Chapter 177 Feng Fei’s Despair

Feng Fei's Despair

Three days quickly passed, and now a week after Xue Bai left, the entrance exam started. But since the main character of this year's entrance exam had yet to arrive, many people were standing outside of the Academy walls waiting for him.

"Your Majesty, how can you be so sure that he will come? What if he just left, never to be seen again? With that weird ability of his, that allows him to disappear at the drop of a hat, even if we wanted to find him, we couldn't. Also, with that mysterious but powerful purple energy, even if you did find him, who would dare try to bring him back?" Eunuch Lu strongly tried to advise Feng Fei.

Currently, the two were standing at the entrance of the Gen Empire Academy, waiting for Xue Bai to return and take the entrance exam.

The Gen Empire Academy was the core institution of the Gen Empire, where every single noble, commoner or even slave with high potential joined to learn cultivation.

Inside they could learn all of the cultivation fundamentals, from how to path out your veins in the Vein Transformation realm to where every single meridian was for the Qi Sea realm. It was the most important building of the empire, even ahead of the Imperial Palace and the Grand Duke's Palace.

After all, the two palaces could be rebuilt if destroyed, but the Gen Empire Academy was different. Its walls have been standing for hundreds if not thousands of years, so if they fell, not only would it destroy much of the knowledge the school had but also take the lives of an entire young generation, which would then lead to a dark era of the empire.

No person in the empire wished to see such a future, so the entire Gen Empire collectively protected the Academy with their lives.

So other than the many nobles in attendance for the entrance exam, there were an equal number of guards watching them and the Academy's doors.

Feng Fei and Eunuch Lu were also in the crowd waiting for the entrance exam to start. However, unlike the cheerful and expectant looks of the people around them, Feng Fei and Eunuch Lu had dire expressions.

Right now, there was only 1 hour left until the start of the exams, and even now, Xue Bai still hadn't arrived or even shown a trace of his existence.

And normally, this would've been fine as an hour was more than enough time to make it, but in the Gen Empire, it was tradition to arrive much earlier than the stated time.

So while it did say the exam would start in an hour, almost everyone besides Xue Bai and some quitters who gave up at the last minute was already in attendance.

"Old Lu, he doesn't know of our stupid traditions, so maybe he is here but is waiting for the exact time." Feng Feng firmly said, still not moving an inch.

However, though she looked stubborn and obstinate, her face didn't care the same amount of confidence her words did.

Like Eunuch Lu, she, too, wasn't confident in the chances of Xue Bai attending, but she had bet too much and couldn't give up now!

Not only were she and Eunuch Lu out of the Imperial Palace, but also her Mother, the Empress!

However, the Empress wasn't here in the crowd alongside them but rather inside the Academy with the Academy Head. She was too weak to be standing out here waiting for Xue Bai, so she went ahead of everyone and went inside.

Other than that, Feng Fei had also invited many of the known fence sitters and still loyal nobles to this entrance exam so that they could watch Xue Bai's first appearance.

Her hope with this was to show that the Feng Imperial Family wasn't finished just yet and that they had a new light with Xue Bai with them.

Yet, with their new hope missing, Feng Fei started to regret her actions. Now instead of helping their cause, this idiotic decision of hers could instead be the final nail in the coffin!

If she couldn't tie one person to her faction, how could the Feng Imperial Family possibly be the leader of the fence-sitters?

"Your Majesty, think about our first encounter with that boy." Eunuch Lu said, "Haven't you noticed that we are still calling him 'That Boy' and 'Him?' He didn't even tell us his name before he left! Obviously, he didn't plan to stay here. Most likely, those words were just fancy things he said to ensure his safety."

Feng Fei's face sunk in despair after she heard the reasonable words from Eunuch Lu.

'He's right. He didn't tell us anything about him. Neither the name of his clan, sect, backer nor even a name. We know nothing about the boy but his looks and cultivation base!' For the first time, Feng Fei felt the suffocating reality she was in.

'Uncle Hai is going to pass away in 10 years at the latest, and Long Tian is going to take action and kill us all!'

However, just as she was about to break down in anguish, a sarcastic voice came from her side, seemingly timed perfectly to kick her when she was down.

"Your Majesty, where is the Prince Consort? Academy Head Hai is about to appear, and we haven't even seen his shadow! It'd be such a shame if he didn't appear now at the ceremony you worked so hard to promote." A derisive and youthful voice sounded to Feng Fei's left.

Yet though Feng Fei was on the verge of a breakdown from despair, after she heard the voice, her crumbled-up face regained liveliness only to turn sour and disdain filled. After having her mood ruined even further, she didn't turn her head at the voice. It was beneath her to give attention to the clown next to her.

She knew very well who the voice belonged to, and because of that, she knew that responding to him would only make him more and more confident.

The best way to deal with such a clown was to ignore him until he got tired of himself and left.

Sadly, Feng Fei's wishes to be alone were destined to be unfulfilled, as just as the first voice stopped, another one came. And this voice was one she couldn't ignore.

"Your Majesty, while my grandson can sometimes be somewhat persistent, it isn't right for you to ignore him so blatantly. What if a commoner sees it and thinks lower of him? Won't that lower my grandson's image? It wouldn't be good for you or my grandson if that happened." An old but heartful man laughed.

But while his tone was pleasant and diplomatic, any person with a brain could tell he meant nothing of the sort but was rather indirectly threatening Feng Fei.

Feng Fei obviously could read between the lines, but instead of getting angry at the blatant treachery and treason, she turned around with a smile and looked at the old man who had made her entire life a living hell.

Long Tian, the Grand Duke of the Gen Empire, was a man far into his lifespan, but because of his access to the entire wealth of the empire, even as he aged, he showed no signs of decline but rather looked more youthful.

The longer he had a grasp on the economic situation of the empire, the more he could improve his vitality and push away his time of death.

And while his hair, beard, and even eyebrows were white, not a single wrinkle was on his face. Even his eyes looked brighter than a falcon's, showing none of the muddledness an old-timer would have.

Long Tian was also dressed in a Golden Imperial Dragon Robe, but since he wasn't officially the emperor yet, his robe only had 4 claws compared to Feng Fei's 5 clawed Imperial Dragon Robe.

Feng Fei didn't look at the old man for as long. After she saw the smug and arrogant expression on his face, she couldn't help but look away and toward the person to his left.

Beside Long Tian was a tall and well-built young man around the age of 20, dressed in a pure white scholar robe.

The young man also held an ink brush in his left while also holding a scroll in his right, as if he were prepared to compose a poem right there and then.

His face was sharp and clean, while his eyes were bright and full of a youthfulness that a young man should have.

Coupled with his profound cultivation of the Dharma Idol realm, the handsome young scholar was a boy that no girl wouldn't have a bad impression of at first glance.

However, Feng Fei was different. She knew this bastard's ugly side and would rather die than look in his direction for longer than a minute. So rather than drool at his looks like any normal girl did, she looked back at the Grand Duke and initiated a conversation.

"Grand Duke, you look well! Have the complications you suffered from your cultivation technique been fixed?" Feng Fei asked caringly as if she genuinely cared for the man, but after a moment of hesitation, she stopped and corrected herself, "Oh no, forgive my foolish question. How could you come out from your Ivory Tower if they weren't healed?"

Ignoring the jab, Long Tian smirked before replying back.

"Your Majesty, it seems that you've been home for too long. My Palace isn't called "Ivory Tower" but rather Tianmen Palace." Long Tian asked back with the same amount of care in his tone.

He was easily dozens of times older than Feng Fei, so how could he lose a battle of words?

Even Feng Fei could tell that she was vastly outmatched, but the pride in her bones forced her to try at least once.

So after losing easily in the first exchange, she gave the old man another look before turning around.

After Feng Fei's implicit admission of defeat, an odd silence started as the two parties didn't bother to talk.

Feng Fei hated every fiber of the two, and Eunuch Lu wouldn't talk to anyone other than Feng Fei, and Long Tian and his grandson knew that continuing to converse with the puppet monarch would be met by silence.

The silence continued for an awkward amount of time, but eventually, it was broken by a shout full of anger and panic.

"You there! Stop! This is the Imperial Capital of the Gen Empire! There is no unauthorized flying allowed!"

Instantly every single noble and commoner in attendance turned their heads to the skies above to see what was happening.

Everyone in the Gen Empire knew who that voice belonged to. However, when it sounded so anxious and full of panic, they couldn't help but be curious.

The person who screamed was Long Tian's son and also the head of the Imperial Guards, Long Zhenyu!

An invincible general who had yet to face a defeat in his long 200-year journey.

And now, at his ripe age of just over 200, Long Zhenyu was at the peak of the Domain Lord Realm, just like his father. Because of that, other than Academy Head Feng Hai, who was half a step into the Xiantian Great Realm, Long Zhenyu was thought to be invincible, yet now they could hear him sounding so weak and afraid.

Long Tian could also hear the weakness in his son's voice and was about to fly up and berate him, but just as he looked up at the sky and saw what his son was yelling at, his words got caught in his throat, and he only stammered.

"A Xiantian Great Realm demonic beast!!??"