Repugnant Gateway 1

by Zhi Bai

  As soon as they saw the envoys, the Great Cauldron Academy and his men who were going to attack immediately stopped, their faces turning ugly. They looked at Ding Shengxia, with a meaning in their eyes... This time, he failed.

  Ding Shengxia was completely enraged by An Zheng's actions. He continued to attack with his blade, one blade after another, faster and stronger than the last.

  "Stop."

  The leader of the team, field officer Qian Ji, said two words.

  Ding Shengxia clenched his teeth and continued to attack, not stopping at all.

  "Scram!"

  The colonel suddenly pulled out his blade and everyone saw a red light. It was the color of blood, and radiated a towering killing intent and chilliness.

  It was a Blood Drainage Saber, a saber that would make anyone who heard of it tremble in fear.

  As the blade came out, Ding Shengxia's body was sent flying backwards, more than ten metres away.

  Commander Qian Ji retracted his blade and coldly glanced at the people from the Great Cauldron Academy. Those people subconsciously retreated, their hands trembling.

  "Next."

  He reached out and pulled An Zheng away, "This is the first time the knife has been drawn out without being stained in blood. If you guys come again, I will make the knife drink blood."

  Ding Shengxia struggled to sit up and shouted at An Zheng: "I will definitely kill you!"

  An Zheng turned around, and pointed to the four bronze coins on the ground: "I'll reward you."

  Ding Shengxia slammed the ground fiercely, so much so that his eyeballs seemed to pop out of their sockets.

  Chapter 98 - The Martial Arts Examination

  Ding Shengxia stood up and shook off the clothes on his body.

  He picked up his saber and just as he took a step forward, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He couldn't help but fall forward. He was unconscious. The few Great Cauldron Academy s hurriedly ran over to help him, and then they quickly left the crowd.

  On the main street, Zhang Dingbang's two corpses were lying there, and no one cared about them.

  At the intersection, a young man wearing the Great Cauldron Academy's academy uniform stood there. He retrieved a large chunk of gold from his body and passed it to a passerby. "Help me bury that person's body."

  "Huh?"

  The passerby was stunned for a moment and dared not to go. However, when he saw the heavy piece of gold, he couldn't help but grab it. "Buried where?"

  "Whatever."

  The man from the Great Cauldron Academy said two words, then turned around and left.

  "What a weirdo."

  The passerby who had taken the money mumbled something. He then turned around and bought some cloth and grass curtains. Then, he hired someone to take the corpse outside the city and bury it. In total, he had only spent three taels of silver, but he still had enough left to live a good life for a long time. However, this person did not think about why the Fanggu did not send anyone over despite the fact that someone had died on the streets.

  This young man who was referred to as a strange person walked around a street, and when he arrived at an intersection, he coincidentally stopped Ding Shengxia and his group. When the people from the Great Cauldron Academy saw this person, they were all stunned and trembled in fear.

  "Su …" Senior brother Su. "

  One of the Great Cauldron Academy disciples reacted first and immediately bowed his head and cupped his fists. "Greetings, Senior Brother Su."

  The person who was called Senior Brother Su looked at Ding Shengxia and spoke as if he was talking to himself, "Don't send it back to the Academy, just send it directly to the home of Minister Ding of the Rites. His son is about to die, so he will think of more ways to save him. "

  Those people hurriedly nodded. "I'll listen to Senior Brother Su's arrangements."

  This man was Great Cauldron Academy's Su Feilun.

  "Who allowed you to kill An Zheng?"

  he asked.

  Someone quickly replied, "This is … This is what Principal Su has instructed me to do. "

  Su Feilun acknowledged: "The people from Great Cauldron Academy came out to fight. The two of them took turns to fight and lost, how embarrassing."

  With that, he turned and left, soon disappearing at the end of the street. The remaining people let out a long breath, as if they were granted amnesty. One of them asked: "Would Senior Brother Su go and find that An Zheng to retrieve our lost face?"

  Another person shook his head: "An Zheng... It wasn't worth Senior Brother Su to personally act. Senior Brother Su's goal is already an even higher place. "

  "I heard that Brother Su has broken through to the Primordial Realm?"

  "What's so strange about that? Even if Senior Brother Su has reached Captive Stage, it's nothing out of the ordinary. He's Su Feilun, the one and only Su Feilun in heaven and earth."

  They did not dare delay any longer, and carried the unconscious Ding Shengxia all the way to the house of the Minister of Rites' assistant, Ding Wu.

  An Zheng followed the six military officers and walked forward. He could not help but ask, "The person you taught a lesson to earlier was surnamed Ding, was he the son of, the Vice Minister of Rites?"

  "Yes!"

  Without even turning around, he replied with a single word.

  "Then why did you still dare to attack so heavily?"

  An Zheng asked with a smile.

  Commander Qianji replied: "If you don't kill him on the spot, it can't be considered as heavy."

  An Zheng asked again: "The person who told you to go back to the Army Headquarters was fake, right?"

  "Yes, but he has the military token."

  "The military has also been infiltrated, there are even iron plates that can be used to transfer you."

  "That's why not enough people died in the military."

  Commander Qianji replied with an expressionless face before speeding up his pace. An Zheng kept up with their speed, and in a short while, he was already at the army headquarters.

  The six people brought An Zheng to the entrance of the Military Department's President Chen Zaiyan's room, then stood by his side, wielding the blades in their hands. Just as An Zheng was about to knock on the door, he heard Chen Zaiyan say: "Come in."

  An Zheng pushed the door and entered, and saw Chen Zaiyan buried in a pile of documents. Other than these documents, there was also a bowl of rice and a dish of vegetables on the table. The rice was already cold and the dishes were already cold.

  Chen Zaiyan stared at the document, his hand feeling for the chopsticks, he picked up a mouthful of rice and placed it in his mouth. Then the chopsticks reached for the plate and pinched it, but the chopsticks didn't reach into the plate at all. He just put the chopsticks into his mouth and chewed on it a few times, but he didn't notice.

  "Take a seat first."

  Chen Zaiyan lifted the brush, wrote something on an official document, and then placed it by his side. The papers on his left were slightly disorganized and piled up. The right side was divided into three neat sections.

  "Everything has its priorities, these documents have to be sent to the Tiantong Palace immediately, and some of them just need to be handled in the army, so we have to break them down."

  Chen Zaiyan picked up the bowl and finished the rice in a few bites.

  An Zheng realized that he actually hadn't eaten a single mouthful of his food.

  Chen Zaiyan asked while reading the official documents: "What do you think?"

  An Zheng replied, "The empress dowager arranged it?"

  Chen Zaiyan nodded: "Of course it's her, if not who else could it be. You stayed in the King's East Warm Pavilion for more than an hour, and no one was there but you and the King. It would be strange if the Empress Dowager's men didn't make a move to flaunt her. Your Majesty, you are as thirsty as you are, so that is why I have been negligent. "

  "Colonel Qianji has injured Vice Minister Ding's son. Is Sir not afraid that
the matter will get out of hand?"

  "Make a ruckus? If Ding Wu dared to start a ruckus, he would have been the Minister of Rites long ago. This person was the Empress Dowager's lackey, but he was a fence-sitter. He knew that the empress dowager had great power, so he stayed by his side the entire time. However, he was also worried that the King would one day gain power, so he swayed back and forth. In the end, that good-for-nothing son of his is instead even more decisive than him. He knows that he can't move while leaning on that side. "

  Chen Zaiyan put down the official documents in his hands: It's the Martial Arts Academy entrance exam the day after tomorrow.

  An Zheng replied: "If I don't die before the day after tomorrow, I'm already prepared."

  Chen Zaiyan laughed, "You won't die. From today onwards, field officer Qian Ji will be at your side."

  An Zheng shook his head. "No need, I'm not used to having people by my side when I sleep, especially men."

  Chen Zaiyan sat up straight and stretched his neck: "The Army owes you this. In truth, you don't have that much authority in this matter. But you're in this position, the point where the two sides compete. However, this might not be a bad thing for you. Letting more people know your name will help in your career in the future. "

  An Zheng: "It's also possible that he died very quickly."

  Chen Zaiyan lowered his head and continued to read the official documents, "Everything has always been double-sided, some good and some bad. "If you can't wait until the right time, you will die. This is a normal development trajectory."

  An Zheng wanted to ask if the death of Shang Shu had anything to do with you, but when the words reached his mouth, he resisted it.

  Chen Zaiyan seemed to have sensed that An Zheng wanted to say something, but stopped in his tracks. He raised his head and glanced at An Zheng: "Everything is fine, everything is fine. Right now, I am in the military, and the military is still the military. This is already the best outcome. If I'm not in the military, this would be the Su Clan's backyard. You should go back and rest first. Prepare to face the entrance exams of the Martial Arts Academy. Oh yeah... As for whether or not I can participate in the Martial Arts Academy's entrance exam, I have already suggested it to the King, but the King does not oppose it. "

  Of course, An Zheng knew the reason why Mu Changyan didn't oppose this, because he had to look for the feeling of existence from time to time. Otherwise, everyone in great swallow would only know about the empress dowager and not the king.

  An Zheng nodded: "Thank you master."

  He stood up and prepared to leave, but Chen Zaiyan didn't even raise his head as he said this: "This matter should go smoothly, because … "Empress Dowager."

  This sentence was a little complicated, An Zheng could imagine how Chen Zaiyan was feeling right now.

  The following matter smoothly exceeded An Zheng's imagination. There would be an official document posted the next day, covering all the streets and alleys of Fanggu. The general meaning of the document was that if a woman also had the intention of returning the country, she should not be ignored. In short, those girls who met the requirements were allowed to apply to the Martial Arts Academy. Moreover, it was not only the Martial Arts Academy. There were also several other special academies.

  An Zheng suddenly understood the complexity of Chen Zaiyan's words … Her Majesty did do the right thing, but it was because of himself.

  Everyone knew that King Mu Changyan was only a puppet now, and the true power lay in the empress dowager's hands. Her Majesty had never claimed the throne herself, precisely because there had never been such a precedent before. But now, An Zheng's suggestion gave the empress dowager an opening. A woman can enlist in the army, then a woman can enlist in politics, then … Of course, a woman could be called a king.

  Of course, this document did not mention anything about An Zheng, and when this matter was announced in the imperial court, it did not mention An Zheng's name.

  From start to finish, this matter had been the empress dowager's desire and love for all the women in the world. It was her pursuit of fairness. Perhaps even An Zheng did not expect that the success of the last matter was due to the empress dowager.

  To An Zheng, the Martial Arts Academy's admission examination was nothing, so joining the Academy was not difficult at all.

  An Zheng just did not expect that there would be so many people paying attention to him.

  When An Zheng brought Du Shoushou, Qu Liuxi and Gu Qianye to the entrance of the Martial Arts Academy, the people on both sides of the street involuntarily clapped for him. On the ten li long street, tens of thousands of people were clapping non-stop. No matter how extravagant Her Majesty's praise was, the people still knew the cause of this matter.

  Without An Zheng, the Martial Arts Academy would not have expanded the number of people who could take the exam. Without An Zheng, women were not allowed to enter the official academy to cultivate.

  In fact, it wasn't that there weren't any sects in the capital without pure female cultivators, but because of the status of females, the heads of these sects were not qualified to be on the same level as the heads of other sects in the capital.

  Under the cheers and the applause of the crowd, An Zheng walked into the Martial Academy, and then, he saw a completely different scene.

  The supervisor captain, who was in charge of maintaining order, looked at An Zheng with a complicated expression, while the instructors who were standing afar had even more complicated expressions as they looked at An Zheng, there was no lack of hostility. Because of An Zheng's big ruckus at the Martial Academy, dozens of instructors had been detained by the Army Department. The instructor standing in the Martial Arts Academy didn't have a good relationship with the ones who had been dealt with, but he was still a colleague.

  Amongst them, there was an undisguised look of disgust, coming from the Martial Arts Academy's Vice Principal, Yan Xu.

  Everyone knew about Yan Xu's position in the Martial Arts Academy. The previous head of the Martial Arts Academy had been transferred to the Military Department, and then led his troops to die on the battlefield. At that time, no one even suspected that he was the new dean of the Martial Arts Academy.

  However, even he did not expect that Hao Pingan would actually transfer a scholar who did not know how to cultivate from the Military Department to become the Academy's Principal.

  Sanhai Meridian

  This scholarly man who looked weak, pale, and walked very shabbily was standing at the forefront of all the instructors. His aura was much weaker than before. However, the clothes he wore symbolized the supreme power of the Martial Arts Academy. After Hao Pingan died, the newly appointed Military Chief, Chen Zaiyan, saw Sang Hai Jing and reconfirmed his position as Sang Hai Jing's Principal. This way, Yan Xu's resentment would be even greater.

  At least seven hundred examinees filed in. These people all looked very excited and high-spirited.

  However, in reality, there were less than a hundred people who could remain in the Martial Arts Academy. In addition, these seven hundred people had passed the first selection. If the initial number was counted, it would reach as high as twenty-nine hundred.

  "How tragic!"

  A phrase suddenly appeared in An Zheng's mind. These examinees were going to face the most tragic elimination system.

  However, those who had successfully entered the Martial Arts Academy had just begun the more tragic elimination round. This was because they would not only be facing a battlefield in the future, but also those golden carps that were born to shine.

  Chapter 99 - What for?

  Xiao Qi Dao had also wanted to participate in the Martial Arts Academy's recruitment, but An Zheng persuaded him and gave up.

  An Zheng advised him like this, "Do you think it's appropriate for an eight year old child like you to attend the Martial Arts Academy's recruitment examination? Is that true? Can any of those people even beat you? If you go and beat them all up, would they still be able t
o live? "

  Although the empress dowager Su Qingnuan had ordered for girls to be allowed to participate in the entrance examinations for the Martial Arts Academy and the other academies, there were actually not many people who came. This was a time when ideas needed to be changed, and even if the Empress Mother had allowed it, Father and Mother would not have allowed it. The main reason for this is that a girl like you should be learning how to be a girl at home. He did not know how many girls' dreams he had strangled with such an unoriginal explanation.

  The Martial Arts Academy's assessment was very interesting. There was no written examination.

  Since the Martial Arts Academy had enough instructors and the Military Department would send people to assist them, over seven hundred examinees were divided into twenty examination halls and conducted at the same time. The examiner set the questions in the morning, and the people below relied on their reactions to complete the questions. In the afternoon, the martial arts exam would be held. It would be the main event. The martial arts exam was divided into three parts. The first part was a test of one's cultivation level, relying on the Nine Star Terrace. The second was riding. Swallows loved to fight, so riding was a must. As the relationship between the State of Yan and the nomads in the north had always been good, there had always been a lot of war horses. This was also why only the State of Yan possessed the powerful Heavy Armored Cavalry Tie Liuhuo. In the other sixteen nations, they simply could not choose a warhorse that was outstanding enough to carry a Heavy Armored Cavalry.

  The third was a competition, where one's opponent was randomly selected by the examiner. Everyone's name was written on a slip of paper and placed in a box, which was then selected by the examiner.

  After taking the martial arts exam for half a day, at most he would only be able to finish one.

  According to the Old Huo, An Zheng's luck was always that strange. Sometimes, good luck, who didn't even know how to reason, would suddenly fall from the sky and smash his face into the ground.