lcionline Chapter 536 The End of the Newborn Period
Chapter 536 The End of the Newborn Period
The Jixia Academy gathered all the knowledge in the world, the strengths of all schools of thought, and a gathering of talents to discuss the Dao.
The outer mountain palace complex served as the daily area for the Master to teach and for students to interact.
The inner mountain cave is the residence of formal students, and the mountain is also home to all kinds of strange birds and beasts.
The Time Tower, the academy's undisputed sacred place for cultivation, reverses time and preserves the silhouettes of bygone years.
The Eight Wonders Gate allows one to witness the profound wisdom and wisdom of the ancient sages, as if gathering stars or drinking from a long river, and to appreciate the wonders of the past in a moment.
Sitting in the temple, discussing the Dao with classmates and teachers, their words flowed like the wind in the pines, their thoughts like the clouds, and in the midst of laughter and conversation, they suddenly grasped the true meaning of the various schools of thought.
From the outer mountain, the inner mountain, the Time Tower... now they have arrived at the Eight Wonders Gate. Rong Shu stood in front of a row of cloud steps, looking up at the sky-reaching ladder that seemed to have no end.
This place is the Eight Wonders Gate.
At the foot of the mountain lies the first gate.
"Has anyone been to the upper levels?" Rong Shu turned to ask the others.
When Rong Shu first entered the academy, he had visited the Eight Wonders Gate, but he had only lingered at the foot of the mountain and had not yet had a chance to go up.
Some shook their heads, while others nodded.
“Amitabha, this humble monk has been to the fifth cloud staircase…” Mingyu clasped his hands together, his voice carrying a Buddhist chant as he slowly spoke: “Apart from the first two cloud staircases, which students can use at will, the subsequent cloud staircases will move according to one’s will each time one ascends the heavenly staircase; there is a predetermined order in the universe…”
"Little monk, speak like a human being!" Yin Zhaoshui raised his hand and tapped Mingyu's bald head.
Mingyu scratched her head and said in plain language, "It means that every time someone goes up, they will randomly enter a certain cloud staircase."
"Can't you choose for yourself?"
"No."
"If you use swordsmanship while ascending the Cloud Steps, you are very likely to see the lingering spirits of powerful sword cultivators from the past. Similarly, if you use saber techniques, you are even more likely to see the lingering spirits of powerful saber cultivators..."
Duan Yuyan added: "This also increases the possibility. It's purely a matter of luck. If you are destined, you will encounter the 'opportunity' you desire in the Eight Wonders Gate. If you don't see it, it means you are not destined to meet, or the time is not right."
"There are many secluded meditation rooms at the foot of the mountain of Baqimen. Everyone, go and choose one."
Xing Xue was the first to turn around and open a secluded training room.
"Senior Sister Xingxue, wait for me, I'm coming too~" Lu Zhuo followed closely behind.
The remaining members of Ziguiyuan also chose to enter the Eight Wonders Gate or go to the secluded meditation room, depending on their own circumstances.
“You are…” Rong Shu glanced at a female student dressed in drab gray, who would be easily overlooked in a crowd, and waved to her.
Upon hearing that she was being called, the female student lightly touched the ground with her toes and floated over like the wind: "Boss, you were looking for me?"
Rong Shu remained expressionless, recalling the female student's unintentional display of movement. If she hadn't watched the person float over, she probably wouldn't have been able to even catch a glimpse of her.
"I remember... you're a disciple of the 'Mysterious Hands Empty Hollow Sect,' a fourth-tier power? Your name is..."
“Call me Li Ye!” Li Ye patted his chest: “Li as in dawn, Ye as in coming and going in a hurry.”
Rong Shu: "If you have nothing else to do, keep an eye on what's happening over in the inner mountains."
Li Ye: "No problem, boss!"
Rong Shu opened her mouth, wanting to say that she didn't have to be called "boss," but all the new students in Ziguiyuan seemed to have accepted her status as "boss."
...Ugh, it makes her sound like some kind of gangster or underworld figure.
Heaven and earth conscience.
She is kind, upright, and has impeccable moral character, okay?
"Be careful. In these extraordinary times, you can change your student pass first."
"Don't worry, boss, I know this stuff!" As if by magic, Li Ye produced a bunch of tokens that looked exactly like student tokens in his hand.
The only difference between those tokens was the color of the tassels. Some had blue tassels representing senior students, some had yellow tassels representing teachers, and some had gray tassels representing servants... They even dared to disguise themselves as red tassels representing members of the Dragon and Tiger List.
Suddenly, Rong Shu's gaze towards Li Ye was filled with admiration.
Rumor has it that nine out of ten disciples of the Empty Hands Sect are tightrope walkers, always looking for trouble, and the last one is buried... oh, because he had too many enemies and rivals, he's now sleeping soundly in the ground forever.
Disciples of the Empty Hands Sect often can't resist engaging in petty theft. If you steal something, fine, you're good at stealing. But after stealing, they still have to make provocative remarks, or after ten days or half a month, they return the stolen items intact.
If it happens too often, it just makes you look incredibly stupid and irritating.
"Alright... then go ahead." Rong Shu subtly moved a few steps away from Li Ye to avoid Li Ye stealing his belongings if he wasn't careful.
The "Peace and Safety Every Year" longevity lock that Rong Shu is wearing around her neck, the heart-protecting bell on her wrist, the storage bag at her waist, and the white cloth tiger that her second senior sister sewed by hand... were all gifts from her senior brothers and sisters.
Rong Shu treasured everything.
After Li Ye left, Rong Shu stared at the cloud steps of the Eight Wonders Gate for a while.
"Should I go up...? Never mind, I need to find some time to 'digest' all the opportunities I gained from the Time Tower..."
In the end, Feng Qianli, Si Chenbi, and Duan Yuyan decided to try their luck at the Eight Wonders Gate.
Rong Shu, Lu Zhuo, and Xing Xue each opened three secluded cultivation rooms and devoted themselves to seclusion for a period of time.
……
Spring goes and autumn comes, time flows on.
Li hid in Baqimen for almost two years, during which time he went to Neishan to inquire no less than ten times.
After confirming that the turmoil on Uchiyama's side had subsided and that no one seemed likely to cause trouble, the students of Shiguiyuan gradually resumed their normal academy training life.
Rong Shu balanced her time in seclusion with her time spent attending classes, following the daily schedule.
The Jixia Academy was a vibrant place with a wide variety of courses. Rong Shu, with only one head and two legs, couldn't possibly listen to everything, so he had to choose the courses that interested him most.
Formations, weapon crafting, elixirs, beast taming, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, mechanical puppetry, body tempering... Rong Shu didn't let go of anything he could learn.
Having witnessed countless snapshots of time in the Time Tower, Rong Shu was eager to transform what she had seen and learned there into her own strength.
Swords, spears, halberds, bows, whips, axes, hammers... Rong Shu didn't miss out on any of the strange and unusual weapons.
Duan Yuyan was completely bewildered by Rong Shu's posture. "Rong Shu, you've learned so much? Can you even manage it? Isn't it supposed to be using a knife?"
"A sword? I've already learned the most powerful swordsmanship in the world, but I'd like to see other weapons." Rong Shu shrugged.
After all, the world is so big and full of wonders.
Each opponent they face will not only use swords and sabers. For example, the members of the True Martial Alliance are proficient in all eighteen kinds of weapons.
She needs to know herself and her enemy, and learn more about the uses and moves of other weapons so that she can be more at ease and deal with them more calmly next time she encounters an opponent like Leng Tieyi.
Time flies, flowers bloom and fade.
After finishing the last lesson at the Cuckoo Garden, the teacher announced loudly to Rong Shu and his students: "From tomorrow onwards, you will no longer be freshmen; the sixty-year freshman period has ended..."
"Starting tomorrow, for ten days, will be your final assessment, with five members of this year's Millennium Dragon and Tiger Ranking serving as your examiners."
"You must exert all your strength in order not to let down the sixty years of dedicated cultivation."
After the Master finished speaking, the five members of the Dragon and Tiger List, including Yun Shu, made their appearance.
Yun Shu still had a smile on her lips and waved her hand in a very friendly manner: "Hello, fellow junior brothers and sisters, it's nice to see you again."
But that ambiguous smile made everyone in Ziguiyuan feel a chill run down their spines.
No way……
Will it be like the newborn ceremony from sixty years ago?