If the dishes were actually salty, then he would need to drink some water, not rest. The illogicality of this simple sentence from Chen Chang Sheng meant that the dishes weren’t actually salty but rather, he just really needed to calm his mind and not continue in such a messy state.
He walked towards the lake and stood under a big tree. He stepped over the tree roots above the earth with his hands on his waist. Chen Chang Sheng glanced over the wall and looked into the distance. He only wanted to glance as far as he could, but he didn’t know whether he should look towards the direction of Xi Ning Village or the south.
A moment later, he took out a tiny item that was made out of bamboo and stored it in his pocket. He had told himself not to take it out anymore when he was first living in the tavern. He had taken this tiny thing and placed it into the deepest part of his luggage. It wasn’t until now that he took it out once more.
The southern ambassadors were going to propose in the capital. Xu You Rong was going to be arranged with Qiu Shan Jun. Although she won’t be married to him in such a short time, she was ultimately going to get married.
Chen Chang Sheng always thought romance had no effect on him and that he would never think about Xu You Rong. The reason he came to capital was to dismiss the marriage vow and this still held true. Therefore, he didn’t understand why he became irritated, or even felt despair after hearing this news.
He wasn’t used to such feelings and he didn’t like it. He was unhappy.
Perhaps it wasn’t due to marriage and was for another reason.
Chen Chang Sheng tried to convince himself so, and then he found a justifiable cause – in the least degree, he and Xu You Rong had a marriage vow. No matter the laws, he was her fiance, and she was his fiancee. Under the current condition that he haven’t officially forfeit the vow, of course he wouldn’t be happy because his own fiancee was going to marry some other man.
Of course he shouldn’t be happy.
Yes, this was the reason.
Yu Dong General’s Mansion and Xu You Rong weren’t being respectful with their decision and he was mad.
He told himself in his heart silently.
Tang Thirty Six walked toward the lake and stood beside Chen Chang Sheng, “You still haven’t solve the problem between you and Yu Dong General’s Mansion? Then this is a problem. The Divine Queen always trusted Xu Shi Ji, and if Xu You Rong is married to Qiu Shan Jun, then no one in the Zhou Dynasty will be able to stop him.”
Luo Luo looked at his face with a worried expression, but she didn’t say anything.
The previous reaction of Chen Chang Sheng was strange and it didn’t escape the eyes of Luo Luo and Tang Thirty Six. Plus, they knew that there was trouble between Chen Chang Sheng and Dong Yu General’s Mansion. But no matter what they thought, they couldn’t figure out that he was the fiance of Xu You Rong, and therefore they couldn’t figure out a way to help him.
Just like what Shuang Er first said in the General’s Mansion; the entire world believed that Xu You Rong and Qiu Shan Jun were a destined couple, even Luo Luo and Tang Thirty Six. No one could have known that Chen Chang Sheng existed between those two.
“It’s nothing, I am just a little nervous,” Chen Chang Sheng turned around and faced the two, “I heard that there were many geniuses in the southern sects. I don’t know what kind of situation it would be during next year’s Great Trial.”
Tang Thirty Six knew Chen Chang Sheng’s goal in the Great Trial, and he thought Chen Chang Sheng should be nervous, “Mountain Virgin, Mountain Li…… all of those southern sects are powerful. If young geniuses like the Seven Rules of Heaven participated in the Great Trial, it will be difficult to defeat them.”
Chen Chang Sheng asked, “I heard that the reason Zhuang Huan Yu became rank ten on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud was because he won over one of the Seven Rules of Heaven?”
“He won over Qi Jian. He’s the youngest, and the weakest of the Seven Rules of Heaven.”
Mentioning the Seven Rules of Heaven, even a person as prideful as Tang Thirty Six became serious. “This time, four of the Seven Rules of Heaven will participated in the Ivy Festival, and they will probably participate in the Great Trial as well. Their leader should be Gou Han Shi. Would Zhuang Huan Yu dare to challenge him?”
“What about…..Qiu Shan Jun?” Chen Chang Sheng asked.
“Proposing is a job of the elders and friends, how could Qiu Shan Jun travel to the capital himself? And whether he will attend next year’s Great Trial or not, I’m not sure. But don’t look down on Gou Han Shi. He is an honorable man.”
Tang Thirty Six was a prideful person. It didn’t matter if he was ranked thirty sixth on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud or not, it was a personality problem. The only desire he had after entering the Heavenly Academy was to defeat Zhuang Huan Yu, who was ranked tenth. Although there may be some other reason, Tang Thirty Six didn’t respect Zhuang Huan Yu much.
There weren’t many people that he respected. Xu You Rong, Qiu Shan Jun, that young wolfling in the demon territory, and that mysterious young girl ranked above Zhuang Huan Yu, and perhaps an unique character like Chen Chang Sheng earned some respect from him. For a person like Gou Han Shi to be called honorable by Tang Thirty Six meant that this person must be extraordinary.
“The second of the Seven Rules of Heaven, he is ranked only under Qiu Shan Jun.”
Luo Luo knew Chen Chang Sheng didn’t know much about the xiuxing world, “It’s rumored that this person is wise and understands all of the Scrolls of the Way. His reputation is extremely high in the hearts of the young students of Mountain Li and even other sects. He is a brainy character.”
Chen Chang Sheng asked, “Then why is he extraordinary?”
Tang Thirty Six was speechless, “Understanding the entire Scrolls of the Way isn’t extraordinary?”
Hearing ‘understanding the Scrolls of the Way,’ Chen Chang Sheng naturally remembered his senior and himself. He didn’t know what was so special about this, but if he said so, Luo Luo wouldn’t care but Tang Thirty Six would mock him. Therefore he switched the topic.
“Who else will come from the Seven Rules of Heaven?”
“Guan Fei Bai, ranked fourth in both the Seven Rules of Heaven and on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud. I heard that he is a prideful person.”
Mentioning this person’s name, there was expression of respect on Tang Thirty Six’s face. Instead, his eyes were burning with interest, “Zhuang Huan Yu’s target would be him in the third night of Ivy Festival. I need to think of a way to get him.”
Chen Chang Sheng counted using his fingers, “He’s ranked fourth and you are ranked thirty sixth. There are thirty two people between you guys.”
Tang Thirty Six’s face got gloomier, “What do you mean?”
Chen Chang Sheng answered, “I meant that don’t always rush to your goal. You should do things gradually and then you can reach it with a foundation without distribution. You can’t pull out the roots to make the trees grow taller, there is a saying……”
“Continue,” Tang Thirty Six smiled coldly, “You got a good vocabulary pool.”
Chen Chang Sheng saw that Tang Thirty Six’s expression wasn’t exactly friendly so he gave a smile and stopped talking.
Tang Thirty Six said, “If everything was set on the rankings, then what is the purpose of the Ivy Festival and Great Trial? I can’t defeat Xu You Rong or Qiu Shan Jun because they are geniuses with special bloodline. Although Guan Fei Bai ranks above that wolfling and that mysterious young girl, if you ask Guan Fei Bai himself if he dares to say that he is stronger than those two, he will say no.”
Chen Chang Sheng realized this was true, but who was the wolfling and the young girl who was mentioned by Tang Thirty Six?
Tang Thirty Six remembered the well built Yao youngster he saw in the library and asked, “That guy also entered the Tradition Academy?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t want to stay in the Starseeker Academy anymore.”
“I heard the behavior of Starseeker Academy in the first night of Ivy Festival was disgusting. No one else stood up besides that guy……but that guy was so heavily injured by Tian Hai Ya Er. He is probably handicapped for life. You sure you want to bring him in?”
“I didn’t even enter Purification myself, am I not a bigger garbage than he is?”
Tang Thirty Six laughed coldly, “What garbage dares to say that he wants to obtain the championship of the Great Trial?”
“Of course my Master will obtain first place,” Luo Luo spoke without hesitation. Her eyes looked at Chen Chang Sheng with nothing but respect.
Tang Thirty Six was stunned for a moment and asked, “What’s the situation here?”
He knew Luo Luo wasn’t an ordinary person. Previously, he was confused after seeing her obedient gestures toward Chen Chang Sheng. Right now Tang Thirty Six was even more confused because she called Chen Chang Sheng her master. She was so close to him and she respected him so much. He didn’t understand the relationship between these two.
Chen Chang Sheng didn’t know how to explain.
On the other hand, Luo Luo explained generously, “I am the student of Master.”
“What?”
Tang Thirty Six was surprised, he looked at Chen Chang Sheng and said, “Aren’t you only fourteen years old?”
Chen Chang Sheng said, “She wanted to become my student, I couldn’t refuse her.”
Tang Thirty Six thought for a moment and said, “Well, you behave maturely and it seems like you are older than your actual age. It should be fine.”
Luo Luo said unhappily, “My Master is responsible and independent, you think everyone should be like you?”
Tang Thirty Six didn’t want to bother with the young girl and dusted his shirt and was ready to leave. At last, he asked, “Are you going to attend the last night?”
Luo Luo thought about her Master’s personality and thought that he will probably not participate just like last night.
Chen Chang Sheng thought for a moment and said, “We will go and watch.”
———————————————–
Due to the arrival of the southern ambassadors, the last night of Ivy Festival was pushed back of a several days. And the event location was moved from the Heavenly Academy to Wei Yang Palace. Wei Yang Palace is one of the buildings of the royal palace. This move clearly showed the government’s close attention on this event.
If the southern ambassadors proposed successfully, then the relationship between the south and north will be closer and Xu You Rong may become the first Virgin of the southern sect from the capital in the history of mankind. Zhou Dynasty’s influence on the south will become much greater and the Divine Queen will be happy to see the results of this.
Speaking from a logical perspective, no one or no faction could stop this event from happening.
Even the demon race who didn’t want to this to happen couldn’t stop it.
Only a handful of people in the entire world knew about the only variable in this event.
That variable lived in the ruined Tradition Academy.
It was a youngster named Chen Chang Sheng.
It was the beginning of autumn. The night was chilly but water wasn’t cold.
Tonight, the capital was filled with the light of candles and lamps. It was Qi Xi. (Previously mentioned, Chinese Valentines Day)
Chen Chang Sheng and Luo Luo walked out of the Tradition Academy. They left the depths of Hundred Blossom Street and arrived at the busy and lively world.
These two walked toward Wei Yang Palace which wasn’t too far away.
Until this moment, he didn’t know what he should do. He didn’t know what he should do when the southerners propose at the General’s Mansion.
He haven’t decided yet. He just wanted to see.
He never knew what could happen tonight.