It turns out that Xia Fan's choice was right.

When he mentioned this to the shopkeeper, he found that there were only a handful of empty rooms, most of which had already been booked by the children of those families, and the rest were either high-class wings with very high prices, or small rooms on the ground floor with poor ventilation and lighting.

In addition, even the smallest one-bed room charges as much as one or two silver a day, which is similar to the big inn in Gyeonggi, and it seems that it has an attitude of ripping off customers.

Xia Fan now finally understands why the invigilator has written "no interference in the daily life of the villagers" into the exam rules. If this kind of "black shop" is moved outside, I am afraid that it will be smashed in a few days.

According to this line of thinking, the three meals a day provided by the store are probably all "scenic prices", and if the ten taels of silver brought in are not carefully calculated, it is estimated that they will not last until the end of the exam.

The disciples of the Great Gate Sect are not short of money, but under the restrictions of the rules, silver has also become an important resource.

Whether to use it to maintain one's own good condition or to exchange information is up to the candidate's own judgment.

Xia Fan found that he seemed to have figured out the train of thought of the exam organizers.

Compared with the scientific examination that you ask and answer, and the martial arts examination when you pick up a weapon, the military examination is obviously more focused on the comprehensive ability of the candidates.

It's freer, but there's more to think about, and there's more to the answer than just one solution, as long as it doesn't break the rules.

This kind of testing method may be very strange to people of this era, but it is not strange to Xia Fan - he prefers this method of completely relying on personal performance rather than simply testing his magic ability.

He took out three and a half taels of silver and directly booked a three-day house, plus dinner tonight.

Rushing from Fenghua County to Qingshan Town can be described as a rush all the way, and the wind and dust are served. Since you have plenty of time, it's better to have a good night's rest and get back to good shape.

Back in the room, Xia Fan couldn't help but pout.

It is worthy of everyone picking the remaining housing, the size of which is not known whether there are five flats, a narrow bed and a wooden table are all the furniture. The floor slab is a little higher, almost three meters above the ground, so that the windows are wide open, and you can't reach it without stepping on the table, so you can't even think about enjoying the scenery outside while practicing.

However, the room as a whole is very clean, there are no cobwebs in the corners of the beams, and there is no dust at the foot of the bed, which is undoubtedly much better than those untended thatched houses, and it seems that the money of the Privy Council has not been spent in vain. Another advantage is that it is located at the end of the corridor on the first floor, at the corner of the entire inn, which is one of the quietest places in the store, perfect for spiritual practice.

Thinking of this, Xia Fan simply put down the package and climbed into bed to sit up.

Since he was adopted by Master Cheap, this kind of practice has never stopped, regardless of cold, summer, rain or snow, and it has been fifteen years now.

This is also the way to enter the ten thousand laws in the world - to draw qi into the body.

It is very old-fashioned to say, but the ancestors believed that the universe was first opened, chaos turned into two, the heavy one was "accumulation", and the sinking and gathering were dead things. The light one is "qi", which floats all over the universe and condenses into living beings. Although living creatures are born of qi, they also lose the activity of qi, so if they want to strengthen themselves, they must regain the method of incorporating qi, so that they can constantly cleanse themselves before they can re-establish their connection with qi.

This set of theories is quite similar to the doctrine of Tao giving birth to one, life to two, two to three, and three to all things, and it seems to be extremely idealistic, but the problem is that qi does exist.

In fact, the ability to perceive qi is a prerequisite for entering the threshold of Fangshi.

Xia Fan still remembers the night when he "saw" Qi under the guidance of his master - under the stars in the sky, something more striking than the stars suddenly appeared, they were not like clouds and mist, but more like another kind of stars: the points of light flickered with each other, fluttering with the wind, dense, and innumerable. Only in the distance of vision will they join together and form a state of qi.

On that day, his original common sense was shattered.

A series of questions came to his mind, like an erupting volcano, and he did almost everything he could to keep these questions that were clearly beyond his age range from blurting out.

And he knew in his heart that even if he was a master, he might not be able to give a satisfactory answer.

Since then, Xia Fan has put a lot of energy into his cultivation.

Meditate day after day, even when hungry, learn how to draw talismans, and learn everything about the knowledge of the monks. Even the cheap master, who didn't care much about everything, was shocked by his performance, and said that there are many talented people in this world, but they can have such perseverance and understanding when they are young, and they can't pick out one among thousands of people.

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 had lived in a very different world, and he remembered everything about that place vividly.

It's just that he can't remember how he came to this era.

There seemed to be no clear line between the two, as if in the blink of an eye, and as if a long time had passed, and when he opened his eyes again, he was an orphan wallowing in the mud.

Even the name Xia Fan was given to himself by himself using his past memories.

Luckily, Master Cheap didn't delve into this point.

Probably he thinks that it is not too rare for a three-year-old child to remember the names given by his parents.

With the ability to learn one step ahead, Xia Fan quickly had an overall understanding of the world.

It is precisely because living beings are born of qi that consciousness is born before the body, and in the same way that after the body dies, consciousness does not necessarily return to the state of qi. In some special cases, consciousness can stand on its own or evolve into something else, such as a ghost. If left untreated, they will grow stronger in the qi and eventually plague the world.

Although Xia Fan has never seen a demon that can really harm a place, he has also solved some small evils with his master, confirming that they are not folk strange stories.

In addition, he can still feel the changes in his body - whether it is strength or reaction, vision and hearing, he is far better than ordinary people. Or if it weren't for these changes, he might not have been able to follow Master all the way to wander in an era when medical care was poor and he could die of illness after a rain, and he would have lived tenaciously to this age.

This visible improvement can be said to have further stimulated his motivation to practice.

If a sweat pays off weight loss is the world's most important investment, then the workouts that can raise the limits of the body are obviously more worthy of concentration.

After entering the state of cultivation, Xia Fan felt that those tiny stars were merging with him, and through them, his consciousness seemed to have infinite room for expansion, and every breath seemed to come from both himself and the world.

This is a few hours of sitting.

After the dinner brought by the store, he continued to return to the state of inducing breath, which lasted until late at night.

Unfortunately, you need to concentrate when feeling Qi, and it is not a substitute for rest, and you can't train while sleeping, so you still have to close your eyes when you should go to sleep.

Just when he was half-asleep and half-awake, Xia Fan suddenly felt a little strange.

He snapped his eyes open, only to find that the window hanging above his head had been opened at some point, revealing a blood-red light and shadow through the window.

This...... What the hell is going on?

He grabbed the wooden sword in his hand, stepped on the table cautiously, and stood on tiptoe to look out the window—

I saw a red moon hanging high on the dome, dyeing the earth scarlet!

At the same time, there are also anomalies in the town - many dirt bags appear on the ground, and these dirt bags are lifted away little by little, and skeletons crawl out of the ground, making terrifying screams.

Xia Fan couldn't help but be stunned.

This scene is familiar.

And those skeleton monsters, no matter how you look at them, reveal a hint of cuteness.

Wait, cute?

One of the skeletons seemed to have spotted it, turned and leaped to its feet, and lunged straight at the window!

The next moment, Xia Fan sat up in shock and found that he was still lying on the bed.

This is...... Dream?

If it's a dream, it's too real, both in terms of clarity and sound and touch, far beyond past dreams, and even when you wake up, you can 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 more to it—it took him a few seconds to get used to the darkness before he could make out the outline of the dark shadow.

It was a figure sitting by the window, and its eyes were focused on him. The reason why I say this is because in the darkness, the most conspicuous thing is the other party's golden eyes that reflect a faint light.

Xia Fan realized in an instant that this strange dream was related to the person in front of him.

"Could it be...... You're also a picnic lover?"

"Picnic? what's that—no, why aren't you afraid?" Unexpectedly, the other party quickly responded, and the voice was actually a ...... Female, despite the tone sounding cold.

Why should I be afraid of a bunch of Q version skeletons?

Xia Fan didn't know how to answer for a while.

However, the other party's willingness to speak also made him breathe a little relieved, if the visitor was full of malice, he should not wait for him to open his eyes again.

He fumbled around, took out the fire from the clothes at the foot of the bed, blew out the sparks, and lit the candle on the table, the dim light of the fire immediately dispelled the twilight in the room, and also let him see the appearance of the other party.

The one who came was not a human - this was the first realization in Xia Fan's heart.

Although "she" does look like a woman, the ears on the top of her head are too eye-catching.

If the other party is not a cosplay enthusiast, this species with non-human characteristics is generally called a monster, or a demon.

"Dog?" Xia Fan asked tentatively.

No response.

"Cats?"

The eyes that can reflect at night are indeed very similar to cats.

Still silent.

"Wolf?" he guessed again.

"That's enough, it's a fox!" her voice finally fluctuated.