Ze Tian Ji Chapter 137-138

Chapter 137 – The Shallow River

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

(TN: Way of Choices will be on break from December 25th, 2017 – January 7, 2018)

In this year’s Grand Examination, the martial test phase was precisely meant for eliminating examinees. To many people, the Dallying Forest and the Qu River were natural moats that were exceedingly difficult to cross. The Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education had privately leaked the details of this phase to the Orthodox Academy. Tang Thirty-Six and Xuanyuan Po had long since made preparations for the sake of helping Chen Changsheng enter the final phase of one-on-one matches. Even though they were clearly aware that his chances of getting first rank of the first banner were almost ethereal, they were still willing to do a few things and pay some price. However, when they were making these preparations, they, like many other people, did not think that Princess Luoluo would be taking part in this year’s Grand Examination.

Thus, they had not anticipated that Princess Luoluo would insert herself in the proceedings and grab Xuanyuan Po’s hand.

“Did none of you think about why I wanted to participate in the Grand Examination? I’m also a student of the Orthodox Academy. That none of you thought that I could also do a few things makes me rather disappointed.”

When Luoluo looked at Xuanyuan Po and Tang Thirty-Six and spoke of disappointment, her two eyes twinkled like stars, not looking disappointed at all.

After saying this, she lightly shook her sleeve, her hand holding Xuanyuan Po’s hand suddenly exerting strength.

With a whoosh, Xuanyuan Po vanished from where he was standing, becoming a black silhouette in the sky.

The abruptness of it all left him completely unprepared. He hollered out in panic midair, attracting the gazes of many examinees on both sides of the Qu River.

The Qu River that ran through the Garden of the Morning Sun was at its widest point—several dozen zhang separated the sea of trees from the meadows and open forest on the opposite shore.

Watched by countless gazes, Xuanyuan Po whistled through the air, his hands and legs flailing as his body drew a long arc through the sky and eventually fell into the grass on the southern shore.

Both shores of the Qu River were very quiet, the only sound being his panicked shouts. One could vaguely hear that he had apparently called for his mother.

Crash.

The meadow on the southern shore of the Qu River momentarily shook and vast amounts of dust were sent flying into the air. The slightly yellowed grass of early spring was completely overturned and black dirt splattered everywhere like splashing water.

Xuanyuan Po crashed to the ground like a heavy stone.

After a moment, the dust settled and Xuanyuan Po stood up. Patting the dust and grass of his body, he looked around in bewilderment. He looked rather dazed from his fall, but he was otherwise uninjured.

At this sight, the Li Palace priests and examinees on both sides of the river were shocked speechless, thinking to themselves, just what is this demi-human youth’s body made of? It’s actually this sturdy?

Gou Hanshi, Zhuang Huanyu and the others, on the other hand, were looking towards the other shore at that petite figure, their expressions abnormally complex.

This display was truly worthy of the second-ranked expert on the Proclamation of Azure Sky. Princess Luoluo had needed only a casual toss to show off her power. It was truly too magical.

On the northern shore of the Qu River, Luoluo turned to Tang Thirty-Six, her slender brows rising as she used her eyes to state her intentions.

Tang Thirty-Six hurriedly backed away from Chen Changsheng and hastily said, “I certainly don’t need help.”

He certainly had no wish to be thrown across the river like Xuanyuan Po. That there might be problems with the landing was one thing, but the crucial reason was that it was just too ugly.

“Then I’ll leave first.”

Tang Thirty-Six said to Chen Changsheng. It was only now that he came to his senses and realized that he and Xuanyuan Po had forgotten Princess Luoluo’s existence when making their plans. Since Princess Luoluo was now taking action, he no longer needed to worry. He was only worried that Luoluo might develop a habit of throwing people and do so despite his protests. Like an escapee, he charged towards the Qu River.

Although his escape was rather embarrassing and his figure rather comical, the instant he stepped on the Qu River, he immediately regained his elegance.

Gathering Evening Clouds.

The Wenshui Sword was still in its sheath at his waist, so he used the Three Forms of Wenshui with his bare hands.

A blazing Qi instantly enveloped the northern shore of the Qu River. It was clearly still rather bright out, yet the sun seemed to be setting.

His body was within the sunset, a golden light dashing several dozen zhang across the surface of the river. In a flash, he had arrived on the southern shore.

Besides the four disciples of the Mount Li Sword Sect, he had been the only examinee today to directly use sword energy to cross the river.

At this sight, Zhuang Huanyu’s expression turned grave while Guan Feibai and Liang Banhu seemed rather surprised.

Not too many days had passed since that final night of the Ivy Festival, but the increase in Tang Thirty-Six’s strength surpassed what many had imagined. When they thought about the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets’s commentary on this youth from Wenshui during the changing of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, the examinees standing on the southern shore all felt rather perturbed. They silently thought, could it be that as long as he diligently cultivates, he really does have the strength to enter the Proclamation of Azure Sky’s top ten?

“Teacher, I’ll have to be rude.” Luoluo walked up to Chen Changsheng and bowed.

She did not know how tough Chen Changsheng’s body was after his Purification, but it was presumably far weaker than Xuanyuan Po’s. However, other than throwing him across to the opposite shore, she couldn’t think of any other method. Moreover, Tang Thirty-Six had already gone across, so he should be able to think of a method to catch him. Her only concern was that she was a student throwing a teacher, so she couldn’t help but be worried that Chen Changsheng might be unhappy.

Before Chen Changsheng had time to say anything, an examiner hurriedly walked up and stopped Luoluo.

The Li Palace priest somewhat nervously said to Luoluo, “Your Highness, these actions of yours violate the rules of the Grand Examination, so…”

Luoluo noticed that on the southern shore, those several scholars from Scholartree Manor were currently speaking with the proctor and she vaguely understood what was going on. Slightly arching her brows, she somewhat unhappily said, “Earlier when I listened to the rules of the martial test, I did not hear of such a rule. Moreover, I’ve already thrown someone across, so are you saying that doesn’t count?”

When designing this year’s Grand Examination, no one had imagined that the Orthodox Academy would use this sort of method. The examiners did not dare to offend Luoluo, yet they felt that this truly went against the Grand Examination’s spirit of forbidding examinees from the same sect or school from assisting each other. Added together with the fact that many examinees, along with the scholars from Scholartree Manor, were beginning to ask questions, they inevitably felt themselves in an awkward situation.

It did not take long before the final decision was sent down from the Hall of Shining Words. Since Xuanyuan Po had already been thrown across the Qu River by Princess Luoluo and the examiner had not clearly stated the rules beforehand, it was best to just accept the result. In the future, however, it was absolutely forbidden for any examinee to assist another. One could only rely on their own strength to cross the river, and it was reiterated once more that the use of any magical artifact was strictly forbidden.

It was very obvious that people like Mo Yu and the Principal of the Li Palace Academy had remembered that Princess Luoluo was always carrying numerous treasures on her person. If she were to give Chen Changsheng a Thousand Li Button, let alone crossing the Qu River, even crossing the River of Oblivion in an instant would not present a problem.

Luoluo was very angry and said, “I would really like to see who would dare to try and control me.”

After saying this, she made to grab Chen Changsheng’s hand.

Just when Tang Thirty-Six had used Gathering Evening Clouds to elegantly cross the river, the toll of a bell had come from the sea of trees. This signified that the two hours were up and all the examinees still in the sea of trees had been disqualified. Afterwards, all the examinees still on the northern shore made their final attempt, but they all fell in the deep green waters of the river.

Chen Changsheng and Luoluo were the only two examinees left on the northern shore.

Besides them, there were also several dozen Li Palace priests. Those priests did not dare to use force to stop her and so could only attempt to strenuously persuade her on the side.

Chen Changsheng also attempted to persuade her. “I have a means of crossing the river. You don’t need to worry.”

No one noticed that as he spoke, he secretly put a Thousand Li Button into his sleeve. But he wasn’t lying. Priest Xin had leaked the question in advance, so how could he have failed to prepare? With his current level of strength, he had at least three ways of crossing the river, but he wanted to leave these cards hidden so that he could use them in the matches.

Luoluo opened her eyes wide and seriously asked him, “Teacher, are you really confident?”

Chen Changsheng rubbed her head and said, “Haven’t you always had the most confidence in me? If I can’t even cross this river, how can I take first rank of the first banner?”

The Li Palace priests were all stunned when they saw how close he was with Luoluo and they were all speechless when they heard what he said. However, when they saw that Princess Luoluo was apparently almost convinced, they relaxed and left the riverbank, returning to their positions to await the final moment of the martial test.

Luoluo had always obeyed Chen Changsheng’s words. Since he had made his decision, she said no more. She stood on a rock on the shore, bent her knees, and then pushed.

With a light crack, the rock half-covered in moss split in two.

An ear-piercing howl resounded through the blue sky.

An invisible bell seemed to have been struck on the southern shore.

This was the sound of air being pushed apart.

A dress slightly lifted in the air and then descended.

Luoluo appeared in the meadow, two plumes of smoke rising from beneath her dress like flowers.

The Li Palace priests and examinees were all stunned at this sight, their mouths agape. She was truly too powerful.

Luoluo completely ignored the shocked gazes aimed at her. The first thing she did was turn around to the opposite shore, her eyes filled with concern.

She had always believed in Chen Changsheng’s strength, even worshipped it, and she always believed that her teacher was hiding many things. But she was still very worried, because she couldn’t think of how her teacher could possibly get across.

Tang Thirty-Six and Xuanyuan Po walked up to her side and also looked at the opposite shore.

Gou Hanshi, Tianhai Shengxue, Zhuang Huanyu, Qi Jian…all the examinees that had already passed the martial test had appeared by the river and were looking at the northern shore.

There, Chen Changsheng stood alone.

Even Luoluo was worried about him, let alone other people.

No one could understand what sort of method Chen Changsheng could use to cross the river.

Even if he had succeeded in Purification, even if his spiritual sense was powerful, if he did not have enough true essence, he could not break through this natural limit placed down by the world.

Some examinees revealed expressions of joy at his future failure.

The four scholars from Scholartree Manor had apathetic expressions, but their eyes were brimming with disdain and ridicule.

The junior sister from Holy Maiden Peak’s Gentle Stream Monastery happily laughed.

The entire continent knew that Chen Changsheng wanted to get first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination. If he could not even make it past this river, then such a claim would truly be a joke.

Guan Feibai suddenly said, “I hope that he can cross.”

Qi Jian and Liang Banhu nodded.

Gou Hanshi commented, “I’ve never worried that he might be unable to make it across.”

Qi Jian and his other martial brothers turned to look at their senior, somewhat confused.

Gou Hanshi said, “Those who truly have high aspirations will never neglect a single detail. He wants to take first rank of the first banner, so how could he not be able to cross this shallow river?”

Just then, Chen Changsheng finally began to move.

Under the gazes of countless others, he did not walk towards the Qu River, but raised his head up towards the blue sky.

He seemed to be searching for something amongst the white clouds of the early spring sky.

At this moment, the cry of a crane could be heard in the distance.

Chapter 138 – Riding a Crane to the Southern Shore

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

(TN: Way of Choices will be on break from December 25th, 2017 – January 7, 2018)

A green river was divided into two shores. All the examinees stood on the southern shore, while only Chen Changsheng stood on the opposite shore, looking rather forlorn. The declaration that had spread throughout the entire continent made this sight seem even more moving and tragic, or perhaps sorrowful. Sympathetically, or disdainfully, or indifferently, the crowd watched him, waiting for him to conclude his Grand Examination. No expected that what they heard first would be the bright call of a crane.

A line had suddenly charged out of the white clouds drifting over the capital. On the very front of this line was a white crane.

Countless eyes followed the movements of the White Crane, watched as it flew through the sky into the Garden of the Morning Sun. When it landed on the opposite shore in front of Chen Changsheng, the crowd began to react.

Is it possible? Gou Hanshi thought in surprise.

Guan Feibai walked a few steps toward the shore and stared at the White Crane opposite, his voice shaken. “Is it possible?”

Qi Jian’s mouth was slightly agape. With great difficulty, he swallowed the words ‘Is it possible’ back down his throat.

Upon seeing this sight, many examinees standing on the shore could not help but exclaim, “Is it possible?”

Xuanyuan Po lowered his head, feeling his face to be rather hot. He found the entire thing rather embarrassing.

Tang Thirty-Six seemed normal, but he was also deeply embarrassed. He thought to himself, is this really necessary? It’s just crossing a river; is it really necessary to use this sort of method?

Zhuang Huanyu coldly laughed but said nothing else.

Su Moyu’s way of thinking was the simplest. He asked in astonishment, “This way is also okay?”

The crowd’s reaction to the White Crane’s descent was mostly astonishment and disbelief. Only Luoluo’s reaction was different.

She looked at the opposite shore, her two hands clasped together in front of her, her face one of utter adoration. “Teacher’s intellect truly surpasses others’.”

This sentence attracted everyone’s attention.

If she were not Baidi Luoluo, if she were not the Princess of the Demi-humans that no one could offend, she would definitely have received everyone’s disdain and perhaps even a few blows.

Not even Xuanyuan Po or Tang Thirty-Six would have helped her.

Was this called intellect?

Was it not shamelessness?

How could the White Crane travel across a vast distance from the south and arrive right during the Grand Examination?

The Orthodox Academy must have known about the questions for today’s Grand Examination!

Of course, without any proof, no accusations could be made.

The crowd looked at the opposite shore and thought, does Chen Changsheng really have the nerve to do this?

……

……

For the sake of taking first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination, Chen Changsheng was willing to do anything.

He walked up to the White Crane and warmly rubbed it on the neck. He said a few words to it, and then, under the flabbergasted stares of the crowd on both sides of the Qu River, he mounted the White Crane.

The White Crane lightly flapped its wings and took flight.

A wind blew across the river, sending bits of grass flying and ripples spreading across the green waters.

After a moment, Chen Changsheng had flown the crane into the air, further and further away from the ground. The Qu River looked just like a belt of jade.

The wind upon his face was rather chilly and moist.

An inexperienced person mounting the White Crane to such a high elevation would inevitably feel some panic or fear, but he would not. He had experience. His only experience flying the White Crane to high elevations was that when he was small, he had once ridden the White Crane to that peak shrouded in clouds behind Xining Village.

The White Crane of that time was the White Crane he was sitting on right now.

Before his tenth birthday, each time the White Crane would come to deliver letters and gifts to Xining Village, he would go off to the mountains with the White Crane to play and search for herbs.

But after he turned eleven, the White Crane no longer returned to Xining Village. It was only a few months ago that they were finally reunited in the capital.

The chilly wind blew against his face, and he squinted his eyes. He was not looking at the green river or garden beneath him, but at an even further place.

He greatly enjoyed the feeling of flying on a crane, and it had been such a long time since he had felt it.

……

……

At present, Chen Changsheng’s body contained a vast amount of true essence. Although he could not use it, he still felt like a rich man, a rich young master with ten thousand strings of cash strapped around his waist and a bag that he could not open. The place he wanted to go was the Qu River’s southern shore. It truly gave the feeling of having ten thousand strings of cash around the waist and riding a crane down to Jiangnan.

Somewhat unfortunately, the Qu River was not the River of Oblivion or the Red River; even the widest of rivers had a limit, and this was only several dozen zhang. Moreover, he was still taking part in the Grand Examination, and so it did not take long, even with the White Crane flying as slowly as possible, for him to descend onto the meadow of the southern shore.

Chen Changsheng dismounted from the White Crane like an elder, then clasped his hands in thanks.

Luoluo came up to welcome him, very delighted. She was also rather curious about the White Crane.

Her royal father had once said that white cranes had an immortal aura. Moreover, they were also ‘white’, so White Emperor City had never used white cranes as mounts. She had met all sorts of monsters as a child, but she had rarely interacted with white cranes. When she had last seen this one during the Ivy Festival, she had wanted to get close to it. Now, she turned to Chen Changsheng and asked with her eyes if she could touch it.

She knew that this White Crane was not her teacher’s, but she believed that the White Crane would become her teacher’s in the end. As his student, she did not think this request too excessive.

In the end, though, she was a demi-human princess, and so the White Crane was somewhat discomfited by her body’s Qi, or perhaps fearful. Without waiting for Chen Changsheng to say anything, it let out a bright cry and took off into the sky with a flap of its wings.

Chen Changsheng waved goodbye.

Luoluo felt thoroughly regretful, but she was thankful to the White Crane for helping her teacher cross the river today, so she also very seriously waved goodbye to express her gratitude.

The crane’s cries eventually faded into the distance.

The meadow of the Qu River was silent.

What did this mean?

Was this Grand Examination a game? In order to cross the several dozen zhang of the river, the examinees from the various schools and sects had used all sorts of techniques, exhausting all possibilities, and in the end, Chen Changsheng…had actually mounted a crane to cross it!

Crucially, he had ridden that White Crane!

Yes, this was a very famous white crane. Many people recognized it, especially the youths from the south.

This was Xu Yourong’s White Crane.

Many people noticed that when the White Crane left, it was flying south.

Holy Maiden Peak was in the south.

The crowd turned to Chen Changsheng, their expressions running the gamut of emotions.

The disciples from Holy Maiden Peak and the Longevity Sect had especially nasty faces.

Nobody knew that the White Crane had come to the capital a few days ago and then been asked to stay by Chen Changsheng.

People would inevitably speculate. Perhaps Xu Yourong had let the White Crane travel the vast distance from the south to the capital specifically for the purpose of lending her fiancé a helping hand in the Grand Examination?

Luoluo grasped Chen Changsheng’s sleeve, her face brimming with joy as she incessantly praised his wisdom.

She praised with deep sincerity, so much so that even Chen Changsheng began to feel embarrassed.

Tang Thirty-Six patted him on the shoulder and said nothing.

Xuanyuan Po shook his head at him, wanting to say that it was no good to do things this way, but when he thought about how Chen Changsheng was his grandteacher, he could only settle into a depressed silence.

Su Moyu walked over and asked his question again. “Is this way also okay?”

He asked very earnestly, with no intent to jeer or ridicule. He truly wished to ask Chen Changsheng if this method went against the rules or not.

This was a question that many other examinees also had.

One of the scholars of Scholartree Manor found a proctor and solemnly spoke to him.

The examinees watched, waiting for the final result.

After some time, the proctor walked to the Orthodox Academy’s group and sighed at Chen Changsheng, “This way is not allowed.”

Of the proctors and Li Palace priests overseeing today’s examination, more than half were from the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, so they were naturally looking after the Orthodox Academy and Chen Changsheng. However, their care was in the details, like in tea, or brushes, or one’s seating area. Right now, many people had seen Chen Changsheng cross the river by riding a crane, so they had no means of looking after him.

Chen Changsheng was naturally certain about the outcome before making this sort of plan.

“There is no such rule forbidding this method of crossing the river.”

He then pointed at another examinee and said, “Earlier, he asked the examiner across the river if bringing his elder’s mount and using it to fly across the river would also count as passing, and the examiner did not reject the idea.”

The disciple from the Longevity Sect’s Purple Qi Cliff froze. He thought to himself, could it be that my question actually helped you? But as it had many witnesses, he could not simply deny the existence of such a conversation.

The proctor was somewhat startled at his words. Then he laughed and shook his head, saying no more.

This naturally resulted in many examinees’ raising a fierce protest, but Gou Hanshi and his fellow disciples, Tianhai Shengxue, and Zhuang Huanyu said nothing.

Su Moyu commented, “Although…this method is truly rather opportunistic, since it does not break the rules, I have no objection.”

As he represented the Li Palace Academy, his words carried some weight amongst the students of the capital’s academies. Adding on the fact that Zhuang Huanyu and the two students from Star Seizer Academy also said nothing, the voices of protest gradually faded. Only a few young cultivators of the south were still unrelenting in wanting the examiner to strip Chen Changsheng of his credentials.

“Eh? Where did those people go?”

Someone suddenly realized that Chen Changsheng’s group had vanished from the riverside.

The crowd all turned to look and saw that the Orthodox Academy’s group had already left and were just about to enter the sparse forest neighboring the meadow.

One of the scholars of the Scholartree Manor glared at them and icily said, “Truly shameless to the extreme.”

……

……

Chen Changsheng did not feel that crossing the river by riding the crane was anything shameless. Of course, he also did not think it was anything to be proud of. Just like the petty shrewdness often spoken of by the common people, it was very difficult to give an accurate assessment uncolored by emotion. But the Grand Examination was too important to him and his opponents were too powerful. He needed to utilize all his advantages.

As long as he could reach his goal without harming anyone else, the opinions of others would have no effect on him. He wanted to take first rank of the first banner in the Grand Examination and his greatest advantage at the moment was that no one knew just how strong he really was, not even Luoluo. At the same time, with the assistance of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, he had a very deep understanding of the strengths of all the other examinees.

So when he saw that youth under the pavilion, he became very uneasy.

This youth was too mysterious, almost unfathomable.

In the chilly spring wind, this youth was thinly dressed, with his sleeves rolled up to reveal his arms. He seemed fearless of the cold.

According to the information provided by the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, this youth was an examinee from Star Seizer Academy called Zhang Tingtao.

Chen Changsheng was confident that this was not his real name.

This youth simply didn’t take part in the literary test, was the fastest to cross the sea of trees, and the earliest to cross the Qu River. After entering the forest and walking under the pavilion, he never moved.

Whether it was Gou Hanshi or Tianhai Shengxue crossing the river, Luoluo crossing the river, or even Chen Changsheng crossing the river by riding a crane, no matter how excited the meadow on the shore got, he never walked out of the pavilion.

The youth had not even shot a glance at the river.

He stood alone in the pavilion, thus causing the pavilion and this mountain to also become lonely.

It was impossible for such a solitary person to be called Tingtao.

‘Listening to the waves on the shore’ seemed like a lonely and refined image, but such a person was actually still yearning for noise and clamour.

“If I’m not mistaken, his real name should be Zhexiu.”

Tang Thirty-Six looked at the youth in the pavilion, his expression grave. “…This is a wolf from the north.”

___________________

1. Jiangnan is a city in China, and it also translates to ‘south of the river’. The entire saying, ‘descending onto Jiangnan riding a crane with ten thousand strings of cash around the waist’ is actually an old Chinese folktale, though the city mentioned in this case is Yangzhou. One day, four young scholars entering the capital to take the imperial exams rescue an old man, who just so happened to be an immortal. This immortal found these four scholars to have some potential, so he agreed to fulfill a desire for each of them. The first was perhaps rather poor and asked, “I want to be rich and have ten thousand strings of cash wrapped around my waist.” The second asked, “I want to be Governor of Yangzhou and be adored by the masses.” The third asked, “I want to be an immortal.” The fourth scholar thought for a long time and finally said, “I want to have ten thousand strings of cash wrapped around my waist and descend to Yangzhou riding a crane”, as riding a crane is associated with immortality. To make a long story short, the first spent himself into poverty, the second abused his power and was exiled, the third went mad from power and jumped into an abyss, and the fourth diligently became an official, made a lot of money, gave it all up to cultivate, and eventually descended to Yangzhou on a crane.