Chapter 138 – Riding a Crane to the Southern Shore (1/2)

An emerald river separated the two shores; all the examinees were currently on the Southern shore, with only Chen Chang Sheng remaining opposite, looking solitary, lonely.

This scene and the mood it evoked, in comparison to the declaration that had spread across the entire continent, made it all the more poignant, or perhaps, more pitiful. The stares, be they empathetic, contemptuous or cold, they all waited for the end to his time in the Grand Examination; no one could have guessed, therefore, that the first thing to come from their waiting would have been the cry of a crane.

The Capital’s Spring skies were filled with wandering clouds; suddenly, from the lower strata of clouds, a line appeared; at the fore of this line was a White Crane.

Countless gazes followed the path of this White Crane, watching as it flew across the sky before arriving at the Garden of Dawn and alighting by the riverside where Chen Chang Sheng was; these gazes all changed.

“It can’t be…” Gou Han Shi thought to himself, feeling rather stunned.

Guan Fei Bei involuntarily took a few steps towards the edge of the river, gawking at the White Crane, he said in an astonished voice: “It can’t be…”

Qi Jian’s mouth was slightly agape; he managed to stop himself from uttering those three words himself with much difficulty.

At the riverside, a lot of the examinees looking upon this scene, endured what seemed to be an excruciatingly slow flight, yet, it didn’t take long to land upon the meadow.

Chen Chang Sheng dismounted from the White Crane, looking very much the picture of some Elder; he gave a formal gesture of thanks.

Luo Luo rushed up in greeting, delighted; gazing upon the White Crane with much curiosity.

Her Royal Father had once said that White Cranes have an immortal leaning, furthermore, due to both being ‘surnamed’ White; White Emperor City did not use White Cranes for carrying people.

She had seen a lot of different yao beasts since young, but had rarely come into contact with White Cranes, at the last Ivy League gathering, since seeing the crane, she had wanted to get closer; she looked at Chen Chang Sheng, enquiring through her gaze whether if she could stroke the crane.

She knew that the White Crane did not belong to her tutor, but she felt that the crane would eventually belong to him and that as a student, her request wasn’t discourteous.

As the Princess of the yao race, the White Crane wasn’t accustomed to the presence exuded by Luo Luo, or perhaps it could be said that it was wary; without waiting for Chen Chang Sheng to make a response, it let out a clear cry, spread its wings and flew up, high into the air.

Chen Chang Sheng waved farewell to the crane.

Luo Luo felt remorseful, but also thankful towards the White Crane for helping her tutor cross the river today; she earnestly waved to express her gratitude.

The cries of the crane gradually faded into the distance.

Silence enveloped the meadow.

What was this?

Was this the Grand Examination or was it some kind of joke? In order to cross this river that was over 100 metres wide, the examinees that had come from various sects and academies all resorted to numerous means, using all they could muster, yet, this Chen Chang Sheng… he had actually ridden a crane across.

More importantly, he had actually ridden that White Crane across.

That’s correct, that White Crane was famous, recognised by many, especially for the youths that had come from the Southern Domain.

It was Xu You Rong’s White Crane.

A lot people took notice that when the White Crane left, it had flown towards the South.

Holy Maiden Peak was located in the South.

Everyone turned to stare at Chen Chang Sheng, they had complicated expressions on their faces.

More so for the disciples of Holy Maiden Peak and the Longevity Sect, their expressions were especially extreme.

None of them knew that the White Crane had arrived at the Capital days ago and that Chen Chang Sheng had requested it to stay.

Therefore, they couldn’t help but guess; was it Xu You Rong herself that requested the White Crane travel thousands of miles, from the South to the Capital, in order to especially provide assistance to her fiancé in the Grand Examination?

Luo Luo held onto Chen Chang Sheng’s sleeve, her little face beaming in joy, constantly praising his intellect.

Her praise was exceedingly genuine, to the point where it started to make Chen Chang Sheng feel rather embarrassed.

Tang Thirty-Six patted him on the shoulder, not saying anything else.

Xuan Yuan Po looked at him while shaking his head, he wanted to say this wasn’t good, but upon thinking that he was technically his Grand Master, all he could do was to drearily remain quiet.

Su Mo Yu approached, stared at him and asked: “Is this allowed?”