“Have you heard? There’s a beauty among this year’s examinees!”
“A beauty? How pretty are we talking? Prettier than the campus belles of our Academy?”
Two senior students were idly chatting and exchanging gossip. The latter didn’t take it seriously at first. After all, the Great Zhou Imperial Academy was the academic heart of the Great Zhou.
Any cultivator who had achieved success in cultivation, or an official or merchant who had built a great career, would go out of their way to associate themselves with the Academy, as a symbol of prestige. Nobles and officials alike squeezed their heads just to get their sons and daughters into this place.
It could be said that almost all the scions of the upper class were enrolled here. These cultivators, officials, and merchants might not be particularly good-looking themselves, but thanks to their wealth and influence, it was easy for them to marry beautiful wives. Naturally, their children inherited good looks as well.
For instance, the daughter of the Mighty Grand General, Li Changyue; Princess Huailing, daughter of Prince Gong; and Nan Jin, the granddaughter of the Grand Academician of the Inner Cabinet—all of them were stunning beauties, each with their own charm, and short of countless pursuers.
“They can’t even compare!” the other senior suddenly got excited, regretting that his words couldn’t capture that girl’s brilliance.
“You haven’t seen the new girl yet. She’s a beauty rarely seen in all the world. One look at her, and she’ll haunt your dreams forever.”
“Hey, hey, hold up. She hasn’t even passed the entrance exam yet. How come she’s your junior already?”
“She’s definitely going to pass! If she doesn’t, I’ll help her cheat!”
The first senior gave him a glare.
“Do you even know how strict our Academy exams are? Cheat? You’re practically asking for death. The Vice Dean personally supervises the examinations, and the Dean himself grades the papers. What ability do you have to cheat? With your mere Eighth Layer of Qi Refining cultivation?”
Being at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining and still managing to enroll in the top Academy of the Imperial Dynasty—that was already unthinkable in other dynasties. In their view, “Qi Refining cultivators dare call themselves students here?” The Great Zhou Imperial Academy was vastly different from academies in other empires.
The Great Zhou valued Law over force; it did not prize battle strength among cultivators. As a result, its academic atmosphere was strong, and the entrance exams focused not on cultivation base, but on one’s memory and comprehension of books. Memory depended on Divine Sense—the stronger one’s Divine Sense, the sharper one’s memory.
Cultivators only began to awaken Divine Sense at the Nascent Soul Stage, and it wasn’t until the mid–late Nascent Soul Stage that they could temper it properly. Yet the Academy only accepted students under twenty-five years old. If anyone could actually reach mid–late Nascent Soul Stage before twenty-five, the Great Zhou Imperial Academy wouldn’t even suggest they apply.
They’d advise them to go join the Dao Sect and become a Dao Sect Walker instead. However, the first senior, intrigued by his friend’s excited tone, asked, “So, what’s this beauty’s name?”
“Jiang Jingxin.”
Passing by and overhearing this, Jiang Li paused mid-step. That name… sounded suspiciously outrageous.
“You mean,” Jiang Li asked suddenly, “her hair flows softly down her back like silk, her brows are delicate as willow leaves, her eyes as clear as spring water, her skin smooth like jade… so beautiful she feels unreal, and once you’ve seen her, you can’t sleep for days?”
The senior blinked, as if enlightenment had dawned. Yes—that was exactly what his friend had tried to say!
“Yes! Exactly! Finally someone understands! That’s the kind of beauty I’m talking about.”
The excited senior grew wary a moment later. Wait a minute—had he just invited another rival in love?
“Look—is that her?”
Following his friend’s gaze, he saw a seemingly ordinary-looking man standing beside that unforgettable beauty. The two were speaking intimately, almost as if they shared a close relationship. Jiang Li looked at the Holy Maiden Jing Xin before him, who had not even changed her face, and was genuinely surprised.
“Human Emperor Jiang! I didn’t expect to meet you here—it must be fate!”
Holy Maiden Jing Xin’s face lit up with delight. Because of recent incidents in her sect, she had been in low spirits. To relax, she thought she might as well visit the place where Jiang Li had once studied.
She hadn’t expected to run into him directly—what an unexpected joy this was! Jiang Li always altered his appearance slightly when traveling, to avoid recognition. His fame was too great—there were statues of him across the entire Nine Provinces.
But the Holy Maiden Jing Xin had only descended from her Red Dust Pure Land a few centuries ago to train for a few years. Since then, she had rarely left that sacred ground, and few alive could recognize her. She could afford to show her true face without fear.
“So you’re Jiang Jingxin?”
Jiang Li frowned slightly. That name sounded strange to his ears.
“Mmm.”
Holy Maiden Jing Xin softly answered, her cheeks tinged pink. Of course the name carried a private meaning… but who could have predicted that she would meet Jiang Li here of all places?
How embarrassing!
“What’s your name now?”
Holy Maiden Jing Xin asked quietly, certain that Jiang Li wouldn’t be using his real one.
“Kong Li. The ‘Kong’ from Kong Rong—the one who let his brothers take the pears first.”
She didn’t understand the latter half, but at least she got his name—Kong Li. Thinking herself wise, so as not to dampen the mood or appear foolish before the man she admired, she didn’t ask what that last phrase meant.
“You’re taking the entrance exam too?”
Jiang Li found it hard to grasp why she was here. What could the Great Zhou Imperial Academy possibly teach that a Holy Maiden of the Red Dust Pure Land needed to learn? Even if there were something worth studying, surely she didn’t need to disguise herself as a student.
Holy Maiden Jing Xin only smiled, looking at the fellow examinee before her. She said nothing. Jiang Li coughed lightly.
“A revisit to my childhood days, that’s all. Revisiting old memories.”
“I recall you entered the Academy when you were twenty. Quite a long childhood you have there, classmate Kong Li.”
He didn’t know how she knew his exact age at admission, but being called out so bluntly left him feeling a little embarrassed. Jing Xin chuckled softly, then stopped teasing.
“Since we’re both taking the exam, how about a little competition? Let’s see who ranks first.”
Jiang Li grew interested.
“That sounds good. Let’s add a wager—whoever loses must grant one request to the winner.”
The two clapped hands in agreement, a gesture that made the watching seniors gnash their teeth in envy.
“By the way, has the Red Dust Fairy awakened yet?”
It had been more than two months; she should have recovered by now.
“She’s awakened a few times,” Jing Xin replied, “and stays awake longer each time, but still sleeps more than she’s up. After waking, she rarely speaks—she just walks around the Pure Land, spending most of her time beneath the Immortal Peach Tree.”
“It seems the Red Dust Fairy’s condition is still unstable,” Jiang Li said.
“I’ve already spoken with the Dream River Emperor and Emperor Wei, told them to keep their mouths shut. You all must keep this matter secret too. If word leaks, those old fellows who once met the Red Dust Fairy might charge straight into the Pure Land.”
“I understand,” Jing Xin nodded.
“But if the Ancestor truly wants to leave, we wouldn’t be able to stop her.”
The two continued chatting casually as they strolled away, leaving the envious seniors glaring after them—and from that envy, killing intent was born.
“Should we kill that guy?”
“I’ll hire an assassin from the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion!”
“I don’t have money.”
“Neither do I.” “…Forget it then.”
“Mm.”
And so, just like that, an overwhelming disaster meant for the Heavenly Slaughter Pavilion was quietly averted by two broke students’ casual exchange.
(End of Chapter)