460 What's the Situation?

Qiushan Jun's face was pale, but it was different from the paleness of thepast few days, which had been caused by his loss of blood and severe injuries.It was even more haggard, and even more downcast. It had only been half a night, but he seemed to have experienced somethingthat had effected a great transformation upon him. Gou Hanshi saw and understood the reason for this. His mood was very complex:sympathetic, and also rather displeased. He was sympathetic for his Eldest Brother and displeased at Xu Yourong. He knew that this matter was not because Xu Yourong had erred. It was thatthere was naturally a difference in relationship between those close to oneselfand those distant. Moreover, he failed to understand just how the matter haddeveloped to this point. Even though he had studied the Daoist Canon since he was a child, he stillcould not understand this matter. After some time had passed, Qiushan Jun abruptly said, "In a few days, JuniorSister will return to the capital. If it's okay with you, go along with her." Gou Hanshi was somewhat puzzled, asking, "What's wrong?" Qiushan Jun gazed outside the dwelling at the starlight, saying, "MartialGranduncle…will probably depart together with the Holy Maiden. The path thesouth travels in the future will depend on what happens in the capital." Gou Hanshi was stunned at these words. Only after a long time was he able tocalm back down and inquire, "Why is Junior Sister returning to the capital? Shecan't really be going to personally end the engagement." Qiushan Jun shook his head and said, "That matter is not important. On thecontrary, I'm most concerned about her fight with Chen Changsheng." Gou Hanshi was even more perplexed. Why is it that Martial Granduncle, Master,and even you, Eldest Brother, so firmly believe that once Junior Sister returnsto the capital, she will have to fight with Chen Changsheng!? "Before the confluence of north and south, neither the Divine Empress nor thePope will be willing to stir up any waves. In other words, these two Saintswill assuredly maintain their silence. The battle for the emperor's throne willremain beneath the waves for now, but the Orthodoxy's new rule, the All-SchoolMartial Exhibition…the matter involving the Tianhai clan and those twoarchbishops, in truth, is very similar to the matter involving the Pope andArchbishop Mei Lisha: it is all for building up momentum for this final battle." Qiushan Jun gazed at him calmly and continued, "From the Ivy Festival to theGrand Examination and then to the Mausoleum of Books, Chen Changsheng walkedamongst the starlight. First he overcame you, then he overcame his fate. If hecontinues to overcome, then when his reputation and fame are at theirheight and then Junior Sister Yourong returns to the capital from the south andovercomes him in one stroke, then who in the future would so lightly challengethe majesty of the Divine Empress?" Then he slightly creased his brow and said, "It's just a bit too cruel." Gou Hanshi understood what he meant by 'cruel'. Shaking his head, he asked,"Just what did Junior Sister say to you previously?" Qiushan Jun very calmly related just what Xu Yourong had said to him, like howshe loved that possibly dead secret sect disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect. Gou Hanshi thought to himself, isn't this just another form of cruelty? Aftera seemingly endless silence, he asked, "Is it just going to be like this?" Only after another long silence did Qiushan Jun respond, "It is impossible todefeat a dead man." Gou Hanshi didn't know what to say, only mumbling to himself, "It's just notright." "Who is not right? Junior Sister?" Qiushan Jun smiled at him. "Tell me, why doyou think it was impossible to block Zhou Dufu's blade?" Gou Hanshi answered, "Because it was fast." Qiushan Jun grinned. "Because sometimes one blade making two halves…is truemercy." The Intellectual Sword could chop at the threads of emotion, as could theblade. He smiled, and then began to cough. His coughs were very painful—painful with grief. Several drops of bloodspeckled his clothes. Emotion sprang from parts unknown and extended deep within. How could a bladeor sword so easily cut it away? Chen Changsheng had no idea at all of the storm gathering force over thecapital, that the final conclusion of the new rule would fall upon his and XuYourong's shoulders. Similarly, the wariness and hostility held against theOrthodoxy's old faction and the Imperial clan by the Tianhai clan, theOrthodoxy's new faction, and the sects and noble families of the distant southalso completely fell upon him and the Orthodox Academy. At five o'clock in the morning, he promptly woke up, just as he done for thepast several years. After steadying his mind for a few moments, he opened hiseyes, got up, put on his clothes, washed his face, and rinsed his mouth. Rain was falling outside his window, but the summer's morning wind was not anycolder as a consequence, nor did the noise coming from the distant school gatedecrease any. He was already used to hearing all the various noises and piecesof news coming from there and was no longer as rushed as he was in the past. Hevery calmly handled the matters at hand, then went to the kitchen on the otherside of the lake. He ate two bowls of millet porridge, two steamed buns made ofsorghum flour, and two extremely thin slices of Red River Ham. While doing so,he also decided to find that Mountain Sea Sword stashed in the pile offirewood. Only after doing so did he finally head over to the library. Yesterday when returning from Zhou Prison, he saw that the awning on thestreet had not been taken down. He and Tang Thirty-Six guessed that theso-called All-School Martial Exhibition would not conclude simply because ZhouZiheng had been heavily injured. Surpassing cultivation levels to defeat a StarCondensation cultivator was an event truly quite capable of causing a stir inthe entire continent, but what did it amount to when compared to the arroganceand power of the Tianhai clan? Especially because the Li Palace persisted in maintaining its silence. That the Li Palace maintained its silence did not mean that the old faction ofthe Orthodoxy and the Pope no longer cared for the Orthodox Academy. Since afew days ago, the Orthodox Academy had been under the constant guard of many LiPalace priests and Orthodoxy cavalry. Although they could not block out thesound, they had kept the academy itself safe. A Li Palace priest surnamed Lu hurriedly walked into the academy. He rushed toprevent Chen Changsheng from walking into the library, gave a reverential bow,then offered up a letter with both hands. A letter being sent to the Orthodox Academy at this time was naturally aletter of challenge. Chen Changsheng greeted Priest Lu in return, thanking him for his labors inthese past few days. However, he did not take the letter of challenge, insteadindicating that the priest should take it to the building over and find TangThirty-Six. Since he was going over there, he also might as well pass on toTang Thirty-Six that he should get up earlier to eat breakfast. It was fine ifthe millet porridge turned cold, but if he were to be any later, then theentire bowl of sliced Red River Ham might be entirely eaten up by Xuanyuan Po. Upon walking into the library, he first examined Zhexiu's status, and thentook from his bosom a medicine that Luoluo had requested Guardian Jin bringover last night. He took out one of his needles and dipped it in a green juicemade from ground herbs that Tang Thirty-Six had blindly stolen from the HundredHerb Garden last night. He then inserted the needle into the space betweenZhexiu's eyebrows and began to slowly twirl it in his fingers, continuing totreat Zhexiu's injuries. After quite some time had passed, the combined medicinal might of the preciousmedicine from the Li Palace and the herbal juice of the Hundred Herb Garden,urged on by the metal needle, completely entered Zhexiu's meridians and beganto disperse throughout his body. Upon accomplishing this, Chen Changsheng felt rather exhausted, his bodyrather hot. However, he did not sweat as he did yesterday. To detoxify the poisons in Zhexiu's body was not a difficult task. Nanke'sPeacock Plume, which had caused him the most concern, had already becomeextremely weak—perhaps because of the Sacred Light technique used by thecardinals of the Li Palace, or perhaps because of the poisons of Zhou Prisonconflicting with each other. It was completely inconsistent with the amount ofpoison that Zhexiu had described. Currently, he was most concerned about the problem of Zhexiu's meridians. With a creak, the door to the library was pushed open. Xuanyuan Po walked inand asked, "What am I learning today?" There were currently no teachers in the Orthodox Academy. If Xuanyuan Powanted to learn something, he would naturally have to ask him. Chen Changshenghad experience in this aspect. He had taught students in the Orthodox Academyand he also knew many demi-human techniques. He knew the special makeup andmeridians of the demi-human body like the back of his hand. Moreover, after theGrand Examination, he had also treated Zhexiu's illness many times. He was noweven more confident that he could teach demi-humans the cultivation methods ofhumans. He took up a book that he had already prepared and handed it over. "From todayonwards, you will learn the Heavenly Thunder Bringer." The Heavenly Thunder Bringer was not a commonly seen cultivation technique. Tobe more precise, it was one of the scriptures of the Orthodoxy. It was saidthat if this scripture were cultivated to the pinnacle, one would obtainextraordinary strength. When the fist moved, it would call the winds. When thefist fell, it would summon the rain. Like a demon god, one could even bringdown heavenly thunder to slay incomparably powerful enemies. But things that were said were often merely legends. No one could make out howto cultivate in this scripture, so it was only natural that no one hadsucceeded in cultivating it. Xuanyuan Po was an honest bear youth, but that did not mean he was an idiot.Especially after he had spent so many days in the Orthodox Academy, forced byChen Changsheng to read so many books, his mind had long been opened and hisknowledge had gradually broadened. As he gazed at the scripture in his hand, heasked in a hurt tone, "You're teasing me, aren't you? Or is it that you thinkthat all I can be in the future is a priest that summons the rain?" The secrets of Heavenly Thunder most commonly appeared when praying for rain.The priest would lead the populace in reciting it aloud. But had anyone, afterreading this scripture, seen the altar shine, closely followed by gusting windsand gathering clouds, thunder and lightning, and then torrential rain? Even ifthis scripture was real, just how could Xuanyuan Po, who was willing to bet hislife so that he could become a demi-human Divine General, want to become aDaoist who could call the winds and summon the rain? Chen Changsheng gave no explanation. He used his status as principal, hismajesty as grandteacher, and most importantly, Luoluo's trust and the ownershipof the Mountain Sea Sword to successfully suppress the first possibleoccurrence of skipping class after the reopening of the Orthodox Academy. Roughly breathing, Xuanyuan Po angrily and unwillingly marched himself over tothe window and, under the light of day, began to cultivate. It gradually grew quiet outside the Orthodox Academy's gate, but this in noway meant that the situation had been settled. The All-School Martial Exhibition was a simple name, but as the matterinvolved the Orthodoxy's nurturing of cultivators and, even more importantly,the war between the humans and demons, it naturally possessed its own set ofrules and levels. Chen Changsheng ignored these matters. After confirming that Zhexiu had goneback to sleep and that Xuanyuan Po really was seriously studying the scripture,he also began to meditate in cultivation. Last night, he had managed to enterthe illusory black monolith and unexpectedly caught a glimpse of the vistas ofthe Garden of Zhou. This had given him hope and had made him even more anxious. As for those things going on outside the gate…Tang Thirty-Six was naturallythere to take care of it. Neither Chen Changsheng nor Xuanyuan Po had theability, and even if Zhexiu were not injured, he only knew how to fight andkill. For this reason, Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po had always been waitingfor Tang Thirty-Six to emerge from the Mausoleum of Books. And Tang Thirty-Sixhad not disappointed their expectations. On the first day of his return, he hadsent Tianhai Ya'er flying with a kick and cursed Zhou Ziheng. Just how would he do it today? Tang Thirty-Six's mouth was currently occupied with the lesser part of asteamed bun. Within the steamed bun was half a slice of Red River Ham, the lastpiece that he had been able to find in the kitchen. He took the letter ofchallenge offered by that priest surnamed Lu from the Li Palace and, withouteven looking at it, walked out the gate.