475 The Storm of Enrolling Students III

Without question, if everything Tang Thirty-Six said here became fact, thenthe Orthodox Academy would be the school with the best conditions in all ofhistory. However, it was still a school in the end, so what was mostimportantly was inevitably not a cafeteria or allowance, but what could belearned within the school. There might have been some that didn't care, butthere were even more students that did. "I hear that the Orthodox Academy doesn't even have a lecturer. If we were toenter, what would we learn?" It was that young student with the extreme self-confidence who earnestly askedthis question. "This person here is Priest Xin of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education. Inthe tea house, that one over there, the Archbishop of the Hall of IllustriousPersons Mao Qiuyu is drinking tea right now." Tang Thirty-Six looked at theyoung student and said, "You should have already seen, our Orthodox Academy isguarded by the Orthodoxy cavalry, its order is kept by the priests of the LiPalace. If you require instruction, do you think it will be difficult?" "But…in the end, it's been a very long time since the priests of the Bureau ofEcclesiastic Education taught classes. Moreover, I really am concerned overjust what cultivation methods we can learn in the Orthodox Academy. After all,it's been many years since classes were last taught here." The young studentearnestly pursued his questions. "Stupid." Tang Thirty-Six shook his head. "Chen Changsheng knows the DaoistCanon from back to front and is astonishingly well-read. The long-establishedOrthodox Academy has deep stores of knowledge. Just what cultivation method doyou want that it doesn't have?" Saying this, he refused to give any more explanation. Turning back to thecrowd, he declared, "The Orthodox Academy is only enrolling students for asingle day. Don't miss out on this opportunity." The student saw that he was being ignored, but this only served to harden hisresolve. He was the first to walk up to the table and declare, "I want toapply." As in many matters of the world, as long as one person took the lead, thosewho followed would appear one after the other. With but a few moments of labor,those numerous students who were standing amongst the crowd a few moments agohad all come to the tables. Because they were concerned that there was a limitto the number of applicants, they even began to fight with each other. Therewere endless cries in the vein of, "I want to apply, I was third in line!" "I also want to apply! I am second-ranked in Jiangnan County. I've alreadysucceeded in entering Meditation." "Principal Chen, I'm willing to pay tuition, and I don't need an allowanceeither. I just want you to accept me." In order to attend the Grand Examination’s preparatory examination and evenmore importantly to catch the attention of the Ivy Schools at the Ivy Festival,the innumerable young students of the counties of the Great Zhou and the southwere currently congregated in the capital. Now they surrounded the OrthodoxAcademy as an impenetrable crowd, turning the scene into a cacophony of noise. Chen Changsheng took the filled-out forms and, after looking them over, handedthem to Priest Xin and the rest to record. However, he did not write theirnames onto the register. After all, it was only natural that entering theOrthodox Academy also required a test, or else if some evildoer mixed himselfin, it would certainly cause quite the ruckus in the future. With the assistance of Priest Xin and the other priests of the Bureau ofEcclesiastic Education, the enrollment of new students for the Orthodox Academyproceeded very smoothly. The stack of application forms continued to growthicker and higher. Xuanyuan Po incessantly massaged his hands while TangThirty-Six chuckled as he called out to every applicant and even took on theduty of answering their questions. Every question he answered or confusion hecleared was done extremely well. Chen Changsheng couldn't help but shake his head at the scene. Just what wasso attractive about this matter that would cause this habitually lazy guy toput so much heart into it? Suddenly, a scornful voice rang out from the street, "The way you talk aboutit is even more pleasant than singing. What deep background? What numerouscultivation methods? When all is said and done…isn't it still that just the fewof you can't deal with all the challenges from the Ivy Schools and so aretemporarily taking in new students to serve as scapegoats?" These words cast the area in front of the Orthodox Academy into an abnormalsilence. The faces of these young students seemed to subtly change as theysilently looked at each other. They realized that these words were extremelysensible, or else why was it that rather than earlier or later, the OrthodoxAcademy would just so happen to take on new students at this time? The crowd gradually parted, revealing the man who had spoken. Tang Thirty-Six slowly narrowed his eyes, the expression in them turning sharp. That person should still have been quite young, but his demeanor and way ofdressing was that of an old man. He wore blue clothes that had been washed somany times that the color had faded to white and his feet sported a pair ofcloth shoes. His eyes, however, were extremely deep, seeming like they couldsee into the hearts of all. At the corner of his lips danced anigh-imperceptible tinge of ridicule. He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "Could it be that I've seen throughyour petty calculations and you now feel thoroughly embarrassed?" Tang Thirty-Six did not respond to this question, rather staring back andasking, "Bie Tianxin?" At this name, Chen Changsheng stood up and Xuanyuan Po clenched his fists. "Correct, I am Bie Tianxin." Upon seeing their response, that person perked his eyebrows, seeming to befilled with contempt. "Who I am is not at all important. Whether my words areaccurate or not, that is what is important." Chen Changsheng asked, "Why can you decide whether what you say is correct?" "You are Chen Changsheng?" That person very seriously examined him, then shook his head as if he wassomewhat disappointed. "I had originally thought that you were really asextraordinary as Qiushan Jun, but now I see that you can't compare." After barely a pause, Chen Changsheng replied, "Please advise." "Since you know that I'm Bie Tianxin, you know that my name comes from thesaying, 'distinguish the will of the heavens, completely calculate the heartsof men'."   (TN: Tianxin 天心 means ‘will of the heavens’,  Bie 别 means 'toseparate/distinguish') With a hint of scorn, that person continued, "These petty tricks can deceivethese children from the countryside, but how could it deceive me?" After a moment of silence, Chen Changsheng raised his head and replied, "Thisway isn't right." Bie Tianxin raised his eyebrow and asked with a false smile, "Your right andwrong?" "Yesterday, I said something to Tang Thirty-Six: without solid evidence, don'tcriticize." Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, "In Xunyang City, I also said to SuLi, don't imagine the world to be too dark, because that only means that youyourself are too in the dark!" These two statements caused Bie Tianxin's eyebrows to gradually descend. Thiswas obviously not because he approved of Chen Changsheng's words, nor did hecare much about that first statement which mentioned Tang Thirty-Six. Thesecond statement, however, had mentioned Su Li, which forced him to be somewhatmore cautious. "But, you really are doing it in this way." The corners of his lips once more revealed a scornful smile. Seeming ratherdetestable, he looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, "Could it be that in thefuture, the Orthodox Academy won't let these students participate in matches?" The young students were all exceptionally tense. If what this person said wastrue, then entering the Orthodox Academy was actually an extreme risk! Howcould they be any match for such opponents? If they died in such a shadymanner, how could they live up to the ardent hopes of their parents back home?What Grand Examination? Wouldn't all this turn into illusions? Countless gazes rested on Tang Thirty-Six, wanting to know just what he had tosay. Tang Thirty-Six was quiet for a very long time before he finally made hisresponse. "Upon applying to the Orthodox Academy, if they pass the assessment, theywould become students of the Orthodox Academy. Since they're students of theOrthodox Academy, it's only a matter of course that they represent the OrthodoxAcademy in matches!"