"Count yourself lucky! If you have the guts, you better not sneak away!"

Upon hearing the bell and the reprimands of their teachers, even the most furious and hot-blooded students were forced to halt their attempts to pursue Chen Changsheng's group. After cursing a few words, they all returned to their own academies, because..it was time for class.

At the end of the straight Divine Avenue was a set of around one thousand stone steps. These stone steps were laid with white jade and were glossy as mirrors. At the top of the stone steps was that spherical palace that could earlier be seen from the distance. This palace was not the main hall of the Li Palace, but the Hall of Pure Virtue.

From the base of the stone steps, the palace hall that was already dignified and imposing from a distance seemed even loftier.

"Why did you have to say that last part?"

The stone steps were many and abilities could not be used in the Li Palace, so they could only slowly walk up them. Chen Changsheng thought of that final scene of the crowd surging with emotion and couldn't help but say, "After we finish, how are we supposed to get out? Are we really going to fight our way out?"

Xuanyuan Po was a simple and honest demi-human youth, and also very courageous, but he was absolutely no fool. Looking around, he asked, "Who knows where the back gate is?"

"Relax—neither of you will be fighting, and I'm certainly not afraid," Tang Thirty-Six replied.

"Gou Hanshi and the others might not appear, but the Li Palace and the Temple Seminary have their own experts of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, and no matter how good you are at fighting, are you saying you can fight alone versus one thousand?"

"Guardian Jin also has to return to the Orthodox Academy, and although it's bad for the strong to bully the weak, would his esteemed self be able to watch on as we're beaten to death?"

Jin Yulu chuckled but did not answer.

Chen Changsheng felt rather helpless, saying, "If Guardian Jin acts, won't the teachers of the academies, or even their principals, also appear?"

Tang Thirty-Six replied, "If even the principals appear, do you still think the fight will continue?"

Chen Changsheng didn't know how to respond, but Xuanyuan Po commented, "You humans truly are too cunning."

"Speaking of which, you also spoke too harshly to that girl."

"Eh? And just who was I putting myself out there for? That's too much from you!"

"Fine, I admit my mistake."

"I accept."

"But there's still something that I can't quite figure out. When I met you at the very beginning in the Heavenly Dao Academy and also later on at the inn, you were very different from how you are now. It's said that you're famous for your cold arrogance and reclusiveness, so how did you become such a chatterer? And to have a mouth full of such filthy words.."

"You just don't understand."

Tang Thirty-Six stood on the stone steps and looked back on the capital with an indescribable sense of sorrow. "Just like that day when Tianhai Shengxue charged at the academy gate and I stood in the rain, sword in hand, exuding a natural arrogance and dashing aura, it was all a pretense. Feigning despair for a long time is actually very tiring."

Chen Changsheng said, "Ah, so you were just pretending in the past?"

Tang Thirty-Six coldly laughed, then answered, "Duh, besides that wolf cub in the north, who is born naturally lofty and cold?"

"So why don't you continue pretending?"

"In front of all of you, I still need to continue pretending?"

"Then..could you please at least..at least curse a little less, that's really no good."

"How can any of you understand the depression a person like me feels? From the moment we begin to think, we have to act arrogant and aloof, above the common people. After holding back for so many years, it's like a flood being held back by a dam. As soon as the dam springs a leak, can anything be done other than letting the damn thing flood for a few days?"

"Your meaning is that either you keep holding it back until it causes you internal injuries or you become a scoundrel?"

"Correct, the longer I hold it, the more terrifying the explosion. It's just like that wife of yours. She's such a fairy-like existence that even the demons of Xuelao City would want nothing more than to grovel at her feet, yet I'm extremely sure that there are often times where she.."

Tang Thirty-Six slightly paused as he looked at Chen Changsheng, then continued, "..gets the urge to curse."

Chen Changsheng froze, then suddenly understood that he was talking about Xu Yourong and kept his mouth shut.

"But just now, all those girls changed how they looked at you," Xuanyuan Po said with great pity.

Tang Thirty-Six replied, "I hate it when those girls stare at me like that. In Wenshui it was like that, in the Heavenly Dao Academy too. If it's still like this now, why did I enter the Orthodox Academy? I'm not the Mausoleum of Books; what's so good about looking at me!"

Xuanyuan Po recalled the beautiful girls of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green and said with yearning, "It would be great if they could look at me like that."

"Big Brother, although you look old, aren't you just thirteen? You're prepared to spread your seed so early?"

"Chen Changsheng is only older than me by a year, and isn't he about to get married? Anyway, where I live, a thirteen-year-old having children is very normal."

"Now that we're talking about it, I'm truly very curious: how many can you demi-humans give birth to at a time?"

Jin Yulu's coughing could suddenly be heard on the stone steps.

Tang Thirty-Six quickly brought the topic back on track. "What's so good about being stared at?"

"What's so bad about it?"

"What if they look you to death?"

"What do you mean by 'look to death'?"

"They just stare at you until you die."

"Ah..then they can do it after I reach the Saint Realm."

"It's impossible to talk with you."

"Just say it."

"Back then Zhou Dufu's younger brother Zhou Yuren was the most handsome man on the continent. When he first entered the capital, thousands of women lined the street to welcome him. Those women had such burning gazes that they practically wanted to take a bowl of water and swallow him whole. Zhou Yuren had a weak body in the first place, and he received such a fright that he nearly fainted to death, which is where the phrase 'looked to death' comes from."

"Ah, we demi-humans have much stronger bodies than you humans. Nothing will happen no matter how much they look."

"It truly is impossible to talk with you."

"Thirty-Six, I've suddenly realized that not even you are that handsome. Perhaps you're overthinking things?"

The sincere truth from the mouth of an honest person was the most powerful and most hurtful.

Right now, the Orthodox Academy had two such people: Chen Changsheng and Xuanyuan Po.

Tang Thirty-Six felt like he had been deeply wounded.

...

...

Although the thousand stone steps were long, they could not last against Chen Changsheng's hurried steps and chatting. It didn't take long before they arrived in front of the Hall of Pure Virtue.

With Jin Yulu leading them, their identities were checked and they very smoothly entered the Hall of Pure Virtue.

The Hall of Pure Virtue matched its name. A pure wind blew through the place and there were few furnishings within. The ground was clean of dust and the hall was extremely spacious, serene, and cold. What confused Chen Changsheng was that he looked all around but saw no trace of habitation, so he could not tell where Luoluo's chambers were.

Jin Yulu also didn't say much. The priest leading the three youths continued deeper into the hall. The Hall of Pure Virtue was paved with green bricks two feet in length. When stepped upon, they would emit a faint light. It was very mystical, and Xuanyuan Po lowered his head to look down at this scene, thoroughly interested.

Chen Changsheng had also noticed this special property of these green bricks. Looking around, he saw that although the other green bricks were not emitting light as the ones under their feet were, they were different shades. He thought, given the area of the Hall of Pure Virtue, there must be tens of thousands of green bricks. Could they form some sort of pattern?

However, it was difficult to get the complete view of a mountain while within it, and so even if there was a pattern, he wouldn't be able to see it while standing amongst the green bricks. Thus, it was best not to think about it.

If one looked down from the dome of the Hall of Pure Virtue, one could see that the tens of thousands of differently shaded bricks of green joined together into a lonely green leaf. Chen Changsheng and the others were currently walking on one of the veins of this leaf.

The priest was uncommunicative, occasionally saying a few words to Jin Yulu while completely ignoring the three youths.

With their steps, green brick after green brick lit up, causing the stem of this leaf to light up, almost as if they were pouring some sort of energy into it.

Ultimately, the entire vein of the leaf was lit, and Chen Changsheng's group had been led by the priest into the utmost depths of the hall.

And then, there was naught but darkness.

...

...

The darkness lasted for a very short time, so short that it gave Chen Changsheng the feeling that he had merely blinked his eyes. In the closing and opening of the eyes, a night had passed. This was something that everyone had experienced. For everything before the eyes to go dark and then brighten, revealing another world, was not something that everyone had experienced.

At the sight before him, his jaw slightly dropped. So stunned was he that he could not speak.

Standing beside him, Xuanyuan Po had an even more exaggerated expression.

Countless clouds drifted about the porcelain-blue sky. These clouds were perfectly shaped, just like the magic clouds described in the Daoist Canon. Several hundred immortal cranes soared amongst the clouds, their cries purifying both heart and soul. A towering and magnificent palace lay before their eyes.

In the distance were ten-some palaces of similar style.

This was a beautiful world. The magic clouds, the immortal cranes, the palaces, the jade-colored lakes, and even the fresh and clean atmosphere—all of it was perfect, so perfect that it didn't seem real. However, standing amongst it, they knew that this was all real.

"Don't shame the academy. Quickly catch up."

Tang Thirty-Six whispered to the two of them and then walked forward as if he didn't know them.

Chen Changsheng came to his senses and saw that Jin Yulu and the priest had already reached that towering and majestic palace. He hastily patted Xuanyuan Po and hurried to catch up.

When they reached Tang Thirty-Six, Chen Changsheng asked, "This is?"

Tang Thirty-Six replied, "This is a miniature world. You should have heard of it before."

Chen Changsheng said nothing. He was well-versed in the Daoist Canon, so he naturally knew of miniature worlds. However, only today, by actually coming to a miniature world, did he realize how shallow knowledge from books was.

It was said that when the Heavenly Tomes descended upon the world, divine fire followed from the sky. Space fractured, ultimately leaving behind countless shards of space. These spatial shards spread all over the continent. Some spatial shards were extremely unstable, annihilated almost as soon as they appeared. On the other hand, others were quite stable and were able to persist for a very long time.

With the passing of time and the procession of countless years, fewer and fewer spatial shards remained in the continent. Those spatial shards that continued to exist were naturally extremely stable. This led to the famous saying: 'Time is the only standard by which to test the world.'

The stable spatial shards were found by humans, opened up by cultivators using frightening divine techniques, and set up with the most profound magical artifacts as doors. Through their efforts, these spatial shards were connected with the real world. The so-called spatial shards were often of vast size and able to be used in countless applications. This was what was meant by a miniature world.

The Wenshui Tang clan possessed a miniature world. Although it was not large, it was enough to push the Tang clan to a level above other wealthy families. Tang Thirty-Six was not so shocked because he would often be brought into that miniature world by his grandfather to play around.

"This is one flower, one world.."

Chen Changsheng stared at the beautiful sight before him, the magnificent building, and was somewhat emotional. Then, for some reason, he lowered his head to gaze at the dagger at his waist.

(TN: This is a famous Buddhist saying expressing that all the truths of the world can be found even in a single flower.)