Chapter Forty-Five: The Third Trial Begins

Time flew like an arrow, and when there was nothing to do, the days passed with startling speed.

On June 5th, Su Ziye and Liu Ru spent the whole day at the Third Prince’s residence, but Liu Ru had no time for chess. Su Ziye decided to give her intensified training. As he had said, he had already earned the privilege of entering Nightleaf Academy without examination, but Liu Ru still had to face the tests.

As for why it couldn’t be the other way around, or why Su Ziye didn’t simply take the exam for her, he only smiled and said, “There’s no particular reason, but your future is what decides everything.”

Breakfast on June 6th was fried dough sticks and milk. After eating, Liu Ru and Su Ziye bade a brief farewell to the Third Prince and set off for the academy.

To say Liu Ru wasn’t nervous would be a lie; after all, she had no idea if her meager skills would be of any use in the coming examination. Yet, as the saying goes, even the most awkward bride must eventually meet her in-laws.

Su Ziye had prepared her with some targeted special training for the upcoming questions, but whether it would prove useful remained to be seen when the third round truly began.

The usually quiet streets of Nightleaf were, for once, packed with people. Still, Liu Ru wasn’t as widely recognized as she’d imagined. Though she had appeared publicly in the Hall of Stars, her audience had only been a few hundred, barely a speck among the nearly ten thousand examinees.

“Liu Ru, over here!” a voice soon called out. She turned to see Zhou Yi, dressed in black, hurrying over. “I heard you came to the academy the day before yesterday. What a pity we didn’t meet—I was in class then.”

“And now?” Liu Ru asked calmly.

“I’m on duty, of course,” Zhou Yi replied matter-of-factly. “I’m here to guide you to your exam hall.”

Seeing how familiar he was acting, Liu Ru kept her composure. “Is that really all right?”

“It’s perfectly fine. This is part of our job.” Zhou Yi pointed toward a distant sign. “There are eight exam halls this time. Everyone is assigned according to their registration number. Just follow me.”

Liu Ru nodded and glanced at Su Ziye. “What about him?”

Although Su Ziye had already earned his place as a student, that was still a closely held secret. Liu Ru didn’t know if Zhou Yi was aware of it, but regardless, she should help keep it concealed.

“Of course, Su Ziye is with you, Miss. You’re both in the Xuan exam hall. Please, follow me.” Zhou Yi smiled, gestured politely, and began to lead the way.

Liu Ru made a quiet sound of agreement and, with Su Ziye, followed Zhou Yi through several streets. After about five minutes, Zhou Yi suddenly stopped.

“Please don’t block the way,” he said, his tone suddenly severe.

“I mean no harm to you, Senior,” replied a black-haired youth in a blue robe ahead. “I just have business with Liu Ru.”

His voice was calm, giving nothing away.

“Liu Ru is about to take the third exam, as are you, I imagine. None of us want any trouble right now,” Zhou Yi insisted.

The youth smiled faintly, then raised his head. “Liu Ru, would you care to say a few words?”

Liu Ru sighed inwardly and stepped forward. “What do you want with me?”

“My name is Bei Zhou. I challenge you formally,” he said simply. “Do you accept?”

“No,” Liu Ru replied without hesitation.

“You heard her, she refuses. Move along,” Zhou Yi said, emboldened by Liu Ru’s decisiveness.

“If you refuse, the rift between us won’t be so easily mended,” Bei Zhou said with a smile, looking at Liu Ru.

She resisted the urge to glance at Su Ziye.

She was now fully adapted to the role of Liu Ru and knew exactly what decisions Liu Ru would make in this situation. The only problem was that she did not possess the real Liu Ru’s fighting ability. In the past, Su Ziye would have stepped in to demonstrate that strength, as he had done two days before. But now, Liu Ru was on her own.

“I have an exam to take,” Liu Ru said calmly, then walked forward.

Step by step, she approached Bei Zhou with perfect composure, Su Ziye following close behind.

Bei Zhou watched her in silence, not making a move even as she passed right by him. “Even the Frost burial Society shows respect to both sides in a duel,” he said coolly.

“But not today,” Liu Ru replied, and walked past him.

“Go take your exam, little brother,” Zhou Yi called after Bei Zhou, clearly surprised by how easily the tense encounter had been resolved. He hurried to Liu Ru’s side, taunting Bei Zhou as he led her away.

“A true Liu Ru!” Zhou Yi couldn’t help but flatter her as they walked. “You’ve already made an enemy of Bei Zhou.”

“Who is Bei Zhou?” Liu Ru asked, feigning indifference.

“Wait, you don’t even know? How did you end up his enemy?” Zhou Yi was shocked. “Bei Zhou is from the Aust Empire, but he’s not from any official faction. He’s from the Green Wing, an underground resistance formed by nobles of the former dynasty—so strong that even the Aust Empire hasn’t been able to wipe them out after nearly two centuries.”

“They’ve been fighting the empire for so long, their resources run deep and their methods are ruthless. They’re a major power in their own right.”

“Let me share a little inside information.” Zhou Yi lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Would you like to hear it?”

“If you’d care to tell me,” Liu Ru replied coolly.

“Of course!” Zhou Yi said eagerly. “At the last Hall of Stars auction, there was a spiritual artifact dagger called Winter’s Song. As far as I know, it’s now in Green Wing’s hands.”

“Actually, it’s not,” Liu Ru said quietly.

“That’s impossible!” Zhou Yi protested, unwilling to admit his intelligence might be out of date.

Liu Ru said nothing. She simply raised her right hand, and in the next instant, the pitch-black dagger appeared in her fair palm.

Zhou Yi was momentarily struck dumb, like a fish out of water, his mouth opening and closing without sound.

“I see now why you and Bei Zhou are at odds!” he nearly shouted, drawing glances from all around.

Liu Ru wished she could pretend not to know him.

Realizing his outburst, Zhou Yi hurriedly stepped closer. “Why do you have Winter’s Song?”

“I was robbed two days ago,” Liu Ru said simply. “The robbers were from Green Wing. To apologize, they gave me the dagger.”

Not a word of her explanation did Zhou Yi believe, of course.

Still, one thing was clear: this girl was terrifying.

Anyone who could walk away from a Green Wing robbery with Winter’s Song was not an ordinary victim. But even so, the only conclusion was that Liu Ru was someone to be feared.

Zhou Yi didn’t mind. He’d seen his fair share of terrifying monsters, but so few as pleasant to behold as Liu Ru.

“That’s a serious grudge you’ve made,” Zhou Yi said, a little worried. “Bei Zhou won’t let it go, not after losing Winter’s Song. You could use the exam as an excuse to refuse a duel today, but what about next time?”

Next time, the person using this name might not be me, Liu Ru thought silently.

“If you refuse to duel, Bei Zhou has plenty of underhanded means at his disposal,” Zhou Yi warned. “The world’s three great assassination and intelligence organizations—Dark Star is number one, our own West City is number two, and Green Wing is third. Even so, Green Wing is nothing to underestimate.”

“Understood,” Liu Ru nodded calmly, as if unconcerned.

Once you have enough enemies, another makes no difference. She already knew Dark Star was trying every which way to kill her; Green Wing was little more than a passing shower.

“Never mind,” Zhou Yi said, “Once you join the academy, you’ll be more or less under West City’s protection. Officially, West City and the academy are independent, but since West City’s headquarters are right here in Nightleaf City, the two are practically family.”

He seemed to have no concept of discretion.

“Here we are,” Zhou Yi said, stopping. “Good luck. Though I doubt you’ll need it.”

Liu Ru lifted her head and beheld a grand corridor of ice and snow, above whose entrance hung the character Xuan.

“All the third exam halls are temporary structures, so we use ice as the main material,” Zhou Yi explained. “The lake outside the city provides all we need.”

As for the scale of the iceworks, the cutting, preservation, and final construction—he glossed over all of it. That, too, spoke to the power and resources of Nightleaf Academy.

Even in June, several such icy corridors could stand tall by the lakeside.

Liu Ru nodded and, with Su Ziye, stepped into the corridor.

It was midsummer, yet the moment they entered, a refreshing chill enveloped them.

“It’s so cool, Miss,” Su Ziye said with a smile.

Liu Ru ignored him, continuing forward. After a cursory check by a few black-clad members of the student council, she was finally inside the examination hall.

It was a vast chamber, hundreds of square meters, with dozens of icy pillars supporting a heavy vaulted ceiling. Yet the most striking feature was not the architecture, but what filled the hall.

Everywhere were flowerpots and garden beds of all shapes and sizes, each planted with various flowers and shrubs.

Liu Ru paused to examine them. Though the species were many and varied, in the end, they could be classified into just four types—the very subject of the first trial of the third exam.

Plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum.

She was not alone; many candidates had already arrived, and more continued to enter. Faced with such an unusual examination setup, most were at a complete loss. All the knowledge they’d accumulated seemed suddenly useless.

So most simply waited in silence. Eventually, Zhou Yi’s voice echoed through the hall.

“I believe many of you already know that the theme of the first trial is the Four Gentlemen: plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. We owe this to the generosity of Miss Liu Ru. Thanks to you, many candidates are not completely bewildered at the outset. Still, how to pass remains a mystery to most of you.”

“But the third exam at Lan Ye has always had one rule: as long as you pass, any method is acceptable. The only difference is in your final evaluation.”

“For in this world, there is never only one right answer. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.”

“And now, I’ll announce the condition for passing the first trial: simply take any one of the plants here and exit through the main door.”

“If you do that, you will have passed the first stage of Lan Ye’s third exam.”

“The exam lasts for eight hours. Food and drink will be provided, and there are restrooms on site—no need to worry about basic needs.”

“With that, please use your own judgment. I look forward to seeing you all in the academy.”

As soon as he finished, a wave of candidates surged toward the flowerbeds and pots, trying to pull up a plant to take with them.

Liu Ru glanced back and was surprised to find that Su Ziye had vanished without her noticing.

She sighed and turned her attention to the flowers, reaching out to grasp an orchid.

Undoubtedly, compared to plum and bamboo, chrysanthemum and orchid seemed easier to extract, being herbaceous rather than woody.

Yet, despite her strength—having reached the third stage of physical refinement, her single hand capable of exerting hundreds of pounds of force—the delicate orchid felt as unyielding as if rooted to the earth itself.

It would not budge.

“So tough!” People around her had already begun to complain.

“Why won’t it move at all?”

“Anyone have a knife? Lend it to me!” The crowd quickly descended into chaos.

Liu Ru sighed.

At last, she began to understand why Su Ziye had insisted she experience the third exam firsthand.

For perhaps this truly was a most unique ordeal.