Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Three lights of different colors appeared in the sky, leaving long traces behind them as they advanced. They were heading for the pagoda of the Natural Law School.
It caught the attention of large groups. They saw there were three old men in feathery clothes.
They looked elegant. Although they were all gray-haired, they didn’t seem old. They were like ancient thousand-year-old trees, strong and majestic.
“The Three Clarities of Natural Law!”
Some elders recognized them. They were three well-known men from the Natural Law School.
“Apprentice brothers!”
Yuan Hong, the leader of the Hall of Penal Law, Elder Technique Impartation, and the Medicine Elder stood up and greeted them with respect.
There was a hierarchy among grand supreme elders, too.
The Three Clarities of Natural Law were their superiors. Yuan Hong hadn’t expected them to be sent here.
“Why did you burn the natural law spell?” Fu Hongxue, one of the Three Clarities of Natural Law, asked.
Elder Technique Impartation told them what had happened. The Three Clarities of Natural Law had been aloof, but their expressions kept changing as they listened to the story. In the end, their eyes lit up, full of surprise.
“It’s him? Jiang Chen?”
The Three Clarities of Natural Law looked towards the square where Jiang Chen was, as if looking at treasure.
Chu Luo and Wen Xin came forward as soon as possible to support Jiang Chen, who was about to fall.
“Whitty.”
Whitty’s eyes turned back to blue when Jiang Chen called him. He returned to Jiang Chen’s side and sniffed him caringly.
“It’s fine.”
He had paid a big price to exert the magic method. At that moment, he was no match for even an average person.
“This was a fair fight. Life and death are determined by fate. The dynasty won’t blame anyone for the Third Prince’s death,” the emperor of the Xia Dynasty said helplessly when the crowd quieted.
In fact, he was surprised, too. He only knew his son wasn’t rule-abiding and could be a bit arrogant and aggressive, but he had never expected him to be hated by so many people. He was both surprised and angry to learn this.
“Jiang Chen can advance to the next round, but thanks to his great performance, he has already earned a place to study in the Sacred Institute with an outstanding grade,” the Venerable of the Sacred Institute stood up to announce.
The heartbroken emperor’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard the announcement.
There were three grades for the places—outstanding, superior, and good.
Normally, this grading system wouldn’t be used. Everyone would get a good by default.
If someone received an outstanding, it was an absolute honor for the field he was from, since it represented the potential and strength of that field.
But if a benefit to the Fire Field was all, it wasn’t enough to compensate for the loss of his son.
If someone got an outstanding, his country would receive the attention of the Sacred Institute and be rewarded.
It wasn’t known what kind of reward it was, but judging from the emperor’s reaction, it must be extraordinary.
It was true that the royal family was cruel; the emperor of the Xia Dynasty had never shed a tear for his late son.
Many people looked at Jiang Chen with envy and jealousy.
It was widely agreed that Jiang Chen was qualified for the place. Everyone had seen his performance in the fight with the Third Prince. He definitely deserved it.
The others in the top twelve were looking at Jiang Chen in a more calculating way. Theoretically, these proud men should have been eager to fight with such an admirable rival to see how they compared to him, but none of them wanted to fight him, since they knew there was no chance for them to win.
Lu Fei, who had claimed he would defeat all swordsmen on that day, smiled embarrassedly. He stopped mentioning it.
Yi Shuihan didn’t dare compete with Jiang Chen in the doctrine of sword either.
Mo Kuang’s intention to get revenge had completely vanished.
They felt lucky that Jiang Chen had already gotten the spot. This way, they wouldn’t run into him, so they were relieved.
“Jiang Chen, tell me your age, family origin, and nationality.”
The Venerable of the Sacred Institute flew down from the palace wall. He had a brush pen in his hand.
“He is a disciple of the Natural Law School.” The Three Clarities of Natural Law landed with satisfied smiles.
“He’s a citizen of the Xia Dynasty.”
The prime minister of the dynasty came forward. It was the emperor who should have come, but he couldn’t face Jiang Chen at that moment, so the prime minister had come in his place.
“No. I’m neither a disciple of the Natural Law School nor a citizen of the Xia Dynasty.”
It was surprising that Jiang Chen claimed this.
Wen Xin had told him what had happened.
“Jiang Chen, what do you mean? Although you were trapped in the Realm of Beasts, the school was always worried about you. The school leader has been looking at your fortune frequently,” Hong Wu, one of the Three Clarities of Natural Law, said.
Not until then did Yuan Hong and the others tumble to the realization that the top management of the Natural Law School had always been aware that Jiang Chen was alive. No wonder his status had never been changed.
“The Hundred Thousand Mountains is located in the dynasty. You grew up there. Of course you’re a citizen of the Xia Dynasty,” the prime minister hurried to say.
If Jiang Chen didn’t report the Xia Dynasty as his nationality, the Third Prince would have died for nothing, and the Xia Dynasty wouldn’t receive any benefits from this.
“I’m not angry about the Realm of Beasts. Actually, it’s because an elder of the Natural Law School refuses to admit I’m a disciple of the school,” Jiang Chen said.
“Oh? What do you mean?” Hong Wu asked.
Jiang Chen told him about the pagoda, how his clansmen weren’t allowed on.
Yuan Hong had a bad feeling, so he hurried to down from the pagoda. He knew Jiang Chen was going to denounce him. Although he didn’t think it was a big deal, he behaved with great respect in front of the Three Clarities of Natural Law.
He argued that it was because the pagoda was too small to hold so many people. It was the same with the families of other disciples. Only a small number of them could stay on the pagoda.
“You called us savage men. You said we didn’t deserve to stay on the pagoda,” the maid, Cher, reproached Yuan Hong. She was ignorant of his power, which was why she wasn’t afraid.
Yuan Hong was upset. He frowned, but didn’t know how to refute this.
The Three Clarities of Natural Law knew Jiang Chen had suffered from injustice after hearing the story.
Fu Hongxue said, “Jiang Chen, it’s Yuan Hong’s fault, but you shouldn’t have blamed the whole school for it, should you?”
“We’ll punish him—”
Jiang Chen interrupted, “Elder, I haven’t finished.”
“What else?”
The Three Clarities of Natural Law were surprised. They looked at Yuan Hong with blame.
The Venerable of the Sacred Institute wasn’t in a hurry. He was watching the show enthusiastically. He liked the youngster more and more with each second.
“My clansmen were framed and kept behind bars. Elder Yuan Hong said they deserved it. He accused my clansmen of having brought dishonor on the Natural Law School. He claimed he would delete my information from the Natural Law School’s database after today’s competition ended,” Jiang Chen said.
Yuan Hong’s heart sank. The first accusation was nothing, but the second one was more severe.
He hadn’t made any effort to protect a disciple’s rights. It was enough for Jiang Chen to leave the Natural Law School, and it would be his fault if it really happened.
“Jiang Chen, tell me where your clansmen are now,” Fu Hongxue said seriously.
“The dynasty kept my clansmen behind bars for the sake of the Black Dragon City. Princess Wen Xin tried to help. She went to see Captain Gao Xiong, but it didn’t work. The captain even insulted my clansmen by calling them savages. I think he needs to be punished too,” Jiang Chen said.
When he learned the whole story, the prime minister shouted loudly, “Gao Xiong!”
Gao Xiong was nearby. He hadn’t felt a thing when he saw the Third Prince die. He hadn’t given up the idea that Jiang Chen would be in big trouble until the Venerable of the Sacred Institute spoke.
He walked over nervously and looked towards Princess Wen Xin. He finally realized that woman hadn’t been exaggerating at all.
