Chapter 858 — Dragons and Serpents Rise in the Southern Wasteland

"Ling'er!"

Joy swelled in Shen Mu's heart. He plucked the little fox from his head and was just about to look her over when the white fox slipped out of his hands again, scrambled up onto his head, and covered his face with her tail.

"Ling'er, stop making trouble. I guessed it was you long ago."

He lifted her down again, and only then did the little white fox settle. She wound her tail around his arm, made herself a nest against his chest, and lay down comfortably, her body curled up, blinking her dark glossy eyes at his face from time to time.

The little fox blinked, quite bewitching.

"Young Master," she said.

Shen Mu grunted. The snow fox called him Young Master again, and Shen Mu grunted again. Only then did the little white fox set her heart at ease; she narrowed her eyes and feigned sleep, while several fluffy tails quietly lifted and teased his chin.

Yan'er, seeing her, was delighted. She took the snow fox out of Shen Mu's arms, but the snow fox hurriedly quit her embrace and burrowed back into Shen Mu's arms.

Yan'er took her away again; the snow fox tried to run back, but a spirit elixir was suddenly stuffed into her mouth, and she stopped at once, lying obediently in Yan'er's arms.

Libationer Bashan said, "The Snow Fox now oversees the Demon Academy of my Lanjiang Academy of Learning. When you go out and see the foulest, most chaotic place in the Lanjiang Academy of Learning, that will be the Demon Academy. But the Snow Fox has wide connections; she has invited the Fox Immortal, the Grey Immortal, the Tiger Venerable, the Great Venerable, the Heavenly King of the Nether Capital and others to come and lecture, so the Demon Academy is in fact more prosperous than any other academy. Only, Libationer Fox has a certain gangster air about her, and always likes people to call her Big Sister."

"That is just how Ling'er is. Green Ox and Fat Dragon are both her sworn younger brothers."

Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. He turned his head to look at the little fox in Yan'er's arms and began counting the Snow Fox's tails one by one. The Snow Fox's tails danced this way and that, dazzling his eyes; he counted a long while and still could not tell how many there were.

"To tell you the truth, the Heavenly King of the Nether Capital, Tian Shu, is her sworn elder brother. Fat Dragon swore brotherhood with this Heavenly King, and he loves to drink, so his bond with Ling'er is in fact closer than with Fat Dragon."

Shen Mu said in surprise, "Ling'er can actually invite the Great Venerable to lecture? That is beyond what I expected."

Libationer Bashan suddenly slapped his thigh. "I said the Heavenly King of the Nether Capital keeps running over to my place — turns out he has taken a fancy to my wine. And here I thought he admired me. Libationer Fox even once invited Xing Han to lecture at my Lanjiang Academy of Learning; he taught only a few classes and then left. I reckon these fellows are so notorious that no other academy or school of learning will have them, and only my Lanjiang Academy of Learning is broad-minded enough to let these heretics and evil demons come and lecture."

Shen Mu said nothing, but muttered inwardly, "Senior Brother Bashan's Lanjiang Academy of Learning really is the most motley and chaotic of all the academies of learning."

Even before he reached the Lanjiang Academy of Learning, gazing at it from afar, he had noticed all manner of strange phenomena mingling above it: the sharp aura of martial masters — a fierce tiger descending the mountain, a white elephant treading the sea, a starving eagle seizing its prey — and the dreadful phenomena of the demonic way formed by masters of the demonic path, and the demon clouds of demon-race masters, the sword qi of sword-path masters, the auspicious clouds of dharma-art masters.

Bashan had just called the Demon Academy foul and chaotic; in truth the whole Lanjiang Academy of Learning was foul and chaotic.

But it was precisely because of this that the Lanjiang Academy of Learning could let all manner of divine powers and dharma arts collide, and all manner of currents of thought collide.

After arriving at the Lanjiang Academy of Learning, Shen Mu had found it the wildest of all the great academies of learning; along the way he had witnessed dozens of brawls, great and small.

And the Directorate of Education and the Libationers of the Lanjiang Academy of Learning paid them no mind; on the contrary, they cheered from the sidelines, and took pride in their own disciples' victories.

Libationer Bashan's eyes flickered. "Junior Brother, you have come here to study, but in truth attending lectures is not the best way to learn."

Shen Mu said, "Oh?" and humbly asked for instruction: "Then what, Senior Brother, is the best way?"

Libationer Bashan laughed heartily. "Fighting, of course. Every academy of my Lanjiang Academy of Learning has its achievements. In Jingping's reform and transformation of the law, the most advanced work is not in the Imperial Academy — the Imperial Academy is too orthodox, too timid in developing dharma arts and divine powers, forever afraid of being punished by the emperor. But here I am far from the emperor's reach; Emperor Yanfeng cannot govern this place. Here any dharma art can be developed, any martial art or divine power exists."

He rose to his feet, shook out his great cloak, revealing beneath it a broad chest and a body of sinew, and said mildly, "And whether any divine power or dharma art is any good still depends on how it performs once blows are exchanged. You have come to my Lanjiang Academy of Learning to study — naturally you should fight your way through, academy by academy, from one end of my Lanjiang Academy of Learning to the other."

Shen Mu showed a look of timidity. "Fighting my way through... that does not seem quite right."

Libationer Bashan shot him a sidelong glance. "Junior Brother is not afraid, is he?"

Shen Mu nodded again and again, and sighed, "Yan'er loves to feed me, and she has already used up all my spirit medicines. I replenished them once on the road, and they are nearly gone. If I injure the Libationers and the Directorate of the Lanjiang Academy of Learning, what shall I use to heal them?"

Libationer Bashan clenched his fist; his bones cracked. He chuckled, "Junior Brother has grown greatly in these years abroad. Even your way of speaking has more spirit than before, and your breathing is heavier too."

Shen Mu, his breath faint as gossamer, said weakly, "I am certainly no match for Senior Brother. Senior Brother long ago broke through the Divine Bridge and cultivated into a god. I have only just barely opened the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, and who knows how long I must cultivate before I ascend to the Heavenly Palace. Grandpa Tu must have taught you some blade art again, surely? And the Martial Combat Heavenly Master must have taught you many good things as well; from the remnant clan of Crimson Bright, Senior Brother must also have learned a great deal. I would not dare claim to be even slightly stronger than Senior Brother."

Libationer Bashan waved both hands hastily. "I am not as diligent as you. You have the Overlord Body, and you are more hardworking than I. I certainly cannot beat you; at most I can beat you half to death."

Shen Mu stretched his body; a dragon's roar came from within him. He laughed, "Grandpa Tu is right here. How could he bear to see me beat his prized disciple until he is crawling on the ground looking for his teeth?"

"The Heaven Blade Master indeed cannot bear to see me thrash you. If the old man saw me beat you so badly you could not get out of bed, would he not draw his blade and kill me?"