Chapter 4: A Glimpse of Splendor, a Plan Falls Flat
After finishing the roast goose, chubby Wang Mu headed back to the academy.
Gu Lin found a nearby bookshop, spent three wen, and took a book into a quiet reading room.
He wasn’t there to read, of course—he was there to think.
Only in a quiet environment could he truly focus his thoughts!
Gu Lin gently rubbed the corner of the table, murmuring to himself:
“The ten seed candidate spots—I have to secure one, no matter what.”
“The chance to enter the Four Great Sacred Grounds is not one I can afford to miss.”
He craved entry into one of the four great power institutions more than anything.
The Feathering Divine Dynasty operated under an extremely rigid hierarchy—noble families and clans were all ranked across nine tiers, with the pinnacle of the pyramid controlling every channel of resources.
And the Four Great Sacred Grounds sat right at the very top of that pyramid, answering directly to the Feathering imperial throne, their authority extending across all twenty-eight provinces of the realm!
‘For me, having that protective umbrella is absolutely essential—being able to lawfully execute evildoers. One official document naming them, and with a power network spanning the entire realm, where could they possibly run?’
‘The higher up the pyramid I go, the more varied and heinous the evildoers I’ll encounter—I might even get to strike down demons and monsters. The speed of my cultivation progress would be unimaginable!’
‘Besides, heroes across the realm are as numerous as fish crossing a river—why shouldn’t I become someone who shines just as brightly? A name known throughout the world, a single word carrying enough weight to command respect!’
Gu Lin’s spirits soared, his resolve unshakable.
This was, without question, his ultimate goal.
And the biggest challenge standing before him right now was Shiyang Academy’s ten seed candidate spots.
If he couldn’t even make it past the preliminary selection, he wouldn’t even qualify to travel to the prefectural capital of Chuwei—entering the Four Great Sacred Grounds would remain nothing but a dream.
Gu Lin murmured to himself, his voice low:
“Ten days. I need to break through to at least Energy Condensation, Fourth Layer, at minimum.”
From what the chubby boy had mentioned, Li Qingwu could barely scrape into the top ten, but even that wasn’t guaranteed—if there were any hidden dark horses lurking about, she might not even secure a seed candidate spot at all.
Since he hadn’t yet actually fought anyone in real combat, Gu Lin still wasn’t certain of the true power behind the Mysterious Netherworld Palm and the Wave-Treading Steps. To be safe, he needed genuine strength at Energy Condensation, Fourth Layer as well!
If anyone else had voiced such an ambition, they’d likely be mocked by the whole world—even prodigies training for three or four years couldn’t necessarily achieve that kind of progress, let alone in a mere ten days. It would sound like an absurd fantasy!
But for Gu Lin, as long as there were enough evildoers to be found, there was no telling what miracle he might pull off.
After thinking it over for a long while, Gu Lin set the book aside, his decision made—
Bounty hunting.
He’d walk the same path as his father!
He’d head to the county office and pick up a bounty notice.
There was risk involved, certainly—he had no actual combat experience, and there was always the chance he could die at the hands of a wanted criminal.
But if he couldn’t even stomach that much risk, how could he ever call himself strong?
Besides, claiming a bounty notice meant lawful killing—no consequences to bear!
No sooner decided than done—Gu Lin headed for the Shiyang County office.
***
An hour later.
The county office stood grand and imposing, yet at that moment the area buzzed with noise, crowds of martial practitioners and common folk packed along the flagstone road.
Atop the raised platform sat a corpse, wrapped in bamboo matting, blood dripping freely, a pungent fragrance mixing with the stench of decay, spreading rapidly through the air.
Gu Lin only needed one glance to feel his heart lurch with alarm.
He knew this corpse all too well!
The evil woman who had taken his first time, who had violated him!
To avoid arousing suspicion, Gu Lin kept his expression composed and simply stood there watching along with everyone else.
A moment later, more than a dozen county clerks and constables emerged from the office, surrounding a young man in his late twenties.
The young man carried himself with refined, scholarly bearing and extraordinary presence, dressed in an orange long robe. What drew everyone’s attention was that the robe was embroidered with several lotus seeds, and at his waist hung a bronze-colored badge shaped like a wolf-hair writing brush.
Not only did the county clerks treat him with the utmost deference, but even the county registrar and the county inspector personally came out to greet him—these were the third and fourth most powerful officials in all of Shiyang County!
“Who is this person?” the crowd murmured in confusion.
A scholar among them gasped:
“Lotus seed robe, wolf-hair brush badge—could this be a Blade-Bearer from the Literary Dao Academy?”
A Blade-Bearer?!
The onlookers exchanged glances, and then every gaze turned toward the young man, filled with reverence.
At that moment, the county inspector stepped forward on his own initiative, saying with a smile:
“Allow me to introduce this gentleman to the good people of Shiyang—this is Blade-Bearer Cao, of the Blade-Bearer Bureau under the Chu Province branch of the Literary Dao Academy Sacred Ground of the Feathering Divine Dynasty!”
The moment he finished speaking, every onlooker was struck with reverence, cupping their fists in respectful salute, the scholars among them practically trembling with excitement, bowing deeply.
So this was the Blade-Bearer Bureau under the Literary Dao Academy!
The Literary Dao Academy itself used lotus-flower robes and golden wolf-hair brush badges!
While its subordinate Blade-Bearer Bureau used lotus-seed robes and bronze wolf-hair brush badges!
The extraordinarily composed Blade-Bearer Cao showed no change in expression, clearly indifferent to all the flattery, giving only a light wave of his hand.
The county inspector continued:
“Leng Mei, third elder of the Hehuan Sect from Luling Prefecture, has been causing chaos. Blade-Bearer Cao detected her trail, engaged her in fierce combat, and severely wounded her. Leng Mei then fled in a desperate panic, and somehow ended up fleeing all the way here to our own Shiyang County.”
“Fortunately, this humble official, upholding my duty to protect our borders and keep the people safe, was out on my usual nightly patrol with the constables when I happened to discover Leng Mei’s trail and struck her down, ridding the people of this menace and making a small contribution to the Literary Dao Academy Sacred Ground.”
Inspector Yan wore an unmistakably self-satisfied expression.
Thunderous applause rippled through the crowd around him.
Gu Lin’s eyes narrowed slightly. This fellow really knew how to claim credit for himself, gilding his own reputation shamelessly.
Inspector Yan paused briefly, then continued with rising excitement:
“You must understand—Leng Mei was a master at Cavern Mystery, Sixth Layer, and she couldn’t withstand even a single exchange against Blade-Bearer Cao! Can you imagine how powerful Blade-Bearer Cao must truly be?!”
While he bragged on, Blade-Bearer Cao remained perfectly unruffled, offering a few perfunctory words before taking his leave of the county office officials.
Watching his effortlessly dignified figure walk away, the crowd erupted in yet another round of praise—remarks about how a real man ought to carry himself just like that, about how if their own son became a Blade-Bearer, their ancestors’ graves would practically glow with pride.
Once you entered the Blade-Bearer Bureau, you truly commanded respect and glory!
Gu Lin fell into thought.
Hm. So that evil woman had been at Cavern Mystery, Sixth Layer?
As far as he understood, the Martial Dao’s cultivation stages progressed through Meridian Opening, Energy Condensation, Cavern Mystery, Life’s Mandate, Mountains and Seas…
Slaying someone at Cavern Mystery, Sixth Layer, and that was all the reward he’d gotten?
Of course, Gu Lin was well aware that the evil woman’s death had essentially nothing to do with him—he hadn’t exerted any effort of his own at all.
Watching Blade-Bearer Cao’s retreating figure disappear into the distance, Gu Lin organized his thoughts.
First, the county office’s third- and fourth-highest officials had personally come out to see off Blade-Bearer Cao—this alone spoke volumes about just how elevated the status of a Blade-Bearer truly was!
If even the errand-running bureau commanded such standing, then the Literary Dao Academy itself, one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, existed on an entirely different, transcendent plane.
Second, Blade-Bearer Cao was only in his late twenties, yet he’d been able to severely wound that evil woman—his true strength was no less than Cavern Mystery, Sixth Layer itself!
Was Blade-Bearer Cao a peerless genius, then?
No—he definitely wasn’t among the very top tier, otherwise he wouldn’t have failed to make it into a Sacred Ground during the selection trials!
If he’d truly had what it took to enter the Literary Dao Academy, why would he be running errands at a mere Blade-Bearer bureau?
It seemed the world was absolutely teeming with prodigies—just within Chu Province alone, there were far too many people of extraordinary, breathtaking talent!
As for how Blade-Bearer Cao had achieved such high cultivation at such a young age, that was easy enough to explain—beyond talent alone, there were resources to consider.
As the old saying went: the closer a residence sat to the heart of Shiyang County, the more expensive it became; the closer one stood to the center of power, the more resources naturally gathered around them!!
Serving the Chu Province branch of the Literary Dao Academy Sacred Ground, opportunities would naturally never be in short supply.
Third, when Inspector Yan had spoken the words “Literary Dao Academy Sacred Ground,” Gu Lin had noticed Blade-Bearer Cao’s otherwise composed expression flicker ever so slightly.
As Gu Lin interpreted it, that flicker had been one of quiet dejection.
Having stumbled in the selection trials meant a future utterly different from what might have been—being unable to enter the Literary Dao Academy was likely Blade-Bearer Cao’s greatest regret. The rules simply couldn’t be broken; no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to enter the Literary Dao Academy proper.
Gu Lin murmured to himself:
“I have to succeed in one decisive stroke. With no fallback plan of becoming a mere Blade-Bearer, I’m bound to become someone who belongs to a Sacred Ground itself!!”
***
After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn down, the crowd around him dispersed, and Gu Lin made his way over to the notice board.
To his disappointment, there were no bounty notices posted on the board at all.
To avoid drawing the constables’ attention, he didn’t linger, heading instead toward Tongxing Escort Agency.
He found his father at the agency and probed the matter carefully, indirectly.
Having personally witnessed his son shed his cowardice that very morning, Gu Changchuan’s attitude had softened considerably, and he explained gently:
“Bounty notices don’t come around that often. Shiyang County’s security is actually quite good, all things considered—if bandits truly ran rampant with no restraint, the magistrate and his deputy would’ve been removed from office long ago.”
“There might be around ten or so bounty notices issued in a given month, but even those require connections and silver changing hands under the table just to get your hands on one. Bounty hunting puts your life on the line, sure, but for the sake of making a living, so many martial practitioners would claw each other’s eyes out just to get hold of a single notice.”
“Your father only gets access because the head guard trusts me—the head guard has close ties with the constable captain over at the county office’s criminal affairs bureau, so he occasionally passes bounty notices my way, letting me earn a bit extra on the side.”
Hearing this, Gu Lin’s heart sank halfway.
That path was closed off to him!
Never mind that he himself had absolutely no connections to obtain a bounty notice on his own—even if he tried to get one through his father, given how scarce they were, he simply couldn’t afford to wait that long.
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