482 The Unexpected Transfer Studen

Tang Thirty-Six shifted his gaze down and then he couldn't help but laugh ashe asked, "Then why are your hands so white?" The young student replied, "Later on, I realized that if I buried my hands inmy sleeves, they wouldn't be tanned by the sun and would naturally return totheir original color." Tang Thirty-Six took measure of the student, sensing the faint Qi exuding fromhis body. He said with some surprise, "Not bad, actually the middle level ofEthereal Opening." The young student courteously replied, "Many thanks for your praise, but it'sjust average." Tang Thirty-Six replied, "There's no need to be modest. Although you're alittle bit less than me, you're still pretty good." The young student was a little taken aback. Although he had interacted withTang Thirty-Six at both the Grand Examination and the Mausoleum of Books, hestill wasn't that used to it yet. After thinking it over, he replied, "Yourluck is good." Tang Thirty-Six jeered, "When I exited the Mausoleum of Books, I wastruthfully at the upper level of Ethereal Opening. You came out a month latebut are only at the middle level of Ethereal Opening. What does that have to dowith luck?" The student pondered this again, then admitted, "What you say is reasonable. Ireally am inferior to you." This person who spoke and acted with utmost care, even rather woodenly, whopossessed a gentle and quiet air of nobility, was the student of the Li PalaceAcademy who had possessed the most potential in these past few years, Su Moyu. In the past, Su Moyu had once stood on the Divine Avenue of the Li Palace andquestioned Chen Changsheng. But when he realized that his questions had nobasis, he quickly admitted that he had been wrong and solemnly apologized. Inthe Grand Examination, he had even spent quite a bit of time with the people ofthe Orthodox Academy. His talent truly was outstanding, but because of his lackof luck in drawing lots, he was unable to advance very far. Later on when thegroup entered the Mausoleum of Books to comprehend the Dao, Chen Changsheng andthe rest left before him. A month beforehand, Tang Thirty-Six and the remainingdisciples of the Mausoleum of Books also left. Only Su Moyu, for some unknownreason, continued to stay in the Mausoleum of Books and view the monoliths.When Chen Changsheng and the rest learned of this, they even became ratherconcerned that this somewhat pedantic and wooden fellow had been enraptured bythe Heavenly Tome Monoliths and was no longer willing to leave the Mausoleum ofBooks, instead choosing to become a Monolith Guardian. Tang Thirty-Six looked at Su Moyu and asked, "You've really decided to fightin his match?" Su Moyu looked over at Ye Xingqing and said, "This match should be for me tofight." Tang Thirty-Six did not hear the meaning hidden within these words. Su Moyu was similar to Zhuang Huanyu who had committed suicide in that theywere both outstanding students of the Six Ivies and celebrities in the capital.It was just that in the past year, Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy hadstolen away quite a bit of his radiance. However, he was still recognized byquite a few people in the capital. As the news spread, the crowd was abuzz withdiscussion. Shocked and confused, they thought to themselves, just when did hebecome a student of the Orthodox Academy? As Ye Xingqing listened to this discussion, his complexion turned evennastier. He looked at Su Moyu and hesitantly asked, "Is Sir…not a student ofthe Li Palace Academy?" Tang Thirty-Six did not pay attention to the fact that he had addressed SuMoyu with such respect, saying, "Oh, he applied to the Orthodox Academy inadvance." He then turned to Su Moyu and asked, "Are you confident?" This question was not at all unnecessary. After all, Ye Xingqing was noordinary servant. He was a servant that had been taught by two of the EightStorms. Su Moyu had made the choice to leave the Mausoleum of Books because he hadassuredly gotten stronger in every aspect, whether it was in cultivation orstrength. However, he still might not be a match for this opponent! Besides the fact that only the Wenshui Tang clan could bear the backlash fromthe Bie family, Tang Thirty-Six had also been prepared to personally go forthis reason. Su Moyu seemed to be thinking about something and did not respond. Tang Thirty-Six thought it over, then said, "Although he's a servant of theBie family, his martial arts don't follow the same path of those two powerfulfigures. Rather, he walks the path of the Putian River of Stars." Su Moyu was rather shocked. It seemed that this was his first time hearing ofthis matter. Ye Xingqing did not seem to care that the secret of his technique had beenrevealed. He only looked rather worriedly at Su Moyu. "The Putian River of Stars is a strange and ferocious martial art. Uponreceiving this information from the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education a few daysago, Chen Changsheng researched it and drew up a few plans." Tang Thirty-Six pointed at Chu Wenbin, who had already retreated to the stonesteps, and said, "These plans were for him to use, but they would only helpprop him up. But since you're the one that's going, you should be able to win." He said this and then, not waiting for Su Moyu to respond, immediatelyexplained the plans Chen Changsheng had drawn up. The area in front of the Orthodox Academy became quiet. Only his voice couldbe heard. If one could say that words contained swords, then what he said right now werethe swords that Chen Changsheng had prepared for Ye Xingqing. Just like the two previous battles. Those commoners who had come to see the spectacle naturally could notunderstand. However, the more the priests of the Li Palace and the experts who had come tochallenge the Orthodox Academy listened, the more silent they became. Ye Xingqing's face gradually paled. The words Tang Thirty-Six spoke contained Chen Changsheng's swords. Theythrust directly at the specialties of Ye Xingqing's techniques and accuratelyfound his weak points. And now, countless people were listening to these words. There was no need for too many swords. As long as they were sharp, it wasfine. Chen Changsheng's plans were also very simple. As long as they wereeffective, it was fine. It wasn't too long before Tang Thirty-Six finished speaking. The area in front of the Orthodox Academy was still very quiet. It could evenbe described as a deathly stillness. After a long time had passed, Su Moyu finally sighed, "I'm inferior to him." This was a sigh that had come from the depths of his heart. It was also a view shared by many other people at this time. "Are you confident now?" Tang Thirty-Six asked. Su Moyu shot him a strange glance. "I said that I was inferior to ChenChangsheng, but when did I say that I wasn't confident about this match?" Tang Thirty-Six thought to himself, then why didn't you respond to me just amoment ago? In truth, even if Su Moyu had said he was confident back then, he would stillhave found an opportunity to explain the plans Chen Changsheng had preparedlast night. Everyone had always believed that Chen Changsheng had been able to cultivateto his current level at such a young age primarily because of his Orthodoxybacking and those fortuitous encounters of his. As a result, theyunderestimated his talent in cultivation and his level of diligence. Tang Thirty-Six thought this was wrong. He believed that Chen Changsheng'sgenius was worthy of being praised and even revered by all people. There was one other very important reason: he just didn't like Ye Xingqing, sohe wanted to lay bare all the weaknesses and secrets of his techniques. "Then go and fight," Tang Thirty-Six urged Su Moyu. "Fight until his family'syoung master can't even recognize him." He was once a genius of the Li Palace Academy, and now that he had spent halfthe year in the Mausoleum of Books viewing the monoliths and quietlycomprehending the Dao, Su Moyu was currently quite strong. Added onto the factthat he had no mental obstructions preventing him from using Chen Changsheng'splan and that, for some reason, Ye Xingqing put on a much poorer performancethan people had imagined, it was unsurprising when this match ended in thefavor of Su Moyu. As for whether Ye Xingqing had been beaten until his young master could nolonger recognize him, this was a question only Bie Tianxin could answer. In anycase, based on what Su Moyu said, he probably wouldn't be able to. The third match had also concluded with exceptional speed. Even adding onthose conversations that had taken place just before it did not make it toolong. The morning light had just receded and the sun was just beginning toexert its heat when Tang Thirty-Six brought Su Moyu and the several dozen newstudents back into the Orthodox Academy. Only the tightly-shut gate of theOrthodox Academy was left for those spectators anxious for more and thosespeechless challengers to gawk at. Tang Thirty-Six's reason was very simple: a friend had returned from theMausoleum of Books, so they had to hold a banquet and reminisce on old times.As for the trifling matter of the All-School Martial Exhibition, it could becontinued after they were done eating. On the green grass by the lake, many students sat with books in their hands.Not far away, under the shade of a verdant tree, was a pile of Clear LakeRestaurant's famous ice cube roses, which the students could take from wheneverthey pleased. Su Moyu couldn't help but sigh at this scene, saying, "This is really tooextravagant." Tang Thirty-Six replied, "You've entered the Orthodox Academy and you won'tregret it." In front of the grass beside the lake was a wall that had clearly beenrecently erected. This wall was rather short, making it incapable of blockingout the scenery within. Of course, it was even less capable of blocking thesight of that great banyan tree. The wall merely served as a sort of marker. On the other side of that wall was a forest even denser and even more serene,and devoid of people. Standing amidst this forest was a small house. Chen Changsheng was waiting forthem in front of this house. Upon seeing Su Moyu, he said, "You came?" "Yeah." Su Moyu noticed his face and commented, "You seem very tired." Chen Changsheng truly was very tired. He had spent the past few daysresearching those opponents and searching for their weaknesses, guiding the newstudents of the Orthodox Academy and giving them plans. In fact, he hadconstantly been making use of the Intellectual Sword. Moreover, in his rush tore-enter the Garden of Zhou, every night, he made countless attempts. Hisspiritual sense had been consumed to a severe level and he was on the verge ofcollapse. "You can say it now." Tang Thirty-Six looked at Su Moyu and asked, "Why do youwant to enter the Orthodox Academy?" That night when they saw Su Moyu's name on the list, he and Chen Changshengwere simultaneously shocked and concerned. There really were a few students from the other Ivy Academies that hadtransferred here, but none of those had been very valued students. Su Moyu wascompletely different. He had been nurtured and valued for two years by the LiPalace Academy. In the end, when he departed the Mausoleum of Books, he came tothe Orthodox Academy without even giving notice to the Li Palace Academy. Oncethis matter got out, it would definitely incur some trouble. "I came to avoid trouble." Su Moyu made no attempt to hide his objectives,getting straight to the point. "The storm you guys have stirred up in thecapital is too big. I knew of it even though I was in the Mausoleum of Books.If I were to return to the Li Palace Academy and wait for arrangements to bemade for me, I would definitely have to represent the Li Palace Academy inchallenging you. My only loves are reading and cultivating, not doing thesesorts of things." Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six understood. Daoist Siyuan was one of the Orthodoxy's Six Prefects, the representative ofthe new faction of the Orthodoxy. Concurrently, he was also the greatest backerof the Li Palace Academy. That Bie Tianxin, who was already at the middle level of Star Condensation,would insist on challenging the Orthodox Academy despite the discussion itcaused was because his parents were on good terms with Daoist Siyuan. If Su Moyu were to return to the Li Palace Academy, he would definitely beunable to avoid a similar arrangement. Tang Thirty-Six was somewhat confused. "You don't like fighting, so why didyou volunteer just now to represent the Orthodox Academy in a match?" Su Moyu replied, "Because he was a member of the Bie family." Tang Thirty-Six added, "It's precisely because he's a member of the Bie familythat dealing with him is somewhat troublesome. It's why I've always been ratherhesitant." "To bully the weak and fear the strong is not right," Su Moyu said seriously. "That's reasonable." The more Tang Thirty-Six saw, the more he felt that SuMoyu was pleasing to the eye. He even felt some admiration. Su Moyu added, "And like I said to you just now, this match should be for meto fight." Tang Thirty-Six recalled that he really had said this to him before. At thetime, he truly had thought those words were rather strange. Why did he thinkthat the match should be for him to fight? "Why?"