Chapter 555: All Things Renewed Between Heaven and Earth
The Grand Court Examination arrived as scheduled.
It was still held at the Li Palace.
Outside the Li Palace, the crowds were still as vast as an ocean.
The major gambling houses had long since made their preparations, and the storytellers rinsed their mouths with the finest Maojian tea.
But there were still some differences. For instance, the expressions and gazes of the common folk watching the excitement were no longer as fervent and thrilled as the previous year. Many people kept yawning, and the number of tourists rushing in from outlying prefectures and counties was noticeably lower than the year before.
The reason for this was that last year's Grand Court Examination had been a major event. Many of the young geniuses ranked high on the Azure Cloud List had come to participate. Compared to last year, this year's Grand Court Examination was truly lackluster—there were hardly any famous figures. And Xu Yourong, whom many had once held high hopes for, had completely dashed those expectations after she assumed the role of Saintess.
In truth, whether it was the Autumn Mountain Lord or Xu Yourong, neither could possibly participate in the Grand Court Examination now. They had never needed the examination to affirm themselves, and those few who were qualified to contend with them on equal footing had already come last year—Chen Changsheng among them.
Of course, Chen Changsheng still came to the Li Palace, drawing enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, as well as the endless gossip that had persisted in recent days.
Could Little Dean Chen truly be of imperial blood? Was he really the Radiant Prince? Well, that claim was too absurd. Then was he really trying to renew the marriage contract? Had he really waited all night outside the Saintess Hall like a fool? Wasn't the snow that night particularly heavy?
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Tang Thirty-Six and Su Moyu led the three new students of the National Academy, who had barely passed the preparatory exams, into the Li Palace examination grounds.
As for Chen Changsheng, guided by a Red-Crowned Archbishop, he walked toward the deepest recesses of the palace. It wasn't that he was unwilling to shoulder the responsibilities of a dean; it was simply that, in the National Academy's first year of recruitment, the new students' foundations were truly too poor. Passing the preparatory exams was already a pleasant surprise, and he couldn't place much hope in their performance during the Grand Court Examination. Moreover, since the Li Palace was now effectively the National Academy's home ground, he didn't need to worry about encountering the same problems as last year.
He had more important matters to attend to.
Gazing at the seemingly endless clear water pouring from the wooden ladle into the basin of green leaves, he once again felt the same doubt he had harbored before.
The Green Leaf World, like the Zhou Garden, could not expand. So why was it tended with such care, nurtured to grow ever stronger?
The Pope set down the wooden ladle, took a soft cloth to wipe the water droplets from his hands, and gestured for him to sit. "Some rules may indeed be too outdated and need changing," he said. "But you must also understand: without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Living beneath the starry sky, how can one lack reverence? To live like Su Li—that is certainly carefree. But do not forget: rules are shackles for the strong, yet sometimes they are protection for the weak. We need to consider how this world operates, not just our own thoughts."
Earlier, Chen Changsheng had raised the issues of the Black Dragon and the Stele Attendants. The Pope had given a clear answer to the latter but hadn't mentioned a single word about the former. His stance was already obvious.
"Uncle-Master, your view of the world differs from Her Holiness the Empress's. Is that why these problems exist now?"
"You could put it that way."
"But..." Chen Changsheng wanted to argue further.
The Pope raised a hand to signal him to stop. Looking at him, he said, "Even if you want to put your vision for the world into practice, there's no need to rush it."
Chen Changsheng thought of the shadow looming ahead of him and felt that he had no choice but to rush.
"Once you become Pope, you can do as you please. Then you won't need to come asking me."
"Uncle-Master..."
"After hearing that, do you wish I would die soon, like Melisarius?" the Pope asked, smiling at him.
Chen Changsheng had no idea how to respond to that.
"Don't worry. It won't be long now."
The Pope walked over to the potted plant and carefully wiped the water droplets from the green leaves with a handkerchief.
In that quiet palace, Chen Changsheng received no good news. But shortly after leaving, he heard unexpected good news: the Grand Court Examination had officially ended, and word came that the National Academy actually had two students in the top three ranks. Chu Wenbin, who had transferred from the Heavenly Dao Academy, even placed seventeenth in the second rank.
That night, the taverns on Hundred Flowers Lane were brightly lit. The teachers and students of the National Academy celebrated joyfully for a while.
As for who took the top spot in this Grand Court Examination, aside from the inveterate gamblers, no one really cared.
What the world cared about most now was the unification of North and South. Shortly after the Grand Court Examination ended, the negotiations between the two sides finally yielded results that could be called perfect. In autumn, the unification agreement would be formally signed. The southern sects, mountain gates, aristocratic families, and clans—possessing countless cultivation experts and vast wealth—would finally be incorporated into the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Though it was largely a nominal incorporation, it was still something that even Emperor Taizong had failed to achieve. For a time, the entire continent sang the praises of Her Holiness the Empress.
The hidden currents that many had feared might emerge were tightly controlled by the imperial court. In the North Military Command Alley, no one knew how many fingers had been severed or how many souls had been added. Zhou Tong and those officials loyal to Heavenly Sea Empress had committed countless evils in the annals of merit.
As for the most feared demonic invasion from the south, fortunately, it did not come to pass. It was said that this year, the demon domain's snow plains had been hit by relentless blizzards. The demon royalty and nobility in Snow-Crowned City had all their attention focused on relieving their own tribes and seizing the opportunity to annex and attack, leaving them no time to cast more than a glance southward.
Like all ordinary people, Chen Changsheng was also pleased. This meant that the human world would be more united, stronger, and harder to defeat in the face of the demons. It also meant that Xu Yourong's position could be even more transcendent. Moreover, it was said that the White Emperor and his consort would attend the signing ceremony—so would Luoluo return as well?
The southern delegation gradually left the capital. The Southern Creek Convent's carriage train was the last to depart, but it too had to leave eventually.
For Xu Yourong, the capital was her hometown, but Saintess Peak would be where she spent her long years of cultivation.
Wind and snow fell upon the Bridge of Helplessness, as if returning to that day.
"See you at the Alchemy Gathering."
"See you."
Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong stood on the snow-covered bridge, exchanging words of farewell, then parted.
He held his yellow paper umbrella, watching her figure gradually disappear into the wind and snow, without much sorrow of parting.
The Alchemy Gathering was in summer; they would meet again soon. Besides, he would always go to Southern Creek Convent.
On the contrary, his heart grew calmer and steadier.
Not just toward her, but toward himself.
He firmly believed that he could defy fate and change his destiny, that he could live past twenty, then past two hundred, year after year.
Because now, he was no longer alone. He wanted to live a long, long life with her.
Before, he had only thought about surviving at all costs, rarely considering—and certainly never experiencing—that living itself could be a beautiful thing.
It wasn't until that day on the Bridge of Helplessness, when the white veil fell and he saw her eyes, that he understood something.
From that day on, he changed a great deal. He still lived calmly and focusedly, but he lived more naturally and freely.
In other words, the Chen Changsheng of now lived more vividly, no longer as dull or even wooden as before.
This change in his spiritual world, in turn, influenced the efforts he made to stay alive.
He continued to read, study, meditate, and cultivate. The five stone beads strung around his wrist, though they released not even the faintest trace of energy, were more useful than the most precious crystals. He continued to learn the sword techniques Su Li had taught him, as well as all the swords in the world, and he never forgot to practice those one hundred and eight saber strikes.
His cultivation realm grew increasingly stable, approaching the peak of Tongyou. Every night, the starlight he drew down slowly accumulated in his body's meridians and apertures, waiting for the day it would blaze forth brilliantly. And his future was bound to be brilliant.
He had been in the capital for nearly two years.
It had been a year since he entered the Lingyan Pavilion and saw Wang Zhice's notes.
He had three years left.
In that year, he had never once considered defying fate and changing his destiny according to Wang Zhice's notes. Though he was now recognized by the entire world as the next Pope, and in theory, he had the greatest opportunity and conditions to make the whole world dance and alter the shape of the starry sea, he would not do so. Because it would cost too many lives.
He believed that in three years, he could cultivate to the Saint Realm, step into the divine domain, and attempt to reconnect his meridians.
It sounded like an impossible, unachievable feat. But since he had gone from a country boy who knew nothing to a candidate for Pope and a young expert who could already see the threshold of the Star Gathering Realm in just two years, what couldn't he accomplish?
The word "impossible" meant nothing to him.
Because he could not afford to be impossible.
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Chen Changsheng was making progress, and so was the entire world.
Truly, this was an era of blooming wildflowers. After the generation of geniuses like Wang Po, Xiao Zhang, Xun Mei, and Liang Wangsun, even more prodigies emerged.
In the spring of this year, the many rankings published by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion were officially updated.
The changes on this list were enormous.
First, the Hundred Weapons Ranking, which had remained unchanged for years, finally saw a shift.
The Frost-Left Divine Spear still held the top spot.
The Severing Blade was second.
The Wooden Sword Little Phoenix was third.
The re-emerged Heaven-Shrouding Sword rose to fourth!
Everyone knew this was because the sword's wielder was too powerful.
And indeed it was true. No matter how mighty a divine weapon, it could only unleash its true power in the hands of an even mightier master.
The lost national teaching artifact—the Hidden Edge—which had been grayed out due to being lost, once again appeared on the stage of the cultivation world, its newly written ink characters exceptionally clear. The sword named Stainless ranked ninety-fifth, ahead of the Six Imperial Divine Armor, but still far behind the Dragon Scale Sword at sixty-ninth. Perhaps that was also the reason.
The divine weapons on the Hundred Weapons Ranking naturally drew attention, but what people truly cared about was the people themselves.
The Carefree, Gold-Touching, and Azure Cloud Rankings were also updated.
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(The chapter title was originally "Many Updates," but I thought I'd be drowned in spit, so I changed it to something more literary...)