Chapter 390 (1/2)
Chapter 390: The Old Lady Sweeping the Floor
Liu Yiqing was a quiet and gentle young man.
His quietness and gentleness did not mean that he wasn't proud. He had just carefully concealed his pride beneath his quiet and warm exterior. Just like many years ago, he heeded his elder brother's orders to leave the Liu Mansion and joined the Sword Garret using an alias. He had remained mild no matter how cold his peers in the Sword Garret were to him and how they had treated him with enmity.
It was because his older brother was the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai. He had the right to be proud, but he did not have to show this pride to the other disciples of the Sword Garret.
However, in the face of the Academy in the south of Chang'an, his quietness and mildness were more sincere because he knew that he had no right to be pride here.
Out of respect for the Academy, he chose to sit at the side door in a secluded spot that was farthest away from the Academy's main doors. The shame that Chen Pipi had described to Ning Que in the cliff cave was naturally an exaggeration. However, the fact that a Sword Master from the South Jin Kingdom who had issued a challenge to the Academy was left sitting outside waiting for someone to emerge from seclusion had indeed generated much debate and attracted many stares.
The morning breeze was rather cold at early spring. Liu Yiqing opened his eyes slowly and emerged from his meditation. He gazed calmly at the crowd watching him with complicated feelings.
Most of those watching the Great Sword Master from the South Jin Kingdom were students of the front courtyard of the Academy. However, as time pa.s.sed, news spread through Chang'an and sparked the curiosity of many. Some curious people came with friends to see what he looked like.
The side doors opened with a squeak.
Professor Huang He walked out and stood aside futon. He looked up at the gloomy skies and suddenly sighed. He said, ”I invited you into the Academy on account of your older brother, but you refuse to do so. You have attracted so many people today, don't you think that this is a little ludicrous? Or have you decided to use this method to shame the Academy before you came to Chang'an?”
”I wouldn't dare to.” Liu Yiqing stood up from the futon and bowed. He said, ”I would not dare to be impolite to the Academy. I have just heeded orders and come here. I do not know how to answer to my brother if I leave without battling Mr. Thirteen. Since Mr. Thirteen is in seclusion, I will wait for him here.”
Huang He looked at the young Sword Master from South Jin Kingdom and felt as if he was looking at the obstinate man from many years ago. Even though the expression of the young man was calm and gentle, the stubborn in his body was obvious.
”You can continue waiting if you wish to. There is water in the courtyard if you are thirsty, but the Academy will not provide you with food. So if you run out the food you have, go back to Chang'an.”
Liu Yiqing replied, ”Rest a.s.sured, sir, I brought plenty of food.”
Many disciples of the Academy came all the way to the side door just to look at Liu Yiqing from dawn to dusk. When they realized that the young powerhouse from South Jin Kingdom wasn't any special, and was still on his futon, they all felt bored and left.
The citizens of Chang'an who had come to watch came in droves. They surrounded Liu Yiqing and pointed at him and whispered to each others. Some even started arguing loudly due to differing opinions. The once quiet side door became noisy.
”Great Sword Master... he must be a powerful cultivator?”
”This is my first time seeing a real live cultivator.”
”I heard that he is already at the upper Seethrough state. He's at the same level as Prince Long Qing.”
”So what? I heard that the student he wanted to challenge from the Second floor of the Academy was the one who shot Prince Long Qing in the Wilderness. How can he win him?”
”Speaking of which, this guy from the South Jin Kingdom isn't chicken like others from the South Jin. He had the guts to block the doors of our Academy.”
”I don't understand. The Academy's doors have been blocked by him. Why do the people in the Academy allow him to behave so arrogantly and not chase him away?”
”Firstly, this guy from the South Jin Kingdom is sitting at the side door. Who else would pa.s.s by here other than us? Next, since the student of the second floor that he is challenging is currently in seclusion, it is awkward for the others from the Academy to act. Furthermore, wouldn't they harm their reputation, if they deal with the challenger in an improper way?”
”That sounded making sense. Guess how many days the guy from South Jin Kingdom can sit here for?”
”Ten days or half a month? Who knows?”
”I only know that the man from South Jin Kingdom won't be sitting when the student from the Second floor of the Academy emerges from his seclusion. He would lose painfully and return to the South Jin Kingdom pathetically.”
The Tang Empire was the strongest of all. The second strongest was the South Jin Kingdom. The South Jin Kingdom ruled the south due to the support from the West-Hill Divine Palace and had always been trying to challenge the Tang Empire. The Tangs always felt that the South Jin Kingdom was below them. Though they watched out for South Jin Kingdom, they mocked and looked down upon them more often.
A young powerhouse from the South Jin Kingdom issuing a challenge to the Academy was an unusual scene of the Tangs. After many years of peace, it was a rare opportunity to show those from the South Jin Kingdom who was boss.
As for whether the man from South Jin Kingdom sitting outside the Academy could defeat the student from the Second floor of the Academy...The Tangs did not know who the student was and his state. However, they had never once considered that someone from the Academy would lose the battle.
This had nothing to do with pride, confidence, and arrogance. It was just an aura that flowed in the blood of the Tangs. They would not think about failure before the battle begins because the aim of battling was victory. There were no other thoughts other than victory.
Days pa.s.sed, and the folks from Chang'an who had come to watch the young man curiously and spoke in whispers. They argued intensely and came to a conclusion. They felt that the powerhouse from South Jin Kingdom looked arrogant now, but he was no match for those from the Academy. He would have a humiliating defeat.
Days pa.s.sed, and Liu Yiqing sat outside the Academy's side doors. He received the curiosity and scorns from others' stares. He heard their debates and the mocking jibes against himself and others from the South Jin Kingdom. His expression remained calm as if he did not care at all.
A wildflower bloomed at the stairs of the side door. Spring had finally arrived. Liu Yiqing looked at the little flower and smiled.
The smile on his face was warm, but the one in his heart was cold.
As the younger brother of the Sage of Sword, Liu Bai, and the most promising disciple of his generation from the Sword Garret, he had the right to be proud and confident. Even when facing the Academy, he had only hidden the pride and confidence deeply in his heart. However, how could he not be mad when he heard those fools in the Tang Empire debating.
Mr. Thirteen of the Academy, Ning Que?
The Sage of Sword, Liu Bai had once warned Liu Yiqing before he left the Sword Garret, that other than Mr. First, Second and Twelve of the Academy, he was not allowed to lose to anyone else.
The meaning was clear. In Liu Bai's eyes, other than Mr. First and Second as well as Mr. Twelve, whose name had been known to the Haotian Taoism for years, the others
others were not opponents of Liu Yiqing.
Liu Yiqing knew of Ning Que's current state very well.
How could a person who had just broken through the realm into the Seethrough state in the wilderness be his match?
There were many different cultivation sects in the world whose view of Ning Que remained at this stage. At first, they had not understood why the Headmaster was willing to accept this disciple who was a totally loser. After that, Ning Que had defeated Prince Long Qing, Monk Guan Hai from the Lanke Temple as well as Master Dao s.h.i.+ from the Xuankong Temple. The cultivation world began to think of the true reason for why the Headmaster would accept Ning Que as his student. However, still no one really thought that Ning Que was strong.
The three battles that had secured Ning Que's place in the cultivation world had become something that many cultivation sects studied in detail.
The more they studied it, the more they felt that Ning Que had won the three battles thanks to the weapons that the Academy had provided as well as a touch of luck. For example, that odd iron arrow in the Wilderness. And there was obviously an external force working in Ning Que's favor when he battled with Master Dao s.h.i.+ on the street of Chang'an in the holy land of lotus flowers.
Many from the cultivation world suspected that the fat young boy beside Ning Que was the legendary Mr. Twelve of the Academy. Or perhaps, Mr. Twelve had attacked secretly to defeat Master Dao s.h.i.+ to be. It was just that there was no evidence. Furthermore, this was Mr. Twelve of the Academy, and his background was legendary. n.o.body dared to raise their suspicion.
But n.o.body asking did not mean that there were no suspicions.
As it was, n.o.body truly believed that Ning Que was stronger than Prince Long Qing.
Liu Yiqing was notified that Monk Guan Hai from Lanke Temple had been defeated on his journey to Chang'an from the South Jin Kingdom. He began to grow vigilant against Ning Que's methods on Talisman Taoism. He began to study Ning Que's past battles when he got to Chang'an and finally reached a conclusion. Other than what other cultivation sects had concluded, this Mr. Thirteen of the Academy who represented the Academy in entering the human realm preferred to use trickery to gain advantages in battles.
Liu Yiqing had practiced swordsmans.h.i.+p since birth. He practiced cultivation relentlessly and sharpened his wits and will. He suffered aplenty before he gained the status he had in the Sword Garret today. He had always hated those who played tricks to their advantage, or perhaps, he should say that he hated those who were lucky. And to him, the guy called Ning Que was just lucky enough to be accepted as a disciple by the Headmaster and continued to win glory after that.