Back in the Nine Heavens, the Fate’s Scribe Shun Tao had gone through Zhong Jing Yi’s scroll of fate once again, making sure to take note of every trial that he had already passed regardless of whether it was a major or minor one. To decide whether or not it would be dangerous for him to skip out on a few trials right now or to be taken back immediately, no information could slip through, no matter how small.

While it was true that one major trial would be a deciding factor in whether or not the crown prince would be punished after his return, the same could be true for passing the smaller ones. As long as their amount was sufficient, it was absolutely possible to use them to make up for a major trial.

Also, considering what the God of Love had said the last time about the crown prince’s relationship with Longjun even before his reincarnation being a trial all on its own, he felt much better when he tallied everything up. If that major trial had already been accomplished, then any kind of punishment the Son of Heaven would be dealt could only be a minor one.

Seeing as this pertained to the well-being or maybe even the life and death of the man he was likely going to marry soon, the crown prince would definitely be willing to take it. The more troublesome issue would be the Heavenly Emperor but as long as he managed to get the Heavenly Empress, as well as the God of War onto his side, this wouldn’t be a problem. They could deal with persuading him.

Thinking things through like this, Shun Tao finally put down the list of finished trials he had come up with. Surprisingly, there were already quite a few. Thanks to Longjun holding back for the past five and a half years, things had turned out quite well. And then there was also that one time he had somehow missed out on helping Zhong Jing Yi even before everything came to light, resulting in Mister Zhong’s death.

Thus, right now, the crown prince had passed the major trial of decision because of being torn between his love for Longjun and his bond with his family and the medium trials of the death of a loved one and life in humility. He also had a good chance of passing the medium trial of never attaining a life-long dream since he was trying to become a hero but still wasn’t able to cultivate or use the sword.

As for the minor trials, he had passed the one of succumbing to emotions. This was actually one that was all thanks to Longjun’s persistent efforts of interfering with Zhong Jing Yi’s life. Because of what he did, the boy had grown to be afraid of both girls and dirt somehow and had made his own life difficult. He had managed to overcome both in the end but just being afflicted with it in the first place was enough.

At the same time, that incident had also led to a trial of betrayal. After all, that old man who the boy had trusted originally had turned out to be lying all the time.

The betrayal was not harsh enough to be considered the major trial it could have been but at the very least, it could qualify as another minor trial. Together with the hopelessness he had recently faced because of Longjun’s disappearance and the separation from his mother back when he became a disciple of the Yun Zou Sect, it could be said that the minor trials had been quite successful.

Needless to say, this could not compare with the original trial he had crafted that had focused on the major and medium trials to a greater extent but it was still a standard trial that would ensure the crown prince wouldn’t have to suffer. Even if the trial was ended right now, there shouldn’t be any backlash. Naturally, it would be better to add a few more if time permitted it.

Quite some time had gone by since his conversation with Leng Jin Yu and the two dragons. In that time, Zhong Jing Yi should have been able to cover quite some distance but he couldn’t have managed to get back to the Long kingdom’s capital city yet. He should organize some trials for the rest of the way.

A trial of guilt and maybe one of debt should be easy to integrate into the current circumstances. After all, there were some people helping him out of the goodness of their own heart. If they did some more and his gratefulness to these people reached an unprecedented high, then he would be correspondingly devastated if they died saving him or something.

Shun Tao happily whistled to himself and picked up the scroll of fate again, putting it down on the table in front of him and picking up the brush. He turned to the scroll to see what had happened in the last few minutes to find the best way to make the trial happen naturally. The words he saw …

His eyes widened and he put down the brush with a dumbfounded expression. He read over the last sentence a few more times, making sure that he hadn’t misinterpreted any of the words.

No, the meaning stayed the same: Zhong Jing Yi follows the merchant to meet the rumored guest who introduces himself as the disciple Liu Cheng of the Chun Feng Sect.

Liu Cheng … Chun Feng Sect … For Heaven’s sake! Wasn’t that Hong Bao’s senior martial brother?! How come he was there? Don’t tell him that stupid girl was also hanging around somewhere close by! Did she want to annoy him to death?!