Way of Choices II_Youths We Were, Schoolmates

by Mao Ni

  Chen Changsheng said nothing.

  "What does it mean to be strong? For oneself to be strong and then to be strong together with your companions, that is what it means to be truly strong. I don't hold the extravagant hope that I can rank first, I only hope that the number of people from the Li Palace Academy on the rankings surpass the Heavenly Dao Academy and Star Seizer, letting it become… the head of the Six Ivies. At the very least, I will not drag down the Li Palace, but what about you? When the Grand Examination comes and you have to step onto stage to fight, will you still have as many tricks as you had during the Ivy Festival? What does it matter if you've read extensively? What does it matter if your knowledge is comparable to Gou Hanshi's? If Gou Hanshi were not at Ethereal Opening, what right would he have to be ranked second in the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws and to have even Qiushan Jun respect him?"

  Su Moyu said with a grave expression, "To only read and not know how to put it into practice, many of this sort of person can be found in the private schools of the countryside. You believe that you can help your companions, but no, they are the ones that are helping you. Without them, you would just be a useless scholar; you can only be the Orthodox Academy's burden."

  Tang Thirty-Six taunted, "It sounds to me that you're more worried about the Orthodox Academy's grades than we are."

  "Of course."

  Su Moyu slightly raised his head, exposing his feelings on the matter for all to see. "I'm a very conservative person, and just like many conservative people within the Li Palace and the academies, I hold a boundless yearning and fondness for the glorious past of the Orthodox Academy. We all look forward to seeing the Orthodox Academy's revival. That is why I'm saying all this to you. I hope that you can work harder, and I hope that by the time of the Grand Examination, you can at least have succeeded at Purification. Even if you are still a burden on the Orthodox Academy, you don't have to put on too unsightly of a display."

  After saying all this, he finally yielded the path.

  Chen Changsheng very rarely saw someone so serious, grave, and even somewhat wooden. He felt very depressed and helpless, then suddenly thought about himself and thus began to sympathize with Tang Thirty-Six and the others.

  Tang Thirty-Six did not think that Su Moyu and Chen Changsheng were the same type of person. Although they both seemed wooden and each had their own set of ideals and persistence, Chen Changsheng very rarely imposed his views on others.

  He knew that Chen Changsheng was feeling somewhat downcast and so he found Su Moyu even more unpleasant. He thought, For what reason can you look down from on high and instruct us on the Orthodox Academy's future?

  He sneered, "Is it interesting to talk such nonsense?"

  Su Moyu proudly declared, "Once you surpass me on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, come and tell me again that what I said was wrong."

  Tang Thirty-Six tidied his blue gown and proudly replied, "Then let's fight."

  With a wooden expression, Su Moyu refused. "I won't fight with you."

  Tang Thirty-Six froze, then asked, "If you don't fight with me, how can I surpass you?"

  Su Moyu explained, "I promised the principal that before the Grand Examination, I would safeguard my mind and nurture my Qi, refusing any fights."

  Enraged, Tang Thirty-Six asked, "Isn't this too shameful?"

  At this question, the students of the Li Palace Academy began to berate him one by one, but Su Moyu's expression did not change. Seemingly indifferent to both praise and humiliation, he said, "We'll meet at the Grand Examination. What's the rush?"

  Tang Thirty-Six angrily answered, "Then doesn't that mean before the changing of ranks for the Proclamation of Azure Sky, I won't be able to slap you in the face?"

  Su Moyu calmly replied, "You can take it that way."

  Tang Thirty-Six was on the verge of being so oppressed that he was going insane. He decided to ignore that Priest Huo and the teachers on the side, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword so that he could go and chop at Su Moyu once or twice.

  Chen Changsheng's hand fell on his shoulder as he shook his head.

  He could clearly tell that Su Moyu, this young genius of the Li Palace Academy, was not someone who liked humiliating his rivals. His nature was just somewhat awkward, too abiding of the rules, a conservative. He esteemed authority and saw the Proclamation of Azure Sky and other such rankings as extremely important. He also regarded promises with paramount importance. Without taking into account the fact that the many seniors of the Li Palace on the two sides of the Divine Avenue would not let Tang Thirty-Six attack, even if Tang Thirty-Six chopped his sword at him, Su Moyu, with his personality, might just stand there and let him do it.

  Furthermore, there were still some inevitabilities in this matter. Even if Tang Thirty-Six chopped Su Moyu into a flower or spoke a mouthful of flowery phrases, he would not be able to resolve the inevitabilities that Su Moyu spoke of.

  His inability to cultivate was his shortcoming, so his words lacked force, and so people looked down their noses at him and derided him as someone who lived off women. He had to think of a way to resolve his problems with Purification so that he could correct the prejudices and biases of the world, and it was only this way that he could prove himself in the Grand Examination.

  Of course, there was an even more important reason for participating in the Grand Examination besides just proving himself, and that companion of his required that he resolved this problem of Purification. Today, Su Moyu had done nothing more than bring this problem to light.

  There was another person present who was in a foul mood. Xuanyuan Po stared at Su Moyu, unable to hold back his thoughts. "With that little chicken body of yours, you have the nerve to teach us what being strong means?"

  "You? Talk to me once you get on the Proclamation of Azure Sky."

  Su Moyu glanced at him, then turned and walked back to the Li Palace Academy as the crowd laughed at Xuanyuan Po.

  Compared to the tall and sturdy body of this demi-human youth, the normal human youth that was Su Moyu seemed much thinner and weaker, but his words were still very forceful.

  In the end, strength had nothing to do with one's body.

  One was the thirty-third-ranked genius on the Proclamation of Azure Sky while the other was a demi-human youth who had just come from his tribe by the Red River to the flourishing capital of humanity to begin his studies. How could the two possibly be compared?

  Xuanyuan Po thought and thought, but realized that he couldn't find a way to refute Su Moyu.

  Chen Changsheng gave him an apologetic smile.

  Just then, Xuanyuan Po heard someone call out to him.

  The voice was very far and very faint, but he could clearly hear that someone truly was calling him.

  Bewildered, he turned to the depths of the Li Palace and asked, "Who's calling me?"

  The hearing and vision of demi-humans was quite a bit stronger than that of ordinary humans. The human students by the Divine Avenue did not hear what he had heard and believed he was playing the fool to dilute the earlier awkwardness, so they couldn't help but laugh.

  But soon after, that voice came from the depths of the Li Palace to the Divine Avenue.

  It was a resounding voice that spoke with great clarity.

  No one was calling Xuanyuan Po's name.

  A person was announcing Xuanyuan Po's name.

  "Xuanyuan Po, the capital's Orthodox Academy, one hundred and forty-eighth on the Azure Sky."

  The autumn breeze blew through the forest, the yellow leaves rustling in response. All was quiet on the Divine Avenue.

  Xuanyuan Po, his mouth ajar, was mystified as to what had just happened.

  Countless gazes stared at him.

  The young students in the autumn forest were utterly stunned.

  The Proclamation of Azure Sky was changing its ranks?

  How?

  And how could this guy get on the proclamation?

  Chapter 113 – The Proclamation of Azure Sky has
New Entrants (II)

  A bright and clear voice came from the depths of the Li Palace. From the direction, it most likely came from the Hall of Announcements and was using a sound-projecting array.

  The crowd were very sure that they had not misheard, so both sides of the Divine Avenue were cast into absolute silence. After a moment, whispered conversations began to rise, and then they exploded into an uproar. Only now did the crowd completely come to their senses and realize what had happened. It turned out that the news that the Red Goose had brought from far away was actually the new ranking for the Proclamation of Azure Sky!

  "The new Proclamation of Azure Sky!" Many young students called out so many times in their shock that their voices turned hoarse.

  It was clearly late autumn, so why was a new ranking for the Proclamation of Azure Sky coming out?

  Countless years ago, when the demons were still invading from the north, in order to motivate young experts to diligently cultivate and bravely strive for first place, various powers headed by the Orthodoxy began to establish rankings, with demi-human cultivators being added later on. With the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets in charge of making and promulgating the rankings, no one had ever doubted the fairness of the proclamations, as each proclamation was ultimately personally examined and approved by the Elder of Heavenly Secrets.

  As the leader of the Storms of the Eight Directions, the Elder of Heavenly Secrets possessed a supreme intelligence, profound stores of knowledge, and sublime virtue, receiving the respect of all.

  Of all the rankings promulgated by the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, 'Liberation', 'Golden Distinction', and 'Azure Sky' were the three most famous, referred to by the masses as the Proclamations of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

  In order to keep the original intention for which these rankings of experts were created, as well as avoid human experts fighting amongst themselves for fame and thus weakening their ability to fight against the demons, the Proclamation of Liberation had for a very long time only been orally transmitted amongst a small group of people. The Proclamation of Golden Distinction was only posted. Only the Proclamation of Azure Sky—in order to motivate young experts to vie against each other—was publicly announced to the world, placed on stone walls in front of the Six Ivies, the Longevity Sect, and other such places.

  There was no set time at which a new Proclamation of Azure Sky was promulgated, but over the many years, a sort of convention had been formed. Every year after the capital's Grand Examination, the rankings would be changed once. Other than this, a changing of rankings would occur after each Boiling Stone Summit, which was held every three to five years. Thus, the rankings were usually changed once a year with very few exceptions.

  And in the most recent twenty years, the Proclamation of Azure Sky had only twice changed rankings early.

  Those two occasions had been under special circumstances, because two geniuses had appeared far too suddenly and were far too dazzling. If the rankings had not been promptly changed, the fairness of the Proclamation of Azure Sky would have faced severe questioning, and even the power and prestige of the Elder of Heavenly Secrets would be shaken. Even those young geniuses that were ranked on the Proclamation of Azure Sky would not have felt their rankings to be legitimate.

  The reason that the Proclamation of Azure Sky's rankings had been changed several years ago was Qiushan Jun, and the most recent incident was because of Xu Yourong. The Proclamation of Azure Sky had already been changed once this year, at the conclusion of this year's Grand Examination in the spring, and there was no Boiling Stone Summit this year either, so why was there suddenly a new ranking in the late autumn? Could it be that another person like Qiushan Jun and Xu Yourong had appeared this year?

  The cries of shock from the two sides of the Divine Avenue gradually ceased. The crowd still found it difficult to suppress their astonishment, racking their minds for what could have happened recently. The Ivy Festival? No, the Ivy Festival was held every year, and it was just a rehearsal for the Grand Examination. No one had ever heard about it influencing the Proclamation of Azure Sky. Some people inadvertently gazed at Xuanyuan Po, the confusion and perplexity in their minds deepening.

  Xuanyuan Po was also very shocked. He was an unsophisticated demi-human youth who grew up in the wilderness with his tribe, but even someone like him knew of the Proclamation of Azure Sky. After all, this was a ranking that every young genius longed to attain, and it was a goal that he too had once strived for. But even he could not understand how he had managed to be ranked on the Proclamation of Azure Sky.

  Although he was ranked at one hundred and forty-eight of the Proclamation of Azure Sky—which, according to how the rankings were read in the past, was probably the final position on the ranking this time, not a very glamorous ranking—it had been known that every young expert under the age of twenty, excluding demons, had the right to compete for a place on the Proclamation of Azure Sky. Ranking within the Proclamation of Azure Sky was an incredibly difficult task. The academies of the capital were constantly abuzz with talk of wanting to get on the Proclamation of Azure Sky and how difficult it was to do so. To be ranked was already an extraordinary accomplishment.

  Of course, those truly monstrous young geniuses like Qiushan Jun and Gou Hanshi who entered the Proclamation of Golden Distinction before the age of twenty were another thing altogether.

  Xuanyuan Po himself did not understand how he was able to rank on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, so other people would naturally find it difficult to understand as well. Many people recognized Xuanyuan Po and knew that he had once been a new student highly valued by Star Seizer Academy. However, on the first night of the Ivy Festival, before he could show his skills, he was crippled by Tianhai Ya'er. Even the imperial physicians and professors of Star Seizer Academy admitted that his wounds could not be cured, so how did he suddenly appear on the Proclamation of Azure Sky?

  Tang Thirty-Six stood on his toes and patted Xuanyuan Po on the shoulder, stirring the still-stunned youth from his daze as he sighed, "Pretty good—what have you been doing recently? Sneaking out in the middle of the night and fighting? Don't tell me you went back to Star Seizer Academy to look for people to fight?"

  Many people present thought the same as Tang Thirty-Six. It seemed that Xuanyuan Po's injuries were already cured and that he had even engaged in private bouts with some youth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, or else how could he enter the Proclamation of Azure Sky? As for how a private matter was known by the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, this did not require an explanation. With the full support of White Emperor City and all the factions of the human world, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets knew everything in the world.

  Tang Thirty-Six turned to Chen Changsheng and asked, "When did you cure his injuries? Why didn't you say anything? We should have at least downed a few cups of wine to celebrate."

  "Drinking wine isn't good for your health," Chen Changsheng said out of habit. Then he realized what was being asked and shook his head. "Xuanyuan's injuries truly are improving, but they haven't completely recovered."

  Tang Thirty-Six slightly creased his brow and said to Xuanyuan Po, "Since your injuries aren't completely cured, you shouldn't fight. There's no meaning in striving for a momentary rank on the Proclamation of Azure Sky."

  Xuanyuan Po shook his head in denial. "I've spent my entire time in the Orthodox Academy with you guys, eating and cooking. I've never left, not even once."

  Tang Thirty-Six asked in shock, "Then how did you get into the Proclamation of Azure Sky?"

  Xuanyuan Po honestly answered, "I also don't know."

  Tang Thirty-Six was too shocked to speak. He thought to himself, This guy journeyed from the remote lands of the demi-humans to the human world and has only been here for half a year. His heavy injuries still haven't fully recovered and he hasn't even fought a match, but he entered the Proclamation of Azure Sky? Could the Elder of Heavenly Secrets have gone senile, or is this fellow a bastard of the White Emperor? That
would make him Luoluo's brother from a different mother, but on that night when the two were talking, they didn't seem similar…

  His thoughts began to trail off into all sorts of possibilities, and the conjectures of many people in the crowd had also reached rather absurd levels.

  Thinking was a fast process, so in reality, not much time had passed. After a clamor of noise, the Divine Avenue quickly fell silent.

  The Li Palace's Hall of Announcements continued to send the voice through the sound-projecting array.

  This voice was bright and clear, refreshing as the autumn breeze.

  The commentary the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets gave for Xuanyuan Po was very simple and similarly refreshing.

  "Abundant true essence and great strength. Injury is curable, and good prospects if secret techniques can be found. Luck is extremely good, meeting a wise teacher in the capital, thus placing him at the end of the ranking."

  The most important use of the Proclamation of Azure Sky was to motivate young talents to strive forward, so every time a new ranking was issued, a commentary or reason was given so as to avoid any arguments. Those sparse commentaries were extremely simple yet very exquisite. Moreover, everyone would be convinced by them, as these commentaries had been personally written by the Elder of Heavenly Secrets.

  The meaning of these words was this: his potential was extraordinary and his strength astonishing. The right arm crippled by Tianhai Ya'er could be treated, and once his injury was cured, if he was able to cultivate in one of the secret techniques of the demi-human experts appropriate for himself, much could be expected of his future. The most important information in this commentary was that he had encountered an excellent teacher in the capital.

  Xuanyuan Po earnestly listened and thought, My teacher is Princess Luoluo and she's naturally excellent beyond compare, and Her Highness's teacher… He inadvertently turned to Chen Changsheng. At this point, Tang Thirty-Six had also understood the meaning of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets' commentary and also turned to Chen Changsheng. He couldn't help but ruefully shake his head.