After the Palace Examination ended, many of Fang Yun's privileges as a Void Sage gradually began to manifest. For instance, he could use any sage lineage's Literary World without restriction. Unless he was traveling with a large party, he no longer needed to ride a Skyfaring Tower Ship.
Night had deepened, and the Sacred Academy was somewhat chilly in November.
The Literary Star hung high in the sky, eclipsing the moon and obscuring the stars.
Fang Yun arrived at the Sacred Academy without incident. Grand Academician Fan Wendong of the Hall of Punishment personally came to meet him with members of the hall.
Fan Wendong had long, narrow eyes and habitually kept them half-closed. Walking beside Fang Yun to show him the way, he smiled and said, "Now that you have passed the Palace Examination, you must hone yourself at the Sacred Academy, as is customary. We arranged your quarters here even before you entered the Sea of Learning. As elsewhere, the Sacred Academy's student lodgings are divided into Upper and Lower Lodges. At the Eastern Sage's direction, we transferred the Metropolitan Graduate occupying the tenth-ranked Upper Lodge to a Lower Lodge and arranged for you to live in the tenth Upper Lodge. Once everything is settled, you may bring your family. Barring anything unexpected, you can stay for three years."
Fang Yun shook his head helplessly. Eastern Sage Wang Jinglong was surely trying to temper him, hoisting him into the teeth of the storm so that the Sacred Academy's geniuses would step forward to compete with him.
Competition at the Sacred Academy was fiercer than anywhere within any single kingdom!
The human race's history had left too many unresolved problems: conflicts among the sage lineages, conflicts among the kingdoms, and conflicts among the Sacred Academy's own students. These made