464 This Summer, Let's Watch the Orthodox Academy

This battle had lasted for an extremely short time, even shorter than ChenChangsheng's battle on the first day with Zhou Ziheng. Everything had happenedso quickly that the ordinary populace found it simply impossible to clearlymake out what had happened. Chen Changsheng's sword had seemingly paused infront of Mu Laoban's chest for only an instant, and it was simply impossiblefor them to know that Mu Laoban's clothes concealed a legendary suit of DivineArmor from the Tier of Legendary Weapons. They could only see Chen Changshengattack, pierce through his opponent's abdomen, and then send his opponentflying out of the street. As a result, they inevitably regarded Mu Laoban withsome disdain. They thought, even if your strength is inferior to LittlePrincipal Chen's, but you already knew how he defeated Zhou Ziheng, could it bethat you made no preparations whatsoever? If you did prepare, then you losingin the exact same fashion is even more unacceptable. Of course, many people noticed the strange phenomena produced by ChenChangsheng's attack. That technique of his was like a blazing sun, radiating boundless light andheat, turning the sea of flowers into a sea of flames. What sort of techniquewas this? Mu Laoban was in great pain, incredibly weak and perplexed, but he was alsothinking of this question. It was plain to see that Chen Changsheng was only atthe upper level of Ethereal Opening, so why did he have even more true essencethan some Star Condensation cultivators? And just how had he been able topierce through the Six Protections Divine Armor? Just what sort of strangetechnique was this? The stewards and important figures under the awning were also very shocked.  Just what is going on here? they all thought. A sigh emerged from the tea house, and then it became quiet once more. In a black carriage at one end of the street, a brush was smoothly and firmlytraveling across paper, leaving writing in its wake. "Chen Changsheng finally used his third sword." "This sort of fierce sword technique very clearly consumes an enormousquantity of true essence, but unlike what was recorded in the battle at XunyangCity, Chen Changsheng can already use the technique more than once. It seemsthat he has clearly grown after returning to the capital." "Mu Laoban wore the Six Protections Divine Armor, but it was unable to blockthis attack. Besides the sudden explosion of Chen Changsheng's true essence, italso most likely has something to do with the sword called Stainless itself." The two officials from the Department for Purging Officials faithfullyrecorded everything they had seen today, and only then placed their inkbrushesdown. As they massaged their aching wrists and looked each other in the eyes,they could easily make out the shock and confusion in each other's eyes. Evenif the technique Su Li had taught Chen Changsheng used some secret method tomove and ignite true essence, allowing Chen Changsheng to explode with anenergy many times more powerful than normal…that was the Six Protections DivineArmor! How could it have been so easily broken through? "I hear that the Pavilion of Divination has already sent someone to thecapital precisely to see the Stainless Sword.” "Could it be that the Tier of Legendary Weapons really might change this year?" "As said last time, with the appearance of the Stainless Sword, the Tier ofLegendary Weapons would have to be updated. It's just that after today'smatch…I'm afraid that this sword will be ranked even higher now." The Six Protections Divine Armor was itself a divine artifact of the Tier ofLegendary Weapons. Since the Stainless Sword had actually been able to soeasily pierce through it, it would naturally be ranked far above it. The carriage was very quiet. One official suddenly remembered something, tookup his inkbrush, and wrote on the paper, "Chen Changsheng still did not killhis opponent." Yes, Mu Laoban was not dead. The Stainless Sword had stabbed through his abdomen just as it had done lasttime, narrowly avoiding the internal organs. Chen Changsheng's sword was sharp to an almost maddening extent, and it wasalso precise to an almost maddening extent. Then just how stable was the hand holding the sword? Time crawled on until it was finally midsummer. In these dozen or so days, theOrthodox Academy had welcomed dozens of challenges, and so far it had not losta single one, shocking the capital. The challengers below Star Condensation level could not beat Tang Thirty-Six,although there were several battles that were absolute nail-biters, and therewas even one match where he suffered relatively heavy injuries. The challengers at the initial level of Star Condensation were all defeated atthe hands of Chen Changsheng. By now, everyone knew for certain that althoughChen Changsheng had not yet succeeded at Star Condensation, he could alreadyfight on par with cultivators at the initial level of Star Condensation. Therewere even some people that began to speculate, if he and Qiushan Jun—who hadbroken into Star Condensation at the beginning of this year—were to fight, justwho would be the winner and who the loser? So far, no expert above the initial level of Star Condensation had challengedthe Orthodox Academy, because of the experts at this level, many had becomerulers of a region, making it very difficult for the Tianhai clan to commandthem. Even if they could, they were honored guests with a relatively highstatus. As experts, they had to maintain some manner and bearing. If theylowered themselves to challenge Chen Changsheng, then even obtaining victorywould be the most shameless of feats. Most importantly, if the situation really did reach that phase, nobody knew ifthe ever-silent Pope would descend with a thunderous fury. Of course, even if amiddle level Star Condensation expert really did appear, Tang Thirty-Six hadalready made immaculate preparations. As the steward responsible for all of theOrthodox Academy's external affairs, he had long been waiting for that day tocome. In these past few days, the truly happy one was Xuanyuan Po. Zhexiu was still in the library, resting and recuperating, but Xuanyuan Po'sright arm was finally completely recovered. Under Chen Changsheng's direction,he began to cultivate the Heavenly Thunder Bringer, and his berserk trueessence began to wantonly and happily circulate through those meridians of histhat were as wide and thick as a main road. He was finally able to completelycontrol his innate divine strength, allowing him to display a destructivestrength that could inspire fear in others and cause the trees of the OrthodoxAcademy to cry out in resentment. After confirming that Xuanyuan Po could control his strength, Chen Changshengallowed him to represent the Orthodox Academy in four matches. According to thestandards of human cultivation, Xuanyuan Po had not even reached EtherealOpening, but was still able to win each match. In his final battle, heencountered an expert of the upper level of Ethereal Opening, but even then hewas able to win. Of course, in the final moment, he was forced to metamorphose.He plucked a willow tree in front of the Orthodox Academy and violently used itto smash half of a wall down. This also happened to smash that upper levelEthereal Opening swordsman into unconsciousness. Such berserk strength, such crude fighting techniques! As for the sparks oflightning scattered amongst the leaves of that willow tree, besides ChenChangsheng, not many people took notice of it. Back when the Divination Elder placed Xuanyuan Po on the tail end of theProclamation of Azure Sky, many people had felt it utterly inexplicable, butnow, no one thought this way. Seeing that pit in front of the Orthodox Academywhere the tree used to be and then seeing the obviously new section of theacademy's wall, everyone was only thinking, if the Proclamation of Azure Skywere to change ranks, what of this bear youth who so often brought up his ricebowl and crouched on the stone steps of the gate while giggling away? Justwhere would he rank? The summer was the capital's hottest season, and it was also often the timewhen the capital was most exciting. This summer, the capital was hotter thanusual, and it was also more exciting. Every day, there would be somethingexciting to see in front of the Orthodox Academy. Those celebrities that werevery difficult to see normally would appear before you, and then even fight foryou, and without charging money or needing tickets! These denizens of thecapital that loved to join in on the fun couldn’t let this opportunity passthem by. As the weather grew hot, Tang Thirty-Six fixed the time of battle tobe in the early morning. Consequently, every day at dawn's first light, manycommon folk of the capital would rush over with their bread rolls, theirstuffed breads, and their steamed buns. Many people even brought their familiesalong, as if this was some sort of spring outing. Even more ridiculous was thefact that when relatives from elsewhere came to visit, the common folk of thecapital would specifically bring them to Hundred Flowers Lane to watch thespectacle. The Orthodox Academy…was on the verge of becoming the newest memberof the capital's Six Sights. The Orthodox Academy had maintained an unbroken string of victories forseveral dozen matches, and so it was absolutely impossible for its effects onthe capital to be limited to merely this. For instance, with regards to thebetting on the All-School Martial Exhibition, the Four Great Markets were nolonger taking bets on victory or defeat, but instead began to make moneyelsewhere. Every day, they would take bets for such things as: Who would theOrthodox Academy send out to fight today? What sword style would they use? Whenwould Xuanyuan Po uproot a tree? After Tang Thirty-Six wins today, how manylove letters will he receive? And finally, when would Chen Changsheng once moredisplay that fierce technique of his? One day when the twilight was extremely hot, Chen Changsheng and the other twoswam a few laps in the lake, then climbed up the great banyan tree and staredvacantly into the distance. "It's been a long time since we've seen Princess Luoluo," Tang Thirty-Sixgazed at the distant setting sun and suddenly declared, intentionally orunintentionally. Chen Changsheng was also gazing at that setting sun, and it felt like he couldsee the galleries of the Hall of Pure Virtue in the Li Palace. Hearing TangThirty-Six's words, he said nothing for quite a while, then finally grunted inacknowledgment. Tang Thirty-Six turned his head to look at him and said, "Tomorrow, go andfind her." Chen Changsheng withdrew his gaze from the distance and lowered his head togaze at the last strands of golden light on the surface of the lake. After amoment of silence, he replied, "It might be a huge inconvenience for her." Luoluo was in the Li Palace, in the Pope's Green Leaf World. To come out oncewas not convenient. But the fact of the matter was, he had heard that in the past few banquetsheld in the Imperial Palace, she had appeared for all of them. Crucially, he had heard that from the beginning of last month, Luoluo wouldalternate between living in the Li Palace and the Imperial Palace. The inconvenience was naturally for other reasons. Chen Changsheng understood, so he had maintained his silence. This was evenone of the requests he had asked of her. Last year, when the Orthodox Academy had just received its newest student,those powerful figures regarded Luoluo entering the Orthodox Academy as theplaying of a child. Even the Grand Examination was so—they were all smallconcerns. But now it was different. The Pope and the Tianhai Divine Empresswere gradually drifting apart and Luoluo's status was too sensitive. If shewere to remain in the Orthodox Academy or frequently return to it, the smallconcerns would become a huge affair. In the capital of the Great Zhou, Luoluo did not represent herself, but ratherthe eight hundred li of the Red River and the two Saints behind her. "I don't care, I've been thinking about her." Tang Thirty-Six stood up and supported himself against the broad trunk of thegreat banyan tree as he loudly declared this to the Li Palace basking in thesetting sun. Chen Changsheng glanced at him, extraordinarily grateful. His status was also very sensitive, making it very inconvenient for him to saymany things. Tang Thirty-Six said that he was thinking of Luoluo because heknew that Chen Changsheng was thinking of Luoluo, and Luoluo was assuredlythinking of the great banyan tree here. "I'm also thinking of Princess Teacher Luoluo," Xuanyuan Po said on the side. He was really thinking about her, nothing to do with Chen Changsheng. Tang Thirty-Six patted him on the shoulder. "Then tomorrow we can arrange toeat a meal with her. If it's convenient for her, we can bring her back to theOrthodox Academy to take a look around." Xuanyuan Po was sitting on the same tree branch, but Tang Thirty-Six had topractically stand to reach up to him. For seemingly no reason whatsoever, thispicture was rather harmonious. "Then we'll have to quickly finish tomorrow's two matches. Xuanyuan, there'sno need for you to go up. I and Tang Tang will do it." Chen Changsheng hadsuddenly thought of this problem. Tang Thirty-Six had also thought of a very important problem. Squatting downand looking Chen Changsheng in the eyes, he said, "I need to talk with youabout something." Seeing his serious expression, Chen Changsheng asked worriedly, "About what?"