was quiet. A breeze blew past, and the silence was broken, producing the sound of raging waves.

Unknowingly, the warm sun was setting.

The sun was still setting, and the cold chimes filled the empty forest.

The examinees participating in the Heart Questioning Forest all began to hesitate after experiencing the initial journey. Although they had planned their mental power route before entering the forest, they would really enter the forest and start to get lost after walking a long distance according to the established route.

After getting lost, they could only use their mental power to search for the path ahead in a chaotic manner. In the end, they lingered on the spot.

No one walked out of the Heart Questioning Forest.

An Le was still at the same bamboo. After observing the bamboo for so long, he had also gained something and was very confident in the spirituality of the bamboo.

He touched the bamboo sword Green Mountain at his waist. Green Mountain was very comfortable.

An Le smiled and stopped picking bamboo. He stood up and pulled out a long figure through the sunset sprinkled by the bamboo leaves.

He raised his hand and knocked gently in the air.

Swoosh!

Ink Pool Sword, which had been crazy in the Heart Questioning Forest for a day, broke through the secret bamboo and galloped over, surrounding An Le.

An Le grabbed the Ink Pool Sword and started to splash ink in the air.

It was as if heaven and earth were paper and the Ink Pool Sword was a brush, forming an ink bamboo.

Outside the dark bamboo forest.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were all energized. The Second Headmaster also narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man who had been standing quietly not far from the entrance of the Heart Questioning Forest for the entire day.

The white-robed young man had a bright smile on his lips as he drew in the air with his sword.

His mental power surged like a waterfall and fused into the painting in front of him.

At this moment, the mind in the Sword Furnace between An Le’s eyebrows had officially stepped into the perfected-stage!

Vaguely, in the Sword Furnace, his mental power even surged and a blurry figure gathered on the sword embryo.

His perfected-stage mental power caused the Primordial Spirit to appear on its own!

Although it was blurry, it meant that An Le’s Spirit Refinement had already touched the threshold of the fourth realm, Primordial Spirit!

When his Primordial Spirit condensed and could come out of his body, he would officially step into the Primordial Spirit Realm!

Outside the bamboo forest.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were incomparably shocked. Looking at the young man painting with sword qi mental power in the air, they could not help but take a deep breath.

“Is this Master An’s ink bamboo? It seems… to have become more agile.

Although it’s drawn, it’s realistic and detailed. It’s indeed extraordinary!” Many officials praised.

The Second Headmaster narrowed his eyes and let out a long breath in his heart. His eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at the ink bamboo.

At this moment, he was no longer worried that An Le would not be able to leave the Heart Questioning Forest.

Qingbo Street, Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Zhao Huangting, who was laying out paper and painting in the temple, suddenly paused. His ears moved as if he could hear the sound of leaves hitting through the forest.

The ink bamboo painting hanging on the wall in the room began to tremble.

He hurriedly put down his pen and quickly walked to the window. He looked in the direction of the Literary Department and narrowed his eyes. He saw a clear aura soaring into the sky from the Literary Department.

Zhao Huangting pinched his long eyebrows and laughed.

With a thought, his extremely powerful Primordial Spirit left his body. Under the setting sun, he seemed to be stepping on a myriad of rays of light and floating towards the Literary Department.

Zhao Huangting was not the only one in the sky above the Literary Department.

Li You’an’s Primordial Spirit also arrived with his hands behind his back. Madam Hua’s Primordial Spirit also floated in the air. In addition, a few Primordial Spirits of experts from Lin’an Prefecture flew over.

Zhao Huangting’s Primordial Spirit looked at the Heart Questioning Forest. An Le was holding a sword and making ink bamboo, but this ink bamboo had a subtle change compared to the original.

Originally, the ink bamboo was a work created by An Le. It had some flaws in the carving of the bamboo image. Today, An Le made up for this flaw. It was even as if he was a completely different person from the person who had drawn the ink bamboo previously.

At this moment, the ink bamboo was the ink bamboo that truly belonged to An

While Li You’an and Zhao Huangting were paying attention to the ink bamboo, only Madam Hua sensed An Le’s mind and actually stepped into the perfected-stage Shedding Mortality Realm. Vaguely, a Primordial Spirit phantom appeared.

Madam Hua’s red lips parted slightly and she couldn’t help but gasp.

An Le seemed to be even more talented than her in Spirit Refinement!

Under the setting sun, in the Heart Questioning Forest.

After An Le finished making the ink bamboo, he spat out a ball of energy in his heart, causing the bamboo forest to sway. It strengthened his mind, which had stepped into the perfected-stage Shedding Mortality Realm, making his eyes bright and energetic.

After drawing the bamboo that belonged to An Le, he felt carefree. As he laughed freely, he put the Ink Pool Sword on his waist. An Le no longer stood on the spot and strode forward.

He did not plan any path with his mental power, nor did he search for a path.

With just a step, the bamboo branches in front of him moved away and opened a brand new path!

It was An Le’s own path.

It was the same for painting bamboo, traveling, and cultivation.

Half an hour later, a white-robed figure walked out of the bamboo forest with two swords at his waist.

He walked to the pavilion that was enveloped by the Literary Monument.

At this moment, the stars and moon were right at the top, and the monument was still shining brightly.

In the thatched cottage.

The carbon stove boiled water.

First Headmaster Zhu Huoxi and Third Headmaster Wang Banshan looked at each other. The two of them spread out the folded papers in their palms.

The time they guessed were written on them.

Fifteen minutes.

It had only been over seven minutes since An Le used his sword qi to paint the ink bamboo and walked out of the forest.

Under the thatched eaves, the moonlight was cold.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled bitterly..