Chapter 10#

The Academy#

On the second morning, he ultimately couldn’t go to the meeting.

Because a message-bearing Azure Pivot Sparrow landed outside Yin Biyue’s courtyard.

The paper was thin cloud-patterned stationery, the ink was Huizhou sinking-water ink, and the calligraphy was in the most correct Taige style.

“Lanyuan Academy invites you to come for a discussion, and will sweep the mats to welcome you. With respect, the Headmaster.” Even the wording was rigidly polite.

Such an invitation, though meticulous, could be made by any distinguished noble family.

The difference was that at the bottom of the invitation, there was no academy’s ‘Flowering Brush’ emblem, but instead the Headmaster’s personal seal.

Lanyuan Academy was not included in the ‘One Mountain, Three Sects, Two Buddhist Monasteries, Twelve Demon Palaces’—it was neutral. Yet behind all these powers, there was a faint shadow of the academy. The current sect leader of Baopu Sect had studied at the academy; the abbot of Jiekong Temple had once given lectures on Buddhism there. In any major sect’s backbone, there were inevitably several disciples who had graduated from the academy. Even prominent officials in the imperial court of the Northern Capital had many who were alumni of Lanyuan Academy.

Most importantly, the academy’s Headmaster was one of the six Sub-Sages in the world.

An invitation personally sealed by such a great figure was naturally extraordinary.

Duan Chongxuan held the invitation and exclaimed in wonder, “Such divine means—worthy of a Sub-Sage… Fourth Senior Brother, do you think the spatial array in this seal can carry two people? How about we tie ourselves together and go together?”

Go to hell!

Yin Biyue’s lips twitched slightly.

Spatial traversal while carrying someone? You’d be torn apart in an instant!

Yin Biyue reached out and took back the invitation to examine it. The wording seemed humble but did not specify a time.

The implication was simple: set off immediately upon receiving the invitation.

He suddenly recalled a vulgar saying from the cultivation world: “The tyranny of Cangya Mountain is a matter of real swords and spears—‘If you don’t submit, I’ll beat you until you do; I am the truth!’ And Lanyuan Academy? On the surface, it follows etiquette, all harmony and politeness, but it makes it impossible for you to refuse.”

His fingertip meticulously rubbed the seal impression at the end of the letter, no larger than a palm. The red inkpad was slightly raised, with a fine, smooth texture—just the vulgar seal engraving of the four characters ‘Headmaster’s Personal Seal.’

Duan Chongxuan watched beside him, his face tense, afraid that if he blinked, the person would vanish.

The Headmaster’s seal contained a spatial array; injecting true essence could open a spatial channel. Lanyuan Academy was in Yunchang City in the Central Continent, while Cangya Mountain was in the Western Continent—the distance was far more than a thousand li.

Yet now, it could be traversed in an instant.

Yin Biyue couldn’t imagine what a great figure like a Sub-Sage would want with him, nor did he believe Duan Chongxuan’s baseless guess: ‘Because your graduation results were excellent, the Headmaster invited you to give lectures.’

Because in his three years at the academy, he didn’t even know which direction the Headmaster’s residence faced. All matters of the academy, large and small, were handled by the Deputy Headmaster and the faculty instructors.

The Headmaster seemed to only be responsible for living in legends.

If he couldn’t figure it out, then he wouldn’t think about it. After all, he had to go meet him.

He nodded to the chatterbox. “Junior Brother, I’m off.”

Duan Chongxuan hurriedly leaned in. “Fourth Senior Brother, are you sure you don’t want to consider taking me?! … Hey, Senior Brother, Senior Brother …”

It was as if the chatterbox’s shouts were still echoing in his ears when, in the blink of an eye, he stood on unfamiliar ground.

On the blue bricks lay shallow puddles of water, and the air still carried a cool moisture.

Yunchang City had just had a rain. The sky was clearing.

Yin Biyue glanced back at his shadow, calculating the time difference and distance between the two continents.

He stood inside the cinnabar-red main gate of the academy, facing a massive boulder shaped like a lingzhi mushroom, as huge as a mountain—the academy’s Guardian Stone. An imposing aura rushed toward him.

A young boy with a double-topknot hairstyle, dressed in a red jacket, stood by the stone and saluted him with cupped hands. “Senior, please follow me. The Headmaster has been waiting for some time.”

The academy was less a mansion and more a city within a city.

Because it was astonishingly large.

Passing the Guardian Stone, they entered the wide main avenue of the academy, which stretched far into the distance, leading to the Qinzhi Hall where students usually gathered. At this hour, it was time for ‘Upper Life Lessons,’ and the students were in their classrooms listening to instructors.

The vast main avenue and hall seemed even more empty.

After passing Qinzhi Hall, the road suddenly became complex, with winding corridors and long blue-brick paths extending in all directions.

Yin Biyue walked along roads that the original body had traversed countless times.

Locust trees that took three people to encircle spread their canopy like an umbrella; ivy covered the four-story library tower, a stretch of verdure from afar. The pillars before each classroom had their cinnabar paint somewhat flaking, revealing the dark colors beneath.

The wind carried the fresh fragrance of rough wood and brought the sound of reading aloud.

Everything here was both familiar and strange.

What did Lanyuan Academy teach?

Lanyuan Academy taught everything.

Calligraphy and painting, the Nine Chapters on Arithmetic, parallel prose and ornate verses, musical theory and scores.

Cultivation fundamentals, the Hundred Schools of Thought, the universe and the vastness of time, the art of imperial court politics.

The Headmaster had once said, “In seeking the Dao, there is order, but no superiority or inferiority. The Great Dao has three thousand paths, but they all lead to the same destination.”

This was the academy’s founding principle.

The guide boy turned another moon gate and smiled. “Senior, it’s been some years since you graduated. Do you still remember the way here?”

Yin Biyue replied, “I walked this path thousands of times in three years—naturally, I remember. But I’m ashamed to say that as a graduate of the academy, I do not know the Headmaster’s given name.”

He thought the boy was the Headmaster’s attendant and would surely know the Headmaster’s surname. That way, when he met the Headmaster later, he could address him appropriately.

But the boy said, “No one actually knows the Headmaster’s name. I think perhaps even the Headmaster himself has forgotten it.”

Yin Biyue was somewhat surprised. “Like how the world dares not utter the Sword Saint’s name, and over time, his real name is forgotten?”

But observing the boy’s innocent demeanor and lively personality, it was clear the Headmaster must be gentle with those around him. At least on the surface.

The boy scrunched up his chubby face in confusion.

“Yes and no. The Headmaster’s seniority is very high, so everyone in the world, regardless of their exalted status, must call him ‘Headmaster.’ Yet the Headmaster is also broad-minded; no matter how lowly or humble, they too may call him ‘Headmaster.’ Over time, the name becomes unimportant. After all, in the Headmaster’s eyes, all beings in heaven and earth are treated equally.”

Equality for all beings? Yin Biyue smiled faintly. That made the Headmaster seem like a true sage.

But under a sage, all beings are ants.

And since they are ants, naturally, they are equal.

His face was calm as still water as he followed the boy past the library tower toward the secluded depths of the academy.

Suddenly, at a turn, he lagged a step behind. When he looked again, the boy’s figure had vanished into thin air.

Yin Biyue was not flustered. He walked forward with unhurried steps.

Because the entire academy was the Headmaster’s personal domain.

Here, every flower, every leaf, every bird, every beast’s movement was under the Headmaster’s control—nothing could escape his eyes.

So if he got lost, it would also be within the Headmaster’s sight.

He passed the martial arts field, where youths practiced swordsmanship with rigid precision. Their faces were young, their expressions resolute. Sweat trickled down their foreheads into their collars.

He stood outside the Debating Hall. Two groups of students inside were arguing fiercely, red-faced and glaring at each other.

He watched the figures that hurried back and forth in the library tower, fleeting shadows passing the windows. Their steps were steady, carrying thick scrolls and books.

Ah, the prime of youth, the bloom of life.

He remembered the courses ‘The Art of Debate’ and ‘Introduction to Swordsmanship’; he had taken them too. The instructors were notoriously strict and harsh.

He recalled when he first entered the academy, people whispered, ‘He’s so young—can he graduate?’ and later watched him top the rankings.

He remembered countless nights of burning the midnight oil reading, early mornings practicing the sword, and evenings climbing the tower to gaze into the distance.

Yin Biyue was never the most talented genius, but Yin Biyue was more diligent than every genius.

Memories flooded in like a torrent. Scenes of the past flashed before his eyes.

Life is but a great dream.

He experienced three years of joy and sorrow at the academy. From the anxious entrance examination in Qinzhi Hall to the boisterous farewell feast at Lantai, every day was etched into his bones.

Until this moment, he was Yin Biyue, and Yin Biyue was he.

The past and the present have become the me of today.

With a thought, his long sword hummed of its own accord.

A deep crack a foot long split the blue bricks beneath his feet.

At the end of the sky, the setting sun was like blood.

At the same time, in the deep courtyard beneath a locust tree, a middle-aged Confucian scholar wearing a lofty crown and broad belt smiled slightly. “The sword has not yet left its sheath, but its intent has already been released. Good.”

The locust blossoms in the courtyard trembled and swayed in the wind, as if echoing his delight.

Yin Biyue was still immersed in the sword intent from a moment ago—a subtlety close to instinct.

The scenery before him instantly shifted.

It changed into a courtyard filled with locust trees.

Though the season was only mid-spring, here the locust branches were already heavy with blossoms, and the air was thick with a sweet fragrance.

Beneath the locust tree stood a person—the master of the entire academy.

Before meeting the Headmaster, Yin Biyue had imagined countless times what kind of person this would be.

Perhaps most people have such curiosity: the few standing at the highest point in the world—what would they look like, what kind of presence would they have?

But none of his conjectures matched the current situation.

He had originally thought the Headmaster would be a wizened old man with an immortal air, but instead, the man before him appeared as a middle-aged Confucian scholar.

The man stood beneath the tree, hands tucked lazily inside his sleeves, like a leisurely rich man from a grand household.

Even the most proper lofty crown and broad belt, worn on him, exuded a three-part carelessness.

There was no overt imposing aura of a sect leader, no overwhelming sword intent like Jun Yu’s, not even the sharp warrior’s edge of Liu Qishuang.

But Yin Biyue did not dare relax his vigilance for a moment. Because he had a keen intuition for the strength of a soul.

This person before him was extremely powerful.

He was one of the rare peak-level experts in Yin Biyue’s extensive experience.

Yin Biyue stepped forward two paces, maintaining a proper distance, and performed a formal disciple’s salute. “Student pays respects to the Headmaster.”

The leisurely rich man waved his hand, indicating he need not stand on ceremony.

The next second, that vigilance was magnified to the extreme.

It was as if all the blood in his body instantly froze, plunging into an icy abyss!

Because the man glanced at him with a smile, then sighed with a hint of regret.

“You failed to kill him. So be it.”