Yue lay east of Chu, bordering the powerful Chu Kingdom. One could imagine what life there was like.
Still, not far to the east of Yue stood the renowned Evening Drum Academy, which offered it some support.
As the saying went, "At dawn, the bell rings; at dusk, the drum sounds," to awaken the mind and set one's ambitions, and to study with diligence.
Of the four great academies in All-Under-Heaven, the Evening Drum Academy held the most special significance.
That was because it stood at the foot of Book Mountain, the sacred ground of the Confucian Sect.
Book Mountain, the Confucian Sect's sacred ground, and the Three Punishments Palace, the Legalist School's sacred ground, shared one thing: both were immensely significant to the teachings of their respective schools, and stood as spiritual symbols.
But they differed in this: Book Mountain was home mostly to scholars with hair white from poring over the classics. They devoted themselves to study, neither taking on many disciples nor involving themselves in the affairs of All-Under-Heaven. They didn't even bother with "the petty squabbles of the world."
The Three Punishments Palace, by contrast, was like a fusion of Book Mountain and the four great academies. It had no direct involvement in worldly affairs, but accepted disciples from across the land, and among its three palaces, the Punish People Palace was deeply engaged with the world.
Back to Bai Yuxia.
His strength was certainly no lesser than anyone else's, but unfortunately, his luck was terrible.
In round after round of elimination, he'd faced prodigies who'd kept their true strength hidden, waiting only for the moment to astonish the world.
His situation was much like Chu Min's when he faced Lin Xian—except that he'd run into such opponents twice in a row.
In the final round