Chapter 136: Handshake
Competing for the path was inherently the easiest thing to cause conflict and disputes, especially in the tense Grand Court Examination, where the rules prohibited examinees from taking the same route. Thus, someone inevitably had to change course. The Boiling Time Forest was vast, making it difficult for two examinees to end up on the same path; one could only say that Tang Thirty-Six, or rather that Huaiyuan Academy scholar, was unlucky.
Based on Chen Changsheng and the others’ understanding of Tang Thirty-Six, the unlucky one definitely wouldn’t be him, and that proved to be the case. In the end, it was the Huaiyuan Academy scholar who was forced to change course. That scholar looked toward the National Academy, his face full of anger, wanting to step forward and argue, but was stopped by his classmates. Only then did he notice the presence of Her Highness Luoluo, and he let out a few cold sneers.
The Huaiyuan Academy students walked past the National Academy group, using their skills to cross the Winding River with great elegance. Before leaving, they cast a mocking glance at Chen Changsheng and the others.
Just then, Su Moyu also emerged from the forest and came to Chen Changsheng’s side. For some reason, this young expert from the Li Palace Affiliated Academy seemed to be in poor condition today. The time he took to cross the Boiling Time Forest was much longer than expected. Tang Thirty-Six disliked this stubborn and taciturn fellow, but Chen Changsheng didn’t hold much ill will toward him. Noticing his slightly pale complexion, he asked, “Are you alright?”
Su Moyu said, “Last night, I suddenly had a sign of breaking through to the next realm. I forcibly suppressed it, causing my true qi to reverse and my sea of consciousness to be somewhat shaken.”
Most of the young experts in the top fifty of the Azure Cloud Ranking had already cultivated to the upper level of Sitting Meditation. If they wished, they could attempt to break through to the Penetrating Darkness realm at any time. However, that threshold was too high, and breaking through was too dangerous, so few would rashly choose to do so without full preparation. Su Moyu was diligent in his cultivation and had seen that threshold long ago, but due to the Grand Court Examination, he had always held back. Unexpectedly, just as the examination was about to begin, the sign of breakthrough appeared, turning a good thing into a problem.
Logically, such critical information about one’s own cultivation state should never be revealed to others, especially since the National Academy and the Li Palace Affiliated Academy were competitors. But for some reason, seeing Chen Changsheng’s sincere expression, Su Moyu didn’t overthink it and naturally spoke out.
Tang Thirty-Six’s expression shifted slightly, and his opinion of Su Moyu suddenly improved—being trusted was a good feeling. He looked at Su Moyu and asked, “How long will it take to recover?”
Forcibly suppressing the sign of breakthrough could easily harm the sea of consciousness if done improperly, causing instability in the divine sense for a short time. No wonder Su Moyu, with such a solid foundation, took so long to cross the Boiling Time Forest. However, with enough time for meditation and calming the mind, this state shouldn’t last too long.
“If I can make it to the second round of the duels, I should be recovered by then.”
Su Moyu clasped his hands to the National Academy group and then said to Chen Changsheng, “I’ll wait for you in Jiangnan.”
With that, he walked to the riverbank, his form flickering slightly as he used the Li Palace Affiliated Academy’s Wave-Treading Dao Technique, drifting forward gracefully. Before long, he reached the opposite shore.
His divine sense was unstable, but his true essence hadn’t diminished, and his techniques were still exquisite.
As time passed, more and more examinees emerged from the forest and began crossing the river. Some struggled to reach the southern bank, others fell into the river and were pulled out by Li Palace priests. The number of examinees still standing on the bank grew smaller, making Chen Changsheng and his two companions increasingly conspicuous. Conversely, the crowd on the southern bank’s meadow grew larger. Some who had finished their martial exams early, like Gou Hanshi and the other three from Mount Li, came out from the pavilions and towers in the forest. No one knew what they intended to watch, but it was likely related to the National Academy.
Suddenly, many startled birds flew out of the holly shrubbery, about two zhang tall, followed by the sound of breaking branches. The ground trembled slightly, and even the Winding River’s banks stirred up waves. Amidst the rising dust, an extremely burly figure burst out of the forest, his clothes torn in many places by branches.
Xuan Yuan Po had finally emerged from the Boiling Time Forest.
The young demon’s divine sense was quite good, or else his tribe wouldn’t have sent him to the capital to study. However, he had little training in sensing perception, and his nature was too straightforward, making him relatively weak in spatial reasoning. Finding prey in the vast mountains was easy for him, but navigating a maze deliberately designed by a wise man was truly difficult.
Chen Changsheng and the others had been worried about this. Seeing him now, though a bit disheveled, they were very happy.
Xuan Yuan Po ran toward them. Last night, Chen Changsheng had shaved his beard for him, revealing a youthful face that matched his age. Now, whether from urgency or some other reason, a thin layer of stubble had already grown back in just half a day. Sweating profusely from running, his brows were full of anxiety.
“I’m late, I’m late.”
Xuan Yuan Po came to Chen Changsheng, looking very anxious, afraid he had delayed matters. He reached out to grab Chen Changsheng’s hand.
Priest Xin had gone out of his way to leak the exam content to the National Academy, proving that in his or the Bishop’s view, the river-crossing segment of the martial exam was the hardest for Chen Changsheng. Chen Changsheng hadn’t said anything about this, but Xuan Yuan Po and Tang Thirty-Six had privately prepared themselves—prepared to sacrifice themselves.
Xuan Yuan Po intended to grab Chen Changsheng’s hand and throw him directly to the opposite shore.
Silently, Tang Thirty-Six shifted his steps, standing behind Chen Changsheng. He and Xuan Yuan Po knew that Chen Changsheng would never agree to this plan and would surely resist later. His task was to subdue Chen Changsheng the moment he resisted and then tie him up.
Chen Changsheng only then realized what they intended to do and said, “Don’t do anything reckless.”
At that moment, Tang Thirty-Six’s hand was only a foot away from his back, ready to strike and subdue him at any moment.
Xuan Yuan Po looked at Chen Changsheng and said, “I don’t know the reason, but we all know you have to get first place. I don’t mind; I can wait for the next Grand Court Examination.”
As he said this, the young demon’s expression was as honest as ever, but exceptionally resolute.
Chen Changsheng was deeply moved, but he wouldn’t accept this heavy kindness. He said, “I have a way.”
He couldn’t finish his sentence because Tang Thirty-Six’s hand landed on his shoulder, and Xuan Yuan Po shot his hand forward like lightning. These two classmates, who knew Chen Changsheng’s temperament well, decided not to give him any chance to convince them. However, the next moment, they found their plan completely thwarted, because Xuan Yuan Po didn’t grasp Chen Changsheng’s hand.
A pair of small hands reached out from the side and grasped Xuan Yuan Po’s hand.
It was Luoluo’s hand.
(Next chapter before 11:30.)