Chapter 73 – Unwilling (1/2)

Besides the wall in front of the Mausoleum of the Book, what did the Destiny Pavilion care about the most when evaluating honor rolls such as the Honor Roll of Green Cloud and the Honor Roll of Midas? The answer is the fights between elites on the honor rolls. Anyone that got on the honor roll, regardless of background, would have experienced at least one battle.

Chen Chang Sheng who did not have experience asked, “Then, how do we fight? Who do we fight?”

Luo Luo’s eyes lit up and she held onto the handle of her Falling Rain Whip using her right hand. She walked up and said, “When master has a problem, his disciple will solve it.”

Of course, Tang Thirty Six wouldn’t let her take advantage of such a great opportunity to fight and said, “I am new… so you should let me prove myself.”

Nowadays, the Li Palace Sword sect possessed a special status because its current young generation was very strong. Certainly Tang Thirty Sixwas a genius, but he still couldn’t compare to his opponents. That is not to say Gou Han Shi or even the three young disciples of the Li Mountain could defeat him easily.

The Seven Rulings were all from the Li Mountain. Everyone of their rank on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud ranked much higher than Tang Thirty Six.

Yet Tang Thirty Six seemed to never think about the difference in ranks. When he looked at Gou Han Shi, his eyes lit up and he became excited.

The word fear was never in his dictionary. He originally wanted to challenge Zhuang Huan Yu who ranked tenth on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud on the second night of the Ivy Festival. His fight was rejected only because the school objected to it. Tonight, he decided to join the Tradition Academy but he immediately got a chance to fight the Seven Rulings. He didn’t want to miss this chance.

Yes, this was a good opportunity.

“If I didn’t remember incorrectly, the third night of the Ivy Festival is the literary test.”

Gou Han Shi didn’t look at Tang Thirty Six, but only quietly looked at Chen Chang Sheng. “Since even the princess became your apprentice, then you should be very knowledgeable. Also I heard you still haven’t successfully purified yet, so I think the literacy competition would be a good option.”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone understood it.

Li Mountain Sword sect challenging the Tradition Academy was basically Gou Han Shi challenging Chen Chang Sheng.

The palace was silent. Gou Han Shi sounded very reasonable and showed Li Mountain Sword sect’s pity for the weak andpursuit for equity. Gou Han Shi’s comment meant that since the third night was a literacy competition, Chen Chang Sheng didn’t have an excuse to not compete with him even if he didn’t purify successfully yet.

However, this suggestion was in truth not pitiful or fair.

Gou Han Shi read three thousand Scrolls of the Way and learned all the teachings from both the North and the South. Even the old professors who studied the Scrolls of the Way for their entire life in the Li Palace couldn’t score better than him on the literacy test. This was a fact acknowledged by the entire continent. If they were only talking about xiuxing, Gou Han Shi wasn’t strong compared to those elders who had xiuxinged for hundreds of years because he was younger, but in regards to knowledge, he was the most knowledgeable.

He wanted to compete against Chen Chang Sheng in the literacy competition. How was this fair? This was completely bullying and would be utter dominance by the strong elite.

Luo Luo’s look became sharp and she stared at Gou Han Shi. She shouted, “Nonsense!”

Gou Han Shi’s expression didn’t change. He first made a salute to her and then said, “May I ask, what is nonsense?”

Tang Thirty Six laughed contemptuously. “The entire continent knows that you have read all of the Scrolls of Way and that you are the most knowledgeable. Where can we find someone comparable to you? You actually want to compete with that kid in knowledge? Don’t you feel any shame? To actually suggest it, how is it not nonsense?”

Gou Han Shi looked at him and said calmly, “I am also a commoner. My memory skills are not better or superior to than others’. Since I was a child, my family was very poor. Also I couldn’t begin reading (supposed to be xiuxing?) right after I was born. The only thing I can do is read. Reading is my xiuxing. Knowledge is my strength like power is a tiger’s strength. I am representing Li Mountain in this challenge to the Tradition Academy. Should I really abandon my strength? I use my strength to live on. Why should I feel shameful? I use my strength to defeat my opponent. How is it nonsense?”

“What a stupid argument! I am best at sleeping. If I want to compete with you on who could sleep longer, will you also agree?” Tang Thirty Six said.

Gou Han Shi smiled and said, “If there is such a competition as the Sleeping Competition in the Ivy Festival, then I will.”

Tang Thirty Six got stuck but after a while, he laughed contemptuously, “Then how is the literacy competition going to be? Do you actually want the Bishop to give us tests? Why do we have to get so complicated? Since we all didn’t participate in the second night of Ivy Festival, isn’t it more straightforward to just have a fight?”

Gou Han Shi spoke calmly, “If you insist, I have no problem with it…You can decide both competition type and who competes.”

People all felt a little surprised, even Tang Thirty Six didn’t expect Gou Han Shi’s sudden change of attitude.

Following Gou Han Shi’s sentence, Guan Fei Bai and other two young disciples of Li Mountain walked up to him with empty expressions.

Seeing this, people then realized that they misunderstood Gou Han Shi before.

The so called literacy competition, indeed was an automatic win for the Li Mountain, but fighting would be even worse for Chen Chang Sheng because he would have even fewer chances to win.

Among the Southern Ambassadors, there weren’t many people coming from the Li Mountain Sword Sect. Beside the elder Xiao Song Gong, there were only four other youngsters.

They were four of the Seven Rulings.

At this moment, Chen Chang Sheng spoke again.

He looked at Gou Han Shi, “I agree with you. Anything obtained from xiuxing is their own ability. Just like how when rice eaten, it turns into energy. It’s our freedom to use the energy to do what we want. Fortunately….I am also a commoner and I also have read some books.”

Both were commoners and both had read some books, which was really coincidental. Therefore it’s good for them to compete.

“After all you are unwilling.”

The Bishop looked at Chen Chang Sheng and laughed, hiding deep meaning within.

Then he looked outside of the palace.