Chapter 128 – A Weight Upon the Waist (2) (1/2)

The conversation by the lakeside at the time, went like this:

Tang Thirty-Six, while looking at Xuan Yuan Po’s right arm and its faintly visible, metallic black hairs, asked: “Dog Bear?”

Xuan Yuan Po gave him a single glance, knowing that he meant no harm and replied: “Bear.”

Tang Thirty-Six gave an exclamation of acknowledgement, saying: “So it really is Dog Bear.”

Xuan Yuan Po considered for a moment the difference between a Dog Bear and Bear, upon confirming that he was being made fun of, he replied: “Tang Thirty-Two, you’re a bad person.”

Tang Thirty-Six’s face became a little grotesque and said: “I’ve already said this before, don’t call me Tang Thirty-Two.”

Xuan Yuan Po was insistent: “Tang Thirty-Two, didn’t you say that you will name yourself after whatever ranking you have on the Proclamation of Azure Clouds?”

“That is to encourage myself.”

Tang Thirty-Six explained, as he decided that he definitely had to try his hardest to obtain a ranking within the top ten on the next proclamation.

“You also dislike the name of Tang Tang,” said Xuan Yuan Po.

“That name is too girlish,” replied Tang Thirty-Six.

Xuan Yuan Po’s gaze fell upon his chest, “For someone as petty and mean as you, if it wasn’t because you’re flat, you would definitely be mistaken for a girl.”

Upon finishing those words, he carried a tree that had been smashed in half on his shoulders and headed for the kitchen, no longer caring for Tang Thirty-Six.

This absurd bout of words, ended with the yao youth as its victor.

At the time of their bout, Chen Chang Sheng was situated not far away, dashing across the snow.

He was running at a very fast speed, with the snow and rain accompanying his steps, this wasn’t a digestive aid, but training – though it was rather incomprehensible, he had seemingly completed his Purification and within his body True Essence had started to flow, though the problem with his meridian channels was still unresolved – luckily, he had already prepared for this training; Luo Luo and Xuan Yuan Po’s improvement were evidence as to the validity of his approach.

The problem was, his quantity of True Essence was far too limited, and he didn’t dare to risk igniting another fragment of snow plain before the Grand Examination; if he wanted to achieve success, he had to think of some other methods, such as fully utilising the transformation of his body – he now possessed a strength that surpassed a regular yao; having incredible speed and toughness.

He decided to place his hopes upon martial arts, so he chose to concentrate on analysing Ye Shi (Discerning) Steps.

Discerning Steps was a closely guarded secret art of the demon race, having read the Scripture of The Way in its entirety, he had a rough understanding of it, and could remember the few thousand positions it utilised, to the point of being able to teach Luo Luo some simplified versions that had shocked the Ivy League gathering; yet, Guan Fei Bai’s sword at the time, did not wield any True Essence; if he wanted to triumph against the other participants of the Grand Examination, relying upon simplified versions of Discerning Steps was not enough.

The snow covered ground was littered with his footsteps, before they had been covered over by the snow, they formed various patterns; some simple, some complicated; if the cloud covered skies above were to suddenly clear, and a person was to raise their head towards the starry sky, they would find that the patterns had some correspondence to the cover of stars above.

It was upon this moment, that a horse-drawn carriage from the Education Board came to Orthodox Academy, Minister Xin had come to visit.

Chen Chang Sheng and Tang Thirty-Six were a little surprised. Their applications to enter the Grand Examination had been completed, personally dealt with by Minister Xin, the Education Board had even secretly sent a copy of information on the other participants to Orthodox Academy, therefore, everything that could have been done had already been completed, with the Grand Examination being close, what need did he have to visit the academy? Did he not fear starting any rumours?

Jin Yu Lu held his teapot and looked at the two youths while shaking his head, thinking to himself that these were indeed good children, to have trouble understanding such matters.

Minister Xin explicated his reason for visiting; the application process had encountered a mistake and he needed Chen Chang Sheng to produce the school roster and seal for confirmation once again.

Having completed this task, Minister Xin did not immediately leave.

Chen Chang Sheng had Xuan Yuan Po bring a cup of tea as a gesture of gratitude.

Minister Xin held his teacup, but didn’t drink; he left the library and stood by the lakeside, on the snowy ground; gazing upon the opposite shore, he suddenly said: “Wanting to reach the other shore, really does require boundless wisdom.”

His melancholy over, he returned the teacup to Xuan Yuan Po’s hands, gave everyone a smile and then left in his horse-drawn carriage.

Chen Chang Sheng and the others were befuddled, not understanding what meaning was there to Minister Xin’s action.

The other shore was a saying within Buddhism; Buddhism had declined ten thousand years ago and was rarely mentioned by people, were the words from Minister Xin due to true anguish, or did it have some other implication?

“This fellow, when did he suddenly start to enjoy blurting out his worries?” said Tang Thirty-Six.

Jin Yu Lu couldn’t control himself any longer, reprimanding him: “You idiot, this is blatantly the leaking of a topic.”

“Eh?” Xuan Yuan Po’s mouth was agape, wondering where the exam question was.

Chen Chang Sheng and Tang Thirty-Six exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves that adults really liked handling matters in unusual ways, for such an important matter, couldn’t it have been stated in a clearer manner?

The Grand Examination was separated into three stages of: Academic Exam, Martial Trial and Duelling. The special attention directed towards Orthodox Academy from the Education Board was primarily centred around Chen Chang Sheng, he had no problems with the Academic Exam, while Duelling was dependent upon personal ability and didn’t have any exam topics; therefore, Minister Xin’s leaked topic had to be something related to the Martial Trial.

“Crossing a lake?”