486 Two Wildflowers Fill the Cliff I

Before Qiushan Jun, Mo Yu had been the world's youngest Star Condensationcultivator. It was only natural that she possessed the qualifications toexpress her disdain and ridicule for those so-called geniuses of cultivation. The Divine Empress glanced at her and said, "Do you really believe that ChenChangsheng is messing around?" Mo Yu's fingers slightly stiffened. Similar to many other powerful figures,she had also secretly gone to the gate of the Orthodox Academy. Of course,those matches were not worthy of her eyes, but she was forced to admit that theinnate skill and talent Chen Changsheng displayed through the swords in thehands of those new students were not something she could match up to, whetherat his age or at present. This was a question from the Divine Empress—she could not lie. Lightly bitingher lip, she answered, "I was talking about Tang Tang." "Everyone's eyes are on Chen Changsheng, believing Tang Thirty-Six to just bemessing around…could it be that you also think this way?" Although the Divine Empress knew that Mo Yu had just been casually speaking,she was still dissatisfied with her opinion. "Chenwu and those two archbishopsprepared for three months, preparing countless contingency plans, soft andexquisite as silk. No matter how the Li Palace responded, they had the means tomake it a bigger affair. But up to today, have you seen the Li Palace expressits position once or take a single action?" Naturally, Mo Yu knew the intention of the Tianhai clan and the two SacredHall Archbishops. Tianhai Chenwu had told Xu Shiji that he just wished to do these thingsbecause it was convenient, awaiting Xu Yourong's return to the capital and theone battle to decide it all. Of course, this was not the truth, at least notthe entire truth. When a powerful figure like him joined hands with two Sacred Hall Archbishopsto do something, it was impossible for them to be so small-minded. The Ivy Academies challenging the Orthodox Academy were merely the vanguard ofan even greater affair. Mo Yu had originally believed that the Pope would act to suppress this matterbefore it exploded, but she had not expected that, even now, the Pope wouldcontinue to maintain his silence! This surprised her greatly. Now, she had been admonished by the Divine Empress. She now understood. Whyhad the Li Palace never expressed its stance? Why had the matter of theOrthodox Academy always remained limited to the confines of the OrthodoxAcademy? Why had the matter not proceeded as the Tianhai clan and the twoSacred Hall Archbishops had planned, spreading to the Li Palace, thus allowingthe All-School Martial Exhibition to become an all-out clash between the newand conservative factions of the Orthodoxy? It was for one very simple reason. The Orthodox Academy…had taken care of the matter on its own. Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six simply did not require the Li Palace toexpress its stance nor the Pope to say anything. They were cleanly and neatlyresolving the matter on their own. Back when the Tianhai clan and the two Sacred Hall Archbishops decided to pushthis matter, they presumably had not imagined that this matter that was only aninterlude in their eyes was about to become a seemingly eternal interlude dueto these two youths. That great event had just begun but already seemed to have ground to a stop. "As long as the Orthodox Academy can endure, the Pope will not say anything." The Divine Empress walked to the edge of the platform and looked as the nearbyOrthodox Academy gradually began to glow with lantern light. "Countlesscontingency plans were all broken by just Tang Tang himself. If the Pope hadany view of Chen Changsheng, it was also broken by him. Do you still think heis just messing around?" Mo Yu was speechless. She truly had not imagined that Tang Thirty-Six, thatseemingly frivolous and incompetent guy, was actually able to see through theshrewd and ruthless plans of so many powerful figures. "Truly, this is the generation of blooming wildflowers." The Divine Empress said, "Tang Tang is good, Chen Changsheng is even better.If the two of them are given enough time and opportunity, what need is there toworry over the future of the Great Zhou and humanity?" If a single wildflower were to open up all by its lonesome on a cliff, howcould it be described as beautiful? Only when many wildflowers opened together could it be considered blooming,could it be so beautiful that it touched the soul. Thinking of all that had changed over the past year, Mo Yu was forced to admitthat the reason the Orthodox Academy could so quickly show signs of rebirth,besides Chen Changsheng, was that Tang Thirty-Six had left the Heavenly DaoAcademy and entered the Orthodox Academy. If the Empress's judgment wasaccurate, these methods of Tang Thirty-Six which seemed to be for messingaround were actually a cool-headed response. Then one could say that what theOrthodox Academy required the most at present was precisely a person like him. She knew of the circumstances behind Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six'sfirst meeting. At the time, Tang Thirty-Six was already renowned as a younggenius while Chen Changsheng was a nameless Daoist boy from the countryside. Atthe entrance examination for the Heavenly Dao Academy, they had met and becomeacquainted with each other. Moreover, it had been Tang Thirty-Six that hadfirst approached Chen Changsheng. Looking back on it, one would be forced toadmit that this sort of meeting truly had a sense of fate about it. "What is the most extraordinary characteristic of the Wenshui Tang clan? Nottheir wealth nor their strategies, but their insight." The Divine Empress gazed at the brightly lit Orthodox Academy and said, "Inthe past, the Tang Old Master was the first to see how skilled Su Li was. Inthe proceeding centuries, who dared to show disrespect to the Tang clan? Eventhe Storms of the Eight Directions did not. Later on, the Tang clan once morewent against the pressure of the Imperial Court, allowing Wang Po to work forten years with them as an accountant, which they were most certainly able toexchange for several more decades of peace. Currently, Tang Tang and ChenChangsheng have such a friendship that if Chen Changsheng really were to becomethe next Pope, the position of the Wenshui Tangs would become unshakeable." For some reason, Mo Yu replied, "If this is the case, then Chen Changshengtruly is inferior to Tang Tang." "Women truly are extroverted." The Divine Empress glanced at her with aprofound expression. Mo Yu felt rather wronged but didn't dare to say anything. The Divine Empress declared, "The Pavilion of Divination has sent someone overto examine the sword. Since you are already acquainted with Chen Changsheng,accompany him, or else with Chen Changsheng's personality, he really might notbe able to examine it." Unlike last year and unlike the last twenty years, tonight's Orthodox Academywas brightly lit. Even though it was already very late, the figures of people could still beseen and the sounds of voices heard by the lake, in the forest, and by thefountain. Chen Changsheng was not used to these changes. Shaking his head, he recalledthe matter that had been discussed this morning and turned to Tang Thirty-Six,"The story you gave yesterday wasn't correct. I never said that I would obtainfirst rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination. At the time, Su Moyuwas right on the Divine Avenue. He should be able to clearly recall that it wasthe Archbishop that said it. I don't understand why he would forget such animportant thing." "This means that it's everyone's impression that it was you that said thesewords, so don't try and explain yourself," Tang Thirty-Six said, "and I recallvery clearly in the Plum Garden Inn, you personally saying it to me." Because of this statement, the two simultaneously began to think of asituation back then when Chen Changsheng was treating Tang Thirty-Six to ameal. Back then, they had been attempting to communicate in the manner ofadults, but now they remembered themselves as presenting a young andinexperienced appearance. The two looked each other in the eyes and began to laugh. It seemed that not much time had passed, but many things had already changed. A year ago, the Orthodox Academy was still desolate and rundown. Although ithad been cleaned and repaired by the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, besidesthe region which Chen Changsheng used every day, the other regions were stillvery bleak. At night, they even seemed like graveyards. A year later, theOrthodox Academy welcomed a group of new students bursting with vitality. Thedesolate night had been driven away by the lights of the dorms and the librarywhich had once been used by only one person was now filled with many peopleborrowing the lantern light to read.