Essence "The Forbidden Tome: Revised" Chapter 20 – Testing Profound Energy

Even though he knew that the Xuan Qi test in the main hall of the Xuan Temple in Qitan Town had already started some time ago, Long Qian still insisted on running home. He was now eager to know whether his parents were alright. As for the Xuan Qi test, if he really missed it, he could wait another two years to participate in the backup test in Qingtian City for ages eight to ten.

However, when Long Qian ran to the small hill in front of his house, he immediately saw Long Yan and An An waiting outside the fence. The two of them seemed to have stayed awake all night.

Long Yan's eyes were sunken, with a few more white hairs at his temples, and although An An still looked calm, the faint tear marks could not be hidden.

Seeing Long Qian covered in blood, Long Yan and An An rushed over simultaneously, anxiously asking and feeling him to finally find out that he was indeed unharmed, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. Without a word, Long Yan then picked Long Qian up onto his back and hurriedly ran toward the Xuan Temple in Qitan Town.

Long Yan knew that his son had been waiting for the day of the Xuan Qi test for a long time, just like he had back in the day. Even though there were many things to ask Long Qian, the Xuan Qi test was undoubtedly the most important event in Long Qian's life.

Across the Hainai Continent, every kingdom has Xuan Temples of various sizes. Their scales vary; some are large, some small, and they enshrine all kinds of deities. These deities could be imaginary spiritual figures, actual historical figures, or even ordinary people who had made small contributions.

For Xuan Temples built at the lowest level closest to the common people, the Xuan Sect Hall does not mandate which deities to enshrine; everything depends entirely on the wishes of the local populace, entirely indifferent to these so-called beliefs, and they do not charge for enshrinement. Because of this, the Xuan Sect Hall has always maintained a certain mystical status, deeply rooted in the hearts of all people on the Hainai Continent, unshakeable.

The Xuan Temple in Qitan Town is not large, located not far west of the market. It enshrines a first-tier water master who once saved thousands of people in one go during the breach of the Qingrong River. No one can remember the water master's name now, as it happened several hundred years ago. At that time, the old Xuan Temple was destroyed, so after the new Xuan Temple was built, it directly enshrined the image of that first-tier water master as a deity.During the continuous renovation of the Xuan Temple, the deeds and abilities of this naval officer were increasingly magnified, and now the statue enshrined there has basically lost any human form, transformed into a Dragon King standing on nine dragons and holding a huge tower, also honored with the title of the Qingrong Water God.

Normally, only some elderly, weak, women, and children often come to worship and make wishes at the Xuan Temple. Then, every summer, there is a temple fair, which is also the time when the Xuan Temple is repainted and renovated, with the purpose of ensuring that when people from the Xuanzong Hall come to the Xuan Temple the next year to test the children's Xuan Qi, they will not be offended by the temple being too shabby.

Moreover, the annual renovation of the Xuan Temple is also a decree issued by the various kingdoms, and no one dares to disobey it.

Nowadays, the Xuan Temple in Qitan Town is surrounded by three layers of crowds inside and outside, even livelier than the annual temple fair, with a clamorous atmosphere.

Most townspeople squeeze at the entrance of the Xuan Temple, standing on tiptoe to look inside. The bolder climb onto the outer walls of the temple to watch, while others step onto the branches of the two large trees at the gate.

Basically, ninety percent of Qitan Town's population is gathered at the Xuan Temple today, hoping to see if anyone in town can pass the Xuanzong Hall's Xuan Qi test and achieve the admission qualification to the Xuan Academy, leaping like a fish through the dragon gate.

Life for ordinary civilians has always been very dull and monotonous, so the biennial Xuan Qi test naturally becomes a special day for the townspeople to add some variety to their lives.

If one is fortunate enough to witness a child from their own household in town pass the Xuan Qi test, it will provide more topics for conversation in the future. This kind of event also gives Qitan Town considerable prestige compared to other villages and towns.

The Xuan Qi test starts at eight o'clock in the morning. This year, there are thirty children of the appropriate age in Qitan Town to be tested. Of course, this does not only include the town but also households within the entire jurisdiction covered by Qitan Town.

Testing each child's Xuan Qi takes a short time of one or two minutes in some cases, or up to ten minutes at most. Before the test, the personnel sent by Xuanzong Hall need to carry out certain preparations, using some special techniques to guide the children to input Xuan Qi into a hexagonal crystal. Some children are easy to guide, while others are difficult, all depending on the child's mindset — they cannot be panicked or fearful and must remain very calm.Whenever a child, guided by someone from the Xuanzong Hall, reached out to touch the head-sized hexagonal crystal on the table, all the townsfolk outside Xuanyao Temple who could see this held their breath, eyes wide open, staring at the entire process, hoping to catch the crystal emitting colored light. If the light reached a certain level and matched the six different colored lights from the six other crystals placed nearby, it indicated that the child met the admission standards for the Xuan Academy.

Of course, the ones most concerned about this were the children's parents. The onlookers would automatically make way for them, and no one would deliberately cause trouble.

After all, this was the most important moment in their lives, and everyone present had personally experienced the same thing, so they deeply understood the hope-filled anticipation that parents felt.

However, as time went on, one by one, the children touched the hexagonal crystal under guidance, only to either go dim without any glow, failing even to qualify for the Forbidden Tome, or emit only a faint, firefly-like light.

The parents, unable to restrain themselves, repeatedly requested retesting, only to be directly expelled by the people from Xuanzong Hall. After leaving with their children, faces full of endless disappointment and regret, the townsfolk watching couldn't help but sigh deeply, their hopes gradually waning.

Of course, besides feeling regret, the townspeople couldn't help but also feel a bit of amusement at the situation, because watching an ordinarily unnoticed child suddenly leap forward was always something that stung in the heart.

The number of children left to be tested gradually dwindled, and now only a solitary child remained in line.

In the eyes of many, it seemed this child had already been sentenced to failure. After all, the child was not outstanding, loved to cause trouble, and the parents didn't even have a Xuanzhe (mystic) status. How could a miracle possibly happen to this child?

This child was none other than Shouzi, who had been trailing after Long Qian as a little follower for a few years.. (Meimei-chan~ Gagaga)

Chapter Twenty, End.