Chapter 210: Chapter 176 Exam
Two garrison soldiers whispered to each other as they walked away.
"Eldest Son, are we just going to leave like this? Shouldn’t we ask some more questions?"
"What do you want to ask? That’s Mr. Li, the Academic Palace Top Scholar, who might even become Prince Consort in the future."
"But the one who found the crime evidence and indirectly forced Prince Changxiang to his death was him..."
"Shh, keep your voice down, do you want to die? If the Saint has no objections, why should a foot soldier like you stir up trouble? Besides, haven’t you heard? Last night’s assassin withstood a full set of the Moon Flow Sword and was completely unscathed; he must be at least a Half-step Master."
"Half-step Martial Arts Master... Could it be hired by Jin Wusuan? Doesn’t seem likely, though. The escort team hasn’t even left the Central Plains yet, and they were ambushed just outside Chang’an City. This is a blatant contempt of the court, a death sentence. Manager Jin wouldn’t be that foolish."
"I don’t know, it’s under investigation. But I bet this case will probably end up another unsolved mystery."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Heh, you wouldn’t know unless you checked. It turns out that our prince’s son did too many evil deeds in Luoyang, bullying both men and women, oppressing the kind. He has countless potential enemies, perhaps some family, seeing no hope for revenge, hired an assassin. That’s why it’s difficult to investigate..."
Their conversation faded as they moved away.
Li Ang sat calmly in the hall of his residence, drinking congee.
The two cultivators from the garrison who were responsible for escorting Li Shenbin last night—judging by the intensity of their spiritual energy—one was at the High Order of the Rain Listening Realm, and the other at the Initial Stage of the Cloud Patrol Realm.
That was the middle tier of the garrison.
The reason he was able to kill Li Shenbin was partly due to the astonishing defensive power of the Ink Silk Clone, which remained indestructible as long as the spiritual energy supply was uninterrupted. On the other hand, it was because the opponents did not understand the capabilities of the Ink Silk Clone and delivered their special-metal Flying Swords directly to it, thus losing their weapons.
If it were a different setting, like an open plain without obstructions, with the opponents able to exhaust him from a distance with Sword Qi and talismans, the Ink Silk Clone might not have been able to escape unharmed, at least not as effortlessly as it seemed.
After all, it’s just that the total amount of spiritual energy of my true self is still a bit low. At this stage, I can only rely on fists and feet. thought Li Ang with a hint of regret. In earlier tests, the Ink Silk Clone could also release spiritual energy and use Telekinesis magic, but the lethality was nowhere near as significant as close combat.
However, if the overall mass of the Ink Silk Clone were to be larger, maybe there’s a possibility there. For instance, transforming into a forty-meter-long sword and stabbing Li Shenbin to death outside the post house.
Li Ang paused. He had been too busy recently to feed Mo Si much. The stash of Fine Gold and Mystic Iron that he had accumulated was also about to run out.
He’d have to find a way to get some more.
Li Ang kept this thought in mind, waking up the Ink Silk Clone that was under his long-distance control outside Chang’an City and directing it towards the Chang’an Ghost Market.
He still remembered Jiao Cheng’s case. When the Sword Immortal Tomb collapsed, except for Jiao Cheng, everyone else was buried underground, and Jiao Cheng’s body was also sunk by Li Ang into the underground Dark River. The only problem was that there were silver needles that Li Ang used for stitching on Jiao Cheng’s corpse, which might be a hidden danger exposing his identity. Now that he had an Ink Silk Clone that could be controlled from a distance, it would be best to eliminate the hidden danger as soon as possible.
Li Ang controlled the clone to drill into the ground and search the Dark River by memory.
The collapse of the Sword Immortal Tomb was more severe than he had imagined. Not only was the entire tomb deeply buried underground, but the Dark River had also changed its course. It might take some time to find the bodies of Jiao Cheng and others.
Time passed day by day, and finally, the day of the preliminary examination at the Academic Palace arrived.
As in previous years, the atmosphere in the city was tense and solemn.
Local parents in Chang’an tidied up their children’s attire and accompanied them out, heading towards the Academic Palace Xia Mountain.
The students from out of town had solemn expressions as they boarded their carriages.
Since this year was Song Shaoyuan’s last chance, individuals like Yang Yu and Ji Linglang came to cheer him on.
Li Ang watched as Song Shaoyuan got into the carriage and then followed Li Leqing into another, sitting on either side of Chai Chai.
"Did you eat enough for breakfast? Are you still hungry? Do you want to eat some more?" Li Leqing cheered Chai Chai on, "It’s okay, I believe in you, you’re the best."
"...Yes."
Probably because of nerves, Chai Chai’s face was a bit pale, and she unconsciously gripped their hands tighter.
Li Ang didn’t know what to say at that moment, so he patted Chai Chai’s hand and comforted her, "Relax, if you don’t pass this year, there’s always next year, and if not next year, the year after that.
"And if you still don’t pass, that’s okay too, just an extra pair of chopsticks at home.
"We can afford it. Just think of it as starting to live off your parents early."
"Is that how you comfort someone?" Having invested the most in Chai Chai’s studies, Li Leqing lightly tapped Li Ang’s hand and said to Chai Chai, "Don’t listen to your Eldest Son.
"With your naturally superior Spirit Vein and my tutoring, you can’t fail.
"Right, do you want to take another look at the exam prediction paper?"
"Yes."
Chai Chai nodded her head, took the predicted test paper from Li Leqing, and silently started to recite it.
Li Ang also reminded her in time, "And remember to write down your own name; that’s a sure question."
"You," Li Leqing rolled her eyes, "don’t mess around."
"Just trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere," Li Ang said with a smile.
This conversation continued the whole way. As the carriage entered Xia Mountain and the candidates went inside, Li Ang and Li Leqing made their way to a pavilion downstream to wait.
Thinking back, it was quite emotional. Last year, Chai Chai had waited here for him to finish his exams; now it was his turn to wait for Chai Chai.
After a long while, the doors of the Scriptures examination hall opened, and the candidates, just like last year, burst out in a rush, heading toward the horse track.
Chai Chai’s answer speed was neither fast nor slow. Her performance in the Imperial Examination, Archery, and other sections looked to be average from afar. This was a considerable achievement, considering she’d never ridden a warhorse or shot an arrow before and had received emergency training for just three months.
For the other subjects, such as mathematics, painting, and music theory, Chai Chai was also quite average. However, she was much better than other candidates in Herbal Medicine, probably because of spending time with Li Ang, which should earn her some extra points.
After the normal exams ended, the three of them took the carriage back to Golden City Square. They sat at the table eating dinner while waiting for the midnight results.
And Chai Chai’s final result... just barely made it, at over 4,800th place.
"That’s great! I knew you could do it!" Li Leqing, upon hearing the results reported by the Envoy, grabbed Chai Chai’s hand, excitedly standing up.
"It’s all thanks to Teacher’s excellent teaching." Chai Chai’s tail nearly wagged to the sky, equally elated, "4,800th place, heh, round it up, and the gap between me and Eldest Son isn’t that big, huh."
"Ah, right, right, right." Seeing them so happy, Li Ang also smiled and nodded, and unusually for him, went to the kitchen to make a late-night snack to celebrate.
While Li Ang controlled the kitchen utensils with Telekinesis—washing and chopping vegetables, starting a fire to cook—he was also remotely controlling the Ink Silk Clone in the Dark River under the Chang’an Ghost Market, continuing his exploration.
Finally, his eyes narrowed. He had found the Sword Immortal Tomb.