Chapter 451: Graduation Ceremony

April 28th, the Martial Body Tournament finals.

A group of friends stood in a row, watching the two people in the finals below, discussing it heatedly.

The venue for the two people's match was still the same Martial Arts Arena where Chen Shu and Zhang Suannai had fought two years ago when they were at the Sixth Stage. Since one was a new-style High-Tier Martial Artist and the other was a Summoner plus Martial Cultivator, the commotion they made while fighting was not particularly large, and both focused mainly on close-quarters combat, so this venue could already satisfy their needs.

The spot where the friends stood was also the same small hill from two years ago.

The only difference was that there were far fewer big-shot spectators on the small hill.

The year before last, there were leaders from Yujing Academy, leaders from Ling'an Academy, as well as high-level elders and powerful deacons from the two major sects, the Spirit Sect and the Sword Sect. This year's finals had turned into an internal war of Yujing Academy, so the leaders of Ling'an Academy simply did not come. At the same time, the two contestants were also effectively without sects; only some people from the Imperial Family and the military came to watch out of interest, and the number of people was not very large.

"These two are fighting really intensely..."

"Ouch! That's ruthless!"

"Donor Jiang Lai has very rich combat experience; she is worthy of being a Martial Artist who walked her way up using the Underground Arena as a side job."

"Donor Jiba's strikes are so ruthless. Didn't Donor Qingcai say they have a pretty good relationship?"

"Two Masters, you don't understand this. The kindest people in this world and those who strike the most ruthlessly are often women."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"Donor Meng, watch your words; be careful of Donor Grandma's Sword."

"Also be careful of the female donors' fists online; those are a few degrees sharper than the Sword in Donor Grandma's hand."

"The two Masters' reminder is correct..."

Chen Shu listened from the side, watching the two people in the Martial Arts Arena below, but his peripheral vision quietly aimed at the young girl beside him—he saw the young girl focused intently, even involuntarily leaning her neck forward a little to pull herself one centimeter closer to the Martial Arts Arena, watching without even blinking her eyes.

"Emmm..."

Chen Shu pursed his lips, his peripheral vision glancing to the other side, just in time to see Qingqing also looking toward him.

The two people's gazes crossed, carrying out a silent exchange.

Then they continued to watch the two people fight.

Yan Keling held a Long Sword; in terms of herself alone, her combat power was likely no worse than a Seventh Stage elder of the Ming Sect, not to mention that she had Lord Linjian serving as her main force. Opposite her, Jiang Lai had Spirit Power flowing in her body that was of the same origin as Lord Linjian, making her a veritable Humanoid Exotic Beast.

The scene of the two sides fighting was exceptionally spectacular.

The visible collisions, the visible footwork, the visible techniques—every Sword, every strike, every dodge and shift, showing off intelligence, showing off experience—was spectacular enough to be seen even without understanding the inner workings.

In the end, Yan Keling took the crown.

This result was not unexpected—

Jiang Lai's cultivation method determined that she had to constantly be beaten and suffer torment, requiring a sparring partner. It just so happened that Yan Keling needed to improve her own combat techniques, so the two sides had always frequently sparred, and currently, it was almost always Yan Keling who won.

The friends didn't even place bets.

And after the fight ended, both of them had sustained not-insignificant injuries and were sent to the school hospital.

Looking at the messy Martial Arts Arena, the young girl couldn't help but reveal a bit of envy on her face—she had heard that Secret Sect Practitioners were not good at frontal combat. If she were as powerful as the two of them, could she tell her sister to massage her shoulders, and if she didn't, hang her up and beat her?

"Everyone..."

The voice in her ear interrupted her reverie.

The young girl's expression tightened, she withdrew her gaze, and subconsciously turned her head to look for the person speaking, but inadvertently discovered that her sister was staring at her—

"!"

The young girl felt a shock in her heart, then pretended to be indifferent, shifted her gaze, and found the tall monk who was speaking.

She heard the monk ask gently: "Where are we going now?"

"To eat," Brother-in-law said, "It's the last meal we'll be sponging off the Military Academy, so we must cherish it well."

"That makes sense."

"Then let's go that way."

"Go, go, go..."

The group collectively walked toward the cafeteria.

Chen Shu still ordered a portion of bamboo shoot braised fish balls, a portion of Mapo Tofu, and a portion of sesame oil shredded chicken. Chen Shu still remembered very clearly that a few years ago, after he defeated Senior Brother Ji while punching above his weight and was lying in a hospital bed, Qingqing had ordered these exact dishes for him and fed them to him.

Zhang Suannai, who had been so shocked she couldn't catch her breath at the time, still remembered it vividly.

Eating them now, the taste was still the same as it was then, yet with memories mixed in, the flavor became even more wonderful.

"Donor Qingcai and Donor Zhaoyeqing are graduating too, right..." Dharma Master Tongdeng was eating a tray of vegetarian dishes, which didn't seem to suit his taste, "Do the two donors have any plans for afterward?"

"Participate in the Graduation Ceremony first."

"The Graduation Ceremony is coming up soon, right?"

"In a few days."

"And after that?"

"Stay in Yujing, cultivate, cultivate to the Ninth Stage, see what arrangements They actually have, and then talk about plans... anyway, she is with me."

"Not going back to the Spirit Sect to cultivate?"

"I'll go back if there's a need."

"That's good..."

Dharma Master Tongdeng nodded, eating his tofu in a leisurely manner.

Chen Shu chewed the fish ball in his mouth; it was fresh, delicious, and had the perfect soft bounce. He blinked his eyes and stared at Dharma Master Tongdeng: "Master, is the vegetarian food here not tasty?"

"It is indeed worse than the vegetarian food at our Xinzheng Temple," Dharma Master Tongdeng said truthfully, for he did not lie, but he paused and said with a smile, "However, my temple has been making vegetarian food for over a thousand years, while here they usually cook more meat and vegetable dishes; everyone has their own specialty."

"That's true..."

Chen Shu continued chewing the fish ball and nodded: "How can vegetarian food be as fragrant as eating meat."

"Emmm..."

"Tell me, what exactly was Shengzu thinking back then? Why did he have to stipulate that monks cannot eat meat? Since they are all rules left behind by him, the Daoist sect next door can eat meat and drink alcohol, and can even marry and have children; this is unfair."

"The Buddhist Sect disciples hold compassion in their hearts."

"Compassion is the heart of the matter..."

Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth, finding it interesting.

The Buddhist Sect has two systems: one is Zen Cultivation, the other is Martial Cultivator. For a Buddhist Practitioner, Zen Cultivation is a mandatory option, while Martial Cultivator is an elective. However, the vast majority of the Buddhist Sect's upper echelons are practitioners of Zen-Martial Dual Cultivation. The leaders and Buddha of every generation are all exclusively Zen-Martial Dual Cultivators, and some even value martial arts over Zen. Take, for example, the Bodhisattva of Tribulation who is still digesting the Origin; he even flattened the Killing Forbidden Land, which is the most demanding of martial prowess.

One can also tell by looking at the statues of the Buddha of past generations—

Full of compassion, their monk robes are about to burst at the seams.

Dharma Master Tongdeng looks much the same. Only Chen Shu and a few others dare to tease him like this to his face; if it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't even dare to breathe loudly in his presence.

After finishing his meal, Chen Shu walked to the window as usual, took out his thermal lunch box, and with a sweet tongue, heaped praise upon the Military Academy Canteen's fish balls. The auntie, pleased, filled his thermal box to the brim, leaving the others staring in stunned silence.

"You can even get takeout here?"

"Are these green bamboo fish balls that delicious?"

"Amitabha, Qingcai Caike, your skin is truly thick..."

"I don't know why, Qingcai Caike, but I'm not even surprised by anything you do anymore."

"Damn, you can even pack it to go? Why didn't I know that before? Dammit! I lost a hundred million! Are there any more takeout boxes? A plastic bag will do too."

"Hehe..."

Chen Shu put away the thermal box, smiled at them, and then went together to visit Brother Jiang and Yan Keling before they all dispersed.

The fourth of May, evening.

Chen Shu and Qingqing both put on academic robes that looked like official robes, and under the fixed gaze of the little girl and Taozi, they left the small courtyard.

Today was the Graduation Ceremony and Jade Conferment Ceremony for the Traditional Cultivation Academy of Yujing Academy. The Astronomy and Cosmology College of Ling'an Academy also happened to be today, so Qingqing rode her little motorcycle to take Chen Shu to school. Chen Shu held his stomach the whole way, and the two parted ways at the gate of Yujing Academy.

Chen Shu walked into the campus alone, looking around as he went.

The weather in May had begun to turn hot, but fortunately, there was a breeze in the evening, making it quite cool. The young ladies on the roadside were wearing shorts and crop tops, looking very refreshing.

Someone was singing on the lawn; it was a group of music lovers, singing a song of parting, heart-wrenchingly.

I don't know if they were seniors or fifth-year students.

Chen Shu walked silently toward the auditorium.

The graduation ceremony and Jade Conferment Ceremony at Yujing Academy are held by college. Awards are also presented at that time, such as Outstanding Graduate and Outstanding Graduation Thesis. Among them, the Outstanding Graduation Thesis is divided into several levels: school-level, provincial-level, national-level, and international.

Chen Shu's design had already been rated as a national-level Outstanding Graduation Thesis, but it couldn't be rated internationally; it involved classified information and could not be submitted for selection.

Chen Shu didn't need those honors for this design anyway.

He walked into the auditorium and sat down according to his class.

Familiar faces suddenly appeared all around. Everyone greeted each other; even though it had only been a year, it seemed everyone had changed quite a bit.

As expected, many classmates were very busy and didn't make it back for the graduation ceremony. Nearly two-thirds of the students in Chen Shu's class returned, which was a very good ratio compared to other classes; the class monitor deserved the credit.

But still, not everyone was present.

The graduation ceremony began quickly.

"... May you all look up at the starry sky, keep your feet on the ground, hone your growth on the journey of youth, and achieve your life through practical learning and hard work."

"... May you all always keep a heart of awe, cultivate the virtue of self-discipline, and always think of the ambition to serve the country."

"... You all came from all corners of the land and will go to all ends of the earth. Let us walk in the same direction as the new era and grow together with the new era... You are all outstanding talents of Yujing Academy, and I believe the future world will surely leave your names behind."

A series of speeches and messages from the leaders.

Usually, one would find it long-winded, but at this moment, there was a sense of sentimentality.

Next was the Jade Conferment Ceremony.

Conferring jade is a tradition of Dayi.

This has to start from the Xia Dynasty.

Scholars in the Xia Dynasty liked to wear jade at their waists. Wearing jade gradually became a tradition for scholars and has been passed down for thousands of years.

Hundreds of years ago, Yiguo opened universities, and graduates were called scholars. At that time, being a scholar was quite rare, but many students from humble backgrounds could not afford jade, so the tradition of uniformly conferring jade pendants to scholars at graduation was born. However, as there were more and more scholars later on, the jade pendants were made smaller and smaller, and the materials became worse and worse. Nowadays, the cost of jade pendants conferred at many universities during graduation is only a hundred or eighty yuan. Relatively speaking, top-tier prestigious schools like Yujing and Ling'an are still slightly more particular.

The first name called was Chen Shu's.

Chen Shu stood up and walked forward, receiving a small cyan-white jade pendant from the Dean, and hung it at his waist.

At the same time, he received his certificates—

Outstanding Graduate, National Outstanding Graduation Thesis.

The gold content of an Outstanding Graduate from Yujing Academy is very high. Besides playing an important role on a resume, there are also substantial benefits, such as being able to directly obtain a Yujing household registration and a Yujing license plate, which is how Chen Banxia got her car.

Chen Shu held up the two certificates and stood with the Dean.

"Click!"

The photo was frozen at this moment.

One hour later.

Chen Shu walked out of the auditorium.

By this time, it was completely dark outside. The firelight that had been on the horizon had disappeared, the night had become a bit cooler, and it seemed to have become a bit livelier.

Swallows were chasing and playing in the night sky. From afar, the sounds of playing ball, shouting, and whistling could be heard continuously. The pedestrians on the Commercial Street had become more numerous, noisy and bustling. Faintly, one could even hear the sound of a boy confessing his love to a girl under the dormitory building in the distance, using a megaphone, shouting very loudly, as if it were the last time. Then others started booing, and all kinds of sounds gathered together like a poem about summer and youth.

"Ah..."

Chen Shu couldn't help but stretch.

He had thought that having lived once before, he knew what things were truly shining, knew which things were only superficially precious but actually worthless, and which things were superficially worthless but would shine in his memories for years to come. Therefore, he knew how to make trade-offs, and therefore he would be better at and more focused on enjoying these five years of university life than others. But now that it was over, looking back, he found that there were still quite a few omissions.

If he could do it all over again, the experience would probably be even better.

But on second thought, regret is the norm; it is a part of life. If there were no regrets, perhaps that would be another kind of regret.

Chen Shu was able to appreciate the beauty of regret.

"Squeak..."

A mini motorcycle stopped in front of him; the rider was a tall woman wearing a scholar's robe that looked like an official's gown, with light blue skinny jeans and a pair of sneakers visible beneath the robe, and given her height, it was already quite incongruous with this vehicle from over a decade ago.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You look really good in that outfit."

"I think so too."

"You guys just finished too? What a coincidence."

"Get on."

"Alrighty!"

Chen Shu grinned and straddled the bike.

The motorcycle was so small that the two had to squeeze together; Chen Shu hugged her waist tightly, pressing against her back, and the little motorcycle started up quietly and moved forward, leaving all the clamor and bustle of youth behind.