Chapter 166 – This Is Also Okay
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
At this sort of moment, that Chen Changsheng had still remembered that he had earlier taken off his shoes naturally meant that he had won.
As expected, the one to come out next was not Zhuang Huanyu, but a Li Palace priest announcing the result of the match.
Under the astonished gazes of the examinees, Chen Changsheng carried his shoes and slowly walked barefoot down the stone steps.
Tang Thirty-Six had already run over, and supported him while also relieving him of the shoes.
Chen Changsheng was somewhat embarra.s.sed. "You"re too polite."
Although he was embarra.s.sed, he did not refuse Tang Thirty-Six"s support. He had suffered rather significant injuries, and though he had received the treatment of Sacred Light within the Hall of Washing Away Dust, he was still very weak.
Tang Thirty-Six sighed, "Starting from today, I probably only have the right to carry your shoes. Isn"t it high time I start kissing up to you?"
This was a famous saying in the Great Zhou.
Tang Thirty-Six sighed in sorrow, but his eyes were bursting with joy.
Xuanyuan Po and Luoluo also came over.
Within the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
Zhuang Huanyu lay on a stretcher with his right shoulder somewhat collapsed and half his body covered in blood. His eyes were closed, his ashen lips trembling, his hands clenched into fists.
The room on the second floor was very quiet. All the important figures were silent, none of them clear on how to a.s.sess this battle.
Many matches had already taken place in the Grand Examination, and Chen Changsheng and Zhuang Huanyu had not been the strongest, nor was their match the most intense. That silent fight between Zhexiu and Guan Feibai was still the most intense. Similarly, this was not the most exquisite of matches. That t.i.tle went to the battle between Mount Li disciples Qi Jian and Liang Banhu.
But this match had been full of twists and turns. Chen Changsheng had actually managed to have a second initial Meditative Introspection and broken through in the middle of the battle, at the same time destroying Zhuang Huanyu"s extremely firm performance. It was truly a battle worth reflecting on.
Outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust, everyone was looking at the forest"s edge, and all was still.
The crowd did not know how Chen Changsheng had won, and as they speculated, they grew even more flabbergasted.
Zhuang Huanyu was the pride of the Heavenly Dao Academy, the strongest of the capital"s academies, yet even he had failed to halt Chen Changsheng"s progress. Would the archbishop"s declaration on that day in the Li Palace truly become reality? Would Chen Changsheng really take first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination?
By the gurgling stream, the disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect remained quiet for a very long time.
Guan Feibai watched as Luoluo helped Chen Changsheng under the white poplar tree and sighed, "His famous reputation is truly not false."
"Chen Changsheng is not famed for his cultivation or fighting, nor is he known for his luck, which makes his performance all the more extraordinary."
Gou Hanshi looked over at Chen Changsheng, who was leaning against the poplar with his eyes closed in rest, and silently thought, for a youth who doesn"t know how to cultivate or fight to reach this level in just a few months must have required an enormous amount of time or energy. It wouldn"t be overboard to say that he was even burning his own life. But is the first rank of the first banner really worth it?
The silence outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust was broken by coughing from the forest"s edge.
Chen Changsheng leaned against the white poplar as he constantly coughed, seemingly in great pain. With each cough, the wounds on his chest would open and blood would seep out.
Relying on his apathy towards death, he had barely managed to defeat Zhuang Huanyu, but he had still paid a ma.s.sive price. It was plain to see that his injuries could not possibly recover before the Grand Examination concluded.
Luoluo somewhat hurriedly began to bandage him up while Tang Thirty-Six followed Chen Changsheng"s directions and searched their bags for medicine.
Xuanyuan Po carried over a large bowl of clear water while Tang Thirty-Six succeeded in finding the pills that Chen Changsheng required.
Chen Changsheng took down the pills with the help of this bowl of water and closed his eyes in exhaustion to continue his rest.
Luoluo inspected his pale complexion, feeling the situation to be somewhat unbearable. She wanted to say something, but ultimately kept quiet.
In Chen Changsheng"s current wounded state, any random examinee taking part in the Grand Examination could defeat him, let alone his probable future opponent Gou Hanshi.
But she found herself incapable of voicing advice urging him to stop fighting.
Tang Thirty-Six and Xuanyuan Po also could not.
Earlier in the Hall of Washing Away Dust, even the Li Palace priests found the wounds on his body unbearable and advised him to withdraw.
Yes, what was meant by "unbearable" here was not that no one could bear to see Chen Changsheng continue fighting with such heavy injuries, but that they could not bear to see him stop after persisting to this point.
Chen Changsheng would not stop fighting, and the matches of the Grand Examination would not temporarily stop for the sake of his injuries.
The matches continued. Gou Hanshi entered the Hall of Washing Away Dust, and just like in the previous rounds, defeated his opponent, the girl from Holy Maiden Peak, as serenely as the spring rain moistened the world1.
What made the people of the Orthodox Academy feel uneasy was that even in this late stage, Gou Hanshi"s opponent was still uninjured.
This sort of perfect control represented an absolute advantage in strength. After Tianhai Shengxue"s withdrawal, the gap between Gou Hanshi and the remaining examinees was rather despair-inducing.
The Orthodox Academy could only entrust their hopes to Zhexiu, who was next to fight.
Based on the drawing of lots, the wolf youth, ranked third on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, would encounter Gou Hanshi if he defeated his opponent this round. In reality, of the examinees present, only he and Luoluo could threaten Gou Hanshi. It was impossible for Luoluo to fight against Gou Hanshi, so Zhexiue ended up being the only choice.
Zhexiu"s opponent this round was a young military officer of Star Seizer Academy.
Zhexiue did not immediately walk into the Hall of Washing Away Dust but instead walked to the forest"s edge.
The examinees who saw this were all rather astonished. When they thought about how Tang Thirty-Six had gone looking for Zhexiu earlier, they became very curious as to what was going on.
Zhexiu walked to the forest"s edge and said impa.s.sively to Tang Thirty-Six, "Give money."
Upon hearing these two words, the faces of both Luoluo and Xuanyuan Po twitched. Only now did they realize that what Tang Thirty-Six had said earlier was true.
Even Chen Changsheng opened his eyes.
It turned out that this wolf youth famed for being cold-blooded and lonely was actually desperate for money?
Tang Thirty-Six had a particularly intense reaction to this demand. Suppressing his voice, he angrily retorted, "You even want money for this sort of opponent?"
Zhexiu remained expressionless, even appearing rather dull. "Why can"t I?"
"Can"t you win easily?" Tang Thirty-Six grumbled., "If I don"t give you money, does that mean you can"t win against that fellow?"
Zhexiu thought this over, then said, "But you still need me to fight Gou Hanshi."
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "We"ll discuss the price in the next round."
Zhexiu shook his head. "In order to fight Gou Hanshi, I first need to win this match, so you also have to give me money for this match."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at Zhexiu like he was some sort of monster. Realizing that Zhexiu had no intention of changing his own mind, he could only concede, extracting a silver banknote from his sleeve and handing it over.
Zhexiu glanced at the banknote and was incredibly satisfied by the number written atop it. Thus, he gave a rare nod of his head and said, "I will fight well."
After saying this, he took his leave of the forest"s edge and walked towards the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
Luoluo widened her eyes and asked Tang Thirty-Six, "This is also okay?"
Xuanyuan Po gazed at Zhexiu"s somewhat lonely back and took in a cold breath of air before saying, "This is also okay?"
______________
1. "春雨润物", which I translate as "spring rain moistening the world", is usually connected to a descriptor about the noiseless nature of this sort of rain. The source of this description is the poem "Pleasant Rain on a Spring Night" by Du Fu, which contains the line "润物细无声", which roughly translates as "finely and silently moistening all things".↩