Yan Liqiang originally thought that there would be some difficult tests waiting for him on the fourth floor. He would not be surprised even if there were some poisonous insects and ferocious beasts. However, when he found out that there was only an old man on the fourth floor, Yan Liqiang stared at the old man blankly, rubbed his eyes, and did not react for a long time.
The old man was wearing a white linen robe, with silver hair and silver beard tangled together, making him look like Dumbledore in Harry Potter. Around the old man were three desks filled with piles of books. This scene reminded Yan Liqiang of the desks of those candidates who were preparing for the college entrance examination.
The old man sat cross-legged on a cushion, reading the book in his hand with great interest and concentration, as if he had not noticed that Yan Liqiang had appeared on the fourth floor.
"Cough..." Yan Liqiang coughed...
After a few seconds, the old man didn't respond...
"Cough... cough..." Yan Liqiang coughed twice...
After a few seconds, the old man still didn't respond, and looked down at the book in his hand...
Yan Liqiang finally couldn't help it, took two steps forward, and shouted loudly, "Senior..."
"Ah..." The old man seemed startled, his hand trembled, and the book in his hand fell to the ground. Then he looked at Yan Liqiang with a look of surprise, pointing at Yan Liqiang, "You...you...how did you get here..."
"Senior, do you think I shouldn't be here?" Yan Liqiang asked with a smile.
"Too fast, how could it be so fast? It's only been a short while, not even a day, how come you're already here?"
"Of course I came up here because I passed all three levels downstairs!"
"Too fast, too fast. It would take at least two or three days for other people to get here. You are the fastest person I have met..."
Yan Liqiang smiled, walked to the old man's desk, bowed to him, and said, "I wonder what your name is, senior."
The old man stared at Yan Liqiang's face and looked at him carefully. Then he scratched his messy hair and showed a thoughtful look on his face. "I can't remember my name. I remember that I really want to be named Yun. Yes, my last name is Yun. Yun something. Oh, no one has called me by my name for a long time. I have forgotten it. I am a worshiper of the Sword God Sect and a book lover. Anyway, the name is not important. You can call me Yun Aishu..."
While the old man was talking, Yan Liqiang had been feeling the old man's aura. At first, Yan Liqiang thought that the old man might be some hidden master of the Sword God Sect, but after a careful feeling, he found that the old man did not seem to have the aura and sense of a master. This surprised Yan Liqiang. He did not know if there was something wrong with his feeling or if the old man was not a master. But looking at the old man's appearance, he did not seem to be pretending. Everything he said was sincere. He could not remember his own name so he gave himself one. He felt that he was quite cute...
"I wonder what advice Senior Yun has for me here?"
"Please teach me, oh, I remember now. Of course I have it. I am here to test you. Only if you can pass this test, you will be qualified to go upstairs. If you can't..." The old man pointed to a bookshelf over there, "There is a secret book in the iron box at the bottom of the bookshelf. Take the secret book and leave!"
"What do you want from me, Senior?"
"Of course I'll test those on the first floor, the second floor, and the third floor that I haven't tested yet!" The old man glanced at Yan Liqiang, and suddenly perked up, with a half-smile on his face. "Don't underestimate me. For more than eighty years, whenever someone enters the Sword Cave, I've been guarding the Death Gate. I don't know how many young heroes of the Sword God Sect have been defeated by me after entering the Death Gate. Only a few can reach the fifth floor or above. This level is on the fourth floor, so it's naturally much more difficult than the one on the third floor..."
"Don't worry, senior. If I can't make it, I won't blame you. I'll just blame myself for not learning the skills well enough!"
"Of course it's your fault. How can you blame me?" The old man snorted, "You better be ready. If you are ready, I will ask the questions!"
Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and said, "Please give me some questions, senior!"
"Okay!" The old man glanced at Yan Liqiang, rolled up his sleeves, and took a deep breath. Just when Yan Liqiang was secretly on guard, thinking that the old man was going to use some big moves, the old man lowered his head, rummaged through the pile of papers under the desk, then took out a piece of paper and handed it to Yan Liqiang, "Check this question first!"
Yan Liqiang blinked his eyes, and blinked again, thinking that he had heard it wrong. Only when he heard the old man urging him did he take the paper from the old man's hand.
There was only one sentence written on the piece of paper: the goat went up the mountain, the mountain hit the goat's feet, bleat, bleat.
"Senior, do you want me to write a couplet?"
The old man nodded seriously, "Well, this is just the first question. There is a table over there with pen and ink. Write your correct answers on this paper and bring it back. You can think about it slowly, for two or three days. You must answer them neatly and your handwriting cannot be ugly. Only then will I consider you a pass on this question!"
"Is this the test?" Yan Liqiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"What do you know? Do you think this is easy?" The old man blew his beard, stared at Yan Liqiang, and began to shake his head. "The universe is vast in words, and the days and months are long in books. If you martial artists don't know how to write, you will only be a warrior in the end, and you won't go far in the future. The way of literature and martial arts, one yin and one yang, originally complement each other. The great achievers of the Silver Continent from ancient times to the present are all well-read and eloquent. Many world-famous masters have poems and articles circulated in the world. If you want to go upstairs, you must pass this level!"
After hearing what the old man said, Yan Liqiang did not argue. He just said, "That's what the senior said." Then he took the paper, came to the table the old man pointed to, put the paper on the table, thought for a few seconds, then picked up the pen on the table, poured water, ground some ink, and quickly wrote the second couplet on the paper.
Yan Liqiang had practiced Yan style calligraphy in his previous life, so the words he wrote were certainly not ugly.
The first line of the couplet on the paper read: The goat goes up the mountain, the mountain hits the goat's feet, bleating.
Yan Liqiang's second line is: The buffalo goes into the water, the water floods the buffalo's horns, moo moo, moo.
After finishing writing and waiting for the writing to dry, Yan Liqiang took the paper to the old man and handed it to him respectfully, "Please have a look, senior!"
"So fast..." The old man picked up the book and read two pages, and found that Yan Liqiang had finished the first test question he gave. He put down the book in his hand and took the "test paper" from Yan Liqiang.
"Good calligraphy!" The old man couldn't help but praise Yan Liqiang's calligraphy as soon as he saw it. After reading Yan Liqiang's second line, he nodded and said, "Not bad, not bad, very neat."
"Senior, have you solved this problem?" Yan Liqiang asked.
"Even if you passed this question, I didn't expect that you are so knowledgeable at such a young age. It's rare, really rare!" The old man nodded approvingly.
"Senior, can I go up?"
"Haha, it's not that easy, this is just the first question!" The old man said, and suddenly he became energetic. He put down the book, stood up, walked out from between the three desks, came to the place where Yan Liqiang was writing, took out a piece of paper from under the table, put it on the table, thought for a moment, glanced at Yan Liqiang, and wrote a sentence on the paper -
—I live in this mountain, with a few acres of barren land, poetry and books as my companions, watching the clouds plowing and the rain raining, happy as a god;
"Please check this sentence..." the old man said, and then handed the pen to Yan Liqiang.
This question was much more difficult than the previous one, but Yan Liqiang took the pen, thought for a moment, and then started writing.
—Forget about this world, three old houses, the morning glow is my friend, I enjoy playing with the wind and singing to the moon, I am a carefree old naughty boy;
The old man looked at Yan Liqiang's second line and was stunned for a moment. Then he clapped his hands and laughed, "My friend, your answer is wonderful. Wonderful. I really like it. I didn't expect that there is such a wonderful person like you in the Sword God Sect. Hahahaha..."
(End of this chapter)