by Mao Ni
Way of Choices
Book I
Youths We Were, Schoolmates
Written by Mao Ni
Translated by Hypersheep325
Edited by R E Druin
Translation Checked by Hypersheep325
Final Review & E-Book Formatting by VideoMantic
© 2017 by Gravity Tales
All rights reserved. Published 2017.
Originally published as 择天记.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chinese Measurement Reference Guide
Prologue – Descending the Mountain
Chapter 1 – I Changed My Mind
Chapter 2 – Why?
Chapter 3 – This is a Crude Name, But…
Chapter 4 – Heavenly Dao Academy
Chapter 5 – The Blue-Clothed Youth Thirty-Six
Chapter 6 – Joy Upon Opening the Book
Chapter 7 – The Meeting of Chen and Tang
Chapter 8 – Seizing the Stars
Chapter 9 – Did I Do Something Wrong?
Chapter 10 – What Day Will I Soar Up to the Azure Sky?
Chapter 11 – These Two Kids
Chapter 12 – A Friend That Makes Others Speechless, Part One
Chapter 13 – A Friend That Makes Others Speechless, Part Two
Chapter 14 – Xu Yourong
Chapter 15 – A Black Goat
Chapter 16 – A Single Academy
Chapter 17 – The Orthodox Academy's New Student, Part One
Chapter 18 – The Orthodox Academy's New Student, Part Two
Chapter 19 – The Orthodox Academy's New Student, Part Three
Chapter 20 – The First Page
Chapter 21 – Reading Method
Chapter 22 – Just This Simple
Chapter 23 – The Sea of Stars
Chapter 24 – A Myriad of Stars, Only One Can Be Chosen
Chapter 25 – The Dew Platform and the Hundred Herb Garden
Chapter 26 – Accumulation
Chapter 27 – Already Many Years
Chapter 28 – Climbing over the Wall and Seeing a Black Robe
Chapter 29 – One Remark Startles the Wind and Rain
Chapter 30 – Old Books in Exchange for a New Day
Chapter 31 – When the Sky Was Falling, He Stood Before Her
Chapter 32 – Teacher, Just Accept Me
Part Chapter 33 – Acknowledging a Teacher, Part One
Chapter 34 – Acknowledging a Teacher, Part Two
Chapter 35 – Pervert? Piece of Trash?
Chapter 36 – Thank You
Chapter 37 – The First Lesson
Chapter 38 – Instructing
Chapter 39 – From the Hundred Herb Garden to the Orthodox Academy
Chapter 40 – The First Night
Chapter 41 – Zhuang Huanyu
Chapter 42 – Laughter
Chapter 43 – The Little Monster of the Temple Seminary
Chapter 44 – My Name Is Luoluo
Chapter 45 – Tigers Stirring Storms
Chapter 46 – Mao Qiuyu
Chapter 47 – Silhouettes and Green Oranges
Chapter 48 – Atop the Banyan Tree
Chapter 49 – Teaching Stick
Chapter 50 – Copper Needles
Chapter 51 – Somewhat Messy
Chapter 52 – Attending the Feast
Chapter 53 – Within Weiyang Palace
Chapter 54 – A Spring Breeze Comes out of the Darkness
Chapter 55 – A Question of Character
Chapter 56 – A Question of Fairness
Chapter 57 – The Prisoner of Tong Palace
Chapter 58 – Charging Alone into the Dragon Pond
Chapter 59 – A Youth's Soliloquy Before a Great Black Dragon
Chinese Measurement Reference Guide
Way of Choices is a Chinese novel and uses Chinese measurements. In some cases, such as Chinese inch (寸) or the Chinese foot (尺), the measurements are similar enough that they are directly translated as such. Other terms, such as zhang (丈), which is equivalent to ten Chinese feet, have no good English equivalent. This table gives approximations of these Chinese measurements for imperial and metric.
Length
Chinese
Imperial
Metric
Chinese inch (寸)
~1 inch
~3 centimeters
Chinese foot (尺)
~1 foot
~33 centimeters
Zhang (丈)
~3.6 yards
~3 meters
Li (里)
~0.3 miles
500 meters
10 Chinese inches = 1 Chinese foot | 10 Chinese foot = 1 zhang | 1500 zhang = 1 li
Area
Chinese
Imperial
Metric
Mu (亩)
~0.17 acres
~666 square meters
Qing (顷)
~17 acres
~7 hectares
100 mu = 1 qing
Prologue – Descending the Mountain
The world was relative.
This figure belonged to a thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenager. The Center Continent and the Great Western Continent faced each other across the distance of the vast ocean. The lands of the east were relatively higher, and the sky also seemed to be higher. The clouds and mist incessantly made their way there, rising from the lands and seas. Ultimately, they all converged and did not disperse for the entire year.
This place was the Cloud Grave, the grave of all the world's clouds.
In the deepest depths of the Cloud Grave was a solitary mountain, its peak piercing into the void, the place that it led, a mystery.
In the legends, the world consisted of five continents. Every continent possessed different sights and scenery, but only the powerful existences that entered the Divine Domain would be able to see them all. To normal people, the legends were just legends. They did not know where the other continents were, did not know how to get to them, or that the solitary mountain within the Cloud Grave was the path to the other continents.
Naturally, there were also none who had seen the scenery above the clouds. Here, the cloud layer was like white down, spreading off in every direction, seemingly without end. Above it, behind that void, a mirror, was an endless black abyss. Within this abyss were countless stars.
Suddenly, two stars began to glow, growing brighter and brighter. As it turned out, they were approaching the mirror at high speed. Only when those two stars arrived in front of the mirror did it become evident that they were actually two balls of sacred and pure flames.
A spider-web of cracks appeared in this mirror that separated the real world from the night, before it instantly repaired itself.
Those two balls of pure and sacred flames had, through some mystical method, appeared on the side of the mirror that faced the real world. The thin air ignited and began to ripple and contort endlessly. They were not sacred flames, but the eyes of something.
The entire world was disturbed by its colossal descent. Rays of light shot out continuously as a mountainous shadow cast itself over the surface of the clouds. Space began to twist as if it were about to crack.
A great Golden Dragon appeared between the void and the clouds.
Its massive body completely obscured the red sun in the distance. The countless li that was the world above the clouds grew dim and the temperature rapidly dropped. Crystals of ice began to form within the clouds and reflected innumerous rays of light, transforming into strange flickering mirrors of crystal. The heavens and earth changed colors. This was the majesty of a supreme existence.
The great Golden Dragon surveyed the world, its eyes indifferent.
It had seen the vista above the clouds many times.
The great Golden Dragon flew towards that solitary mountain on the horizon. As it grew closer, its massive and terrifying body sank into the clouds, submerging out of sight. The boundless mist was torn apart by its tremendous and alarming figure. The cliffs of the solitary mountain were craggy and rugged, barren of plants or even moss. A deathly stillness hung over it, similar to a grave.
Just like that, the dragon continued to soar down into the depths of the fog, passing through seemingly endless days and nights. How far it flew was a mystery, but from beginning to end, it was always amongst the fog, not encountering anything else. As it flew deeper, it could faintly make out moss growing on the cliffs, and the clouds and fog were much thicker than the clouds up above. Perhaps because of the pressure it exuded, many crystals began to form in the clouds. They were water droplets, causing the air to thicken with water.
The Golden Dragon displayed no interest in these changes and continued its flight downwards.
The plants on the solitary mountain gradually increased; the clouds gradually grew damper. Drops of water fell on the cliffs, gradually converging into countless tiny brooklets the thickness of a leaf. A myriad of slender brooklets gurgled down the cliff and descended into the clouds.
The Golden Dragon gazed at the slender brooklets streaming down the solitary mountain; the expression within its eyes grew much more solemn, the two balls of divine fire increasingly serene—this place was the grave of all clouds and the source of all water.
Countless streams of water descended from the mountain, but it had eyes for only one.
The Golden Dragon silently flew through the fog, following this stream; it experienced multiple days as if it would repeat this action forevermore, until at a certain moment… the fog before it dispersed.
Beyond the fog was the ground.
The lower fringe of the fog was very flat and smooth, completely in accordance with the contours of the earth and perfectly preserving the distance between the fog and the ground. It was five feet of space, precisely the height of a human as if the Creator planned it. The five feet of space between the ground and the fog extended far into the distance; one could faintly see rays of light, but no sun. Countless streams covered the ground.
The fog was scattered by the dragon's massive head, revealing the ground and that one particular stream.
Clear, calm, and cold, the stream water originated from the condensed moisture of the solitary mountain. Within the stream floated a wooden basin; in the basin were several layers of cloth, and atop the cloth was an infant. The infant's complexion was tinged with blue, and its eyes were closed. It was obvious that it had been born not too long ago.
The mist over the stream bloomed like flowers, bursting into petals, crowding, surging, and scattering. With a whoosh, the head of the Golden Dragon, even larger than a palace hall, slowly probed through the fog and reached the surface of the stream.
The five feet of distance between the fog and the stream was very narrow for it. The fog concealed the Golden Dragon’s body and part of its head. This only made it seem more august, enigmatic, and monstrous.
The Golden Dragon quietly watched the stream.
The wooden basin bobbed up and down in the stream.
A newly-born and abandoned infant rested in the tiny wooden basin, its eyes closed and its face tinged with blue.
* * *
The fog gradually dispersed and all returned to tranquility.
However, this tranquility was temporary. Deep within the fog, ranging even up to the solitary mountain itself, countless shrill and panicked whistles and howls rang out almost simultaneously!
This world, originally thought to be still and lifeless, actually concealed many birds and beasts. The fluttering of wings, the panicked and haphazard charge of a Unicorn smashing through ancient and massive trees, and even the crystal clear cry of a phoenix sounded from within the fog!
An intangible string of fire formed of divine intent spread from the stream bank towards the horizon. The moist grass instantly became incomparably dry. Even the grass within the water began to curl at the edges!
The Golden Dragon's eyes remained emotionless, noble, and apathetic, as a lord of all under heaven.
It did not care about the myriad of beasts wildly rushing about in the world below the fog. It did not even care about that young Phoenix. It only stared at the small stream before it, at the wooden basin floating atop the water. Tens of thousands of streams descended from the solitary mountain, but it only had eyes for this stream. After thirty-thousand years, it had finally returned to this world, all for the sake of the infant in the wooden basin; how could it move its gaze away?
An extremely narrow thread of light descended. The surface of this thread of light was covered in gold while within was a sacred white that seemed like it could emit a light of its own. The forward portion of the thread was extremely thin, and it gradually grew thicker towards the end, ultimately reaching the thickness of a child's arm. The surface of this thread of light was extremely smooth and perfect, especially the luster that showed through from the very depths of the thread. This only added to its beauty.
This thread of light seemed to be made of gold or jade, giving off a sense of immense weight. In reality, it was very light, swaying back and forth in the slight breeze over the stream, as if it were dancing, wanting to approach that wooden basin gently before pulling away the next second.
It was the Golden Dragon's whisker.
At that moment, the divine fire within the Golden Dragon's eyes was no longer eternally calm; indifference was wholly replaced by deep thought, as if it were hesitating over something. The forward parts of its two whiskers were like gentle fingers, seeming to lightly graze against the edge of the wooden basin as if caressing it. In reality, however, they did not touch the basin.
This Golden Dragon had already lived through endlessly long years and possessed unimaginable wisdom. However, this wooden basin seemed to present to it an unsolvable problem. The emotions in its eyes grew increasingly complex. There was desire, wariness, hesitation, and finally, struggle. Perhaps accidentally, perhaps intentionally, the wind blowing over the stream slightly shifted, and the edge of the wooden basin, which seemed like it would barely brush past the dragon whisker, gently shook. At last, for the first time, the dragon whisker finally touched the wooden basin, and brushed past the ear of the infant within!
This gentle touch produced an intense change—those two specks of divine fire in the depths of the Golden Dragon's eyes seemed to explode into tens of thousands of stars. Within this sea of stars was unvarnished desire, cruel and avaricious!
This desire was praise, was moving.
Praise for life; moved by life.
It was life's most primeval longing.
The Golden Dragon gazed at the wooden basin and opened its mouth; dragon breathe, like fragments of jade, poured out.
The infant in the basin still had its eyes shut, completely unaware of what would happen next.
A shadow shrouded the stream.
Dragon breathe fell all around the wooden basin.
In the next moment, the wooden basin and the infant within would become the Golden Dragon's food.
Just then...
A hand grasped the edge of the wooden basin and pulled it to the stream bank!
This hand was covered in scars, thin and weak, and very small.
With the sloshin
g of water, the surface of the stream broke as the hand pulled the wooden basin away, and its owner ran for his life to the stream bank.
The owner of this hand was a small Daoist boy around three or four years old.
The Daoist boy pulled the wooden basin to the stream bank and hid it between his body and a rock. He then turned and pulled a sword from his waist, wielding it towards that terrifying, massive Golden Dragon head.
This was a very strange Daoist boy.
He was blind in one eye and missing one ear. While he had been running for his life in the stream just a moment ago, it was easy to see that his legs were somewhat lame. From his empty sleeve, one could also see that he had only one hand.
No wonder he needed to hide the wooden basin behind him before pulling out his sword.
The Daoist boy's face paled at the sight of the massive dragon head over the stream. His teeth were chattering, not because of the frigid water of the stream, but because of the fear in his heart.
This was his first time seeing a real dragon. He didn't even know what a dragon was; he only knew fear. However, he did not escape; instead, he held that thin wooden sword and tightly blocked the basin behind him.