Volume 2: Jade Promise Chapter 7: The Single-plank Bridge of the Inferior Academy
Every city has its story, and Emerald City is no exception.
According to legend, Feishi City was not originally a city, but a large lake. A monster called "Fei" lived in the mirror-like Emerald Lake all year round. When autumn and winter came, it would invade the border and loot and eat all the grain seeds left by nearby villagers to plant the next year, making the border residents miserable.
Although the strongest of these monsters called "Fei" is only around three stars, their numbers are extremely large. What's more, the most troublesome thing for the soldiers is that "Fei" is a bird monster that can fly!
Even if ordinary one-star or two-star warriors have the ability to kill them, they will flee as soon as they are injured, and they have no way to deal with them at all.
It was not until a seven-star elder of the Changyuan Leng family, who was stationed at the border and had been fighting against the "Fei" that could never be killed all year round, that he gradually figured out that the "Fei" monster actually reproduced by splitting. If a "Fei" was split in half, then after a day or two, two new "Fei" would be born. Therefore, the number of Fei people on the border increased the more they were killed, and they could not be eradicated at all.
He thought of many ways, such as strictly ordering the soldiers to burn the bodies of the Fei people immediately after killing them, or simply not killing them, but pouring a special poison into the Emerald Lake so that they would be poisoned to death and unable to regenerate...
His measures achieved some results. However, after so many years of fighting, the Fei Clan had multiplied too much. The number of Fei Clan killed by each measure was only a drop in the bucket compared to their entire clan.
So, he decided to do something once and for all!
He invited the top foundry master from Bailianfang to come to the border of Emerald Lake and carve a difficult water array on the lake surface. He himself took a small boat as a continuous source of star power to maintain the operation of this array...
This formation carved by the foundry craftsman of Bailianfang can attract the arrival of the Fei Clan. As soon as they arrive, they will be immediately pulled to the bottom of the lake by a huge wave caused by the formation and turned into a piece of stone that is either royal blue or dark green.
Jadeite is very beautiful.
Until now, the Emerald City, built on the former Emerald Lake, can still emit bursts of blue-green light on clear nights.
However, its beauty consumed hundreds of years of youth of a seven-star warrior...
He sat in the middle of the lake, without eating or drinking, and remained motionless for hundreds of years. Finally, he made the monster Fei completely extinct in the Xingyao Continent!
He originally had a longer lifespan, but he died after he built the Yisu Academy in Feishi City.
Now, there is his statue in the center of Yisu Academy.
Every student in Yisu Academy will remember his name - Leng Xiangyuan.
Tang Zheng was on his way to Fei Shi City, and along the way Tang Xiaotang and the others told him about the deeds of "Leng Xianyuan". Although what he heard was full of loopholes and there were many conflicts with the Xingyao History Records he had read, the origin of Fei Shi City should be generally correct.
To put it simply, Jade Stone City is a city built by filling a lake with the corpses of monsters!
Tang Zheng and his companions arrived early in the morning, before the sun reached its highest point.
However, there were already many carriages coming and going on the spacious streets of Emerald City.
Many of them were like Tang Xiaotang and his group, warriors who came from outside Fei Shi City to take the exam with carriages and guards.
"There are so many people here." Tang Xuan lifted the car curtain and looked at the people walking on the street. "It's not even the time yet, and so many people have already come."
"There is still half a month left until the autumn harvest, so it's almost time." Tang Xiaotang said.
"There are only four spots in total, how many people are competing for them?" Tang Zheng was riding on his horse, staring at the scene in amazement.
"At least a few hundred people..." Tang Zixie replied, "Among the 300 aristocratic academies, Yisu Academy is not considered good in terms of the quality or quantity of its graduates. If you go to the Sanqing Academy or Qipin Academy in the capital, you won't be surprised to see thousands of people competing for a dozen places."
"I've been to the capital of the Changyuan Leng family and the Jiuhua Academy in the capital once. Every year before the autumn list, at least tens of thousands of two-star warriors gather there, but only about fifty or sixty of them can actually get in..." Meng Fenghua said quietly.
Tang Zheng thought about it and understood.
The Changyuan Leng family is such a large aristocratic family, but the number of warriors admitted to the aristocratic school is less than a hundred each year. Even the inferior academy in the border town would be fought over.
From Ban Yiluo, he probably knew that entering an aristocratic academy would make a huge difference in the future path of star cultivation compared to entering an ordinary academy.
Not only are the academies' fame and resources unequal, but the more crucial point is the Tower of Tracing the Worlds and Asking the Stars!
Ban Yilou said that by climbing up that tower, one would be able to understand the world and oneself, and would then have a clear path to follow in the path of star cultivation. Otherwise, it would be like groping in the dark, with no clue of the way.
"I didn't expect that there would be college entrance examination in another world as well." Tang Zheng muttered in a low voice and laughed.
However, in the universities he knew in his previous life, a class in a department within a school could admit up to a hundred students.
The Changyuan Leng family is an entire aristocratic family, and it can only accommodate so many people.
So, if you really think about it, the single-plank bridge of Xingyao Continent is more difficult to walk on!
…
The border town is bustling with people.
Tang Zheng gave Zheng Qian a bag of purple gold coins and asked him to arrange an inn. Tang Zheng and his companions got off their horses and strolled around the busy streets.
The shops in Feishi City are different from those in Wulong Town.
Most of the shops in Wulong Town are tightly huddled behind their doors, for fear of causing trouble. However, Feishi City is a garrison area, and the public security is not comparable to that of Wulong Town, so many shops have many stalls in front of their doors, selling all kinds of food, clothing, and toys.
Tang Zheng bought a big bag of snacks for Xiao Lingdang, which prompted the little girl to keep saying "I want to marry you". Tang Zheng felt that Meng Fenghua's gaze was becoming more and more unfriendly, so he had to stop quickly.
Feishi City is very large, with four inner streets and eight outer streets. It is many times larger than Wulong Town.
The inner street is the street inside the academy. Apart from the students of Yisu Academy, only the instructors, their families, and the security, logistics and other staff living inside can enter the inner street through the four doors of the academy with their Yisu Academy nameplates.
Therefore, Tang Zheng and his friends could only wander around the streets now. Fortunately, with Tang Zheng around, Tang Xiaotang and his friends did not get lost.
Before they knew it, it was noon. Tang Zheng randomly found a restaurant and took Xiaotang and the others to have dinner.
"You are here to take the entrance exam for Yisu Academy, right?" The waiter came over enthusiastically. "Please come up, please come up."
"No, we're going to continue shopping after eating..." Tang Xiaotang was originally planning to find a table downstairs to sit down.
But the waiter still pointed upwards: "Oh, young lady, you don't know this, do you? You are here to take the entrance exam for the Aristocratic Academy. You are a two-star warrior at least. How can you sit down there with those peasants? Besides, the chefs and menus on the first and second floors are different. Come upstairs, please!"
Seeing the waiter being so enthusiastic, Tang Xiaotang and the others didn't insist anymore and followed him upstairs.
Sure enough, the environment upstairs was much better than downstairs. Sitting at each table were warriors armed with weapons.
But for some reason, their faces didn't look very good.
The enthusiastic waiters walking around were in stark contrast to the cold or embarrassed faces of the guests.
Tang Zheng and his friends asked for a table by the window and sat down. The enthusiastic waiter quickly poured them some fragrant tea. Afterwards, a woman in a light gauze skirt brought them a menu.
The menu is made of agarwood.
The names and prices of the dishes above are all carved with liquid silver!
As soon as Tang Xiaotang saw the first dish, she knew why the warriors on the second floor were unhappy.
A "hidden sea shell" was bid for fifty taels of silver Tongbao...
The prices of most dishes ranged from twenty to eighty taels, and the most expensive one was priced at two taels of purple gold!
It's just a dish!
Before Tang Xiaotang could say anything, she heard the warrior at the table next to her slap the table and said, "This shady shop of yours is too shady. Don't you have any food I can afford?"
"Oops." The woman in the light gauze skirt apologized immediately, "I'm sorry... our waiter didn't ask clearly, we have caused you trouble... our prices are different upstairs and downstairs, if you need, our waiter will take you downstairs immediately..."
The woman in the thin gauze skirt had a pitiful face with a slightly frightened expression, and her head was almost lowered to the table. No matter how angry a person was, he seemed to have no energy to scold her.
Seeing the warrior stunned for a moment, the woman whispered, "But, it's not easy to come to Jade City, but if you don't try the extremely hot food cooked by the chef of the three-star sun, it's a bit... a bit of a pity..."
"Is... that so?" The warrior hesitated again after listening to the beautiful woman's soft words of regret.
"Although it is a bit expensive, it is indeed very delicious." Going to a table next to them, two warriors with cold faces admitted reluctantly.
"Forget it, I'll just stay upstairs." The warrior who slammed the table and stood up sat down again awkwardly, "I'm alone, so I'll just order an eggplant with pigeon sauce... You won't think I ordered too little, will you?"
"Of course not, thank you." The woman showed a hint of surprise and gratitude at just the right moment, which gave the warrior who slammed the table an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. He took out his purse and readily paid twenty taels of silver.
Tang Zheng looked at the waiter who was serving dishes, then looked at the beautiful women in thin skirts who were taking orders, then lowered his head and looked at the menu again.
Tang Xiaotang was still muttering on the side: "Twenty taels of silver for an eggplant... What a shady shop!"
The beautiful lady in the thin skirt standing next to her had a very humble and polite smile on her face and did not refute Tang Xiaotang.
Tang Zheng smiled and flipped through the menu before saying, "Well, this black shop is quite interesting!"
