Repugnant Gateway

Chapter 445 – Not Coming or Going Back

An Zheng squatted beside Zhou Shen’s corpse, his hands on Zhou Shen’s head, and even his fingers were trembling slightly.

Disciple.

In An Zheng’s previous life, he had never accepted a disciple because he knew that the things he did were too unyielding and he offended many people. Once he took in a disciple, he might die before the disciple could learn anything. It was also because of this that An Zheng did not even wish for love at that time. He knew that it was a solitary path, and anyone who followed him would become a victim.

But in the Da Xi, other than the Da Xi, there were too many people who respected An Zheng. There were many lone rangers in the Jianghu who imitated An Zheng’s actions, taking punishing evil and righteousness as their responsibility. When they do things, they tend to think of themselves as An Zheng’s disciples.

An Zheng felt that he was friends with the former Zhou Shen, and they could even become brothers. But he never thought that Zhou Shen would call him teacher.

Before Zhou Shen died, he raised his head and looked at An Zheng with all his might. Blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth but he was still smiling. Sir.

An Zheng felt as if a knife was cutting into his heart. In the past, if there was anyone who had committed a crime against him, An Zheng would feel pain in his heart, even when he was punishing them, but there had never been someone who felt so much pain today. Even when he met his most trusted subordinate in the Western Region of Buddha and found out that he had betrayed him, An Zheng’s heart did not ache as much.

Perhaps it was because … To some extent, Zhou Shen was the other An Zheng. The two of them shared so many similarities, that was why An Zheng had treated him as his friend at first sight.

An Zheng carried Zhou Shen’s body, and then, step by step, he walked out of the City Lord’s mansion. The street was still full of the dazed people, perhaps with only a layer of driving shells left, peeling open their pouches to reveal a ball of dough. But from the looks of it, they were truly a group of kind and innocent people. An Zheng carried Zhou Shen’s body and walked through the crowd. No one looked at them.

Their eyes were filled with confusion, they either walked back and forth or stood still, looking at Zhou Shen who had turned into an ice-cold corpse, An Zheng felt that he was in another world.

An Zheng carried Zhou Shen’s body to the center of An Gu City. This was his city, his home. Here, An Zheng had dug up the ground and buried him.

Then, An Zheng walked out of the ancient city of An, as if he didn’t have any reluctance to stay at all. He turned around and glanced at the ancient city of An, then suddenly rose into the air and hovered in midair.

Purple lightning appeared on his left hand and purple lightning appeared on his right.

[Heavenly Thunder Shower]

As An Zheng, who was floating in the air, pushed out his hands, 99 bolts of heavenly lightning shot into the ancient city of An like 99 heavy bombs. An Zheng chose to use this method to end a past, and make Zhou Shen’s sins history. Perhaps, in An Zheng’s heart, he wouldn’t forget this person’s city for a very long time, but only felt heartache.

By the time An Zheng’s body slowly landed outside the ancient city, the inside of the city was already in ruins.

He took a deep breath and, without even looking back, walked toward the Holy See in large strides.

He had more important things to do, and no matter what, he had to try. If they could stop Da Xi from punishing State of Yan and the sixteen northern countries, how many people could they save? An Zheng understood the Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo, and knew that he would definitely not change anyone since he had already made his decision. However, An Zheng also knew what the weakness of Chen Wunuo’s thinking was, so if there was anyone in this world who could persuade him, it could only be An Zheng.

However, An Zheng did not have any chance to meet the Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo. Even if An Zheng revealed his identity as the Duke of State of Yan, no one would care about him in the Da Xi Empire. Not to mention a duke, even if the Swallow King arrived, they would not meet even if the kings of the sixteen kingdoms came together because their levels were not high enough.

If An Zheng went as an official, he would only be able to meet a few officials of the Great Western Holy See’s Department of Rites and he wouldn’t even be able to meessistant minister. Looking for these little faculties to play a role? He was counting on them to introduce him to Chen Wunuo?

The second way was to barge in to meet Chen Wunuo. With An Zheng’s current cultivation level, let alone entering the Holy See, or the Imperial Palace, he wouldn’t even be able to get close to it. Any random random expert from the Sacred Hall, any random general from the Holy See, or any random random first-rate or second-rate imperial palace guard could cause An Zheng to feel despair.

Fortunately, An Zheng understood Da Xi.

There was only one way to see Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo, and that was to see him again.

Three Academies was a very special place. Although it was called the Academy, it was also the place that represented the highest level of cultivation and teaching in the Great Xi world. Da Xi would select the most talented youths from the various classes to enter the Three Academies and receive the best education in the academy. After these youths graduated from the academy, they would directly enter the military or the sanctuary to work in the yamen. Of course, it was the lowest level of the martial arts. After experiencing it again and again, it would be greatly valued.

An Zheng thought to himself that he should first enter the Three Academies. Following the usual practice, Daxi Shenghuang would visit the Three Academies once a month to personally check on the standards of these students. Chen Wunuo would arrive on the twenty-eighth of every month, unstoppable despite the rain or shine. An Zheng calculated the time. If he could enter the Great Western Holy See within a month, it would be the beginning of next month. After that, he would have about twenty days to prepare to enter the Academy.

There were only twenty days left. Although the chances were still zero, this was already the best way.

Of course the Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo would not receive everyone, the number of students that he would receive in the Three Academies was within fifty. These people were all the most outstanding people in the Three Academies. Only those who had passed the monthly test would have such an opportunity. Therefore, An Zheng had to rush to the Great Western Holy See from the border within a month, and then use twenty days to not only enter the Three Academies, but also enter the top fifty ranks in the monthly test.

This was not State of Yan, not a small country in the north, but Da Xi. In the Great Western Holy See’s best academy, entering the top 50 right after admitting it was actually jusipe dream. There was no other way around it.

An Zheng was never one to procrastinate, once he confirmed the plan, he would immediately carry it out. Three Academies was nolace where one could casually enter. Although there were no rules like recruiting an academy once a year, the examination was extremely strict. There were three ways to enter the Three Academies. First, one had to be from a large clan, recommended by the clan’s elders, and with an extraordinary physique. This kind of person would be able to enter the academy after a simple assessment.

Secondly, there were the recommendations of the military or other yamen. These youngsters who had already made achievements in certain fields were valued highly by their superiors. They took the recommendation letter from the military or each yamen and entered the academy for the examination. The examination is a little stricter than the first one, but it’s still alright. Those who are recommended are true geniuses, so of course, they won’t be rejected directly from the examination.

Third, it was the most complicated and difficult type. Because Da Xi always proclaimed the freedom of the people, as long as a young person was a cultivator, they could recommend themselves and enter the Academy to take the examinations. The Academy could not directly decide, this waule that Chen Wunuo had set down to the point that no one could change. However, because of this, there were too many youngsters who wanted to enter the academy by chance. Everyone wanted to soar into the sky, but not everyone had the potential to soar to the heavens.

The third method was the strictest one, and there was a department of the academy responsible for it, so there were many people. Every single person in charge of the exam had a powerful cultivation and had extraordinary experience. The most important thing was that they were strict with their methods. No one should even think of entering by gift, because even if they wanted to enter the academy, they would not be able to bring out anything extraordinary that would attract the attention of the examiners.

Even if one was lucky enough to pass the examination, one would not directly enter the academy to cultivate. Instead, one would enter the Second Institution for three months to receive observation. After three months of layers of screening, only the most outstanding among them would have the qualifications to enter the academy’s examination, and only those who passed would be able to enter the academy to study.

The examinations of the first courtyard were much more difficult than those of the second courtyard.

Therefore, the only feasible method that An Zheng had chosen was also hopeless. He only had around twenty days, and because he couldn’t afford to delay it, he had to hurry back to the State of Yan. How could he stand out in the Second Court in twenty days? So much so that the teachers of the Second Court, regardless of the rules, recommended him to enter the First Court? Holy Emperor Chen Wunuo would never receive disciples of the two Academies, not even proper officials.

But since there was hope, An Zheng would not give up.

Along the way, An Zheng was in a hurry to travel, so nothing happened to affect him. The distance between the border region of the An city and the Holy See was tens of times that of the distance between the State of Yan and the An city. This was because the Holy See was located in the southern part of the Da Xi world while An Zheng was travelling from the south to the north. Along the way, An Zheng passed by the majestic northern region of the Da Xi Empire and entered the beautiful southern region of the Da Xi Empire. An Zheng spent all his time on his journey and arrived outside of Holy See City two days earlier than he had expected.

Outsiders were used to mature in Da Xi city, it was called Holy See City, but in reality, this city was called Jin’ling [1].

The majesty of the Jinling cannot be described with words. As the world’s greatest city, everything here was enough to shock outsiders beyond compare. Leaving aside the city gate which could accommodate twenty carriages in a row, let alone the city wall which could not be seen at a glance, the might of the city wall which was so great that even cultivators at the peak of the Captive Stage would be terrified of, even the fact that there was a street lamp that only appeared fifty kilometers away from the Jinling on both sides of the official road was enough to strike fear into the hearts of people.

Five kilometers outside of Jinling, there was a street light, each three meters long. Each street light had a Night Pearl on it. Each street lamp was a mini rune array, absorbing the light of the sun and moon, converging it into the Night Pearls, ensuring that the night was bright.

In the Buddhist Kingdoms of the Western Regions, a large number of people would go to the Golden Crown to worship every day. Wasn’t it the same in Da Xi? Which of those who came with suceputation didn’t have the mood to be a pilgrim?

Someone once said that looking at the Jinling in this life meant death without regret. Even among the citizens of the Da Xi Empire, there were not many who could come to the Jinling even once in their lives. Da Xi was just too big, it would take a long time for a normal person to walk from the border to the Holy See. Everyone yearned for the Holy City, but who would have the ability to spend a year or even several years on the road?

Fortunately, An Zheng had Qing Zhai’s identity certificate, so there wasn’t much of a hindrance when he entered the Jinling. The soldiers at the city gate only made a few routine checks before letting them in. The people that entered the holy city were all different, so no one knew if there were any important people hidden inside. These soldiers had long since gotten used to it. With regards to An Zheng, who was already the owner of a branch shop at such a young age, in their eyes, it wasn’t anything strange.

“Welcome to Da Xi, welcome to Jinling.”

The guard at the city gate said this as he passed An Zheng’s identity certificate to him.

An Zheng nodded and thanked him.

“Not coming, but returning.”

An Zheng took a deep breath and walked in.