Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unnumbered]
Chapter Title: The Cloud Vanishes
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On this day, many people were craning their necks to gaze up at the sky.
The clouds over Xijing had lost one.
That cloud had loomed over Xijing for a full eight months, materializing from nothing, growing ever larger until it became a dark pall hanging over everyone's hearts, impossible to dispel.
When the cloud first appeared, the officialdom of Xijing was thrown into turmoil. The Chief Minister of the Grand Secretariat resigned, the Supervisor of the Imperial Seal stepped down, the Three Dukes—Grand Preceptor, Grand Tutor, and Grand Guardian—all resigned, the Left and Right Commanders of the Five Armies resigned, the Left and Right Pillars of State from civil and military branches resigned, the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief resigned, and more than half of the Ministers of the Six Ministries stepped down!
After that cloud arrived, quite a few people in Xijing indeed met their ends. Some resigned from office but still couldn't escape; they became guests in the clouds, vividly suspended in the sky dozens of miles away.
The people of Xijing lived in constant fear, each one desperate to find the culprit and hand them over to avoid implication. But they knew little of the events from eleven years ago. Under that pressure, they endured for eight long months.
Now, at last, the cloud was gone. Many breathed a deep sigh of relief.
The Director and Deputy Director of the Astronomical Bureau hurriedly ordered their Morning Officers, Doctors, and clerks to get to work, scouring for traces of where the cloud had gone.
Countless Heavenly Listeners grew even busier too. No matter where one looked up, one could spot several big-eared Heavenly Listeners flitting through the air. Outside Xijing's walls, many trees and grassy patches sprouted ears, even cliffsides sprouted ears large and small. Even the Venerable Kings and Lords among the Heavenly Listeners mobilized.
Some grand Primordial Spirits plunged deep into the underworld, patrolling everywhere to search if the cloud was hiding there.
When that cloud was present, they trembled in fear, dreading it might come for them.
Now that it was gone, they grew uneasy again, feeling it was dangerous outside their surveillance, desperate to track it down once more. This frenzy of activity didn't affect Chen Shi at all.
He went to the New Township Club, found Hu Feifei and the other scholars from New Township, then sought out Tian Yue'e, Huang Fengnian, Fu Xiu, and the other juren he'd traveled with to the capital for the exams, inviting them all to cultivate together inside the Small Multiverse Heaven.
These past days, Tian Yue'e, Huang Fengnian, and the others had stayed in Xijing, where food, lodging, and daily needs cost money. Coming from the countryside, they'd barely scraped together travel funds before the exams—some hadn't even managed that, surviving the road by drawing talismans and exorcising evils and spirits for handouts.
Once in Xijing, Hu Feifei took them to Red Mountain Hall, where they joined as talisman masters. These days, they'd been helping the common folk around Xijing exorcise evils and spirits, earning just enough to get by, and their cultivation had improved considerably too.
The Small Multiverse Heaven was concealed within the Fox Grape Mirror, which looked like nothing more than an ordinary mirror, but its inner space was vast beyond measure—larger even than Xijing itself. The righteous qi of heaven and earth there was extraordinarily abundant; cultivating inside outpaced the outside world by dozens of times.
Everyone entered the Small Multiverse Heaven and looked around, gasping in amazement.
"The sun, moon, and starry river here are all illusory. When you reach the Return to Void Realm, don't cultivate by imitating them," Chen Shi instructed.
Hu Guanghan laughed. "Return to Void Realm? Solution Yuan Chen, you're thinking too highly of us. In this lifetime, we can forget about reaching Return to Void. Forming our Incarnation or achieving God Descent would already be extraordinary. Even if we follow the right master, Void Refining at most."
At these words, Fang Wuji, Pan Ga, and the others all nodded in agreement. Puzzled, Chen Shi asked, "Why is that?"
Tian Yue'e laughed openly. "For the likes of us, Incarnation Realm should be our peak through cultivation. But the two realms beyond—God Descent and Void Refining—are bestowed by the true gods of heaven; they have nothing to do with personal cultivation. So at most, we can cultivate to Void Refining. To go further requires piling on techniques, wealth, dao companions, resources, and the like. Without money, no one advances.
Chen Shi saw the light. "I get it now. No wonder Minister Sun Yisheng has been stuck at Void Refining peak, unable to break through."
Sun Yisheng was the Commissioner of the Abundance Vault, having reached the peak of Void Refining—likely lacking three of the four: wealth, companion, land, method—and thus unable to advance.
Chen Shi also recalled that many officials in Xijing like Sun Yisheng seemed stuck at Void Refining, unable to progress further. For instance, several of the Divine Machine Battalion soldiers who'd pursued and attacked them on the road were at that realm.
Evidently, the true gods' blessings, granting two realms, had narrowed the gap between ordinary cultivators and scion disciples somewhat.
Though Chen Shi taught according to their aptitudes, passing on various techniques from the Tomb of the True King, having the method wasn't enough; they still needed wealth, companions, and land.
Wealth was self-evident: stabilizing realms and breaking through required money. Refining spirit pills and elixirs to heal injuries and illnesses, forging talisman soldiers, talisman treasures, even magic treasures—all demanded vast fortunes.
Land meant treasures like the Small Multiverse Heaven or blessed grotto-heavens. Even Chen Shi found cultivating at home or in the Abundance Vault inconvenient. And he had the Small Multiverse Heaven and Small Temple as such lands—how much worse for others without even a place to cultivate?
As for companions, they weren't mere life partners but dao companions—fellow travelers on the path. These could be sect elders, fellow disciples, or cultivation partners who could call back one's Primordial Spirit or nascent soul when it left the body, save one's life during qi deviation, fight shoulder-to-shoulder against enemies. But a dao companion's greatest role was assisting breakthroughs at crucial moments.
Wealth, companion, land, method—these four were vital to cultivation.
Lacking one or two still left a chance for breakthrough, but most cultivators lacked all four.
Chen Shi smiled. "If you can't advance, just come find me. I'll help you up!"
With only three days left until the metropolitan exams, those three days saw two or three hundred people gathered in the Small Multiverse Heaven, all diligently cultivating. It was a rare encounter with a blessed land; they forgot to eat or sleep in their fervor.
Chen Shi cultivated there too, his nascent soul gradually growing larger—now the size of a four- or five-year-old child. When the nascent soul reached full human size, that would be his cultivation limit, allowing fusion with the soul to form a Primordial Spirit.
He hadn't gone home these past few days, but Chen Tang thought nothing of it, continuing his routine of attending court in the morning and returning in the evening after Ministry of Revenue duties.
On the afternoon of the third day, Chen Shi ushered everyone out of the Small Multiverse Heaven. "Gentlemen, you've burned the midnight oil through bitter winters and sweltering summers for this moment of glory. Tomorrow on the exam grounds, I wish you all gold on the lists!"
The two hundred-odd juren bowed deeply in return, smiling. "Without Solution Yuan Chen's guidance, we'd likely have failed and vanished into obscurity, with no chance to rise in life."
"We dare not forget this nurturing grace in our lifetimes!"
Chen Shi bid them farewell and headed toward the Chen residence.
Passing Chengdu Street, he suddenly heard a voice laugh, "Solution Yuan Chen, hold up." Hearing that voice, Chen Shi's mind jolted slightly. He stopped and looked toward the sound.
He saw a young gentleman around twenty standing across Chengdu Street, gazing at him across a two-zhang-wide road bustling with carriages and crowds.
A few attendants stood behind the young gentleman, including two familiar faces: Fang Tan, the Merit Officer and Adjutant from the Auxiliary Upright Pavilion, and Wei Xize. The young gentleman was handsome, tall and well-proportioned, without a trace of excess muscle.
His skin was fair, his features perfectly balanced: a straight nose neither too large nor small, bright eyes, lips neither thick nor thin, full earlobes, cleanly shaven.
A red mole dotted his brow—whether cinnabar or natural—who could say? A purple-gold coronet bound his hair atop his head, adorned with a red pom-pom hairpin that bobbed captivatingly as he walked.
He wore white long robes inside, a red jacket outside, a green jade belt at his waist, and cloud-stepping boots—white soles, black uppers, embroidered with gold dragons in gold thread and clouds in silver, surely meticulously forged talisman treasures.
Seeing those boots, Chen Shi knew they concealed the Six Ding and Six Jia spirits within. "Young Master?"
Chen Shi walked onward, saying coolly, "After I wiped out the entire Peace Gate on Phoenix Ridge, I heard your voice through the Thousand-Li Sound Transmission Talisman."
The young master walked along the opposite side of the street, separated by the crowd, and laughed. "Since arriving in the capital, I've been in closed-door cultivation these past days and only emerged today. Many in the Auxiliary Upright Pavilion knew I planned to meet you and tried to dissuade me, saying you're a lawless rogue unfit for me to see. But I came anyway. I had to meet the famed Child Scholar in person, had to speak heart-to-heart with you."
Their voices weren't loud, yet carried clearly to each other. Chen Shi said, "You've seen me now. You can go."
The young master gazed ahead along the road, sincerity overflowing. "I believe there's a misunderstanding between us. Solution Yuan Chen, I firmly believe you're a man of grand ambitions. Born in the countryside, you've witnessed evils ravaging the wilds, the struggles of the masses under demonic transformations, and officials far worse than any evil. This world is like a prison, confining you and me both. I thought you too harbored the will to change heaven and earth."
His voice carried a convincing power, speaking earnestly, always drawing listeners in.
"But it wasn't like this in the True King Era. In the True King Era, all demons were subdued, the people lived in peace and prosperity— the old saw out their days, the able found use, the young their growth, the sick their care."
The young master continued, "Evils were few then, unable to gain momentum. But all that changed with the True King's death. These years, the people grow ever more wretched, evils ever more rampant, demonic transformations blooming everywhere like flowers. Court and countryside fester with rot. Officials don't champion the folk but cling to their rule, scheming for their descendants' prosperity. Great clans monopolize the court, lesser clans the localities; scholars become mere clear streams, good only for empty talk and blowing conches."
He sighed wistfully. "I believe you feel the same heartache I do at this sight, share the people's suffering. The masses scarce reach old age before perishing in evils' maws or under harsh rule; sturdy youths find no place for valor; the court overflows with empty talkers. Families sell children, the young go ungrown, plagues rage, the sick go uncured. Great Ming has rotted through!"
The young master turned to face Chen Shi, eyes burning. "I think you want to change it all, just like me! You want to purge the rot, suppress the demon hordes, overturn all that causes mortal misery! You want to restore the True King Era's glory! And so do I!"
He grew impassioned. "They told me not to meet you, called you stubborn, evil, an irredeemable bandit. But I know better! You're my kind!"
"You harbor great benevolence, misunderstood by the world. You have the will to remake heaven and earth but no outlet, ambitions and skills but no battlefield! Solution Yuan Chen, we're the same kind—you and I are no enemies!"
The young master declared loudly, "We should join hands, sway the times, right the chaos, seize victory in turmoil, change this world, build together the ideal True King Era!"
He extended his hand toward Chen Shi, words earnest. "Solution Yuan Chen, few in this world understand you. We're no strangers. Come, join me—lend me your strength!"
Fang Tan and Wei Xize were moved by his words, eyes reddening. The young master's heartfelt speech stirred their own resonances too.
Chen Shi stared ahead, saying flatly, "Done?"
The sincere look on the young master's face froze.
Ignoring the outstretched hand, Chen Shi kept walking. "If that's all, go home, wash your neck clean, and wait for me to slaughter you like a chick at the exams."
The young master's face darkened. He halted, watching Chen Shi recede into the distance.
The next morning at dawn, Chen Shi rose early. Chen Tang skipped court, helping him wash up, burn incense, offer it before Grandfather Chen Yindu's spirit tablet, then before his mother's. "You can't bring talisman soldiers, treasures, or magic treasures to the metropolitan exams. Take off anything on you—being caught with them would be humiliating, and easy to lose."
Chen Shi removed the Nether Spring Wandering Dragon Sword and other treasures on him, handing them over.
"Change into plain clothes too—no talisman treasure garments. No talismans drawn on your body either." Chen Tang thought, then added, "No firearms."
Chen Shi grumbled and fetched some iron caltrops from the Small Temple.
Chen Tang eyed those caltrops taller than himself, his eyelid twitching. "No cannons either, nor dragon-head rockets."
Dejected, Chen Shi produced two General Cannons and over ten rockets.
Chen Tang stared at these two-zhang behemoths, head aching. Did that kid's Small Temple behind his head hold all this? "With General Cannons, there must be shot. Hand over the cannonballs."
Chen Shi produced the shot. "Nothing left now."
Chen Tang doubted it, entered the Small Temple, rummaged around, summoned Talisman God Tianji and Lady Shi Ji, then said, "Plant these spirit herbs in the Small Multiverse Heaven. Can't take those either. Don't worry—with them stored in the Small Multiverse Heaven, I'll keep them safe for you."
With everything handled, Chen Tang said, "Can't bring the dog either." Blackie Pot woofed in protest, but Chen Tang firmly refused.
He checked several more times, confirming nothing contraband remained, before personally escorting Chen Shi to the Ministry of Rites offices. The metropolitan exams were under the Ministry of Rites: civil tests at the ministry, martial at the Divine Machine Battalion grounds.
The Ministry of Rites offices had cleared out many compounds days ago for juren from everywhere to lodge during the exams. Civil tests had three sessions: first on meanings of the Four Books, second on policy discussions, third on questions. Martial tests also three: first on techniques, second on arts, third on combat.
Mornings for civil, afternoons martial, three straight days. Results posted a month later.
Hall exams came after.
At the Ministry of Rites, Chen Shi saw it swarming with ministry and Divine Machine Battalion elites. Battalion soldiers wore sabers at the waist, arquebuses on backs, powder flasks, lead-shot pouches, iron caltrops dangling behind.
In the sky loomed massive Yellow Scarf Warriors over ten zhang tall, bending down to scan each entering juren. Ministry officials unleashed Primordial Spirits to inspect every juren's body for contraband.
Beyond that, huge divine beast statues stood in each exam hall: two kinds. One dragon-like but four-legged, body shorter than a dragon, face cheerful with a smile. The other tiger-shaped with dragon horns and scales, mane on its back, dignified mien, eyes full of suspicion.
Chen Shi arrived as several ministry clerks offered incense to the statues, sacrificing cattle and sheep.
Suddenly, the statues stirred with clanging, shifting from stone to flesh and blood, leaping from the altar to scrutinize each examinee. "Those are Bi'an and Fu Zhi. No cheater escapes their eyes, even with gods or ghosts invoked."
Chen Tang said, "Go on in, do your best—no need for too much pressure."
"Yes," Chen Shi replied. He reported his name upfront; an examiner heard it and led him into the hall.
Seated on a rush cushion, Chen Shi saw his exam hall was a grand palace. Besides him, a dozen desks and cushions stood mostly empty—only two occupied: one by the young master, the other by an unfamiliar youth.
Just the three of them in the entire hall. "Zhang You, at your service, Solution Yuan Chen."
The unfamiliar youth sat on his cushion, bowing slightly to Chen Shi with a smile. "I didn't stay at Qixia Observatory—lodging at my uncle's instead." "No talking!" an examiner barked.
Then Bi'an and Fu Zhi strode in, pacing majestically, eyeing the three.
With a bell toll, an examiner stepped before them, stern-faced, proclaiming loudly, "Today's first exam question: meanings from Four Books, Yi, Poetry, Spring and Autumn. Six from Four Books, three each from the others. Each juren, select one and expound—one hour limit."
Clerks wheeled in signboards, one reading: "Four Books meaning: 1. Follow Xia calendar, ride Yin carriage, wear Zhou crown, music then Shao dance. 2. Love kin and thus the people, love people and thus things. 3..."
Chen Shi scanned them. Clerks distributed brushes, ink, paper, inkstone—rice paper, ink ground, brushes ready. He chose: Thunder above, Great Power. The gentleman treads not where rite forbids.
"Scholar Zhu covered this one!"
Excited, he wrote his name, origin, and topic, ready to begin.
Then a clerk approached, drew the paper from under his hand, studied his brushstrokes and script, pondered the topic. The other two clerks did likewise for Zhang You and the young master's papers, scrutinizing nearby.
Moments later, the three clerks sat down and wrote furiously, dashing off explications for their chosen topics! Chen Shi gaped, blurting to Bi'an and Fu Zhi, "Cheating! We're cheating!"
The two divine beasts ignored him utterly, blind to the scene.