The steward bowed apologetically again: “My sincerest apologies. Our Marquis left on a distant journey earlier and has not yet returned to the capital. If you two wish to visit, perhaps come another day.”

“He’s not here? Why didn’t you say so earlier…” Fu Yanyang was displeased. “You made us wait for so long…”

Changling asked: “Did he say when he’d return?”

The steward shook his head.

Changling was somewhat puzzled: So much time had passed—could it be his injuries hadn’t healed and he couldn’t return?

With the person not home, naturally there was no reason to stubbornly stay.

On the return journey, seeing Changling maintaining silence the entire way, Fu Yanyang asked curiously: “Sister Nan, I noticed you address Marquis He by name directly. Were you very familiar before?”

Changling: “Not familiar.”

“Then?”

“When I was at the Five Poisons Sect, he borrowed something from me.” Changling casually fabricated. “I came to ask for its return.”

“So that’s how it is.” Fu Yanyang looked suddenly enlightened, then gossiped: “What thing?”

Changling glanced at him, having no intention of continuing the lie. She smoothly changed the topic: “Alright, I’ve been to the Marquis Residence. Do you still want me to teach you swordsmanship?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Is there the quick-learning type? Preferably the kind that can intimidate people…”

“No.” Changling timely cut off his trailing words. “First tell me, how does the entrance examination for gentleman academy students work?”

Fu Yanyang thought for a moment and clapped Changling’s shoulder: “Come, I’ll take you somewhere. You’ll understand once you see.”

By the banks of Qingxi, pavilions and towers formed their own row. A building with flying cloud-painted beams and curtains hung high at the doorway bore the inscription: Guard the Clouds to See the Bright Moon.

Precisely Kaiyun Tower.

This Kaiyun Tower overlooked a river of misty water. Before its entrance, green willows bound with flowers—it should be a fine place in Jinling city for drinking wine and composing poetry.

At least that’s what Changling thought before entering the tavern.

Who could have imagined that just as she reached the threshold, instead of hearing clear songs and dance music, there came a “dong dong dong” drumming sound from inside.

“Oh good, we’re right on time!” Fu Yanyang was quite excited, bouncing inside. Changling followed in. Inside the building, voices were clamorous and food fragrances overflowed. What immediately caught one’s eye was the platform erected in the center.

Below the platform sat a ceremonial drum, with a server vigorously beating it with wooden mallets. On the platform, two people were exchanging moves.

“Sister Nan, over here, there’s a seat here!” Fu Yanyang selected a spot near the high platform. At that table already sat two young men, focused intently on the people above. Seeing Fu Yanyang repeatedly beckoning, Changling came forward and sat. Those two, seeing someone sharing the table, didn’t seem to mind. However, Changling’s appearance was truly difficult to ignore—they couldn’t help but look twice more. Seeing the great beauty glance over coldly, they sheepishly moved their gazes back to the arena.

At this moment, the two competing were also youths in their twenties, their martial attire embroidered with gold and silver trim, quite luxurious. Changling glanced twice—seeing punches and kicks sparse and ordinary, really nothing worth watching: “Everyone in this tavern came to watch people fight?”

Someone ahead blocked the view. Fu Yanyang tilted his head. “Exactly. Don’t you think drinking and eating meat while watching people spar is particularly exciting?”

Changling: “…”

She looked up. This tavern had three floors, with the arena as the center rising to the rooftop. Thus, guests in the elegant rooms on the second and third floors could also watch the competition—the ground floor spectators were a mixed crowd of all types, but those upstairs were mostly young people, both male and female. Among them, a large portion wore unified button-front long robes, pale blue and quite elegant.

“They’re Qingcheng Academy students.” Following Changling’s gaze, Fu Yanyang explained: “Pretty impressive, right?”

Impressive where?

The person on stage performed some move that drew cheers. Changling’s expression remained indifferent as she glanced at Fu Yanyang. “So you brought me here wanting to… do what?”

“Right, I forgot to introduce it to you.” Fu Yanyang pointed at the people on stage: “This Kaiyun Tower’s owner is Qingcheng Academy’s vice academician. To put it plainly, this place is the gentleman academy students’ recreational territory. If they have leisure time and want to practice, they can spar on the arena platform anytime. Whoever wins that day gets a free meal… See those plaques over there?”

Changling looked where his finger pointed and saw a high wall hung with a row of palm-sized wooden plaques with various names written on them. Fu Yanyang said: “Those above are the monthly rankings of gentleman academy students who spar here.”

“All gentleman academy students?” Changling asked: “Can’t other academy students go up?”

A youth at their table heard their conversation and smiled: “Here, even a cup of tea costs one tael of silver. Going on stage to spar once also costs one tael. How would those uncouth martial world people be willing to come in?”

Fu Yanyang, remembering Changling’s “Five Poisons Sect” background, mouthed to her: They mutually look down on each other, basically.

This was Changling’s first time hearing that sparring required paying money. She couldn’t help but have her eyes opened. “If not a Qingcheng Academy student, can ordinary people go up?”

“Would common people dare come compete with Qingcheng Academy people?” Another youth couldn’t help but interject. “If someone truly has good skills, the academicians will naturally recruit them. They’ll quickly become Qingcheng Academy people too.”

“Seems you two brothers greatly aspire to Qingcheng Academy.” Fu Yanyang called for a pot of tea and poured Changling a cup. “Are you also taking this year’s examination?”

“You’re also here to scout out the chief examiner’s capabilities, right?” Those two young men, seeing Fu Yanyang with a youthful face and Changling’s delicate fingers that clearly never touched work, couldn’t help but reveal some contempt. One said: “This year’s gentleman academy student examinees are double compared to previous years. I say, you two should go back and practice more. Come again in a few years.”

Just as Fu Yanyang was about to flare up, Changling asked: “Earlier you mentioned scouting capabilities? Could the chief examiner also be present?”

That youth looked at her strangely: “Hey, you must be from out of town—you don’t even recognize Young Master Wang?”

Changling’s brow furrowed. “Young Master Wang?”

Fu Yanyang pointed with his finger toward a person in the main seat below the arena platform. “That one in purple clothes. He’s currently the first senior disciple under the Qingcheng Academy academician, named Wang Xun. He’s the chief examiner for gentleman academy students this time. It’s said that as long as you withstand ten moves from him, you pass.”

Wang Xun… could it be that Wang family youngster from Jinling that Ye Qi once impersonated?

She’d seen the young Wang Xun. Now carefully looking over, she recognized those elongated eyes—among the crowd, he stood out. “Since he’s the chief examiner, why would he appear here?”

The youth at their table, seeing the great beauty asking about everything, simply started showing off: “Even though Young Master Wang’s martial skills are superb, to examine over a hundred people in three days would exhaust him. He came here first to observe this year’s examinees’ abilities, so when the time comes he’ll know how much force to use, right? Hey, look at that fellow—”

One person on the arena platform was kicked off, tumbling several times. The victorious youth bowed amidst everyone’s applause but showed no intention of leaving, apparently waiting for the next challenger.

Changling glanced sideways: “For examinees, what benefit is there in exposing themselves early before the chief examiner?”

“The final winner can request to challenge Wang Xun.” Fu Yanyang said. “Wang Xun will accept the challenge and will use the same moves on examination day—it’s a convenience for the victor.”

Changling now understood this roundabout routine—in short, it meant leaking examination questions early to those who could definitely pass, making things easier for everyone. As for those observing, they wanted to glean something and ponder whether there was any possibility of muddling through.

Just like Fu Yanyang.

No wonder Qingcheng Academy didn’t arrange for gentleman academy students to be examined together with ordinary academy students. One group of wealthy young masters holding swords already considered themselves great heroes—if they truly faced the martial world’s unorthodox types, wouldn’t they get beaten until they were missing limbs and crying for their parents?

Changling sighed with little interest.

These novices seemed evenly matched. Who knew how long she’d have to watch before Wang Xun made his move? She hesitated briefly but still abandoned the thought of personally going on stage to challenge—when children fight, what business did adults have joining in?

Suddenly, a goose-yellow graceful figure flew onto the arena platform. Everyone looked up to see it was actually a young woman with delicate beauty, appearing only sixteen or seventeen years old. In her eyes shone a cold, clear intent. She held a sword in her hand and extended her right palm toward the youth on stage, indicating they could begin.

Changling softly exclaimed “oh,” thinking to herself: What a pretty girl.

She heard people at the next table whispering: “Isn’t that Fang Zhuyi?”

“Oh my, it really is! Now that Fang Zhuyi’s come, what’s left to compete over?”

Just as they were discussing, the two had already begun moving. That girl called Fang Zhuyi hadn’t drawn her sword from its sheath, fighting barehanded with splitting palms. In just a few moves, she beat that youth until he couldn’t resist, kicking him off the arena platform.

Instantly, the entire hall erupted in cheers. Fu Yanyang watched with eyes glazed. “My Zhuyi is just amazing…”

Changling: “You know her?”

Fu Yanyang scratched his head embarrassedly, saying quietly: “Speaking of it… we’re childhood sweethearts…”

“Childhood sweethearts?” Changling didn’t quite believe it. “With such a huge gap in martial skills?”

“…That, that’s different.” Fu Yanyang choked. “Her family is a martial arts household. I just don’t have anyone to teach me…”

At this moment, Fang Zhuyi spoke: “Who else wants to come up?”

The building suddenly quieted. No one made a sound.

“If so, then I’ve won.” Fang Zhuyi’s expression was proud. She turned toward Wang Xun sitting below the platform and cupped her fist, saying unhurriedly: “Young Master Wang, I wonder if I might have the honor of meeting you in combat?”

Wang Xun stood up. After a sweep around confirming there were no other challengers, he leaped onto the arena platform. Fang Zhuyi saw Wang Xun’s empty hands. “Where’s your weapon?”

“Not needed.” Wang Xun’s left hand rested behind his back. He said concisely: “Begin.”

Hearing this, Fang Zhuyi showed no shame or anger. She actually also threw her long sword aside, then immediately raised her right palm, bringing forth a powerful wind that directly attacked Wang Xun.

Her movement techniques were very fast. In moments, she’d already pressed close to Wang Xun’s vicinity. However, Wang Xun’s footwork shifted, blocking each move precisely without error. He wasn’t in a hurry to counterattack—instead, he probed Fang Zhuyi’s depth.

Both emanated a “if you want to fight, fight quickly, no chatter” straightforwardness. Changling found it to her taste and couldn’t help but seriously watch them exchange several moves. In her heart, she’d already made calculations—this Fang Zhuyi indeed had some ability. Her techniques were varied and endless, her lower stance work also fairly solid. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t Wang Xun’s match.

Fang Zhuyi leaped behind Wang Xun, one palm striking toward his back. Wang Xun’s left arm swung back—defense containing offense. The momentum suddenly turned fierce, one palm striking Fang Zhuyi’s shoulder, making her stumble and nearly fall off the platform.

Exactly twenty moves had passed.

Fu Yanyang watched in bewilderment: “If it were me, I couldn’t even last five moves…”

Changling glanced at him, silently pressing back into her stomach the words “he could flatten you in one move.” While lifting her teacup, she calculated the possibility of beating Wang Xun to a pulp before Fu Yanyang’s examination. Suddenly she heard surprised cries from within the venue. She saw Fang Zhuyi leap into the air, left hand in a splitting palm-blade, right hand gripping a straight punch. Her form like a hunting leopard, she pounced straight forward!

Wang Xun immediately raised his hand to block. Unexpectedly, Fang Zhuyi’s arms and fists were like flood dragons—coming suddenly, going suddenly, momentarily dazzling—she seized the opportunity, her fist striking mercilessly. Wang Xun’s wrist went numb, instantly losing his defense. Looking up again, Fang Zhuyi’s second wave of attacks overwhelmed like overturning seas and mountains.

Everyone below the stage stared dumbfounded. “This, what fist technique is this? Even Young Master Wang can’t withstand it…”

“One hand with fingers as blade, one hand gripping fist as stone—could this be—”

The fingers holding the teacup whitened slightly. Changling’s gaze fixed, her pupils trembling.

“I remember now!” Someone stood up in shock. “This is the fist technique created by the War God Yue Changling twelve years ago on Lingjue Mountain… called the Lingjue Fist!”