Chapter 675: Starting to Change Fate

Carrying gifts to pay respects to the master, and then attending the Luming Banquet. Sixty-five new provincial graduates—this was the essence of the seeds of scholars in Shaanxi for three years, happily taking their seats and "performing" with the officials of Xi'an Prefecture, then eating and drinking. It couldn't be said how delicious it was, but everyone was a new provincial graduate, which was very exciting. Afterward, they had to engage in things like "Same-Year Records," which was just the usual way of hooking up in officialdom.

Yue Buqun was already over forty. After the banquet ended, he also told Ning Zhongze that he would go take the metropolitan exam once. If he didn't pass, he wouldn't take it again and would stay in Huayin as a gentry—of course, it was also possible to be appointed as an instructor. If it were in Shaanxi, he would take the post; if not in Shaanxi, he wouldn't go. As for the pressure of the Huashan Sect being merged? That was gone. After passing the provincial exam, the Huashan Sword Sect could even be renamed the Huashan Academy—anyway, there were only two provincial graduates in Huayin County this term...

"If Zuo Lengchan wants to merge the sects, let him merge them. Just throw him an empty Huashan title. The ancestors can be invited to Huayin County for worship!" Yue Buqun said with great confidence in front of his wife. Of course, all these words were overheard by Yue Lingshan and told to Bai Lang. She was now the only daughter of a provincial graduate, and her prospects were good, but it was estimated that she would mostly marry someone from her own family, right? Anyway, Bai Lang definitely wouldn't marry her—although Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze had probably thought about this.

Many people went to Yue Buqun to act as matchmakers, not only about the problem of Bai Lang marrying a wife, but also whether Mr. Yue wanted to take a concubine? Ning Zhongze was so angry that she almost raised her sword to kill them all. As a result, they wouldn't return to Huayin County for the time being, and everyone just went sightseeing. Because of the two provincial graduates, the Huashan Sect had made a lot of money recently. The younger disciples still had to return to Huashan, and Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze were also prepared to spend a few days on Huashan before going out again.

Only Yue Lingshan said she wanted to see the sea, so Bai Lang had to take Yue Lingshan to Jiangnan with Lao Denuo. The fast and comfortable way was to take a boat, and the place they went to was actually Fuzhou, Fujian. Bai Lang didn't care; anyway, his focus now was on practicing martial arts. As for the imperial exam? This was not urgent; anyway, it would be held in BJ next February. By then, with his martial arts, it would be no problem to arrive in time.

"Speaking of which, I haven't been to Fujian in several dynasties." Bai Lang thought to himself. At this time, Bai Lang was just "twenty years old," and his height was almost 1.9 meters. Practicing external skills, he could now be considered a strong man with a broad chest and a thick back. In the words of the romance novels, he was "over eight feet tall, with a majestic appearance." Bai Lang was currently grooming his face, trimming it every day, so his beard was still just a short stubble, and his eyebrows had been trimmed and didn't have the "hanging tiger eyebrows" yet.

Looking at himself in the mirror at this time, Bai Lang couldn't help but exclaim, "What a Cult Leader of the Moon-Worshipping Sect!" He was absolutely handsome. If he went to the Ministry of Personnel to select officials, he would definitely be a man of stature. If he could really pass the metropolitan exam, he might be a talent for the Hanlin Academy. There were many handsome men in the Huashan Sect. Yue Buqun had the appearance of a scholarly gentleman—of course, those who didn't like him called it the "old poor scholar" style. Linghu Chong also had the appearance of a handsome man, with quite a bit of the "wanderer" style.

And Bai Lang had the appearance of a grand official, naturally possessing a kind of official prestige—of course, this was actually the prestige of a peerless fierce general. The scholar's attire he was wearing now didn't fit at all; he would look more in style in an official robe or armor. Bai Lang didn't carry a sword; the green steel sword issued by the Huashan Sect had long been left on Huashan and hadn't moved. The only weapon on him was a small knife for personal use.

Even this knife was forged by himself, using folding and forging, so the patterns on the blade were quite beautiful. This knife was also single-edged, with a water-drop-shaped tip, and a total length of about a palm's width. It was indeed a small daily tool knife. Bai Lang's idea about weapons was that he actually quite liked double-handed long knives—it was just that this kind of "Xinyou long knife" hadn't appeared yet. "Definitely better than any scholar's sword!" This was Bai Lang's view.

If you were talking about ordinary sword techniques that couldn't emit sword qi, for one-on-one or one-on-few unarmored duels, it must be the world of "rapiers" and short knives. Even if he hadn't practiced full-armor fighting, the experience of killing countless people on the battlefield told Bai Lang that knives were easier to use than swords, and for unarmored combat, stabbing swords were easier to use than chopping knives. And as for things like rapiers, even if he hadn't learned how to use them, Bai Lang looked at them and was already "proficient" after a few tries.

The way of martial arts was like this, and a fierce general like Bai Lang was even more so. However, he didn't forge any rapiers. "Fists are the best weapons." Bai Lang imitated someone and said, "A clenched fist with power is power!" However, that guy Li Chenzhou died in vain, and his father, Yan Kuangtu, was more to Bai Lang's liking. Arriving in Fuzhou, Bai Lang thought of Lin Pingzhi—they didn't open a teahouse this time, and he didn't know what Yue Buqun was thinking in the book.

In short, this time they were resting in a teahouse after sightseeing—Second Senior Brother Lao Denuo took the initiative to run around to take care of Yue Lingshan. It was also at this time that a few people walked in from outside, in the middle of whom was a delicate youth of eighteen or nineteen. This guy came in and looked at Yue Lingshan a few times, but he was still polite and didn't look too much, just ordering the shopkeeper to send up a pot of tea and some snacks, and then he took people to eat, drink, and chat. Listening to their words, this youth had taken people for a ride outside the city.

Listening to the address in their words, Bai Lang knew that this youth was Lin Pingzhi. Bai Lang was sitting in the innermost part of the teahouse, and he specifically covered his face a little, otherwise, he would definitely be the most handsome guy here, far more eye-catching than the beauty Yue Lingshan. Now this grown man wasn't sitting with Yue Lingshan, the excuse being that there was no room, but fortunately, this junior sister didn't have any romantic feelings for Senior Brother Bai...

Bai Lang knew very well that Yue Lingshan was just like in the book, having some thoughts about Senior Brother Linghu Chong, and Linghu Chong did indeed like his junior sister. Junior Sister Yue Lingshan really liked the type of handsome, white-faced wanderer. Bai Lang was the type who was heroic and fierce, which wasn't her cup of tea. Before long, Bai Lang saw Yue Lingshan glancing at Lin Pingzhi from time to time, while Lin Pingzhi was peeking frequently.

It was also at this time that a few guys holding swords walked in. "They look hateful; they are probably from the Qingcheng Sect." Bai Lang prepared to take action if anything happened, so he wouldn't have to let Lin Pingzhi perform, avoiding him killing the son of the "Shorty Yu" like in the book, giving the Qingcheng Sect an excuse. Let Young Master Lin be his young master; having both parents alive was probably much better than his fate of practicing the Bixie Sword Manual later and killing his enemies.

"If this kid were to choose... there's no need to ask; it's definitely this moment." Bai Lang thought. At this time, Bai Lang's martial arts could already be considered an expert. His internal energy flowed through the twelve regular meridians, vast and mighty like a long river, unstoppable. The Twelve-Pass Golden Bell Shield Divine Skill had already broken through eight passes, enough to be called "invulnerable to swords and spears," but he had never shown it. "In a few more months, I will be able to ascend to the Innate level again!"