1985 Lone Bamboo
“Why would this happen? Why would Lone Bamboo take part in the exam? He doesn’t need to.” Yu Jing did not understand how he could be so unlucky. If it was any other Earl student, he believed Han Sen stood a firm chance. He would have had a high probability of winning.
But Lone Bamboo made Yu Jing feel powerless and hopeless.
Lone Bamboo was a student of the seventh elder, but he had broken a rule. It was a very bad one to break, too. He was stripped of his t.i.tle as a student and imprisoned. There, he was tortured.
His imprisonment was not a death sentence, but it might as well have been on one.
Lone Bamboo was put in a sad dream. That dream kept repeating his sad life for ten thousand years. Once that time pa.s.sed, he was allowed to wake up.
Ordinary creatures wouldn’t live long enough to wake up and have the dreams end. Even if they did, having the same heartbreaking dream repeat for ten millennia would be too much. They’d be driven insane by the repet.i.tion.
Lone Bamboo slept in jail for ten years before waking up. After he woke up, he went up to Sky Palace and knelt before it. Then, the doors opened. The leader had not accepted a student for one thousand years, but he decided to accept Lone Bamboo. Then, his cheating life started. He practiced with the Textless Book, and he was able to go to the five cities and twelve buildings. No one was as good as him.
Even Thousand Feather Crane, who received the holy gourd’s blessing, still lost against him. And he lost even after using his best sword skills.
After that, no one fought against Lone Bamboo. Marquises and Dukes would not underestimate him, either. No one could imagine how he had managed to wake up after only ten years. But even so, it was difficult to imagine what he might have been through.
The leader of Sky Palace said Lone Bamboo could become deified. He did not express any doubt about the possibility, and so he obviously had faith in him.
If the word strong was used to describe a student of Sky Palace, people would not think of the elders. Instead, they’d think of Lone Bamboo.
Lone Bamboo still wasn’t a Marquise yet, but he never took part in the exams. Even the Marquise cla.s.s students could not interest him. He had no interest in fighting them.
Yu Jing looked shocked and bitter. He felt unlucky. He thought he could get rich, but now he was going to be bankrupt. The students had not seen Lone Bamboo fight for the past few years, so no one had expected him to suddenly join the exam.
Han Sen stayed on Old Night Island for six days. He killed eleven Earl xenogeneics. But White Jade Jing was almost ready to open, so he left the island and went there. When he arrived on the island, Han Sen took a good look at the White Jade Building. After doing so, he was shocked.
He thought he’d only be able to see the one White Jade Building, but now, there were twelve such constructs on the island. At the end of the buildings, between the clouds, were cities. He could not see what resided in them, but he could most certainly see the five cities.
Han Sen was not as clueless as he had been when he first arrived there. He understood much about the White Jade Jing now.
Normal Sky Palace students could see seven White Jade Buildings—a.s.suming they understood a bit about it all. If they could see ten, they’d be regarded as geniuses.
If they could see twelve, they’d be the smartest of the entire generation. If they could see all the buildings, that was something that only occurred once every ten thousand years.
Sky Palace had existed for a billion years, and fewer than one hundred had seen all five cities. That was how profound this was.
Han Sen didn’t feel anything, though. He did not know how he could see twelve buildings and five cities. He was quite confused. But when he practiced in the White Jade Building’s seventh floor, he understood something when the Jade Air turned pure.
Although he could see twelve buildings, he was still planning on going to the first building to absorb the Jade Air. That place was perfect for an Earl, he believed. He planned to bring Jadeskin up to Earl before exploring the buildings beyond.
When Han Sen reached the fourth floor, Yun Suyi came straight to him to talk. She looked worried.
“Han Sen! My sister and Uncle Crane are waiting for you on the seventh floor. They wanted me to tell you that, if you came, you should go and see them. Even if you aren’t planning on practicing on the seventh floor, go and see them.”
“What is it?” Han Sen asked with confusion.
“The Jade Air is going to start, so go to the seventh floor! When it ends, Brother Crane will tell you the details,” Yun Suyi said.
“Okay.” Han Sen nodded and went straight up to the seventh floor.
When Han Sen disappeared up the stairs, Yun Suyi sighed and thought to herself, “G.o.d is being unfair. Why would you have to meet Lone Bamboo? What is Lone Bamboo thinking? What is the point of him joining the exam?”
But quickly, Yun Suyi thought, “But maybe that’s okay! It’s the thought that counts. It does not matter if you don’t reach first place to get Under the Sky. I won’t think any less of you.”
Han Sen reached the seventh floor, and there, he saw Thousand Feather Crane, Yun Sushang, and First Day. The arrogant young man was not there on this day, though.
Seeing Han Sen there, Thousand Feather Crane invited him over. He asked, “Are you joining the exam?”
Han Sen nodded and said, “I signed up. I’m planning on joining.”
Thousand Feather Crane had a wry smile, and he said, “I’m afraid you will have a tough fight ahead of you.”
“What is it? Is someone big joining?” Han Sen asked with a smile.
Thousand Feather Crane told him that Lone Bamboo was taking part, and then he explained Lone Bamboo’s story. He also told Han Sen about the time he was beaten by Lone Bamboo. He didn’t hide anything.
But the way he said it was different than the way you would describe an ordinary student. Thousand Feather Crane talked about Lone Bamboo as if his strength was already legendary.
“Perhaps you won’t believe all this, but when I fought Lone Bamboo, I felt as if I was going to lose by just standing in front of him. When I fought him for a while, it felt as if he was teaching me something. After that fight, my sword skills improved. And I was able to achieve what I have up to this point,” Thousand Feather Crane said.