487 Two Wildflowers Fill the Cliff II

"I said I was going to drown them, and this is precisely the 'Drowning ofSeven Armies'." At some point, the folding fan in Tang Thirty-Six's hand hadbeen exchanged for a green apple. He used the apple to gesture at the lights oflibrary and the silhouettes left by the new students as he said, "The OrthodoxAcademy now has so many people that it won't be so easy for our opponent towaste us to death. On the contrary, we can waste them to death." Chen Changsheng shook his head. "I don't believe you." After a moment of silence, Tang Thirty-Six replied, "This is the beginning." "The beginning?" Chen Changsheng was truly confused. "Your beginning is also the Orthodox Academy's beginning, and this place willalways have to get new students…" Tang Thirty-Six looked over the academy inthe night and said, "One person's Orthodox Academy sounds very cool, but inreality, that's not the Orthodox Academy. It's just one person. In the future,if it becomes two people, three people, three or four people…none of these isthe Orthodox Academy. Only the current academy is the Orthodox Academy." As the night deepened, the lanterns remained brightly lit. Chen Changshengfollowed his gaze and muttered, "But what do we need all these people for?" "There is strength in numbers," Tang Thirty-Six explained, turning to him. "Atthe moment, they're still very weak, very young, but in the future?" "The future huh…" Chen Changsheng had a rough idea. It was just that he reallyhad not considered matters of the future, because he was accustomed to placinghis gaze on the time before he reached the age of twenty. But when he looked atthe brightly lit Orthodox Academy, at those new students sitting by the windowquietly reading their books, at the backs of those young men and women by thelake, he recalled those old scenes that had come to mind when he had justentered the Orthodox Academy, those scenes from several decades ago of thoseyoung men and women in this academy studying and gazing at the lake. As hethought of all this, a smile gradually revealed itself on his face. He thoughtto himself, no matter what happens in the future, this is also rather nice. Anddoesn’t it seem like those trees that had only seen silence for so many yearshave woken up? Tang Thirty-Six spoke, "Don't forget, in the future, you will be the Pope." The entire continent knew that Chen Changsheng would become the Pope in thefuture. Only he himself was not so sure about it, thinking it far too remote.He had not thought that he was already the Principal of the Orthodox Academy,only several steps away from ascending to the endlessly radiant throne of thePope. Of course, his true power was far from the likes of Prefects such as MaoQiuyu and Daoist Siyuan, but purely based off the divine hierarchy, he wasalready their complete equal. As Archbishop Mei Lisha had said back then, ChenChangsheng only needed to bow to the Pope. To do so for others was notnecessary. "The Pope…it's not that great." "Of course it's not that great." Tang Thirty-Six explained, "If His Holinesswere not standing behind you, a powerful figure like Daoist Siyuan or LinghaiZhiwang would be able to render you into dust with a single finger! In fact,amongst the reasons they so stubbornly persist in standing by the Tianhai clan,I believe the most important is that His Holiness chose you as his successor.In the future, if you plan to become Pope, it won't be a simple affair." Chen Changsheng recalled the undercurrent that been running within theOrthodoxy in these past few days and the All-School Martial Exhibition proposalthat had clearly been targeted at the Orthodox Academy, and he knew that TangThirty-Six's conjecture was correct. Compared to the true powers of theOrthodox Academy like Linghai Zhiwang, he had no foundation in the Orthodoxyother than the Pope's support and the favor Archbishop Mei Lisha had bequeathedupon him. If he wished to become the next Pope, he would inevitably suffercountless complications and challenges in the coming years. How could herespond to them? "Orthodox Academy is precisely your foundation. In the coming decades, thestudents and teachers that emerge from the Orthodox Academy will all beregarded as your people, whether they want to or not." Tang Thirty-Six turned to him and said, "The Tianhai clan and those twoarchbishops definitely have many contingency plans. There's even a chance thatthey want to borrow this matter of challenging the Orthodox Academy to directlyrevolt against his Holiness. But now, our messing around has confined theirefforts to the gate of the Orthodox Academy, so all the pressure willnecessarily also be borne by only the Orthodox Academy. You must become used tothis fact, because in the coming decades, you could confront similardifficulties at any time." It was only upon hearing this explanation that Chen Changsheng realized howcomplex the matter was. Ashamedly, he said, "I really don't understand thesethings. If this is the case, was it lucky that I didn't go to the Li Palace?" "Even if you did go the Li Palace and seek the aid of His Holiness, if hiselderly self decided that the Orthodox Academy was still able to endure, hewouldn't say anything." Tang Thirty-Six stared him in the eyes. "Because His Holiness thinks the sameas the rest of us. We all hope that you can grow accustomed to this pressure asquickly as possible and then quickly mature." "All of this…it's too complicated." Chen Changsheng said from the bottom ofhis heart, "I could never think of all these things. How are you all able tounderstand this?" To make painstaking investigations and ascertain the minds of others, thesewere things that people like the Demon Commander, Black Robe, and Zhou Tongwere most skilled at. Chen Changsheng had always felt that these were the most difficult matters ofthe human world, innumerable times more difficult than the Intellectual Sword. It just so happened that Tang Thirty-Six was also thinking of the sword Su Lihad taught Chen Changsheng. "You're even able to learn the Intellectual Sword,so how can you not understand these things? It's just that you're too lazy tothink about them." Chen Changsheng shook his head. "I'm not comforting you," Tang Thirty-Six said, and stared at him. "The otherday, you said that I and Su Li are very similar. In fact, I also rememberedthat there's a person very similar to you." "Wang Po?" Chen Changsheng looked back expectantly. "That guy with his constantly worried look…just where is he similar to you?I'm speaking about His Holiness," Tang Thirty-Six declared. Chen Changsheng was a little taken aback at these words, not able to see justwhere he and the Pope were similar. "When I was small, my grandfather told me that back then, the Orthodoxy's oldschool had only two successors: the Pope and your teacher. In terms of bothcultivation and intelligence, the Pope was inferior to your teacher. Later on,when the two went their separate ways to study at the Heavenly Dao Academy andthe Orthodox Academy respectively, the gap between them grew greater andgreater. However, after another ten years, His Holiness caught up. He wasn'tlike your teacher, who believed in money and power and developed an extremelydeep relationship with the Imperial Court. He only studied in the Heavenly DaoAcademy, his mind free of distracting thoughts. As a result, his cultivationadvanced by leaps and bounds." Tang Thirty-Six clarified, "I said that you and His Holiness are very similarprecisely because the both of you are extremely focused and extremely treasuretime." Chen Changsheng contemplated this, then replied, "It seems that it really isthis way." Because of that shadow, he always lived extremely seriously, cultivating withextreme focus and valuing his time to the extreme. It was just that he had notimagined that the Pope had also been this sort of person. Tang Thirty-Six stared at him again and said, "In truth, I've always wanted toknow, you value your time so much and are always in a rush…just why are you insuch a rush? Just what do you need to do?" Chen Changsheng was silent, saying nothing. "You don't need to say it. I'm guessing it'll once again sound like someinsane declaration like when you said that you wanted to take first rank of thefirst banner in the Grand Examination. Do you want to become the second ZhouDufu?" Tang Thirty-Six didn't wait for him to answer. Smiling, he said, "Whatever,but I think it will definitely be very interesting. In the future, I will watchas you succeed in this endeavor." Chen Changsheng thought it over, but he didn't say the two words of 'thankyou'. Instead, he returned a question, "And you? What do you want to do? Whyhave you become so serious recently…why do you want to help me?" On many occasions, a question like 'why do you want to help me' could veryeasily make the mood turn disastrous, but he and Tang Thirty-Six were alreadytoo familiar with each other. He didn't care and Tang Thirty-Six was similar. "Before I entered the capital, I never thought about what I wanted to do inthe future." Tang Thirty-Six walked under the great banyan tree and gazed downat the specks of starlight in the lake. After a pause, he continued, "Orperhaps, what I was to do in the future had already been decided, so I didn'tneed to think about it." Chen Changsheng stood at his side. Glancing over, he realized that TangThirty-Six was abnormally calm. "When the changes to the Proclamation of Azure Sky were announced, do youremember the Divination Elder's commentary? He said I was lazy, or else I wouldhave long since entered the top ten of the Proclamation of Azure Sky." "Yes, I remember it very clearly, so that then when I saw you come out of theMausoleum of Books, I really was caught by surprise." "Laziness…is because I didn't want to do anything, because I've never beenrequired to do a single thing since I was small." The wind gradually died down and the surface of the lake regained itssmoothness. Those specks of starlight on the water also grew much clearer. As Tang Thirty-Six gazed at them, he said, "No matter who is the Emperor, nomatter who is the Pope, as long as the humans are not enslaved by the demons,my clan can live very well, and I am destined to be the head of the Tang clan.Without needing to do anything, I would live a life of glory, splendor, wealth,and rank. With my powerful authority and high status, I would live in theworld's most extravagant manor, marry the most virtuous and quiet wife. I woulddrink the most expensive wine, ride the fiercest horses, organize the finesttheatrical groups, and all those that would come would be the world's mostpowerful individuals. Since all this was foreordained, what need was there forme to be diligent?" Chen Changsheng thought it over, then asked, "What about cultivating?" Tang Thirty-Six replied, "The Divination Elder said that if I were to workhard, I would be able to enter the Proclamation of Azure Sky's top ten,but…that still wouldn't match up to Xu Yourong, Zhexiu, and also you." Chen Changsheng recalled that when they met at Plum Garden Inn, he hadmentioned this matter. At the time, Tang Thirty-Six had called them 'that woman who makes onespeechless and that wolf cub'. He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and pointed out, "To be able to enter the top tenof the Proclamation of Azure Sky is already quite excellent." "It truly is excellent, but it's still a bit less than you freaks. Even ifit's lacking by just a point, it's still lacking." Tang Thirty-Six paused, thencontinued, "Since I can't be the very best, what's the point?" Chen Changsheng didn't know how to respond to this, so he changed the subject,"Then why are you no longer lazy?" Tang Thirty-Six replied, "The Divination Elder's commentary on theProclamation of Azure Sky said it was because I met a lucky chance." "What lucky chance? How come I don't know of it?" "Idiot, aren't these words precisely speaking about me meeting you?" "What about me?" Chen Changsheng truly did not recognize anythingextraordinary about himself. And just like Tang Thirty-Six had said a few days ago, a person unaware oftheir own genius was truly something that made people in the same field bothangry and depressed.