Chapter 1212: Shi Hesheng
The Upper Palace was still the same, consisting of seven gardens and one gate, forming eight distinct areas named Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Gen, Xun, and Dui.
Zhen Garden was situated in the east and served as the residence of fourth-rank Jijiu Daoists.
Dui Garden was in the west, where the high-ranking instructors of the academy resided.
The Li Gate was the main entrance, situated in the south. It was connected to the Ming Hall by a long bridge over 900 meters in length.
Kan Garden lay to the north and was the primary area for lectures.
In the northeast was Gen Garden, where the Tianshui Core Tower was located.
In the southeast was Xun Garden, which was connected only to Zhen Garden. It served as the residence for Prospective and Apprentice Jijiu Daoists.
In the northwest was Qian Garden. Besides the exceptionally expansive White Jade Square, it also housed a massive ceremonial hall used for hosting various rites and ceremonies.
In the southwest was Kun Garden, connected only to Dui Garden and facing Xun Garden from afar across the Li Gate. This was where the Palace Master and the upper echelons of the Wanxiang Daoist Palace resided.
Newly promoted second-rank Taiyi Daoists were in no way comparable to fourth-rank Jijiu Daoists. This time, there were only about 20 of them in total. Some, like Xu Jiaorong, had been unable to free themselves in the year of promotion and had to postpone their studies until now.
This was entirely reasonable. If there were too few people, it made sense to wait until the cohort grew larger. After all, it was unseemly for a group of Daoist heavyweights to teach only two or three people each time. That would be wasting their time.
Since there were too few second-rank students, there was no need to allocate a separate area for them. They were simply arranged to stay in Kun Garden, where the Palace Master resided.