Chapter 114 – The Proclamation of Azure Sky has New Entrants (III)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
With the pa.s.sage of time, the silence was gradually broken. A cheer rose from the autumn forest, as apparently some student of the Temple Seminary had ranked in the proclamation. Soon after, however, came the sound of weeping girls. It seemed that one of the senior sisters of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green had fallen from her rank in the nineties to somewhere in the hundreds.
Just as they had been in the past several years, the end and middle ranks of the Proclamation of Azure Sky were mostly filled with youths from the south, the most numerous held by the Longevity Sect and Scholartree Manor. The Longevity Sect was truly the greatest sect in the world, as even the ranks of all the academies of the capital added together, including the Heavenly Dao Academy and Star Seizer Academy, were only enough to barely exceed the ranks held by the Longevity Sect.
Many people subconsciously turned to the still-quiet guest courtyard. That was where Gou Hanshi and the other disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect, as well as all the other students of the southern diplomatic mission, were staying. The Mount Li Sword Sect was just a part of the Longevity Sect, and everyone knew that each one of the Divine Kingdom"s Seven Laws, excepting Qiushan Jun and Gou Hanshi, would be on the proclamation. It was just that their names had not been announced. When they thought about this, all the students of the Li Palace Academy, the Temple Seminary, and the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green were rather depressed, their heads lowered in disheartenment.
The teachers of these academies knew well that swords came from Mount Li, and the supreme strength of the Longevity Sect had always relied on the young disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect. However, this point would provide no succor for their students, so they could only say that the cultivation methods of the southern sects were not too different from those of the Orthodoxy. The southern sects had always emphasized ways to quickly build up power, but they were not necessarily better than the academies of the capital at helping their disciples cultivate to the truly profound realms. If one looked at the Proclamation of Liberation, there was no such problem of a strong south and a weak north.
The students of the capital"s academies felt slightly better at these words of encouragement, but they couldn"t feel truly happy. The Proclamation of Liberation was not a real secret, but it had been many years since it had last been updated, so it could not provide an accurate picture of the current situation. After all, with Qiushan Jun and Gou Hanshi entering the Proclamation of Golden Distinction ahead of time, the southern sects were now leading in two of the proclamations.
Because of the mood, the forests lining the Divine Avenue fell quiet once more. Of course, it was also related to anxiety. The middle and end ranks of the Proclamation of Azure Sky had all been announced, so now the top forty would start to be announced. Let alone those hot-blooded young students, even someone as wooden-faced as Su Moyu had a reaction.
Only Chen Changsheng didn"t care much about the Proclamation of Azure Sky, because he clearly understood that there was currently no relationship between him and the Proclamation of Azure Sky. He was not Xuanyuan Po, who was naturally blessed with a body that did not need to undergo Purification. Given that he had not succeeded in Purification, he simply had no right to be ranked on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, not even if he were the Elder of Heavenly Secrets"s own son.
However, this was the first time he had experienced the changing of ranks for the Proclamation of Azure Sky, his first time seeing such a sight, so he found it all very fresh. Upon seeing his peers" nervous expressions, he also gradually began to grow nervous, began to feel excited. He also began to feel many other emotions, but those emotions were not enough to draw the attention of others.
He looked at Tang Thirty-Six and comforted, "Don"t be nervous, you also just said to Xuanyuan, although it"s the Proclamation of Azure Sky, there"s no meaning in fighting over a momentary ranking. You have to look a bit farther."
More than half a year had pa.s.sed since the Proclamation of Azure Sky was first changed at the start of the year, and Tang Thirty-Six, besides that one formal fight during the Ivy Festival, had not partic.i.p.ated in any other matches. Moreover, in that one match, anyone could tell that his strength was far inferior to Qi Jian"s. The wise Elder of Heavenly Secrets would naturally not see wrong.
This being the case, he truly found it rather difficult to predict his new position on the Proclamation of Azure Sky.
"There"s naturally no meaning if fighting over a momentary ranking, but I"ve already been ranked, and if I were to fall a few places, wouldn"t I just be completely humiliated? At least I have to keep my original ranking!"
Tang Thirty-Six still maintained his cold and arrogant expression, but his thin lips were quickly moving as he very quietly and angrily responded.
Helpless, Chen Changsheng asked, "Do you not find it humiliating to be so nervous?"
Tang Thirty-Six coldly snorted, "I said before, feigning loneliness is very tiring, and anyway…"
He turned and stared at Chen Changsheng, "When was I nervous?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "It"s very easy to see."
Tang Thirty-Six"s expression slightly changed, becoming a little nervous. He whispered, "Am I still not acting calm enough?"
Chen Changsheng"s gaze moved slightly downwards, to Tang Thirty-Six"s rippling sleeves. He whispered, "Your hands are shaking rather fiercely."
"That"s because I"m bored to death! I"m a person that can joke together with Gou Hanshi! What do you know!"
With a nasty expression, Tang Thirty-Six softly retorted, at the same quietly bringing his hands behind his back.
Chen Changsheng chuckled and said no more.
As they were speaking, the voice from the Hall of Announcements had finished reading the thirty-seventh name. Next was naturally the thirty-sixth name, the thirty-six that Chen Changsheng was abundantly familiar with, Tang Thirty-Six"s thirty-six.
The person did not have the surname "Tang", was not called Tang Tang, and also had no relationship with Wenshui.
Everyone turned simultaneously to Tang Thirty-Six, somewhat amazed, somewhat confused.
The mood was rather strange.
Chen Changsheng looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said with concern, "There shouldn"t be a problem, right?"
Tang Thirty-Six"s expression did not change. Only Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po, who were very close to him, could clearly see that his two eyebrows had trembled for a moment.
"It seems that I"ve advanced."
He spoke with no confidence. There was no way he could possibly fall from the rankings entirely, so it should be that Thirty-Six was now ranked even higher, but he could not understand why his ranking would have improved. Just because of his performance during the Ivy Festival that even he was not pleased with?
The voice from the Hall of Announcements very quickly reached the thirty-third rank.
Praise arose from the Li Palace Academy students, even the sound of clapping as Su Moyu calmly expressed his thanks. His grades in the martial test held on the second night of the Ivy Festival had not been enough to let him advance. This took him by surprise, but since he had kept the rank he had received at the beginning of the year, he had nothing to be discontent over. His goal had always been the Grand Examination.
He glanced at Tang Thirty-Six and slightly creased his brow. For some reason, he felt a little uneasy.
"Tang Tang, Orthodox Academy, thirty-second on the Azure Sky."
Just then, the voice from the Hall of Announcements was clearly transmitted into the autumn forest. The crowd seemed to grow restless. Then came a clamor of shocked discussion.
Tang Thirty-Six slightly perked his brows and said, "I hate it when people call me Tang Tang."
This was what he said, but he could not hide the happiness on his face. Besides happiness, there was also some confusion. He truly did not understand why he had advanced four places, just like how Xuanyuan Po didn"t understand how he was able to get into the Proclamation of Azure Sky…but he was too lazy to think about these things. First, he had to enjoy the glory of his thirty-second rank.
Thirty-second was truly excellent. It was one rank higher than thirty-third.
He turned to Su Moyu with an indescribably annoying smirk on his face.
Su Moyu recalled the words he had earlier said to the three students from the Orthodox Academy, and even with his personality, he found it difficult to endure. Thus, his complexion became rather unsightly.
At the time, he had said to Tang Thirty-Six, "Once you surpa.s.s me on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, come and tell me again that what I said was wrong." He had also said to Xuanyuan Po, "Talk to me once you can get on the Proclamation of Azure Sky." In just the blink of an eye, Xuanyuan Po had entered the Proclamation of Azure Sky, and Tang Thirty-Six…had surpa.s.sed him in ranking.
The Divine Avenue was quiet. The gazes that the girls of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green aimed at Tang Thirty-Six grew increasingly ardent, the students of the Temple Seminary became increasingly quiet, and the Li Palace Academy students all had complexions as unsightly as Su Moyu"s.
"For what reason should Xuanyuan Po have entered the proclamation? And for what reason should that guy have surpa.s.sed Senior Brother Su?"
Finally, a student could no longer restrain himself and began questioning the rationale behind the new ranking for the Proclamation of Azure Sky. When it was said that no one dared to question the fairness of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, it referred to the fact that no one would question it before the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets or the Elder of Heavenly Secrets. In private, some people would be unwilling or unconvinced. Today, the faces of the students of the Li Palace Academy had been given too painful a slap by the new Proclamation of Azure Sky, so a few people could not help but voice their doubts in public.
The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets could not hear the aggrieved questions of this young student, and even if they did hear it, they wouldn"t care, much less give any special explanation.
But everyone could hear the commentary of the Elder of Heavenly Secrets.
"This person is too lazy, or else would have long ago entered the top ten. Now he has encountered a lucky chance and can no longer be lazy. Truly excellent."
The Elder of Heavenly Secrets"s commentary for each person on the Proclamation of Azure Sky was concise and simple, allowing everyone to understand the reasoning behind why each person had their rank and what their strengths were. Only when he spoke of Tang Thirty-Six did he not mention true essence or comprehension. He only spoke of being lazy and not lazy, and also the vague term that was "lucky chance".
Countless gazes fell on Tang Thirty-Six.
No matter how skilled Tang Thirty-Six was at feigning aloof arrogance, after being given such an evaluation by a peerless master like the Elder of Heavenly Secrets, even he found it impossible to maintain his stoic expression.
Somewhat embarra.s.sed, he said, "Isn"t it okay that I"m not lazy now?"
He understood that the lucky chance spoken of in the commentary probably referred to his leaving the Heavenly Dao Academy and joining the Orthodox Academy. To be more precise, it referred to his meeting Chen Changsheng.
With a companion like Chen Changsheng at their side, who would be shameless enough to continue being lazy?
As he thought of this, he turned at Chen Changsheng and said with grat.i.tude, "Greetings, Brother Lucky Chance."
Those who heard and understand what these words meant revealed a little surprise on their faces.
Chen Changsheng did not reply to this greeting, as he was more curious about another question. "So will we have to call you Tang Thirty-Two now?"
Tang Thirty-Six"s expression slightly changed as he thought, this really doesn"t sound that good. I have to work a little harder in the Grand Examination so that when the ranks change again next year, I can get a better-sounding name.
But…should it be the twenty-eight of the twenty-eight constellations or the twelve of the twelve knights? Three was naturally great, but the difficulty was too great. Guan Feibai, Liang Banhu, and that wolf cub in the north were truly too difficult to pa.s.s. As he thought and thought, he suddenly recalled something very important and ceased his ponderings. (TN: Chinese astronomy has twenty-eight constellations. The "twelve knights" is probably a reference to the Twelve Knights of the Round Table.)
He raised his head and looked at Su Moyu, the corners of his lips rising. Maintaining his smirk, he mouthed three words.
"You were wrong."
Su Moyu turned slightly ashen-faced, but there was nothing he could say.
The battle of words between youths was just a minor interlude.
Today, the Proclamation of Azure Sky was the most important matter in the entire continent.
Xuanyuan Po had inexplicably entered the proclamation, and Tang Thirty-Six had advanced four places to thirty-second and now confronted the problem of being forced to change his name. Today"s impromptu changing of the ranks for the Proclamation of Azure Sky had undoubtedly made the Orthodox Academy the focus of many people. This academy of once-incomparable radiance had lain silent for ten-some years before finally appearing before the world once more. Who would have expected that the moment it appeared, so would its radiance?
However, since the Proclamation of Azure Sky was undergoing this impromptu changing of ranks, there was a.s.suredly an even more important change. Even if it wasn"t the sudden and shocking rise of a genius like Qiushan Jun or Xu Yourong, it was certain to be sufficiently astonishing. This sort of change could naturally only occur at the very top of the Proclamation of Azure Sky. The first change that no one had expected appeared when the voice from the Hall of Announcements reached the eleventh rank.