Undying Life

Chapter 267: Heaven's Thunder Strikes

The panoramic view of mountains and rivers, the magnificent scene of splendid mountains and rivers spreading in all directions, infected everyone. Finally, after a long sigh, it was once again absorbed into the white jade manuscript. At this moment, the white jade manuscript also emitted a greenish light, echoing the golden manuscript of Qitian Hou to the east.

Qitian Hou, with his proud and majestic war dragon!

Jin Chan, with his magnificent panorama of mountains and rivers!

The two were equally matched. In the past, it would have been astonishing for just one such article to appear in the imperial examinations. Now, unexpectedly, there were two?

Examinees looked at Qitian Hou and Jin Chan with great admiration. Neither of them showed any arrogance. Jin Chan clasped his hands together calmly, while Qitian Hou looked to the north and south of the Literary Pavilion.

To the north was Zhongshan, and to the south was Shuijing Master.

Sitting in front of the Literary Pavilion, the Grand Xuan King remained extremely calm, patiently waiting for the end of the three hours.

Those who had finished writing stood beside their desks, examining their own articles and then looking in the direction of others.

At this moment, to the south, Shuijing Master also made his final stroke.

As he finished, a wave of pride surged from his eyes. This surge of pride seemed to make everyone who saw his eyes feel ashamed.

However, this pride came and went quickly, unlike Gu Lin's constant state of pride.

Seeing this surge of pride, Gu Lin, who was on a distant floating island, narrowed his eyes slightly, showing a hint of surprise.

And just as the final stroke was completed...

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The Grand Xuan King quickly stood up, looking towards the source of the booming sound.

It was the Literary Pavilion. Suddenly, countless statues of past scholars around the Literary Pavilion began to tremble. Not all of them, but most of the statues trembled, as if sighing for a world-shocking article.

The Grand Xuan King looked over. These statues were all former chunin champions who had passed away, statues of chunin champions from past dynasties.

Living champions could absorb the scholar's energy by using their own statues in the Literary Pavilion. However, the scholar's energy of the deceased champions continuously immersed in the statues, unable to be absorbed. Plus, with the blood drops of the former chunin champions, they became a kind of scholarly spirit.

After Shuijing Master wrote his article, all of the statues suddenly trembled.

"Hum~"

One statue suddenly trembled lightly. Then, from within the statue, a huge shadow suddenly emerged. In the eyes of everyone, the immense shadow rushed towards Shuijing Master's article, flew over, and then plunged into it.

"Hum~"

...More and more statues, more and more shadows, all headed straight for Shuijing Master's floating island. The momentum was so strong that even some people who were writing articles suddenly stopped and looked at Shuijing Master with great shock.

What was this? Most people here knew that it was the boundless scholarly energy. Shuijing Master's article actually moved these stone statues. The statues all offered their own scholarly energy, which was all poured into Shuijing Master's article and absorbed by him.

With overwhelming momentum, this was the article that shook heaven and earth. This was the world-shocking article that made thousands of scholars bow down?

After witnessing this scene, everyone knew that Shuijing Master had won.

At least compared to the articles of Qitian Hou and Jin Chan, Shuijing Master's article was much more imposing. Thousands of scholars bowing down—what kind of concept was that? It made everyone gaping in disbelief at Shuijing Master above. Who was he, exactly? How could he make thousands of scholars bow down? Did he willingly contribute the scholarly energy collected over tens of thousands of years?

Qitian Hou looked at Shuijing Master, his eyes gleaming with insight. This Shuijing Master really knew how to play the game. Who would have thought that writing an article could make thousands of scholars feel ashamed?

"My lord, wasn't this person once in your mansion? I never expected that besides Qitian Hou's remarkable article, even a random gentleman from your mansion would be so extraordinary," an official said to the Grand Xuan King.

However, the Grand Xuan King looked at Shuijing Master in the distance, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, tinged with contempt.

Jin Chan also looked at Shuijing Master in surprise. His previous composure turned into astonishment. He took a deep breath and sighed deeply.

As for the other examinees, they had no hope left for the three top scorers, the first place, second place, and third place. These three, regardless of who they were, had always been top talents in the past. Unexpectedly, this time in the imperial examination, three powerhouses appeared at once, with profound and vast articles.

Qitian Hou, with his proud and majestic war dragon!

Jin Chan, with his magnificent panorama of mountains and rivers!

Shuijing Master, with his article that made thousands of scholars bow down in admiration!

Most people had finished writing, with only a few still in the process, including Zhongshan, who was giving his all.

With his mind force entering his eyes, the world of rules shattered. Zhongshan wrote one stroke at a time, as if he found it incredibly difficult—

"Full of red!"

Angry waves surge, standing by the railing, in the drizzle's pause. Looking up, howling at the sky, with a heart full of passion. The glory of Daluo is nothing but dust, eight hundred miles of clouds and moon. Don't wait idly, for youth to fade away, leaving only sorrow!

To tear apart the shame of the covenant, and when will the hatred of the subjects be extinguished? Driving thousands of tigers, breaking through the sky's city. With a strong will, feasting on the flesh of enemies, laughing and drinking the blood of the slain. Starting anew, to tidy up the new mountains and rivers, toward the heavenly gate!

Zhongshan wrote stroke by stroke. This adaptation of "Full of Red" might not exceed others in literary style, but his handwriting was unmatched.

Everyone had high expectations for Shuijing Master, believing he would definitely become the top scorer. However, Shuijing Master looked at Zhongshan. Because Shuijing Master had not been able to see through Zhongshan so far. Zhongshan was not old, but he exuded a strangeness, a peculiarity. In this imperial examination, Shuijing Master's biggest opponent was actually Zhongshan.

Still writing?

At that moment, Zhongshan's final stroke fell.

As it was completed, a burst of red light suddenly emanated from the paper Zhongshan wrote on, once again catching everyone's attention.

Another one? Another world-shocking masterpiece was born?

Red light? What red light?

The Grand Xuan King turned his head to look at Zhongshan's direction. Zhongshan put down his brush, and the red light soared into the sky, as if it were filled with endless blood.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Suddenly, a strong wind rose. Where Zhongshan stood on the floating island, fierce winds blew, and the sky, illuminated by the red light, suddenly became overcast, with endless dark clouds gathering slowly, directly above Zhongshan's floating island.

The dark clouds rotated slowly within the red light, swirling around the center.

A powerful force descended, and a large amount of fierce wind blew, making it seem like the other examinees couldn't even hold their pens. A supreme might was pressing down.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle..."

In the dark clouds above Zhongshan's head, a large number of lightning bolts gathered, growing stronger and stronger, as if they were about to strike directly down, as if they were about to destroy the floating island where Zhongshan was, or even to strike Zhongshan dead, no, to destroy the article Zhongshan had written.

The increasing pressure was causing some of the less experienced cultivators to struggle for breath. The strong winds blew, as if they were about to blow away the floating islands around them.

Everyone was dumbfounded, looking up at the sky with wide eyes, filled with extreme incredulity.

Who was that person? What did he write? How could it be that even the heavens couldn't tolerate it? Was it really going to be struck down by lightning?

What did he write to invoke heavenly wrath?

Everything in the sky, everything around, was telling them that Zhongshan's article should not exist in the world, that it was not allowed by the heavens and the earth, and that it should be destroyed. The moment the article was completed, the invisible rules of the heavens and the earth were engraved, which was an offense to the authority of the heavens and needed to be destroyed completely.

Shuijing Master stared wide-eyed at Zhongshan in the opposite direction. Was this Zhongshan's strength? How could this be possible? Why was this happening? The heavens couldn't tolerate it? Struck by lightning? Was there a mistake?

All the examinees looked at the increasingly gathering dark clouds in the sky, their hearts filled with uncertainty. What should they do? Should they leave or stay? They were still in the middle of the exam!

Some examinees were even stunned, their brushes falling from their hands onto their own articles, destroying their own work.

Zhongshan was also in a state of frustration.

Was this necessary? Just writing an article, was it worth such a fuss?

Looking at the vast heavenly might above him, Zhongshan felt frustrated and wondered what to do. Should he wait for the Mo Yu Talisman to protect him automatically? But he didn't know how many times it could protect him. If it was only once like last time, then he would be in trouble soon.

As he felt the threat from above while looking at the "Full of Red" in front of him, Zhongshan's facial muscles twitched.

"Boom..."

The clouds that were illuminated by the red light finally couldn't hold back any longer. A huge thunder column struck down fiercely towards Zhongshan's article.

The momentum was as thick as a water tank, and the purple lightning seemed as if it would completely destroy Zhongshan's article.

The sky all around was already covered by dark clouds. As the purple lightning struck down, a large amount of lightning poured down, a thunderstorm engulfing the entire sky. This thunderstorm was much larger than Zhongshan's own Thunderstorm technique. The entire examination hall of the Wen Yuan Pavilion was about to suffer.

Because Zhongshan had written an article that invoked heavenly wrath, an article that should not exist in the world, an article that was not tolerated by the heavens and the earth.

The pouring rain of lightning was spectacular. Not only in the Wen Yuan Pavilion, but also in the distance, countless people saw the thunderstorm in the Wen Yuan Pavilion. What was happening over there?

"Princess, is there a fight inside?" A Da asked with his mouth wide open, looking at Princess Qian You beside him, his tone filled with disbelief.

Those with strong cultivation might be able to protect themselves, but those with weaker cultivation were desperate!

No one could have imagined that they would suffer heavenly punishment because of an article, that they would be struck dead by heavenly lightning!