Legend of the Great Sage Chapter 278 - The Watermirror Disc

Chapter 278 - The Watermirror Disc

Li Qingshan said, “I only reached the sixth layer recently.”

eting acquaintances in a foreign land should have been a matter of great joy, but Li Long was left with his mouth hanging, unsure as for how to refer to Li Qingshan. The cowherd that no one took seriously in the past could now rival their school master. Their identities were worlds apart now. Directly calling him by na seed rather rude.

“Oh, this is the master of our Iron Fist school, Tie Zhan.” His voice even bore a countryside accent that Li Qingshan found familiar.

Li Qingshan thought of the past as well, rembering the frustration with the Crouching Ox village, as well as the dangers of Qingyang city. The master of one of the four great organisations of Qingyang city in the past was now standing before him, but a sixth layer Qi Practitioner was already nothing in his eyes. He had no interest in fawning over him, nor did he want to cause any offence, so he handled him casually,

“So it’s school master Tie. Apologies, apologies for failing to recognise you.”

Tie Zhan said, “The Crouching Ox village sure is a place that births great n. When I saw Li Long, I already thought he was a rare talent, but only when I saw brother Qingshan did I realise that there will always be soone greater. The matter of how you beat the Sect of Clouds and Rain in two matches in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain two days ago has already spread throughout the prefectural city. It’s just a pity that I wasn’t able to see it for myself.”

No matter how influential the Iron Fist school was, they could only treat each other as equals as they were both sixth layer Qi Practitioners. Coupled with the fact that Li Qingshan was relatively young and had limitless potential, Tie Zhan even needed to treat him politely so that he could befriend him.

“Are the disciples of your esteed school taking part in the entrance examination too?” Li Qingshan glanced at Li Long.

Li Long’s face sank, and he lowered his head. Let alone the fact that school master Tie would never agree, but even if he did agree, where was he supposed to obtain the spiritual stones for the school fees? That was a total of one hundred spiritual stones. He did extraordinarily well in the Iron Fist school, so he would obtain a few spiritual stones every now and then, but they were not even enough for buying various pills, so he was in no position to save any money. And, by the ti he really managed to save a hundred spiritual stones, who knew how old he would be. He would have missed the optimal period for cultivation. If he fell behind by a single step, he would be behind forever.

“It’s my son. I do hope that you can take good care of him in the future, brother,” Tie Zhan changed the topic. He looked around. “Where’s he? Didn’t I tell you to call him over?”

Why would the Iron Fist school pay such a trendous price to send the disciples that they had raised after so much effort to the Academy of the Hundred Schools? Once they had broadened their horizons and increased their cultivation, who would still be willing to serve the Iron Fist school? And, even if they did return, they would probably be coming after the entire organisation to replace him.

“The young master said he’s busy,” Yan Song said awkwardly.

“Call him over!”

With just a mont of thought, Li Qingshan understood what was going on. He fell silent.

A while later, Yan Song brought over a young man with a square face and large ears who seed slightly similar to Tie Zhan. The young man said impatiently, “What is it? I’m busy!” He was busy talking with a few pretty female cultivators, so he was in no mood to et so man.

“You bastard, why don’t you greet your big brother Li?”

“What big brother Li? Don’t tell it’s Li Long?” The young man snickered. Seeing how no one played along with him, he arrived beside Tie Zhan’s side and saw Li Qingshan. He leapt in fright. “You’re Li Qingshan!”

He had also been having fun in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain that night. He had a very deep impression of the person before him. He imdiately grew stern. “Greetings, elder brother. I hope you can take good care of this little brother in the future. If there’s anything I can help you with, please don’t hold back.” He completely ignored the fact that Li Qingshan was younger than him. He showed great modesty and courtesy, referring to himself as little brother.

Tie Zhan nodded in satisfaction. Although this kid shirked away from his responsibilities sotis, at least he was not completely ignorant and knew what was what.

Li Qingshan said, “I can tell with a single glance that you’re very smart with a limitless future, but you don’t have anyone to tend to you once you enter the academy. Why don’t you have Li Long enter the academy as a partner of yours? There’s no need for school master Tie to pay anything either. I’ll cover the fees for him. What do you think, school master?”

“Must you be buried in your place of ho? Sufficient are the green mountains overgrown.” Since he had already decided to never return to his hotown again, Li Long was probably the last person from the sa village he would be able to see in his life. The one hundred spiritual stones to enter the academy had already beco nothing to him. Since it took him nothing, why not help him out?

Li Long bead in joy when he heard that. He glanced at Li Qingshan in great appreciation before looking at Tie Zhan nervously.

Tie Zhan hesitated before smiling. “Fine then. You’re brothers, so you do have to take care of soone from the sa hotown. This is Li Long’s good fortune, as well as our Iron Fist school’s good fortune. I can only celebrate over sothing like this, so why would I say no? If it were not for the fact that the Iron Fist school is currently experiencing so cash flow issues, you wouldn’t need to pay anything at all.” He could see how Li Qingshan was soone who valued the ties of the past. He needed to get that bastard of a son of his to be more polite to Li Long in the future.

“Then thank you, school master.” Li Qingshan took out a hundred spiritual stones from his hundred treasures pouch and passed it to Li Long.

The young master of the Iron Fist school wrapped his arm around Li Long’s neck. “A’Long, you’re rich!” Even without Tie Zhan’s reminder, he had already begun to treat him more warmly and politely.

Li Long knew that this was all because of the young man standing before him. He said gratefully, “Qingshan, I’ll definitely return this sum of spiritual stones to you.” He knew extrely well that the Academy of the Hundred Schools would release various missions, providing disciples with opportunities to make spiritual stones. It was not impossible for him to make this sum of one hundred spiritual stones; this was the most difficult obstacle. Once he made it past this, there were infinite possibilities.

Li Qingshan said, “If you want to return it, then give two hundred spiritual stones!”

Li Long was stunned, while the young school master muttered inside, Isn’t this usury? He really could not tell, but sure enough, fellow townsn would always stab each other in the back when they t.

However, Li Qingshan continued, “I’ll wait until the day when a hundred spiritual stones an nothing in your eyes.”

“Alright!” Li Long nodded firmly.

Ye Dachuan said, “That’s fantastic. You’ll all be fellow students in the future!”

Li Qingshan smiled. As people from the sa ho town, this was all that he could do. What happened next would depend on how he cultivated.

At this mont, several large ships cut through the waves and mist.

There was a disturbance on the sandy shoal. Everyone stopped talking and raised their heads. The one who stood out the most happened to be the giant lumberman, Mu Kui.

Hua Chenglu and Yu Zijian stood nearby. They also had a group of young n and won beside them. They did not pay too much attention to Li Qingshan, who they had only t a few tis. They did not co to find him either.

Instead, Qian Rongzhi constantly scanned through the crowd. She was standing with a few enforcent disciples of legalism. She had already heard of Li Qingshan’s battle with Wei Zhongyuan, and she had heard how he said he had so confidence in killing Wei Zhongyuan.

In the eyes of the legalist disciples, this was a boastful joke. They all said it was Li Qingshan’s pigheadedness, but she begged to differ. She believed that Li Qingshan had complete confidence in finishing off Wei Zhongyuan. What mattered was how she was supposed to get Li Qingshan to capture Wei Zhongyuan alive and hand him over to her.

“Rongzhi, you’ve t this kid before us all. Has he always liked to boast so much?” Even now, Han Qiongzhi still felt rather unhappy. She noticed Qian Rongzhi’s gaze and beca riled up again.

Qian Rongzhi said, “Senior sister Han, I’m not on close terms with him. Unless he possesses a supre grade talisman, it’s impossible for him to be the opponent of a tenth layer Qi Practitioner.”

An idea flashed through Han Qiongzhi’s head. She muttered, “Really?” A supre grade talisman was equivalent to the attack of a Foundation Establishnt cultivator. If he really was in possession of one, there really might have been a chance. Of course, it was only a tiny chance at that.

“Co with !” She imdiately could not help herself but pull Qian Rongzhi along with her as she forced her way through the crowd, arriving before Li Qingshan. She grabbed him by the shoulder. “Tell , do you have a supre grade talisman?”

“Ma’am Han!” Tie Zhan cried out. Young miss Han was renowned in Clear River city. Her fiery temper had made many people suffer in the past. He never thought Li Qingshan would actually be acquainted with her.

“Weirdo.” Xiao An, who had remained silent on the side the entire ti, muttered quietly.

Right? Qian Rongzhi shot a glance at her. Xiao An smiled brightly, like they knew what each other was thinking.

Even Li Qingshan found Han Qiongzhi’s personality to be rather strange. He said, “Lend your ear.”

Han Qiongzhi stuck her head over in a hurry and heard Li Qingshan whisper, “I have a few.”

Han Qiongzhi was surprised. “Lend your ear too!”

Li Qingshan shook his head helplessly and leaned in. He heard her whisper, “Really?”

“Whether you believe it is up to you.”

Han Qiongzhi smiled. “Looks like I’ve actually gotten in your way. Fine, I’ll forgive you. Kicking you off the shuttle earlier was my fault, but I still did everything out of good intentions, so you still needed to thank . We’re fair now.”

“Whatever.”

With that matter now over, Han Qiongzhi was in a good mood. She saw the strange gazes from everywhere, and only then did she realise the implicative nature of whispering in each other’s ears in public. She growled, “What’re you all looking at? Piss off!”

She shot a glance at Li Qingshan again, If you didn’t want others to hear you, you could’ve just used communication technique instead. Why did you have to do that? You clearly don’t have anything good in mind.

With a snort, she stamped her foot and left. Qian Rongzhi nodded at Xiao An before leaving with her. She would have plenty of ti to sche once she joined the academy. She was lucky that Wei Zhongyuan had not died.

Li Qingshan and Xiao An glanced at one another. What a weirdo.

By now, the ships had already arrived on the side of the sandy shoal. One of the ships extended a gangway to the shoal. A bitter-looking female instructor with protruding cheekbones called out, “Co here, children!”

Li Qingshan clasped his hands to bid farewell to Ye Dachuan before holding Xiao An’s hand and squeezing his way through the crowd towards the ship.

The children around them were all noisy, but none of them cried or threw a tantrum. Under the guidance of their respective leaders, they boarded the ship one by one in an orderly manner. Not only did these regular children recomnded to co here have to possess the talent to practise qi, but they also had to possess a suitable ntal disposition for cultivation too.

“Go. I’ll see you in a while. If anything happens, use this.”

When Xiao An was about to board the ship, Li Qingshan crouched down and rubbed her head. He threaded a jade thumb ring and hung it around her neck, before wagging his thumb before her, showing her he was wearing another jade ring.

These were a pair of jade thumb rings, which were also a set of interesting spiritual artifacts that Li Qingshan had found from all those hundred treasures pouches. The two ford a pair, which would allow them to talk to one another from a distance.

As he watched Xiao An line up and board the ship with the other kids, Li Qingshan sighed gently. He felt like a parent who was sending their child off to school.

A while later, the surroundings emptied out. The gangway retracted into the ship, and it sailed off once more, vanishing into the misty waters.

Only when the sandy shoal was no longer visible did Xiao An look away.

The children struggled to hide their excitent. For most of them, this was the first ti they had ever taken such a large ship. If it were not for the stern gaze of the female instructor, they would have begun running around in joy already.

“Hey. What’s your na?”

A pudgy child, around eleven or twelve years of age, asked Xiao An in an arrogant manner. He was dressed in silks and satins, and he was even surrounded by a group of “little brothers”. They all ca from the sa place. The pudgy child’s family was rich, and he was both tall and wide, so he beca their leader.

Xiao An did not answer him.

“That’s a nice ring. Let see!” The pudgy kid snatched at the ring on Xiao An’s chest as soon as he spotted it. It had always been like this for him whenever he wanted sothing.

Xiao An took a step back and shoved the ring into her clothes. The pudgy child missed.

“How dare you defy !” The pudgy child shot a glare at her and actually gave off a sense of brutality. He directly reached towards Xiao An’s hair. At ho, all the female servants were afraid of this move. He would only let go after they had wept and begged him.

Hmph, I’ll tear out a patch of your hair. I’d like to see whether you’ll still dismiss after that.

Xiao An threw out a punch. She suddenly rembered that this was not an enemy she had to kill, so she subsequently held back most of her strength.

With a thump, the pudgy child was sent flying. He collided with his group of little brothers before bursting into tears. The children he collided with began crying too.

“Stop crying! What’s happened?” The female instructor imdiately walked over.

“She hit .” The pudgy child covered his face. He had lost quite a few teeth.

The female instructor frowned. “Did you hit him?”

Xiao An said nothing. Apart from Li Qingshan, she had never really conversed with anyone else. She would prefer turning this ship full of people into fire instead.

The pudgy child said pitifully, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She just hit . I even lost a few teeth.”

The female instructor was irritated. She pointed at Xiao An’s forehead. “Tell , why did you hit him?”

Xiao An suddenly raised her head. A pair of eyes that seed like black pearls were embedded in her delicate face.

The female instructor looked into the pitch-black, severe eyes and shivered inside for so reason. She was unable to keep pointing at her anymore. Did this kid possess so powerful background? She imdiately dismissed that thought. Basically all descendants of influential clans would begin practising qi at a young age. They would be sent to the academy once they developed a certain foundation. Only children chosen from regular people would be on this ship.

As a result, she beca even more furious. “Do you even want to hit too?” She raised her hand, about to beat her with it, but she suddenly thought about how the leaders of the school might be looking over here right now.

As a result, she put her hand back down and thought of sothing. “Don’t move.” Then she said to the pudgy boy, “Get up. She hit you, so hit her back.”

The boy wiped aside her tears. Having received the instructor’s permission, he seed to be in pain, but he was complacent inside. Regular children probably would never be able to bring themselves to hit back, but he directly threw a punch as hard as he could. Before he could even celebrate, he felt his stomach ache as he was sent flying again, directly fainting on the ground. Fortunately, his group of little brothers dodged cleverly, so they were not struck by him this ti.

There were two, however, who sobbed even harder. “Murder! Murder!”

The female instructor had been paying attention to Xiao An the entire ti; she wanted to prevent her from dodging. However, the kick that Xiao An had launched after jumping up was both quick and stealthy, such that even she could not react. She could not help but beco enraged as she erupted with curses. “Do you really think a troubleso little animal like you can practise qi and cultivate? I don’t think so! Once we reach the shore, I’ll have you piss off to where you ca from…”

She returned to the nose of the ship furiously. She obviously did not have the authority to make the ship turn around, but she had plenty of ways to deal with misbehaving children in the Academy of the Hundred Schools.

In a quiet room within the Academy of the Hundred Schools.

There were heavy curtains in the room, which made the entire place gloomy. Around a dozen or so figures were vaguely visible, sitting in their respective seats.

The various leaders of the schools were all gathered here. The auras they radiated with in the silence was enough to make any Qi Practitioner tremble. Their wills determined everything within the Clear River prefecture that spanned fifteen hundred kiloters.

At the centre of the room was a large, jade disc. The disc was engraved with exquisite glyphs. The na of the disc was the Watermirror disc. It was a strange treasure that allowed them to see anywhere within a range of fifty kiloters.

The true examination had already begun. The leaders witnessed and took note of every single person’s performance.

The Watermirror disc rippled and produced a clear image.

Right now, it depicted the ship.

No matter how the female instructor insulted or threatened her, Xiao An remained calm and unperturbed the entire ti, treating the threatening woman like air.

“Is this the child that Qiu Haitang wants? She truly is quite different,” said a man dressed like a confucian scholar with a square hat on his head. He had delicate facial features and only seed to be around thirty years of age, but he was actually at an advanced age of eighty already. He was Ye Dachuan’s brother-in-law, the prefect of the Clear River prefecture, and the leader of the school of Confucianism, Liu Zhangqing. What happened in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain two nights ago obviously could not escape his ears.

TL: A square hat, as in one depicted in the picture below:

“That girly is unfazed by both harassnt and flattery. Her ntal fortitude is quite rare.” A bald-headed monk nodded with prayer beads in his hands.

“Zhangqing, who chose this woman to receive the children? She’s so harsh and impatient, without any regard for what’s wrong or right. These children will develop a bad impression of the academy the mont they join it,” said a skinny but energetic old man in coarse clothing with a long, formal hat.

TL: A long, formal hat, like the one depicted in the picture below:

“If the instructor is too gentle, how are they supposed to keep so many kids under control? And, it’s all her fault for not speaking up and explaining what had happened, or the instructor wouldn’t have blad her. Who can she bla apart from herself? As for the little fatty, he must be removed from the academy imdiately. He already knows how to gang up on people and steal at such a young age, paying no regard to what’s wrong or right. What will he beco if he practises qi?” The Scarlet Hawk commander, the leader of the school of Legalism, Wang Pushi, said in an impressive manner.

Liu Zhangqing said, “If that’s the case, then we’ll go with that!” A figure imdiately stood up and departed behind the curtain. Many instructors were waiting outside, ensuring that their orders could be carried out at any ti.

“Let’s look at the person who brought her here instead!” The image in the Watermirror disc changed, now depicting Li Qingshan. He was currently boarding a ship with other people.

Li Qingshan seed to sense sothing, so he looked around. Was soone looking at him?

The people behind him urged, “Hurry up!”

Li Qingshan made his way forward and arrived before a jolly instructor. He took out the one hundred spiritual stones he had prepared, and the instructor stowed them into his hundred treasures pouch. The instructor called out, “Another one!”

He seed like he was running a business. However, Li Qingshan had estimated that the revenue of the academy would probably approach a hundred thousand spiritual stones from just this intake of disciples.

And, this was just the beginning. The way the academy charged their disciples was very special. It was a hundred spiritual stones for every single person for the first year. If they failed to increase their cultivation by a single layer the next year, the fees would double, becoming two hundred spiritual stones.

Li Qingshan knew with the simple knowledge of mathematics from his past life that just by compounding a few more tis, the fees would reach a level that no Qi Practitioner could afford. Joining the Academy of the Hundred Schools was easy. There were so many schools, so there would always be a school willing to accept a particular person. However, wanting to remain in the academy was very difficult. Qi Practitioners at higher cultivations would struggle to increase their cultivation, so they would end up suffering instead.

PS: The releases haven’t been as smooth as I imagined they will be. Perhaps you understand this feeling. The more you want to do sothing well, the more afraid you beco of screwing it up, so you find it difficult. This part of the plot also happens to be the transitional chapters that are most difficult to write, so I really have to put in a lot of effort.

I’m not indulging in myself and having the ti of my life when I’m not writing. I don’t know about other authors, but when I have a writing block, it’s even more painful than constipation. I can’t settle down no matter what I do. As a man without a car, a house, or a woman, there doesn’t seem to be any serious business I can do apart from write. I want to make so more money too! Fortunately, I’ve basically made it past the toughest part, so the upcoming releases should slowly stabilise.

Originally, I didn’t want to explain so much. Explaining is covering it up, and covering it up is telling stories, which I suddenly rembered was my career, so I’ll explain!

If you understand, then I thank you for your understanding. If you don’t understand, then I can understand why you don’t understand. Anyway, just try to understand each other. Long live understanding each other. Today’s the last day for double monthly tickets, do you understand?

(From the author)