The Black-White College Beckons

Ji Ning felt a fierce curiosity stir within him. “The imperial capital of the Grand Xia Dynasty…”

Without caring about anything else, he immediately began flipping through the enormous intelligence compilation.

Beishan Baiwei saw Ji Ning’s eagerness and laughed from the side. “Tempted, aren’t you? Now you know why I saved this for last.”

Ji Ning quickly found the section on the Black-White College.

“So…”

“It’s actually…”

As he read through the recorded origins and glorious history of the Black-White College, Ji Ning murmured to himself, his eyes shining with light.

“The Black-White Diagram? The Black-White Millstone Diagram?” After staring at the page for a while, Ji Ning raised his head to look at Beishan Baiwei, his eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation. “Brother Baiwei, is this Black-White Millstone Diagram truly that miraculous?”

“Would I lie to you about something like this?” Beishan Baiwei smiled. “Once you enter the Black-White College, you’ll be able to see the Black-White Millstone Diagram with your own eyes. Then you’ll know just how miraculous it is.”

Ji Ning nodded gently.

The Black-White Diagram was the supreme treasure of the Black-White College!

It was a massive engraved image of a black-and-white millstone. On the surface, it appeared ordinary, but in truth, its texture was incredibly complex, with black and white intertwining in intricate detail… Simple black lines and white lines entwined together, giving rise to endless profundities, containing all manner of profound Dao mysteries within them. It was unfathomably deep.

It often attracted powerful experts from other sects to come and meditate upon it.

Of course, this was the Black-White College’s greatest treasure. Even when experts from other factions occasionally received a chance to meditate on it, there was a strict time limit. Only by becoming a formal disciple of the Black-White College could one have unlimited access to it.

“My father once said,” Beishan Baiwei remarked, “The Dao is profound and mysterious. Trying to comprehend it is like trying to view flowers through a veil of mist… But the Black-White Millstone Diagram seems to explain the countless mysteries of the Dao in extremely fine detail, breaking them down to the most minute level. The countless black and white lines, depending on how one observes them, can lead to the comprehension of entirely different mysteries. A treasure like this must surely have been born naturally from the primordial chaos, a diagram that formed on its own.”

The Black-White Diagram had been discovered by an Immortal in a minor world, who had then brought it back.

Relying on this diagram, the college had flourished, and its name was ultimately changed to ‘Black-White College.’

“I want to go out for a walk,” Ji Ning said, rising to his feet.

“Walk? Where to?” Beishan Baiwei asked.

“The Black-White College,” Ji Ning replied.

“Haha, can’t hold back anymore?” Beishan Baiwei chuckled.

“I won’t feel settled until I see it with my own eyes. And whether or not I choose to join this Black-White College, I need to see it for myself first,” Ji Ning said. Indeed, he had developed high expectations for the college. Its policy of gathering only the most gifted disciples meant that every single student was a peerless genius. Ji Ning was quite looking forward to an environment where such geniuses gathered.

“Let’s go. I’ll accompany you,” Beishan Baiwei said, also rising.

…

Ji Ning, Beishan Baiwei, the Whitewater Hound, and the puppet maidservant walked together through the manor, heading outside.

“Eh?” Beishan Baiwei suddenly caught sight of a few figures in the distance.

It was his father, Beishan Blacktiger, the triangular-eyed old servant, and also a tall, thin man.

“Xuan Six?” Beishan Baiwei frowned, thinking to himself, “Why would Xuan Six come back to the manor? Has something major happened?”

As the sole son of Beishan Blacktiger, Beishan Baiwei was privy to many secrets. He immediately recognized the tall, thin man’s identity.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Ning asked.

“Nothing. Let’s go to the Black-White College,” Beishan Baiwei said with a smile. “We’re not in a rush today. Let’s just walk.”

“Alright.” Ji Ning smiled and walked out together with Beishan Baiwei.

Beishan Blacktiger and the triangular-eyed old servant stood listening to the tall, thin man ‘Xuan Six’ as he made his report. The triangular-eyed old servant cast a glance backward and saw Beishan Baiwei and Ji Ning in the distance.

“After tracking down its trail, we went all-out to set up a net inescapable by Heaven or Earth, and finally succeeded in capturing that ancient Fiendgod. We took it alive!” the tall, thin man reported respectfully. “Our side lost one entire squad in the process: one Primal Daoist and twelve Wanxiang Adepts.”

“Mm, well done.” Beishan Blacktiger nodded, a faint hint of lightning flickering deep within his profound gaze.

“Where is this Fiendgod being held?” Beishan Blacktiger asked.

“Earth cell number two,” the tall, thin man replied respectfully.

Beishan Blacktiger nodded gently. “You may withdraw.”

“Yes.” The tall, thin man, Xuan Six, immediately retreated silently.

The triangular-eyed old servant at his side quickly lowered his voice: “Congratulations, Master, congratulations! You have captured an ancient Fiendgod.”

“We still need to see what kind of Fiendgod it is, how powerful, and what divine abilities it is skilled at,” Beishan Blacktiger said in a low voice. “Each of these ancient Fiendgods that have managed to eke out a living until now is extraordinary. Even if this one is on the weak side… there might be others of its kind lurking in hiding. Regardless, I need to go take a look. Let’s head out of the city.”

“Yes.” The triangular-eyed old servant acknowledged respectfully.

Soon.

Whoosh!

A chariot bathed in a surge of black aura, pulled by eight black divine dragons, shot up into the air directly from within the Beishan Blacktiger manor, flying high into the clouds above Anchan City before vanishing from sight.

…

Ji Ning and Beishan Baiwei, by contrast, were quite leisurely. The two of them strolled down the extraordinarily wide street, each step carrying them a full li forward with ease. The Whitewater Hound and the maidservant followed effortlessly.

“We’re here. This is the Black-White College up ahead.” Beishan Baiwei pointed forward.

Soon, the two of them came to a stop.

Ji Ning raised his head to look. Before him was a massive structure. Its main gate was a hundred zhang tall and nearly two hundred zhang wide. Carved into the top of the gate were four large characters: ‘Black-White College.’ And in the very center of these four characters was an image of a black-and-white millstone.

“The Black-White Millstone Diagram?” Ji Ning could sense boundless profundities contained within it, but when he tried to focus on them, they became blurry and indistinct.

“Those four characters of ‘Black-White College’ and the millstone diagram were left behind by a Celestial Immortal from the college’s history,” Beishan Baiwei explained. “It’s not the true Black-White Diagram. The real diagram is far larger and far more complex and detailed.”

“I see.” Ji Ning nodded.

On both sides of the Black-White College’s main gate sat two enormous ink-green stone lions and two ink-green stone divine dragons. A large number of soldiers were also stationed in the surrounding area.

“Those soldiers are all from my Anchan Marquis’s estate, dispatched here to help guard the college,” Beishan Baiwei said. “Those lions and divine dragons are the true gatekeepers of the Black-White College.”

“They… are gatekeepers?” Ji Ning was startled. With his eyesight, he hadn’t been able to tell that the stone lions and divine dragons were guardians at all.

“The Black-White College paid a tremendous price to purchase these two golems from the Mulberry clan,” Beishan Baiwei said. “Legend has it that these two golems possess power approaching that of an Immortal, and they also have intelligence no less than that of an ordinary person. They have been stationed here for endless ages.”

Ji Ning clicked his tongue in wonder.

Golems? Power approaching that of an Immortal?

“Xuan Tang!” Beishan Baiwei suddenly called out loudly.

“Baiwei!” A white-robed youth who was walking out of the Black-White College with a group of followers looked over in surprise and smiled.

Beishan Baiwei quickly sent a mental message to Ji Ning at his side: “This man is called Beishan Xuantang. He is also a member of our Anchan Beishan clan. However, he comes from a very remote and distant branch of the family, an ordinary member. Although he was highly talented, he never received much attention. But later, he managed to successfully enter the Black-White College, and his status within the Anchan Beishan clan immediately soared.”

“Oh?” Ji Ning looked at the white-robed youth with interest.

“But be careful of him. This man is a master of disguise. My father once said… Beishan Xuantang is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You can’t get too close to someone like him, but there’s no need to make an enemy of him either,” Beishan Baiwei transmitted mentally.

Ji Ning nodded.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing?

The Anchan Beishan clan had been passed down since the Primordial Fiendgod Era. One could imagine the sheer size of their population. Some of the remote branches… their status was probably not much better than that of a small tribe like the Ji clan. It was only when a peerless genius emerged from such a branch that they would receive the attention of the Anchan Marquis’s estate. “This man was probably held down for so long in the past that his personality became twisted,” Ji Ning speculated to himself.

“Baiwei, what brings you here?” Beishan Xuantang said with a smile.

“I brought my sworn brother, Ji Ning, to come take a look,” Beishan Baiwei said. “Brother Ji Ning is also thinking of joining the Black-White College.”

Ji Ning spoke up: “It’s said that joining the Black-White College is extremely difficult. I’m just planning to give it a try.”

Beishan Xuantang glanced at Ji Ning.

In that instant, a trace of aversion rose in his heart.

His experiences in his youth had made him intensely jealous of and disgusted by those direct-line descendants of the Anchan Beishan clan, those high-born young masters of noble status! He casually categorized Ji Ning as being on Beishan Baiwei’s side.

“Oh, even if you fail, there’s no harm in giving it a try,” Beishan Xuantang said, looking at Ji Ning with a smile. But there was a faint hint of condescending pity in his eyes. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and pass. Then we can be fellow disciples.”

Ji Ning could sense the condescending, superior attitude of this Beishan Xuantang.

Clearly, to Beishan Xuantang, he himself was a peerless genius. As for this Ji Ning before him? He seemed to have some background, having come with Beishan Baiwei, but so what? The Black-White College valued one’s innate talent, comprehension, and determination above all else.

“Baiwei, I won’t stay any longer. I still have matters to attend to. We can chat later at our leisure.” Beishan Xuantang clasped his hands, then departed with the group of followers behind him. These followers all carried themselves with extraordinary bearing, and from Ji Ning’s senses, he estimated that every single one of them was a cultivator.

“What’s with those followers?” Ji Ning asked. “Didn’t you say he was an ordinary member of your Beishan clan’s remote branch? How does he have so many cultivator followers?”

Beishan Baiwei shook his head. “Every disciple of the Black-White College is a peerless genius. But they can’t be expected to handle all sorts of trivial, mundane matters themselves, right? So, the Black-White College allows each formal disciple to accept up to ten retainers.”

“Thus, although the college only has a few hundred formal disciples, it has several thousand retainers.”

“These several thousand retainers work for the college. They can listen to the lectures of Primal Daoists and even Immortals. They can also be bestowed with cultivation techniques. If any of them prove to be exceptionally outstanding, they can even be promoted to formal disciples. Of course, it’s rare to see a retainer promoted to formal status even once in a century, because the Black-White College’s requirements for formal disciples are simply too harsh. But regardless, becoming a retainer here is far better than being an ordinary disciple of an average sect.” Beishan Baiwei said. “That’s why so many cultivators are willing to become retainers.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Impressive.

Accepting retainers gave these genius disciples their own personal retinue! It also stabilized the foundations of the Black-White College.

“It seems my fellow clansman, Beishan Xuantang, doesn’t think much of you, Brother Ji Ning,” Beishan Baiwei said. “When the time comes and you enter the Black-White College, the look on his face will certainly be quite amusing.”

Ji Ning smiled. “This is it!”

“You mean?” Beishan Baiwei was startled.

“When the twelfth month arrives, I will join this Black-White College.” Ji Ning raised his head to look at the characters left behind by the Celestial Immortal above the mountain gate.

The Black-White College… this is where I shall rise!

**