Chapter 118 — The Supreme Sovereign

Clack, clack.

At Shen Mu's feet, two sword cases, already empty, dropped to the ground and rolled a couple of turns.

Behind him stood a crowd of scholars, every one of them stunned stiff with shock; even the boy attendant under Daoist Lingyun's tutelage had twisted his head around — his neck bent at a frightening angle — and stood gaping into the hall, mouth wide, sputtering, unable to get out a word. And behind this Chunyang Hall stood the Grand Academy Hall of the Grand Academy.

The Grand Academy Hall was many times larger than Chunyang Hall and the other great halls; before it ran a long flight of steps, nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and at the top of those steps, before the great hall, stood the Sage's Seat, where only the Grand Libationer of the Guozijian might sit. Yet at this moment the one seated upon the Sage's Seat was not the young Patriarch of the Nether Demon Sect, that Grand Libationer, but a middle-aged man in a yellow robe and a jade crown; the young Patriarch of the Nether Demon Sect sat below him, and beneath the Patriarch, all the way down the steps, stood several hundred civil and military ministers of the court, and one Guozijian after another. Below the steps, scholars who had come from every corner of the realm were in the midst of their trials.

Every scholar who could come to this place possessed divine powers; the trials here differed from those of scholars like Shen Mu, and those who reached this place had passed through layer upon layer of testing, a road of great hardship. When these scholars, after such bitter toil, arrived and saw the yellow-robed man upon the Sage's Seat and such a grand array, some of them fainted dead away from fright and were eliminated on the spot. The one upon the Sage's Seat was none other than the present Son of Heaven of Jingping, Emperor Yanfeng.

That Emperor Yanfeng should come in person to the Grand Academy was no surprise; he had descended upon this place many times to observe the realm's scholars at their studies and make them disciples of the Son of Heaven.

The Grand Academy, the grand academies, and the primary schools were the sharp instruments with which Emperor Yanfeng fought the deeply rooted sects; the Grand Academy above all was of paramount importance and could not be neglected. Below the steps, the many scholars were locked in fierce combat when suddenly, with a great boom, the rear door of Chunyang Hall, before the Grand Academy Hall, burst apart and a figure came flying backward, crashing into the battlefield!

Hard on that figure's heels came wooden sword after wooden sword, stabbing at the flying body with still greater speed. The sword wind howled; thud, thud, thud came the impacts without cease — seventy-one in a row — nailing the figure until it slammed against the steps and lay there sprawled on its back.

Beneath the Grand Academy Hall there was dead silence; the many scholars in the midst of their trials stared blankly, dumbstruck, at the man upon the steps.

Before the Grand Academy Hall there was dead silence as well; the several hundred civil and military ministers on the steps had been startled out of their wits. After a moment, Emperor Yanfeng laughed, unhurried: "Grand Libationer, it seems the trials of your primary-school scholars are more boisterous than those of the grand academy scholars — they have even sent one of my Guozijians flying.

My interest is quite aroused; I would like to see the primary-school scholars' trials. " The young Patriarch laughed: "If Your Majesty wishes to see, then let these scholars come forward and hold their trials here.

Lingyun, get up this instant — have you not disgraced yourself enough? " Daoist Lingyun, burning with shame, scrambled to his feet and begged Emperor Yanfeng's pardon.

A wooden sword was lodged in his chest; it was the seventy-second, and seventy-two wooden swords in succession had struck the same spot upon his chest, the blade sunk into his flesh and nearly piercing his heart.

Luckily, as he was flung through the air he had thrown open the other divine treasuries he had sealed, and his mana had recovered; only thus had he escaped death at Shen Mu's hands. But the shame this time was shame before the whole Grand Academy, shame before the emperor himself, shame before the court officials — and shame before foreign lands as well.

— Among those several hundred civil and military ministers upon the steps were several envoys of foreign states.

Emperor Yanfeng laughed: "Guozijian, you have done yourself proud indeed, to be beaten like this by a primary-school scholar.

Who struck you? Summon him up here and let me see what manner of man dares lay hands on a fourth-rank grand official of my court. " Daoist Lingyun's shame redoubled; he wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl inside.

The young Patriarch summoned another Guozijian and had him accompany Daoist Lingyun, saying with a laugh: "Your Majesty, Lingyun most likely underestimated his foe and let the primary-school scholar seize the initiative. Still, this primary-school scholar has no small skill, to have beaten Lingyun so badly; even I am moved to curiosity and would like to see who possesses such ability.

" Before Chunyang Hall, Shen Mu was utterly unruffled; he looked back and saw that the scholars behind him still had not come to their senses — only the girl called Si Yunxiang was staring at him with wide eyes, and when she saw him turn his head she hastily withdrew her gaze and stood with her head down, plucking at the hem of her clothes.

"Such a bashful manner — this is absolutely not Granny Zhu! " Shen Mu thought with full confidence.

Just then, Daoist Lingyun and another Guozijian came striding over; the boy attendant hurried to meet Daoist Lingyun, crying, "Master—" Smack.

Daoist Lingyun felled the boy with a single palm, and the other Guozijian frowned: "Brother, why must you be so petty as to vent your spleen on a child? " Daoist Lingyun's face was dark as he looked at Shen Mu, the fury in his heart hard to dispel; stiffly he said, "Come with me!

" The other Guozijian glanced at the remaining scholars: "You come along as well.

The great trial at Chunyang Hall is halted for now. " The scholars came to their senses and hurried after them.

When the group reached the foot of the steps before the Grand Academy Hall, their hearts could not help pounding hard; no one had known there were so many people here, and all of them personages of note in the empire — even the emperor among them!

Shen Mu looked about him, then reined in his gaze: eyes upon nose, nose upon heart. Wei Yong was standing below the steps as well, though not in the trials; seeing Shen Mu, he wanted to call out, but restrained himself, fretting until he scratched his ears and cheeks. Emperor Yanfeng laughed: "Which one is the primary-school scholar who sent my Guozijian flying?

Step forward and let me see you. " Shen Mu stepped forward, lifted his head, and faced the emperor directly, thinking, "So this is Emperor Yanfeng, the present emperor of Jingping? " Emperor Yanfeng was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

In his imaginings, Yanfeng should have been a heroic and martial figure, awe-inspiring as a god; but this Yanfeng was rather amiable, robed in a yellow dragon robe with a red belt inlaid with gold and jade about his waist, his face a little plump, his brow broad, his nose high and straight, and he wore four strands of mustache: two upon the upper lip and two upon the lower, the lower pair much shorter than the upper, yet not at all incongruous — someone must trim it for him often, for it was neat and orderly, and lent him no small air.

Emperor Yanfeng studied him curiously for a moment, then laughed: "Very young.

To have such strength at your age is rare indeed.