Chapter 278 – The Watermirror Disc (2/2)
Li Qingshan clasped his hands to bid farewell to Ye Dachuan before holding Xiao An’s hand and squeezing his way through the crowd towards the ship.
The children around them were all noisy, but none of them cried or threw a tantrum. Under the guidance of their respective leaders, they boarded the ship one by one in an orderly manner. Not only did these regular children recommended to come here have to possess the talent to practise qi, but they also had to possess a suitable mental disposition for cultivation too.
“Go. I’ll see you in a while. If anything happens, use this.”
When Xiao An was about to board the ship, Li Qingshan crouched down and rubbed her head. He threaded a jade thumb ring and hung it around her neck, before wagging his thumb before her, showing her he was wearing another jade ring.
These were a pair of jade thumb rings, which were also a set of interesting spiritual artifacts that Li Qingshan had found from all those hundred treasures pouches. The two formed a pair, which would allow them to talk to one another from a distance.
As he watched Xiao An line up and board the ship with the other kids, Li Qingshan sighed gently. He felt like a parent who was sending their child off to school.
A while later, the surroundings emptied out. The gangway retracted into the ship, and it sailed off once more, vanishing into the misty waters.
Only when the sandy shoal was no longer visible did Xiao An look away.
The children struggled to hide their excitement. For most of them, this was the first time they had ever taken such a large ship. If it were not for the stern gaze of the female instructor, they would have begun running around in joy already.
“Hey. What’s your name?”
A pudgy child, around eleven or twelve years of age, asked Xiao An in an arrogant manner. He was dressed in silks and satins, and he was even surrounded by a group of “little brothers”. They all came from the same place. The pudgy child’s family was rich, and he was both tall and wide, so he became their leader.
Xiao An did not answer him.
“That’s a nice ring. Let me see!” The pudgy kid snatched at the ring on Xiao An’s chest as soon as he spotted it. It had always been like this for him whenever he wanted something.
Xiao An took a step back and shoved the ring into her clothes. The pudgy child missed.
“How dare you defy me!” The pudgy child shot a glare at her and actually gave off a sense of brutality. He directly reached towards Xiao An’s hair. At home, all the female servants were afraid of this move. He would only let go after they had wept and begged him.
Hmph, I’ll tear out a patch of your hair. I’d like to see whether you’ll still dismiss me after that.
Xiao An threw out a punch. She suddenly remembered that this was not an enemy she had to kill, so she subsequently held back most of her strength.
With a thump, the pudgy child was sent flying. He collided with his group of little brothers before bursting into tears. The children he collided with began crying too.
“Stop crying! What’s happened?” The female instructor immediately walked over.
“She hit me.” The pudgy child covered his face. He had lost quite a few teeth.
The female instructor frowned. “Did you hit him?”
Xiao An said nothing. Apart from Li Qingshan, she had never really conversed with anyone else. She would prefer turning this ship full of people into fire instead.
The pudgy child said pitifully, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She just hit me. I even lost a few teeth.”
The female instructor was irritated. She pointed at Xiao An’s forehead. “Tell me, why did you hit him?”
Xiao An suddenly raised her head. A pair of eyes that seemed like black pearls were embedded in her delicate face.
The female instructor looked into the pitch-black, severe eyes and shivered inside for some reason. She was unable to keep pointing at her anymore. Did this kid possess some powerful background? She immediately dismissed that thought. Basically all descendants of influential clans would begin practising qi at a young age. They would be sent to the academy once they developed a certain foundation. Only children chosen from regular people would be on this ship.
As a result, she became even more furious. “Do you even want to hit me too?” She raised her hand, about to beat her with it, but she suddenly thought about how the leaders of the school might be looking over here right now.
As a result, she put her hand back down and thought of something. “Don’t move.” Then she said to the pudgy boy, “Get up. She hit you, so hit her back.”
The boy wiped aside her tears. Having received the instructor’s permission, he seemed to be in pain, but he was complacent inside. Regular children probably would never be able to bring themselves to hit back, but he directly threw a punch as hard as he could. Before he could even celebrate, he felt his stomach ache as he was sent flying again, directly fainting on the ground. Fortunately, his group of little brothers dodged cleverly, so they were not struck by him this time.
There were two, however, who sobbed even harder. “Murder! Murder!”
The female instructor had been paying attention to Xiao An the entire time; she wanted to prevent her from dodging. However, the kick that Xiao An had launched after jumping up was both quick and stealthy, such that even she could not react. She could not help but become enraged as she erupted with curses. “Do you really think a troublesome little animal like you can practise qi and cultivate? I don’t think so! Once we reach the shore, I’ll have you piss off to where you came from…”
She returned to the nose of the ship furiously. She obviously did not have the authority to make the ship turn around, but she had plenty of ways to deal with misbehaving children in the Academy of the Hundred Schools.
In a quiet room within the Academy of the Hundred Schools.
There were heavy curtains in the room, which made the entire place gloomy. Around a dozen or so figures were vaguely visible, sitting in their respective seats.
The various leaders of the schools were all gathered here. The auras they radiated with in the silence was enough to make any Qi Practitioner tremble. Their wills determined everything within the Clear River prefecture that spanned fifteen hundred kilometers.
At the centre of the room was a large, jade disc. The disc was engraved with exquisite glyphs. The name of the disc was the Watermirror disc. It was a strange treasure that allowed them to see anywhere within a range of fifty kilometers.
The true examination had already begun. The leaders witnessed and took note of every single person’s performance.
The Watermirror disc rippled and produced a clear image.
Right now, it depicted the ship.
No matter how the female instructor insulted or threatened her, Xiao An remained calm and unperturbed the entire time, treating the threatening woman like air.
“Is this the child that Qiu Haitang wants? She truly is quite different,” said a man dressed like a confucian scholar with a square hat1 on his head. He had delicate facial features and only seemed to be around thirty years of age, but he was actually at an advanced age of eighty already. He was Ye Dachuan’s sister-in-law, the prefect of the Clear River prefecture, and the leader of the school of Confucianism, Liu Zhangqing. What happened in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain two nights ago obviously could not escape his ears.
“That girly is unfazed by both harassment and flattery. Her mental fortitude is quite rare.” A bald-headed monk nodded with prayer beads in his hands.
“Zhangqing, who chose this woman to receive the children? She’s so harsh and impatient, without any regard for what’s wrong or right. These children will develop a bad impression of the academy the moment they join it,” said a skinny but energetic old man in coarse clothing with a long, formal hat2.
“If the instructor is too gentle, how are they supposed to keep so many kids under control? And, it’s all her fault for not speaking up and explaining what had happened, or the instructor wouldn’t have blamed her. Who can she blame apart from herself? As for the little fatty, he must be removed from the academy immediately. He already knows how to gang up on people and steal at such a young age, paying no regard to what’s wrong or right. What will he become if he practises qi?” The Scarlet Hawk commander, the leader of the school of Legalism, Wang Pushi, said in an impressive manner.
Liu Zhangqing said, “If that’s the case, then we’ll go with that!” A figure immediately stood up and departed behind the curtain. Many instructors were waiting outside, ensuring that their orders could be carried out at any time.
“Let’s look at the person who brought her here instead!” The image in the Watermirror disc changed, now depicting Li Qingshan. He was currently boarding a ship with other people.
Li Qingshan seemed to sense something, so he looked around. Was someone looking at him?
The people behind him urged, “Hurry up!”
Li Qingshan made his way forward and arrived before a jolly instructor. He took out the one hundred spiritual stones he had prepared, and the instructor stowed them into his hundred treasures pouch. The instructor called out, “Another one!”
He seemed like he was running a business. However, Li Qingshan had estimated that the revenue of the academy would probably approach a hundred thousand spiritual stones from just this intake of disciples.
And, this was just the beginning. The way the academy charged their disciples was very special. It was a hundred spiritual stones for every single person for the first year. If they failed to increase their cultivation by a single layer the next year, the fees would double, becoming two hundred spiritual stones.
Li Qingshan knew with the simple knowledge of mathematics from his past life that just by compounding a few more times, the fees would reach a level that no Qi Practitioner could afford. Joining the Academy of the Hundred Schools was easy. There were so many schools, so there would always be a school willing to accept a particular person. However, wanting to remain in the academy was very difficult. Qi Practitioners at higher cultivations would struggle to increase their cultivation, so they would end up suffering instead.
I’m not indulging in myself and having the time of my life when I’m not writing. I don’t know about other authors, but when I have a writing block, it’s even more painful than constipation. I can’t settle down no matter what I do. As a man without a car, a house, or a woman, there doesn’t seem to be any serious business I can do apart from write. I want to make some more money too! Fortunately, I’ve basically made it past the toughest part, so the upcoming releases should slowly stabilise.
Originally, I didn’t want to explain so much. Explaining is covering it up, and covering it up is telling stories, which I suddenly remembered was my career, so I’ll explain!