After everyone had drawn their lots, they followed the young Taoist boy deeper into the Taoist temple.
Ming Mingzhong craned his neck curiously. The Fengming Mountain Taoist Temple was huge, almost twice the size of the Qingxin Temple.
He murmured, "This is the legendary No. 1 sect under heaven. It truly lives up to its reputation..."
A snort came from beside Ming Mingzhong. It was a young man in a canary - yellow robe.
He looked about eighteen or nineteen, bright and vivid.
However, the words that came out of his mouth were extremely harsh: "Country bumpkin, stop acting like you've never seen the world. Do you know the Zhiwei Temple in Nanshan? It's much more imposing than this place!"
Zhou Feiyu was also in the group. Hearing this, she gave the young man a cold glare: "Xue Yier, if you don't speak, no one will take you for a mute."
The young man's face suddenly flushed red, and he shouted angrily, "Bastard! Don't call me by my name!"
Seeing this, Bai Jiming quickly tried to soothe him: "Young Master Xue, please calm down!"
Xue Yier clenched his fists unwillingly. He was supposed to be a graceful and handsome young man, but he had been laughed at because of this name since childhood!
He had wanted to change his name countless times, but was stopped by his elders.
According to them, his name had been decided long ago by a highly - respected senior.
Yu Nian watched the two bickering all the way and raised her eyebrows slightly.
The Zhiwei Temple and the Fengming Mountain Taoist Temple had been at odds since the time of their founders. It seemed that the younger generation was no different. They started arguing as soon as they met.
However, the name Xue Yier sounded so familiar...
The young Taoist boy led them around several turns and stopped in front of a rockery.
The rockery was extremely lifelike, about three or four stories high, blocking their way completely.
Bai Jiming was a bit confused: "Little friend, did you take the wrong way?"
The young Taoist boy shook his head with a smile, raised his hand and knocked on the rockery twice. Suddenly, a wide path appeared in a corner beside them.
Xue Yier finally showed a bit of interest: "Who set up this formation? It's quite interesting."
The young Taoist boy replied, "It was Senior Brother Qi."
"Qi Rongsheng? No wonder. It's so flashy."
As they walked further along the path, the scenery around them suddenly opened up.
A clear river curved in a semi - circle around elegant rooms. It had traveled a long way and formed the famous "Chao Huai Shui" pattern in feng shui.
In addition, the placement of other objects was very meticulous. Rare plants and herbs could be seen everywhere, and abundant spiritual energy gathered in the sky. It was a rare auspicious place.
Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't close their mouths.
Although Xue Yier was also surprised by the layout of the Fengming Mountain Taoist Temple, he still snorted disdainfully: "It's just so - so."
They walked into the bright and clean elegant room. A Taoist priest with a goatee was standing at the front of the classroom, smiling at them.
The priest had a loose bun on his head and exuded an air of casualness. He said calmly, "May the blessings of the boundless Tao be upon you. Greetings, fellow Taoists. I'm in charge of the pre - competition training. In other words, I'm your homeroom teacher. Although it's only for a week, I hope everyone can take it seriously."
In the face of the priest, the noisy crowd quieted down and took their seats.
Coincidentally, Yu Nian's seat was next to Xue Yier's.
Xue Yier glanced at Yu Nian and suddenly sneered, "Your spiritual energy is so weak, yet you dare to participate in the metaphysics competition? You're really overestimating yourself."
Yu Nian looked at Xue Yier silently: "Thank you for your reminder. Xue... Yi... er."
Xue Yier's face turned ashen: "You!"
Just as he was about to get angry, the class bell rang.
Xue Yier glared at Yu Nian angrily and gritted his teeth: "You wait!"
Yu Nian withdrew her gaze indifferently. After looking at the course schedule arranged by the Fengming Mountain Taoist Temple, she was a bit surprised.
Although it was only a week, the training courses were arranged very tightly and meticulously.
All five aspects of metaphysics, namely mountain, medicine, physiognomy, fortune - telling, and divination, were covered, and well - respected people in the metaphysical world were invited to teach each subject.
The first class they attended was the talisman - drawing class. The teacher was an old gentleman with a serious demeanor. When he looked at people, he would lower his head slightly and his eyes would pierce through the top of his glasses, falling straight on the person, exuding a strong sense of oppression.
On each table, there were fine writing brushes, yellow paper, and cinnabar.
The old gentleman's gaze swept across everyone in the room. He placed a palm - sized golden - purple incense burner in the center of the table.
A vertical incense stick was lit. When the sandalwood fragrance filled the elegant room, the old gentleman said slowly, "Whether you're from a prestigious sect or have worked your way up from a small one, since you're in this classroom, I'll treat you all equally. Your task today is simple: draw talismans."
Xue Yier was a bit puzzled and pouted, "Sir, you're really underestimating us. Drawing talismans is a basic skill for Taoists. What's there to practice?"
The old gentleman glanced at him and let out two ambiguous laughs.
Although he was hunched due to old age, his back was still straight.
The old gentleman walked slowly to the podium, dipped his pen in cinnabar, and his aura suddenly changed.
He softly chanted a spell, his voice ethereal. Then he took a deep breath and smoothly drew an extremely complex talisman on the paper.
From start to finish, it was drawn in one stroke.
After finishing the talisman, fine beads of sweat appeared on the old gentleman's forehead. He let out a long sigh and asked Xue Yier, "Can you draw a talisman like this?"
The whole room fell silent, and everyone's faces looked a bit grim.
They could draw talismans, of course, but to draw such a complex one in one go like the old gentleman not only required high supernatural powers but also extremely strong spiritual souls and mental states.
For a moment, the classroom was filled with sighs.
"How could we possibly draw such a difficult talisman?"
"This is just making things difficult for us! If anyone can draw it, I'll call him Dad!"
The old gentleman stroked his beard and smiled broadly: "I'll be satisfied if anyone can capture one - tenth of the mystery of this talisman today. However, drawing talismans can't be mastered overnight. Don't push yourself too hard. We'll stop when this incense stick burns out."
After the old gentleman gave the order, everyone picked up their pens, buried their heads in the books, looking for the spell the old gentleman had chanted, and then tentatively started drawing on the paper.
Before long, there were piles of discarded yellow papers on the ground.
Yu Nian didn't rush to draw talismans like the others. Instead, she leaned on her chin and looked out of the window with great interest.
She slowly stretched out her hand, and spiritual power instantly filled her fingertips, attracting several spiritual butterflies with a faint blue glow.
Yu Nian curved her eyebrows and thought to herself that it was really great to be in a prestigious sect. There was so much spiritual energy that it was almost wasted!
The old gentleman sitting on the podium saw this and turned his head away in disgust: "A rotten piece of wood that cannot be carved!"
When there was only about an inch of the incense stick left, Yu Nian leisurely picked up her pen. Without even blinking, she finished drawing a talisman, then stuffed the talisman and the pen into the desk all at once, and leisurely lay on the table to meditate.