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Chapter 704: The Start of the Entrance Examination
Translator: StarveCleric  Editor: Millman97
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However, the content of the book was completely nonsensical. Each line didn't follow from the previous line, making it impossible to comprehend at all. Just the sight of it left Zhang Xuan's eyes spinning.

"It seems like… I am underestimating the difficulty of this matter…"

Swiftly flipping through the book, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly and tossed it to the ground.

These two books were perfect on their own, and while it was possible to combine the books together, it only ended up introducing many flaws into the technique, making it impossible to cultivate at all.

To make an analogy, it was like mashing abalone, durian, loquat, watermelon, milk, chicken, salmon, and many other ingredients together… They were delicacies on their own, but when mixed together, the only logical decision one could make was to toss the entire pot away.

'It seems that while the Library of Heaven's Path can compile battle techniques to form a perfected manual, it is incapable of fusing perfected manuals together…'

Zhang Xuan shook his head in disappointment. A moment later, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, and determination surfaced in his gaze. 'But while the Library of Heaven's Path isn't able to fuse the two manuals together, it should be possible for me to attempt it manually.'

The Library of Heaven's Path could sieve out the correct portion of a manual and combine them with many others to form a perfect manual, similar to how a cook sieves a bucket of flour to whip up the best noodles. Putting two perfected manuals together would be no different from mixing two different types of flour together. Given the differing nature of the flours, if one didn't have anything to bridge the differences, it was inevitable that the quality of the noodles would drop.

It was the same in the case of Heaven's Path Movement Art and Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps. One was a flight movement technique whereas the other one was a land movement technique. With a fundamental difference between them, the result of the compilation of the two was bound to be plagued with problems.

But… while the Library of Heaven's Path was incapable of bridging the difference, it didn't mean that Zhang Xuan was unable to do so!

Despite the differences, they were still movement techniques. If Zhang Xuan were to succeed in compiling the two together, he would be able to enhance his flight speed significantly.

With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up in excitement.

'I should give try executing the Heaven's Path Movement Art in midair…'

A surge of hot blood gushed to Zhang Xuan's head, and without any hesitation, he took in a deep breath and leaped to the sky. While floating in the sky, he attempted to execute the Heaven's Path Movement Art to advance forward.

Putong!

But before he could execute the Heaven's Path Movement Art, the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Step which was holding him up in midair suddenly stopped operating, and his body suddenly plummeted down. With a dull thud, he crashed back onto to earth, creating a huge depression in the ground upon impact.

'This isn't right…'

With a face cloaked with dust, Zhang Xuan's complexion darkened.

He'd thought that this should be a simple feat, but reality couldn't be any further from his expectations.

Given the might of his soul, multitasking wasn't a problem for him anymore. However, both techniques required one's zhenqi to pass through the same meridians, and attempting to execute both simultaneously would result in a clash of zhenqi, thus canceling one another out.

And the result? A tragic fall from the sky.

It seemed like fusing battle techniques together was not as easy as he'd thought.

But thinking about it, if it was that easy to fuse battle techniques together, there wouldn't be a need for such thorough classifications within every class of battle technique.

'Or maybe I should try executing the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps in the midst of Heaven's Path Movement Art instead…'

Zhang Xuan didn't give up right after that failure. Instead, he contemplated for a moment before trying it once more.

Previously, he had executed the Heaven's Path Movement Art in the midst of his Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps. Perhaps, if he were to swap the order… he might be able to succeed.

While Zhang Xuan was busy trying to put both his battle techniques together, outside the room, Sun Qiang walked up to Zheng Yang, who was in the midst of practicing his spear art, and asked, "Where is the young master?"

"Teacher is currently in the midst of cultivating in seclusion, and he doesn't want anyone to interrupt him!" Retracting spear, Zheng Yang exhaled deeply, and a breath of white air drifted from his mouth.

In this period of time, while he had been trying to advance his cultivation, he hadn't slacked off on his battle technique training either. Under Zhang shi's guidance, his comprehension of spearmanship had deepened significantly, and the might of his spear art had also become much more formidable.

In terms of cultivation, he might not be a match for Wang Ying. However, in a true fight, he would surely be able to stand his ground against the latter.

"Seclusion?"

Sun Qiang scratched his head. "Alright. If Young Master comes out of seclusion, tell him that I have already found appropriate living quarters, and we can move in anytime!"

"You have already found new living quarters?" Retracting his spear, Zheng Yang's eyes lit up.

The Academic Sea was filled with master teachers, and even though Hong shi and the others hadn't said anything, they didn't feel comfortable living here.

"Yes, but it's not easy to find available residences in the vicinity of the Master Teacher Academy. I have found one with a small courtyard and a few rooms for the time being… I'm afraid that it'll be hard to find anything bigger than that. Even if we manage to find one, it is likely to cost an astronomical sum!" Sun Qiang said.

Countless young experts had gathered here to enroll in the Master Teacher Academy, and a significant proportion of them came from a wealthy background. Naturally, they would also attempt to find a lodging in the vicinity of the academy as well.

As a result, most of the residences in the area had been bought by them. As such, it was impossible to buy any even if they had the money. And even if that one happened to be free by chance, the prices would be driven to an astronomical sum by the great demand, thus making it impossible for them to acquire it.

After all… they were indeed rather poor at the moment.

"It's sufficient that we find a living quarter for the time being…"

Zheng Yang nodded.

"However, this isn't feasible in the long-term. We might be fine with living in such humble quarters, but what if the old master were to come and visit? How can we allow a noble 8-star master teacher live in such a small residence?"

Sun Qiang shook his head. "I think it will be better if I discuss with the young master to decide on what we should do about this matter…"

Sighing, Sun Qiang was just about to speak when a loud crashing sound echoed from the room ahead of them. It seemed like something had fallen heavily to the ground.

"Didn't you say that the young master is currently cultivating in seclusion? What is that sound then?"

Taken aback, Sun Qiang was just about to push the door open to find out what was going on when another dull thud sounded. The wall before them shook, and a head popped out from the wall.

"Teacher!"

"Young Master…"

Upon recognizing the face on said head, the duo was taken aback. However, before they could comprehend what was going on, 'sou!', the figure disappeared from their sight. Their respected young master and teacher suddenly flew backward abruptly and crashed into the opposite wall, creating a huge hole.

Peng peng peng peng!

Zhang Xuan went crashing all around like a rubber ball. Under the massive impact of his rapid movements, the fortified room suddenly collapsed inward.

Upon seeing this sight, Sun Qiang and Zheng Yang glanced at one another, and their lips twitched violently.

'Didn't you say that you were cultivating?

'Then what are you doing crashing into those walls?

'What kind of cultivation requires you to knock yourself into a wall? Look at your face, it is already immensely swollen…'

Hu!

Just as they were staring at the sight before them with their mouths agape, Zhang Xuan suddenly shot out from the room and crashed into a huge tree in the courtyard head first, leaving his legs twitching uncontrollably outside.

"Teacher…"

Finally recovering from the shock, Zheng Yang hurried over to pull Zhang Xuan out from the tree, only to see the latter's face livid with frustration. "Teacher…"

"Young Master, we are just poor! There's no need to lose hope in life over a money issue…"

Sun Qiang also ran up to talk some sense into Zhang Xuan out of goodwill.

"Cough cough!"

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan's face darkened further. He hurriedly waved his hands and said, "I'll be going out for a moment! Sun Qiang, go and look for Hong shi to pay for the damaged properties…"

Ignoring the bewildered duo, Zhang Xuan leaped into the sky, and the Great Violetwing Beast immediately flew over. Soaring through the night sky, they headed to the city walls.

Given the size of his room in the Academic Sea, if he were to continue training there, the entire place could possibly be destroyed before he could successfully put the two techniques together. Thus, he decided to venture out to find a larger area where he could train.

Not too long later, they arrived at a hill some distance away from Hongyuan City.

A bright moon hung in the sky, and a night breeze blew lightly. Birds and insects warbled harmoniously in the surroundings, creating a tranquil atmosphere.

'This is it!'

Crossing his legs, Zhang Xuan first recovered the zhenqi he had expended before turning his attention back to compiling his movement techniques.

Peng peng peng peng!

Very quickly, a loud thud, reminiscent of someone's head crashing into trees or boulders, accompanied with pained moans, echoed throughout the entire hill.

The incident would eventually grow to become a horror legend among the populace, as well as a tool for parents to warn children against venturing in the wilderness at night.

…

The next day…

"Is Zhang shi back yet?"

Hong shi paced around the room nervously.

When he'd heard the room collapse the previous night, he'd immediately rushed over. However, he'd only appeared in time to see Zhang shi disappearing in the horizon. He'd thought that the latter was only going out to cultivate for a moment, and he would be back very soon. Who could have known that he would be gone until now?

Today was the day of the Master Teacher Academy's entrance examination. If he were to miss it, he wouldn't be able to get into the academy!

"The young master left yesterday, and he isn't back yet…" Sun Qiang shook his head in confusion as well.

The young master had always been normal, so why did he suddenly go knocking his head on concrete yesterday as if suffering from a stroke?

Not only that, to actually stay out late after that… it couldn't be that he had given up on living!

Unable to stand it any longer, he turned to Zheng Yang and the others and asked, "Did any of you agitate Young Master last night?"

"We didn't…"

Zheng Yang and the others shook their heads, baffled by the situation before them as well. "Teacher only told us that he was going to cultivate in seclusion. We know nothing else other than that!"

They'd also been astonished when they'd heard that their teacher had gone around bashing his head into walls and trees last night, and this had left them deeply worried as well.

"What is going on…"

If he hadn't been provoked by anyone, why would the young master suddenly display such abnormal behavior? Sun Qiang fell into deep thought.

Just as he was wondering where he should go looking for the young master, the person-in-question suddenly returned cloaked in dust.

Judging from his appearance, it seemed like he had been rolling on the ground all night long instead of cultivating. If they didn't know better, they would probably have thrown him a few gold coins if they met him on the streets.

"Young master, you…"

Sun Qiang hurriedly rushed up in a ditz.

"I am fine!" Zhang Xuan shook his head. Turning to the elder standing behind him, he said, "Hong shi, let's go…"

"You are going to participate in the examination… in such a state?"

Seeing Zhang Xuan's state, Hong shi's lips twitched in shock.

'Other examinees would wash themselves thoroughly and don fresh clothes so as to leave a good impression with the invigilating teachers and elders.

'Yet, with an appearance that seems to suggest that you went out begging for alms last night, and your crimson eyes, a result of extreme fatigue… Are you sure you are ready for the examination?'

"It matters not!" Zhang Xuan waved his hands nonchalantly.

He had spent the entire night experimenting, and his zhenqi had been fully depleted five times. He had also crashed so much that he'd ended up a state of near death last night, and the result… was still a failure.

Putting two battle techniques together simply involved too many intricate details that made it impossible to refine swiftly.

Nevertheless, even though Zhang Xuan had yet to succeed, his control over the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps had grown significantly, allowing him to move at faster speeds. At the same time, his comprehension of battle techniques had also deepened from his trial and error, and this would serve him well in true battles.

However, it was a pity that his obstinacy in figuring out how to put the two battle techniques together last night had deprived him of the opportunity to cultivate the newly compiled Cosmos Bridge realm Heaven's Path Divine Art. As a result, he was still at Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle.

"Alright then, let's go…"

Hearing Zhang Xuan say that he was fine, and understanding how important the examination was, Hong shi immediately brought Zhang Xuan onto the aerial spirit beast prepared by the academy, and the duo quickly flew for Hongyuan Mountain Range's Leiyuan Peak.

Leiyuan Peak was only around two hundred kilometers away from the Academic Sea, so it didn't take them too long to arrive at their destination.

Nearly all of the freshmen had already arrived. From afar, the moving crowd resembled the waves of an ocean. It was truly an incredible sight.

"There is a higher number of freshmen taking the entrance examination this year, with the number at around thirty thousand. However, the academy is only accepting twenty thousand this year, so a third of the examinees will be eliminated!" Hong shi said with a suppressed voice.

"Eliminating a third of the freshmen?"

Zhang Xuan's lips twitched.

Considering that each of those present were the top elites of their respective regions, eliminating a third of them was truly fearsome. As expected of the Master Teacher Academy of a Tier 1 Empire!



Chapter 1099: Arranging a battle against his future father-in-law!
Translator: Legge  Editor: Legge

In the house.

The three of them were stunned by Zhang Ye's Go skill!

You won?

How did you manage to win?

Nowadays, Wu Changhe was admittedly no longer that commandeering Changhe 9-dan from 20 years ago. His Go skill had regressed and he was already way off from the peak of his prowess. Go might seem like it was a game that many middle-aged people and the elderly played. But in fact, the top players in the world were all young people. At least, there weren't many that were past the age of 40. However, if one used to be an elite player in the Go world, they would still be an elite player now. Even if their skills had regressed, it would still not be easy to beat them. They were still regarded to be at the professional level and definitely not just at the level of those who had recently turned professional. Even if Wu Changhe had underestimated his opponent by not being serious at the start, this should still not have happened! It still did not make any sense at all!

Giving a handicap of two stones?

And he still won?

For a professional Go player, this was as good as demolishing your opponent!

Because for a professional Go player, there shouldn't be talk about giving handicaps at all. Although there was a difference in each person's skill, the difference would never call for giving a two stone handicap. What was the difference indicated by two stones? That would probably be the difference between a high level amateur and a low level one, or the difference between a professional Go player and a high level amateur Go player!

Li Qinqin said in astonishment, "Little Zhang. Y-Your Go skills are so advanced?"

Wu Changhe angrily banged on the table and stood up. "How devious! You rascal, you're too devious! So you were only pretending this afternoon when we played each other? You were only trying to lower my defenses around you!"

Zhang Ye said, "In any case, I've won."

Wu Changhe said angrily, "What do you mean you won! If I had known you were at the level of a professional Go player, I would have played properly against you! I wasn't being serious at all just now!"

Zhang Ye spread his hands. "It's your problem that you were not serious. I still won anyhow."

"You despicable rascal!" Wu Changhe raged. "You did that on purpose! You must have done that on purpose! Moreover, do you know how many years it has been since I've dabbled in a handicap game? That was a sneak attack! A sneak attack!"

Zhang Ye rolled his eyes.

Wu Zeqing said with a laugh, "Dad, are you a sore loser now?"

Wu Changhe stared with eyes wide. "Me? A sore loser? Haha, what a joke! If I were to play him seriously, would I possibly lose? My daughter, you're looking down a little too much on your father! At just the mention of my name in the Go community, who wouldn't be afraid of me? If this rascal didn't pull a fast one on me, he wouldn't have won even if I gave him a handicap of five stones!"

Five stones?

Give me a handicap?

Hur hur!

Zhang Ye sneered!

Li Qinqin also rolled her eyes at her husband. "Alright, enough with your bragging."

"You think that I was bragging? Huh?" Wu Changhe said exasperatedly, "Look at this boyfriend that our daughter found. Haven't you seen? He's so devious! I will never approve of him! She can look for any other person, but she must never find a boyfriend like him! He has a questionable character. Let me say this again: His character is too questionable!"

Li Qinqin smacked her lips and said, "He played against you fair and square, and even gave you a handicap of two stones. What do you mean by he's devious? The way I see it, it's your skill that has dropped. You were not a match for him."

Wu Changhe was getting annoyed. "I wasn't playing seriously! If I had, he would surely have been scared to death!"

Wu Zeqing smiled. "Alright, alright, you weren't being serious just now." She pulled at Zhang Ye. "Let's go. Dad, Mom, we'll be leaving now."

Wu Changhe stopped them. He pointed at Zhang Ye and said, "What's the matter? Running away after you've resorted to dirty tricks? Don't run away if you are so good!"

Li Qinqin tugged at her husband. "That's enough."

Zhang Ye had wanted to leave with Old Wu, but when he heard that, he stopped in his tracks and turned around. "I won't leave then. If there's anything you're unhappy about with respect to the game, you can set the rules and I'll accept them."

Wu Changhe laughed furiously. "Alright, kid! You've got balls!"

Wu Zeqing pulled at him. "Little Ye."

Wu Changhe said, "Come on, let's battle it out!"

Zhang Ye said, "Let's do it!"

Wu Changhe said loudly, "Come on then!"

Zhang Ye said, "Alright!"

However, how could Li Qinqin and Wu Zeqing let them play against each other? These two were already on the verge of fighting. No matter who won, it would still cause a fallout. The two of them hurriedly tried to stop them!

Li Qinqin pulled her husband away and said, "You're a good player, alright? You're a really good player."

Wu Changhe fumed, "He couldn't beat me in the first place!"

Zhang Ye was now unhappy. "But I already did."

"That's because you resorted to dirty tricks!" Wu Changhe said angrily.

Wu Zeqing also held Zhang Ye back. She didn't know how to react and said, "Why are you trying to argue with my dad? Let's go already." She dragged Zhang Ye out to the courtyard.

In the end, the two of them continued to argue from either side of the door.

Wu Changhe shouted, "Get back here. Let's play another match!"

Zhang Ye rushed back into the house. "Alright, I'm up for it!"

"I'll give you a handicap of three stones this time!"

"No need! How 'bout I give you a handicap of four stones!"

"I'll give you a handicap of five stones!"

"I'll give you a handicap of six stones!"

"I'll give you a handicap of ten stones!"

"I'll give you a handicap of twenty stones!"

Eventually, the handicap went up to 200 stones!

The two of them started talking big. In Go, each player would have at most 181 stones to play, so how could they possibly give a handicap of 200 stones! They were basically just bragging to the skies!

Li Qinqin was floored. "You two are really something!"

Finally, Wu Zeqing managed to pull Zhang Ye away.

Just before he stepped out of the courtyard house, he heard Wu Changhe shout, "If you're that great, let's battle again tomorrow! I'll show you what Go is all about! Are you up for that?"

Zhang Ye turned around as he was being dragged off. "Sure, I'll be back tomorrow!"

Wu Changhe said, "You're a whelp if you don't show up!"

...

Outside.

In the alley.

Wu Zeqing's face was covered with sweat from pulling Zhang Ye away from the argument. She did not usually exercise much and did not have much strength either, so having to pull Zhang Ye out of the house took a big toll on her.

"Oh, you!" Wu Zeqing shook her head and smiled.

Zhang Ye harrumphed, "Old Wu, it's not that I'm not giving you face today. But if your dad wants to accuse me of having a questionable character, I won't take that lying down."

Wu Zeqing changed the topic. "Since when did you know how to play Go?'

Zhang Ye said, "I've always known how to."

"You can even beat my dad?" Wu Zeqing smiled and said, "Although, he really wasn't being serious today either. He started that game very casually and allowed you to gain an advantage. It was only because of that that you managed to narrowly beat him."

Zhang Ye said, "Even if your dad got serious, I still won't lose!"

Wu Zeqing said, "That would have to be under the condition of having no handicaps." She took his hand. "Let's go. We didn't even have a proper meal. When we get back, I'll cook for you. After that, let's play a round of Go as well."

"You can play too?"

"I've been playing ever since I was seven years old."

"How good are you?"

"So-so, I guess."

...

A short distance away in the house.

Li Qinqin started complaining to her husband, "Look at you. Why did you have to argue with the children?"

"It was him who started it first!" Wu Changhe sat down and took a sip of tea. He was still quite fired up from earlier. "How dare he pretend to be an amateur in front of me? He was too devious!"

Li Qinqin laughed and said, "I saw his skill just now too. Even if you had been serious and did not give him a handicap, you might not necessarily beat him. Zeqing's boyfriend this time is really something. He's just as legendary as they reported in the newspapers. He's such an astonishing person. I just wonder why his Go skill is so advanced. Logically, it's not something that can be practiced with just one or two years of play. As a celebrity, where does he find time to practice Go? But I heard that the mathematical conjecture proof that he proposed has almost been verified. He should be the greatest mathematician in the country now, and also a globally recognized world-class mathematician. With the interlinked relationship between Go and math 1  , it's still within reason that he can play so well. This Little Zhang is really such a marvel. It's no wonder that our Zeqing, who usually sets her sights really high, would like him. I heard that he also got into singing a while ago? I think he even became the champion? And he's already a superstar in the country? It seems like he's really good at everything."

Wu Changhe stared at her. "Did you get duped by him too? He's not good! Not even close!"

Li Qinqin said, "Alright, alright, he's not good. You're the best, hur hur."

This meeting today was truly too funny.

Thinking about it, Li Qinqin couldn't help but find it funny. How could there be such a huge coincidence in the world?