71: The examination

At the Prince's Mansion.

“Little Master, the Master said your residence will be ready in the next two days. It’s rumored to have been a Marquis’s estate previously, and now it has been bestowed upon you.”

Qin Chuan put down the ancient text in his hand and looked up at the butler, speechless.

“Hmm, what else did Teacher say? Say his exact words.”

“This…”

The butler hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat and imitated Wang Zhongshu’s words.

“Cough, ‘Tell that brat to quickly pack his things and scram. He hasn’t even officially become my disciple yet, and he’s already freeloading off me every day.’ ”

“Cough, there’s no need to imitate it so perfectly.”

An embarrassed Qin Chuan quickly interrupted the butler’s vivid imitation.

He then said, “When the time is ripe… hmm, when I’m sure it’s ripe, I’ll move out.”

—According to Qin Chuan’s plan, he would at least wait until the Inspector’s trouble was resolved and the imperial examination ended.

The butler smiled and glanced at him, but didn’t continue speaking. Instead, he handed several books to Qin Chuan.

“These are…”

The butler said, “The Master asked me to give them to you. They were sent by the Chong Tian Jian… The Master also guessed you wouldn’t leave, so he told you to read the books thoroughly. His exact words were—”

“Alright, alright, no need to repeat the exact words.”

Qin Chuan waved his hand and took the ancient texts. He looked up and was stunned.

“The Nine Extremes Dao Soldier Manual of Heaven and Earth,” “Record of Five Elements Warrior Nurturing,” “Fire Cloud Crow Dao Soldier Imprint Method.”

Are these methods for cultivating Dao Soldiers?

What does that Inspector mean? Is he showing goodwill?

Qin Chuan pondered for a moment and understood: the other party had no need to show goodwill!

In the past few days, he had also learned about the Inspector’s status.

He might not be second only to one person and above ten thousand, but he was at least among the top echelon of the Great Zhou establishment.

For such a person, even if Qin Chuan’s prestige was soaring, he was, in the end, just a young Recommended Man who had not yet fully matured.

The other party had no reason to show goodwill to him, a mere Recommended Man.

Then, is it still about the Abyssal Branch Stream?

Qin Chuan recalled the letter he received when he first ‘switched accounts’ to Wang Xuan.

Is there such a possibility—that the thing that can help Wang Xuan purify his bloodline is the Abyssal Branch Stream?

At this thought, Qin Chuan immediately took out the Bamboo Forest Map.

At this moment, the environment within the Bamboo Forest Map had already changed drastically.

In front of the bamboo forest, the small wooden house was filled with various furnishings.

Gold and silver, clothes, books…

The most significant change was the appearance of a circulating, trickling stream on the outskirts of the bamboo forest.

The stream was circular, encircling the space within the Bamboo Forest Map.

Although the stream had no inflow or outflow, it showed no signs of stagnant water, self-circulating.

The Qingfeng Sword was beside the stream, jumping in, bouncing out, jumping in…

It was having a blast.

Qin Chuan entered the space of the Bamboo Forest Map and casually shoved the Qingfeng Sword far away.

Only then did he stand before the stream, deep in thought.

—This thing is very precious, that’s for sure, after all, it has the power of creation.

Although the Abyssal Mother River from which it originated cannot compare to legendary things like the River of Time and Space, it is definitely not as simple as a mere reincarnation pool.

According to legend, there are countless Lord Demon Gods in the Abyss, arrogant and domineering.

But the true ruler within the Abyss has always been this undeniable river.

Or, to put it another way, it is the Abyssal World’s alternative Heavenly Dao.

Thinking this, the value of this small section of the branch stream that Qin Chuan intercepted increased by another notch!

Although this section in front of him might not even count as a single hair.

But even so, it could already do many things.

Serve as Dao principles, stabilize the world.

If it were given to the Da Zhou World to devour, Qin Chuan might immediately become a Child of Destiny.

But these things would be too much of a loss.

If he placed it within the Bamboo Forest Map, after many years, the Bamboo Forest Map might also evolve into a complete world.

Hmm, it’s just that the number of ‘many years’ is quite large, and the probability of it evolving into a world is also very small.

Even without doing that, relying on this section of the branch stream, Qin Chuan could already do many things.

For example: the books the Inspector had someone send over…

Qin Chuan briefly flipped through them and found that the methods for refining and constructing Dao Soldiers were written in extreme detail within.

Although it wasn’t a foolproof operation, if the methods were properly applied, it wouldn’t be difficult to obtain some Dao Soldier guards.

Imagine a scene of thousands of troops and horses at the wave of a hand—isn’t this more exhilarating than scattering beans to form soldiers?

So, the problem arises—

Although this place of reincarnation is the most suitable and strongest creation for Dao Soldiers.

But that doesn’t mean that having only this is enough.

There are many auxiliary materials involved. Although most are replaceable, Qin Chuan had none.

If he wanted to obtain these things, it would be time-consuming and laborious, not to mention whether he could even acquire them was a question mark.

The Chong Tian Jian certainly wouldn’t lack these things.

Then…

If Qin Chuan truly had designs on these Dao Soldiers, who to approach was self-evident.

Judging from their correspondence with Wang Xuan, the other party’s objective was—

Hey! Isn’t this a coincidence!

The next day, Prince's Mansion.

Both accounts coexisted.

Chen Chuan and Wang Xuan once again stared at each other.

To one side, there was also a large pile of materials just delivered from the Chong Tian Jian.

At Qin Chuan’s insistence, the location for their ‘transaction’ was set within the Prince’s Mansion.

—Although the probability of being spied upon was small, Qin Chuan still adhered to the principle of ‘Teacher goes first in case of trouble.’

With the location set in the Prince’s Mansion, it was unlikely that the Inspector, known as the living immortal, would dare to easily spy.

The ‘two’ stared at each other for a moment, then without another word.

The Bamboo Forest Map unfolded, and they began throwing materials into it.

Finally, both, along with their own selves, jumped into the Bamboo Forest Map.

Before the small stream, two people with different temperaments stood.

“Plop!”

Wang Xuan directly jumped in!

Then he stood up.

Chen Chuan: …

Wang Xuan: …

The water in the small stream was not much to begin with, flowing only up to the calves at most; submerging a person was out of the question.

A moment later, helpless, Qin Chuan had no choice but to have Wang Xuan bend down and lie in it.

Just as the stream water completely covered him, a chilling sensation suddenly appeared.

In almost an instant, a block of ice completely encased Wang Xuan.

“Is this joining the glorious evolution?”

Qin Chuan switched his consciousness back to Chen Chuan and looked down.

He didn’t know how long Wang Xuan would remain in this state, but he could only let him soak like this.

He just wondered if the Bamboo Forest Map, now with the Abyssal Branch Stream, could bring people back to the Main World?

He had tried bringing insects and animals before, but all had failed.

“Forget it, I’ll try then.”

As for now, Qin Chuan looked at the pile of materials, contemplating the construction of his own guardian Dao Soldiers.

However, he would try these after Wang Xuan emerged from the stream!

In a flash, seven days had passed.

When Wang Xuan had just emerged from the stream, Qin Chuan had no time to create his own Dao Soldiers.

—The Metropolitan Examination was finally about to begin.