On the day of the Taiyi Academy entrance examination, Yu Le received Shen Chenghe’s order and released Shen Xuan from the confinement room.
Shen Xuan was momentarily unaccustomed to the light outside the confinement room. He closed his eyes for a moment.
Yu Le asked with concern, “Junior Brother, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”
Shen Xuan shook his head politely. “I’m fine now. Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Yu.”
He changed the subject. “The entrance examination is about to begin, isn’t it?”
Yu Le sighed, an apologetic look appearing on his face.
“Yes. Normally, you should be allowed to rest for two days after being punished. But… Master specifically instructed me to release you on the day of the examination.”
Shen Xuan wasn’t surprised by this outcome.
Although Shen Chenghe was harsh with him, he also cared deeply about his reputation. Since Shen Xuan had already publicly announced that he would be one of the exam supervisors, Shen Chenghe wouldn’t let other people witness him being punished simply for the sake of disciplining him.
Shen Xuan said, “It’s fine. Just give me today’s examination procedures.”
Yu Le handed him the rules and procedures for the entrance examination, then added, “Oh, there’s one more thing besides the examination. Master mentioned two days ago that the Grand Temple Master is coming here on business and will stop by to take a look at this year’s recruitment. He asked us to receive him properly.”
Shen Xuan froze for a moment.
“The Grand Temple Master is coming?”
The First Divine Temple ranked first among the Five Divine Temples, and its temple master was known as the Grand Temple Master.
…Or, more precisely, it was Yan Hechun, the master of both Shen Xuan and Lu Junheng.
The Divine Temples and Taiyi Academy had close ties. Many high-ranking members of the Divine Temples had graduated from Taiyi Academy, while many of the academy’s teachers had also spent time serving in the Divine Temples. It was perfectly normal for people from the Divine Temples to observe the academy’s entrance examinations and look for promising talents.
In his previous life, Yan Hechun had also visited the academy several times.
But he shouldn’t be coming at this point in time.
There was a twenty percent chance that this was another deviation caused by the changes surrounding the opening of the Yuqing Secret Realm.
The other eighty percent…
Lu Junheng had done something again.
Sure enough, this man would only stop causing trouble after he was dead.
And at this particular point in time…
Lu Junheng was about to participate in the examination, so there was only so much he could do. That bastard was probably planning to leave the rest of the work to him.
Shen Xuan thought for a while. He felt that he couldn’t let Lu Junheng have things too easy, so he asked Yu Le,
“Senior Brother Yu, have the maps for this year’s entrance examination been distributed yet?”
Yu Le nodded. “Yes, they’ve already been distributed.”
“Could you give me one?”
Yu Le found one of the remaining maps and handed it to him.
Shen Xuan studied the distribution of magical beasts on the map and asked, “Is the prize target this time the Two-Horned Tiger?”
Most of the cultivators participating in Taiyi Academy’s entrance examination were in the Qi Refining stage, with a small number at the Foundation Establishment stage.
The strongest target magical beasts in the examination were all at the Golden Core stage. Anyone who could independently kill one despite being a lower cultivation level would immediately become the top-ranked candidate.
Yu Le nodded.
“Yes, a Golden Core-stage Two-Horned Tiger. These beasts are extremely aggressive. The strongest candidate among the new students this year is the young master of the Qi family, but even he is still somewhat short of being able to kill a Two-Horned Tiger. I’m afraid no one will be able to claim the top prize this time.”
He smiled.
“Of course, the top prize in the entrance examination is mainly meant as an incentive. Someone who can casually kill a Golden Core-stage magical beast during the examination, like you, Junior Brother, probably only appears once every hundred years.”
When Shen Xuan had first begun cultivating, Yu Le had secretly competed with his junior brother.
But as the gap between them grew wider and wider, he no longer even had the desire to compete.
When a person’s talent reached a certain level, it could make others lose the desire to compare themselves altogether.
Shen Xuan didn’t say anything more about the subject. He simply glanced at the sky.
“Senior Brother Yu, it’s almost time. We should head to the examination site.”
The two of them went down the mountain.
The examination was about to begin, and the area in front of the mountain gate was already crowded with new students.
Shen Xuan casually swept his gaze across the crowd, and a familiar figure immediately entered his sight.
Lu Junheng was wearing a black robe embroidered with silver patterns. He had found a protruding rock and was sitting on it. From a distance, he looked like a somewhat antisocial crow.
He rarely wore such dark colors. When he wasn’t speaking, he actually looked rather calm and dignified—deceptively so.
Shen Xuan was still wondering whether he should take the initiative to speak to him when the crow spotted him first and immediately came rushing over noisily.
“You’re fifteen minutes later than I expected. Why are you so slow?”
…Who knew how he had calculated that.
Lu Junheng moved a few steps closer to Shen Xuan and casually greeted Yu Le, who was standing nearby.
“Senior Brother Yu, you’re here too.”
Yu Le was somewhat confused by this person’s inexplicable familiarity, but for Shen Xuan’s sake, he still nodded amicably.
Shen Xuan turned around and said to Yu Le, “Senior Brother Yu, I’ll go talk to a friend for a while. I’ll meet you again when the examination begins.”
He grabbed Lu Junheng and walked away.
Yu Le watched the two of them leave and finally understood what had been bothering him.
Shen Xuan had always simply called him “Senior Brother.” He had never put his surname before it.
He felt somewhat melancholy.
His junior brother had grown up.
He was beginning to keep his distance from him.
After Shen Xuan and Lu Junheng had walked some distance away, Lu Junheng casually handed Shen Xuan a package of pastries.
“Here. I bought them on the way.”
Shen Xuan fiddled with the string around the package, and a sweet fragrance drifted out through the paper.
When he was young, he had loved this pastry shop.
Lu Junheng, however, had never appreciated its taste. He always thought they used far too much sugar, claiming that even a bee would be knocked unconscious by the sweetness.
Shen Xuan had spent such a long time in the confinement room that he was indeed a little hungry.
Moreover, ever since he had gone to the Divine Temple in his previous life, he hadn’t eaten pastries from this shop for a very long time. The familiar smell brought back quite a few memories.
But considering Lu Junheng’s long history of questionable behavior, he didn’t dare eat it.
Instead, he looked suspiciously at Lu Junheng.
Lu Junheng was deeply dissatisfied with Shen Xuan’s refusal to appreciate his kindness. He opened the package and ate one himself.
“Go ahead. I didn’t poison them.”
Shen Xuan waited for a while to make sure Lu Junheng didn’t suddenly collapse from poison before picking up a pastry and putting it in his mouth.
The familiar sweetness spread across his tongue.
It tasted exactly as good as he remembered.
For the moment, Shen Xuan admitted that Lu Junheng’s continued existence still had some value.
At least until he finished the pastries.
Taking advantage of his good mood, Lu Junheng poked him.
“I’m your friend, right?”
Shen Xuan gave him a fake smile.
“I was just being polite. Don’t take it seriously. I don’t have a life-threatening friend like you.”
Lu Junheng poked him again.
“Does it still hurt?”
He was asking about the injuries Shen Xuan had suffered from his punishment.
The moment they had met, he had noticed that Shen Xuan’s complexion didn’t look quite right.
Shen Xuan didn’t ask how he knew he’d been beaten. He simply replied with two words.
“I can endure it.”
They were only a few lashes. Compared with the countless injuries the two of them had suffered in the past, they weren’t even worth calling external injuries.
Lu Junheng said nothing. He gently touched Shen Xuan’s back through his clothes.
The wounds on Shen Xuan’s back had already begun healing. The touch tickled slightly, and Shen Xuan wasn’t pleased. He stepped on Lu Junheng’s foot.
Lu Junheng jumped aside.
“What? I’m just concerned about you.”
Shen Xuan sneered.
“There’s no need. If you really care about me, die sooner.”
Lu Junheng immediately began muttering again.
“Other than telling me to die, do you have anything else to say? My goodness, I thought after knowing each other for so many years, we would at least have some beautiful memories together.”
Shen Xuan ignored him.
He slowly finished his pastries, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and suddenly brought up another matter.
“There is a Golden Core-stage Two-Horned Tiger in this examination.”
Lu Junheng immediately became wary.
“What are you planning? I don’t have any cultivation right now.”
Shen Xuan looked at him with a bright smile.
“I think the hilt of my sword should have a high-grade magical beast crystal embedded in it. What do you think?”
Lu Junheng thought for a moment before decisively taking off his storage pouch.
“Here.”
Shen Xuan glanced at him.
“What are you doing?”
Lu Junheng answered succinctly.
“Buy whatever crystal you want yourself.”
Shen Xuan lowered his eyes.
“Oh, I see… But I want a Two-Horned Tiger crystal. It would look beautiful embedded in my sword hilt.”
Lu Junheng: “…”
Shen Xuan took the storage pouch and casually opened it to check Lu Junheng’s assets.
“Never mind. No one would risk provoking a Two-Horned Tiger during the examination over something this trivial anyway. I definitely won’t be disappointed.”
…There seemed to be rather little money inside.
Had this bastard started wasting money again after being reborn?
Lu Junheng weakly agreed.
“Yeah. Only an idiot would do something like that.”
He lowered his head and unfolded the examination map he had just received that day, resignedly beginning to plan his route again.
After a while, Shen Xuan suddenly reached out his hand toward him.
Lu Junheng stared at the hand in front of him, unsure what Shen Xuan wanted.
After hesitating for a moment, he placed his hand on top of it.
Shen Xuan immediately slapped his hand away with a smile.
“Didn’t I tell you that you need to keep track of your spending? Where’s your ledger? Let me see it.”
Lu Junheng: “…”
After defecting, he rarely needed money and hadn’t kept a record of his expenses for a very long time.
After being reborn, he hadn’t thought about it either.
A mistake.
He shouldn’t have handed over his storage pouch so readily. Otherwise, Shen Xuan probably wouldn’t have remembered to check his accounts anytime soon.
Lu Junheng folded the map again, pretended to glance into the distance, and changed the subject.
“The examination seems to be starting. I’ll head over first.”
Shen Xuan grabbed his sleeve.
Lu Junheng began rapidly calculating the chances that Shen Xuan would believe him if he claimed a magical beast had eaten his ledger.
Shen Xuan ignored whatever nonsense he was thinking and asked about the real matter.
“Master?”
Lu Junheng became serious as well and admitted,
“I was the one who called him here.”
Shen Xuan guessed his purpose.
“A warning?”
Lu Junheng shook his head.
“No. A memory.”
Shen Xuan nodded.
“I understand.”
Lu Junheng knew that Shen Xuan had understood what he meant. Relieved, he left the rest of the matter to Shen Xuan and went to take the examination himself.