Chapter 23 Taboo Day

  She clutched 'Huan Zhen' tightly in her hands, almost reluctant to give it to the people of Shanming Academy. Not to mention her, but Pei Ning actually liked it very much too.

  "If you create another illusion in the future, don't forget to leave one for me."

  It's no big deal, Yang Yunqiu casually agreed, as long as he was willing to pay and had the time, he could do a few more.

  He is now seriously short of money.

  Although she was somewhat reluctant in her heart, she still had to get a good score and enter the school, which was more important. Doudou steeled herself and handed over the small illusion array to the teacher from Shanming Academy who came to Longsu Town to select students.

  She knew in her heart that entering Shanming Academy might change her fate.

  As a girl in a border town, if you don't want to be married off by your parents when you come of age, the best way is to go to school and read books. As long as you can read, even if you can't become a scholar, being an assistant to one or something like that is still a way to make a living for yourself.

  Actually, although Shanming Academy recruits many students every year and has a reputation for being 'open-minded', in a small border town like Changsu Town, qualified students are really rare. Most of them enter the school and are randomly assigned to the ninth level, with no resources or teachers. The best outcome is to follow a talented master, do some chores, and get by.

  Even so, people with conditions still want to go to school.

  Shanming Academy came to Changsu Town to recruit students, nominally a fifth-grade cultivator, Shan Zhang Fu Ming's young master Fu Xueqing was in charge. In reality, the one mainly responsible for doing the work was an old cultivator named Zhao Yi, who had cultivated for fifty years and was stuck at the third-grade bottleneck, unable to advance no matter what.

  Luckily, Zhao Yi's family was still doing well and he had some connections in the school, so he stayed on as a teacher, giving lectures to those ninth-grade students.

  This time in Changsu Town, he took the initiative to take on the task, mainly to take advantage of buying some beast blood and beast skin from the barbaric forest at a lower price than in Tiandu City. Recently, he married a small wife and his hands were a bit tight, so it's good to make some extra money.

  The students of the future handed in their assessment works, packed in ten large boxes. Fu Xueqing had something important to attend to and brought ten top-notch students from Shangming Academy, all of whom were at least sixth-grade masters. They were busy preparing for a trip into the Savage Forest. As for who would be responsible for reviewing the assessment works, it naturally fell to Zhao Yi.

  Don't look at this old monk's own cultivation being limited, and his character can't be said to be very good, but his knowledge is indeed rich, and his vision is also excellent. After all, he has been teaching for thirty years, so he must have some ability.

  In the box, there were assessment papers. Zhao Yi glanced through them and found that most of them were written papers and design drafts. Among them, a few had some meaning. He sorted them out according to their quality and put them aside. Then he concentrated on reading those who intended to study alchemy, instrument refinement, and spell arrays.

  Xu Guo Xiu Shi, cultivates the Great Dao for three thousand years. Every path can lead to the end, but undoubtedly, cultivators with high innate talent all like to take the path of Fa Xiu. After all, although it's difficult to enter the gate of Fa Xiu, once there is some achievement, one can possess the great divine power of moving mountains and overturning seas.

  Those who choose to practice the law are mostly extremely talented, and they become aware of their calling as a practitioner at an early age. As soon as they appear, they are predestined by various major sects, and in the end, those who enter Shanming Academy are actually the ones with diverse talents, and many have chosen other paths.

  Zhao Yi himself was skilled at refining equipment.

  He casually picked up a flying sword, took a glance at it, and found that the infusion of spiritual energy was unsuccessful, clearly a dead sword. He wasn't disappointed either; in a place like this, it was unlikely that any exceptional students would appear anyway.

  Zhao Yi's patience was always sufficient, but after watching two and a half hours of chaotic nonsense, it was still difficult for him to maintain his calm demeanor. If his students dared to hand in such work, even if they were the most hopeless ninth-grade students who were not loved by their parents, he would kick them out of the classroom door with one foot.

  Finally, Zhao Yi's hand stopped on a very exquisite jewelry box, picked up the label hanging on it and took a look, and it was actually a third-grade phantom array!

  "Really?" Zhao Yi murmured.

  It's just a three-product illusion array, and it shouldn't have been enough to make him too interested. Large-scale illusory worlds are rare, but small arrays like this one aren't unusual at all.

  But there was no hint of leakage, and the spiritual array that even Ling Qi couldn't detect had some meaning to it.

  Although Zhao Yi was not a master of illusions, his level wasn't high either, but he indeed had a lot of experience. At this moment, he was using his spiritual energy to examine the object, and normally, he should have discovered the array diagram in the first instance. However, after touching it with his hands, before seeing the note, he surprisingly didn't even know that this wasn't actually a real jewelry box!

  "Could it be that the production failed?"

  Zhao Yi shook his head, thinking it must be bad, so he couldn't feel the aura of the formation. After some thought, he took out a self-prepared energy crystal from the box and inserted it into the energy slot. With a casual start, a cold sword aura rushed towards him!

  With a loud crash, the teacup in his hand was shattered to pieces. Zhao Yi's hair stood on end and his back felt numb all over, he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

  Just then, Fu Xueqing walked in and saw a beautiful and elegant female sword cultivator standing on the mountain, her sword aura swirling around her. She sheathed her sword and stood indifferently, gazing into the distance. Suddenly, her eyes lit up: "Wow, Old Zhao, you're really something! Where did you buy this illusion array? Is it the work of some great illusion master?"

  The energy stone was depleted, and the phantom disappeared. Fu Xueqing didn't see the sword dance, but this one person's shadow also made him quite surprised.

  Zhao Yi shook his head and handed the thing over to Fu Xueqing, letting him take a closer look.

  He lowered his head, took a serious look, and saw that it was just a third-rate illusion array. Fu Xueqing couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise: "Which great magician is playing a joke?"

  That lifelike figure is not something an ordinary illusionist can do, but a true master of illusions wouldn't casually create a third-rate illusion array. It can only be assumed that they were extremely bored and did it for fun.

  Zhao Yi pointed at the trunk in front of him again.

  Fu Xueqing's eyes widened in disbelief: "Is this the assessment item submitted by Changsu Town?"

  Zhao Yi nodded. Fu Xueqing was stunned for a moment, then patted his head: "I don't know if it's the proud disciple of some great magician... or a relative trying to get into Shandeming?"

  He flipped through it, opening the admission materials of Duoduo, looking up and down twice. No matter how he looked at it, this was a native of Changsu Town who had never left the town since childhood, not even to Tianyuan City.

  Zhao Yi thought for a moment and smiled, "Maybe it has something to do with some reclusive monk. After all, this place is so close to the Barbarian Forest, and there are several children who have gotten the eyes of monks from inside, it's not impossible."

  Fu Xueqing puffed out his face and could only sigh, "People say that the barbaric forest hides dragons and tigers, and many reclusive masters live here. I didn't believe it before, but now it seems there's some truth to it... This time entering the forest, let's hope nothing goes wrong... Putting this Qu Duo into a first-level student position, since she can catch the eye of an illusion master, there must be something worth taking from her. Even if her talent is somewhat lacking, it doesn't matter."

  Zhao Yi also nodded, and the two of them wouldn't even dare to guess that this illusion array was created by a ordinary young man from Changshu Town.

  They didn't believe that Chang Su Town would have such a capable person, a true master. Who with real skills would stay in this remote and impoverished place where the environment is harsh and there are no resources, which is very unfavorable for cultivation? Whoever can leave, who wouldn't want to leave?

  Two people sat together, reminiscing about the past decade, and wondered if any new and powerful magicians had appeared, but they didn't pay much attention to it.

  To put it bluntly, nowadays' phantom masters can't create large-scale phantoms, and the major sects don't take them seriously either.

  Zhao Yi continued to work, and Fu Xueqing also came to help.

  Yang Yunqiu had been busy for several days, and this day she finally got to sleep in. She slept until dawn, but as soon as she opened her eyes, Zhou Lanxi grabbed her and changed her into a brand new outfit, complete with a large rabbit fur cloak.

  Dazed and confused on the way out, I saw that the ancestral tablet which had always been in my mother's bedroom was actually moved out, and there were still chickens and ducks on the offering table.

  Fu Ning and Situ also came over to pay a visit, both wearing new clothes. As soon as they saw him, they smiled and said: "The anniversary of the Grand Master's death has arrived again, this year really passed quickly."

  In a word, Yang Yunqiu suddenly realized that it was the anniversary of Yang Jingting's death, and every year on this day since childhood, Zhou Lanxi would make him kowtow to Yang Jingting and recite a volume of scriptures.

  To know, in his memory, Zhou Lan Zhi never let him kneel to anyone, not even herself, and she had never received a bow from her son. From young to old, Zhou Lan Zhi intentionally or unintentionally guided him, cultivating his proud bones.

  It was also because of this that Yang Yunqiu always felt that her mother was no ordinary person.

  To be honest, he really didn't want to kowtow to a stranger, but since it was an elder and already deceased, kowtowing once wouldn't hurt.

  Zhou Lan Zhi brought over a cushion, and Yang Yun Qiu obediently knelt down.

  Situ raised an eyebrow and avoided Zhou Lanxi, whispering with a smile: "So you have such respect for the Great National Master?"

  Yang Yunqiu didn't say anything.

  Fu Ning's smile faded from his face, and he bowed three times. "Three hundred years ago, if it weren't for the Great Master of the Thirteen Nations striking back at Qin thirteen times and personally rushing to Qin to negotiate a blood contract, setting up a boundary in the barbarous forest... our Yan country wouldn't have had these three hundred years of peace... My adoptive father still sighs about the countless white bones from three hundred years ago, as if they're still before his eyes. Peace is hard-won."

  Yang Yunqiu listened intently, and when she turned her head, she saw a flush of red rising to Zhou Lanxi's face, looking as lovely as a young girl, with extremely agitated emotions.

  Wa Wa laughed loudly: "Autumn brother, your mother is pregnant."

  Yang Yunqiu also smiled slightly, he always felt that the atmosphere at home was a bit oppressive, his temperament was also dull, but now he felt a bit of unusual liveliness, blinked his eyes and laughed: "I heard that Da Guoshi used to travel to Asia, he was as beautiful as jade, with fruits overflowing from his carriage. Mother, did you see Da Guoshi back then? Did you think he was very handsome?"

  Zhou Lan Zhi was stunned, her face turned red for half a day, and she actually bent down, touched her son's face, "Of course he is handsome, he looks 80% like you, how can he not be handsome?"

  Yang Yunqiu was suddenly choked.

  Situ burst out laughing, his body bent forward and backward.

  I didn't expect Mrs. Zhou, such a gentle woman, also learned how to joke around.

  That day, there were traces of worshiping the great teacher Yang Jingting everywhere on the street. It wasn't until evening that Fu Ning found time to meet with Yang Yunqiu.

  Three people sat down in the yard, Si Tu glared at Yang Yunqiu and irritably asked Ning Dao: "How did you know I couldn't find a guide? Why did you have to find him?"

  Fu Ning raised an eyebrow, and he wasn't very willing to drag this young man into the water either. After all, they still didn't know what dangers lay ahead, but a trustworthy guide was crucial.

  Situ frowned and said, "Fu Ning has told you, we are going to the Barbarous Forest?"

  Yang Yunqiu nodded: "It's hard to go deep in winter."

  "It's going to be tough." Fu Ning thought for a moment, then exhaled and said, "Although you never asked, I want to make it clear that the reason we're going this time is because my adoptive father sensed a strange energy fluctuation in the Savage Forest over a month ago. He suspects that another 'Wild Seed' has appeared, and if we don't hurry to control it, who knows what kind of disaster will be triggered? The major powers of Asia and Guo are already on high alert, and I'm afraid something is going to happen."