The dining hall is located at the northernmost end of Longmen Academy. It is a two-story attic with white walls and gray tiles.

When Gu Xu walked in, he saw that many students had already lined up in a long line. While waiting, they were talking and laughing about today's much-anticipated battle of Talisman and Tao.

Each student held a metal token in his hand, with the four characters "Longmen Academy" engraved on one side and their own name engraved on the other side. When they got their meals, they did not take out the copper plates.

Or a ticket, but by tapping the token on the table, the meal is paid.

Gu Xu originally thought that the dishes in the yamen kitchen of the Exorcist Division headquarters were rich and varied enough.

Unexpectedly, the dining hall of Longmen Academy is even more comprehensive.

Specialties from all over the country, such as salted duck from Jinling, tiger skin meat from Jiangnan, dragon beard noodles from the north, crispy candy from Langya, enema from Youzhou... can all be found in this room.

"It is worthy of being a school for the powerful children of Luo Jing. The dishes in this dining hall look even richer than those in restaurants outside," Gu Xu could not help but sigh in his heart as he smelled the mixed aroma of various dishes.

, "When Xiaohan comes here to study in a few days, he will definitely not be able to control himself when faced with these delicacies."

Because Gu Xu's appearance was so conspicuous, the students in the academy recognized his identity from a distance.

But maybe it's because he is gaining momentum today.

Perhaps after he was promoted to the third level, his temperament became more worldly and refined than before - in the words of his previous life, he was "handsome and distant".

The students were just whispering and looking at him with wonder, admiration, hostility or infatuation, but no one took the initiative to talk to him.

Just as Gu Xu was thinking, "How can I eat in this canteen without a token?", a tall and thin middle-aged man with sparse hair that looked like a bamboo pole suddenly came to him.

"Gu...Mr. Gu, I have some doubts about the art of talisman and seal script recently. I wonder if you would like to give me some advice," the middle-aged man said politely, "You can borrow the token in the dining hall from me first.

.”

This man's expression was a bit reserved, and his speaking speed was relatively slow, sounding stumbling. He was obviously a person who was not good at speaking.

Gu Xu turned his head and recognized him at a glance as Du Yuan, a teacher at Longmen Academy.

"Don't take advice seriously," he smiled modestly and responded, "Mr. Du is a well-known Fu Tao master in Luo Jing City, and I am just a junior who has just started to dabble in Fu Tao, so I may not be able to help."

Hearing Gu Xu's polite words, Du Yuan couldn't help but narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him again from head to toe.

He had already learned from others that less than a year had passed since Gu Xu came into contact with Fu Dao.

For most talisman masters, being able to lay a solid foundation and draw some simple talisman seals according to the gourd's pattern in such a short period of time can be called "talented and intelligent".

But Gu Xu was able to reach a level in the art of talismans and seal scripts in just a few months that others could not achieve in years, or even decades.

Because of this, when Du Yuan saw Gu Xu's excessively young face and thought of his answer sheet, which had earned 120 points and was praised by the national master, he felt very complicated.

"You can definitely help," Du Yuan looked seriously into Gu Xu's eyes, "I would like you to tell me what the sentence 'The essence of Talisman is naming' you wrote in the question paper is.

What's the meaning?

"If it's convenient for you, I hope you can give me some advice."

…………

Soon, the two of them sat down on both sides of a wooden table in the corner of the dining hall.

Du Yuan used Longmen Academy's token to buy Xu a bowl of beef noodles according to his needs.

But when Gu Xu handed him a few copper coins according to the corresponding price, Du Yuan immediately withdrew his hand, refusing to accept the money even if he died, and repeatedly said "knowledge is priceless".

So Gu Xu unexpectedly got a free meal from whoring.

At the same time, he also learned from Du Yuan that Du Yuan and Fu Tao, two teachers at Longmen Academy who are good at teaching Fu Tao, have recently encountered bottlenecks in the research process and have been unable to find a way to break through.

They have been deeply troubled by this for a long time.

To this day, when they heard the National Preceptor's evaluation of Gu Xu's answer sheet for the first session, they seemed to see a glimmer of light in the endless darkness.

Fu Tao is a very face-saving person. It would undoubtedly be extremely difficult for him to lower his dignity and ask questions from a junior like Gu Xu.

However, Du Yuan was different.

He is introverted, not good at expressing himself, and is not interested in external things such as "face" and "fame".

Students often say that his lectures are bumpy and make people sleepy——

If Professor Fu’s Fu Dao class is a “bragging story session”, consisting of 80% gossip and 20% practical information; then Professor Du’s class is “Hypnosis Spells That Do Not Require True Essence”, which is basically from beginning to end.

Read the lesson notes in a calm tone.

However, everyone spoke highly of Du Jiaoxi's research spirit.

He often shut himself in the monastery and studied the talismans and seal scripts without sleep or food.

Almost every year, he could figure out more than one improvement plan for talisman and seal script, or come up with a new theory of talisman and Taoism.

It was this kind of character that made Du Yuan decisively approach Gu Xu when he saw hope of breaking through the bottleneck, and asked this young man who was only 18 years old without any pretense.

Gu Xu listened carefully to Du Yuan's narration.

Then he pointed to the porcelain bowl with beef noodles in front of him and asked Du Yuan: "Mr. Du, what is this?"

Du Yuan frowned slightly: "A bowl?"

"Then if I smash a person's head with this bowl, what is it?"

"The murder weapon?"

Gu Xu smiled slightly and nodded.

He did not explain immediately, but continued to ask: "You should know why I came to Longmen Academy today, right?"

"For the title of academy teacher?"

"That's right," Gu Xu said lightly, "Then if I can get this title smoothly, what changes will happen to me?"

Du Yuan thought for a while and said: "If you can become a teacher in the academy, you will be able to receive a sum of money every month, and you will also need to fulfill your obligation to teach students."

"You can try to understand it this way," Gu Xu chuckled, "The status of 'academy teacher' will be a talisman drawn on me - my monthly salary and the work of teaching students will become

This talisman has given me new attributes."

Du Yuan fell into deep thought and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing his frown, Gu Xu continued: "Actually, the name 'Gu Xu' is also a talisman engraved on my soul. It gives me my identity and the meaning of existence in this world, and it also makes others have

Find out how to get to know me."

Du Yuan took a deep breath.

He felt that he was very close to the answer.

With just one step forward, he could push open the door of the small dark room and see the bright world outside.

At the same time, an idea came to Gu Xu's mind inexplicably:

"'Tai Shang Haotian', 'Emperor Zi Wei'...can these names of gods also be regarded as a kind of talisman?

"What special properties do these talismans have?

"Could it be a symbol of the authority of gods, or a link between their beings and their believers?

"..."

Of course, Gu Xu did not express this whimsical idea, but lowered his head and continued to eat noodles slowly.

After about twenty minutes, Gu Xu finally ate all the beef noodles in the bowl - I have to say that although the noodles looked very light, they tasted so good that he almost drank the noodles inside.

All the soup was finished.

He really couldn't imagine what it would be like when that girl Xiaohan came to this dining hall.

Then Gu Xu stood up and said that he would leave the dining hall first and rush back to "Siqi Hall" to prepare for the third stage of the assessment.

At the same time, he jokingly claimed: "May God grant me good luck and be able to work with Du Jiaoxi here in the future."

Du Yuan was still sitting on the chair, thinking about the problem motionlessly, ignoring him, as if he didn't hear his voice at all.

Gu Xu knew that Du Yuan had most likely entered a state of enlightenment.

So he left the dining hall directly without disturbing the other party.

Time flies by.

The crowd in the dining hall gradually thinned out.

The rain outside the window became heavier and heavier, turning from a pattering curtain of rain into a flood that burst its banks and roared down from thousands of feet high in the sky.

The students also finished their meals and left the room one after another, preparing to go to "Siqi Hall" to join in the fun.

Du Yuan was the only one left in the dining hall, and there were several metal dolls holding brooms and cleaning along fixed tracks.

Then the bell rang melodiously, announcing the start of the third phase of the assessment.

Dazzling electric light penetrated the lead-colored clouds, and the rumbling thunder seemed to echo the ringing of the bell.

Du Yuan finally stood up slowly from his seat, straightened his clothes carefully, and then bowed deeply in the direction of "Siqitang".

His forehead accidentally hit the corner of the table, but he didn't even notice.

…………

At the same time, the four candidates returned to the desk in "Siqitang".
To be continued...