Although the two joint third-places caused quite a stir, the scene still didn't spiral out of control. After the herald finished reading all one thousand names on the grand list, he took a sip of water and then read them a second time.
All candidates whose names appeared on the list were beaming with joy. No matter what, out of more than two hundred thousand examinees, making it into the top thousand was already extremely rare—future capital that could change one's life. How could they not be happy?
At this moment, Mo Xuan and Mo Que'er were already on their way home.
Xiao Ba still served as a mount—only this time, there were two passengers.
Mo Xuan and Mo Que'er sat side by side on the "Xiao Ba Sofa," a bit cramped. Mo Xuan held Mo Que'er close; Mo Que'er nestled happily in his arms, looking utterly blissful.
In less than half an hour, Xiao Ba flew them back to Huanxi Village.
Mo Que'er reluctantly pulled away from Mo Xuan and, bouncing with excitement, ran ahead to announce the good news.
The Mo clan lit lanterns, hung decorations, beat gongs and drums—celebrating noisily for several days.
The Tai Academy would begin classes a month later, but Mo Xuan didn't plan to wait around anymore. Mo Que'er's cultivation would require a lot of resources—and he now had a pitiful balance of three points.
So before leaving, Mo Xuan stroked Mo Que'er's hair and said:
"Little Que'er, once you're at the Tai Academy, study well. Make more like-minded friends. Cultivate your temperament. Cultivation must proceed step by step—there's no rushing it."
If Mo Xuan still had tens of thousands of points, his words would have been completely different: Little Que'er, just cultivate. Points and resources are no problem—your great-grandfather has you. You must seize every moment and become an immortal as fast as possible.
With no points, there was no confidence. No swagger.
Mo Que'er nodded obediently.
"Great-grandfather, Que'er understands. Don't worry. In the Void, you must be careful and stay safe."
She pressed her lips together and still didn't dare mention the demon-devouring beast. Too ominous.
Mo Shi, Mo Tian, and the others looked at Mo Xuan with deep reluctance. This departure could mean years away.
They understood, though: when a fledgling grows up, it has to fly on its own. They only hoped Mo Xuan would be safe.
Mo Xuan looked deeply at his family, nodded, and set off.
Mo Xuan smacked his lips and rode Xiao Ba to Spirit Island. In truth, the island's spirit plants would be ready for harvest in a little over a month—but Mo Xuan didn't want to wait. He wanted to go earn points immediately.
He piloted the Hongwu Warship to the Tai Academy, greeted all his close friends, classmates, and teachers, and asked them to look after Mo Que'er.
Mo Xuan was wildly well-liked. It was one sentence, and everyone agreed.
Old Immortal Li drank the fine wine Mo Xuan offered and even pounded his chest.
"Little Xuanzi, don't worry. With this old man here, no one will dare bully your Little Que'er. Go on your journey with peace of mind."
Cough, cough. Mo Xuan hacked awkwardly. The way he said it made it sound like Mo Xuan wasn't coming back. Still, with the old man's promise, Mo Xuan felt completely at ease. He thanked him, bowed, and took his leave.
Lastly, Mo Xuan went to inform Teacher Kong as well. He also entrusted the selling of Spirit Island's yields to Kong Jian: the points and resources—eighty percent—would be provided for Mo Que'er's cultivation, while the rest would maintain the island.
What was there to say? Kong Jian and Mo Xuan were as close as father and son.
Mo Xuan departed with a light heart.
Void, here I come!
A month passed in a blink, and the Tai Academy was about to open.
Each student's record had long since been sent to the Academy by their respective prefectures and commanderies, so every year the Academy dispatched transport spirit-ships to pick up new students—a major benefit. The pilots were usually newly ascended immortals, earning a little modest income.
A transport spirit-ship landed on the drying ground of Huanxi Village.
The Ye-surnamed immortal responsible for this ship was astonished at once. The crowd watching was huge too—yet barely anyone looked surprised.
This backwater is too ignorant, he thought. Do they not even know what a transport spirit-ship is?
A few village children gathered together, pointing at the ship and gesturing.
"It's so small! The huge Hongwu warship is way more fun—comfortable to sit on, and so much room to run around! Too bad Immortal Great-Grandfather already went to the Void to fish meteors. He won't be back for ages. Next time we'll ride the Hongwu warship as long as we can!"
The Ye-surnamed immortal flew out. When he saw Mo Que'er, his eyes lit up.
What a pretty girl. Then he looked again—Eh? She's already cultivated?
Mo Que'er performed a graceful curtsey.
"Mo Que'er pays respects to Immortal Master."
"No need. I'll take you up."
The Ye-surnamed immortal reached as if to carry her up.
Mo Que'er smiled and flew up by herself.
"Goodbye, Sister Que'er!""Come back soon!""Bring us something fun next time so we can see it!"
The children waved and called out.
Mo Que'er smiled, nodded, and waved back. Childhood bonds were different, after all.
The Ye-surnamed immortal froze, then flew up as well, leading Mo Que'er inside the transport ship. His mind raced:
This poor backwater doesn't look like it has an immortal patron… Mo Que'er… Mo Que'er… whose descendant is she? Mo isn't a common surname. Oh—right! Junior Brother Mo Xuan! Could this be Mo Xuan's hometown?
He scanned the village quickly. A tiny settlement. What was that turning in the river? He'd never seen it before.
The Mo clan's "aura" looked strong enough. Mo Xuan even had a Spirit Island… though it probably wasn't developing well. Building a Spirit Island required enormous points. A grade-earth first-rank meteor core—if it were him, he'd never have handed it in. Keep it for himself, and advancing to Earth Immortal would be easy—that was the real long-term plan.
There were far too many immortals in the Small Immortal Realm. Only Earth Immortals could truly "strut."
And Mo Xuan, with both a Hongwu warship and a Spirit Island, would draw envy from many Earth Immortals—even Heaven Immortals. His hardships were still ahead.
All these thoughts flashed by in an instant. The Ye-surnamed immortal piloted the ship along the marked route to pick up the next student.
Inside the transport ship, there were already over thirty students—this year's top three from various commanderies. All had excellent family backgrounds; their ancestors included immortals, even Earth Immortals. Their expressions were proud and aloof.
The girls saw Mo Que'er's beauty and cuteness and snorted inwardly.
Such a backwater—where did this little girl get a cultivation quota? Could it be this commandery only "fixed" two quotas this year?
The boys, however, were dazzled and tried every excuse to get close.
"Junior Sister, how old are you?""Junior Sister, what's your name?"
Mo Que'er answered a few lines politely, then took a cushion from her storage pouch, sat down, and closed her eyes to rest.
The boys and girls all startled.
A storage pouch? She has a storage pouch already? We don't even have one yet!
So… she must have met an immortal who appreciated her?
Then some dark thoughts followed:
Could it be… raising her to use as a cauldron?
Mo Que'er remained calm, silent, neither hearing nor responding. She quietly cultivated her temperament.
I wonder how Great-grandfather is doing. Is work going smoothly?
The Endless Void
Mo Xuan's face didn't look good. He sighed as he stared at six meteor cores floating in the massive interior of the Hongwu warship.
At first, Mo Xuan had been thrilled. The Hongwu warship was far more capable than a transport ship: eight times the capacity, far higher safety, free to leap through space. And after buying a jade tablet, he could even browse "the net"—not great for chatting, but he could read downloaded Azure Scrolls, drink a little wine… life felt comfortable.
"Azure Scrolls" were nothing other than the finest exam papers accumulated over ten thousand years of Grand Exams. Every line was a jewel. Even as an immortal, reading the life's work of desperate candidates still brought great benefit.
But as time went on, Mo Xuan's good mood slowly drained away.
Star scavenging only worked if there was "trash" to scavenge.
If there was no trash… what was there to pick up?
A full month had passed, and he had only netted these six ding-grade meteors. The largest was only half a meter across; once the shell was removed, the core was even smaller.
And that was with the Hongwu warship's speed, range, and radar—this month was equivalent to half a year of transport-ship work.
Yet he'd gathered only six meteors—one or two scattered and drifting in the emptiness.
This was nowhere near enough to cover the Hongwu warship's energy costs.
Only then did Mo Xuan recognize the truth: encountering that meteor belt had been absurd, filthy luck. To run into it again… he'd likely need a dream.
Mo Xuan sighed.
What else could he do? He could only proceed steadily: more leaps, more scans, wider nets—eventually he'd catch a few strays.
"Master, I'm so hungry…"
Xiao Ba bubbled up pitifully.
Mo Xuan hadn't saved much meteor material for Xiao Ba's food. It had run out two months ago. Human food couldn't fill Xiao Ba at all. Xiao Ba had been hungry for a month.
Mo Xuan had no choice. He selected the smallest of the six meteors and tossed it to Xiao Ba.
Sigh. Being a star miner is brutal… Mo Xuan thought bitterly. This spacetime is too poor. It was all eaten clean by that damned demon-devouring beast. Can't it leave some crumbs for our Small Immortal Realm? Alas…
By his estimate, Tai Academy should be opening around now. He wondered how Little Que'er was doing.
Teacher Kong could send messages through the jade tablet, but it would still take days before Mo Xuan could receive them.
Arrival at the Tai Academy
The Ye-surnamed immortal had already picked up all new students in An Prefecture and hurried back. If he was late, his pay would be deducted.
"We've arrived. This is where you'll study and live from now on."
He snapped his fingers, and the ship's walls turned transparent.
In the misty clouds, a massive palace emerged—green shade all around, carved beams and painted rafters, dazzlingly splendid.
The ground was paved with fine white jade, shining with a warm luster. From the sandalwood-carved eaves, phoenixes seemed ready to take flight. Azure-tile windows and jade-stacked wall panels gleamed. Before the palace altar stood a straight jade pillar carved with lifelike dragon patterns—facing the palace phoenix from afar…
"Wow!"
The freshmen gasped in unison. They'd heard about it countless times, but seeing it in person still shook them to the core.
This was the Tai Academy—the place all candidates dreamed of, the place where one could cultivate immortality.
I finally made it here!
Mo Que'er examined the Tai Academy, then lifted her gaze to the three colossal immortal heavens overhead.
In the mortal world, people usually only saw the three suns by day and three moons by night, rarely the true forms of the three Immortal Heavens—though everyone knew each sun and moon was home to a Dao Lord.
Compared to those three Immortal Heavens, the Tai Academy was an ant—tiny beyond tiny.
The Ye-surnamed immortal glanced at Mo Que'er in surprise.
With that comparison alone, it was obvious: this little girl's horizons were extremely high.
He guided the transport ship down to the training grounds in the palace's upper-left corner. Normally it only held a single transport ship, but today it held six.
The Tai Academy had dispatched thirteen transport ships in total—one for each prefecture's freshmen. Large prefectures had over a hundred students, small ones had dozens. They formed clusters on the vast training grounds: one faction per prefecture. Students from the same commandery naturally stuck closer, and those from the same county often became best friends immediately.
The newcomers stood awkwardly, unsure what to do next, huddling in small groups and whispering.
Three boys from Qing Shan Commandery surrounded Mo Que'er like protective escorts, each thinking the same thing:
Near water, get the moon first.
Before long, all thirteen transport ships had returned.
Over a thousand freshmen stood on the training grounds, looking at the massive palace, then at the thirteen enormous transport ships—and their hearts trembled.
This… was the Tai Academy.