In the eleventh year of the Apocalypse, Chang'an, Zhongzhou.

The winter morning is particularly pleasant, the whole Chang'an is hung with a faint glimmer, the bluestone road of Suzaku Street is cleaned clean, the slanting sun shines on it, only see the history, but there is no dust.

Liu Chen was dressed in a leather robe, the Qiushui sword was tightly wrapped and stuck obliquely behind his back, he chewed the pine nuts in his hand while looking left and right from Mingde Gate into Chang'an City.

He wanted to suppress his emotions, but when he really integrated into the prosperity of the imperial capital Chang'an, the joy and excitement of the young man could no longer be buried, as if everything in the city was so attractive to him, those restaurants and tea shops on both sides of the avenue, those crowded walking vendors, and the pretty sisters who laughed on the railing on the high pavilion not far away, all of them made this young man who came out of Fancheng extremely yearning.

"This uncle, how to get to Bauhinia Mountain?" After shopping for a while, Liu Chen remembered the purpose of his visit, shrugged his shoulders slightly, and then walked to the side of a fruit seller and asked.

"Little brother is going to the academy?" the fruit seller enthusiastically handed over a fresh fruit, Liu Chen looked a little embarrassed to take it, and he was really flattered by the enthusiasm of the people in the imperial capital.

"Exactly, uncle, I'm here to sign up for admission to the academy!" Nibbling on the delicate and juicy fresh fruit, Liu Chen couldn't help but admire in his heart, this unknown fruit is so delicious, Fancheng doesn't have it, but I don't know if it's expensive or not.

"Walk along Suzaku Street, walk to the end, and when you reach the Suzaku Gate, go straight to the left, and you will arrive at Huaqing Pond, and the academy will be by Huaqing Pond!" The uncle who sold fruit smiled innocently, patted Liu Chen's shoulder and said with envy: "Go quickly, young man, the enrollment of the academy started the day before yesterday, and if it is too late, you will have to wait for next year!"

"Thank you, uncle, thank you, uncle!" Liu Chen smiled and thanked him continuously, then said goodbye to the fruit seller and walked towards the end of Suzaku Street.

"It's good to be young!" Uncle Fruit looked at Liu Chen's figure gradually moving away, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, if he had worked hard when he was young and went to study in the academy, he would have become an official now, and he would really be 'don't wait, the young man's head is white, and he is empty and sad!'

I originally thought that the legendary Huaqing Pond was just a small pool, but I didn't expect that when Liu Chen stood in front of it, he realized how completely wrong he was, which is a pool, it is clearly a lake.

Looking from afar, there is an archway by the lake, and Liu Chen, who has been in a hurry for more than two hours, is not too tired, so he sped up his pace and walked towards the archway.

The archway is crowded with people, Liu Chen walked closer, only to see the appearance clearly, only to see a stone carving more than one zhang high standing quietly in the middle of the archway, the stone carving is obviously from the hands of top craftsmen, the traces of the years make the statue more solemn.

This statue, it can be said that everyone in the entire Eastern Continent knows, holding a sword in one hand, holding a book in the other, a tall posture, a handsome face, the corners of his clothes fluttering in the wind, and his eyes are blazing.

On both sides of the statue of the Holy Ancestor, two stone plaques were hung, which read: "Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a life for the people, continue to learn for the saints, and open peace for all generations!" It was written by Emperor Gaozu himself at the beginning of the establishment of the academy, and the two stone plaques inspired generations of people with lofty ideals in Daxia, so that countless young people worked hard for their ideals.

Liu Chen learned from everyone around him, respectfully bowed to the statue of the Holy Ancestor, almost every day, the Huaqing Pond on the side of the Vermilion Bird Gate will attract many tourists to come, one to pay tribute to the sound of the Holy Ancestor Tianji, one to take a boat to relax, carefully enjoy the lake and mountains.

After paying homage to the Holy Ancestor, Liu Chen crossed the crowd and wanted to go up the mountain along the mountain road behind the archway.

didn't take a few steps, the position of the corner, two big men in gold armor blocked Liu Chen's way with expressionless faces, seeing that they didn't speak, Liu Chen was a little dazed in his heart, and it took a long time before he thought of finding the letter of recommendation in his arms, and held it in front of the two with both hands.

"The monk's letter of recommendation?" A gold-armored man on the right glanced at the cover of the envelope, and carefully verified the coat of arms of the Duke of Jin, and then handed the letter back to Liu Chen and said: "Go to the military department to report, at dusk, this year's enrollment will be over!"

Liu Chen thanked him, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and walked quickly towards the mountain.

Panting and climbing to the top of the mountain, Liu Chen saw that as soon as he came out of the flat ground, there were already many people standing on the ground, most of them were young boys and girls of the same age as Liu Chen, and there were also a very small number of teaching and learning stewards wearing the logo of the academy who were constantly running in the crowd, registering something.

"Brother Chen!" Just when Liu Chen was at a loss, a familiar shout came from a distance, and when he looked at it, the little monk was wearing a black fur coat, and the whole person was like a hedgehog, running towards Liu Chen with an excited face.

Liu Chen was overjoyed in his heart, and he caught the little monk who rushed to him, and before he could say hello, he saw Wu Tong coming out of the crowd again, and walked to his side with a smile on his face.

"I thought you weren't coming!" Wu Tong raised his hand and lightly patted Liu Chen's shoulder, seeing that Liu Chen was a little in pain, he withdrew his hand and said: "I'm sorry, I forgot that you were injured, I told you a long time ago, you can set off with me at that time, you prefer to go by yourself, look, you're almost late!"

"I'm used to being alone!" Liu Chen smiled faintly, while touching the bald head of the little monk, he slightly distanced himself from Wu Tong, he had already discovered that the young people in the field were all standing in groups, at least a few people, looking at Wu Tong's face was a little bad, the place where Wu Tong stood before, there were also a few teenagers from the Weizhou military, Liu Chen had seen it, it seems that Wu Tong is not very popular here, he is new to the city, it is better not to cause trouble.

"That's a group of sour talents from the Ministry of Culture, and the leader is Xu Qi, the son of the prime minister, who is the son of the Holy Son, and he has some trouble with me!" Wu Tong saw Liu Chen's small movements, and he was not angry in his heart, but explained with kind words: " The relationship between the four departments of the academy is not very harmonious, you come this time, you are also in the martial arts department, we are classmates, no matter what relationship you have with me now, they will only treat us as a group, and some of the gods of the Taoist department will sometimes add some chaos, and the art department will be better, except for the ladies who are like flowers and jade, there are only some crazy people who are immersed in those strange tricks all day long, anyway, you will know in the future, in the academy, it is not easy for you to be low-key, when the time comes, you will be happy!"

Wu Tong stood beside Liu Chen with a smile on his face, he was also very curious in his heart, he was famous for his arrogance, if someone usually wanted Liu Chen to hide from him like this, he was afraid that he would be angry if he didn't want to think about it, but as soon as he saw Liu Chen, he had such a strange emotion, déjà vu, like an old friend who had known each other for many years, but he and Liu Chen had only known each other for less than a month.