Scripture of Days Past

Compared with the epic showdown between Chu Qiguang and Jiang Longyu, the rest of the sparring matches were far less spectacular.

Before long, all the matches had concluded, and the final ranking was established.

As the only fourth-state martial artist among the trainees, Li He naturally secured the top spot.

All the other trainees immediately forfeited their matches against him, choosing to conserve their strength for opponents that they actually had a chance of defeating.

For martial artists, the gap of a single state was like an insurmountable gulf. Even Jiang Longyu had surrendered against Li He without putting up a fight.

Thus, Li He claimed the top spot without even having to step onto the platform.

Chu Qiguang naturally came in second after defeating Jiang Longyu, while Jiang Longyu finished in third place.

With the sparring matches over, the trainees began to disperse.

The final trainee rankings, which would take into account both the sparring matches and the written test, would be released the following day. The top ten trainees would then be placed in the advanced school.

For many of the trainees hovering near the edge of the top ten, it was undoubtedly going to be a sleepless night.

Jiang Longyu had been in a terrible mood ever since his crushing defeat at Chu Qiguang's hands, and Yang Ling was growing rather concerned about his mental state.

"Is Jiang Longyu going to be alright, Head Instructor? Should we send someone to console him?"

If something happened to Jiang Longyu, Jade Face Mountain would have to answer to the emperor.

"Why wouldn't he be alright?" Zhong Shan'e asked with a smile. "He's one of the Eight Han Resurgence Warriors. If such a minor setback is enough to dishearten him, then he was never cut out for greatness in the first place. No matter how many times Li He and Chu Qiguang defeat him, it should only motivate him to work even harder."

"What should we do with Chu Qiguang, Head Instructor?" Yi Shuang asked. "He has already defeated Jiang Longyu twice. Could it be that he has even greater potential than Jiang Longyu?"

"I don't think so," Zhong Shan'e replied. "His Majesty's divination abilities are unmatched, and he has deemed Jiang Longyu one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals. That means Jiang Longyu is destined to become a pillar of our empire in the future. His potential must be superior to Chu Qiguang's. Unless... Chu Qiguang is also one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals."

"Is that possible?" Yi Shuang hurriedly asked. "Hasn't he already been ruled out because he doesn't possess the correct eight characters?"

"Whether he's one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals or not is up to His Majesty and the Ministry of Divination to decide," Zhong Shan'e said. "Our job is simply to nurture him to the best of our ability."

Meanwhile, Chu Qiguang had already rushed back to the archive building.

After reinstalling the gate, he sought out the gatekeeper and declared, "I defeated Jiang Longyu just now."

The gatekeeper fell into a solemn silence upon hearing this. He didn't even consider the possibility that Chu Qiguang was lying. After all, if this were a lie, it would be far too easy to expose.

Could this be the will of the Profound Origin Dao Lord?

"Do you need someone to vouch for me?" Chu Qiguang asked, growing a little uneasy at the gatekeeper's prolonged silence. "You're not going back on our bet, are you?"

Lin Lan also emerged from the darkness and suggested hesitantly, "How about we pick out the least dangerous book from the second floor for Brother Chu to read? We can let him read a page or two first and see how it goes. With the two of us keeping an eye on him, I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

"Fine," the gatekeeper finally relented. "Come back in a few days. I need to make some preparations."

Chu Qiguang made an agreement with the gatekeeper to return in five days, then left with a triumphant expression.

***

The next day, the final rankings were released.

Thanks to his second-place finish in the sparring matches and his exceptional performance in the written test, Chu Qiguang became the top-ranked trainee overall.

He was followed by Li He, Jiang Longyu, and Chi Shude, who took second, third, and fourth place, respectively.

Zhang Haizhu was ranked tenth, barely making the cut for the advanced school, while both Huang Xiangyu and Li Chu were outside of the top ten.

The top ten trainees were placed in the advanced school. Their curriculum and the cultivation resources would be different from those of outer school trainees, and they would also have more freedom with their time.

Most importantly, the ten advanced school trainees would receive personal instruction from Head Instructor Zhong Shan'e every month.

Standing inside his new room, which he now had all to himself, Chu Qiguang thought back to the first time he had seen Zhong Shan'e on Jade Face Mountain. He compared that version of Zhong Shan'e to the one that he had seen during the monthly examination.

Through his Dao pursuer eyes, he could see a faint, semi-transparent mist around Zhong Shan'e.

There seemed to be something terrifying curling and trembling in the air around him, but no matter how hard Chu Qiguang tried, he couldn't catch a clear glimpse of what it was.

It feels like my Dao pursuer eyes aren't enough for me to clearly see the true substance of Dao Comprehension-state cultivators.

Chu Qiguang sat down at the desk in his new room and began to consider his future plans.

I have to keep accumulating knowledge on Jade Face Mountain while working on my weaknesses as a martial artist. Now that I've gained access to the second floor of the archive building, reading the books there has to become a priority as well. Also, advanced school trainees are given much more freedom with their time, so I should be able to find an opportunity to leave the mountain at some point. My Sumeru King Scripture is still hidden at the foot of the mountain. I wonder how things are going with Chen Gang and Azure Sun County.

***

Three days later, Chu Qiguang descended the mountain with several servants.

He had requested those servants from Yang Ling the day before to help him purchase some food and medicinal ingredients from the nearby county.

After sending the servants on their way, Chu Qiguang made his way to the relay station.

Chen Gang's face was covered in sores from the freezing conditions, and his hair and beard were completely unkempt. He was wearing a ragged coat that he had picked up from somewhere, and he was in the middle of chopping firewood for the relay station.

As soon as he spotted Chu Qiguang, he immediately rushed over to him in excitement.

"Brother Chu! Is that really you?"