Chapter 11

"看来我没有做错什么。"

Chen Changsheng looked at the middle-aged woman and said, "Since I haven't done anything wrong, why should I change anything?"

When he said this, his expression did not change much, only his breathing became slightly heavier, though it was hard to notice.

Only his senior brother knew that this detail indicated he was very angry.

The middle-aged woman's expression became serious, and she said, "Aren't you afraid of death?"

"I... am very afraid of dying," Chen Changsheng's voice was as hard as iron, "So the first thing I did when I came to the capital was to go to the Divine General's Mansion to break off the engagement. Yesterday, I also planned to break it off again after entering the Heavenly Dao Academy or the Star Plucking Academy... But I'm sorry, I've really changed my mind now."

The middle-aged woman stared at him, her gaze slightly cold.

Chen Changsheng calmly met her gaze and said, "Unless you recognize your mistakes, remember my name."

The middle-aged woman was silent for a long time.

"Actually, I admire you."

She looked at Chen Changsheng, her eyes filled with complex emotions: "These past few days, I've been watching your daily life. I've never seen a young man of your age who is so disciplined. And in these four entrance exams, your performance was quite rare and commendable... Sometimes I even think that if I had a daughter, marrying her to you would be a good choice."

Chen Changsheng didn't know what to say, but being praised, he felt he should respond. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Thank you."

Saying "thank you" at such a moment was somewhat ridiculous, somewhat endearing, and very admirable.

The middle-aged woman looked at the stone wall behind the courtyard gate and said, "But unfortunately, no one in the world would think that the young lady should marry you."

Chen Changsheng followed her gaze and saw many names densely carved on the green stone wall. This was behind the main gate of the academy, and it wasn't the entrance exam list. What list could it be? He suddenly remembered that he had seen similar stone walls behind the gates of the Heavenly Dao Academy and the Star Plucking Academy, all with many names carved on them.

At the top of the green stone wall, a line of words was carved: "Good winds often lend their strength, sending me soaring to the blue sky."

Seeing these words, Chen Changsheng recalled the records in books and realized that the names carved on the green stone wall were the legendary Green Cloud List.

There were countless strong people on the continent, but geniuses always started from a young age—the Green Cloud List was the ranking of strong people under the age of twenty. Those who could make it onto the Green Cloud List were without exception core disciples of various countries and sects, or exceptionally talented geniuses. As long as they didn't perish halfway, these names would eventually become true strong people.

All the academies in the capital and elsewhere had the Green Cloud List at their gates. The academy wanted to use the shining names on the list to inspire students to strive for progress and increase the cohesion among classmates, but the effect was not very good—students were very clear that they had no chance of entering the Green Cloud List. Those names made them admire and respect, but also despair.

The Green Cloud List did not consider knowledge, realm, or sect, and did not distinguish between genders. It only considered strength. The only restriction was that the people on the list must not exceed twenty years old. There were several times when a person of relatively low realm occasionally defeated a strong person of higher realm and ranked higher on the list, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction.

When the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion first set up the list, this evaluation standard was often questioned, but the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion's response was simple and powerful—whether it was knowledge, realm, or even cultivation, spirit, and temperament, all these combined were comprehensive strength. The Green Cloud List evaluated comprehensive strength, and the best way to judge was, and could only be, victory or defeat.

Chen Changsheng's gaze moved over the names on the Green Cloud List. These names were unfamiliar to him, and occasionally he saw some strange surnames, which might be young strong people from the demon domain or talented people from the southern forests. Suddenly, he saw Tang Tang's name at the thirty-sixth position, and thinking of the green-robed youth in the Heavenly Dao Academy who mentioned the origin of the name Tang Thirty-Six, he couldn't help but smile, feeling proud and honored for the other person.

Finally, his gaze came to the highest point of the stone wall, where a name was prominently displayed, high and solitary, cold and proud. It was a name he knew, a name he should be very familiar with—Xu Yourong.

"The Green Cloud List records all the young geniuses in the world. Our Great Zhou Dynasty has many talents, and just in the capital, there are more than ten people on the list. The Heavenly Dao Academy has four, and the Star Plucking Academy has three. Compared to the Southern Longevity Sect and the槐院 (Huaiyuan), it's not particularly outstanding. But after the young lady entered the list, the north and south were clearly divided..."

The middle-aged woman looked at the stone wall, her pride hard to hide and unnecessary to conceal. She said calmly, "... Two years ago, the young lady first entered the list and immediately ranked first. Since then, she has never come down. The young geniuses behind her can't even get close, let alone catch up."

Chen Changsheng looked at the name at the top of the stone wall and was silent. The marriage contract had been kept by himself for the past four years, and he had seen it many times. He knew her given name and her age very well. Calculating this, the young lady of the Xu family was already unmatched on the Green Cloud List at the age of twelve... The blood of the true phoenix is indeed extraordinary.

The middle-aged woman收回目光，望向陈长生，严肃地说道：“你确实很优秀，虽然没有成功洗髓，但也有能力考进那些学院，但是，你和小姐之间的差距太大……这与奋斗无关，与天赋无关，与努力也没有关系。你在你的人生道路上不断向上攀登，我相信你可以登到很高的山峰上，但小姐她早就已经离开了那里，如果你固执地想要跟随她，迎接你的必然是天上降落的雷霆。”

Chen Changsheng was silent, then remembered the reincarnation of the true dragon mentioned by the maid Shuang'er, the genius universally recognized as a perfect match for Xu Yourong.

"Qiu Shan Jun..."

The middle-aged woman did not expect him to know about Qiu Shan Jun's existence and said expressionlessly, "Qiu Shan Jun has been at the top of the Green Cloud List for two years."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Why did he leave the list? Because he didn't want to lose to Miss Xu?"

The middle-aged woman said, "Qiu Shan Jun broke through to the next realm two years ago and is now the top of the Golden Point List."

Chen Changsheng sighed, finding it hard to find any comfort in the matter, as those people were far above him. As for himself, not to mention entering the Green Cloud List... even getting onto the academy's admission list was extremely difficult. It was indeed a world of heaven and earth apart.

He asked, "Earlier, you said the gap between me and Miss Xu is not related to talent or effort. Then, what is it related to?"

The middle-aged woman said, "... It is only related to fate. Even if you are the most outstanding ordinary person, you are still an ordinary person. The young lady, from the moment she was born, was not an ordinary person. You were born a human, she was born a phoenix. The gap between the two is like heaven and earth."

"Turns out... it's fate again."

Chen Changsheng sighed, and after a long silence, he looked at the middle-aged woman seriously and said, "You probably don't believe me, but I came to the capital to change my fate... Although it has nothing to do with the engagement, the word 'fate' has no persuasive power for me."

The middle-aged woman was slightly taken aback, not expecting him to still refuse to let go even after she had made everything so clear.

The sun set, and Chen Changsheng walked across the street, moving with the crowd to a farther place.

The middle-aged woman noticed that at first, his head was slightly lowered, his body slightly hunched, looking somewhat dejected and tired. However, after not too long, his body gradually straightened, and his head gradually lifted, once again looking at the people on the street and the setting sun in the distance.

The evening glow illuminated the young man, as if it were burning.

...

...

"I have never seen a young man who is so disciplined, controlling his diet and daily routine very strictly and perfectly, with no bad habits or entertainment. He values time so much that I always feel as if someone is chasing him or a whip is constantly lashing him, but he doesn't give the people around him a sense of anxiety. It's clear that he enjoys life, or rather, life itself... He just has a slight obsession with cleanliness. On the first day, I counted, and he washed his hands seven times, and he had more than five handkerchiefs."

In the Divine General's Mansion, the middle-aged woman stood before Lady Xu, expressionless, and said, "Madam, I must say, this child is very good. If given the opportunity, he will grow very quickly. If he has some good opportunities, he might have a bright future."

Lady Xu did not expect that the woman, who had followed her for decades and was always loyal, would speak up for the child. She frowned and said, "What do you want to say?"

The middle-aged woman said, "Of course, the young lady cannot marry him... But humiliating and suppressing him like this is worse than just killing him. If we don't, and he really gets a chance to turn things around, it will cause some trouble for the mansion, even if we are not afraid. Besides... I think the young man is a good person, why do this?"

This logic was hard for ordinary people to understand, but Lady Xu understood. She did not expect the woman to truly admire Chen Changsheng and remembered what Xu Shiji said in the study that night. She looked at her deeply and said, "Many people are watching the Divine General's Mansion... especially those old people who refuse to give up. If there is a scandal in the mansion, even if it doesn't affect the big picture, the Empress will certainly be displeased. So, this matter must be handled carefully. It's best to get the marriage contract peacefully. If the young man insists on his pitiful self-respect or wants to gain more, then he must be made to quietly disappear. This will cause some trouble, but removing the source of the trouble is a solution."

...

...

Shuang'er returned to her room and sat by the table, lost in thought for a long time, thinking about the conversation she overheard outside Lady Xu's room. She felt restless and uneasy, drank half a pot of cold tea, but still couldn't calm down. She knew that she could hear so much because Lady Xu wanted her to hear it. Lady Xu knew she often corresponded with the young lady and deliberately let her hear these words, intending to inform the young lady. Of course, the young lady cannot marry that guy named Chen Changsheng, but does it really have to be this way? Will the young lady agree?

She walked to the table, laid out the paper, dipped her brush in ink, and after thinking for a moment, began to write a letter.