Who is Jiang Taiching?
And what is the "Xuan Emperor's Law," the Supreme Law?
These names, heard from Gui's mouth, made Zhao Rong feel quite intrigued, but what he was most curious about was... the "graduation" issue of the Taiching Four Mansions' Residence Students.
"What are the conditions for completing one's education at the Taiching Four Mansions? Isn't it too tragic if one can't graduate?" he asked, full of curiosity.
"If it were me, I'd be so anxious I couldn't sleep at night."
Zhao Rong said empathetically.
In his previous life, after spending years idling away in university, he realized just before graduation how troublesome the conditions for receiving a diploma were. The anxiety of possibly not being able to graduate was something Zhao Rong deeply related to…
Gui: "..."
Why are you focusing on such strange things? I thought you would ask about something else. Why don't you ever follow the usual conventions?
It immediately lost its interest in chatting again.
Every time it faced Zhao Rong, it felt a sense of powerlessness.
Perhaps this was just the world of the incompetent?
"They wouldn't also have to learn a foreign language from another race, would they?" Zhao Rong hazarded a guess. Clearly, he had suffered at the hands of a certain foreign language in his previous life.
"No."
Gui replied sullenly: "Sword Cultivators and Daoist Cultivators must forge a Golden Core before the age of twenty-eight, and the Core's grade must not be below Sixth Grade, for their names to be carved on Taiching's Talented List and to graduate successfully."
"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad."
"Indeed it doesn't sound too bad, but I can't understand why there are still so many so-called geniuses who can't graduate. They're just a bunch of incompetents, wasting the resources of the Human Clan!" Gui scoffed.
Zhao Rong was unfamiliar with the Cultivation World's hierarchy and the Cultivators' realm systems on the mountain, so he had no real notion of what it meant to attain the Golden Core Realm before the age of twenty-eight.
Whereas Gui, after all, used to be a monster who equaled the Human Clan's fastest record for reaching the Golden Core Realm.
"Right, who is Jiang Taiching?"
"Jiang Cang. Taiching is his courtesy name."
"Oh, then who is Jiang Cang?"
"Why do you have so many questions? And all of them are so infantile!"
Gui said, annoyed: "Don't come to me with these simple questions in the future, go buy a beginner's book for Cultivators at the market on the mountain and read it yourself."
Zhao Rong said with a serious face: "We're hardly started, and you're already fed up with me. How are we supposed to get through future days?"
Gui: "???"
...
Zhao Rong let out a light chuckle, no longer teasing Gui.
He made a mental note to casually buy a "popular science book" for Cultivators at the Immortals' market on the mountain when he went back.
Having come to his senses, he began to select some calligraphy models in the bookstore.
After picking a few nice regular script calligraphy models, he intended to turn around to pay, but after walking a few steps, he stopped again, wanting to buy some books by the various philosophers to peruse.
Thus, Zhao Rong headed deeper into the bookstore.
There were many books inside the house, and rows of bookshelves made it feel a bit cramped. The shopkeeper had opened several skylights inside the room. Since it was daytime, it didn't feel dark, and there was plenty of light.
Upon entering, Zhao Rong saw a few people reading books.
He browsed for a while, and picked up a copy of "Mo Bian" and "Hu Feizi," both of which were Mo Family classics.
A book with a deep blue cover depicting a fox and a lady suddenly caught his eye.
"Nine-tailed Fox Fairy Legend?"
Gui had mentioned that this world was full of many Demon Races.
Zhao Rong, somewhat thrilled by the novelty, picked up the book to take a closer look, only to be greatly disappointed soon after.
This is just a love story wrapped in the guise of ghostly legends, yet it's the most clichéd tale of a fox demon and a scholar...
So this world also has its own version of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."
He chuckled, shook his head, and placed the book back on the shelf, ready to pay for his purchases and leave.
"Hehe~"
A laughter came from the other side of the shelf, faint but he still heard it.
Zhao Rong followed the sound and peered through the gaps in the shelf.
On the other side, standing directly opposite him, was a young white-faced scholar.
His handsome appearance was remarkable, with clear-cut eyes that were bright and piercing, and he was holding an open book in his hands, which, against the backdrop of the deep blue cover, looked as white as snow.
At the moment, he was reading with vitality, his lips slightly curved upward.
Zhao Rong glanced at the blue cover of the book in the scholar's hands.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Do people actually read this book?
Seeing him "smiling foolishly" again, Zhao Rong couldn't help but look at him with a bit of concern.
Perhaps Zhao Rong had stared for too long because the white-faced scholar suddenly looked up.
Finding Zhao Rong observing him through a bookshelf, he quickly schooled his expression and then glared fiercely at Zhao Rong.
Zhao Rong coughed lightly with a touch of embarrassment and averted his gaze, but when he looked back, the scholar had already left his spot.
Turning his head, he saw that handsome scholar heading to the counter with a few books in hand to check out. He was clearly dressed in traditional scholar's attire and had his hair tied up, yet he moved with a grace and nimbleness that seemed out of place.
Zhao Rong suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine.
...
Zhao Rong returned to Duke Mansion in Jingnan with calligraphy practice sheets and books.
On his way back to his room, Zhao Rong ran into Lingfei's second brother—Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo looked embarrassed, wanting to explain something to Zhao Rong, because he could guess from Zhao Rong's attitude over the past few days that Zhao Rong knew he had leaked a secret.
Zhao Rong, however, did not pay him any attention and merely gave a perfunctory bow before walking past him.
Perhaps Zhao Kuo had his reasons, but Zhao Rong did not want to hear them. After all, he was about to leave and did not want to get entangled with Duke Mansion any longer.
Returning to his room and looking at the empty space, Zhao Rong let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Now he truly was all on his own.
He tossed the calligraphy sheets and books onto the desk and turned to open an unassuming wardrobe in the room, rummaging out a wooden box from the corner.
He opened the box and laid out all its contents on the desk.
A jade hairpin made of emerald. His mother had given it to him on her deathbed, saying that Lingfei had been coveting it since her childhood. She had never given it to her, telling Zhao Rong to give it to Lingfei when he got married.
Two travel permits, one new and one old. The new one was previously arranged by Zhao Kuo, which he would need for his travels. The old one was left by his mother. It was filled with dense seals except for the last one, which was the official seal of the Great Chu dynasty. Zhao Rong did not recognize the others, but he could sense how extensive his mother's travels must have been.
It's worth noting that the issuer of the old travel permit was a country called Great Jin, which was very likely his next destination—his hometown.
An ancient token of unknown material. Also left by his mother, it was engraved with the character for 'dream' in small seal script, but its purpose was a mystery.
A fine short sword. His mother had given it to him. The hilt of this sword had a tassel, making it a "scholar sword." A sword represented the virtues of a gentleman, and a scholar wearing a sword signified a prestigious status and position. Moreover, he found that this scholar sword was very sharp, not just a fancy accessory. He planned to carry it with him for self-defense.
A Mystic Bird token and a silver token. These were tokens for the ferryboat tickets purchased by Zhao Kuo, with the Mystic Bird token corresponding to the boat from Great Chu to the southernmost part of Wangque Continent, Lihuo Country, and the silver token for the intercontinental ferryboat departing from Lihuo Country.
Zhao Kuo told him that the first boat was owned by a mid-tier immortal family in the southern part of Wangque Continent called Qingfeng Pavilion, while the second, intercontinental ferryboat was owned by one of the few Great Immortal families on the mountain—Weiwei Mountain.
Finally, there were some spirit stones and gold. The spirit stones were what remained after Zhao Kuo helped him sell some of his mother's belongings and bought the ferry tickets. As for the gold, it was prepared by him, since Great Chu banknotes were not accepted in other countries; gold was the hard currency used everywhere.
These items, along with the Mystic Bird Jade Token and his private seal, were pretty much all he owned now.
Zhao Rong reached for the Mystic Bird token from Qingfeng Pavilion, fidgeting with it gently, as he recalled what Zhao Kuo had said when handing over the items.
The next ferry of Qingfeng Pavilion will arrive near Qianjing at the Longquan Mountain ferry port around the fifteenth of March. Don't miss it.