Chapter 4 – Heavenly Academy (1/2)
Like every morning for the past fourteen years, Chen Chang Sheng woke up at five, used five seconds to calm himself, then got off the bed, dressed up, folded the quilts, and made the bed. In the dining room of the inn, he ate a bowl of duck porridge and four freshly made hot meat buns. He then returned to his bedroom, rinsed his mouth using the tea from last night, and dressed up before walking out into the yard.
–Now that he was no longer in the small temple at Xi Ning Village. He didn’t have to chop firewood and deliver water. Facing the morning fog and light coming from far away, he closed his eyes and started to silently read the Scriptures of The Way. Until he felt refreshed and alert, his daily routine of the day was over. He walked out from the side door to the crowded and noisy street in the Capital.
He had a roster in his hand. On the roster were the names of some schools in the Capital. After getting the addresses from the market manager, he walked faster. He didn’t notice that there was a wagon following him. He didn’t see that the horse possessed unicorn blood, and of course, he didn’t notice the bloody phoenix emblem on the wheel.
Long ago, The Heavenly Tomes descended upon the world. Humans were enlightened, and developed countless teachings, but all the change originated from one point. The classics and scrolls that were written in the past all traced the source of the change. Agriculture, industry, business, and education were all included. Now, publicly, the most authoritative evaluation to these was the annual Grand Examination
The Grand Examination was initiated by the first emperor of Zhou, Emperor Taizu. Whether to become a government official, military general, or even a priest in the Orthodoxy, the grade from the Grand Examination was the most important criterion. Most importantly, Emperor Taizu declared that only the top three grades had the right to enter the Mausoleum of Books. Because of this rule, each year, countless elites would come to the Capital. During the year of the first Grand Examination, Emperor Taizu stood on the wall to look at the geniuses from various sects on the continent who came in. He smiled and then spoke a line which is not only famous today but also established the status of the Grand Examination.
In the Southern countries, the powerful sects, such as the Longevity Sect, were extremely dissatisfied with this rule. To them, even though the Mausoleum of Books was at the Capital of Zhou, the Heavenly Tomes were divine rocks that had fallen from heaven and should be the commonwealth of the entire continent. Therefore, the South had attempted to resist the Grand Examination for many years, making the relationship between the two sides tense.
The Mausoleum of Books was too important to cultivators. Even though the Zhou Dynasty was very strong, it still could not monopolize it. The South, on the other hand, also could not resist the lure to enter the Mausoleum to see the stela. Even after the demons were defeated, the South still tried to resist the Grand Examination publicly. Even though the South tried to resist, there were many elites that traveled from the South to take the exam in private.
After the Divine Empress came to power, the Zhou Dynasty eventually formed an agreement with the South. The Southern sects and countries were allowed to freely send out diplomatic corps to participate in the Grand Examination. To make it fairer, the evaluation was based on both sides. Moreover, the southern students did not have to accept titles and rewards from the Zhou Dynasty. The test takers will all be treated equally. After many years, the examinations got a brand new name: Grand Examination.
In many years, the Grand Examination selected countless elites. It’s known that the strongest elites on the continent had all traveled to the Zhou Capital and participated in the Grand Examination. Other well known facts were: the current Pope of the Orthoxy and the Elder of the south’s Holy Maiden Peak were once winners of the Grand Examination. Not to mention, some geniuses from the West’s yao race transformed themselves as humans and came to participate in the Grand Examination. Even for the demon race, there was a Prince who took the risk to come and participate. His identity was detected by the former Pope and exorcised into ashes.
Those were stories from many years ago. Now, what people were more concerned about was, in next year’s Grand Examination. Would Qiu Shan Jun from the Longevity Sect attend? How many of the Seven Laws would get into the First Grading? Would Xu You Rong break through her stage early and leave Holy Maiden Peak to return to the Capital? Would the cold and mysterious genius elite on the demon’s wild plains appear in front of people for the first time? Or would he continue to violently chase and kill more demons? People in the Capital also cared about how many outstanding geniuses from all the schools in the Capital will show up this year.
Yes, there are many schools in the Capital. The Divine Empress held power. Under her strict rule, the government officials were candid and efficient. (TL: Yea sure… look at the Xu family please >.> they are totally candid…) People’s lives gradually improved. In these decades, The Empire was in a golden age. Multiple schools appeared like the bamboo shoots in spring after raining. Indeed, in recent years there were many private schools that were taught by the elites from the Orthodoxy. Their goal was to aim specifically for the Grand Examination. Of course, the most famous and influential schools were still the ones with the longest history. Among them, two of the schools were even established earlier than the Zhou Dynasty.
On Chen Chang Sheng’s roster were six schools, the Heavenly Academy he was currently walking to was on the top of the list. In fact, even among the entire continent, Heavenly Academy could be ranked highly — In the recent two hundred years, students from Heavenly Academy have obtained 1st place in the Grand Examination a total of twenty four times. The students of Heavenly Academy were all very talented. The school nurtured many important priests for the Orthodoxy, and educated countless cultivators for many sects. More importantly, the current Pope of the Orthodoxy was a past student of Heavenly Academy.
Heavenly Academy had the best record, so it was the hardest to get into, but there were still many taking the entrance exam. Chen Chang Sheng walked to the entrance of Heavenly Academy. Looking at the gate and looking at the name written by the first emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Taizu, he naturally felt a yearning to attend the school. Almost immediately, such a feeling was crushed due to the smell of sweat and ink. Subconsciously, he looked down.
When he left Xi Ning Village, he had already calculated the time. The time he arrived at the Capital coincided with the days the schools were recruiting students. He also expected that the number of people taking the exam would be large, but he didn’t expect it to be a horrifying number. Especially when he looked at the young men who stood crookedly, looking lazy, and pointing at the crowd; he felt extremely uneasy.