Chapter 59: The Ascetic Priest, the Young Grandmaster
In the following days, the battles in front of the National Teaching Academy continued, with the freshmen still representing the academy in combat.
Those freshmen had all successfully undergone marrow cleansing, so they could not be said to be completely powerless, but how could they compare with the true experts from the Tianhai family and the various Ivy Academy branches?
The freshmen were well aware of their own level. Following Chen Changsheng’s guidance, they would step onto the field, display everything they had time to show, experience what they wanted to experience, and then concede defeat. It was somewhat like tasting something lightly, or one could say they knew when to stop.
In short, they would make two or three sword strikes, then decisively concede, which became the most common sight in front of the National Teaching Academy.
It continued until the ordinary experts from the Tianhai family and the Ivy Academy branches had all taken their turns, leaving only some true powerhouses.
At this point, a Star Condensation realm expert from the Temple of Sacrifice arrived. He was an ascetic priest who had been cultivating his body in the northwest and had been summoned back by two Grand Archbishops of the Holy Church.
This ascetic priest wore a bamboo hat. Even in the sweltering summer heat, he still wore a coarse cotton robe. On his face, shaded by the bamboo hat, only his eyes could be seen, radiating a murderous aura.
He looked at Tang Thirty-Six expressionlessly and said, “Today, Dean Chen should personally instruct us, right?”
From the form of address, one could actually discern the true affiliations of these experts challenging the National Teaching Academy. Those nominally belonging to the Ivy Academy branches but actually serving the Tianhai family generally called Chen Changsheng by his name directly. In contrast, the true experts of the Ivy Academy branches, even if their feelings toward Chen Changsheng were no better, had to strictly observe the sacred hierarchy within the Church and respectfully address him as Dean.
“I’m very sorry, but Dean Chen has expended too much mental energy these past few days and is currently reading and recuperating inside the academy.”
Tang Thirty-Six looked at this ascetic priest, whose reputation he had heard of even in Wenshui, and said with a smile, “Priest Bei, your opponent today is someone else.”
The priest’s gaze pierced through the shadow of his bamboo hat and landed on Tang Thirty-Six’s face. He said solemnly, “I’ve heard that Young Master Tang broke through three realms at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum. If I could learn from you, this journey would not be in vain.”
Returning from the distant northwest to the capital was indeed a long journey.
From this, one could also see that the two Church giants, Siyuan Daoist and Linghai King, had long begun preparing to suppress the National Teaching Academy.
When the other’s gaze fell on his face, Tang Thirty-Six felt a faint sting. He squinted, thinking to himself, against an opponent as strong as you, I’m not confident I can win. Even if I could, I’d probably suffer severe injuries.
“Your opponent is not me, but him.”
He looked at the ascetic priest and introduced him solemnly, “He is the student with the highest cultivation talent among this year’s batch at our National Teaching Academy.”
With his gesture, a young student walked down from the stone steps.
That student was indeed very young—too young. He was more accurately a boy, around thirteen or fourteen years old, with a nervous expression. His originally lively eyes now seemed somewhat dull.
Seeing this boy, the ascetic priest was stunned and said, “If I’m not mistaken… this child has only just succeeded in marrow cleansing?”
Tang Thirty-Six praised, “As expected of Priest Bei, who has cultivated through asceticism and enlightenment. Your discerning eyes are indeed sharp. You’re not mistaken; this child succeeded in marrow cleansing three months ago and has come to the capital to participate in the preliminary exams for the Grand Examination, to try his luck.”
In front of the National Teaching Academy, the crowds from previous days had thinned, but there were still many people. Earlier, when they saw the renowned Priest Bei personally appear, the crowd was buzzing with surprise and discussion. Suddenly, they discovered that the opponent the National Teaching Academy had arranged for Priest Bei was actually such a boy. The scene instantly fell into dead silence, and everyone wondered what trick the National Teaching Academy was playing.
“You mean… my opponent is this child?”
Priest Bei’s voice naturally turned angry as he bellowed, “You are insulting me!”
Tang Thirty-Six’s expression remained unchanged as he said with a smile, “Priest, your words are mistaken. The purpose of the martial demonstrations among the academies is not only to compete and advance but also for seniors to guide juniors. This child is indeed the most talented new student in our National Teaching Academy. Although he has never sparred with anyone before and is very nervous, he still has the courage to step forward and seek guidance from a senior. How can this be called an insult?”
A tremendously fierce aura emanated from the edge of the bamboo hat. Priest Bei suppressed his anger and said, “Please show me some respect.”
Tang Thirty-Six slowly withdrew his smile and said calmly, “Priest, those words sound familiar. They remind me of those officials in the Purification Department who pride themselves on being incorruptible.”
Priest Bei stared at his eyes and shouted harshly, “You dare compare me to those wolf-like officials!”
“I used to respect you very much.” Tang Thirty-Six paused, then continued, “But your return to the capital this time makes it impossible for me to maintain that respect.”
Priest Bei’s gaze shifted between him and the boy from the National Teaching Academy. He said, “You know very well that I cannot strike at him.”
Tang Thirty-Six said, “Because you are a gentleman.”
Priest Bei said, “So you deliberately chose this child to deal with me?”
Tang Thirty-Six did not deny it. “To be honest, most of the matchups were decided by Chen Changsheng. Only your match was personally arranged by me.”
Priest Bei was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Is this world truly ruled by petty men now?”
After saying this, he turned to leave.
Tang Thirty-Six originally didn’t plan to say anything more, but seeing the somewhat desolate back of this ascetic priest, renowned in the northwest, he couldn’t help but speak up: “A gentleman can be taken advantage of by his integrity. This is certainly not right. I am not a gentleman, but neither am I a petty man. However, since you, once a gentleman, have been used by petty men to do ungentlemanly things, I naturally have to respond with petty means.”
Hearing this, Priest Bei was struck as if by lightning. His body stiffened for a moment before he finally lifted his steps again and walked into the crowd.
Watching the figure gradually receding into the distance on the street and the bamboo hat growing smaller and smaller, Tang Thirty-Six remained silent and calm.
“Record it. This match is a victory for our National Teaching Academy.”
Before the onlookers could jeer, he said calmly, “Next.”
Not every battle has a story, and not every story leaves a meaningful ending. The battles in front of the National Teaching Academy continued, but without bloodshed or the shadow of death, they naturally lost much of their excitement and became increasingly dull. To ordinary people, without those earth-shattering scenes, what essential difference was there between the fights of continent experts stepping into the sacred realm and the brawls of street urchins? Just that they were stronger.
Only those who understood could see the information revealed in these battles.
The freshmen representing the National Teaching Academy, except for the special cases of Su Moyu and that boy, had yet to win a single match. They couldn’t even see the possibility of victory. Yet in their extremely brief battles, they often displayed unexpected sword techniques and variations. Although people knew these were guided by Chen Changsheng, the fact that these freshmen could execute them already showed a certain potential.
These children from remote counties and villages, these poor students ignored by the Ivy Academy branches, had suddenly become different.
Among those watching the battles in front of the National Teaching Academy were not only curious citizens but also disguised instructors and students from the Ivy Academy branches. Looking at the freshmen on the stone steps, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Was that Wei Zhuang, the notoriously unruly student they had once taught? Was that Chu Wenbin, who only knew how to sleep all day?
Compared to before, the National Teaching Academy freshmen seemed to have gained a certain luster. The key was that their spirit had changed. They were confident and calm, as if nothing could trouble them. Even seemingly endless defeats were not frightening; they still firmly believed they could achieve final success. All of this combined to form a quality called composure.
Because of composure, they were at ease, able to laugh and talk freely in front of the crowd, no longer nervous or inferior due to others’ ridicule or neglect.
If last year, Chen Changsheng becoming a freshman at the National Teaching Academy, followed by Luoluo, Xuan Yuan Po, Tang Thirty-Six, and Zheshe joining one after another, meant new life, then this year, the National Teaching Academy could be said to have been reborn—just like these young students, or rather, because of their arrival.
The transformation of these young students naturally came from the National Teaching Academy, with the two most important people being Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six.
Leaving Tang Thirty-Six aside for now, everyone could see Chen Changsheng’s importance. If he hadn’t guided them tirelessly every night, expending immense mental energy to study the techniques and weaknesses of those experts, how would the National Teaching Academy freshmen have had the courage to face opponents several realms above them? How could they have gained so much confidence?
Since recruiting new students, Chen Changsheng had never personally fought in the battles, nor had he even glanced outside the academy gates. But everyone in the capital knew that he had been watching from inside the academy all along. Through these dozens of battles, he had fully displayed his unimaginable talent and brilliance in the sword path.
That sword talent was so powerful, that brilliance so dazzling, that the entire capital was once again shaken.
Starting from the same time last summer, he had brought too much shock to the capital and even the entire human world. The Ivy Banquet, the Grand Examination, the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, the Zhou Garden, the Xunyang City… Many people thought they had become numb to Chen Changsheng’s shocks, that no matter what he did next, it wouldn’t be surprising. Yet this time, they were once again stunned.
For someone of Chen Changsheng’s age to possess such unfathomable sword cultivation was incredibly hard to imagine. Even harder to imagine was that he could also guide others in learning the sword. This was not as simple as teaching a child to write—passing on the Way, imparting knowledge, resolving doubts—this was the role of a teacher.
Now, Chen Changsheng had already faintly taken on the demeanor of a grandmaster. But because he was so young, whenever people had this thought, they would shake their heads and deny it themselves. Yet no one dared to deny that if given more time—say, another ten or more years—once he truly matured, he might indeed become a Dean of the National Teaching Academy worthy of the name.
While everyone’s attention was fixed on the National Teaching Academy, marveling at Chen Changsheng’s sword cultivation, only one person remained unimpressed.
“It’s just fooling around.”
Mo Yu looked at the back of the Empress, fiddling idly with the grass ring on her finger, and said, “I don’t know why those people in the court and the palace are making such a fuss.”
(Note: The line “Please show me some respect” came naturally when writing, but when I wrote the second line, “You are insulting me,” I realized how much I was influenced by that advertisement. There are three days left until the 25th, and I will naturally and earnestly achieve it. I’ll probably go out on the 27th.)
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