CHAPTER 342: CHAPTER 296: THE EAVES

Half a month passed swiftly, and the day of the final trial arrived.

The carriage stopped outside the Academic Palace gate, lined up alongside other vehicles bringing students.

Li Ang ruffled Chai Chai’s hair—she pursed her lips tightly—nodded to Galuo, then hopped out of the carriage. He crossed the square, went over Chuiyun Bridge, passed the Book Collection Pavilion, and finally arrived at the open ground outside Dongjun Tower.

On the open ground, most candidates had already arrived, unconsciously forming several groups. Students from Jing Country huddled together, chatting. Ashina Que Teqin sat alone on a massive rock in the corner, eyes closed in deep concentration. Shangguan Yangyao, Bian Chenpei, and other disciples from Taihao Mountain stood at the front, facing the morning sun, diligently performing their worship of Haotian. Bian Chenpei’s gaze swept towards Li Ang as he appeared, a flicker of resentment in his eyes.

"Risheng, over here!" The Fourth Prince, Li Hui, cheerfully waved to Li Ang, signaling for him to come over.

As Li Ang walked up, he found that Li Hui was not only with Academic Palace Disciples like Pei Jing, Ren Xin, and Sui Yi, but also with other familiar faces from Yu Country.

"These are students from Lu Li Academy: Ximen Jingsheng, Baili Jun’ai, and Lu Yuwei. And these are students from Longxi Academy..."

Li Hui introduced them to Li Ang one by one. Thanks to the home-field advantage, Yu Country had the most disciples qualify, totaling seventeen.

Li Ang politely greeted the students from the other academies and then asked Li Hui with a hint of confusion, "Prince Yue, are you also participating in the final competition?"

Li Hui had indeed passed the tournament. However, as a Prince of Yu Country with his wedding only a few months away, Li Ang had thought he wouldn’t participate.

"After all, it’s about bringing glory to the country. As a Prince, I can’t always let my juniors take the lead in everything," Li Hui said, spreading his hands casually. "Besides, my disappearing for a while will also give the court some peace."

The students from Lu Li Academy and Longxi Academy had not yet grasped his meaning, but the expressions of students from Chang’an, like Pei Jing, turned odd. Li Hui was certainly carefree, not at all shying away from mentioning the courtiers who targeted him.

"By the way," Li Hui said in a relaxed tone, "I received a message in advance. During the trial at the Mountain of Mind and Heart, each person will receive two talismans. One is a Protective Talisman that can withstand a single fatal attack. The other is an Alarm Talisman; activating it voluntarily is tantamount to admitting defeat and withdrawing from the competition. It will launch fireworks into the sky, alerting the Doctors waiting outside the Mountain of Mind and Heart to come to our aid."

"Doctors’ aid?" Pei Jing frowned slightly. "I thought the Doctors would be monitoring from the air in real-time."

"That would be pointless. Knowing the Doctors are watching over us from above and that no one would lose their life, no one would take it seriously," Li Hui explained. "As far as I know, the Academic Palace originally intended to hold the trial at the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains, but due to some unforeseen incidents, they relocated it to the Mountain of Mind and Heart. However, the Mountain of Mind and Heart, as the ruins of a Former Sui Sect, is still relatively ’fresh’ and not too disturbed. New Prohibitions have been set up in many places, and some demons and Exotic Beasts have been released. The level of realism and danger is probably not much lower than the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains. After we enter the trial grounds, it would be best if we encounter other Yu Country students and can help each other. If you encounter a situation beyond your capabilities, there’s no shame in activating the Alarm Talisman."

As a Prince of Yu Country, Li Hui naturally didn’t want to see any of his country’s Cultivators come to harm. When mentioning the Alarm Talisman, he deliberately or unintentionally glanced at Li Ang.

No wonder, Li Ang thought. Among this group, it seems I have the highest animosity rating from those at Taihao Mountain.

"AHEM!" A hearty cough sounded from the front of the clearing. The Body Study Division Master, Xue Che, stood on the steps, clapped his hands, and drew everyone’s attention. "Everyone’s here, right? Follow me. Your Doctors are already waiting inside Dongjun Tower."

He turned and led everyone towards the main entrance of Dongjun Tower.

To be fair, the exterior of Dongjun Tower... didn’t quite live up to its status as a forbidden place of Yu Country. It was a classical building five stories tall, with red bricks and green tiles. Towering and orderly, it resembled a combination of a tower and a palace, with half of it embedded in the mountainside.

The eaves of each level were sharply upturned, like the wings of flying birds pointing to the sky. Crawling statues of various Exotic Beasts adorned the eaves. Li Ang squinted at them for a while, comparing them with his remembered "Exotic Beast Taxonomy," and could barely recognize the species of some statues.

Upon entering the main entrance of Dongjun Tower, they were not greeted by a hall but by a massive screen wall roughly ten meters wide. Ordinary screen walls are typically placed in front of palaces or grand residences to serve as partitions and create a buffer. This one, however, was situated behind the door. Furthermore, the patterns on it were not landscapes, flowers, or Gods and Buddhas, but rather swirling mists.

The mists on the screen wall flowed slowly, morphing into various ambiguous images. Sometimes it resembled a long rope bridge over a cliff; other times, it looked like soldiers fallen beside a pile of corpses.

Many students found themselves subconsciously staring at the screen wall, their gazes gradually becoming vacant until Xue Che coughed again. Everyone quickly snapped back to their senses and hurriedly looked away.

Li Ang’s brows furrowed slightly. Was it an illusion? When he looked at the screen wall, he thought he saw a figure standing amidst thousands of tendrils, seemingly about to pierce through the stone surface and step out.

"This way." Xue Che led everyone around the screen wall and into the hall.

Instantly, the summer heat vanished. A chilling atmosphere surged from every corner, seeming to seep into their very pores.

This feeling... Li Ang recalled his experiences at the Yizhou Garrison Commander’s office and the Chang’an Town Guard Office; the air there had also been as cold as it was now. However, compared to those places, Dongjun Tower’s atmosphere lacked a certain murderous aura but possessed something more... He mulled over the words in his mind before settling on an adjective: solemn.

"Wow..." Some of the foreign students exclaimed instinctively. The actual interior space of Dongjun Tower was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

Two rows of towering columns soared towards the ceiling. Along both sides of the corridors, paved with Marble Bricks, were locked rooms. Most rooms had ordinary wooden doors, while a few had stone or iron ones. Some doorframes were covered with tens, or even dozens, of talismans, Sealing whatever lay behind them.

Each locked room contained one Mutated Object. The Mutated Objects on the first and second floors were, relatively speaking, the least dangerous. Only the Mountain Master, the Sacrificial Officer, the Master, and the Doctors working at Dongjun Tower had the authority to access the third, fourth, and fifth floors, as well as the basement.