In the bright hall, it was very comfortable to step on the soft red wool blanket. The young man was wearing shabby cotton clothes, but he was washed until he was white. The orange cotton stuck out of several holes, making the young man look like a beggar.
The young man's face was delicate and pretty, and his skin was fair and tender. However, his face was slightly sallow and his illness was obvious. He gave people a feeling that he was a weak scholar who was down and out.
There were a pile of things on the red desk, and there was an incense burner emitting a refreshing fragrance, which made the young man's spirit tremble. His dark and clear eyes were focused on the old man sitting behind the desk, waiting for the old man's question.
The amiable old man also looked very serious. He was reading a letter, a letter that had been placed for many years. The handwriting was not very clear. The paper was yellow, and the folded traces were almost torn into several pieces because of the year. Fortunately, the letter was still intact.
The old man read the letter several times, and his sharp and wise eyes looked at the young man standing on the other side of the desk.
"Is your father... really dead?" The old man's question was very funny, but he was not in the mood to pay attention to the question, because he wanted to know the answer too much about this question. Of course, in his heart, he actually believed that the person was indeed dead.
The youth nodded slightly, not feeling angry at the elder's excessive questioning. "Correct. He died when I was very young."
"Where is it buried?" The elder asked again.
The youth still answered truthfully, "She was buried with my mother."
The elder didn't say anything, instead carefully reading the contents of the letter again, fearing that he might miss a single word or miss a single word. After who knew how much time had passed, the elder suddenly released a light sigh. "He died just like that."
The youth remained silent.
"Let's go. I always thought that he was a man with strong vitality and would not die so easily. Now it seems that he is still dead." The old man was a little emotional, but he also seemed to be complaining. He gently rubbed the letter in his hands with his dry hands and crushed it. Then, he clapped his hands gently, and a flame appeared out of nowhere and turned those pieces of paper into nothingness.
"Mother told me before she died that Father has something to tell you."
The old man's eyes lit up, and he was even a little excited. "What are you talking about? Tell me quickly."
The young man pondered for a moment and said, "Mother said that my father told me before he died that if I had a day to see you... let me tell you, he will never blame you in his life, and he has always been proud of your disciple."
The old man's bright eyes were a little dim, and his excited expression disappeared immediately. But he was not disappointed, nor was he disappointed. Instead, he was gratified. "If he is still alive and says this to me in person, then I will definitely tell him that I am proud of him... This is true."
The young man was silent. Looking at the old man's sighing face, his bright and sharp eyes were a little confused, as if he was recalling something. Not long after, the old man couldn't help but smile and said with a sigh, "Your father is the most valued one among all my disciples and also the one who spent the most effort on him. If something had not happened, he would be my son-in-law now, and there would not be you, little guy."
The youth bowed to express his gratitude. After standing up straight, he asked seriously, "Can I trust you?"
The old man was stunned and couldn't help laughing. "Your father was an orphan, and he was very similar to me when I was young. But after he took me as his master, he was no longer an orphan. I am your family, my child."
The youth nodded. "My mother told me before she died that my father had another message for me to tell you."
The old man was indifferent. Obviously, the mother of this child was an extremely smart woman. Before he was sure what he would think of this child, the child was not allowed to finish all his words.
"Go ahead." The old man was no longer as excited as before. Instead, he was still as gratified as before.
"My father said that if I can live past 20 years old, I can cultivate. He will let you see or even get the secrets that people in the world want to know. The premise is that I must live."
"Your father insulted me." The old man said in a low voice. His words were a little heavy, but he did not lower himself to the level of the youth.
The young man did not understand what the old man meant, but he could feel his anger. Although it was very faint, the anger of a big shot, even if it was just a look of anger, could sometimes be enough to kill people.
"I do want to know your father's secret, but it doesn't mean that I will be so greedy that I only value that secret and won't treat his descendants as my own relatives."
"I don't know the secret that you mentioned," said the youth.
The old man did not doubt it. "You have a very smart father and a very smart mother. The secrets on their bodies will never be told to you when you can't protect yourself, because it's not only a secret, but also death."
The old man took a piece of paper, picked up a pen and wrote something on it. While writing, he continued, "Have you read the letter your father sent me?"
"No," the youth replied.
"He wanted me to take care of you. He said that your birth destiny is weak, your physique is poor, and your birth destiny is short because of your birth. Only cultivation can keep you alive. Unfortunately, he didn't die when he could guide you in your cultivation. He gave me a very big problem. A person with a weak birth destiny... can't cultivate. He clearly told me in the letter that he knew this very clearly. He wanted you to come to me, but cultivation was a lie. He wanted me to do my best to extend your life. However, I am not a god. I don't necessarily have a way to let you cultivate and live."
"I know." The youth said calmly.
The pen in the old man's hand couldn't help but pause. He was a bit shocked. "You know?"
"Yes, I've been studying medicine since I was a child. I know very well where my physical problems are. That's why I'm unable to cultivate. Naturally, I'm unable to strengthen my physique. I know all of these. He... is only doing his best. After all, I'm his son."
The old man was very appreciative of the young man's calmness and mentality. He put the pen aside, picked up the piece of paper, and handed it to the young man. "Can you tell me where you came?"
"It's called Peaceful Town in the southern border of the Firmament and Continent. I don't know how far away it is from here."
The old man was surprised. "The Firmament and Continent?! That's the southernmost continent in the universe. It's more than ten thousand miles away from here. How did you, a child, come here?"
The young man was as calm as usual. "I set off at the age of thirteen and came here after three years."
The old man was so shocked that he didn't know how to comment for a long time. He was 13 years old, a child who couldn't cultivate. What kind of perseverance and persistence did he have to take the risk to come here?
"Amazing. This is very similar to your father's. It's as amazing as your father's."
The young man did not speak. Perhaps this was a very amazing thing in everyone's eyes, but he knew that all of this was for the sake of survival. Compared with living, he should do anything.
"What's your name?"
"Su Mo."
"From now on, you are a disciple of the academy. Take my letter and sign up in the inner court. They will arrange everything for you according to what I have written. You come to me on the first and fifteenth day of the month, and I will treat you."
Su Mo was slightly stunned. He could not help but ask, "Do you have a way to cure my illness?"
"No, so I will find a way. If I can't let you live in the end, at least... you will have relatives around you when you die."
This was undoubtedly a sentence that made people desperate, but for Su Mo, he accepted it indifferently and expressed his gratitude.
The old man liked Su Mo's attitude very much. He sighed softly as if he was talking to himself. "I've found you a marriage. Your father really knows how to make things difficult for you. If he was still alive, perhaps this wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, he's dead and you're about to die. I'm not sure if he'll still approve of what happened back then."
Su Mo exited the hall and headed for the inner court under the lead of a servant.
The academy was as big as a city.
The interior of the city was called the inner court, and the outside was called the outer court. The inner court was divided into many branches. For example, the Sky Pavilion that Su Mo was going to now was one of the countless branches of the inner court.
Su Mo followed the servants on the wide stone road. Ancient trees rose into the sky on both sides of the road. From time to time, pavilions and buildings would emerge from between the lush greens. The students dressed in various colors would come and go in groups of three or four in a hurry. Occasionally, someone would glance at Su Mo, but that person would only pay attention to his tattered cotton-padded jacket and the even more dilapidated box on his back. There was a knife on top of the box. Due to the fact that he was walking, it would occasionally bump into the box, emitting an unpleasant sound.
In front of an extremely magnificent house, a servant informed the guards and then led Su Mo into the house. In a certain house, Su Mo saw the messenger. A somewhat thin middle-aged man looked handsome, about forty years old. Dressed in a white robe with golden patterns, he sat on a green vine chair and looked at the recommendation letter with a serious expression.
Su Mo was very clear about the old man's status here because he was the head of the academy. With his recommendation, everything would be fine. However, he never expected that the messenger named Lu Lailai would be so angry after reading the letter. "How is this possible? Is the head joking with me? He actually sent a useless person who can't cultivate to the Sky Pavilion to cultivate? Then how can I teach him how to cultivate?"
The servant who led Su Mo here was very embarrassed. Obviously, he had no way to answer such a question. Besides, it was the Director's idea. He dared not say that he wanted to add more comments.
Lu Lai looked at Su Mo with his hands behind his back. His sharp gaze seemed to be able to see through Su Mo.
Su Mo bowed and bowed. He was extremely polite, but did not know what to say.
Lu Lailai didn't give the dean any face. "You can go back. Our Heaven Pavilion is not a trash can. We don't accept trash. Not to mention the director's personal order, even if the milord of the Dao Sect comes, I can't let you, a good-for-nothing, ruin the reputation of the Heaven Pavilion! Go back!"
