Chapter 88 – A Morning in Luoying City

At the street corner, a city patrol guard struck his halberd against the ground and chanted a spell. A stone slab sank downward, and a crystal tower rose in its place. He pressed the portraits in his hand against it, and the names and likenesses of several individuals appeared on the crystal tower.

“Someone’s going to be put on a wanted notice?”

“What did they do?”

“Pursuit of suspects?”

Curious passersby gathered around to point and discuss. “Daring to cause trouble in Luoying City — aren’t they just asking to die right at the prison gates?”

These crystal towers were also called Guardian Towers. They held records of every person who had entered the city, and once someone was designated a wanted target, anyone who passed within the tower’s protective range would be attacked.

There were two hundred and seventeen such towers in total, stationed at every key checkpoint in Luoying City, covering the entire city within their reach.

At this moment, all two hundred and seventeen towers received the wanted order and began autonomously scanning.

The Sour-faced Cultivator looked up and recognized the likenesses on the tower — his heart sank. Just then, an invisible beam of light swept across his body, and the nearest Guardian Tower suddenly blazed with a red glow as a piercing shriek rang out.

City patrol guards who heard the alarm immediately came rushing over. “There, give chase!”

“You ahead, stop and cooperate with the investigation, or we will use forceful measures!”

Alarms went off at several other locations as well. On this beautiful morning, the whole city was thrown into chaos.

Zhan Changfeng marveled at the law enforcement methods here, circling one of the Guardian Towers several times. A combination of mechanical devices and spell restrictions — she really wanted to take it apart and have a look.

She tore her gaze away with a touch of reluctance, and before long she was drawn in again by the many unfamiliar sights along the street — strangely shaped fruits, energy-rich meats, spirit tools of vastly different functions, and the occasional burst of an unfamiliar language.

Speaking of language — at first she had found it strange that she could sometimes understand what people were saying and sometimes could not.

After spending two days here, she finally understood. In Cangyun Ravine, apart from the various regional dialects, there was a unified tongue called Cloud Speech. And even more widespread than Cloud Speech was Spirit Speech.

Spirit Speech was actually a type of mental cultivation method. The most basic level of Spirit Speech ensured communication within one’s own race, while full mastery of Spirit Speech was far more powerful — once one fully comprehended it, any intelligent living being could be conversed with.

In Cangyun Ravine, basic Spirit Speech was no secret. Anyone with a cultivation base could go to a community school to learn it.

The reason she could understand what people were saying was likely because they were using Spirit Speech.

In addition, community schools were the foundational place of cultivation for practitioners, and the Six Academies recruited directly by selecting from community school students.

Zhan Changfeng had arrived in Cangyun Ravine in mid-August. Between entering closed-door cultivation for a breakthrough, treating her dantian, and studying thunder arts, another eight months had passed — meaning the Six Academies’ recruitment was now less than a year away.

As the true highest authority in Cangyun Ravine, the Six Academies possessed enormous resources and connections, and they were the only path to reaching the upper world.

On one hand, Zhan Changfeng needed to continue keeping the Gongsun Clan in check to ensure her own safety; on the other hand, she needed to seek greater power. The Six Academies had thus become an important option.

Therefore, enrolling in a community school was now a necessary step.

There were quite a few community schools in Luoying City. She compared them one by one and settled on Qingbai Mountain Community School, which had the richest collection of texts.

There were many rules for entering a community school. First, one had to be at least three years old but no older than thirteen. Then, during the school’s enrollment period, one would register and choose a master under whom they wished to cultivate, wait for the master to meet with them and accept them, pay the tuition, and formally become a member of the school.

Qingbai Mountain Community School generally held enrollment in July, which was still three or four months away.

However, the rules differed depending on circumstances. Apart from the standard process, there were two other methods: guest enrollment and side-student enrollment, neither of which had age or aptitude requirements.

As mentioned before, the Six Academies selected candidates from community schools, so some clan disciples, wandering cultivators, and commoners would register their names at a community school before the Six Academies’ selection in order to be eligible. This was called guest enrollment.

Side-student enrollment, on the other hand, meant paying a large sum to attend lectures and study at the community school, but without being the disciple of any master — one could listen, yet the master was not obligated to personally instruct them.

The tuition for side-students was several times that of regular students.

Zhan Changfeng had no worries about being unable to pay tuition. On the contrary, she felt that side-student enrollment suited her very well — she could learn new knowledge here without anyone overseeing her.

Having made her decision, Zhan Changfeng sent a formal letter of application to Qingbai Mountain. While awaiting a response, she stayed at an inn, and in the intervals between cultivation she would walk around and observe, recording her impressions into a journal.

Ever since she had learned of the existence of the wondrous Recording Stone, Zhan Changfeng had grown very fond of it. She would use it at any time and place to capture interesting sights, then review and contemplate them at leisure. Images were always more vivid than words.

That day, she crouched in front of a street stall watching a seed sprout and break through the earth within mere breaths, a shoot unfurling into a stem, then leaves, then a bloom.

And within a few more breaths, the petals fell away and the stem and leaves withered.

Zhan Changfeng was captivated by its fleeting splendor. “What is it called?”

The stall keeper introduced it: “This flower is called Eternity.”

“A fleeting eternity?”

“Yes and no.” The stall keeper was an old woman wearing a hooded cloak, her hands tucked into her sleeves, leaning against the wall in the bitter chill of early spring, her body hunched over. Yet her expression was utterly serene — like amber hidden among pebbles beneath clear, flowing water, or like the flowers and plants before her, growing with quiet tenacity and calm.

“You only saw its fleeting splendor, but you cannot see that its seed has lain beneath the earth for a thousand years. And in a thousand-year cycle, it will bloom again a thousand years from now.”

Zhan Changfeng’s expression softened somewhat. “So that is how it is.”

The old woman smiled and picked the seed out from the flower pot, placed it into a small sachet, and held it out toward her. “It has been on this stall with me for a very, very long time, and has seen countless travelers pass by. Yet it chose to bloom precisely as you looked upon it — what a truly wondrous thing, fate. Consider it a gift.”

Seeing that the old woman was sincere, Zhan Changfeng did not refuse. “My name is Zhan Changfeng. Thank you, Grandmother, for the gift of this flower.”

“But how should I care for it?”

“Heaven-born, earth-nurtured, ever as before — in one moment, through eternity, the flower blooms on its own.”

Zhan Changfeng listened, nodded in acknowledgment, then picked out a pot of orchids from the stall. “I am lacking greenery, and an orchid would be just right. Would you sell this to me?”

Even though she liked the seed, it was a very faint liking — yet it was precisely this faint liking that led her to accept the old woman’s gift.

She could not leave without giving something in return.

The old woman understood and nodded benevolently.

“I will take good care of it. And even if I am too occupied to tend to it, I will find someone who can.”

She was referring to the pot of orchids.

The old woman brightened further. “I believe you.”

Zhan Changfeng paid, and walked off holding the flower pot, the orchid in her arms spreading its leaves wide, buds already beginning to peek out.

She had been on her way back to the inn when she encountered a city patrol guard looking for her along the road, and so she went to the Bureau of Patrol instead.

The people from the Gongsun Clan had proven to be remarkably skilled at fleeing. After several days of pursuit, only one had been caught — and this person refused to say a word.

So the Bureau of Patrol wanted her to come and confront the suspect in court.

The one who had been caught was called Hushi. He insisted with absolute certainty that he did not know Zhan Changfeng and had never been to the stone chamber.

There was really nothing much to say about that. The man had come to ambush her, so naturally any traces would have been carefully erased to prevent discovery, and when Zhan Changfeng had killed his companions, she had cleaned things up even more thoroughly.

As a result, the Bureau of Patrol could not find concrete evidence to determine exactly how many people had gone to carry out the assassination that day. But they were inclined to believe what Zhan Changfeng said — after all, she had only just arrived in Cangyun Ravine, so she could not have drawn their likenesses out of thin air.

On top of that, a Gongsun Clan token had been found on Hushi’s person, making the case nearly settled.

Hushi’s eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Zhan Changfeng with bared teeth, looking as though he could tear her apart. “Members of the Gongsun Clan do not fear death! Blood debts must be repaid in blood!”

Zhan Changfeng was cold and unmoved. “Then come ahead.”

Zhang Rusong waved a hand to have Hushi taken away. One side nursing a grudge over a destroyed clan, the other over a ruined nation — sooner or later, something major was going to come of this.

The author has gone off to reorganize the outline. For the time being, the pre-written chapters will be here to keep you company — feel free to poke and tease them as you like.

(End of Chapter)