The sound of horse hooves sounded out next to South Lake once more. Then, it faded again.

Chen Chao who was dressed in black had his broken saber dangling as he slowly headed towards that small courtyard. Along the way, many students by the lake saw Chen Chao and their expressions did not look too good. But, they could not blow up and could only take it as they did not see him. What happened in the morning had spread long ago. Now, everyone knew that this young warden who came from Tianqing County rebutted Tutor Ceng in the morning by the lake until he could not say anything.

Putting it bluntly, the academy's students were the most skilled in reasoning things out. Now, even that tutor could not win him. Then even if these students were thrown into the lot, they naturally would not be able to do anything too.

Unless it was those truly outstanding characters in this generation, otherwise, it would be impossible for anything to be different.

Returning home accompanied by sunset was a very good thing in the first place. Chen Chao had not felt so comfortable in life for a long time, so he walked slower and slower. As he walked, Chen Chao touched the waist token at his waist and felt a little dazed. He only returned to his senses a moment later.

But the moment he returned to his senses, he saw that a youth was standing under the sunset by the lake. He stood in the sunset wearing an ordinary long shirt and his face was extremely handsome. One look and it was clear that he was not ordinary. Even if it was Chen Chao, he also fell into a short trance when he saw this man.

Without waiting for him to shift his gaze, that boy also turned his head to look at him. The two people instantly met gazes and there was some special implication.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and took the initiative to retract his gaze very soon. He walked forward on his own as if he did not care about such a thing.

That boy stood in the sunset and took the initiative to open his mouth and said, "I heard that you rendered everyone in my academy speechless in the morning?"

His voice was very light, which was very unlike a boy of his age.

Chen Chao stopped and asked, "What's your opinion?"

Since the other party wanted to talk about what happened in the morning, Chen Chao could also go along with him and talk about these things. Either way, no matter how you spun the story, it was also Huang Zhi's fault no matter what.

The boy smiled slightly and said, "Great Liang Dynasty's martial artists can't be insulted, this is naturally the truth. I have nothing to say about that. But, is that what you really think?"

Without waiting for Chen Chao to speak, the boy said on his own, "What you were thinking was probably just to save face in front of that girl?"

Chen Chao was silent.

The boy continued, "In reality, you and Huang Zhi are doing the same thing; merely talking big to impress people for a girl, that's all."

Chen Chao asked with a smile, "Have you always been so confident?"

The boy furrowed his brows when he heard this, as if a little unhappy. He said, "you can refute me."

Actually, as early as when the boy was talking with Chen Chao by the lake, many students already gathered here. At this moment, they naturally knew that the boy with a saber was the Chen Chao who caused trouble by the lake in the morning. But, they did not know who that handsome youth was.

But, looking at the boy's clothes, they could only deduce that he was an academy student too.

The students were somewhat looking forward to it. They wanted to see Chen Chao suffer a loss here.

Disregarding other things, it could at least help the academy regain some face here.

Chen Chao said, "I don't know how to talk reason well and I don't want to argue with you too.

The boy looked at Chen Chao's saber and said confidently, "Perhaps you want to fight with me?"

"I killed demons who feasted on our Great Liang's populace for many years in Tianqing County. I also killed those few qi refiners, do you think that you can be worse than them?"

The implied meaning was very clear.

The boy's expression became a little ugly. He originally wanted to appear with a reasonable attitude. But, Chen Chao's response left him somewhat confused.

The boy said coolly, "It's pointless to argue with you. There's also no point in a private fight. I'll seek guidance from you at the Myriad Willow Convention."

Hearing the three words Myriad Willow Convention, the students by the lake began whispering to each other. Although the Great Liang Dynasty's spots went from eight to ten for the Myriad Willow Convention this time, the academy still occupied the majority. But, it was also merely three or four spots. Based on what this youth was saying, didn't that mean that he would definitely get selected?

What did this mean?

It naturally meant that the youth in front of them was a true genius of the academy.

Countless people's gazes all landed on that youth. The youth was unmoved and just looked at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao smiled and shook his head, "I'm taking part in the Myriad Willow Convention for the Great Liang Dynasty. I have no personal grudges against you, I also don't hope to fight with you at the Myriad Willow Convention. That will just be wearing down our Great Liang Dynasty's strength."

This sentence incurred quite a bit of cheering at the lake.

There would never just be one voice in the academy.

This voice was naturally not soft too. After Chen Chao said it, the students by the lake naturally heard it clearly too. Many people have been at the lake since morning. They knew about that battle of vying for talent and had already vaguely guessed a little. At this moment, hearing Chen Chao say so, they thought to themselves that it was indeed the case. This youth must have been vied for by those big shots for the Myriad Willow Convention.

The Myriad Willow Convention was something that the Great Liang Dynasty was not willing to mention, but also had no choice but to mention.

The students naturally knew that it was going to be held in the Divine Capital this time. They were naturally looking forward to it. But at the same time, they were also a little scared.

What they were looking forward to was that the imperial court would show a better performance than before with it being held at their doorstep this time, and fiercely propagate their national might. As for what they were scared of, it was naturally losing face like before.

Since there were these emotions, they naturally loved and also hated those young geniuses who were taking part in the Myriad Willow Convention.

With Chen Chao making his attitude clear now, they were naturally happy.

At least, he had the overall situation in mind.

On the contrary, it was the boy in front of them who made many people dislike him even though he was from the academy. How could he provoke internal strife with regard to this matter?

All in all, the Great Liang Dynasty merely had ten spots to take part in the Myriad Willow Convention.

Since they were selected to fight for the Great Liang Dynasty, they naturally had to put the Great Liang Dynasty first.

The boy furrowed his brows and did not say anymore.

He misspoke previously. At this moment, he was indeed somewhat in a passive position.

Chen Chao did not say anymore as well. In his view, the young man in front of him had a pretty set of looks, but his brain was the same as Huang Zhi's; both not too smart.

There was nothing to worry about.

Except, he was a little worried too. If all the youngsters taking part in the Myriad Willow Convention were like this, then it would really not be easy for the Great Liang Dynasty to win.

Chen Chao did not stay any longer. He arrived in front of that small courtyard by the lake very soon, pushing the door and entering. He no longer cared about the voices outside.

Xie Nandu was sitting in the courtyard and reading the entire time. She seemed to have already reached the last page of that book on daoist magic in her hand.

The preserved fruits on the small stool in front of her chair were partially consumed. But most of it remained.

Chen Chao walked over and looked at her as he said emotionally, "There are really quite a number of cicadas in the academy."

Xie Nandu lifted her head. She had naturally heard what happened at the lake.

She shook her head and said, "He's not an ordinary cicada."