Facts have proved that Xia Fan's choice was right.
When he mentioned this matter to the store, he discovered that there were only a handful of rooms available, and most of them had already been reserved by children of aristocratic families. The remaining rooms were either high-priced upper-class rooms or small rooms on the ground floor with poor ventilation and lighting. house.
In addition, even the smallest single-bed room charges as much as one or two silver a day. This price is similar to that of a large inn in Gyeonggi Province, which clearly shows the attitude of trying to rip off guests.
Xia Fan finally understood why the invigilator wrote "no interference in the villagers' daily life" into the examination rules. If this kind of "black shop" were moved outside, I'm afraid it would be smashed to pieces within a few days.
According to this idea, the three meals a day provided by the store are probably all at "scenic spot prices." If the ten taels of silver brought in are not calculated carefully, they may not last until the end of the exam.
The disciples of the great sect are not short of money, but under the restrictions of the rules, money has become an important resource.
It is up to the candidates to decide whether to use it to maintain their own good condition or to exchange information.
Xia Fan found that he seemed to have figured out the thinking of the exam organizer.
Compared with the scientific examination where you ask and answer questions and the martial arts examination where you pick up a weapon, the military examination obviously focuses more on the comprehensive ability of the candidates.
It is more free, but there are more things to consider, and there is more than one answer. As long as it does not violate the rules, it can be done any way.
For people of this era, this kind of testing method may be very strange, but for Xia Fan, it is not strange - he prefers this method that depends entirely on individual performance rather than simply testing magical abilities.
He took out three and a half taels of silver and directly booked a room for three days, plus dinner tonight.
It was a long journey from Fenghua County to Qingshan Town. Since you have plenty of time, it's better to take a good night's rest and restore your condition to a perfect state.
Back in the room, Xia Fan couldn't help but curl his lips.
As expected, it was the remaining house that everyone picked out. I didn’t even know if it was five square meters in size. A narrow bed and a wooden table were all the furniture. The floor is slightly higher, almost three meters above the ground, and the windows are also opened very high. You can't reach them without stepping on the table. You can't even think about enjoying the scenery outside while practicing.
However, the room is very clean overall. There are no spider webs in the corners of the beams, and there is no dust at the foot of the bed. It is undoubtedly much better than those thatched houses that are not taken care of. It seems that the Privy Council's money is not in vain. Another advantage is that it is located at the end of the corridor on the first floor and at the corner of the entire hotel. It is the quietest place in the hotel and is very suitable for spiritual practice.
Thinking of this, Xia Fan simply put down the package, climbed into bed and meditated.
Ever since he was adopted by Master Yibao, he has never stopped practicing this kind of practice, regardless of the cold, heat, rain or snow, it has been fifteen years now.
This is also the way to get started with all the methods in the world—introducing Qi into the body.
It sounds cliché, but our ancestors believed that when the universe first opened, chaos was divided into two parts, the heavy ones were "accumulation", and the sinking and aggregation became dead things. The light one is "Qi", which floats up and spreads all over the world, and condenses into living things. Although living things are born from Qi, they have also lost the activity of Qi. Therefore, if you want to strengthen yourself, you must re-master the method of incorporating Qi, so that it can continuously cleanse itself, and then you can re-establish the connection with Qi.
This set of theories is quite similar to the saying that Tao generates one, one generates two, two generates three, and three generates all things. It seems extremely idealistic, but the problem is that qi does exist.
In fact, being able to sense Qi is a prerequisite for crossing the threshold of an alchemist.
Xia Fan still remembers the night when he "saw" qi under the guidance of his master. Under the stars in the sky, something more eye-catching than the stars suddenly appeared. They were not like clouds and mist, but more like another kind of stars: light. The dots flicker with each other, fluttering in the wind, densely packed and countless. Only in the distance of the field of vision will they be connected and form a state of Qi.
It was that day that his original common sense was shattered to pieces.
A series of questions came to his mind like an erupting volcano, and he almost tried his best not to blurt out these questions that were obviously beyond his age range.
And he knew in his heart that even the master might not be able to give a satisfactory answer.
Since then, Xia Fan has invested a lot of energy in cultivation.
I meditate day after day, even if I am hungry, I will not miss my practice, learn how to draw talismans, and learn everything about the alchemist's knowledge. Even the cheap master who didn't care much about anything was shocked by his performance. He also said that there are many talented people in this world, but there is only one person among millions of people who can have such perseverance and understanding as a child. Can't pick one.
Only Xia Fan knows that he has nothing to do with genius. Understanding comes from systematic education, and perseverance is just a companion of age.
Yes, he once lived in another completely different world, and everything about that place was vivid in his memory.
It's just that he can't remember how he came to this era.
There seemed to be no clear boundary between the two. It seemed like a blink of an eye, and it seemed like a long time had passed. When he opened his eyes again, he had become an orphan rolling in the mud.
Even the name Xia Fan was given to him by himself based on his past memories.
Fortunately, Master Cheap did not delve too deeply into this point.
Perhaps he felt that it was not unusual for a three-year-old child to remember the names given by his parents.
With his ability to learn one step ahead, Xia Fan quickly gained an overall understanding of the world.
Just because living things are born from Qi, it means that consciousness is born before the body. Similarly, after the body dies, consciousness will not necessarily return to the state of Qi. Under some special circumstances, consciousness can exist independently, or evolve into something else, such as a monster or ghost. If left untreated, they will continue to grow in the air and eventually cause harm to the world.
Although Xia Fan has never seen a monster that can really cause harm to a place, he has solved some small evil spirits with his master and confirmed that they are not folklore.
In addition, since he has practiced Qi Qi so far, he can actually feel the changes in his body - whether it is strength, reaction, vision and hearing, it is far better than ordinary people. In other words, if it hadn't been for these changes, he might not have been able to wander with his master in an era when medical standards were poor and someone could die of illness if caught in the rain, and still live tenaciously to this age.
This visible improvement can be said to have further stimulated his motivation to practice.
If weight loss, in which every effort is rewarded, is the most unworthy of one's investment in the world, then exercises that can improve the body's limits are obviously more worthy of attention.
After entering the state of practice, Xia Fan felt that those tiny stars were integrating with himself. Through them, his consciousness seemed to have infinite expansion space. Every breath seemed to come from himself and from world.
This sitting lasted for several hours.
After eating the dinner delivered by the store, he returned to the state of entrainment until late at night.
Unfortunately, feeling Qi requires concentration and cannot replace rest, nor can you train while sleeping, so you still have to close your eyes when it's time to fall asleep.
While half asleep and half awake, Xia Fan suddenly felt something strange.
He opened his eyes suddenly, only to find that the window hanging above his head had been opened at some point, and a blood-red light and shadow came in from the window.
This... what happened
He grabbed the wooden sword in his hand, stepped on the table carefully, stood on tiptoes and looked out the window -
I saw a red moon hanging high on the dome, dyeing the earth scarlet!
At the same time, something strange happened in the town - many earth bags appeared on the ground. These earth bags were pushed open little by little, and skeletons crawled out of the ground, making horrifying screams.
Xia Fan couldn't help but be stunned.
This scene seems familiar.
And those skeleton monsters look a bit cute no matter how you look at them.
Wait, cute
One of the skeletons seemed to have discovered it, turned around, jumped up, and rushed towards the window!
The next moment, Xia Fan sat up in shock and found that he was still lying on his bed.
Is this...a dream
If it was a dream, it would be a bit too real. Both the clarity and the touch of the sound far exceeded those of previous dreams. Even after waking up, I can still remember all the details.
He unconsciously looked up at the window, and then his heart tightened slightly.
The window was indeed opened, and there was something else at the window - it took him a few seconds to adapt to the dark environment before he could make out the outline of the black shadow.
It was a figure sitting by the window, and his eyes were focused on him. The reason why I say this is because in the darkness, the most eye-catching thing is the other party's golden eyes that reflect the faint light.
Xia Fan immediately realized that this strange dream was related to the person in front of him.
"Could it be that... you are also a picnic lover?"
"Picnic? What is that? No, why aren't you afraid?" Unexpectedly, the other party responded quickly, and the voice turned out to be...a woman, although the tone sounded cold.
Why should I be afraid of a group of Q-version skeletons
Xia Fan didn't know how to answer for a while.
However, the other party was willing to speak, which made him feel a little relieved. If the person who came was full of malicious intentions, he probably wouldn't wait until he opened his eyes again.
He groped for a while, took out the fire stick from the clothes at the foot of the bed, blew out the sparks and lit the candle on the table. The dim firelight immediately dispersed the twilight in the room, allowing him to see the other party's appearance.
The visitor was not a human being - this was Xia Fan's first realization.
Although "she" does look like a woman, the pricked ears on her head are too eye-catching.
If the other party is not a spy lover, this kind of species mixed with inhuman characteristics is generally called a monster, or a demon.
"Dog?" Xia Fan asked tentatively.
no respond.
"cat?"
The eyes that can reflect light at night really look like a cat.
Still silent.
"Wolf?" He guessed again.
"That's enough, it's a fox!" Her voice finally wavered.