"Your Majesty!" When Ren Baqian gifted her two kadsura coccineas, the empress gave one back to him.
Ren Baqian felt that this was a good habit.
There were indeed very few kadsura coccineas. The following few days, as long as it wasn't raining heavily, those students would head to the wood to hunt for the kadsura coccineas.
The highest number of kadsura coccineas brought back in one trip was six.
The lowest number was two.
It was only then that Ren Baqian learned that the growth of the kadsura coccinea was actually in a pairs.
A tree usually only had a maximum of six fruits, and it was because of this production output that there were only a few kadsura coccinea trees around.
This made Ren Baqian feel somewhat regretful.
However, there was also a piece of good news. At the very least, it was good news for those students.
According to this progress, full marks for the final examination would be 400 points.
In order to encourage them to continue looking for the kadsura coccineas, Ren Baqian told them a piece good news. The top three scores in the final examination this year would each receive a certificate of merit.
The top students could then paste the certificate up in their homes, which would improve the status of their families.
These would be the top three scoring students of Black Bamboo Academy, and they represented the glorious future of Dayao.
Ren Baqian's wasn't completely tricking them. After all, this was Dayao's first batch of students, so they could be considered as high-level intellectuals. The top three scoring students would be highly valued in the future.
Of course, even if the students weren't in the top three rankings, they would still be highly valued.
Not only this batch of students, but in all likelihood, the following batches would be highly sought after as well.
Dayao didn't only lack talented individuals, but also lacked in many other aspects.
In particular, it was necessary to promote the development of Dayao's technology. This small number of talented people absolutely wouldn't have much effect.
Throughout this entire journey and in addition to the kadsura coccinea, there were all kinds of novelty things that he had never seen before in the city.
For example, there was a weird, three-foot-long snake with a bulge on its head. Initially, Ren Baqian thought that it was a flood dragon. Later on, he learned that this snake was called a xixia and liked to appear in the evening. As a result, it was called xixia (Maybe leave a translator note for the readers for this term?).
After cutting open that bulge on its forehead, a red and jelly-like substance called danhong (Maybe leave a translator note for the readers for this term?) could be found.
It was said that eating this kind of thing was good for nourishing the soul.
A guard handed it to the empress followed by her throwing it over to Ren Baqian.
It tasted like jelly, but was its flavor was lighter.
There was completely no reaction after he finished eating it.
Instead, after eating, the metal chain emerged from the top of his head and wrapped around his body until he became a cocoon.
The empress immediately laughed after being surprised. After all, it was really rare for him to be tied up by the metal chain from his head.
With a smile on her face, she looked at Ren Baqian as he fell to the ground. After that, he rubbed against the ground like a tiger.
At that moment, Ren Baqian really wanted to curse so badly.
I wanted to depend on you to bind others! Never did I expect you to bind me. In that case, what is the point of having you?
Prior to this, Ren Baqian had always felt that as long as he could command the metal chain when he was eventually able to use it, at least he could have more fun by binding things.
It turned out that this metal chain was more complicated than he imagined.
He thought carefully. If he fought with others in the future and this thing actually binded him, Ren Baqian would not even die in peace.
A pity that this iron chain had already taken root in his mind. Before attaining the Spirit Wheel level, there was no way to remove this thing from his mind.
"Your Majesty…" At last, Ren Baqian innocently asked the empress for help. After she finished laughing, she pinched one end of the metal chain and shook it. Immediately, the metal chain retracted back as if it had felt an electric shock.
What he didn't know was that after he had finished the danhong, there was a slight change in his Sea of Knowledge. Officially, because of this change, the chain felt uncomfortable and emerged to bind him tightly.
Throughout the entire journey, he didn't only see a variety of rare fruits and animals, but also saw some strongholds and towns.
Even some of the styles and habits of these strongholds and towns were somewhat different from what he had seen before.
For example, as they headed further south, many strongholds and towns decorated the surface of their houses with a variety of feathers, making them look very colorful and extremely beautiful.
The aboriginals in these strongholds and towns also had a bigger forehead, fiercer appearance, and a higher level of strength.
"It seems to be somewhat different from the north." As this feature became more and more prominent, Ren Baqian was somewhat doubtful.
"There are alot of Heishan people here," the empress said indifferently before giving Ren Baqian a detailed explanation.
The so-called Heishan, was a region in the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
The aboriginals in the north should be called the Yanta people because they had all moved from the area surrounding the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
On the other hand, these so-called Heishan people stayed even deeper inside the Sixty Thousand Mountains.
There weren't only Heishan people, but also Chiyu people as well as Shuiyunze people.
There were also all sorts of aboriginals within the Sixty Thousand Mountains. The people were named after the region they lived in.
Those who were from the Yanta region were called the Yanta people, and those who were from the Heishan region were called Heishan people. It was the same for the Chiyu and the Shuiyunze.
Therefore, although they were all aboriginals, with regards to their customs and appearances, there were many differences.
Just like the China on Earth, people of the same race but from different regions were slightly different in appearance, height, and customs.
It was Ren Baqian's first time hearing about this, and he found it somewhat intriguing.
However, there was something that they shared in common: they all liked to fight.
Originally, a few aboriginals in front of them had fought over trivial matters and smashed the walls of the courtyard into smithereens. When the empress's chariot arrived, these several aboriginals immediately dispersed and stood in a circle to watch her arrival.
Not long after the imperial chariot left, they began to fight again.
Everyone, including the empress, was used to it. As a result, no one considered whether it was disrespectful or not.
Even the big shots in the imperial court were like this, so how could the atmosphere among the commoners be better?
In the eyes of the aboriginals, there was nothing that couldn't be solved with a fight. If there was, then they would fight two times.
"Eh? That's a very familiar looking wooden pillar…"
In a town, Ren Baqian looked at the distant crowd while seated on a fork-horned cow. Suddenly, an upright wooden pillar in the crowd caught his attention, just like how people would be attracted to fireflies in the night.
That height and that thickness. Furthermore, it was still able to move. It was clearly the one he saw when he traveling on the river.
With the exception of that sword master, an average person definitely would not walk around with a wooden pillar that was thicker than a human, right?
As they continued to go forward, he discovered that the wooden pillar was moving away from the crowd. Soon enough, it turned into an alley.
However, even behind a wall, that wooden pillar was still as glaring as fireflies in the night… because, it was too tall. The wooden pillar, in addition to the sword master's height, was no less than four meters tall.
"Very interesting." Ren Baqian smiled. He was very intrigued by these sword masters.
Never had he expected to meet that fellow again.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the other party didn't want to bump into them.
Since the empress was Dayao's ruler and also one of the top ten experts in the world, it wasn't difficult to understand why this sword master was avoiding them.
Sword masters were also afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings and trouble. Thus, they would evade after running into the empress and her subordinates.