160 Is the Master of Tang Empire Extraordinary? (1/2)
Chapter 160: Is the Master of Tang Empire Extraordinary?
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
Divine Talisman Master Yan Se's mood was very bad now.
He stared at Professor Huang He in the front and coldly said, ”Anyway, your Academy can't have Ning Que.”
Professor Huang He slightly furrowed his brows and said with mockery, ”If uncle can have that kid, why can't our Academy?”
Yan Se loudly shouted, ”That lad is naturally suitable for practicing with Divine Talismans. Who else in the world is qualified as his teacher except me?”
Professor Huang He contemptuously smiled and said, ”Only the Divine Talisman Master is qualified to be his teacher? Well, although our Academy can't pick out other powerful figures, we can still find two or three Divine Talisman Masters.”
The tone of those words was like saying that he could always pull out two or three green radishes from his garden. A Divine Talisman Master was indeed rare and honorable. However, the Academy was not an ordinary place after all. Even he himself was a Divine Talisman Master. In addition to the West-Hill Divine Kingdom, who could compete with the powerful Academy?
Yan Se suddenly paused and then stubbornly said, ”Anyway, I saw him first. I'll never give him to you.”
Huang He sighed and said, ”Uncle, you're a venerable man. Stop making a scene, okay?”
”Bah!” Yan Se angrily spouted, then said, ”Look at me, your uncle. I've spent every day soaking in the brothel and hugging girls. My every pore is acting like a wretched rogue. So why do you think I'm venerable?”
”Even if uncle gives up his self-esteem to act shamelessly today, it won't be of any use.”
Professor Huang He looked at him and earnestly said, ”It may work in front of His Majesty, the Nation Master, or even with the hierarch and the Great Divine Priest of the West-Hill Divine Palace. But our Academy won't buy it.”
The conversation in the study room might seemed ridiculous. However, no matter how they acted like rogues, the dispute between the two Divine Talisman Masters was bound to be excessively tense because of their identities. Therefore, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became dense.
At this moment, Prince Li Peiyan suddenly smiled and said, ”In fact, why argue about this matter? In my opinion, the Ning Que's cultivation has only reached the No Doubts State, far less than Prince Long Qing. Why not let Prince Long Qing enter the Second floor and let Master Yan Se have Ning Que? As a result, both the Tang Empire and the West-Hill Divine Palace would be satisfied, as well as Master Yan Se. Besides, Ning Que would still retain the identity as an Academy student. Therefore, the Academy will have two very promising students at the same time. Doesn't it sound like the perfect ending?”
Professor Huang He listened to him and was slightly moved. It sounded reasonable, but it was not so persuasive.
Li Peiyan looked at him and mildly said, ”If the Academy is limited by the system and inconvenienced by this decision, you can let Ning Que quit on his own. As long as he himself gives up the qualification of entering the Second floor, who in the world would dare gossip about the Academy?”
Professor Huang He frowned and said, ”Why would Ning Que give up?”
Instead of immediately answering his question, Li Peiyan turned to Master Yan Se and asked with a smile, ”Master, I want to know if Ning Que becomes your disciple and enters the South School of Haotian Taoism for cultivation, how will you and the Nation Master treat him?”
”We'll regard him as a son or nephew and teach him all we know.” Yan Se resolutely replied.
Li Peiyan looked at Professor Huang He and smiled with hands unfolded. He said, ”We all know that the Nation Master doesn't have any outstanding disciples, neither does Master Yan Se. If Ning Que enters the South School of Haotian Taoism and diligently continues his own practice, with the two masters' careful training he might eventually be the Master of Tang Empire. With such a bright future, why would he refuse it?”
Professor Huang He finally understood where the previous question in his heart came from. He slightly closed his hands inside the sleeves and stared at the eyes of the Prince, secretly thinking how ruthless His Highness' trick really was. If Ning Que was really tempted by the prospect of being Nation Master of Tang in the future and decided to withdraw from the Second floor of the Academy, then they would loose their leverage to keep this lad from the South School of Haotian Taoism.
Previously it was Yan Se who had made concessions and pretended to retreat while moving ahead. However, the situation had changed this time. It was time for the Academy to make concessions and think about a common ground. Professor Huang He undoubtedly said, ”No matter how Ning Que thinks about it, I have to ask for all the Academy instructors' advice on this matter. Otherwise, isn't it too absurd?”
...
...
In the early morning, still at dawn, Ning Que rubbed his eyes and woke up.
Glancing at the shimmer outside the window, he silently calculated in his heart and knew that he had not been unconscious for too long. He got up and went to the table. Then he lifted the pot of herbal tea and almost drank it all to refresh himself. He looked around and found that this should be the Academy's dormitory.
He walked to the door and reached out his hands to slowly push the wooden door open. The delicate dawn light weaved in through the narrow doorway and shone into his eyes, making him squint. Suddenly he further roused up and watched that light, standing still in front of the door like a fool.
What returned to his mind was the long mountain trail, the arduous climb from midday to late at night, the reliving those life memories of joys and sorrows, the dark Wilderness and the strange dreams.
”I... reached the top.”
”I... entered the Second floor.”
Ning Que stared at the morning light from the door crack and realized what he had gone through. He could not help going blank for a moment, his face showing a confused smile. It seemed that even the smile could not believe everything that had occurred.
When he remembered the last step on the boulder last night and the painful choice on the Wilderness, he could not help shake his head with a smile. He thought about person responsible for the illusions, forcing a secular guy such as him to make metaphysical choices, which was like asking the butcher to think philosophically. Even if he could make the correct argument, he would never know the reasoning process.
He looked up laughing and went out, refusing to be a conservative man. Ning Que smiled and pushed the wooden door open. He walked into the beautiful morning light and then found several officials standing outside. In fact, he would have a very difficult choice to make.
”You are not yet a student on the Second floor of the Academy, so you still have a chance to quit and choose another path. It's completely different, but absolutely of equal brilliance, setting your destiny to rock the world.”
Prince Li Peiyan sat in the chair and then took a slow sip from the hot tea next to him, which slightly diminished the tiredness caused by the lack of sleep. He watched the silent Academy student in front and continued to say, ”I think you should choose the second path, for it involves the harmonious diplomatic relation between the imperial court and West-Hill. Although the Tang Empire never feared any enemies, nor surrendered to any external pressure, to have Prince Long Qing enter the Second floor was an agreement drawn by His Majesty personally and the Divine Hall.”
”As long as you take the initiative to withdraw from the competition for the Second floor, it would solve the predicament many people face, mitigate the pressures on the Tang Empire, and make you benefit from all aspects.” Li Peiyan noticed that Ning Que kept his head down and remained silent. He became slightly unhappy and then said, ”As one of the Tangs, you should think for the Tang Empire. Of course, if I use this reason to make you exit the Second floor of the Academy, not to mention you, even I myself would feel it too absurd.”
”So I'll give you another good reason.”
Li Peiyan slowly leaned his body forward and stared at Ning Que's head. He said, ”Master Yan Se is a prestigious Divine Talisman Master who did not hesitate to act a fool so as to take you back to be his disciple. You can imagine how he'll value and nurture you in the future. Decades of years later, you'll become a Divine Talisman Master with high status and the hope of South School of Haotian Taoism. Master of Nation Li Qingshan has only two disciples who are good for nothing. And he respects his Senior Brother very much, and knows the meaning of a Divine Talisman Master for a denomination than anyone else.”
Ning Que was still silent, but had emotional waves rippling in his heart. He just entered the Second floor and then got the favor of the Divine Talisman Master. Just for a night, he had changed from an ordinary student, a nobody selling calligraphy in the small alley of Eastern City, to a person that both the Academy and the South School of Haotian Taoism fought to rope in. He was even seen as the hope for development - the hope seemed so big and incomprehensible, which even caused a headache. Wasn't it one of Prince Long Qing's private vocabulary?
”I know you have a good relationship with the Princess.” Li Peiyan mildly said, ”Here I can give you a promise. As long as you're willing to think for the imperial court, it won't treat you unfairly. I will personally owe you a favor. When you later enter into the Knowing Destiny State and become a Divine Talisman Master, of course, you'll be the next Nation Master of the Tang Empire.”
Li Peiyan continued to say, ”The Second floor of the Academy surely has a very wonderful environment. But if you look back in its records, how many of its students could go down in history? But if you become the next Nation Master, your name would be remembered by countless people for a thousand years.”
The Nation Master of the Tang Empire in the future?
Although Ning Que looked calm as usual, he had long been agitated by the words.
He seemed to see a brilliant road developing at his own feet. It was really an incomparably hard choice, whether giving up his hard earned place on the Second floor to follow the Divine Talisman Master and contend for the Nation Master of Tang in the future, or, entering the Second floor to follow the Headmaster of the Academy to learn exquisite cultivation methods. He even felt that the choice on the cliff-edge and the Wilderness was much easier than this one.
Ning Que looked at the Prince's face, knowing that as long as he nodded, he would have an infinitely bright future. He believed these words. As long as he had the chance to follow the Divine Talisman Master to study, he might really become the Nation Master in the future. If it wasn't this man who asked him to make a choice, maybe he would have already been tempted.
Li Peiyan saw the emotional reaction in Ning Que's eyes, vaguely guessing how this lad would choose. He suddenly became serious, firmly holding the handle with his right hand, and then stared at his eyes to say, ”This is a chance Haotian makes the imperial court grant to you. If you miss it, you would be about to embrace damnation.”
It was doubtlessly a pure threat. In the face of this threat, even if Ning Que really became a student on the Second floor of the Academy, he also had to think it carefully. Because he lived in this world, and he was bound to accept the rules of this world.
Ning Que respectfully bowed with hands folded in front and said, ”Your Highness, after all, I was an Academy student and have been studying in the Academy for one year. So I have deep feelings for it. I'm willing to think for the imperial court, but I must also consider the Academy's interests.”
...
...
Some people put the pressure of the choice on Ning Que's shoulders without hesitation in order to avoid irritating the Academy. However, for Ning Que who seemed to be honest but slippery, how could he take the initiative to bear the responsibility? With a few sentences, he directly threw back the pressure of the choice.
Ning Que was not worried whether the Academy would give him up and let Prince Long Qing enter into the Second floor. He and Lee Yu had the same understanding in this matter; since the Headmaster of the Academy hadn't returned, no one in the Academy dared to make the decision. In fact, there was an idea deep in his heart that if the Academy could not even withstand the pressure of the imperial court and eventually gave him so that he fully enrolled in the South School of Haotian Taoism, he did not need to stay in such an Academy. Why not be the Nation Master of Tang instead?
What he and Lee Yu thought was not wrong. But there were always some deviations between reality and thought, for they did not realize that the instructors of the Academy quite adored Prince Long Qing and the instructors were not all from Tang.
In the early morning, the Academy instructors sitting in the room were fiercely arguing. It was true that they were unable to reach the quickest conclusion, with the Headmaster absent. However, it was precisely for the same reason that they had the courage to express their own opinions.
Vice professor of Etiquette Cao Zhifeng angrily said, ”Many people think our Academy cheated in this exam. I don't know whether this is true or not. I only know that Prince Long Qing came out of the fog very early, so why did he stay outside the fog for so long? Why in the end did he make the last step with Ning Que? What happened during the process?
Professor Cao was a senior professor of the Academy. What he said naturally made some sense. Although everyone in the room knew that the professor from Yan Kingdom expressed his doubts due to his unwillingness to accept the failure of Prince Long Qing, no one could explain this question he raised. And even some instructors secretly wondered whether those people in the Back Mountain cheated in the exam.