Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-7

After the incense burnt out, a gong was hit to inform the students that this round of testing was finished. Chen Chang Sheng walked out of the testing building with the rest of the students and didn’t care about the people who gave him weird looks. He followed the instructions and walked to the back of the lake where the results were given. He waited patiently for dusk and the final testing result.

Many others stayed in the building and checked answers with each other. They talked to each other about their opinions of the test. After Chen Chang Sheng arrived at the lake, the rocky plain was still very quiet. Only the blue shirt youngster from before stood there. Chen Chang Sheng thought that geniuses were always proud and lonely. As a result he didn’t walk up to him. However, out of his expectations, the youngster walked towards him.

“My name is Tang Thirty-Six.” the blue shirt youngster said.

Chen Chang Sheng was surprised. He didn’t expect that the youngster would take the initiative to speak to him. He organized his attire and answered politely, “My last name is Chen, Chen Chang Sheng.”

Tang Thirty-Six was startled for a second. He didn’t expect that the youngster’s name would be so unsophisticated. Even rich people from the rural areas wouldn’t give such a name to their son. After a moment of silence he said, “Your name is simple. I couldn’t say it’s bad.”

(Again Chen is the family name and Chang Sheng means to live long so his name in the US would just be Chang Sheng well people call out to him.)

Chen Chang Sheng thought that Tang Thirty Six spoke quite boldly, but his name was also weird.

“My name is Chen Chang Sheng…..because I was very sick when I was young and my Master wanted me to live to be a hundred years old. What about you? Why are you named Tang Thirty Six? Is it because you are the thirty sixth child in your family? Why do you have so many family members? Where are you from? Wouldn’t it be noisy to have so many siblings when you are studying?”

Tang Thirty Six was stunned.

Asking the meaning and origin of one’s name in front of the person wasn’t something polite. In addition, Tang Thirty Six had a serious face that wasn’t exactly friendly to strangers. The people who didn’t know the meaning of his name wouldn’t dare to ask in front of him no matter how curious they were. But he didn’t expect that this youngster would just ask the question so casually.

But what Chen Chang Sheng thought was very simple. Since he’s living in a city where he doesn’t know anyone, he should give back friendliness to the genius who was willing to talk to him. At least he should actively chat with him and talk about something.

Chen Chang Sheng had lived with his Master and senior brother since he was young. Master didn’t speak much and senior didn’t speak. Because of the environment he grew up in, he had no idea how to chat regularly. Even when he did so with good intentions, it was easy to create misunderstanding, just like what happened at the Divine General’s Estate yesterday. (No common sense?)

But the interesting thing is that Tang Thirty Six wasn’t offended or angered by it. Rather, he thought Chen Chang Sheng as very honest and real. Tang Thirty Six had always wanted to be a “real” person his whole life, but people he encountered are always lying and fake. The sudden encounter of Chen Chang Sheng was rather satisfying.

“I have a lot of relatives from the same generation in my clan, but when we study we always study at our own respective homes. Because of this it isn’t noisy at all. My name is Tang Thirty Six not because I’m the thirty sixth child in my family, but because when I entered the Proclamation of Azure Clouds for the first time last year when I was fifteen years old, I was the thirty sixth on the list. I was embarrassed by my placement. Especially when I am compared to that woman and that wolf. To remind myself of my weakness i changed my name to Tang Thirty Six. Yep, I think I answered all the questions.”

This conversation was the first Chen Chang Sheng has had since leaving Xi Ning Village and arriving at the Capital. The conversation was also the first for Tang Thirty Six after he left Wen Shui and arrived at the Capital. At that instant Chen Chang Sheng was fourteen years old while Tang Thirty Six was going to be sixteen years old. They were inexperienced in many fields and their conversational skills were lacking as well. But the funny thing is that this conversation will prove to be one of the most important conversations that will occur in history. Or it could said that it was the most successful and important chat after the vow taken by Emperor Taizong and the Demon Lord.

“How many questions did you answer on the test?”

Tang Thirty Six asked. He was interested because he felt that Chen Chang Sheng was an ordinary person but he felt that he was special at the same time. When he saw Chen Chang Sheng’s pale face, he realized that his question was inappropriate. Even a genius like himself struggled in the sea of test questions. It was clear that Chen Chang Sheng had used all of his mental strength. Speaking from this situation then, Chen Chang Sheng’s result shouldn’t be good.

“I couldn’t answer some questions in the field of cultivation like divine sense, True Essence, and other things…..”

Chen Chang Sheng answered honestly and felt lucky. From a young age he has been reading the Scriptures of The Way so the seemingly difficult concept and detailed questions were rather easy to him. But because he didn’t cultivate, he didn’t know how to answer those questions. Good thing that this was an entrance exam because the questions tested on cultivation wasn’t the main focus.

Tang Thirty Six felt strange. The only questions he couldn’t answer were the cultivation related ones. Is he saying that he answered all of the other questions? At that instant he noticed that at the other side of the lake a teacher was holding a big stack of testing papers and ran quickly toward a building. The teacher seemed to be excited that he even almost tripped himself when going up the stairs. Tang Thirsty Six was stunned for a moment and thought back to Chen Chang Sheng’s answer. Is he really going to give everyone a big surprise?

“You answered….all of the rest?”

“I’m cannot speak too confidently. There are two versions of the Chanting of Ultimate Calmness. When the Orthodoxy was established, a new version was created and everyone used the newer version. However, the question asked for the time before the year of 1573, and I wasn’t sure which version to use. At last I answered with both versions. I hope the teacher won’t disapprove of it and deduct points off of my answer.”

After Tang Thirty Six heard Chen Chang Sheng’s response he was shocked. He remained silent for a while.

For that question he only knew one version and only answered with one version.

After a while, he looked at Chen Chang Sheng and said, “I always thought that a certain someone and I are the most arrogant in the younger generation, but I didn’t expect that you are more arrogant than us.”

Chen Chang Sheng was confused. How was he arrogant?

———————————————–

The result was finally out….

And Chen Chang Sheng’s name wasn’t on it!

Chen Chang Sheng stood under the list and was silent for a long time.

The crowd looked at him without mercy and showed a mocking attitude. If Tang Thirty Six didn’t stand beside him, a lot of insults would have been used by now.

“I don’t understand.” Chen Chang Sheng said.

Tang Thirty Six didn’t understood either. He believed Chen Chang Sheng’s statement of answering the questions. If he said he answered most of the questions, then he did answer most of the questions. Just from the score, even if he wasn’t on top of the list, he should’ve made it on the list.

Chen Chang Sheng found the teacher who was responsible for the stage of Sensory Stone and said, “I want to check my paper.”

The teacher was organizing his stuff and didn’t look at Chang Sheng’s calm and steady eyes, “Before you used legal ruling to obtain the permission for the entrance exam, but you should know that the testing papers of Heavenly Academy are not allowed to be rechecked. This represents respect to the academy. if you didn’t enter, then you didn’t enter.”

Chen Chang Sheng looked at him in silent for a long time before he turned around and left.

————————————————-

“Although he didn’t say anything, I know what he wanted to say. ……….. A youngster who is angry but speaks nothing of it is truly significant.” Tang Thirty Six watched as the youngster’s shadow disappeared at the other side of the lake. He turned around and mocked at someone “Heavenly Academy dares not to accept such a genius. No wonder why it’s famous and well respected.”

“You are only older than him by two years. It’s funny that you are calling him a youngster.”

The vice-principal of Heavenly Academy said, “But the more interesting part is, how do you know what he wanted to say?”

“He wanted to say ‘you will regret this…..’ The reason that I know this is because if I was treated like him, I will definitely mark my words.”

“Heavenly Academy will regret its decision to reject a normal student?”

“He is not a normal student. He is a genius like me.”

The vice-principal of Heavenly Academy fell silent and said, “I saw the testing paper of that youngster. Although he didn’t reach the Purification stage yet, he is already very knowledgeable. For sure he is a genius. He probably isn’t even far off from Wang Zhi Ce. If it was under normal circumstances, I would have definitely accepted him into the school and taught him myself. Except, not this time”

Tang Thirty Six looked at him and asked, “Why not?”

“Because someone said so.” The vice-principal answered.

“Who?”

“The Divine General’s Estate” (TL: F***ing son of a ****… idk but it pisses me off at least..)

“The continent’s strength pyramid consisted of: the lone Du Fu (Single Man), Five Saints, Eight Storms of the Cardinal Directions, and countless characters on the Proclamation of Liberation. Not mentioning the Demon lords, the thirty eight Divine Generals were obviously also powerful……. But why would a place like Heavenly Academy follow orders from a Divine General’s Estate?”

“Your father asked me to take care of you so I won’t hide this from you, but you can’t leak anything out….. Just a Divine General’s Estate wouldn’t affect Heavenly Academy, but that Divine General’s Estate is different. It’s the Divine General of the Eastern Decree’s Estate and the owner is named Xu Shi Ji.”

“Xu Shi Ji…. although he has the favor of the Divine Empress and is powerful himself he is still just a Divine General.”

“But he has a Phoenix in his house…..”

Tang Thirty Six’s coldness and pride on his face melted when he heard the word “Phoenix”. He was silent for a long time and mumbled, “………How did Chen Chang Sheng cause trouble with that Phoenix? Who is he?”

The vice-principal said calmly, “We couldn’t less who he is. All things aside, he is already fourteen years old. Even if he start to cultivate now, there are too many geniuses in this world. Even if he has good talent, what is he going to do? I compared him to Wang Zhi Ce previously, but if he really has Wang Zhi Ce’s perseverance and luck, then does it really matter if he got accepted into Heavenly Academy or not? All he needs to do is to work hard and he can be the best.”

————————————–

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t know that he got rejected because of the Divine General’s Estate. He thought he was kicked off the list because the son of a rich family in the Capital wanted his spot. Although he had just entered the regular world, he read about many shady business in the literatures. What else can he do besides keeping silent right now?

As he left Heavenly Academy and walked towards the second school, he still didn’t notice that a carriage was following him from afar. On that carriage was an emblem of Blood Phoenix faintly expressed its unquestionable presence.