Seeking Truth with a Sword

"Young Master..."

Chai Cuiqiao looked at Li Ang with a worried expression, immediately brought over a basin and towel, and wiped the cold sweat from Li Ang's face with hot water.

She could tell that the uncomfortable expression on Li Ang's face was not due to the noisy congratulations in the courtyard but was actual physical pain.

Li Ang rubbed his brow forcefully, let out a sigh of relief, and slowly sat up from the bed.

The dark threads lurking in my brain—let's call them Mo Si for now—act as a bridge for spiritual energy, connecting the severed spirit veins on both ends of the brain. It is precisely because of this that I was able to bypass the trigram restrictions of the Skull-interrupted Sword to complete the Initial Guidance of spiritual energy and break through to the Qi Sensing Realm. But the problem is, what exactly are Mo Si? What are their functions and harms?

Mo Si was taken from the Sword Immortal Tomb by Jiao Cheng. He and his group died in the underground palace, and their gathered data vanished without a trace.

I was in such a hurry at the time, I didn't have a chance to carefully observe what else was in the underground palace, like books left by the Sword Immortal. And now, the underground chamber beneath the Ghost Market has surely been discovered by the garrison; they may already be digging it up vigorously. It's impossible to go back there to look for clues again.

Li Ang's thoughts raced. In the time of the Former Sui, cultivators abused Alien substances. They not only used Mutated Objects to aid their cultivation, but some on the Demon Path even directly implanted Mutated Objects into their bodies, merging with them. Through special ceremonies, people could directly gain the special abilities of Mutated Objects without the original restrictions, significantly enhancing their strength.

The only downside was that cultivators would gradually lose their humanity, become infected and assimilated by the Mutated Objects, and degenerate into Demons.

At the end of the Former Sui, the increasingly reckless cultivators caused great harm to the common people, directly leading to the collapse of the Former Sui and the onset of an extremely cruel, chaotic era.

Once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years.

The Academic Palace and Yu Country are extremely cautious about Mutated Objects, perhaps even to the point of hypercorrection.

Any act of implanting a Mutated Object into the body is associated with Demons and is strictly forbidden.

Even if one's leg was broken and one wanted to use a Mutated Object to mend it, one would be highly suspected.

It is precisely because of this that medical science concerning the human body has progressed slowly in Yu Country. Cultivators rarely get sick, and they seldom dissect human bodies to study the principles of its functions.

If the Academic Palace discovers the Mo Si... I don't know what they would do.

Li Ang took a deep breath, released his gradually less painful brow, and gave a reassuring smile to the still concerned Chai Cuiqiao. "I'm fine."

Chai Cuiqiao could still see Li Ang's distress, but since Li Ang did not want to elaborate, she could only nod. "...Alright."

"By the way, why is this water hot?"

Li Ang casually pointed at the hot water in the basin, questioning; they had just gotten home and had not had the chance to heat water.

"Oh, the hot water was poured out of the Black Wood Bottle."

Chai Cuiqiao took out a wooden bottle from the corner of the room, very similar to the thermos flask in Li Ang's memory from the Otherworld. "This one here. Miss Lin Lang gave it to us."

This wooden bottle was, in fact, a thermos flask. It was sold to Chang'an by the White Min Barbarians from Beiwu and was capable of keeping water hot for a long time. It cost at least seven strings of coins, with the more expensive ones going for a dozen or more. It was very popular, and there must have been backing from the powerful behind it.

Li Ang had wanted to buy one when he was in Yizhou. He wiped the cold sweat from his body with the hot towel, stopped dwelling on his troubles, and fell back to sleep.

When he woke up, it was already evening outside the window.

Noises rose from the courtyard, and Song Shaoyuan knocked on the door. "Risheng, get up! The Academic Palace has announced the results. The Imperial Palace's carriage must be arriving soon."

"I'm on my way."

Li Ang took a breath and, with Chai Cuiqiao's help, changed into new clothes and pushed open the door.

In the courtyard were not only Song Shaoyuan and Zhai Yiming but also Ji Linglang and Yang Yu.

"Mr. Li!"

As soon as they met, Yang Yu bowed with great enthusiasm. "For me to make your acquaintance and share in your good fortune is truly a blessing of three lifetimes!"

"Qilang, did you pass the exam?" Li Ang asked subconsciously, seeing the joy written all over Yang Yu's face.

"Seven hundred and twenty-first."

Yang Yu tossed back his sleeve with vigor, declaring proudly, "The very last spot, just barely made it."

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Li Ang sincerely congratulated him with a bow, then turned his head toward Ji Linglang, who was smiling faintly.

"Four hundred and three," Ji Linglang said with a smile. "It's good enough to pass."

Out of two thousand five hundred candidates in the final examination, only six or seven hundred were selected.

Among their group, Li Ang, Ji Linglang, and Yang Yu, who participated in the final examination, had all successfully passed. Their close associate, Yong Hongzhong, also passed smoothly.

Yang Yu knew what Li Ang wanted to ask and waved his hand, directing a servant to bring over a roll of wide paper with ink that had not yet dried.

"This is the specific ranking, just copied from the notice board at Vermilion Bird Gate," Yang Yu said. "This ranking includes not only the final exam but also the two previous exams."

On the paper, the first and second places were Li Ang from Yizhou and He Fanshuang from Youzhou. Pei Jing from Chang'an was third, and Yong Hongzhong was fourteenth. In addition to these familiar names, there was also Qiu Feng, the daughter of the Imperial Physician. Chou Jinghuan's name was not there; apparently, he had failed to pass.

"During the three hundred years since the founding of the Academic Palace, no one from Yizhou has ever achieved top scorer. Risheng, this is a first for you," Ji Linglang laughed. "When you enter the Imperial City to see the Emperor later, His Majesty will surely ask you a few questions as usual. Have you thought about what poetry you want to compose?"

"This..." Li Ang opened his mouth, nearly forgetting about this part.

According to past practices, when the Emperor held a feast to receive the Academic Palace Disciples, he would pick the top scorer and any students he found agreeable to come forward for inquiries, prompting them to compose several flamboyant poems or recite some grand and imposing verses.

If the Emperor himself had an easy-going personality, he might even take up the lute and play an accompaniment to demonstrate harmony between ruler and subject.

"I'm not good at composing poetry."

Li Ang shook his head with a wry smile. He really was not.

Surely I can't go up there and recite, "Wait until autumn comes, on the eighth of September, after my flowers bloom, a hundred flowers will die. A fragrance that pierces the sky permeates through Chang'an, as the whole city wears golden armor"? Would this be a bit...

"If all else fails, you can still perform other talents; just a formality will do," Yang Yu pondered. "Risheng, can you sing or dance?"

Would rapping be okay?

Li Ang scratched his head. His best skill was surgery. Perhaps I should perform a dissection of a white mouse before the Emperor in the hall?

"What's so difficult about this?"

Just as everyone was deliberating, Yan Lin, the legitimate eldest son, chuckled and pulled out a stack of somewhat old papers from his chest. "Doctor Li, these are the poems you composed before and entrusted me to keep for you."

"Hmm?"

Li Ang took the stack of papers. They were covered with many different poems in various styles and handwriting.

He looked up at Yan Lin's eldest son, instantly understanding—the Yan Mansion knew he could not write poetry, so they had sent all the poems accumulated by the literati of the Duke Mansion over time. If the Emperor asked during the audience, he could just recite any one of them.

They were all on the same side; no one would spread it around.

"Thank you very much, Yan Dalang."

Li Ang coughed and examined the poems closely.

「」

"Mom."

The evening breeze was slightly chilly. Princess Guanghua, Li Leqing, under parasols held up by palace maids—lined on the inside with Wind-protecting Talismans—arrived at the Liangyi Hall in the Taiji Palace.

"Le Ling," Empress Xue, who was chatting with her son Li Hui in the side hall of Liangyi Hall, stood up and came forward, holding Li Leqing's cold hands with concern. "Why have you only just returned? Dr. Qiu said that too much exposure to the evening breeze is not good for your health."

"Today was the final examination of the Academic Palace, after all. I watched the announcement of the results for a while longer; it was quite lively. Where is Father?"

Li Leqing acted cute in her mother's arms for a while before straightening up a bit and saluting her full brother, the Fourth Prince Li Hui.

"Father is in the main hall discussing matters with the Mountain Master, my brother, my uncle, and the ministers," the Fourth Prince Li Hui said with a smile.

"Aren't we about to have the banquet for the Academic Palace Disciples?"

Li Leqing curiously peeked into the main hall of Liangyi Hall. She saw the Emperor pointing firmly at a spot on a map laid out on the table, his expression serious. He was surrounded by the Mountain Master, the Crown Prince, Minister of the Secretariat Xue Ji (who was also Empress Xue's brother), Assistant Dongfang Lu, Minister of the Left Pei Su, and a group of other senior officials.

The group was discussing something in hushed tones, and words like "troop deployment" and "malaria" were faintly audible.