Chapter 61: Chapter 57: Choices are Important

The peak of the Imperial City.

The rain was a torrential downpour, and thunder rumbled incessantly.

A one-armed, middle-aged Sword Cultivator with a sword on his back stood before the Great Flame Dragon Wall, watching the rain. His expression was silent, and it was impossible to tell what he was waiting for.

At a certain moment.

The rain in every direction seemed to freeze. Each droplet hung suspended in the air, motionless. Even the splashes where they had struck the stone ground were frozen in time.

The one-armed Sword Cultivator looked toward one of the city gates, his expression impassive.

“I never thought the Dao Alliance’s number one Tributor, the great Immortal Zuo Ren, would be here playing gatekeeper.”

A drunken sot in a bamboo hat, leaning on a bamboo staff and carrying a wine gourd, sauntered over with a grin.

“That flair you showed when you slayed Deities with a single strike wasn’t any less impressive than my own back in the day. We’ve been rivals for so long, yet I’ve never seen you use your true power.”

The one-armed Sword Cultivator shifted his gaze back toward the depths of the Imperial Palace. “Old drunk,” he said flatly, “if you have something to say, just spit it out.”

Zhao Xuanwu’s smile vanished. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Your Dao Alliance appears to be helping the Holy Emperor pass his Dragon Tribulation, giving him a fourth chance to leap the Dragon Gate. But in reality, you might as well be harming him.”

The one-armed Sword Cultivator’s eyes remained placid. “This is all the Holy Emperor’s own choice. Whether he tries or not has nothing to do with me. I am merely a Tributor of the Dao Alliance. My words carry no weight.”

“Hahaha!”

Zhao Xuanwu suddenly burst out laughing, then followed it with a cold sneer. “What a brilliant, open conspiracy.”

“If this has nothing to do with you, then why haven’t you acted? Why are you letting the Thunder Pool Daoist Academy handle trivial, insignificant matters? Are you planning to wait until the last possible moment to intervene, so the people of Great Yan will be eternally grateful to your Taoist Sect?”

The one-armed Sword Cultivator shook his head, glanced toward the Celestial Gate, and explained, “Acting now would only end the Dragon Tribulation completely, which would in fact harm the Holy Emperor. Not everyone can be like you, cleaving the Dragon Gate with a single slash and achieving Transcendence to become a master.”

“Hmph!”

Zhao Xuanwu snorted coldly and stomped his bamboo staff on the ground. A faint ripple spread out, like a single stone dropped into the ocean, and everything returned to normal. The heavy rain resumed, droplets pattering down, water splashing, and a thick mist veiling the sky.

“It had better be.”

By the time he finished speaking, he had already vanished.

…

「Shengjing Academy.」

The academy was situated on high ground, built from the foot to the midway point of a mountain, so it had fortunately escaped being flooded by the heavy rain. A handsome young man in a Confucian Shirt, soaked to the bone, was shivering from the cold as he took shelter under the eaves of one of the academy buildings.

The eaves weren’t wide, and rain still drifted in.

Chen Ke curled up in a corner, clutching his travel bag. He looked dejected, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

The words spoken when he was driven out of the academy flashed through his mind.

’You haven’t even earned the title of a higher-ranking Scholar, yet you think you’re worthy of studying at Shengjing Academy?’

’Seriously, what right does a mere Scholar who got in through connections have to occupy this spot?’

’Just kick him out. Mountain Master Qi has already stepped down, so there’s no one to protect him anymore.’

Chen Ke clenched his fists. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

Twenty years of study, yet he had only reached the Third Realm of Mingxin.

If anyone found out, they would laugh their heads off.

In the Confucian Family’s cultivation, one must first cultivate the body and mind, then achieve Mingxin and establish one’s destiny. Only then can one draw upon the Court’s Destiny to absorb Heaven and Earth Literary Energy, be nurtured into a Scholar or Advanced Scholar, and finally cultivate Vast Righteous Qi to become a Seventh Realm Gentleman.

’Chen Ke, oh, Chen Ke, how could you be so disappointing? Mr. Qi thought so highly of you, and you still got kicked out.’

Chen Ke gave a bitter smile in his heart.

’Mr. Qi has been dismissed from his post as minister, and everyone says he was involved in a rebellion. If I go to him now, I’ll only bring trouble to the old man.’

’Maybe I should go to the Second Prince. There might be a chance there. His mansion has been recruiting Stewards and Guest Scholars.’

With this thought, Chen Ke could only hug his travel bag tighter to protect the books inside from the rain, bearing the brunt of the storm with his back as he trudged on in his cloth shoes.

Before long, he arrived at the main gate of the Second Prince’s residence, Prince Jin’s Mansion.

He knocked on the gate.

The Gatekeeper opened the gate impatiently, only to find a poor, drenched scholar who looked like a drowned rat.

Chen Ke forced an ingratiating smile. “My name is Chen Ke. His Highness previously recommended me to Shengjing Academy. I now wish to enter the Second Prince’s service. I’ve heard His Highness has a reputation for recognizing talent and making good use of it, and that all who seek his patronage find a good position?”

The Gatekeeper glanced at him and nodded. “That’s true, but His Highness doesn’t just accept anyone. You need to report any skills you have, any particular talents, or even things you do often. After all, His Highness doesn’t support freeloaders.”

“I can copy scriptures quickly, I’ve read over ten thousand volumes of books, I’ve helped old women sell pears, written letters home for soldiers on campaigns, and mounted calligraphy and paintings and inscribed couplets for the folks back home. Do any of those count?”

The Gatekeeper shook his head repeatedly. “Reading a lot of books is useless. Being able to write well is also useless. Many of His Highness’s Guest Scholars can do that. As for those good deeds, they are utterly meaningless to His Highness.”

“Since you have no special skills, you should just leave. His Highness doesn’t support freeloaders.”

With that, he shut the gate, leaving Chen Ke once again in the wind and rain.

But Chen Ke didn’t give up.

’There are so many Princes in the Capital City right now, all opening their mansions to recruit people. If one doesn’t work out, I’ll just go to the next.’

He left his bundle at a City God Temple in the city, then headed back out into the rain.

But the answers he received were all more or less the same.

“A useless Confucian Scholar dares to come here? Scram! Prince Chu will not see you!”

“Go, go, go! Don’t disturb His Highness’s Daoist Technique cultivation.”

“The Seventh Prince will not see you. His Highness is not available.”

“The Eighth Prince has gone to the Confucian Temple to study and has not yet returned. Besides, you only have the rank of a Scholar. We require at least an Advanced Scholar here.”

“The Ninth Prince is not in his mansion. He has gone out. Please leave.”

After being rejected by so many mansions, Chen Ke was utterly disheartened.

He sat in the City God Temple, sheltering from the rain. Outside, the wind howled and the rain poured down. He thought to himself in silence.

’If my mother hadn’t eloped with my father back then, my life probably wouldn’t be this miserable.’

His branch of the family was distantly related to the Qi Family. His mother’s surname was Qi, but his father’s was Chen. His father had once been a Fifth-Grade Minor Official in the Court.

But twenty years ago, when he was five, his father was implicated in a factional dispute at Court and was stripped of his position.

His family fell into decline from then on. His father died of illness, and his mother, after raising him through great hardship until he was ten, also passed away. She had urged him to return to his ancestral clan, but he couldn’t even get through the Qi Family’s gate.

He had finally managed to earn the rank of a Scholar, but just as he was striving for more, he was caught up in an imperial examination cheating scandal, and all the results from his testing site were nullified.

He thought things would get better after entering Shengjing Academy, but it turned out to be more of the same.

’My life has been just too unlucky.’

Trouble followed him wherever he went.

Just as he was sighing, he heard a sigh from the other side of the City God Temple.

Chen Ke pricked up his ears and listened.

“Sect Master, our Linglong Sect’s luck is just too terrible. Whoever we back, their Destiny dissipates. It’s just too uncanny.”

“I know, right? First, we backed the Sixth Prince. His mother was a Noble Consort at Court, the Wang Family Patriarch is a Ninth Realm National Hero, and he had the support of several Grotto Heavens. Aside from visiting brothels, he didn’t cause any other trouble. Who knew he would do something like that later on.”

“The most infuriating one was the Fifth Prince. We thought since he was so close with the Second Prince, he wouldn’t fall so easily, and backing him wouldn’t attract too much attention. Who could have guessed that people from the Taoist Sect would actually want to kill him? He was dead not long after. And we absolutely can’t afford to provoke the Dao Alliance!”

“Finally, there was the Eldest Prince. We didn’t even mind getting a smaller share of the incense offerings, but who could have imagined he would rebel for no reason?”

“Our Linglong Sect has lost everything. Half of the Sect’s assets were sunk into this.”

A woman in a long robe, holding a sword, spoke with a complicated expression to another beautiful woman who wore a bamboo hat with a white veil.

’The Sixth Prince?’

Hearing this, Chen Ke remembered.

Of all the Princes, the Sixth Prince was the only one he hadn’t tried to seek patronage from.

Mainly because he couldn’t find where the Sixth Prince’s Prince Mansion was located.

’Otherwise, I could have given it a try.’

“Sect Master, should we switch targets again?” the long-robed woman asked.

The woman in the veiled hat thought for a moment. “We have to. The Great Yan Dynasty has had seven emperors over three hundred years. Every change of the Emperor’s Throne is a complete reshuffling of power. The returns then will be ten or even a hundred times greater. We cannot miss such a good opportunity.”

“But we must be extremely cautious in our choice this time. We can’t be like the last three times.”

The long-robed woman pouted. “A Sect like ours, we can’t even find a single Eleventh Realm Cultivator in our entire sect. Can we really win this gamble against those major powers?”

The woman in the veiled hat shook her head gently. “In this world, ordinary Sects like ours are the majority. The mega-powers that control numerous other Sects, like Purple Sun Palace, the Celestial Master’s Mansion, Leiyin Temple, Little Lingyin Temple, Chiyang Mountain, and Flying Bull Martial Manor, are few and far between.”

After speaking, she glanced toward the other side of the City God Temple, having clearly noticed someone was eavesdropping long ago.

“Sir, eavesdropping is not a good habit.”

Hearing this, Chen Ke obediently walked out and greeted them cautiously.

“Greetings, you two Immortal Sisters.”

The long-robed woman saw he was just a Third Realm Young Scholar and chuckled, her eyes curving into a smile. “Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”

Chen Ke answered honestly, “My experiences are quite similar to yours, Immortal Sisters, so I felt a sense of resonance.”

“Oh?”

Curiosity flickered in the eyes of the woman in the veiled hat.

“I am Han Sheng Chen Ke. I have spent today going from one Prince Mansion to another, and I have a general understanding of the situation. While not all were arrogant and rude, most were haughty, and rejections were common. I don’t think any of them would be a good choice to pledge allegiance to.”

“Why don’t you share your thoughts?”

The long-robed woman looked confused, blinking in surprise. “Sect Master, why are you asking for his opinion? He’s just a Third Realm Junior Confucian Cultivator.”

“Whether they are common folk from the market or disciples of an Immortal Family, everyone has their own perspective. It doesn’t matter if their reasoning is deep or shallow; there is always some truth to be found in it.”

The woman in the veiled hat replied calmly, ignoring the downpour outside, “Continue.”

Chen Ke seemed accustomed to the tone of these Immortals and gave a wry smile. “What perspective could I possibly have? I’m just sharing some feelings. I was just planning to try my luck with the Sixth Prince next. If that doesn’t work out, then I guess I’ll have no choice but to go back to my hometown.”

The long-robed woman frowned. “The Sixth Prince committed a great crime. He’s in the Cold Palace and hasn’t even established his own mansion. If you want to pledge allegiance to him, you can only go to the Wang Family. You didn’t know that?”

Chen Ke froze for a moment. “I haven’t been in the Capital City for long, so I really didn’t know. Thank you for telling me, Immortal Sister.”

With that, he ignored the heavy rain and, with a sliver of hope, ran off in the direction of the Wang Family’s residence.

“Why would anyone go to pledge allegiance to the Sixth Prince?”

The long-robed woman watched his retreating back, completely baffled.

The woman in the veiled hat pondered for a moment. “If that scholar hadn’t mentioned it, even I would have overlooked it. The Sixth Prince is not yet dead, and he’s quite safe in the Cold Palace. If he can survive these next thirty years, he might just become an unexpected candidate.”

Hearing this, the long-robed woman looked shocked, her expression turning sour. “Sect Master, a single clay figurine for channeling incense offerings in the Imperial Capital costs a whole bag of Red Gold Divine Copper! You could buy three mountains with that! The Divine Copper forged by the Great Yan Court for Cultivators is divided into Cyan Gold, Purple Gold, and Red Gold. How much do we have in total? Are we really going to invest in that Sixth Prince? In thirty years, it’ll be too late for anything!”

The woman in the veiled hat glanced at the pouring rain and said calmly, “There’s no rush. Let’s observe for a while longer. Things might change again.”

…

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