Chapter 414: Imperial Heir Ceremony

A warm smile formed on Zhou Mei’s face when she heard Yi Chen’s reply, and her mind became a lot more relaxed compared to before.

As a result, she soon returned to her usual self and started complaining about just how tiresome the day was without stopping for even a second.

"Haah, seriously though, didn’t we enter the sect to cultivate and get stronger? Just after attending those two sessions one after another, I’m close to passing out, but I haven’t even cultivated a bit..." Zhou Mei whined while repeating the same thing in a different manner for the nth time, causing Yi Chen to chuckle.

"It’s not like if you keep repeating it, things will change. After we’re done with our dinner, just go and focus on your cultivation before sleeping. Isn’t that obvious?" Yi Chen asked in an obvious tone.

"...but I’m so exhausted." Zhou Mei pouted her cheeks when she heard Yi Chen’s answer.

"Even though you say that, I’m pretty sure you’re still going to cultivate, are you not?" Yi Chen asked in a teasing tone.

"...That’s what frustrates me even more! If only I didn’t have this back-breaking pressure on my shoulders that keeps telling me to work harder and harder." Zhou Mei said with a sigh as her expression soon turned to that of someone who had accepted their fate.

Meanwhile, hearing her words, Yi Chen was reminded of something he had heard earlier and asked with curiosity, "This pressure you’re talking about. Is it related to that Imperial Heir Selection which that Bastard had mentioned earlier?"

"This..." Zhou Mei momentarily hesitated a little before nodding her head, "Y-Yes, it’s because of that."

"I see... I remember that he had also said something about you having only six more months for it. At that time, although I was confused, I didn’t ask since it wasn’t an appropriate time, so now that we are alone, can you tell me about it?" Yi Chen asked the next moment, with curiosity evident in his eyes.

Already knowing that this was something she needed to tell Yi Chen sooner or later, Zhou Mei said the next moment.

"About that... I’ve been wanting to tell you about it for a while now but had been finding it too hard to ask...However, since you’ve already heard about it, there’s no point in keeping it to myself any longer."

Zhou Mei let out a deep breath to regulate the uncertain feelings that were welling up inside her chest as she continued.

"You remember that I’ve been chosen as one of the many Imperial Representatives that had been chosen from the noble clans, right?" Zhou Mei asked the very next moment.

"Yeah, of course I remember." Yi Chen nodded his head the moment he heard those words.

’That’s the very reason you’ve got so many people after your life, so how could I even forget that?’ Yi Chen thought while waiting for Zhou Mei to continue.

"Mhm," Zhou Mei nodded briefly and said, "Then Brother Chen would also remember that all of us noble clan representatives have the right to inherit the kingdom’s throne in the future as well, right?"

"Yes, you had also mentioned it at that time." Yi Chen nodded a couple of seconds later as he recollected the first conversation. They had talked about her being chosen as the Imperial Representative.

"Yes, I did." Zhou Mei muttered and continued, "This Imperial Heir Ceremony is the official process through which the Imperial Family selects its next set of Heirs by conducting a set of three tests.

All the Imperial Representatives have to clear at least two out of the three tests to be chosen as the Imperial Clan’s Heir.

Once chosen, the Heirs undergo rigorous training for several years, and finally, when the emperor finds that one of them is ready to take over his position, he officially bestows the throne on them.

Our current Emperor was also chosen in the same manner seven hundred years ago, so we are going to be the second batch who will be going through this process."

Zhou Mei answered with a pursed smile while letting out a deep breath.

"So that’s how it is..." Yi Chen muttered under his breath after hearing Zhou Mei’s words. The next second, his gaze fell on Zhou Mei’s expression and sensing it, he asked, "From your expression, it seems that you have a pretty difficult road ahead of you."

"Brother Chen’s right..." Zhou Mei let out a sigh and said, "Not to mention the three tests I’ll need to take after six months, but also the journey ahead which I’ll have to go through if I do clear this initial hurdle... just thinking about all this makes me feel exhausted."

To those words, Yi Chen just smirked and said, "Then stop thinking. The more you think, the more worried you’ll become, so just stop thinking."

"Stop thinking? Brother Chen really knows how to joke..." Zhou Mei said with an amused expression at first, but seeing Yi Chen’s serious expression, she realised that he wasn’t joking at all. "...Is that even possible in the first place? To not think about it..."

"It is." Yi Chen nodded after hearing her words and said, "One can kill fire with fire and in a similar way, you can also kill your thoughts with a different thought.

Instead of focusing on the entirety of the future as a whole and becoming overwhelmed by the fact that you have so little control over it, just focus on the future that is closest to you right now.

Which, for now, let’s say, are the three tests you talked about. Think only about those tests while entirely disregarding what might be happening afterwards. In that way, instead of feeling overwhelmed, you’ll have a clear target in your head.

And once a target is clear in your head, you gain back the sense of control in life you thought was once waning."

An experienced smile formed on Yi Chen’s face by the time he finished.

This wasn’t something he had made up on the spot just to make Zhou Mei feel better, but was the exact method he had been following all this while.

His goal of meeting Feng Yu once again was filled with many difficulties and challenges, and just thinking about how he was going to tackle all of them at once was enough to numb his mind.

Therefore, he too had been only focusing on the nearest manageable future to him right now, which was regarding the mission granted to him by the system.

’Once I’ve completed that mission and have interacted with Yu’er, I’ll have more than enough time to patiently think about what to do in order to get stronger and stronger.’

Yi Chen thought to himself while looking towards Zhou Mei, who had a much calmer expression on her face when compared to before.

"Focusing on the future that’s closest to me..." she muttered Yi Chen’s words while repeating them in her mind several times. The more she did so, the better she started to feel, and the same could also be seen in her expression.

"Thank you, Brother Chen, that really helped a lot." Zhou Mei said the next moment.

"You’re welcome," Yi Chen answered with a brief smile and brought the conversation back to the Imperial Heir Ceremony. "So about the three tests that you mentioned. Just what are they, and what’s the reason you’ve been hesitating to tell me about these tests all this while?"

"The three tests... well, the first test is the test of one’s knowledge. We have to go through several dozen books from various different topics like Herbology, Biology, Astronomy, Toxicology, Politics, Administration, Economics and several others, which amount to 56 in total."

Zhou Mei answered the next moment with an exhausted smile evident on her face.

"56 books?! Isn’t that a little too much?!" Yi Chen’s eyes couldn’t help but widen when he heard the portion she had to cover for the test.

However, to those words, Zhou Mei just shook her head and said with a smile that wasn’t a smile, "No, Brother Chen. I meant 56 topics. As for the books which I have to go through, they are two hundred and eighty-eight to be precise."

"...Bloody hell,"

Yi Chen couldn’t help but curse the moment he heard the exact numbers.

"This... just how are you planning to read them all in just six months?" he asked the very next second.

"Well, in the last three months at home I was able to go through around seventy-seven books, so if I do rush a little, I’ll be able to safely cover everything by the time of the test. It’s exhausting, but it’s still something doable for me..."

’Damn, she’s a study beast...’ Yi Chen thought to himself as Zhou Mei continued on with her words.

"...However, what I’m more worried about is the second stage, which is a duelling round among the representatives. For this test, each representative needs to pick three cultivators below the Qi Absorption Stage who will be fighting three battles each.

To clear the test, the representative’s team has to win two out of three times. If not, they’ll fail the test, then and there."

Zhou Mei explained, with a serious expression forming on her face.

"So, you want me to join your team, isn’t that right?" Yi Chen asked the very next moment.

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