The next day, at dawn, Bailiming set out on the road to Kaiyang, accompanied by his father.
Kaiyang has four wharves in the southeast, northwest and northwest. This test was held at the south wharf. Surrounding the wharf is a market town with a radius of several miles without city walls.
The entrance to the town is a wooden archway with four pillars, three bays and three floors. The archway has upturned cornices on the top of the hill and is decorated with auspicious patterns. A north-south road, more than ten feet wide and many miles long, paved with bluestones leads directly to the south of Kaiyang.
Pier, this town is under the direct jurisdiction of Kaiyang Palace and is mainly used as a place for Kaiyang Palace to purchase supplies and for disciples to visit relatives.
The usually deserted market town was now crowded and lively. The servant parked the carriage outside the town, and Bai Liming and his father hurried to the archway.
I saw six Taoist priests standing under the archway. Four of them were in front of four pillars responsible for reviewing test vouchers and issuing test talismans. Afterwards, they entered the market town from the left and right porches. Two Taoist priests stood under the middle porch.
Wearing a seven-star hairpin on his head, he should be an inner disciple or instructor of Kaiyang Palace.
Baili Xingxing stepped forward, took out the letter, and said respectfully: "Master Immortal is here. I brought my dog here to take the test. This is a letter of recommendation from the Immortal Palace."
A young Taoist priest, who was only about twenty years old, took the letter with an arrogant look. After seeing the signature on the letter, he looked surprised and hurriedly handed it to the older Taoist priest next to him respectfully: "Master, please read
, this is Yuan’s letter of recommendation.”
When the elderly Taoist priest heard this, his face straightened. After reading the letter carefully, he said to Baili Xing with a smile: "Since he is the person recommended by Yuan Shouzuo, he must be the best among people. There is no need to participate in the test.
Just get started.”
Baili Xing was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly thanked him. Bai Liming behind him frowned and said hurriedly: "Master Immortal, Xiao Ke wants to take part in the test to hone his mind. I don't know if it is possible."
The elderly Taoist priest pondered for a moment: "It's okay, but you have to think clearly. If you fail the test, you won't be able to get started."
Bai Liming leaned over and clasped his fists and said, "Xiao Ke is confident that he will pass the test."
"Okay then, take this talisman and go through the archway to take the test." As he said that, the older Taoist priest gave a signal with his eyes, and the young Taoist next to him quickly handed Bailiming a talisman.
After taking the talisman, Bai Liming thanked him again, said goodbye to his father, walked through the archway, and walked deeper into the town.
…
The town behind the archway was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, and the buildings on both sides seemed to be covered with a layer of gauze, like a mirage, like a dream. Bailiming took five or six steps forward and then stopped.
Looking back, I found that the scene outside the archway was hazy, as if there were countless figures moving around, but it was blurry and no sound could be heard.
An archway divides the world into two sides, one light and one dark, one real and one illusory, one noisy and one quiet. As my thoughts wandered, gentle footsteps came from the front.
Bailiming opened his eyes wide and tried to watch. He saw a figure slowly walking towards him. It got closer and closer, and became clearer and clearer. When he was five or six steps away, he finally made out the appearance of the person. It was a handsome-looking young man.
.
He held the test talisman and turned a blind eye to Bai Liming. He stared in the direction of the archway with a fascinated look on his face. He passed by Bai Liming, but there was no reaction. It was as if Bai Liming had not seen him.
Li Ming looked at his leaving figure and shook his head with a hint of regret.
This young man must have been eliminated because of Daogen Buxian. Bai Liming thought of his father's words, and the Dazhen Mirror hung in the sky, examining everyone who passed by. He raised his head and looked at the sky, but it was still foggy and he couldn't see anything.
, I think this short bluestone road is within the scope of Dazhen Mirror.
Continuing to move forward, the fog gradually thinned, and the long road soon came to an end. When we arrived at the lakeside pier, the fog dissipated, the sky was bright, and the blue sky and white clouds came into view, which suddenly made people feel relieved from the previous gloomy depression.
Make it comfortable.
There is a pontoon bridge connected to the pier, which is only five or six feet wide. There are small boats side by side as the bottom, and the top is covered with wooden boards. It rises and falls gently with the ripples of the lake water, extending straight to the center of the lake, and the far end disappears in the mist.
In the vastness.
Bailiming held the talisman that glowed slightly with white light and stepped firmly onto the pontoon bridge. He carefully took a few steps forward and found that although the pontoon bridge was crude, it was still stable. He couldn't help but speed up and walked forward. His father had said that he should step forward.
From the moment you get on the pontoon bridge, you enter a fantasy world. Everyone encounters different challenges. There is no good experience. You can only stick to your heart and persevere to the end.
Bai Liming was curious as to why there was no one else on this long pontoon. Suddenly, a black mist appeared in front of him, swirling and rushing towards him. He was about to arrive before he could react, and the black mist instantly captured him.
engulf.
The sky was spinning for a while, and the landscape changed drastically. The sky was shrouded in thick black clouds, which were low-pressure and opaque. There was a faint flash of lightning in the clouds, and then a low thunder sounded, exploding in the ears, shaking both ears.
Buzzing.
The strong wind suddenly rose, causing layers of wrinkles on the lake surface. The lake water rippled and surged, setting off waves that impacted the fragile pontoon. Rows of small boats began to sway from side to side. With the strong wind and huge waves, the shaking became more and more rapid, making an unbearable sound.
The creaking sound of a heavy load.
Bailiming lowered his figure and walked unsteadily on the bridge, but the pontoon was shaking too bumpy. After falling several times, he could only lie on the bridge and dig into the gaps in the board with his fingers to stabilize his posture.
He crawled on the bridge using his hands and feet. He knew that the test was coming. Although he was embarrassed, his heart became more determined. He gritted his teeth and crawled forward bit by bit...
After passing through violent storms, huge waves and hail, and severe cold and snowstorms, Baili Ming was hungry, cold, exhausted, and was about to collapse at any time, but there was still a fire burning in his heart, supporting him tenaciously step by step.
Climb forward. His determined eyes are staring ahead. Although he cannot see the end, he knows where the end is, moving forward, and moving forward...
I don’t know how long it took, but after walking through a thick, cold fog in a daze, my eyes were stung by the sudden sunlight. I squinted for a while to adapt to the bright light, and when I opened my eyes again, I found that the sky was still clear.
A beautiful scenery of gentle breeze and rising sun, not far away is the shore.
"Did it pass?" Bai Liming felt happy, stood up hurriedly, and ran staggeringly to the shore.
Stepping on the solid ground, he could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, facing up to the sky, breathing heavily. Although he was exhausted mentally and physically, he was overjoyed in his heart.
Baili Ming couldn't help but look up to the sky and scream: "I'm still strong despite all the hardships, no matter how wind blows from east to west, north or south! Father, mother, brother, I finally passed the test!"
Then he giggled, and just as he was laughing hard, a person appeared strangely in front of him!
Bailiming was so frightened that he jumped up. When he saw the person coming, he let out a long breath. Remembering his rudeness just now, he scratched his head in embarrassment and then bowed and said, "I don't know that the immortal master is here. Disciple, I'm sorry."
.”
The person who came was the elderly Taoist priest in front of the archway. He smiled brightly and said with approval: "Not bad, not bad. Congratulations on passing the test. Chief Yuan wants to see you. Come with me." After saying this, he turned around and kept his feet.
The ground floated forward.
Hearing that Chief Yuan wanted to see him, Bai Liming couldn't help but feel excited. He quickly followed the elder Taoist priest and walked towards the green depths of the shore.
Along the way, Bai Liming was looking for opportunities to ask Chief Yuan about the purpose of meeting him, so that he could be prepared. But the elder Taoist priest ignored him and just moved forward with his hands behind his back, not slowing down or fast, no matter what Bai Liming did.
He quickened his pace, always keeping a foot away from him, neither far nor close.
The two walked silently along a long bluestone road, and a simple pavilion came into view.