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Chapter 74: Heavenly Qin School
Half a month went by in a flash, and the date of the Promise of Ten Years was drawing nearer. Xiao Chen holed himself up in his house, researching the talisman and Life Bestowal Spell. He spent the time in isolation, choosing not to leave his home for the duration.
“Hu!”
Xiao Chen followed the methods listed on the Compendium of Cultivation, and injected Spiritual Energy into the wooden sculpture. With a ‘shua’ sound, the wooden sculpture turned into a woman radiating golden light, and hovering in midair.
The woman wielded a long golden spear. She waved it gently in midair and a stream of Dragon Qi gathered in the spear. Nine golden dragon shadows appeared behind her back, giving off the might of the dragon into the surroundings.
“Boom!”
Before Xiao Chen’s smile could fade away the woman shattered, turning into a pile of ash, and scattering slowly into the air.
It’s still a failure, Xiao Chen sighed in his heart. His advancement in talismans was great, but he was still unable to succeed completely in the Life Bestowal Spell.
It was no longer difficult for Xiao Chen to carve some small animals and let them come to life temporarily. However, he was still unsuccessful at creating real soldiers and weapons.
This woman was carved in the image of Yue Ying. Yue Ying was the strongest women he had ever met. Furthermore, Xiao Chen’s Battle Sage Origins’ Changing Character Formula managed to capture a trace of the martial techniques that she used. Thus, it could be successfully merged within.
Nevertheless, during this past half a month of efforts, Xiao Chen kept feeling that he was missing a certain important grace. The lifeforms that he created for battle were not able to last more than three seconds.
Could it be that he could only succeed after he became a Martial Master? Xiao Chen thought with doubts in his heart. Only half a meter remained of the originally one meter long Spiritual Wood piece. The chances that Xiao Chen had left were limited.
It was difficult to find wood with a spiritual nature like this so Xiao Chen had Bao`er ask around in Linlang Pavilion, even in the Qizi County branch, to acquire more. It was rare to find even a single piece of wood like this in a year.
Those Spiritual Wood that were of a certain age were even more difficult to find. Even if this kind of Spiritual Wood was in stock, it would seem Xiao Chen was unable to obtain it due to this kind of Spiritual Wood being in high demand. The moment one was available, it was purchased by alchemists at high prices.
Although Xiao Chen was quite anxious, he did not worry about it too much. He could not rush these things. With regards to matters of comprehension or spirituality, the more one was in a hurry, the less likely one would find that kind of feeling.
Returning to the table, Xiao Chen’s vaguely depressed mood improved slightly. Scattered around the table were the talismans he had created over the past few days.
The talismans listed in the Compendium of Cultivation were complicated, and had many different types. These various types of talismans could cause one to have a headache; it was truly too much for his eyes to take in. To make it easy for him to organize them, Xiao Chen split them into three categories: attack type, defense type, special type.
The attack type talismans mainly used Spiritual Energy of different attributes. The more complicated the talisman scripts were, the more attributes the talisman had, and its attack would be stronger as well.
As for the defense type and special type talismans, in theory they functioned similarly to the attack type talismans, only they were used in slightly different ways.
Talismans could be divided into nine grades; with Xiao Chen’s current strength he was currently only able to sculpt Grade 2 talismans. It was possible for him to sculpt Grade 3 talismans, but the failure rate was very high.
After trying for a few times, Xiao Chen stopped attempting it. It wasted too many materials, and the gains did not make up for the losses he incurred.
“Second Young Master, the First Elder asked you to go to the great hall. He said that there is an important guest here,” Bao`er’s melodious voice rang from outside the door.
Xiao Chen opened the door and came out. He said with some doubts, “Important guest? Bao`er, do you know who it is?”
Bao`er smiled mischievously, “It’s a beauty; a very pretty one. The First Elder was very respectful to her, addressing her as Miss Feng.”
“Miss Feng? Feng Feixue?”
Xiao Chen’s eyes brightened, “Is the girl wearing men’s clothes?”
Bao`er replied strangely, “Second Young Master, how did you know?”
“Can I not predict it?” Xiao Chen smiled gently.
That should be right, Xiao Chen thought in his heart, it definitely is Feng Feixue. How strange, what is she doing at our Xiao Clan at this time?
It was only half a month away from the Promise of Ten Years; was this just a coincidence?
After walking past a few gardens, Xiao Chen quickly arrived at the great hall. What caused Xiao Chen surprise was that aside from Xiao Qiang and Feng Feixue, Xiao Jian nd Xiao Yulan were present as well.
“Young Master Xiao, it’s been a long time,” Feng Feixue was dressed in male attire, exuding a sense of heroism; she still looked as graceful as before.
Xiao Chen smiled gently, “I never expected to meet you here. Running into you everywhere, Miss Feng truly possesses remarkable abilities.”
When the three people at the side saw that Xiao Chen knew Feng Feixue, they were astonished. Xiao Qiang asked, “Xiao Chen, you know Miss Feng already?”
Xiao Yulan and Xiao Jian were curious about Xiao Chen’s answer to Xiao Qiang’s question.
Xiao Chen found a chair and sat beside Xiao Yulan, “Can’t really say I know her. We have met a few times. Would First Elder please introduce us properly?”
Xiao Qiang smiled when he heard this, “This is Miss Feng Feixue. The merchant’s association run by her clan is the largest in the Great Qin Nation. Their business is spread throughout the entire continent. Even in the Great Jin Nation, they are amongst the top.”
“Their ancestors and our Xiao Clan had some sort of relationship,” there was a faint sad expression in his eyes as Xiao Qiang said this.
Feng Feixue keenly noticed the faint sadness in Xiao Qiang’s eyes. She smiled indifferently, appearing to be very calm, “Uncle Xiao speaks too highly... We are merely businessmen.”
Although she said it in a modest manner, the way she said it showed that she had accepted Xiao Qiang’s words. Xiao Chen and the other two were astonished. The Tianwu Continent was so big, and yet her clan was able to spread their business throughout it The amount of strength needed to accomplish this could not be underestimated.
However, with such great power, how could it be that they had a relationship with the Xiao Clan’s ancestors? Even if they did used to have a relationship with the Xiao Clan’s ancestor, there was no need to pay the Xiao Clan a visit now.
Xiao Qiang looked at the three of them and said, “Since the three of you are here, I shall tell you the purpose of Miss Feng’s visit. After the Promise of Ten Years is over, regardless of the results, Miss Feng intends to think of a way to recommend all of you to the Heavenly Qin School.”
Heavenly Qin School... When the three of them heard these words, their hearts were in turmoil and they were unable to calm down for a long time.
Heavenly Qin School was one of the five great schools of the Tianwu Continent. It was situated in the capital of the Great Qin nation. Actually, it had existed for even longer than the Great Qin Nation.
According to legend, the Founding Emperor of the Great Qin Nation, Ying Zheng, studied at the Heavenly Qin School when he was young. After he founded the nation, he immediately declared the Heavenly Qin School to be the National Institution.
Aside from the three Holy Lands in the Tianwu Continent, there were a few other powers that had existed before the Tianwu Dynasty. Some of them were even older than the Holy Lands.
These powers had been passed down since the Tianwu Dynasty. In the hearts of people, there was not much difference from the Hole Lands. Such examples of these powers in the Great Qin Nation were the Misty Sword Sect, Heavenly Saber Pavilion, and the Night Spirit Palace.
The Heavenly Qin School was an existence that sat in between these two types of powers. It was stronger than those false Holy Lands, but was weaker than the three Holy Lands. However, there was a fundamental difference from those sects. The school would not interfere with the power struggles between the sects; it was simply a school for studying.
Even when there were internal conflicts in the imperial family, the extremely strong ancient seniors of the school did not lend a helping hand.
Xiao Jian suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked, “With our talents, can we really join the Heavenly Qin School?”
Feng Feixue smiled indifferently, “You don’t have to worry about this. The entrance exam of the school is not purely based on cultivation levels. The most important thing is combat abilities. Furthermore, with your current cultivations, your talents cannot be considered poor within the nation.
“The most important thing is that some large clans have a few spots reserved for them. You don’t have to worry at all.”
Xiao Jian was not stupid, he quickly understood what she meant. He asked bluntly, “These spots should be very precious. Do you have any demands of us by giving them to us? I don’t believe that you would be so generous.”
Feng Feixue could not help but smile when she heard this, “First Young Master is very direct, but I truly do not have any demands. If you do not believe it, you can ask Uncle Xiao.”
The three of them turned their gazes to Xiao Qiang to see what eh would say. For there to be no demands, it was truly unbelievable.
Xiao Qiang nodded his head, “If you have any concerns, just speak your mind. If you do not wish to go, Miss Feng will not force you.”
“Xiao Jian gives many thanks to Miss Feng’s kind intentions. I truly wish to go, please forgive my earlier words.”
[TL notes: In ancient chinese culture, sometimes when one is being very respectful, they might refer to themselves in the third person. It's more of a formal way of saying things.]
“I wish to know how wide the heavens are, and how many talented geniuses there are on this earth. If I stay in Mohe City forever, I will definitely come to regret it,” there was a trace of a heroic spirit and sincerity in Xiao Jian’s tone.
Xiao Yulan looked at Xiao Chen. Her eyes were twinkling with hope, “Cousin Xiao Chen, are you going?”
“I’ll see when father comes out from his isolation,” Xiao Chen said, somewhat evading the question.
Although Xiao Chen was looking forward to joining the Heavenly Qin School, he did not long for it as much as Xiao Jian. As for how wide the heavens were and how many talented genius there were... Could these answers be found in the Heavenly Qin School?
When one’s eyes are obscured by a leaf, one is unable to see Mount Tai. The sky that you see may be only a leaf in the eyes of others.
[TL notes: When one’s eyes are obscured by a leaf, one is unable to see Mount Tai... this means that they are unable to see the wider picture.]
Xiao Chen had already made up his mind long ago to leave the Xiao Clan after the Promise of Ten Years. As to where he would go, he had not yet decided. After the matter with Ao Jiao, the Lunar Shadow Saber had not rang out for him again. The place he really wanted to go was still the Heavenly Saber Pavilion.
Thinking of Ao Jiao, the depressing feelings that Xiao Chen kept suppressed erupted out, causing him to feel a sense of loss.
Xiao Jian could not help but be surprised when he heard Xiao Chen’s words. He could not help but cast his gaze on the First Elder. Xiao Qiang smiled gently, “No matter. After the Clan Head comes out from isolation, he would respect your decisions. He would absolutely not stop you.”
Xiao Yulan could not help but feel some disappointment when she noticed the lack of the desire to go in Xiao Chen’s words. She said sadly, “Miss Feng, can I consider this for awhile first?”
Seeing Xiao Yulan’s expression, a strange glow flashed in Feng Feixue’s eyes but it disappeared very quickly. Feng Feixue smiled and said, “I will not be leaving for a month; you can take your time and consider carefully.”
She then turned her gaze to Xiao Chen, “Young Master Xiao, may I have a word with you?”
Xiao Chen looked towards the First Elder. After seeing him nod, he replied, “Sure, no problem.”
The two of them walked out of the great hall, and Feng Feixue was leading the way in front. They stopped when they arrived at the desolated garden. Turning around, a pair of bright eyes stared at Xiao Chen.
Feeling a little unnatural, Xiao Chen said, “I wonder what does Miss Feng wants to speak to me about.”
“Pu Ci!”
Feng Feixue did not respond to him. Instead, a folding fan appeared in her hands and was shoved in front of Xiao Chen’s face. The folding fan gave off a fiery-red glow; as it approached Xiao Chen, it opened up with a ‘shua’ sound.
A fiery-red lotus flower soared high into the air. It was very alluring, and pretty.