C42

Lu Que knew that his father had won the fight for the top seat the year after he entered the Phoenix's Cry School at the age of sixteen. On one hand, Lu Que didn't want to participate in this year's competition because he was not interested in the position of the head. On the other hand, there had never been a precedent of a new student obtaining the top position in the first year of the Academy.

The reason why the Head of the Guards was called the Chief was that regardless of whether it was the composition, poetry, military strategy, or cultivation level, this person could represent the most powerful expert in a school. Regardless of being born in a royal family, a noble family, or a humble family, as long as they had the ability to take the championship in the competition, they would be able to become the head of the academy, becoming the new head of the academy.

Lu Que had been wandering around the valley for a long time. There were very few people from the royal family who were the heads of the academies. Even the manors of the Seven Great Kingdoms, which had existed since the founding of the kingdom, only a few people sat at the top seats. On the contrary, it was the Humble Class students who occupied the majority of the seats. But it seemed that it made sense. The Humble Class had so many students. As long as they had one or two outstanding talents, they would be able to become the head of the Humble Class. Therefore, no matter how confident Lu Que was, he was not confident that he could stand out in the fight for the top spot.

"This is... Uncle Baili?" As he was walking, Lu Que suddenly saw a stone statue. The stone statue was carved by his teacher, Baili Jia.

"So Uncle Baili looked like this when he was young." Lu Que muttered to himself. Although his tone was light, his eyes were rimmed red as a sense of longing arose from the bottom of his heart.

Lu Que straightened his clothes and bowed deeply towards the statue, "Uncle Baili, I've come to see you. You must be very lonely in the mountains, but it doesn't matter. Look, there are so many capable people here, you can find them to drink and play chess whenever you're free."

Uncle Baili, you used to say that in the poetry world, there is no one who can stand up to you other than your father, but here, it is not certain. Look over there, there is a lotus blooming in every step of the time, and that is Baili Chengping of the Martial Emperor Dynasty. Feeling the pressure. "

That teacher who had taught him his knowledge since he was a child, that uncle who seemed to know that his time was running out, who had taught him all his knowledge, was a memory that Lu Que would never forget. Little by little, the two of them spent time together, which kept resurfacing in Lu Que's mind.

It could be said that more than half of the knowledge that Lu Que possessed was taught by Baili Jia with all his effort. The teacher was like a father to Lu Que. In Lu Que's heart, Baili Jia was like a half a father to him. It could be seen how much of a blow his death had dealt to Lu Que.

"Lu Que, you're here too?" Just as Lu Que was looking at Baili Jia's statue and recalling the scenes of his childhood, a voice came from behind him.

Lu Que turned around and saw Yun Xian walking in with a bucket of water.

"So it's Brother Yun." Lu Que collected his emotions and stood up to pat his robes. "Brother Yun, what is this?"

Seeing Lu Que staring curiously at the bucket in his hand, Yun Xianzi smiled and pointed to a statue not far away. "There's a statue of the ancestor here. The wind must have been strong recently, so I think it must have been covered with dust." As he spoke, he lifted the bucket and walked towards the statue. This person was the fourth generation Patriarch of the Yun Family. He was one of the famous marshals of the Wen Emperor's dynasty that led troops to guard Blue River in the north — — Yun Chenzhou.

Lu Que looked at Yun Fang Si carefully cleaning the dust on the statue with a brush, then wiped the entire statue from head to toe twice with a wet towel. After doing all this, he bowed to the statue respectfully.

It was no wonder that Yun Yanxing was known as "Young Master Ruyu". He did indeed have the air of an ancient gentleman, a person of utmost filial piety and purity. At this point, Lu Que could not help but have a good impression of this nominal rival.

"Brother Yun, this is the first time I've heard of such a small valley at the border between these two valleys. Would you mind lending me your things?" Lu Que said awkwardly as he saw Yun Xian stand up. He really didn't know that there was a sculpture of his father Lu Chun and uncle Baili Jia, so he didn't bring anything.

Lu Que knew that there was a statue of his parents in Red Leaf Valley. However, because it was a place for the students to rest, there would be people cleaning and taking care of the statues every day. Since it was early spring, there was not much dust in the air. However, since he had come, Lu Que also wanted to clean up his father and uncle Baili's statue.

"Take this first." Yun Fang handed the brush to Lu Que and walked out with the bucket. "This water is a little dirty. I'll go get a bucket for you."

"How can I be embarrassed? I'll do it myself." Lu Que quickly took the bucket from Yun Xing Si. When they reached the entrance of the valley, Lu Que turned around in embarrassment, "Brother Yun, do you know where there are wells nearby?"

Yunxian looked at Lu Que, who seemed to be at a loss of what to do, and smiled. He pointed in a direction and said, "There is a well next to Rishe."

"Thank you, Brother Yun." Lu Que thanked him and turned to leave.

Lu Que went to get more water and carefully wiped the statues of his father, Lu Chun, and his uncle, Baili Jia a few times.

Yun Xin stood aside watching Lu Que's actions, nodding to herself in her heart. Other than Gu Qingcheng, there were no conflicts between him and Lu Que. On the contrary, he admired Lu Que's talent and talent. Although the Gu and Lu families had an oral engagement, the Lu family didn't have any intentions of coming to propose marriage, which meant that he still had a chance. In addition, Lu Que was younger than Gu Qingcheng. Therefore, Yun Xing's impression of Lu Que wasn't as hostile as it had been in the beginning.

By the time Lu Que was done, an hour had already passed.

After handing the clean bucket to Yun Xian, Lu Que said, "Thank you, Brother Yun. I am sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."

The Duke of Wei and Lord Baili are also people whom I admire and respect. Yun Xing Si waved his hand, "Where are you going? Do you want to go around or go back to the Golden Scale Valley?"

"It's almost time for lunch. I need to go back and find Duanmu Huanghun and the others. We have an appointment for lunch today." Lu Que said as he looked at the sky.

"Then let's go together. I just happen to have something to say to you." As he spoke, he picked up the wooden bucket and walked out.

"Brother Yun, what do you need to tell your younger brother?" Lu Que walked two steps forward and walked beside Yun Xin.

After a moment of hesitation, she said, "You have to be careful of Ran Zhao. He's a vengeful person. You caused him to lose such a big person a few days ago, he'll definitely find an opportunity to take revenge."

"Ran Zhao?" "Lu Que frowned. If it wasn't for Yun Xian Si mentioning him, he would have already forgotten about him." Is he also in the Imperial Court? "

"Not everyone can enter the imperial court." Yun Xing Si shook his head, "Although he is not very skilled, he has quite a few friends around him."

"Since I can't even enter the Imperial Court, what else do I have to worry about? I'll wait for him to be admitted to the Imperial Court." Lu Que replied indifferently.

After all, the Lu Family was currently one of the eight noble princes and was their leader. If Lu Que were to fall at the hands of a good-for-nothing, he would lose face as well. Since Lu Que didn't care, it meant that he knew what he was doing. Thus, he didn't say anything else.

"Brother Yun shouldn't be mentioning just this one thing." Lu Que was surprised to see Yun Xing Si suddenly fall silent.

"And the chief." Yunxinsi organized her language and said, "After Xiujian, before Mingzhen, there will be a new Head of the Education Palace. I still want you to attend. I know you probably don't care about the title. But I want to say a few simple words for brother. The Duke of Wei and Lord Baili were both leaders of the academy, and you have seen those statues just now. Don't you want to place your statues beside them? "

His father and mother naturally wished for him to participate in this competition for the top spot. Even if he would not become the next chief, at least he would have gained some experience. Moreover, if uncle Baili was still alive, he would probably think the same way.

"Brother Yun, what does the first Large Competition look like?"

On one hand, he really wanted to compete with Lu Que in the Chief Competition. On the other hand, ever since Hong Xi had come, all of the heads of the Phoenix Cry School had come from the Humble Class. This caused the noble sons and juniors like them to lose some face.

Ji Hengheng, Lu Chun, and Baili Jia, these three people were known to be peerless talents. They were as dazzling as the sun during the time of the academy. Adding on the fact that Shang Qingchen had just left the academy, it had been decades since his last visit to the head of a noble clan. It was truly embarrassing for these aristocratic young masters of a noble family.

Furthermore, Yun Xing Si knew that even if Shang Qingchen left, Gu Qianxue would immediately apply for graduation. She would not participate in this year's competition for the position of the head, and she would not be considered the strongest person in the academy. In this Imperial Court, there were also Su Duo of the Su Clan of the Acropolis Kingdom and Meng Cang and Li Zhong from the Humble Class.

In terms of cultivation level, the Gu Qingcheng that he had silently liked since he was young was slightly stronger than him. Although the two of them had never fought before, he had a feeling that he was not a match for Gu Qingcheng.

"The questions for the first Large Competition are always different. Most of the time, it's a series of three tests, poems, poems, and attacks, as well as personal cultivation. However, these few years, they've rarely been used in this way. It depends on how Chief Luo sets the question." Yun Xian explained to Lu Que in detail.

He had only been in the academy for three years. At that time, Shang Qingchen was already the head of the department, so the rules of having a head were different from not having a head. For example, now that the new Chief had left the academy, it meant that the students of the entire academy who wanted to fight for the position of Chief were allowed to participate, be it in the Imperial Court or the ordinary academies.

However, if there was a Chief, there would be a Chief Challenge once a year. All the students who wanted to become the Chief would have to compete and choose the top ten, then the Academy would set a question to compete with the Chief, and the winner would become the new Chief.

If it wasn't based on the three-trial mode, he would still have the chance to obtain the first place. For example, when Shang Qingchen obtained the first place, it was a contest of survival in the wild, and a large group of people were thrown into the endless black stone mountain, with the exception of a weapon and a warning fireball, everyone was not allowed to bring anything else, let's see who can last until the end. This kind of competition was something Lu Que was very good at.

However, if it was the third stage of the competition, he would not have to fear poetry, poetry, poetry, or sand. However, he would not be able to make it to the final stage of the competition. After all, he had just turned fifteen years old. Although he had already broken through to the second level, there was still a gap between him and those like Yun Xian who were at the seventh or eighth level of the Blood Meridian Realm.

"Lu Que, are you going to participate or not?" He knew that it would be unfair to Lu Que if he were to take the three stages consecutively. However, the academy had not used the three stages as the main topic for the competition for a long time. It was highly likely that there would be other questions as well.

"Let's wait until the Large Competition question comes up." Lu Que raised his head and realized that he was already not far from the C Seventh Courtyard. He cupped his hands and said, "I still need to thank Brother Yun. I'll consider it and will take my leave now."

"Sigh ~" Yun Xing saw Lu Que turn around and was about to call out for him to stop. However, she remembered Lu Que's personality and knew she could not force him. She sighed and turned to leave.

At the same time, at the summit of the mountain, there was a group of elderly people chatting and sipping tea in the pavilion of the academy's head, Luo Canglan. Godly Doctor Yao Yi An and Ghost Face Army Marshal Lei Xuanji were among them.

"Cough cough, everyone, everyone." Luo Canglan walked into the hall from the outside. Seeing that the interior of the house was in a mess, his face revealed a wry smile, and he promptly shouted twice.

Seeing that everyone in the hall was looking at him, Luo Canglan opened his mouth to speak again, "The main reason I've invited everyone here today is ~"

"Isn't it just the main tradition? You're the head of the academy, so let's first talk about this year's constitution. I still have things to do after this, so I don't have the time to accompany you here." Before Luo Canglan could finish her words, she was interrupted by an impatient voice. Yao Yi An had just returned from gathering herbs today and was in the midst of organizing medicinal herbs with his new disciple, Lin Qingyu. He was called to the State Pillar Peak for a meeting and was worried that the medicinal herbs that he had spent a great deal of effort to gather would lose their medicinal properties.

"Right, right, right. Old man Luo, hurry up and say it, I'm busy too."

"Hurry up." Our time is precious. "

"That's right, that's right."

When the group of old men saw Yao Yi An making a move, they all began to cry out, causing the veins on Luo Cang Lan's forehead to bulge.

"All of you, shut up." Yao Yi An's face didn't look too good either. He knew too well about these old men who spent all their time with nothing to do. If he allowed them to poke fun at each other and speak nonsense, who knew how long that would take. If they could wait, his precious herbs definitely couldn't wait. If anyone says another word, I can guarantee that he won't have to leave the latrine for a month. "

The moment Yao Yi An finished his sentence, the room instantly became silent. A few of the noisy old men even covered their mouths with their hands. How could these seniors not understand his character? Although the outside world spread the name of his genius doctor, these people all knew that this old brat's heart was dark. Now that he said he wanted someone to stay in the latrine for a month, he definitely wouldn't miss a single day.

Seeing that the hall had regained its silence, Luo Canglan opened his mouth and said, "Right now, most of the new students have already entered the academy, and the older ones have already returned. Now that the position of the head of the academy is vacant, everyone is here to settle the matters regarding this year's academy competition.

"Let's just use the three stages. Although the cultivation of those students aren't that high, but seeing them fight on the arena like punching into flesh, heh, this is too satisfying." An old man wearing a grey robe, with hair that was half white and a thin goatee growing on his chin said.

When Luo Canglan heard this, he rolled his eyes and turned to look at the others, "What about the others, do they have any other opinions?"

"How about we just live in the wild? These students originally have to go out to gain experience every year." Anyway, with the protection of us old fellows, there won't be any fatal dangers. It's good to let them go into the mountains and gain some experience. " A white-bearded, sage-like old man in a white robe said.

"No way. Right now, Bai Yi is leading the troops to confront Lei Meng outside the Snowfall Pass. If we go to Black Stone Mountain again, it will be a bit dangerous." A ruddy-faced old man in a black robe shook his head in disapproval.

"Are you stupid? I have a lot of famous mountains and rivers in Dagong territory, which one will not work. Do you really have to choose Black Stone Mountain?" The white robed old man said with disdain.

"Elder Wang, who are you calling stupid?" The black-robed old man stood up with a clap.

"Who asked who? Old bastard You're so old, why do you still not understand human speech?"

"I think you're looking for a beating."

"Come on." The old man in white stood up as well. "Let's go. This place is too small. Let's go to the training field. I won't beat you until your face blooms with peach blossoms today. I will write the word 'King' backwards."

"All of you, shut up." Luo Canglan's eyes glinted with a bright light, and with an explosive shout, the entire pavilion shook and hummed from the sound. Seeing that Luo Canglan was angry, the two elders tactfully shut their mouths and sat back down.

"Since this won't do, then it won't do either. Let's just follow the ancient rules." Lei Xuanji, who had been silent all this time, spoke up.

With just that one sentence, the entire hall once again fell silent. Every single elder of the academy all frowned, and even Luo Canglan was shocked by Lei Xuanji's words.

At that time, it had just been established, and many people with ill intentions had entered the academy. Therefore, Emperor Taizu had placed a scroll of the Mountain Sea Painting in each of the academies, and each scroll was a small world filled with all sorts of illusory formations to distinguish between the good from the bad, and between the bad and the human heart.

However, in the end, the strength of the Great Gan Nation increased with each passing day, and the hearts of the people were set. Every year, more students would die in the Mountain Sea Painting, and this rule would gradually be lifted, becoming the first of the three trials.

Now that Lei Xuanji was proposing to reopen the Mountain Sea Painting, these elders of the school couldn't help but worry. After all, there were some dangers within, even they might not be able to determine. Not just that, but there was also the Great Illusory Heart Array inside. Once one was enchanted by the Great Array, their heart and soul would be extinguished and they would truly die.

"Alright, let's do it this way then. This year's champion battle will be the Mountain and Sea Painting." Luo Canglan thought carefully for a moment, then clasped his hands together and made the final decision.