Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Zhou Ziheng stood at his original position, still not quite recognizing what had just occurred.

He had originally believed that the Orthodox Academy would act as it had in the preceding days, thinking of ways to delay and then going off to think of ways to confront this challenge—for example, the Orthodox Academy could possibly invite Princess Luoluo to come out of the Li Palace. If that were the case, then his only choices were naturally to concede or avoid the battle. However, the Tianhai clan had prepared a contingency plan for this. If the Orthodox Academy really did have Princess Luoluo appear, then the Tianhai clan would certainly use this as a pretext to stir up even greater winds and waves. But he had never expected Chen Changsheng to actually agree.

After a moment, he was finally able to awake from his stupor. He looked at Chen Changsheng with a grave expression and asked, "Who will battle for the Orthodox Academy?"

Chen Changsheng replied, "Me."

As he said the word ’me’, there was no pause and naturally no pretense of thought. It seemed simply to be a matter of course.

Yes, he was the Principal of the Orthodox Academy. When the Orthodox Academy was challenged, it was only right that he face it.

Zhou Ziheng suddenly realized that the current Chen Changsheng, when compared to the Chen Changsheng of the past few days, was somewhat different. But he couldn’t quite tell just where he was different.

"Very good." He looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, "Since the time has been decided, is any place fine?"

Chen Changsheng answered, "According to the regulation in the proposal set forth by the two archbishops of the Sacred Halls, since the time was set by the Orthodox Academy, the location is naturally for the Temple Seminary to decide."

Zhou Ziheng turned his gaze to the dense crowd outside Hundred Flowers Lane and then said emotionlessly, "Since there are already so many people, we might as well just do it here."

Chen Changsheng nodded his head to indicate he had no objection. He shifted his gaze to Tang Thirty-Six, who had at some point gone and bought soy milk and youtiao. Shaking his head helplessly, Chen Changsheng asked, "Is eating and drinking so important?"

Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Eating and drinking isn’t life or death, it’s above life and death."

The gate to the Orthodox Academy closed once more, but this separation was different from that of the last few days. Everyone knew that tomorrow this tightly closed gate would open once more!

The crowd outside the Hundred Flowers Lane was in a continuous uproar, and consequently, the entire capital turned into an uproar.

The Temple Seminary had challenged the Orthodox Academy. This was about to be the first battle held in the All-School Martial Exhibition.

It had nothing to with the far-reaching intention of the Orthodoxy’s new rule to help the humans resist the demons. All the people knew that this challenge signified that the Tianhai clan and the new faction within the Orthodoxy were finally beginning to make themselves heard to the Li Palace.

It didn’t take long before this news was spread throughout the capital. Many workmen quickly arrived on the scene with all sorts of construction materials, and in a brief moment, a simple awning began to take shape. Soon after, several dozen carriages made their way to Hundred Flowers Lane and from these carriages emerged many people. Some were painters, some were storytellers, and some were merchants. There were also experts that were honored guests of the Four Great Markets.

Yes, these people that had reacted even faster than the aristocracy of the capital were all from the famed Four Great Markets of the capital.

The Four Great Markets were involved in every business: eateries, restaurants, brothels, foodstuffs, luxury goods, textiles. But the business that brought in the most money had always been gambling.

The annual Grand Examination was often the time when the Four Great Markets made the most money. It was out of the question for them to pass on this All-School Martial Exhibition that was naturally meant for betting on. In fact, there were many people that suspected that, for the Li Palace to so swiftly disregard the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education’s objections and pass the proposal of the two Sacred Hall archbishops, the masters of the Four Great Markets must have been pushing it behind the scenes.

Of course, although the area outside Hundred Flowers Lane was now bustling beyond compare, the people of the Four Great Markets did not dare to disturb the tranquility of the Orthodox Academy. Business people were still business people.

What occurred soon after somewhat surpassed people’s expectations.

A steward of the Heavenly Fragrance Market, completely ignoring the vigilant stares of the Li Palace priests and imperial guards, slowly made his way up to the gate of the Orthodox Academy. Seeing this scene, the crowd was very much puzzled and perplexed. Just what was this steward up to? It must be known that the Heavenly Fragrance Market was the weakest of the Four Great Markets, always ranking last. The sudden emergence of a dark horse in this year’s Grand Examination, Chen Changsheng’s inconceivable feat of taking first rank of the first banner, had inflicted disastrous losses on the Heavenly Fragrance Market, so much so that there were even rumors that the Heavenly Fragrance Market had changed owners. Just where did this steward’s confidence come from?

Something happened which took the crowd even more by surprise. The gate of the Orthodox Academy actually opened and that steward walked inside.

"You’re saying...the Heavenly Fragrance Market is your Tang clan’s property?"

Chen Changsheng looked at that incomparably reverential steward in front of Tang Thirty-Six and said in shock, "Why haven’t I ever heard about this?"

Tang Thirty-Six said, "It was only done after the Grand Examination."

Chen Changsheng replied, "I heard that the backing of each of the Four Great Markets is extremely deep. It seems that the Pavilion of Divination might even own some. Why would the Heavenly Fragrance Market’s previous master be willing to sell!"

Everyone knew that the Wenshui Tangs were the world’s wealthiest clan. The problem was that the relationship between the Tianhai clan and the Tang clan was somewhat of a wreck. In the past few years, the Tianhai clan had been incessantly working in the dark to prevent the Tang clan’s influence from spreading into the capital. If the Heavenly Fragrance Market really did belong to the Tang clan, then the efforts of the Tianhai clan had all been for nothing. For this reason, he was rather perplexed at how the Tang clan had managed to accomplish this task.

Tang Thirty-Six chuckled, but didn’t explain.

Chen Changsheng was somewhat lost in the dark.

The steward gave Chen Changsheng a rather peculiar look. He thought to himself, if the Wenshui Tangs had not placed such a large stake on Sir, how could the Heavenly Fragrance Market have lost so much that it would be forced to sell? Of course, he didn’t dare to say this out loud. Turning deferentially towards Tang Thirty-Six, he said, "Young master, according to the laws of the clan, the money within the market cannot be moved. I could only take Master’s own silver currently being stored with us and bet it all."

Tang Thirty-Six did some mental calculations, then thought to himself, even if I won, it won’t be enough to buy Clear Lake Restaurant. Turning to Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po, he said, "How much money do you guys have? Give it all to me."

When he borrowed money from others, it was only natural that he not write any sort of IOU. As for what he was borrowing money for, he was also too lazy to explain. When he borrowed money from someone, it showed his high regard for that person.

Most regretfully, these two schoolmates of his in the Orthodox Academy were so lacking in this aspect that it really made one look down on them.

Xuanyuan Po rummaged all throughout his luggage and found around seventy taels of silver.

Chen Changsheng was even more miserable. After searching all over, he couldn’t even produce a single piece of paper.

Tang Thirty-Six was very sympathetic to Xuanyuan Po, but he was extremely angry towards Chen Changsheng. "What about those silver ingots I gave you? And the treasures Princess Luoluo gave you? After the Grand Examination, the Orthodox Academy took in so many presents; where did all those things run off to?"

Chen Changsheng said awkwardly, "Those things...they were all lost in the Garden of Zhou."

Tang Thirty-Six was keenly aware of just what assets Chen Changsheng possessed before entering the Garden of Zhou. Let alone the box of silver ingots, the treasures Luoluo had gifted were to be envied. In the end...they had all been lost in the Garden of Zhou that was already destroyed. There was no hope of finding those assets again and he felt a deep grief in his heart. He said to Chen Changsheng in vexation, "Truly a guy that could cause his family to go bankrupt."

As Chen Changsheng thought of those boxes and books in the depths of that lake in the Garden of Zhou, he also was filled with regret. He thought that it would be best to think of a way to bring those things back. In the past two day, he had attempted several more times, but after his spiritual sense crossed through the ocean of sword intent, it was still incapable of entering the illusion of the black monolith. To rediscover the path to the Garden of Zhou was seemingly destined to be a long and endless journey.

Xuanyuan Po suddenly thought of a problem. Glancing at that Heavenly Fragrance Market steward who was checking over the silver, he asked Tang Thirty-Six, "You want to take the money to bet?"

Tang Thirty-Six asked, "What else? Take it to a brothel?"

Xuanyuan Po shook his head, "It’s said in my tribe, humans are the most deceitful, you can’t bet with them. It’d be better if I just kept the money and used it as a little capital to start a business."

As he spoke, he prepared to take back his silver taels.

"You really are a dumb bear." Tang Thirty-Six was not in a pleasant mood. "In only two days’ time, you can turn one silver tael into eleven. Just what business can generate more profit than that?"

Xuanyuan Po paused, and asked in some disbelief, "What pays out that much?"

Demi-humans didn’t like to gamble with humans, but that didn’t mean they didn’t like to gamble. Even the most honest bear youth at least understood the concept of odds.

Tang Thirty-Six answered, "The Four Great Markets just calculated the odds. The highest odds are one-to-eleven, the lowest is still one-to-nine."

Xuanyuan Po suddenly felt that something wasn’t quite right. He asked uncertainly, "This is for us winning?"

Tang Thirty-Six looked back like he was gazing at an idiot. "Zhou Ziheng is in the Star Condensation Realm, Chen Changsheng is in the Ethereal Opening Realm. Do you think the Four Great Markets would give Zhou Ziheng odds of one-to-eleven?"

Xuanyuan Po was stunned, and then sighed, "You actually want to use my money to bet on Chen Changsheng!"

It must be known that these taels of silver, other than the part that was the allowance provided by the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, were silver he had bitterly earned through washing dishes in the night market. He was very unwilling to let all this money be thrown away.

Tang Thirty-Six sneered at him, "You have to understand, he used his identity as Principal to give you shoes to wear, so if he were to complain about you to Princess Luoluo, what would happen to you?"

Xuanyuan Po was helpless at these words and felt very pained.

------

The plum blossoms filling the room were still blooming. It was as if the four seasons really were within these simple walls.

Regretfully, it was impossible for the life of humans to be as beautiful and magical as this scene. Once they reached the stern winter, it was no longer possible to return to the spring.

Mei Lisha’s illness was severe. The matters of the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education had all been handed over to his subordinates to handle, while some of the matters had been given over to Mao Qiuyu.

In fact, he knew very well that he wasn’t ill, just old.

If it were an illness, it could be treated, especially since the patient was him. As long as he wished it, every teacher and student of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green would come over and use the Sacred Light technique.

No one could treat old age. The Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green could not, the Holy Maiden could not, and the Pope also could not.

As one grew old and was on the verge of returning to the sea of stars, different people would display different attitudes.

Mei Lisha had spent his time in the Orthodoxy studying ancient scriptures and managing the educational bureaucracy. He had lived a solitary life for several hundred years, so at this time, what he loved the most was excitement.

Especially excitement that involved Chen Changsheng and the Orthodox Academy.

After hearing Priest Xin’s narrative of what had happened this morning, Mei Lisha laughed as the wrinkles on his face smoothed. "Ah, truly exciting."

As he said the word ’exciting’, his elderly face was full of smiles. Even those liver spots on his face seemed to fade away somewhat, and yet Priest Xin heard loneliness in that voice.

This made him feel extremely uneasy.