Chapter 179 – Sunset, Yet a First Dawning (1/2)

It was very quiet in the tower, whether be it on the floor above or the floor below.

No one knew what kind of evaluation should be given to this match; it wasn’t until after a long period of time, did His Eminence, Archbishop Mei Li Sha, sigh and say: “Amazing.”

This word was directed at Chen Chang Sheng and also Gou Han Shi – Chen Chang Sheng was amazing because of his tranquillity when facing the terror of death; to be tranquil to the point of being aloof and thus, fearsome.

Gou Han Shi was amazing because, when faced with the most important point of a cultivator’s journey in life, he could remain calm and collected, using reason to exchange the ardency of youth into a type of power, the power to relinquish.

As such, the last duel of this year’s Grand Examination drew to a close, with Gou Han Shi’s withdrawal from the match; the Grand Examination had its first upon the First Banner, however, the personages continued to have complex moods, complex and hard to articulate.

The drizzle slowly ceased, with a few wisps of clouds remaining in the skies of the Education Palace; morning rays gradually increased in intensity, spilling in from the windows and falling upon everyone’s faces.

Archbishop Mei Li Sha was expressionless, as if he was empty of thought.

Mo Yu was expressionless, unknown as to what she was thinking.

Xu Shi Ji was also expressionless; a lot of people could guess as to what was currently going through his mind.

The two Archbishops of the Holy Church had expressionless faces, because they didn’t know what they should be thinking.

Gou Han Shi walked out of the tower and stood atop the steps; he didn’t pay any attention to the gazes that turned towards him, neither did he rush to meet and talk to his junior brothers that were waiting ahead, instead, he directed his gaze towards the sky above.

In the real world, at a location deep inside Li Palace, His Holiness, The Pope, looked at the beads of water that were upon the Green Leaf, he shook his head, then took out a handkerchief from within his sleeve and carefully wiped away the water.

Accompanying the slow movement of His Holiness’ hand, the skies within the Education Palace also began to change.

Gou Han Shi looked at the rainclouds being swept away; the heavens once again returning to an azure blue, with this, his mind became widened anew and the depressive mood that had sprung from those last few sword manoeuvres in the tower, gradually dissipated.

Outside of the tower, all the examinees stared intently at the door above the steps.

They all saw Gou Han Shi walking out; momentarily after, Chen Chang Sheng also came out… more accurately speaking, he was carried out by the Li Palace clergy on a stretcher, then, the clergy announced the final result.

Chen Chang Sheng had won?

This youth from Orthodox Academy has really taken first upon the First Banner?

It was dead quiet in the area surrounding the tower; then, an explosive sound rang out.

For the remaining examinees at the match grounds, their expressions became extremely unsightly, especially for those who had mocked Chen Chang Sheng incessantly at the divine avenue some days ago, those students of Temple Seminary and Li Palace College.

That young junior from Holy Maiden Peak, Ye Xiao Lian, was especially shocked, to the point of not knowing what she could say.

From the woodlands, there suddenly erupted chaotic bawls.

Tang Thirty-Six, Luo Luo and Xuan Yuan Po ran towards the front of the tower.

After arriving at the tower and confirming the result of the match, Tang Thirty-Six remained silent for a moment, then started laughing boisterously. While he was laughing, he intentionally strut out his waist with his hands, gazing at those examinees below who had previous mocked Chen Chang Sheng, with his laughter being remarkably arrogant; because he really did feel very exultant, very proud.

Xuan Yuan was similarly also very excited, exuberant to the point of being gobsmacked, his face was dyed red, with his stubble seemingly wanting to pierce through his skin and sprout out. He raised his pot-sized fist towards Chen Chang Sheng’s chest, whom was lying on the stretcher, to bump upon it.

Chen Chang Sheng was currently suffering from heavy injuries, if he were to take such a blow, what kind of result will it have?

Luckily, Xuan Yuan Po’s fist was blocked by a small hand – Luo Luo crouched by the side of the stretcher and retracted her left hand; seeing Chen Chang Sheng, alongside his pallid face and blood covered body, her face was etched with worry.

“I promised myself and all of you that I will definitely win.”

Chen Chang Sheng grasped her right hand, looked at her and said: “I’ve won.”

When saying those words, the edge of his lips were raised very high; his smile very oafish.

Tang Thirty-Six turned and looked at his appearance, saying, in a worried voice: “He hasn’t been beaten silly right?”

At that moment, Guan Fei Bai’s voice suddenly erupted from the front of the tower: “How can this be?”

His voice was very cold and infuriated.

He couldn’t possibly accept that his second senior brother would lose to Chen Chang Sheng.

Previously, they had already seen a lot of phenomena outside of the tower, but no matter what, he couldn’t find the reason for his senior’s loss to Chen Chang Sheng… not to mention, Gou Han Shi currently didn’t have any major injuries and could still calmly stand atop the steps, while Chen Chang Sheng was laid on a stretcher, his body covered in blood.

Under these circumstances, how could it possibly be Chen Chang Sheng’s victory?

The paved area outside of the tower suddenly became exceedingly quiet.

Countless gazes gathered upon Gou Han Shi and Chen Chang Sheng.

There were a lot of people that had the same thought as Guan Fei Bai. Unless Gou Han Shi was to acknowledge that he had lost, or someone could bring out a reason that can persuade them all, they would all suspect that something dubious was going on for this match.

Gou Han Shi raised his right hand, indicating that his junior brothers need not say anything else.

Chen Chang Sheng, under the support of Luo Luo, sat up, looked at Gou Han Shi and sincerely said: “Thank you.”

Gou Han Shi remained silent for a long time, repeating the entire match from start to finish in his mind, confirming that there wasn’t anything he overlooked, before saying: “Your victory was logical, why would you need to thank me?”

Chen Chang Sheng said: “I’m not your equal, I only managed to take a small advantage.”

Gou Han Shi understood Chen Chang Sheng’s reasoning, he shook his head and said: “For a battle, all aspects are important; even if you were to have 99 aspects out of 100 in which you are inferior to me, as long as you have 1 aspect that surpasses me, it’s still a victory.”

Silence covered the area outside of the tower and confusion filled the faces of Guan Fei Bai, Qi Jian and Liang Ban Hu, not understanding what Gou Han Shi was referring to: how could one lose in 99 aspects, but be adequate by winning in only 1 aspect?

“Because that is the most important aspect.”

Gou Han Shi spoke as he looked at Chen Chang Sheng, explaining to his three juniors at the same time: “Akin to a wooden barrel, the most important part will always be the shortest board; being weaker than you in that aspect, I am inferior in all respects.”