Chapter 167 – Two Long Battles
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
A few people had seen Tang Thirty-Six hand Zhexiu a sheet of paper, but no one a.s.sociated that sheet of paper with a silver banknote. This was because the impression the wolf youth had left on the common people had never once been a.s.sociated with something like money. Just like Luoluo and Xuanyuan Po, even if they personally witnessed this occurring, they would still find it difficult to believe.
Zhexiu walked into the Hall of Washing Away Dust, and Zhexiu walked out of the Hall of Washing Away Dust. His opponent did not walk out of the Hall of Washing Away Dust. Just like Gou Hanshi, he had once more won an indisputable victory, but he was only like Gou Hanshi in the result. His process in obtaining this victory attracted much more controversy than Gou Hanshi, because his opponent was once more so heavily injured that they had been sent straight out of the Education Palace.
The examinees watched as he walked down the stone steps and to the Orthodox Academy"s group at the forest"s edge.
Tang Thirty-Six was somewhat dumbfounded. "You used the status of a student of Star Seizer Academy to apply and you"re still using that pseudonym of Zhang Tingtao. That worthy fellow is basically your schoolmate; was it necessary for you to strike with such a heavy hand?"
Zhexiu did not respond for a few moments, apparently puzzled as to why Tang Thirty-Six cared about this, then answered, "I said that I would fight well."
Tang Thirty-Six"s silver banknote had made him very satisfied, so he had given one of his rare nods and even promised to fight well. To this wolf youth who didn"t comprehend and was too lazy to comprehend the so-called ways of the world, fighting well meant fighting with all his power, so the fate of his opponent could be easily imagined.
"So what have you come here for now?"
The gazes of the examinees were all focused on the forest"s edge, making Tang Thirty-Six feel a little pressured. He did not want the Orthodox Academy"s deal with Zhexiu to be known by others, but it had nothing to do with reputation. It was purely because he wanted to keep secret that Zhexiu could be bought with money.
Zhexiu was essentially the Orthodox Academy"s mercenary and it was naturally best if no one knew of such a powerful mercenary.
"To negotiate a price," Zhexiu replied.
Tang Thirty-Six understood that he was speaking of the next round.
Completely according to expectations, Zhexiu was fighting Gou Hanshi.
Luoluo and Xuanyuan Po lowered their heads to gawk at the gra.s.s in silence, in this way concealing their embarra.s.sment.
Chen Changsheng did not, as this was his matter. If they were to be ridiculed in the future, he believed that the target of this ridicule would be him and not Tang Thirty-Six.
"What you want, I can"t guarantee…that I have it, but I will do my best to get it for you," he said to Zhexiu.
Zhexiu stared into his eyes and said with a cold expression, "You must have it."
Chen Changsheng answered, "If I have it, I will give it you."
After a prolonged silence, Zhexiu said, "Okay."
He then turned to Tang Thirty-Six, and after another very long pause, said, "Three times?"
Tang Thirty-Six froze, then came to his senses. Forcefully suppressing his ecstasy, he calmly replied, "No problem."
Zhexiu nodded his head once more and then turned around, walking back to the edge of the crowd.
"It seems that this guy only knows how to kill. He has no idea how to negotiate a price."
Tang Thirty-Six sighed as he watched Zhexiu leave.
The price for Gou Hanshi was only three times the price for fighting that examinee from Star Seizer Academy. Zhexiu"s opening price had truly made him rather surprised.
He then recalled a matter and turned to look at Chen Changsheng, creasing his brow as he asked, "Do you know what he wants?"
It was evident that the wolf youth"s dear lack of money was only a part of the reason for which he was willing to help the Orthodox Academy. The most important reason was that he wanted to obtain something from Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng glanced at Luoluo and said, "I can roughly guess at what he wants. I"m just not sure that I can help him."
The final match of the round of eight was between Luoluo and Zhong Hui, the young scholar from Scholartree Manor.
Zhong Hui was truly worthy of rank nine on the Proclamation of Azure Sky. In the Hall of Washing Away Dust, Zhong Hui displayed incredibly powerful true essence, cultivation, and swordplay, succeeding…in lasting for the time it took to burn half a stick of incense1.
After the Li Palace announced the result, Zhong Hui silently left the Hall of Washing Away Dust.
Luoluo felt nothing as she watched the desolate figure of the young Scholartree Manor student departing. She quietly stood by the door, waiting for her next opponent.
She did not leave the Hall of Washing Away Dust, as she had requested to fight the first match in the round of four, and the powerful figures on the second floor had to give her a little face.
The door of the Hall of Washing Away Dust closed. After a while, it opened again.
Upon hearing a creak, Luoluo walked over and very carefully helped her opponent inside.
Her opponent this round was Chen Changsheng.
The ground washed by that rain still had a few moist grains of sand, but the stone steps running all along the edge of the round building were still clean and relatively dry.
Luoluo a.s.sisted Chen Changsheng down onto the stone steps and pa.s.sed over some water. After helping him take a sip, she asked, "How long does the medicine need to take effect?"
Chen Changsheng looked at the golden string wrapped around his ring finger and said, "It"s already a bit better. You don"t need to worry. If it"s still no good after a while, I"ll think of a way."
Luoluo said, "Teacher, then you should rest a little more."
Chen Changsheng looked to the second floor and thought to himself, is this appropriate?
The Hall of Washing Away Dust was the site of the matches for the Grand Examination. Once examinees entered, they placed all their minds on fighting, so they had little opportunity to take measure of this building"s appearance.
He certainly had the time to look over it now.
But he still felt a little uneasy.
"Won"t someone say something?" he asked Luoluo.
Luoluo had originally planned to say that she wasn"t afraid of the complaints from others, but when she thought of his cautious personality, her eyes lightly rolled and she said, "Then it"s fine if we chat a little."
Chat about what? Had the great banyan tree in the Orthodox Academy gotten thicker? Was it still possible to see that grocery store at the mouth of Hundred Flowers Lane by standing on the tree"s branches? Had a lot of snow piled up in the Orthodox Academy last winter?
"Teacher, just how did you beat Zhuang Huanyu?" Luoluo asked a question that everyone deeply cared about.
Chen Changsheng thought the question over and then carefully described the battle, leaving out only a few details.
Luoluo was naturally very shocked. Still somewhat fearful, she said, "Fortunately there was that bout of rain…"
Chen Changsheng nodded. Now that he thought about it, if that bout of cold rain had not fallen from the heavens, even if he had not been burned to death by star radiance, he would have taken serious injuries from the high temperatures.
Just where had that bout of rain come from?
"The Education Palace resides in His Holiness"s Green Leaf World. Only His Holiness can make it rain here."
Luoluo seemed to be pondering something, remaining quiet for a long time before saying, "Teacher, this matter seems to be getting more and more complicated."
Chen Changsheng said nothing. If that autumn rain really had been sent down by the Pope, what was the explanation?
He and the Orthodox Academy had been carefully nurtured by the conservative faction of the Orthodoxy.
Everyone knew that the conservative faction of the Orthodoxy, those powerful figures still loyal to the Chen Imperial clan, were targeting the Divine Empress and the Pope.
Why did the Pope want to help him? To be more precise, why had he saved him?
The entire continent knew that many questions were hidden behind the rebirth of the Orthodox Academy and the archbishop"s declaration.
As one of those involved, Chen Changsheng was even more aware. It was just that he had never considered this sort of problem in the past.
One reason was that he was not willing to. His goal had always been the first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination. The actions of the important characters in the capital had nothing to do with him.
Secondly, he could not understand the thoughts of those important characters. They were not people a youth like him could see through.
"At the very least, it looks right now like a benefit to me," he soothed the solemn-faced Luoluo.
Luoluo said, "I think that we might be able to borrow their power."
Chen Changsheng was rather confused. "How do we borrow their power?"
Luoluo"s gaze fell on the wounds on his chest and said, "Later on in the final match, take as many risks as possible."
Chen Changsheng understood what she meant.
If Luoluo was still going with her original intentions, she would have never advised him to do this, but since Chen Changsheng had to take first rank of the first banner, he had to do it.
She and Chen Changsheng both did not know what those important figures were thinking, but they knew that those important figures had already done a few things.
Many important personages wanted Chen Changsheng to fail, but there were also many of them that did not want Chen Changsheng to die.
If the Pope could cause a bout of rain in the Education Palace, he could bring down even more rain.
So Chen Changsheng should take risks, walking towards death to seek life. Only this way could he borrow the power of those important personages, perhaps borrow a few more bouts of rain from the Pope.
"Borrowing power" was just taking advantage of them.
Luoluo anxiously added, "But you have to pay attention to your safety."
Chen Changsheng rubbed her head and said, "Relax, nothing will happen to me."
Luoluo had a rather dejected expression. "My apologies. I can"t help Teacher today."
She had begged the Pope for an entire night to finally gain the right to partic.i.p.ate in the Grand Examination. Rankings were meaningless to her. What she wanted to do was escort Chen Changsheng. For instance, because she had defeated Zhong Hui in the last round, Chen Changsheng was now able to sit and rest on the stone steps instead of relying on his badly wounded body to fight against the supreme teachings of Scholartree Manor.
But in her view, this didn"t count for anything.
Her targets had been Tianhai Shengxue and Gou Hanshi.
Tianhai Shengxue had withdrawn because of her, but Gou Hanshi still remained.
The Hall of Washing Away Dust was very quiet.
It was very lively outside the Hall of Washing Away Dust, as no one was concerned about the final outcome of the match taking place within. Everyone knew what Princess Luoluo would do. The examinees had split into groups of two or three and discussed the earlier match and talked about possible ranks. They also speculated on just how strong Chen Changsheng was and how many of Gou Hanshi"s techniques he would be able to weather.
But as time pa.s.sed, the Hall of Washing Away Dust remained silent, that door remained closed, and the examinees began to feel somewhat bored. A few people even began to get drowsy.
Guan Feibai looked at the tightly shut door of the Hall of Washing Away Dust and said in irritation, "Just how is this reasonable?"
Liang Banhu looked at the forest"s edge, shook his head, and sighed, "Even someone like Tang Tang thinks this is shameless. Her Highness…how can she think this proper?"
Gou Hanshi said nothing, instead thinking about how the Orthodox Academy would seemingly stop at nothing to have Chen Changsheng get first rank of the first banner. Perhaps that last battle would not be so simple.
At the forest"s edge, Xuanyuan Po squatted on the ground, lost in thought. His former partner in squatting, Luoluo, had now been exchanged for Tang Thirty-Six. Countless gazes were cast in their direction, making them feel pressured and embarra.s.sed to raise their head. They were even too embarra.s.sed to talk, and could only mutter out a few songs.
"What does this count as?"
Within the Hall of Washing Away Dust, by the window on the second floor, one of the Sacred Hall archbishops looked at the young man and woman on the steps with an incredibly dour expression on his face.
Chen Changsheng and Luoluo were chatting, teacher and student huddled together and whispering together. This was actually a very beautiful sight, moving in its expression of youth.
The problem was that this was the Hall of Washing Away Dust, the dignified battleground for the matches of the Grand Examination, not the poolside in the Orthodox Academy or beneath the melon trellises of the Hundred Herb Garden.
Xue Xingchuan slightly frowned. "This…is not appropriate, right?"
Prince Chen Liu wanted to laugh, but for the sake of the other people present, he suppressed his laughter.
Mo Yu expressionlessly watched Chen Changsheng and Princess Luoluo, but a hint of irritation was visible on her brow.
Everyone knew what Princess Luoluo was up to. She wanted to make this match a resting period for Chen Changsheng, so the longer it was, the better. However, right now, the entire continent was anxiously awaiting the final ranking of the Grand Examination. Could it possibly be that the world would have to wait for as long as Luoluo and Chen Changsheng wanted to rest?
The most troublesome problem of all was that the Grand Examination did not have a rule restricting this sort of thing. Who said that the two opponents would have to engage in pitched battle the moment they stepped up? Who said that the opponents could not engage in a few sympathetic words with each other? Luoluo and Chen Changsheng had countless reasons or excuses to drag out the time and make this battle into a chat.
The Sacred Hall archbishop angrily said, "I implore Your Highness to go a little faster. If n.o.body moves, it will be judged that both partic.i.p.ants are inactive and thus eliminated."
A Li Palace priest precisely conveyed the archbishop"s words to the pair chatting on the stone steps.
Luoluo was quite incensed. "Does he not see that we"re acc.u.mulating energy? Who dares to eliminate the two of us?"
The Li Palace priest dearly wanted to curl his lip and say, Your Highness, do you think the whole world is blind? Is there such a thing as gathering energy for one hour, gathering energy side by side? But he didn"t dare say anything.
With a soft creak, the window on the second floor was finally pushed open for the first time.
Xue Xingchuan came down to the ground, walked up to Luoluo, and smiled as he whispered a few words to her.
Luoluo was still unwilling to rise and leave.
Chen Changsheng said, "I"ve rested enough. Let"s go out together; don"t make it too difficult for all these good sirs."
Luoluo had always placed his words above all, and she also knew that she could not keep occupying the Hall of Washing Away Dust forever. She helped him stand up and supported him as they walked out of the hall.
As Xue Xingchuan watched the pair go, he shook his head, seeming very helpless.
Just like that, the first match of the Grand Examination"s round of four was concluded.
Just as everyone had expected, Princess Luoluo conceded, at the same time gaining for Chen Changsheng a precious period of rest and recuperation.
Chen Changsheng had entered the final round of the Grand Examination.
He had taken another step towards that goal which had made him the laughingstock of the entire continent.
Yet the process he had taken to make this step had been somewhat ridiculous.
But he did not care.
Luoluo also did not care.
In the Grand Examination, each round of matches was faster than the last. Because both sides were getting stronger, even the slightest gap between them meant that victory and defeat could be decided in the s.p.a.ce of a few techniques. After the second round, each match required a very short amount of time, or else the final moment could not have been reached so quickly.
Chen Changsheng and Luoluo"s match had wasted no less than one hour, a time even longer than the last ten matches added together. Of course, everyone was well aware that these had been special circ.u.mstances, and only someone with as unique a status as Princess Luoluo"s could have possibly done such a thing.
But just when everyone believed that this match would be the longest match in this year"s Grand Examination, the second match of the round of four, Gou Hanshi versus Zhexiu, brought everyone boundless shock. This battle persisted for a very long time, and based on the situation, it seemed intent on continuing with a high chance of exceeding an hour.
As he heard those terrifying sounds sporadically rise up from the Hall of Washing Away Dust, Tang Thirty-Six grew increasingly solemn, the respect in his eyes growing deeper and deeper.
He turned to Chen Changsheng and sternly said, "Other than your life, you should give anything that that wolf cub wants from you."
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1. The time it took to burn a stick of incense was a unit of time in ancient China equivalent to five minutes, so Zhong Hui managed to last two and a half minutes.↩