Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Chapter 483 – The Orthodox Academy Walks into a New Era

“You actually haven’t forgotten about it…” Chen Changsheng was quite amazed at this.

“Both members of that couple are part of the Storms of the Eight Directions—who wouldn’t be interested in their matters? In fact, I even have some suspicions that when Wuqiong Bi was in the Li Palace Academy, she might have had an affair with Daoist Siyuan. Or else why would she send her own son to help Daoist Siyuan charge through enemy lines? And why would Bie Yanghong be so wary and have Su Moyu come to the Orthodox Academy to offer support?” Tang Thirty-Six began walking towards the lake as he spoke, “But anyhow, that idiot Bie Tianxin is Wuqiong Bi’s son, but in no way does it mean that he’s Bie Yanghong’s son. What do you think, could he be Daoist Siyuan’s seed? Sigh. But this is a private matter, so you can’t go spreading it around everywhere. Su Moyu especially is not allowed to hear this. After all, this is his own uncle; it must be so embarrassing.”

He turned to his side but realized that no one was there.

At some point, Chen Changsheng had taken his leave and had already reached the grass on the other side of the wall.

As he looked over, Tang Thirty-Six asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

Chen Changsheng didn’t even turn his head, waving his hand as he said, “I’m going to see if the food is done.”

The three matches of the early morning had concluded very quickly. Lunchtime came early and there was even time for a small nap afterwards. Only after the sun had moved a little westward and the stuffiness was somewhat dispelled did the Orthodox Academy’s gate open once more.

It was Tang Thirty-Six leading the group. The new students of the Orthodox Academy stood behind him on the stone steps, their faces filled with the intermingled emotions of excitement and unease.

Without the slightest surprise, the first student to represent the Orthodox Academy lost. At the moment his opponent’s sword seemed ready to fall, Tang Thirty-Six’s voice promptly rose up, “We’ll end it here.”

The second match was a loss, the third match was a loss, and the next few matches of the Orthodox Academy were all very straightforward losses. The normally exceptionally bustling scene was now pervaded with an oppressive atmosphere. Only the voices of Tang Thirty-Six and the new students of the Orthodox Academy could be heard.

“That’s about it.”

“I said that’s about it!”

“I’m speaking so why aren’t you listening?”

These words were Tang Thirty-Six’s and he was speaking to those people who had come to challenge the Orthodox Academy.

The words of the new students of the Orthodox Academy were much simpler. They basically didn’t exceed five words.

“Concede.”

“I concede.”

“I’ve conceded.”

Only after they returned to the Orthodox Academy’s gate, finally casting off the tension and alien feeling they had felt in battle were they finally able to say a little more. Standing on the stone steps, they chatted with their schoolmates.

“Was there anything wrong with the attack I made just now?”

“The principal already said last night, your opponent’s weakness is precisely speed, so your attack should have come out a little faster.”

“I was already going at my fastest.”

”Perhaps that means you haven’t practiced the Three Lanes of the Plum Blossom enough.”

“The principal said last night that there was a sword style that could hold that person down. What was it?”

“The Three Chants of the Fisherman’s Song, an incredibly powerful sword style of the Mount Li Sword Sect. I hear that not even Liang Banhu could grasp it. It’s Gou Hanshi’s unique skill. With yours or my cultivation, it’s simply impossible to learn.”

As the Orthodox Academy students discussed with each other, there was no sense of defeat about them. The continuous losses seemed to have no effect on their mood.

That servant of the Bie family had truly spoken correctly. Blades and swords were without eyes, especially in these battles where there was such a vast difference in strength. No matter how sharp Tang Thirty-Six’s gaze, how prompt his calls, there were still a few unavoidable accidents. However, those accidents really could not be blamed on those experts challenging the Orthodox Academy. They were all basically the result of the new students of the Orthodox Academy being too nervous.

By dusk, the Orthodox Academy had already lost ten-odd bouts. Six students had suffered injuries, with two of them being rather severely wounded. But none of these students complained, nor did they mention that promise Tang Thirty-Six had made that he would not let them be affected. On the contrary, their hearts were filled with gratitude. Because they understood more than anyone else just how much they, with Chen Changsheng’s guidance and these hard-to-find opportunities to engage in actual combat with experts, just how much they had improved. Just their outlook had been expanded many times from before they had entered the Orthodox Academy.

Today, the matches of the Orthodox Academy that had initiated such a massive storm in the capital and had entertained the populace of the capital finally entered a new stage.

The Orthodox Academy began to lose, but no one believed them to be losers, because those who came forth to represent the Orthodox Academy were all new students they had enrolled a few days ago.

Naturally, there weren’t any victors either.

The mood of the students of the Orthodox Academy was very good and Tang Thirty-Six was essentially satisfied with the current situation. However, these half-hearted and routine matches were thoroughly uninteresting to the spectators. They became so bored that they grew agitated and some of them began to doze off and yawn.

The most depressed were those experts of the Tianhai clan and the Ivy Academies. They realized that they had been completely transformed into sparring partners. There were even some experts who truly had slipped their hands and accidentally injured a student. Upon thinking of the threat Tang Thirty-Six had made this morning, they grew uneasy. Only when they saw that Tang Thirty-Six’s complexion was normal did they relax, bitterly laughing as they returned.

As the twilight dimmed, the gate of the Orthodox Academy closed. The majority of the Li Palace priests returned to their respective halls, leaving behind a few night guards and one squadron of Orthodoxy cavalry. The common folk of the capital resentfully returned to their homes to prepare dinner. Under the awning, the stewards of the Four Great Markets gazed at the money made from today’s bets and tightly creased their foreheads. Those experts that had come to challenge the Orthodox Academy suffered from the most indescribably irritable mood.

After dinner, the students and teachers of the Orthodox Academy began to summarize their experiences. Simultaneously, they also made preparations for tomorrow’s matches.

After everything was done, Chen Changsheng and his group returned to the Separate Garden.

Xuanyuan Po had spent all of today with the head chef from Clear Lake Restaurant. In his view, that liveliness of the cooking pot in the kitchen and those ways of handling ingredients that he had never even heard about before were far more important than the liveliness outside the gate. It was only at today’s summary that he learned what was going on with the matches taking place outside. Rather puzzled, he asked, “If conceding was all we needed to resolve our problems, why did we need to recruit these new students? We could just concede on our own.”

Tang Thirty-Six said, “You’ve never had a complaint about the Orthodox Academy enrolling new students, so why now?”

Xuanyuan Po replied, “You didn’t see, at lunch and dinner, such good dishes were all picked clean by them.”

“You see, this is precisely why I wanted to do things this way.” Tang Thirty-Six gave him a look and said, “Because you can lose to those people, but I can’t.”

Xuanyuan Po didn’t quite understand. After thinking about it, he realized that this sort of way of speaking was called punning.

“I want to win fifty-eight consecutive victories. I can’t just let it end right here,” Tang Thirty-Six concluded.

Chen Changsheng shot him a glance, knowing that the reason was definitely not this simple.