It was dawn, a gentle wind blew, and the air at the Serene Ink Pond was as crisp and cooling as ever.
Fang Zhengzhi liked to stay at the Serene Ink Pond. A major reason was that the air here was similar to that of the Northern Mountain Village. As usual, after breakfast, he wore his blue robe and left.
However, this day, Yan Xiu had changed his usual attire. Dressed in armour, silk of all kinds wrapped around his arm. At his chest, he wore a silver breastplate.
Even though it wasn't a full body armour, it still looked exceptionally cold and smart.
"You are wearing this?" Yan Xiu looked at Fang Zhengzhi's robe, and a trace of doubt appeared in his eyes.
"Huh? Why are you dressed like that?" Fang Zhengzhi was also confused.
He remembered that the previous combat examination in the county, he also wore a blue robe. Furthermore, the rest of the examinees participating in the examination also were also similarly dressed.
"Today is the combat examination!" Yan Xiu reminded.
"I know." Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
When Yan Xiu saw Fang Zhengzhi nod his head, he thought for a moment and didn't speak further.
The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder towards the direction of the capital office.
…
The venue of this combat examination was also within the capital office of the River of Trust Capital.
However, what was different from the theory examination was that people didn't have to wait in front of the capital office to await the start of the examination.
Instead, they could directly enter the capital office.
Hence, when Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu reached, other than the two rows of soldiers in front of the capital office door, there were few people walking around, and not too many people were waiting outside.
"Registration!" A guard halted Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu.
Then, the two people made a registration at the guarded table. Then, they each received a black metal tablet, with their names written on it.
Fang Zhengzhi was rather curious, what was the use of this?
He wanted to ask, but, the guard didn't seem to have any intention of explaining, and from Yan Xiu's expression, it seemed that he had already knew about the existence of this long ago.
Hence, Fang Zhengzhi thought for a while, and decided to ask Yan Xiu later on.
They entered the capital office. Under the directions of the guard, Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu very quickly arrived at the rear court.
The rear court was a piece of rather vast and plain land. There were flowers, grass, and a big tree. Other than that, what could be seen was a group of examinees wearing armours of all kinds.
'
Not too long later, Han Changfeng, wearing a white official robe, appeared on a stage built in the rear court accompanied by a few imperial messengers.
"Boom!" The gong sounded, signalling that the time for the combat examination had come.
Han Changfeng stood up on the chair on top of the high stage, and walked forward two steps. Looking down at the examinees wearing armours of all kinds, he lightly nodded his head.
Finally, his gaze landed on Fang Zhengzhi.
Blinking slightly, a glimmer of shock seemed to flash across his eyes, but very quickly vanished again. Then, Han Changfeng coughed.
"This combat examination gathers the most talented scholars from the five capitals of the Northern Desert, as well as those from other places. In order to ensure that there wouldn't be too many fatal incidents, the Imperial Academy decided to fix the location within the 'pocket dimension'."
"I believe everybody had seen the tablet on their hands. The rules are simple, pass the tests of the pocket dimension, ensure that you don't lose the tablet on your hands, then, successfully reach the centre of the dimension. The imperial messengers and I will be waiting for you there!"
"I have to explain that if you encounter any dangers in the pocket dimension, you can immediately crush the tablet, then you will naturally be able to come out. But, crushing it also represents that you are disqualified!"
"Understood?!" After Han Changfeng finished his sentence, he swept his gaze across the examinees below once again.
"Understood!" The examinees instantly responded.
However, Fang Zhengzhi was slightly taken aback. Pocket dimension? What's that? Crushing the tablet will result in disqualification? This combat examination seemed to have been different from what he imagined.
Fang Zhengzhi looked around him. Everybody seemed to be hurriedly making their last preparations, and nobody seemed to have anything to ask.
"What is the… pocket dimension?" Fang Zhengzhi thought for a while, and in the end still glanced towards Yan Xiu.
When Yan Xiu, who was preparing his breastplate, heard Fang Zhengzhi's question, he was evidently taken aback, and a trace of disbelief flashed across his eyes.
"You don't know?"
"Cough… I never entered the Hall of Dao, you know that." Fang Zhengzhi found an excuse for himself.
"Oh!" Yan Xiu nodded, and felt that he had forgotten his manners just now and seemed rather embarrassed. "There are three thousand volumes in the Law of Dao, hence there are three thousand parallel dimensions, and millions of pocket dimensions! You have already accessed Dao, hence there should already be a pocket dimension within your heart?"
"A pocket dimension within my heart?" Fang Zhengzhi instantly understood. It seemed that the other world he saw was his own pocket dimension.
"Yes, I don't know what your pocket dimension looks like, because, everybody's pocket dimension is different. This is determined by each person's method of accessing Dao. But, the fundamentals that make up a pocket dimension won't change. Air, water, trees, earth… and so on. All these make up the fundamentals of a pocket dimension." Yan Xiu explained.
Fang Zhengzhi nodded. At the very start, his pocket dimension was also made up of air and earth. Then, a seedling appeared, absorbing the moisture in the air and gradually condensing into pearls of water, seeping into the ground and constructing a cycle.
At the end, the seedling grew into a huge tree that extended into the skies, and a lake was formed above the ground.
When he thought of this, Fang Zhengzhi suddenly had a feeling. He seemed to have sensed a level of understanding which he had never sensed before. Everybody had a pocket dimension that belonged to themselves?
Then the direction of training...
Was it to consistently perfect this pocket dimension?!
"Then, where is the place we are entering today?" Even though Fang Zhengzhi more or less understood the concept of this pocket dimension, but, he was still unclear about entering the pocket dimension to participate in the combat examination.
"The Imperial Academy consists of a few pocket dimensions of ancestors who have passed away. Entering such a pocket dimension would enable us to sense the "Dao" that our ancestors practised!" Yan Xiu explained again.
Fang Zhengzhi finally understood.
Everyone's pocket dimension was different. After a person passed away, if he used some special method to preserve this pocket dimension, it could allow descendants to sense the process of "Dao".
Looks like this world indeed has many mysterious things which he didn't know about.
Pocket dimension…
It shouldn't be as simple as a preservation. Crushing a token would enable one to exit the pocket dimension, this should be a pocket dimension that was improvised by descendants.
An independent space?
I wonder what the pocket dimension of this ancestor is going to be.
The more Fang Zhengzhi thought, he more excited he became. Because, he felt, faintly, that entering the pocket dimension would help him to seek his future direction of practicing.
Then, he looked at Yan Xiu and suddenly felt like something was amiss.
"All of you knew that you had to enter the pocket dimension… hence, changed your attire?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at Yan Xiu's attire, as if understanding something.
"Yes, I thought that you had known!" Yan Xiu nodded.
"..." Fang Zhengzhi swept his gaze around, and finally landed on the body of a youth. That was a youth whose figure was somewhat similar to his.
Of course, most importantly, that armour the youth was wearing looked very pretty!
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