This place is fun

Chapter 202 Passing the test
Xi Kingdom, Kyoto Imperial Palace.

From Jing'an Gate on the south side, passing through Chengping Gate to Tai'an Hall, you have to cross two small squares. Along the way are plane trees with claw-like branches. Every autumn, the golden leaves carpet the ground beneath the trees, making it the most beautiful time of year.

But by winter, all the leaves have fallen, and the bare branches point towards the sky, giving a desolate feeling in the cold wind.

This road is usually very quiet.

The Black Scale Guards on duty were practically the only presence here. Clad in black armor, they stood beneath the dark blue palace walls, resembling stone sculptures.

Holding a steaming teacup in his hands, Shi Huaichang swayed as he left the Jing'an Division's room and stood under the eaves, gazing into the distance.

Everywhere you look, there is the same unchanging scene of desolation. In this silent palace, even time seems to stand still.

Shi Huaichang sighed listlessly and turned his gaze away. He casually plucked a blade of grass, teasing the birds under the eaves, and asked his subordinate who had followed him out, "Where is Master Qing?"

"The message came back earlier saying they were in Xia Prefecture, not far from Yishan City," the subordinate replied in a low voice.

"He's far from the emperor's reach, but it's those of us who are under his watchful eye every day who suffer. I reckon it won't be long before we get called in and scolded again." Shi Huaichang said, glancing at a house not far away.

The row of houses where he stood was located at the foot of the city wall west of Chengping Gate. There were seven rooms in a row, which served as liaison offices or consultation rooms for several important departments of the imperial court.

Not far beyond that are the State Affairs Hall and the Confidential Office.

Normally, these two places are actually two names for the same staff. The Council of State Affairs is the outer cabinet, while the Confidential Office is the inner cabinet. In addition to the several prime ministers of the Council of State Affairs, there are also people specially selected by the emperor to participate.

These people may not necessarily hold high official ranks, or even be based in the capital, but they are certainly the emperor's most trusted and capable officials. Therefore, the Confidential Office is implicitly considered to have a higher status than the Council of State Affairs.

To enter the Council of State as prime minister, one must first gain the emperor's trust; otherwise, one cannot enter the Secretariat. Those who do enter the Secretariat, even if not in the Council of State, command respect and are revered as "hidden prime ministers."

Because the Emperor often needed to consult with officials from the Council of State Affairs and the Confidential Office when discussing matters, the palace allocated this row of rooms to various departments as consultation offices. Each department was required to send someone to be stationed here, and relevant information from each department was to be collected as soon as possible each day.

If the palace has any inquiries, the relevant matters must be answered in detail and clearly as soon as possible, without any delay.

In fact, anyone with eyes can see that for supervisory agencies like the Jing'an Division, small matters are one thing, but what truly important matters could the emperor not know about?
If that's the case, then this emperor's reign is probably coming to an end.

Therefore, Shi Huaichang's role here was essentially to be scolded.

Whenever the ministers of the Six Ministries went to the Imperial Study and brought up the Jing'an Division while shirking responsibility, or when the prime ministers mentioned the Jing'an Division in their memorials, that was when Shi Huaichang would obediently go in, kowtow, and be scolded.

No matter what mistakes were made, it was all the fault of the Jing'an Division.

Of course, it wasn't the high-ranking officials who were hurling insults. Let alone the Six Ministries, even the prime ministers treated the Jing'an Division with utmost courtesy. After all, everyone knew that offending the Jing'an Division would have dire consequences.

Moreover, it wasn't just the Jing'an Division that was summoned to be scolded. In this row of rooms, the Inner Guard, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, the Imperial Clan Court... which one wasn't summoned and scolded by the Emperor when he needed to give face to these officials?
But this time...

Shi Huaichang stroked his chin, glanced around the doorway of the room belonging to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, saw nothing, and looked away with some disappointment.

This time, his superior, Zhang Qingchen, pulled another reckless move. He leaked the matter of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics dealing with a small aristocratic family in a northwestern border town to the palace. It was said that this small aristocratic family were old acquaintances from the Emperor's time as a prince.

In that case, it's hard to say whether the next time the Emperor summons him, he'll be scolded by the Bureau of Investigation or the Bureau of Pacification... Shi Huaichang guesses he'll be scolded by both. After all, the Bureau of Pacification and the Bureau of Investigation have been vying for power for quite some time.

The Emperor is high above all; what can't he see clearly?
Shi Huaichang could only pray that the Jing'an Division would not cause any more trouble in the next few days.

The Jing'an Division suffered a major embarrassment during the invasion of the You Clan in Xia Prefecture. They were completely clueless about the Wanchang City secret realm, and even the recent mobilization of the Demonic Path was a mystery to them. They were summoned by the Emperor and severely reprimanded.

Now that Zhang Qingchen, the deputy commander of the Jing'an Division, is personally going to clean up the mess, if he can save face for His Majesty, then the lives of us lowly soldiers and generals left behind in the capital will be a little easier.

Thinking of this, Shi Huaichang felt a little irritated.

These past two days, the atmosphere in Kyoto has seemed to have dropped dozens of degrees, so heavy it's suffocating. Meanwhile, the Imperial Study, the Hall of State Affairs, and the Secretariat within the Imperial Palace are brightly lit, with staff working tirelessly through the night.

Ji Shou City in the east of Xi Kingdom, E Hu City in the south, and several cities in Jing Kingdom and Wei Kingdom, which are thousands of miles apart, were all breached by the You Clan overnight.

The worst part is that we don't know what methods the You Clan used, what the situation was like in the city, how many people escaped, whether the exorcism array was intact at the time, or whether it was activated.

It wasn't until the early hours of this morning that Shi Huaichang saw several prime ministers, along with the officials of the Six Ministries, being released from the palace. They were all exhausted, their eyes dark and swollen.

This made the palace even quieter than usual.

"Go to Huaizhi Building after your shift and call all of them. Take advantage of these rare few days of leisure and have some fun. Otherwise, wait for more news to come..." Shi Huaichang was talking to his subordinates when he suddenly felt something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look.

A figure hurriedly entered through Chengping Gate, disregarding the usual routes and rules, and directly used his movement technique to cross the square and head straight for Tai'an Hall.

"It's Leng Chuanjin," the subordinate with sharp eyes spotted him immediately and asked in surprise, "Judging from his hurried appearance, what happened?"

Shi Huaichang also frowned. In his eyes, this Lord Leng, who was in charge of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, was usually calm and composed even in the face of a collapsing mountain, and he had never seen him in such a hurry.

Leng Chuanjin's swift movement through the palace immediately caused a stir among those around him.

In the seemingly empty palace, dozens of hidden sentries suddenly appeared, and several figures with extremely terrifying auras emerged from the east, west, south, and north.

That was the old retainer of Jinshan Pavilion. He was usually elusive, appearing only briefly and never returning.

Shi Huaichang was in the palace every day, and had only seen them once by sheer chance. He never expected that there would be four of them appearing today.

What surprised him even more was that just as the four old elders appeared, two more figures flew in from the Chengping Gate. They were none other than Feng Baocai, the Grand Commander of the Inner Guard, and An Yongsheng, the Grand Commander of his own Jing'an Division.

The Jing'an Division, the Inner Guard, and the Investigation Bureau are the three most powerful entities in the Xi Kingdom. Any one of them could cause a major upheaval with a single move. And now, all three have arrived…

Several senior elders immediately went to greet them and stopped Leng Chuanjin and his companions. After exchanging a few words, the four senior elders waved for the guards around them to return to their positions, and then personally escorted Leng Chuanjin and his companions toward the Imperial Study.

For a moment, Shi Huaichang and his men were dumbfounded.

Behind them, a row of rooms had long since become crowded with people. Everyone looked at each other, utterly astonished. What had happened?
This is a spectacle; even if the sky were to fall, it wouldn't be any bigger.

Just as everyone was discussing the matter in confusion, a subordinate rushed over with the intelligence he had just received, presenting it to Shi Huaichang while whispering the report in his ear.

Shi Huaichang's eyes widened suddenly, and he snatched the intelligence from his subordinate's hand, scanning it at lightning speed.

After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief, finally understanding why these three had rushed to the palace so urgently—in fact, not only Xi Kingdom's reaction was so strong, but he had no doubt that Jing Kingdom, Wei Kingdom, and even the entire world were reacting in the same way.

In the spiritual realm, alien stars suddenly appeared.

Having passed the second level in seven minutes, and now, in less than a quarter of an hour, they have already climbed the sixtieth step of the third level. In the past hundred years, the highest number of people who have climbed the third level has never exceeded thirty steps.

This isn't the sky falling, it's a complete change in the world!

******
"Have we passed the eighty steps?"

Within the spiritual realm, Wei Qikong gazed intently at the Gate of Heaven, watching the figure ascend step by step. From the tenth step, to the twentieth step, and then to the thirtieth step…

He walked slowly. He would stop every now and then, as if he were trapped in some extremely difficult predicament.

Just when people thought he would stop there, he started moving again.

After passing the thirtieth level, the entire Spirit Realm was completely silent. Whether on Heavenly Dao Mountain or in other places, including many great demons in the Spirit Realm, all eyes were focused on this figure.

This is the first level of Tiandao Mountain. Many people have passed the second level of the first level, and many have tried to pass the third level as well. But in the past hundred years, only the person in front of us has been able to reach this height.

On such an ordinary day, the Awakening of Insects appeared out of nowhere!

“Passed.” Ji Fanqu murmured, tilting his head back.

On Eagle Beak Rock, the two suddenly seemed to sense something and turned their heads to look. It was Zheng Fugui, who had left for a while, who had returned.

"How is it?" Wei Qikong asked.

Zheng Fugui walked to his side, looked up at the sky, and said, "Leng Chuanjin, An Yongsheng, and Feng Baocai have rushed to the palace. The four super sects have also sounded the Gathering Bell. I heard that even some old monsters who were in seclusion might come out this time..."

"Who knows?" Wei Qikong sneered, turning his gaze to the empty ninth level and above of Tiandao Mountain.

Although the place was deserted, he knew that the old monsters Zheng Fugui had mentioned must be silently watching the Gate of Heaven in various corners of the Spirit Realm.

Every step Jingzhe takes at this moment is a challenge to the current order of Heaven. It is also a challenge to them. Those who stand atop the pyramid of Heavenly Dao must all face a question—when Jingzhe reaches their level, where will they go?
The struggle for the Way of Heaven is this cruel. Don't be fooled by the fact that Jingzhe is currently just a newcomer who can be crushed with a single finger in the real world.

But with such terrifying talent, once he matures, he'll be like an elephant among lions. In a jungle or grassland, that wouldn't be so bad; if he couldn't win, he could at least hide. But what if he's locked in a cage, forcibly eliminated?

Just thinking about it is enough to fill one with dread.

If you can't find him and nip him in the bud in the mortal realm, you can only watch him grow stronger day by day until he eventually becomes a beast that devours you.

On the pyramid of the twelve levels of Heavenly Dao, the lower levels might be alright, but the higher you go, the more brutal the competition becomes. Especially above the ninth level, the appearance of such a person is truly like a cataclysmic change.

"Ninety steps!" Ji Fanqu's voice rang in their ears, and Zheng Fugui and Wei Qikong quickly turned their gazes toward the Gate of Heaven.

In the deathly silent illusion, everyone watched intently as the figure steadily rose higher and higher.

"Ninety-one...ninety-two..."

As the figure drew ever closer to the end of the triple challenge, a commotion began to rise. Breathing became rapid. Everyone realized that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they were about to witness another chapter in history.

This sudden appearance of the Awakening of Insects will make him the first person to ascend the triple barrier.

"Ninety-seven...ninety-eight...ninety-nine...one hundred!"

"We've gone up!"

Boom! At this moment, the spiritual realm was like a thunderclap from a clear sky!
At the foot of Tiandao Mountain, countless people withdrew their divine senses from the Gate of Heavenly Dao and turned their gazes toward the "Stele of Names of the Contenders".

The dark stone tablet shimmered with light, and large, red characters, written in a flowing, dragon-like style, were inscribed on it by an invisible hand.

Unlike previous lists, when this row of words appeared, all the previous rankings were pushed down. This single column stood high above.

The inscription reads: "[In the 96th year of the Yuanqi era, on the day of the Awakening of Insects, a student of the Literary School ascended the first level of the Heavenly Ladder on Mount Tiandao, breaking through three barriers in two quarters of an hour and three minutes. He was awarded the highest score, ranking first among the second-highest.]"

Despite witnessing it firsthand, many people still felt a sense of disbelief when this line of text appeared.

It all seemed so unreal.

Nearly a century has passed since the opening of the Spirit Realm. Countless people have rushed forward one after another, and geniuses have emerged one after another, but all have failed and perished in the three trials.

Anyone familiar with the Triple Barrier says it's simply not a barrier that any human could overcome.

As long as you are human, you have human nature. And as long as you have human nature, you have weaknesses. This third hurdle is aimed at the weaknesses of everyone's human nature.

Whether it's lust or greed, whether it's anger or jealousy, these are insurmountable obstacles for you. Even your kindness is a stumbling block.

It is no exaggeration to say that only gods and demons could overcome such a challenge.

However, today, someone did cross the line!
This line of text instantly spread throughout the Spirit Realm, and then, at the fastest speed, it reached the real world, landing on the desks of royal families, courts, military forces, major sects, and aristocratic families in various countries.

While the entire world was engulfed in a silent tremor, the people inside the Gate of Heaven discovered that after ascending the three gates, the figure disappeared into a thick fog and vanished!
(End of this chapter)