Chapter 242: The Yellow Paper Umbrella
Every time the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion released its rankings, it would include brief commentary. This time, when the rankings were updated, the pavilion must have anticipated the widespread discussion it would provoke. At the end, it also explained why Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng had not been included on the Gold Point List, stating that it was because the Heavenly Mechanism Elder greatly anticipated their journey to the Zhou Garden.
With this, the entire continent learned that Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were going to enter the Zhou Garden.
Since the Green Vine Banquet the previous year, the engagement between Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong had spread across the world. This story was filled with all kinds of grudges and romances, childhood sweethearts, reversals of fortune, and long waits—so tangled and chaotic that it could hardly be fully recounted. Now, the male and female leads of this story were finally going to meet in the Zhou Garden, naturally drawing the attention of countless people.
As another protagonist of this story, Autumn Mountain Lord did not appear, but his junior brother was present. Liang Xiaoxiao’s gaze toward Chen Changsheng grew increasingly cold. Because of the time spent at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, Seven Intervals had changed his view of Chen Changsheng, and now, hearing the discussions around him, his small face also showed indignation.
“Even if he has another stroke of luck in the Zhou Garden, can he really take first place on the Gold Point List? Can he truly be compared to Autumn Mountain Lord?”
“Why not? Although Autumn Mountain Lord has already succeeded in gathering stars, don’t forget that Autumn Mountain Lord is four years older than him.”
These discussions did not mention Chen Changsheng’s name, but everyone knew who they were talking about.
Ye Xiaolian stood with her senior sister in the crowd, looking at Chen Changsheng’s back ahead of her. Unlike before, her eyes no longer held only disgust and anger, but a hint of curiosity.
Feeling the gazes directed at him from all around, especially the clearly unfriendly expressions of those southerners, Chen Changsheng felt immense pressure and a touch of bewilderment. In the eyes of the world, he and Xu Yourong might be childhood sweethearts, bound by love and hate, but only he knew that none of this was true. He didn’t know what Xu Yourong looked like, and he believed Xu Yourong had no impression of him either.
Leaving the southern gate of the capital, the procession paused briefly. Priest Xin stepped down from the foremost carriage, pulled by a celestial horse, and walked over to Chen Changsheng.
Somewhat surprised, Chen Changsheng asked, “Is the Archbishop leading the group?”
Priest Xin shook his head and said, “The old master has been unwell lately.”
Chen Changsheng looked at the carriage at the very front and asked curiously, “Then who is that great figure of the National Religion inside the carriage?”
Priest Xin looked at him with a smile and said, “I’ve come precisely to invite you to board the carriage.”
Chen Changsheng froze, only coming to his senses after a long moment. He asked, somewhat uncertainly, “Are you saying… that for this trip to the Zhou Garden, I’m the one leading?”
Priest Xin said solemnly, “Yes, His Holiness the Pope has entrusted everything to you.”
Chen Changsheng thought back to the scene earlier when the priests and teachers from the Temple of Sacrifice and the Heavenly Dao Academy had come to pay their respects, and he sighed silently, realizing he might have been the last to know.
Leaving the capital and arriving at Wenshui City, more than ten carriages passed through the city gates one by one. These carriages bore the emblem of the Li Palace on their shafts. A few days earlier, the local church in the city had received word and made arrangements. The city gate guards dared not conduct any inspections, opening the gates early, while the official road was packed with commoners who had come to watch upon hearing the news.
“Who is Chen Changsheng?”
“How many of the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom have come?”
“Is Xu the Phoenix coming directly from the Southern Creek Nunnery? She won’t be in the procession, will she?”
“Which carriage is Chen Changsheng in? Could it be the first one? Oh, look at those celestial horse wings, so white… just like the bed curtains at my place.”
The commoners chatted enthusiastically, pointing at the carriages in the procession. The magnificent and magical white celestial horse naturally became the focus of everyone’s attention. When they learned that Chen Changsheng was in the first carriage, the crowd surged forward, and the street grew noisy and chaotic, with people even shouting his name loudly.
A young Daoist from Xining Town, who had thoroughly studied the Daoist canon, taken first place in the Grand Examination, viewed all seventeen steles of the front mausoleum in a single day at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, and become the dean of the National Teaching Academy.
From any angle, this was a legend, and he was that legend.
Countless eyes fell on that carriage, burning so intensely they seemed ready to scorch the window screens.
Despite his experience of parading through the capital after the Grand Examination, Chen Changsheng still wasn’t used to this treatment, feeling his face flush hotly.
In contrast, Zhe Xiu, sitting across from him, remained expressionless, completely unaffected by the sounds outside the carriage or those scorching gazes.
The procession heading to the Zhou Garden went directly to the church in Wenshui City. Priest Xin and his subordinate priests handled all the specific arrangements. As the dean of the National Teaching Academy and the nominal leader of this trip, Chen Changsheng had no need to deal with such matters. In other words, his role was similar to the door gods pasted on the gates.
The church had already prepared rooms in advance, with cultivators from various academies and sects checking in batches. In recent years, the Li Mountain Sword Sect had become too famous, so Seven Intervals and Liang Xiaoxiao were housed in the eastern courtyard. The two girls from Sage Peak stayed next door. Naturally, Chen Changsheng got the best accommodation; the bishop of Wenshui City warmly invited him into the main hall, and Zhe Xiu shamelessly followed along.
After a simple wash and change, before he could even rest, a priest reported that someone had come to visit Dean Chen.
Chen Changsheng paused for a moment, guessed who it might be, quickly changed into clean clothes, and walked to the front of the hall.
A man who looked like a steward stood before the hall. He was plainly dressed, but the jade pendant at his waist was clearly no ordinary item.
Seeing Chen Changsheng, the steward knelt and paid his respects, showing great deference.
Witnessing this, the local priests of Wenshui City were very surprised.
The Tang family of Wenshui had always been arrogant, looking down even on the Tianhai and Autumn Mountain families. This senior steward rarely even gave face to the bishop himself, so why was he acting so humble now? Granted, the position of dean of the National Teaching Academy was merely an honorary title, effective only within the National Religion, but even if Chen Changsheng was on good terms with the Tang family’s only grandson, it shouldn’t warrant such respect.
Chen Changsheng said apologetically to the Tang family steward, “By rights, as a junior, I should go pay my respects to the old master. But this trip to the Zhou Garden is urgent, and His Holiness the Pope has put me in charge of leading the group, so I can’t easily leave. Please convey my regards to the old master on my behalf.”
With that, he took out a small box he had prepared back in the capital and handed it over.
Inside the box were medicines. Back then, he and Tang Thirty-Six had stolen countless rare herbs and exotic fruits from the Hundred Herbs Garden. Combined with the Red River specialties that Luoluo had sent—rarely seen in the human world—the Li Palace priests had refined them into many pills. He had used some when breaking through to the Tongyou realm, but there were still plenty left. They weren’t very effective for cultivation, but they were excellent for strengthening the body and prolonging life.
The steward took the small box, thanked him repeatedly, then took out another small box from his own bosom. With a respectful demeanor, he presented it with both hands, saying it was a gift from Old Master Tang to Dean Chen, before taking his leave.
Returning to the quiet room in the main hall, Chen Changsheng placed the box on the table and opened it. Inside was a round metal ball. About the size of a fist, it felt extremely heavy, with a very smooth surface marked by scale-like lines that divided it into three parts.
Zhe Xiu walked over to the table, glanced at it, and his expression shifted slightly. Then he fell silent for a long time.
Chen Changsheng looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong? You look very surprised.”
Zhe Xiu looked back at him and said, “What exactly is your relationship with Tang Thirty-Six?”
Chen Changsheng replied, puzzled, “He’s just my friend.”
Yes, Tang Thirty-Six was the first friend he made after arriving in the capital.
“If you’re just friends, why would the Tang family give you this treasure?” Zhe Xiu said expressionlessly.
Chen Changsheng reached into the box and took out the seemingly ordinary metal ball, examining it carefully but seeing nothing special about it.
“What is this thing?”
Zhe Xiu walked up to him, looking at the metal ball. Even his usually emotionless eyes showed a hint of unusual feeling.
The city defense formations of all the nations in the human world were designed and built by the Tang family. The best weapons and military equipment were also designed and built by them. The armor of the thirty-eight divine generals on the continent was entirely designed and built by the Tang family. Even the White Emperor City, surrounded by the Red River, was said to have been personally designed and supervised by the Tang family’s ancestors.
This family, which had passed down a thousand generations by the Wenshui River, was so wealthy that even Her Holiness the Empress felt some wariness and couldn’t make a move against them.
The treasures of the Wenshui Tang family were, of course, no ordinary treasures.
Zhe Xiu said, “At least seventeen of the divine artifacts on the Hundred Artifacts List came from the Tang family. Even now, the Tang family can still produce some extraordinary weapons. Although the rare ores have been exhausted, making them unable to match the divine weapons on the Hundred Artifacts List from back then, they are even more ingenious in design. Most of the divine artifacts on the Hundred Artifacts List are now hidden away by various sects and academies, just like the Frost Remnant Divine Spear, which has been enshrined in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace. What the current strongest desire most is, of course, the weapons produced by the Tang family. That’s why even a madman like Xiao Zhang doesn’t dare offend the Tang family.”
Chen Changsheng suddenly felt the metal ball in his hand grow heavier.
Zhe Xiu continued, “If I’m not mistaken, the metal ball in your hand should be the Yellow Paper Umbrella.”
Chen Changsheng repeated, slightly puzzled, “Yellow Paper Umbrella?”
He vaguely remembered hearing that name somewhere before.
“That’s right. Back then, that Junior Uncle Su of the Li Mountain Sword Sect ordered a magical artifact from the Tang family. The Tang family made some modifications to his original design and finally took thirty years to complete it. That magical artifact is the metal ball you’re holding now, and its name is the Yellow Paper Umbrella.”
“The grand-uncle that Gou Hanshi and the others often mention? … Since it was a magical artifact ordered by that legendary strongman, why is it still with the Tang family?”
“Because that Junior Uncle Su never came to pick it up in the end.”
“Why?”
“Because… he couldn’t afford it.”
The room fell silent.
Chen Changsheng felt the metal ball in his palm grow several times heavier, and his voice tightened. “This thing… is expensive?”
Zhe Xiu said, “The Yellow Paper Umbrella was named personally by Old Master Tang.”
Chen Changsheng let out a puzzled sound, indicating he didn’t understand what that meant.
“Yellow paper means spirit money,” Zhe Xiu said, looking at him.
Chen Changsheng understood. Spirit money was different from the silver notes circulating in the world; its face value could be written arbitrarily.
If the amount on spirit money were made real, how much money would that be?
Besides the Tang family, could anyone in the world come up with that much money?
No wonder that legendary Junior Uncle of Li Mountain, who had personally designed this magical artifact, had to painfully give it up in the end.
This Yellow Paper Umbrella made everyone in the world feel short of cash.
And now, it had fallen into his hands.