Chapter 20 – The first page
Even if it’s an endless abyss, it’s still possible to climb out. The reason why Xu Shi Ji could make such judgement on Chen Chang Sheng’s destiny was because after Chen Chang Sheng got out of The Tradition Academy abyss, there were still two words that would suppress him- the Divine Queen and Pope.
The Pope was kind, gentle, and had started to forget the past. He remembered the friendship between the Principal of the Tradition Academy and himself. He was unwilling to let the Tradition Academy became real history so he closed his eyes and ignore the problem, but what about the Divine Queen? That year the Tradition Academy was the main source of the power struggle. The old royal families had employed them as an army to fight against her. How could she permit the Tradition Academy revitalize and shine again?
Anyone would know, in the Divine Queen’s dictionary there was never a word called “pardon.” Countless royal family members lied in blood and Zhou Tong who could scare infants from crying were apparent evidence. The Tradition Academy wanted a rebirth? Unless the Divine Queen abdicated or died it would not happen. But would the Divine Queen abdicate? Could anyone kill her? No, that abyss would always be an abyss.
Chen Chang Sheng returned to the inn. As usual he spent fifteen minutes to wash his face and brush his teen. He washed his clothes, used towels to rub his wet hair until it dried up, wore up clean clothes, held a pot of green tea, walked to the tree in the yard, sat on a bamboo chair, and began watching the stars.
Because he is very concerned about time the most, Chen Chang Sheng would only allow himself to take a few glances at the beautiful evening sky and stars. After obtaining some spiritual power from the stars which stayed in permanent positions, he took out the recommendation letter with the Pope’s signature on it. He began to replay the events that happened today and the encounters he had.
After standing in the hallway in the department of traditional education for half a day, he remembered that he received a recommendation letter. He understood what the Pope’s signature meant. The change in officer Xin’s attitudes toward him were too obvious. It brought him a lot of advantages but at the same time made him question many things.
Why would Nanny Ning give this recommendation letter to him? If they only wanted him to shut up or give back the engagement, he believed that these people who possessed unimaginable power had countless ways. Out of all the methods they had, this method of using the recommendation was the hardest to understand. It felt like someone was compensating him for some debts.
What was the opponent trying to compensate for? Was it for his silence regarding the
engagement? Or was the Tradition Academy really not a good place to go to? He clearly remembered that Nanny Ning had said this was the best choice for everyone but it does not apply to him. What problem was the Tradition Academy having?
He knew the glorified history the Tradition Academy had, but the event in which the Tradition Academy became a ghost school occurred in more than a decade ago. Because the event occurred far too recent, there were no recorded history when the Divine Queen is still in power. He could only make some guesses based on officer Xin’s reaction – Officer Xin’s enthusiastic and friendly attitude, but at the same time wanted to keep his distances from him. The Pope’s recommendation only worked to some extent, suggesting that the issue regarding the Tradition Academy could even offset the Pope’s influence to some extent.
He thought about the problem but he did not understand. He decided to not continue wasting his time guessing. Even if there was a problem, he wouldn’t care anyway. What he wanted originally wasn’t what those big figures did not want to give. He did not want this engagement. He simply wanted to obtain a permit to directly participate in the Great Trial, simultaneously, he needed to read a lot of books.
Master didn’t lie about there being many books collected and stored in the Six Ivies.
Chen Chang Sheng woke up at five, cleaned up, ate, and prepared according to the same schedule he followed in the past fourteen years. He spent a bit more time on packing and moving them to the wagon, which called last night. Along with the morning sunlight shining on his right shoulder, he left the inn that he lived in for several days. He marched forward to the Tradition Academy near the royal palace North of the city.
He did not check out because he did not lack money and because he knew that he definitely would come back. On the day he comes back, he wouldn’t stand on the balcony behind the inn and look in a daze at the Mausoleum of the Books far away. Instead, he would definitely walk into the Mausoleum of the Books, see those legendary tablets closely.
In the depths of the Hundred Blossom Street, unlike the quietness that was common in the past decades, noises filled the block and several hundred servants and workers were busily working. Seeing the leftover torches on the ground, it was easy to see that these workers have pulled an all nighter working and hadn’t rested.
Chen Chang Sheng moved the luggage near the lake and discovered that Officer Xin never appeared. He trusted his guess more, and it was good that the things Officer Xin promised him was prosecuted without trouble. He looked as the academy that looked liked a cemetery yesterday slowly restore its former glory.
The ruined buildings weren’t easy to fix in a short amount of time. But with hundreds of people working on it, the appearance of the buildings looked much better. Especially the small buildings in the woods because they were cleaned up very nicely. After the rotten smell vanish, people can start living in them right away.
The hundreds of people working busily to restore the academy were the lowest rank of servants from the Department of Holy Education. They were responsible for the cleaning of the Heavenly Academy and such tasks in the past years. Although they didn’t understand the reason to clean and organize the ruined Classical Teaching, they still did their work expertly. Even working all night didn’t affect their progress rate.
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After checking the buildings around him, it was clear that the cleanup process was basically done. Chen Chang Sheng carried his luggage and walked into another building right next to the library while the servants were looking at him curiously and respectfully. As he entered, a wave of rotten smell hit him. Although it was less intense than yesterday, it was still strong enough to be detected. It seems that even with the sun and wind, it would still take a few days for the smell to vanish.
Chen Chang Sheng disliked the rotten smell, therefore he didn’t stay after he set his luggage in the building and left right away. His destination was the library right next door.
Following his request from yesterday, the library wasn’t cleaned by the workers. The key was in his hands so even if they wanted to help they couldn’t enter. The workers were all bussy cleaning up the main buildings and there were not a single person around. The surrounding was filled with silence.
Chen Chang Sheng walked up the stairs and arrived at the front door. He took out the key that he obtained from the Department of Education and sticked it into the keyhole. After the key was stuck inside the keyhole, the green rust was scraped up and fell onto the ground.
The key was twisted slightly and smoothly. Chen Chang Sheng detected clearly that some of the system inside the bronze locket was activated and returned to its original position, The presence that he detected earlier also hid inside the deepest parts of the locket. The entire process was magical.
He pushed the door and entered. The first thing he saw was rows and rows of bookshelves. The bookshelves occupied most of the library and it was hard to see the end of it. It gave him a sense of visual stimulation. Countless books were packed upon the shelves, and Chen Chang Sheng was happy to see this image. When he noticed that the dusts weren’t as much as he saw yesterday, he was even happier.
The Classical Teaching was in ruins for many years. The desks and chairs inside the other buildings were stolen and sold. There wasn’t even any bed left in the dorms. Officer Xin requested the department to speed up the cleaning and repairing process last night. Since this library was closed, it was protected very nicely.
Chen Chang Sheng got some cleaning tools and cleaned around the library for a bit. Suddenly he noticed the floor and shiny and reflective, it was actually made from the expensive sandalwood. He shook his head, he thought to himself, who would’ve knew that this academy was so rich during its peak, but fell into the dusts for so many years?
What should he do next?
It’s time for him to xiuxing.
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Chen Chang Sheng found an index in the drawer of the library and walked into the long shelves. It didn’t take too long for him to find the first book he desired.
The book’s title was “Purification”.
The name of the book was simple, just from a single glance you know it talked about the process and instructions of the Purification Stage. But due to its simplicity, it was also common.
To defend against the Demon race which held powerful strength and enormous talents, it was forbidden to keep the basics of xiuxing and ways of Purification as a secret in the human world – of course, the large sects have their own ways – but the basics of xiuxinig was just like the stone pillars of the Mausoleum of Knowledge, everyone could see and study them.
This book of Purification was a xiuxing instruction that could be bought from any city or village.
But Chen Chang Sheng never read it, because during the past fourteen years in his life, his master always told him it was unnecessary. It won’t be late for him to study when it was his time to study. When he asked when it would be his time, Chen Chang Sheng’s master never answered him. Right before he left Xi Ning and said he will travel to the capital and visit the Mausoleum of Knowledge and Temple Ling Yan…..
That day, his master finally said to him, “Then, you can start xiuxing.“
He picked up the “Purification” and walked to the door. He sat on the mobbed floor and used the sunlight to read. He opened the first page.
Logically speaking, he should be excited or even nervous at this moment.
But he wasn’t.
During this process, there was not a single change in his expression. It was very calm, it seemed like he underwent this process countless times.
If others were watching this scene, they wouldn’t have guessed that it was his first time reading books about xiuxing.
In the General’s Mansion and the Heavenly Academy, he said this sentence, “It’s not that I can’t xiuxing, it’s just I haven’t started to xiuxing.”
He had millions of chances to start xiuxing, but it wasn’t his time yet.
He waited for a long time, and this day finally arrived. Perhaps he waited too long and he was too exhausted to be excited. All that was left was calmness.
He flipped open the first page of the book.
There started out with a single line.
“The meaning will be understood after hundred times of reading.”