Principal Zhang had previously said that this world was just like a great river that surged forward.
All formidable figures were only large fish in this great river.
Because there were too many formidable figures in this world, all types of coincidences too many, and all types of wills, everyone had their own aspirations. However, no one knew, once this river made a turn, which direction it would continue flowing towards.
Life was also like this.
Everyone can pour their everything into a matter, but no one knew, after a certain dusk, under the willow tree, what kind of people one would meet.
Back then, Yunqin’s imperial princess Changsun Muyue carried with her the hardships and ambition she felt towards this powerful empire, passing Deerwood Town with Nangong Weiyang. In that place, Nangong Weiyang met Lin Xi.
Just like Uncle Liu who drove him, Lin Xi used his own unique ability to test out Nangong Weiyang, but was in the end smacked around like an idiot.
That was why when he heard that the one who recommended him was Changsun Muyue, Lin Xi thought back to that young lady whose face seemed even more tender than his own. He was also a cultivator now, for better or for worse, he also had some achievements, so he wondered if he could win against Nangong Weiyang.
However, he had no idea just how many levels higher Nangong Weiyang’s cultivation was than his own, neither did he know that she killed cultivators who were who knew how many levels higher than his own in military operations.
Thunder Academy’s students and lecturers left.
Yunqin Emperor didn’t seem to wish to stop over in this Heaven Ascension Mountain Range either, so all of the entourage already began to make preparations.
Right at this time, they received Mu Qing’s notification. Lin Xi, Gao Yanan, Bian Linghan and Wen Xuanyu hurried to a camp at the foot of the mountain.
This camp only had a single Central Continent Guard officer and a palace maid.
The Central Continent Guard officer was extremely young, in his early thirties. He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, regardless of whether it was his appearance or temperament, everyone would immediately associate him with the word outstanding.
The palace maid was only in her early twenties, dignified and composed, wearing a bit of makeup, her brows making her look rather quiet and exquisite.
However, because of this Central Continent Guard officer’s dazzling silver armor, an aura of experience and great changes that exceeded the other Central Continent Guards he met, because this palace maid displayed a steadiness and elegance not matching her age, not even Lin Xi developed any inappropriate inner thoughts.
…
The Central Continent Guards’ young officer and the elegant palace maid were also sizing up the four Green Luan Academy students who just entered this tent.
Lin Xi remained calm and natural, his eyes filled with innocence and curiosity.
Gao Yanan was always rather simple and carefree, not that concerned with what this summoning was for.
Bian Linghan was cautious and quiet, carrying a resoluteness within her delicate exterior.
Wen Xuanyu was icily arrogant. Even though they came at the same time, he still kept some distance from the other three. He stood there silently, giving off a ‘depend on himself for everything’ feeling, a type of coldness that pushed others far away from himself.
These really were four entirely different people, but they were all Green Luan Academy’s very best.
The gaze of the Central Continent Guard young high-ranking officer became increasingly soft and satisfied. He didn’t tell the four to sit down, instead smiling warmly, saying, “I am Su Longshu, I also graduated from Green Luan Academy’s Self Defense Department. Because we share this relationship, her majesty the imperial princess specially had me and Liu Xiunu come together.”
“Turns out you were a senior brother.” Bian Linghan immediately felt a deep sense of respect, taking the initiative to give this young Central Continent Guard officer a respectful greeting. Even the proud and aloof Wen Xuanyu gave a serious bow of respect after a slight bit of hesitation.
“Even Central Continent Guard has members who graduated from our Green Luan Academy?” Lin Xi stared blankly for a moment. After giving a greeting of respect, he couldn’t help but quietly mutter this by Gao Yanan’s ears.
While Gao Yanan gave her greeting, her lips didn’t move. “When has our Yunqin law ever prohibited academy students from entering Central Continent Guards?”
Lin Xi felt like this made sense, after all, only the select few ‘poisoned’ by Principal Zhang and himself didn’t have much of a feeling of devotion to royalty. For most cultivators of this world, even if they were students who came out of Green Luan Academy, they still carried the ‘if the ruler wanted the subjects to die, the subjects had no choice but to die’ attitude, this type of olden notion, right?
When he thought about how he was a ‘bumpkin’, yet was thinking about all of this, a smile couldn’t help but appear on the corners of his lips.
“This person is Liu Xiunu, someone who remains at her majesty the imperial princess’ side. Because the honor awarding this time is based on the emperor’s will, Liu Xiunu can also be considered someone who is part of the cabinet, so she will be the one to award the honors.” Su Longshu returned their greeting, and then smiled towards the graceful palace maid next to him, humbly taking a step back, implying that it was now this graceful young lady’s time to take over.
“The emperor and the imperial princess have much admiration for your performances this time.” The elegant palace maid looked at these four who were all extremely shocked, explaining, “As such, the emperor has already ordered me to award the four talented individuals here with the medal of loyalty and bravery.”
“Many thanks for the emperor’s great grace.” Bian Linghan, Gao Yanan, and Wen Xuanyu, after a moment of distraction, all knelt down in ceremony.
When she saw that Lin Xi beside her still didn’t move, Bian Linghan immediately panicked, forcefully tugging on Lin Xi’s clothes.
Right now, Liu Xiunu was passing on an imperial edict, what she represented was already the current emperor’s will.
…
After Wen Xuanyu thanked the emperor for his grace, he stood up again. He saw the graceful palace maid bring out four copper coin-sized round pure gold medals. When he saw the hollowed out ‘bravery’ character, his brows furrowed deeply, saying, “We didn’t head out into the battlefield to kill enemies… how can we be awarded this loyalty and bravery emblem?”
Liu Xiunu revealed a faint smile, first placing a circular pure gold emblem in Wen Xuanyu’s hands, and then slowly said, “His majesty has already said that the dangers of this battle weren’t lower than carrying out a mission on the battlefield. By being willing to represent the academy in battle, the bravery is already deserving of an award. This is not to mention that your performances have left his majesty in admiration.”
When he thought about how during these few days, he only found a single prisoner, Wen Xuanyu felt more and more like this medal that represented loyalty and bravery was burning his hand. He hung his head, storing it away in his sleeves.
Lin Xi didn’t feel like this at all.
He knew far too little about this world’s matters, so he was always filled with strong curiosity. Together with how he didn’t really worry about his future in officialdom like most students, not really all that ambitious, the way he looked at people became extremely simple, not overcautious when he looked at Su Longshu and Liu Xiunu. He turned over the golden emblem Liu Xiunu placed in his hands, seeing that the other side was a hollowed out ‘loyalty’ character. The two sides both had extremely detailed patterns engraved on them, as if they were flowing clouds.
Even though these were only decorative motif and not runes, the degree of precision and detail was still something only a skilled craftsman could reproduce.
“Senior Su, is this Bravery and Loyalty medal really hard to earn?” He raised his head slightly, his eyes shifting from the medal to Su Longshu’s body, asking without much reservation.
Su Longshu was looking for some topics to get a bit closer to Lin Xi and the others to begin with. When he heard Lin Xi’s question, he immediately smiled and said, “Could it be that Junior Lin has always focused on cultivation, not understanding our Yunqin’s honor awards that clearly?”
Lin Xi shook his head. “I know absolutely nothing.”
Su Longshu laughed, “Then it seems like I can talk about it in a bit more detail.”
Lin Xi also laughed. “The more detailed, the better.”
Su Longshu nodded gently, not wasting any more words, saying slowly, “There are two medals in my Yunqin that represents honor, one type is issued by the Justice Sector, completely determined by achievements. Starting from the highest down respectively are Heaven Splendor, Star General, Divine Duck, Thistles and Thorns, Meteor, Fearless, and others, a total of nine grades and sixteen types of medals. These medals from Justice Sector are completely awarded based on performances when carrying out missions in the military. The source of these sixteen types of emblems are all from great battles or heroic tales, within them some of similar rank, just that they differ in nature, so there are different medals awarded. The other type of medal is something personally granted by his majesty, representing his appreciation, from top down separated into Nation Defender, Bestowed Noble, Chaos Queller, Great Virtue, Coiling Dragon, Bravery and Loyalty, Ancestral Honor, these seven ranks. These seven emblems awarded by his majesty are awarded based on his judgment based on your merit towards the emperor and Yunqin. For example, Nation Defender is an extraordinary medal only awarded to those who obtained merit like defending the nation or pioneered a frontier area, Bestowed Noble represents one who has contributed enough for the emperor to grant them land, making them the lord of a region.”
Lin Xi gave Su Longshu a look, saying with a laugh, “Can senior brother please explain a bit more clearly? At the very least, I still don’t understand the value in this Bravery and Loyalty medal.”
Su Longshu stared blanky for a moment, thought about his choice of words, and then said, “Generally speaking, one still needs to carry out an equivalent to a dangerous mission in the border army, one where if ten leave for this mission, even if it succeeds, five need to sacrifice their lives for the country… if your performance among the five survivors is the most outstanding, then you have a chance of obtaining this Bravery and Loyalty medal.”
Lin Xi thought for a bit, saying, “It was quite a serious affair after all.”
Su Longshu smiled, not saying anything.
Lin Xi instead suddenly asked, “Then this and official rank… promotion, does it have any relationship?”
“This…” Su Longshu gave Liu Xiunu next to him a look, a bit of an awkward expression appearing on his face. However, after a bit of hesitation, he still braced himself and said, “My Yunqin’s medals are all related to military service, this Bravery and Loyalty medal’s military achievement… is roughly equivalent to being enough to rise from minor eighth rank to major eighth rank.”
“Then our Green Luan Academy’s students, normally when they graduate, will start from minor eighth rank, but now that I obtained this medal, would I be equivalent to major eighth rank, my rank equivalent to a city supervisor?” Lin Xi then asked.
The awkwardness in Su Longshu’s expression became a bit thicker, nodding. “… Yes.”
“Then apart from being able to go a bit further once we become an official, are there any other benefits?”
“…”
Su Longshu’s face became bitter, sweat coming out of his head, inwardly thinking, “Junior Lin Xi, even if you know nothing about official rank, you should still pay a bit of attention to the current situation… there is someone from the emperor standing on the side, yet you are actually speaking so directly? Asking about military ranks is one thing, yet you are even asking if there are any other benefits?”
“Are there any?” Lin Xi instead had a completely pure expression on his face, looking at Su Longshu who was sweating profusely, asking like a curious child, “Are there any?”
Su Longshu was scared that Lin Xi’s words would leave the emperor with a bad impression, his current hard-pressed appearance landed in Liu Xiunu’s eyes. Liu Xiunu instead smiled, looking at Lin Xi and saying, “Our Yunqin views strength highly.”
“En?”
“That was why apart from this medal and military contribution promotion, as long as you obtain two or more medals, if you have committed some offense, the local area won’t have the authority to judge you, at the very least, you have to be escorted to a provincial Judicial Sector branch to make the decision. Once one obtains the emperor’s Great Virtue medal, or a Fearless medal, even if they commit a great crime, they still need to be escorted to Judicial Sector’s Heaven’s Peak Court before a decision can be made, no punishments can be carried out on you along the way.”
Liu Xiunu looked at Lin Xi who listened with great interest. After thinking for a bit, she then said, “Moreover, in the local armies and border armies, officer veterans might not have much respect for officials in other divisions… but regardless of whether it is the military division or the medals that represent the emperor’s grace, they are true signs of courage. Even if it is the Ancestral Honor medal, the lowest of the seven ranks his majesty bestows, it is still awarded to brave soldiers who take the lead in charging into the enemy lines, not hesitating to risk their own life.”
Lin Xi nodded. “The one who takes the lead in rushing into enemy lines is obviously the one who is most likely to die, those who survive obviously have the qualification to obtain this medal.”
Liu Xiunu felt more and more that Lin Xi was interesting, also nodding.
“So this medal can also be used to scare people.” After Lin Xi gave a bow in thanks, he quickly put away the medal, and then said this.
Su Longshu originally released a breath of relief when he saw Lin Xi stopped asking questions, but when he heard Lin Xi suddenly say this, a thick layer of sweat appeared on his forehead again.
Liu Xiunu stared blankly for a moment, but then couldn’t help but smile. She looked at Lin Xi and said, “Sometimes, it can indeed be used to scare people.”
