Chapter 136 – Holding Hands
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
(TN: Way of Choices will be on break from December 25th, 2017 – January 7, 2018)
Fighting over a path had always been one of the easiest matters to fall into conflict over, let alone in such a tense affair as the Grand Examination where the rules forbade examinees from using the same path. Thus, one side would be forced to change their path. The Dallying Forest encompa.s.sed a vast area and so it was very difficult for two examinees to walk the same path, so it could only be said that Tang Thirty-Six or that scholar from Scholartree Manor had poor luck.
With the understanding that Chen Changsheng and the others had of Tang Thirty-Six, it was definitely not his luck that was bad. Reality bore this out, as it was ultimately the scholar that had been forced to change paths. This scholar was now staring at the Orthodox Academy"s group with a face filled with anger. He wanted to step forward and engage in a debate, but he was stymied by his schoolmates. Only then did he notice Princess Luoluo"s presence, so he could only coldly laugh.
The students of Scholartree Manor pa.s.sed by the Orthodox Academy"s group. Displaying their techniques, they walked with extreme elegance and ease across the Qu River. Before leaving, they gave somewhat mocking glances to Chen Changsheng and the rest.
At this moment, Su Moyu also walked out of the sea of trees and up to Chen Changsheng"s group. For some reason, this young expert of the Li Palace Academy was not in good condition today, and the time he had needed to walk out of the Dallying Forest was much longer than expected. Tang Thirty-Six did not like this wooden and stubborn fellow, but Chen Changsheng didn"t have much ill will against him. Seeing Su Moyu"s slightly pale face, he asked, "Are you okay?"
Su Moyu explained, "Last night, I suddenly felt a sign that I was about to break through. In forcefully suppressing it, my true Qi flowed backward and my sea of consciousness was somewhat shaken."
The top fifty young experts on the Proclamation of Azure Sky were basically all at the upper level of Meditation. As long as they were willing, they could attempt to break through into Ethereal Opening at any time. However, the threshold was too high and breaking through too dangerous, so very few people would rashly choose to break through without completely making preparations. Su Moyu was a diligent cultivator and had reached that threshold a long time ago, but because of the Grand Examination, he had controlled it this entire time. He had not expected that right as the Grand Examination was about to begin, he would sense a sign of breakthrough, and what should have been a cause for celebration became a trouble.
Logically speaking, information on one"s cultivation like this was critical information that should never be revealed to other people, and this wasn"t even considering that the Orthodox Academy and the Li Palace Academy were compet.i.tors. But for some reason, Su Moyu had seen Chen Changsheng"s sincere expression and very naturally explained.
Tang Thirty-Six"s complexion slightly changed and his impressions of Su Moyu suddenly improved—to be trusted by someone was a very good feeling. He looked at Su Moyu and asked, "How long do you need to recover?"
If one were to ever so improperly forcefully suppress signs of breakthrough, it would cause harm to one"s sea of consciousness. For a short period of time, one"s spiritual sense would be rather unstable. It was no wonder that someone with as deep and st.u.r.dy a foundation as Su Moyu needed so much time to cross the Dallying Forest. However, with sufficient time to meditate and calm his mind, this situation would not persist for too long.
"If I can get into the second round of the one-on-one matches, I should be able to recover."
Su Moyu clasped his hands to the Orthodox Academy"s group, and then also said to Chen Changsheng, "I"ll wait for you south of the river."
After saying this, he walked to the river, his body slightly blurring as he utilized the wave-walking Daoist technique of the Li Palace Academy. He swayed forward and quickly reached the opposite sh.o.r.e.
His spiritual sense was somewhat unstable, but his true essence had not decreased and his Daoist technique was still exquisite.
As time pa.s.sed, more and more examinees walked out of the Dallying Forest and began to cross the river. Some examinees crossed to the southern sh.o.r.e with great difficulty while others fell into the river and were then rescued by the Li Palace priests. Fewer and fewer examinees remained standing on the sh.o.r.e, making Chen Changsheng"s group stand out more and more. On the other hand, more and more people came to be standing on the meadow on the southern sh.o.r.e. Some were people who had long since finished the martial test, such as Gou Hanshi and the other three disciples of Mount Li, and had come out of the pavilions and towers in the forest to the meadow. No one knew what they intended to do, but it presumably had something to do with the Orthodox Academy.
Many startled birds suddenly flew out of the two-man-high holly trees, followed closely by the sounds of snapping branches and the slight shaking of the ground. Even the waters of the Qu River began to ripple and dust began to rise. An extremely tall and st.u.r.dy figure charged out of the sea of trees, his clothes ripped all over by tree branches.
Xuanyuan Po had finally walked out of the Dallying Forest.
This demi-human youth"s spiritual sense was actually quite strong, or else he would not have been chosen by his tribe to go study in the capital. But he had not received much training in spiritual sense and perception, his personality was too honest and straightforward, and his spatial thinking and calculation ability were rather lacking. It would be very simple for him to run around the mountains searching for prey, but it was truly difficult for him to walk out of this maze deliberately designed by a sage.
Chen Changsheng and the others had been worried precisely about this point. Although he was looking rather worse for wear, they were still very happy to see him walk out of the forest.
Xuanyuan Po ran over to them. Chen Changsheng had just shaved his beard off last night, revealing a young and tender face more appropriate for his age, but after just half a day, perhaps because he was in a rush or for some other reason, a thin layer of stubble had appeared. This coupled with his face full of sweat from running made his appearance seem very apprehensive.
"I"m late, I"m late."
Xuanyuan Po walked up to Chen Changsheng, seemingly in a great rush. He was worried that he had delayed everything and so extended a hand to grab Chen Changsheng"s hand.
Priest Xin had come especially to the Orthodox Academy to leak this question. This meant that to him or the archbishop, the "crossing river" phase of the martial test posed the most difficulty to Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng had said nothing about this, but Xuanyuan Po and Tang Thirty-Six had privately made preparations, preparations to sacrifice Xuanyuan Po.
Xuanyuan Po was prepared to grab Chen Changsheng"s hand and then throw him straight across to the other sh.o.r.e.
Tang Thirty-Six had silently moved to position himself behind Chen Changsheng. Both he and Xuanyuan Po were well aware that Chen Changsheng would never agree to this sort of method and would certainly resist. His mission was to immediately seize Chen Changsheng as soon as he began to resist and tie him up.
Only now did Chen Changsheng react. Guessing at their plans, he said, "Don"t act recklessly."
At this moment, Tang Thirty-Six"s hand was only a foot from Chen Changsheng"s back, ready at any time to subdue him.
Xuanyuan Po looked at Chen Changsheng and said, "Although we don"t know the reason, we all know that you must have a reason to take first rank of the first banner, but I don"t care. I can wait for the next Grand Examination."
As he spoke, the demi-human youth still had that simple and honest expression of his, yet he spoke with great resolve.
Chen Changsheng was deeply moved, but he would not accept this heavy act of friendship, saying, "I have my own way."
He could not finish because Tang Thirty-Six"s hand fell on his shoulder while Xuanyuan Po"s hand extended forward like a bolt of lightning. These two schoolmates both understood Chen Changsheng"s personality very well and would not give him a single chance to convince them, yet in the next moment…they discovered that all their plans had completely failed, because Xuanyuan Po was not able to grab Chen Changsheng"s hand.
A small pair of hands extended from the side and held Xuanyuan Po"s hand.
They were Luoluo"s hands.