Chapter 11: The Academy (II)
Yin BiYue made an extreme effort to restrain himself. Only then could he ensure that his facial complexion wouldn’t change.
He respectfully and cautiously lowered his head before plastering on an expression that made it seem as if he had taken the Director’s teachings to heart.
Although the thoughts in his mind swarmed around endlessly, the look on his face was still as profound as water. This was because, if he displayed even the slightest change in expression, Yin BiYue wouldn’t be able to conceal it from that person’s eyes.
‘That person’……of course this referred to Luo MingChuan.
So it turned out, the original Yin BiYue had the Academy Director’s support? Was that why he was willing to make a killing move?
Why did the Director want to kill Luo MingChuan? Hadn’t Luo MingChuan also studied at the Academy?
Besides, with the Director’s status and level of cultivation, he could use a hundred different methods to kill Luo MingChuan. Why would he decide to use Yin BiYue?
For a Sage to scheme in the dark, was the Director’s ultimate goal truly just Luo MingChuan?! Or……was it Cang Ya Mountain?!
However, the Academy had remained neutral for countless years. Moreover, their friendship with Cang Ya was extremely sincere. The Sword Saint was even reportedly close friends with the Academy Director.
Or was it that there was something special about Luo MingChuan?
When had Yin BiYue been given the Director’s order? When he had entered the Academy? Or when he had become the Sword Saint’s disciple? Did the Sword Saint know about this?
Yin BiYue felt that he had been drawn into a treacherous situation. He was only an insignificant chess piece in the hands of those big shots as they played around.
If it was anyone else who had encountered this kind of situation, they definitely would have become anxious to the point where they couldn’t carry on for even another day.
However, when Yin BiYue finally snapped out of his daze, the only thought in his mind was:
The Villain Faction in this world actually had this kind of big shot?! Where was he supposed to put his own face and honour??!!
“For the time being, let’s forget about this matter. In the future, you also no longer have to constantly think about this,” the Director turned around before walking toward the two rattan chairs beneath the tree. “Come and sit.”
The meaning of his words was that Yin BiYue no longer had to plan to kill Luo MingChuan.
He didn’t decline the Director’s invitation and silently sat down.
A few flowers from the Chinese scholar tree fell onto the stone table in front of them. A half-worn, black glazed tea set was placed there.
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“You came just in time to accompany me in watching the stars.”
Yin BiYue began contemplating. When he first arrived here, it had been early morning. Later, after he entered this bizarre and mysterious realm and woke up, it was already sunset. Right now, the sky was already dark. And after the time it took someone to drink a small cup of tea, now, they could already see stars.
Sure enough, everything had been within the Academy Director’s grasp and control.
The Director deftly boiled water to cleanse the utensils. Then, he inserted a roll of tender, silky tea leaves and poured water into the cup before he gently swirled the tea around.
Pure white patches blossomed on the sides of the cup from the heat. Despite practically shining on the black glaze of the cups, they didn’t look out of place and instead produced a colour combination that gave one a harmonious feeling.
The Director’s movements were natural and unforced, free and at ease. Yet, they also looked rather methodical, where not even a fraction of a hair strand was out of place.
Yin BiYue thought, this was probably what ‘I could follow the dictates of my own heart1’ looked like.
He watched this scene seriously. But in his heart, Yin BiYue couldn’t help but find things a bit funny. How many people under the heavens wouldn’t even dare to imagine the Academy Director serving them tea? However, he actually received this hospitality for no reason at all. Was this the benefit of assisting big shots?
The two sat under the trees. They both didn’t have much to say. After boiling the water, they began nursing their cups of tea.
Unconsciously, Yin BiYue’s drifting state of mind finally calmed down. It seemed that things weren’t about to progress in the manner he had guessed. Within the remnants of the original Yin BiYue’s emotions, he didn’t seem to be on guard against the Director at all. And as Yin BiYue continued to sit there, all his guesses and apprehension seemed to be slowly dispersed.
His nerves, ones that had been tautly stretched ever since he arrived in this world, finally relaxed within the mist of the tea’s fragrance.
He picked up his own teacup before gently rotating it. Ripples began appearing on the surface of his tea, which reflected the light from the stars.
The Director drank a whole cup of tea before squinting in satisfaction. Then, he lifted his head and looked toward the sky.
Thick clouds covered the moon, which made the stars appear even more resplendent and glorious.
A hint of a smile could be seen in the Director’s eyes. “In reality, the stars don’t move as slowly as they do in our eyes. Some actually move very quickly.”
Yin BiYue felt a bit surprised as he also lifted his head to look. However, he could only see the vast sky filled with silent stars.
He immediately realized that the sky the Director saw was far different from the one in his eyes.
Yin BiYue couldn’t imagine what the world would look like through a Sage’s eyes. It was like how mayflies didn’t know how big the world was, and how summer insects couldn’t speak of the frost.
And even in his past lives, he had never experienced what it felt to have a ‘million-league gaze that could pierce through the cosmos’.
The Director watched the sky with keen interest and pleasure. He switched to a more comfortable position before he leaned back against the rattan chair.
And then, he quickly smashed apart Yin BiYue’s understanding of the world once more.
With a sigh, the Director said, “Last year, the ‘Kang Dragon’ and the ‘Winged Snake’ were still separated by a measure of Ganges River Sand. But now, I calculate that they ought to move down the same path.”
‘Kang Dragon’ and ‘Winged Snake’ were the names of celestial constellations.
And ‘Ganges River Sand’ was a unit of measure used by a Buddhist Sect. It was around 10^52 square meters wide.
Then, the Director narrowed his eyes before muttering under his breath. Yin BiYue couldn’t hear what he said that distinctly, and only roughly heard ‘10^36’, ‘10^48’, ‘10^60’, and a few other enormous calculation units.
Suddenly, the man raised his finger and swiped the air, as if he was connecting two dots in the sky.
So it turned out that this was what a Sage’s divine future sight was.
It wasn’t truly seeing ‘the Dao’, or some kind of mysterious and Godly sense. No, it was genuine calculation.
He used accumulated knowledge that was a vast as the open sea, a special calculation method, formidable calculating ability, and experience accumulated over a practically endless time to figure out a result.
Yin BiYue was extremely shocked.
To understand fate just by watching the stars……As for what the Director wanted to see, just what exactly could it be?
At this time, the person sitting beside him set down his tea cup. The Director gave him a faint smile and said, “It is about time you set off from Cang Ya. It is best you go southward.”
The bottom of their pot of tea could finally be seen.
The night wind picked up. It blew away the remnant fragrance of tea and mixed it with the sweet scent of the Chinese Scholar tree flowers as they floated along in the night sky.
The wind even scattered the dense clouds sitting in the horizon. A ray of silver white light penetrated from the remote, peak of the heavens above and spilled onto the earth.
The luminous moon emerged from behind the clouds.
At the same time, the glorious stars that had filled up the sky before instantly dimmed down. So much that Yin BiYue couldn’t even see the smaller stars clearly anymore.
The moon appeared, and the stars dimmed.
The Director’s smile also became hidden among the minute wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. He began to tidy up his tea set.
Yin BiYue knew that tonight’s stargazing event had came to an end.
Thus, he stood up before brushing away the flower petals that had settled into the folds of his robes. Then, he formally bowed with his hands held in front, making a gesture that resembled the disciple greeting he had performed when he just arrived.
This served as his farewell.
The Director seemed to be tired and didn’t speak. He only nodded his head as he leaned against the rattan chair.
Yin BiYue took out that invitation from his sleeves. His figure began rippling like that of water. Then, in a flash, he faded away from the small courtyard.
Afterwards, there was only a single person left in the courtyard.
Even if he had the bright moonlight, something that also didn’t have a companion, to accompany him, he still appeared somewhat lonely.
The expression of the intellectual, scholarly person was dark, gloomy, and unclear.
He stared at the desolate, night sky, before muttering to himself, “As a matter of fact, the moon was also a star.”
There seemed to be a sigh echoing throughout the Academy, where not a sound should be heard.
Only, this star was way too bright, so no one dared to compete against it.
Yin BiYue appeared back in Xi Hua Peak. The sky was dim, like it had been before he left.
The invitation in his hand turned into particles of dust before dissipating into the night sky.
He somewhat regretfully thought, this ‘Academy One-Day Pass’ was truly a one-time use thing, ah. He originally thought he had received a spiritual talisman that would allow him to move between Cang Ya and the Academy whenever he pleased.
He didn’t know when he could ever achieve that kind of power, where a casual stamp of a seal could give someone a talisman that could split apart space and allow them to travel thousands of miles away.
At this time, Yin BiYue still hadn’t realized that after experiencing his moment of enlightenment in the Academy, the question he was pondering had already turned into ‘when can I reach the realm of a Sage?’ and not if he could become a Sage in the first place.
Within a hundred cultivators at the Soul Manifestation stage, perhaps only forty of them would question when they would enter the Revelation stage. Twenty of them would wonder when they could enter the Enlightenment stage, and five would anticipate the Immortalization stage. However, almost no one would question what a Sage’s cultivation would be like.
Yin BiYue didn’t think about those things. Right now, he only believed that industrious and incessant cultivating would be sufficient.
There was no need to ask any questions. There was no need to wait.
This was the self-confidence of his subconscious mind.
He wouldn’t question himself and waste time, or repeatedly conjecture things that would whittle away his willpower.
Yin BiYue grasped his sword hilt with his right hand before raising his head to take a look.
As if because it was no longer blocked by the high walls of mansions in Yunyang City, the moonlight in Cang Ya Mountain was even more distinct and cold.
One could vaguely hear the rustling of tree leaves and the shaking of pines from the forest. The partridges would cry out from time to time, making the night all more larger and lonely.
His flowing and abundant sword intent from when he had been at the Academy in the daytime was something he could no longer mimic now.
But although that was something he longed for, it was something one could only come across serendipitously.
Regardless, it had given him a big revelation.
Yin BiYue stood in his courtyard for the whole night. By the crack of dawn, his entire body was wet with the dense moisture of the morning dew. However, the light in his eyes had become increasingly bright.
Yin BiYue thought, he may have finally found a way to use his sword.