"Brother Zhu, you truly are a ruthless person. Even my father was impressed when he heard about your decision."
"......"
Zhuang Yun shook his head repeatedly, not knowing what to say.
In the City of Seeking Immortality, with millions of cultivators, any slight move by Zhu Xiaosuo beca known throughout the city within three days.
Zhu Xiaosuo remained silent.
"What’s wrong? Afraid to admit what you’ve done?"
"No, Brother Ba, I didn’t tell you because I was worried you wouldn’t agree and would try to stop ."
"I know my limits. Stopping you is nearly impossible. Besides, the lives of those two fools from the Shang Shan family and the Chen family probably depend on your performance in the examination. I know you have no way back now."
The three of them walked straight through the central gate.
The soldiers guarding the gate greeted Ba Mingyang.
Ba Mingyang nodded in acknowledgnt.
As the three walked past, the soldiers whispered among themselves.
"Is that Zhu Xiaosuo, the top-ranked son-in-law? He looks pretty ordinary to ."
"Indeed, nothing remarkable about him."
"Yes, yes, he’s ordinary. You two, with your big bellies and bald heads, are the real lookers."
"Just an ignorant fool. All the big families in the City of Seeking Immortality are willing to marry him, yet he insists on participating in the academy’s teaching examination, rejecting them."
"I actually admire him. A family head, even from a small county, chooses to stand and die."
"Ah, the top-ranked son-in-law, just died like that. If only it were ."
"Don’t talk about being first. I’d burn incense just to get on the son-in-law ranking."
"Bah, lowly! You deserve to guard the gate!"
"Aren’t you a gatekeeper too? What’s with the attitude?"
...
Ba Mingyang said to Zhu Xiaosuo:
"Don’t think no one’s paying attention to you on the road. In fact, all the families are watching in secret. They don’t dare show up because you’re too conspicuous right now."
"Then why is Brother Ba willing to associate with this pile of dog crap?"
"Spit, spit, spit, don’t talk about yourself like that. What’s our relationship? Everyone in the city knows you took the bla for during the spirit collapse incident at Black Snow Ridge and saved my life. I’m here to guide my life-saving brother, who can say otherwise?"
Though Ba Mingyang spoke lightly, Zhu Xiaosuo knew there were certainly difficulties involved.
In others’ eyes, his chance of passing the academy’s teaching examination was less than one in ten.
Because he, a dead man, made a group of well-established living people unhappy, it didn’t seem worth it.
The hardships involved, Ba Mingyang just didn’t want him to know.
"Ah, I guess I’ve caused Brother Ba so trouble. If I’d known, I would’ve co by myself."
"If you say that, I’ll get angry. If you pass the examination, we’ll drink and feast in the City of Seeking Immortality. If you die, I’ll collect your body!"
"Let my godfather handle the burial."
"I was just joking. You’re too mystical to die."
"Thanks for the good words, Brother Ba."
The three of them walked to a four-wheeled carriage with the word "Ba" written on the side, and no horse pulling it.
"The City of Seeking Immortality is too big. Let’s take my family’s spirit carriage to get there faster."
"Wait a minute! What? What’s this thing called?"
"Spirit carriage. A carriage powered by spirit stones is called a spirit carriage."
"…Damn, that’s ominous. But it’s convenient. If I die, you can use the spirit carriage to take back to Mountain Chicken County."
"Stop saying unlucky things."
"Riding a spirit carriage, can it get any luckier?"
Inside the carriage, a cultivator was controlling several handles.
This person was likely the spirit carriage driver.
Those handles were probably like a steering wheel, accelerator, and brake.
"Young master, where to?"
"The academy."
"Yes. Please, you and the two esteed guests, hold on tight."
The cultivator seed to send out a few sound transmission talismans before starting to operate the spirit carriage.
With a "whoosh," the spirit carriage shot forward.
Almost threw Zhu Xiaosuo off.
The acceleration was quite intense.
After about ten breaths, it stabilized.
Zhu Xiaosuo observed the interior of the spirit carriage.
He could feel that the entire carriage and its interior were made of spiritual materials.
A small window opened on the side, covered with a semi-transparent jade stone, likely to prevent airflow from entering while driving.
Zhu Xiaosuo watched the street scenes rapidly retreating outside the window, leaving only afterimages.
The speed was likely beyond his understanding, possibly even exceeding the speed of sound.
Zhu Xiaosuo asked the cultivator driving the spirit carriage:
"Master, driving the spirit carriage so fast on the ground, won’t it hit people?"
"I’m not worthy of being called master by an esteed person like you. Just call Xiao Wang. The spirit carriage doesn’t actually stick to the ground; it flies at low altitude, so it generally won’t hit people, only other spirit carriages."
"Then how do you avoid hitting other spirit carriages?"
"Before driving a spirit carriage, we send the route and ti to the traffic officer. If there’s a conflict with another spirit carriage, the traffic officer will tell us when we can go or suggest an alternative route. If there’s no conflict, we can drive directly. So accidents rarely happen."
"That’s ingenious."
"Brother Zhu is in such a good mood, truly fearless in the face of danger, still curious about spirit carriages."
"What else can I do? Just die in your carriage and be done with it?"
"Alright, alright, I’ll stop talking, I’ll shut up."
Compared to the two, Zhuang Yun was noticeably less enthusiastic.
He remained silent throughout the journey.
His expression was sowhat gloomy.
It was unclear whether he was thinking about Zhu Xiaosuo’s situation or reminiscing about his younger self.
"We’re almost there, young master, esteed guests, please hold on, we’re about to stop."
The deceleration process was much slower than the acceleration.
It took half a cup of tea’s ti to slow down.
"We’ve arrived at the academy."
"Alright, let’s get off, Brother Zhu, Zhuang Daoist."
The three got off the carriage, seeing no buildings within a thousand steps.
Only lush green bamboo surrounded them.
There were just two not-so-tall wooden doors, faintly visible in the bamboo forest.
Beside the wooden doors stood a female cultivator who looked to be in her twenties.
Without makeup, her ponytail was tied high, holding a folding fan, exuding elegance.
If not for the slight rise on her chest, Zhu Xiaosuo wouldn’t have been able to confirm whether she was a female cultivator or a delicately featured male cultivator.
Next to the female cultivator stood an ordinary wooden sign:
Recruiting academy teachers.
It seed those wanting to register for the academy’s teaching examination had to approach her.
In front of the female cultivator, seven or eight people were lined up.
All looked expectant and carried an extraordinary aura.
They were likely cultivators like Zhu Xiaosuo, here for the examination.
Many spirit carriages were parked around the bamboo forest.
Far more than the number of cultivators in line.
Zhu Xiaosuo didn’t pay much attention, guessing they were here to support these cultivators.
After all, the participating cultivators should all be at the Honoring the Ancient Stage.
With such cultivation, if nothing else, their status must be significant.
Otherwise, how could they secure the vast resources needed for cultivation?
Having a spirit carriage was quite normal.
"Brother Zhu, this is it. Go line up, and Zhuang Daoist and I will wait outside for your good news."
"Alright, thank you, Brother Ba."
"Zhu Xiaosuo, you can do it."
"Rest assured, godfather."
Just as Zhu Xiaosuo was about to step forward and line up, a female voice called out to him from behind:
"Are you Zhu Xiaosuo?"
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