Nine Scenic Wonders (3)

Nine Scenic Wonders (3)

Ye Qingcang never fought a battle he wasn't sure of winning.

Out of sight of the Shrek group, he had long since completed all the necessary preparations. Even if everything developed in the worst possible direction, he had enough contingencies to ensure the plan proceeded as originally intended.

He had been ordinary for fifteen years.

Unknown for fifteen years.

This eagle cry, suppressed for fifteen years, might not be as astonishing as the King of Chu's bird that "remained silent for three years, then shocked the world with a single cry," but surely it would not fall far short.

In short: despise the enemy strategically, but take the enemy seriously tactically.

Whether Tang San would become his enemy depended on whether Tang San wanted to become his enemy. In any case, his trap was already set. If Tang San jumped in, he would have only himself to blame. If Tang San did not, then in the future, Tang San could walk his Single-Plank Bridge while Ye Qingcang walked his Yangguan Road.

"Is that pavilion ahead the Pavilion in Water, one of the Nine Scenic Wonders?" Ning Rongrong was not far from Ye Qingcang. She, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar were walking at the very front of the group, making them the closest to him—less than twenty paces apart, by her estimate. "There are more than a hundred True Meaning Trees on the Flower Path. What is so special about the Pavilion in Water?"

"Rongrong..." Zhu Zhuqing shook her head meaningfully at Ning Rongrong.

She was an exceptionally calm girl.

And an exceptionally clear-minded one.

Whether in terms of methods, insight, or psychological resilience, she had reached the limits of what someone her age could possess. Unfortunately, time was the most unreasonable thing in the world. After giving her a fiery figure far beyond her age, it had also given her a powerful rival.

That rival was her elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun.

She was also the fiancée of the Star Luo Empire's eldest prince.

Internal strife had been a tradition within the Star Luo Imperial Family for generations. The Dai Family provided the men, while the Zhu Family provided the women. Suitable men and women were selected from the direct lineages and given the freedom to pair up. Those who failed to find partners were removed and counted as having forfeited. Then, every remaining pair fought one another until only one pair remained.

That final pair became the current Crown Prince and Crown Princess of the Star Luo Empire.

And the next Emperor and Queen.

It was cruel and twisted beyond imagination.

Thus, Dai Family women and Zhu Family men born into the direct lineages were fortunate.

Unfortunately, Zhu Zhuqing was not one of those lucky people.

She was not even one of those who could forfeit by remaining single.

She was a participant in this internal struggle.

That was precisely why she understood the meaning of the word "restraint."

Ning Rongrong could afford to be unrestrained because she was the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo stood behind her, and the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was her formidable backing.

But Zhu Zhuqing could not.

As a friend, she felt it necessary to remind Ning Rongrong that Ye Qingcang was unfathomable. Getting too close to such a person, acting too casual and presumptuous around him, might not be a good thing.

"The Pavilion in Water is a place for enlightenment..." Ye Qingcang heard Zhu Zhuqing's warning to Ning Rongrong, but merely smiled it off. The higher he flew, the more dangerous and insignificant he appeared to those who could not fly. "Sit in the pavilion, treading water without ripples; when the heart holds no thoughts, the water flows on its own. The lake around the Pavilion in Water is connected to one's state of mind. Those whose hearts are free of all dust, or who have seen their true nature, can walk across the water and enter the pavilion to seek enlightenment. Worth noting is that an array has been set around the Pavilion in Water, making Soul Power unusable. Therefore, walking across the water requires more than holding fast to one's Original Heart in the illusion—it also requires at least complete mastery of the Surface Level Chapter. Fortunately, the Pavilion in Water was never meant for ordinary people. In theory, someone who has completed the Surface Level Chapter can train their peripheral nerves to the extreme and use water's buoyancy to walk upon it. Yet within the illusion, the slightest moment of distraction will cause one to fall into the water, unable to advance any farther. Thus, the Pavilion in Water is an acceleration zone specifically established for students seeking to comprehend true meaning. If you have a vague feeling that seems just beyond reach, and happen to have credits on hand, you can try it. Walking on the water costs no credits; entering the pavilion is what requires payment."

"Enlightenment?" Ning Rongrong's pupils trembled as she stared in shock at the Pavilion in Water at the end of the Flower Path. "The kind of enlightenment with an incredibly low chance of being triggered?"

Oscar was not as knowledgeable as Ning Rongrong.

In fact, it was not only Oscar whose knowledge was limited. Even Zhu Zhuqing, who came from the Zhu Family's Duke's Mansion, was hearing the term enlightenment for the first time.

The difference was that Zhu Zhuqing was reserved, while Oscar was far less restrained. He also harbored a small crush on Ning Rongrong, so he asked whenever he did not understand, taking the opportunity to speak with her. "What is enlightenment?"

"It is a kind of..." Ning Rongrong thought for a moment, her tone uncertain. "State of mind?"

She did not know much about enlightenment either.

She had learned of enlightenment primarily because her Sword Grandpa had once experienced it. It was precisely because of that enlightenment that Sword Grandpa broke through the bottleneck at Rank 95 and reached his current Rank 96. In Bone Grandpa's exact words when describing it to her, it was a state of mind that could only be encountered, never sought. Even for a Titled Douluo, enlightenment was the greatest opportunity of a lifetime, without equal. Its value could even rival a 100,000-Year Soul Ring or a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Yet while a 100,000-Year Soul Ring or Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone could still be obtained by hunting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, enlightenment was an opportunity that could not be artificially acquired. Ninety-nine percent of Titled Douluo would never experience enlightenment in their entire lives. As for Soul Masters below the Titled Douluo level, forget one percent—even a one-in-a-billion chance of enlightenment did not exist.

Think about it: out of one hundred Titled Douluo, at least ninety-nine would never experience enlightenment even once in their lives. Just how low was the probability of attaining it?

The rarer something was, the more precious it became and the greater its benefits.

This was one of the eternal ironclad laws of the Soul Master world.

A single enlightenment lasted no more than a day and a night.

Yet it could allow a Rank 95 Titled Douluo to break through their bottleneck and enter Rank 96 directly. Such heaven-defying gains truly matched its probability of occurrence.

Even if that probability was painfully low...

Still, if she had to describe enlightenment now, she truly did not know how. Even Sword Grandpa, after attaining enlightenment, had only four words to describe it—mysterious beyond mystery.

The only thing that seemed to fit those four words was a state of mind.

But Ye Qingcang, who had attained enlightenment hundreds of times, had a different understanding. "Enlightenment can be understood by separating the two characters. 'Enlighten' means to comprehend. For example, I read a book and comprehend the knowledge within it. 'The Way' refers to the principles of heaven and earth. For example, why does an apple fall downward to the ground after ripening instead of flying upward into the clouds? So, when the two meanings are combined, enlightenment means comprehending the principles of heaven and earth. Just like reading, every person who attains enlightenment is reading a book. The only difference is that the book they read differs from everyone else's. The book they read is called the world. But the book called the world contains far too much knowledge, and any person can only comprehend an insignificant portion of it. Some clever people rely on those insights to leave behind things that can be passed down to future generations..."

"Self-Created Soul Skill!"

Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and Zhu Zhuqing spoke the name in unison.

"That's right..." Ye Qingcang confirmed their guess, though it was not entirely correct. "Self-Created Soul Skills are products of enlightenment, but merely one type of product. Some people do not comprehend Self-Created Soul Skills, but rather an indescribable conviction. One stops at technique, which is easy to learn; the other stops at meaning, which is difficult to grasp. The flaw of a Self-Created Soul Skill is that it has an upper limit. For instance, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Distraction Control Soul Technique can only achieve seven simultaneous uses, while the Clear Sky Sect's Great Sumeru Hammer can only shatter nine Soul Rings, because Soul Masters possess no more than nine Soul Rings. But true meanings such as sword intent have no upper limit. Or rather, the upper limit of true meaning is created by the individual. Sword intent usable at Rank 10 can still be used at Rank 99, and it only provides greater benefits to the enlightened person over time. Its drawback is that it is difficult to pass down. There are over a hundred True Meaning Trees on the Flower Path, but how many later generations can truly comprehend true meaning from the Flower Path alone, without using the Pavilion in Water to pierce that final layer of paper?"

The three of them had no answer.

The topic was too profound.

Their level of knowledge did not allow them to join the conversation.

They could only follow Ye Qingcang around the lake. After the Shrek group, divided into four levels, regrouped, they headed toward the majestic teaching building in the distance.

Blue Tyrant Academy had a peculiar layout.

The area immediately inside Blue Tyrant Academy's gates was a park, which also served as the academy's transportation hub. There were three main roads: one led to the student dormitories, one led to the club activity area, and the last was the Flower Path leading to the teaching building.

At the end of the Flower Path stood the Pavilion in Water, which was actually a large lake with a small pavilion built from Enlightenment Stone at its center. A ring of railings and handholds had been constructed around the lakeside. Whether one went left or right around half the lake, one could reach the entrance of the teaching building.

Behind the teaching building were the sports field and Training Field.

Behind the sports field and Training Field were the faculty dormitories.

The one hundred and fifty students on the Heaven, Earth, and Human Rankings were also qualified to live there. The treatment of a private villa was incomparable to a four-person dormitory. This was also a privilege Blue Tyrant Academy granted to outstanding students.

The strong preyed on the weak, and only the fit survived.

They were all commoners. If they wanted to rise above others, they had to risk everything!

Perhaps it was excessively cruel, but once they left Blue Tyrant Academy, even risking everything might not be enough to rise above others. They would also need judgment and luck. If their vision was shallow and their luck insufficient, they could struggle until the end only to struggle themselves to death. Blue Tyrant Academy's educational philosophy of promoting the capable and demoting the mediocre appeared cruel, but so long as fairness and impartiality were maintained, it was the greatest fairness possible for students born as commoners!

Want Soul Rings?

Blue Tyrant Academy's teachers would lead you to hunt them.

Want Soul Bones?

Thanks to Alchemy, Blue Tyrant Academy had as many Soul Bones as it wanted, of whatever age limit it wanted.

Want Self-Created Soul Skills?

The fifth, sixth, and seventh floors of Blue Tyrant Academy's library were filled with Self-Created Soul Skills.

Want Gold Soul Coins?

There were restrictions on exchanging Gold Soul Coins for credits, but no restrictions on exchanging credits for Gold Soul Coins. The price was clearly listed: one credit equaled one hundred Gold Soul Coins. As long as you had credits, you could exchange for as many Gold Soul Coins as you wanted.

To obtain these benefits, you had to step on the heads of your peers and climb upward. Aristocrats emphasized elite education, so the education best suited to commoners was sifting sand for gold, using quantity to build quality.

Perhaps we cannot teach every student from sand into gold, but we will strive to discover every grain of gold among countless grains of sand—this was the slogan written on the wall at the entrance of Blue Tyrant Academy's teaching building, as well as the educational style Blue Tyrant Academy had maintained since its founding!

Inequality was the fairest kind of fairness!

"Blue Tyrant Academy is a contradictory academy..." Inside the teaching building, in the dean of studies' office, Blue Tyrant Academy's dean of studies frankly introduced the academy to the Shrek group seated on the sofa. "Blue Tyrant Academy is free, yet it also has strict rules. Its strict rules refer to the academy regulations. The regulations cannot be violated. Other than those who establish the regulations and those who have the authority to alter them, anyone who violates them will receive the corresponding punishment. Freedom refers to the students. So long as you do not violate the academy regulations, no one will interfere with what you do. Even if you skip class, no one will care. It all depends on self-discipline. The cafeteria provides free white rice and seaweed soup. Students with credits can feast on fine food and drink, even eat spirit cuisine every meal. Students without credits can only watch others eat while having free meals themselves. Blue Tyrant Academy will never expel any student without cause. Three minor demerits are converted into one demerit, three demerits are converted into one major demerit, and three major demerits result in expulsion. Merits and demerits can offset each other, and there are corresponding ratings for minor merits, merits, and major merits as well."

The moment those words were spoken, the Shrek side erupted in uproar.

Spirit cuisine!

It was a word both unfamiliar and familiar!

It was unfamiliar because spirit cuisine had only emerged within the past decade. It referred to various foods made by stewing medicinal herbs, Soul Beast meat, and plants. Because these foods had excellent nourishing effects on Soul Masters, Soul Masters collectively named them spirit cuisine. It was not called medicinal cuisine because medicinal cuisine could not include Soul Beast meat. The advantage of spirit cuisine was that it could fully bring out the characteristics of Soul Beast meat, nourishing a Soul Master's body while increasing their cultivation speed. It could be said that even a single dish was difficult to obtain.

As for the Spirit Cuisine Room responsible for producing all kinds of spirit cuisine, there were only three shops in the entire world. They were located respectively in Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire; Xingluo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire; and Spirit City, governed by Spirit Hall. There were no branches—each of the three was a main store. Their secret recipes remained unknown to this day. Any Soul Master could only purchase spirit cuisine firsthand from the Spirit Cuisine Room. In earlier years, some Soul Masters had dared to pry into the secret recipes. One had even abducted a chef from the Spirit Cuisine Room, brutally tortured him, and killed him. But after the Spirit Cuisine Room offered a reward of lifetime free spirit cuisine to anyone who killed that Soul Master, less than a day later, his head was displayed at the Spirit Cuisine Room's entrance. Since then, no Soul Master had dared to target the Spirit Cuisine Room again.

Blocking another's path was like murdering their parents.

Many Soul Emperors had relied on bowl after bowl of spirit cuisine to tear through the Rank 69 bottleneck and become Rank 70 Soul Sages. The Spirit Cuisine Room's reputation was renowned throughout the world.

One Earth Dragon Somersault cost three thousand Gold Soul Coins.

One Ice Lotus Stewed Vermilion Toad cost four thousand Gold Soul Coins.

One Dragon Spine Meat cost five thousand Gold Soul Coins.

These three dishes were the cheapest dishes in the Spirit Cuisine Room, fully demonstrating that cultivation was nothing but burning money. Even so, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Spirit Hall, Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and Star Luo Imperial Family all held large numbers of purchase vouchers with the Spirit Cuisine Room and were its partners. One could imagine how greatly spirit cuisine enhanced Soul Masters.

Ning Rongrong could afford spirit cuisine.

Her family was wealthy and powerful. Money was no concern.

It could be said that most of her Rank 36 Soul Power had been eaten into existence.

Otherwise, having Rank 30 or 31 Soul Power by now would already have been quite good for her. How could she possibly rank second among the Shrek Seven Monsters in Soul Power Level?

But Ning Rongrong being able to afford it did not mean Flender and the others could.

In fact, not only could Flender not afford it, even Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai could only eat it occasionally, and only the cheapest kind at that. Even then, they would feel an overwhelming sense of happiness.

And now they were being told that at Blue Tyrant Academy, they could use credits to eat spirit cuisine every meal?

Seeing the doubtful expressions of the Shrek group, Blue Tyrant Academy's dean of studies—an austere-looking middle-aged Soul Sage—could not help but laugh. He exchanged a look with Ye Qingcang. After receiving Ye Qingcang's permission, he casually dropped a world-shaking piece of news. Like a bolt from a clear sky, it left the entire Shrek group stunned senseless:

"From the very beginning, spirit cuisine was positioned as food, not medicine."

"And the reason spirit cuisine was positioned as food was because Soul Masters cultivating the Stellar Martial Path required too much energy. If they ate ordinary meals, even students who had just entered the Flesh and Blood Chapter would need to eat by the bucket. For instance, one bucket for breakfast, two buckets for lunch, one bucket for dinner, and half a bucket for a late-night snack. Even if the cafeteria could supply it, the students' stomachs could not endure it. Therefore, spirit cuisine was positioned as food from the very beginning."

"The Spirit Cuisine Room is one of Blue Tyrant Academy's industries. More accurately, the Spirit Cuisine Room is where apprentice workers practice their craft. Those chefs in the Spirit Cuisine Room would only be fit to assist the cooks in Blue Tyrant Academy's cafeteria, chopping vegetables, mincing meat, and so on."

"Since Blue Tyrant Academy uses a credit system, the academy loses money when students purchase spirit cuisine. Therefore, we came up with the method of selling spirit cuisine outside to recover funds. For example, Dragon Spine Meat, which sells for five thousand Gold Soul Coins outside, can be eaten at Blue Tyrant Academy for only three credits. Worth noting is that Blue Tyrant Academy's exchange rate between credits and Gold Soul Coins has always remained at one to one hundred. In other words, one credit can be exchanged for one hundred Gold Soul Coins..."

One more thing: I can guarantee more than four thousand words every day, but I cannot guarantee it will always be two chapters. Sometimes, when the writing flows, I follow the emotion and keep going. Then when I look back, it has turned into a four-thousand-word mega chapter (_|||). So please do not misunderstand and think I'm slacking off. The word count is about the same, so rest assured.