Chapter Fifty: Do I Look Like Someone Who Can Cultivate Confucianism and Daoism?
That shout exploded through the entire dining hall like a bomb!
“Deriving twelve characters all at once—unbelievable, simply unbelievable!”
“Indeed! Even Master Chu, the great Confucian scholar, only ever derived thirty-two characters in his lifetime. His greatest achievement was just three characters at once!”
“Who could have done this?”
“Who else could it be? It must be Master Chu! Who else possesses such profound knowledge?”
“No, if it were him, given his stature, it would surely cause an even greater resonance with Heaven and Earth. But just now, I saw no strange phenomena outside the window!”
“Could it be one of our academy’s students? Or perhaps one of the teachers? Regardless, our Egret Academy has gained yet another Confucian prodigy!”
For a moment, everyone whispered excitedly, their voices buzzing through the dining hall. Who still cared about Chen Qishan being beaten or the academy supervisor being insulted?
Before the words of a sage, all other matters within the academy are trivial!
At this moment, Zhou Wenfeng, after a brief shock and bewilderment, suddenly leaped up!
Ignoring the dignity of the academy supervisor, he slapped his thigh and laughed heartily, “It’s him, it must be him! Haha, I never doubted him!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a student stepped forward and said, “Congratulations, Academy Supervisor! I’m sure it’s Senior Brother Chen Ran! At only twenty years old, he has already reached the seventh grade in Confucian practice. No one else here has such talent! These past days, he has been diligently meditating daily in the library. No one else has been deriving the sage’s words. If it’s not him, then who else?”
The others immediately showed signs of realization and respectfully saluted Zhou Wenfeng.
“Congratulations, Academy Supervisor, on acquiring such an outstanding disciple!”
Even the bloodied Chen Qishan hurriedly bowed deeply!
Zhou Wenfeng laughed proudly, his eyes shining as if the one who derived the sage’s words was himself.
Indeed, if his own disciple had derived the sage’s words, it would confirm his “teaching by example,” and his own cultivation might rise sharply!
More importantly, since his direct disciple had derived the sage’s words, by Confucian tradition, as the mentor, he would automatically gain the title of “Great Sage”!
The Great Sage title does not equate to cultivation level, but it ranks just below the Grand Confucian Scholar!
Then, with a flourish of his wide sleeves, he cast a cold glance at Xue Yuan.
“Prince, please wait here! Today, you struck my disciple and insulted a Grand Confucian Scholar. Soon, I shall teach you what respect and instruction truly mean!”
Indeed, earlier he dared not lay a finger on this foolish prince because he was only an ordinary Confucian cultivator.
But if he ascended to “Great Sage,” then aside from the emperor, crown prince, empress dowager, and a few others, he would have the authority to “educate” anyone in the realm!
In other words, theoretically, he could even personally give Xue Yuan a few lashes, enough to keep him bedridden for days!
However, before that, he needed to confirm whether the sage’s words were indeed derived by his promising disciple.
Just as he prepared to head to the library, suddenly outside the window, clouds swirled and the ginkgo leaves rustled!
Then a sharp shout rang out!
“Who here has derived the sage’s words?”
Accompanying the shout, the dining hall window shattered into fragments, and a shadow swiftly entered. When everyone regained their composure, an elderly figure with white hair and a youthful face stood in the center of the hall. His wide sleeves fluttered as if riding the wind!
This was none other than Grand Confucian Scholar Chu Yanxiu!
The crowd dared not be negligent and bowed in unison, “Greetings, Grand Scholar Chu!”
But Chu Yanxiu did not even glance at them, fixing his gaze directly on Xue Yuan. His old eyes narrowed sharply.
“Again it’s him?!”
Zhou Wenfeng sensed something amiss and hurried forward, “Director, no one here has derived the sage’s words. It was in the library where Chen Ran today—”
Chu Yanxiu turned to look at Zhou Wenfeng, a disdainful smile curling his lips.
“Director Zhou, do you truly believe those words came from your prized disciple?”
Zhou Wenfeng’s face suddenly changed. “I—I was only speculating!”
“No need to speculate!” Chu Yanxiu raised his hand and pointed at Xue Yuan. “The one who derived the eight-character sage’s words is this fool!”
“What?!” Zhou Wenfeng felt an icy chill all over, as if a fire meant to illuminate him was suddenly buried under an avalanche!
The others were equally stunned!
Chen Qishan, who was still bleeding from his head, collapsed to the ground again.
Qi Yuansheng’s mouth, now filled with bristly beard, hung open like a dumb bear.
No one could have imagined that the one who derived the sage’s words was this fool!
And yet, he had been cursing just moments ago, with insults more vile than most could imagine!
Could a sage also curse?
…
Meanwhile, Xue Yuan stood motionless for a long time.
He felt a strange energy suddenly pour into him from above, like the saying goes... an enlightening shower upon the head!
At that moment, he felt himself soaring. The wind howled past his ears, below him stretched endless mountains, seas, rivers, and lakes; above him seemed to be the bustling human world. In an instant, the vast universe, the grandeur of rivers, the myriad forms of humanity, temples, and martial realms flashed before him.
Looking up, he saw a towering mountain made entirely of countless books.
“A mountain of books?”
This mountain had nine white jade stone staircases, each divided into nine platforms, each platform a resting point.
Beyond each platform, one could climb the next staircase, until reaching the ninth platform, where ethereal white clouds floated, and beyond that, nothing could be seen.
Looking down, Xue Yuan realized he stood on the third platform from the bottom.
“What does this mean?”
He couldn’t understand where he was or what was happening.
Just then, a humming sound buzzed in his ears!
It made him shudder suddenly, his body light and free, an indescribable bliss flowing through him.
In a flash, the scene of the dining hall reappeared before his eyes.
Only now, everything seemed far clearer than before!
Even a tiny spider the size of a pinky finger, a dozen yards away in a corner, could be seen in exquisite detail—down to the fine hairs on its legs!
Xue Yuan remained utterly bewildered!
“???”
Mom, my eyes have developed again!
But soon he snapped back to reality.
“Could it be… I’ve gained cultivation?”
“Wait, weren’t they just talking about deriving the sage’s words? Could those twelve characters I just spoke be the sage’s words?”
Suddenly, it dawned on him!
“To repay evil with virtue, how then to repay virtue? There was also a phrase about repaying evil with righteousness and repaying virtue with virtue. I think I saw those phrases somewhere, and they’ve been buried in my subconscious, so they just slipped out!”
“Damn it! Could it be that just by casually uttering those twelve characters, I’ve suddenly entered the Confucian path?”
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
Xue Yuan fumed. He knew that to reach the Grand Confucian Scholar realm, one must possess a heart willing to sacrifice oneself for the people. No matter how capable, without that, one could never truly ascend.
But his greatest dream in this life was only to live freely and indulge in luxury as a prince!
Besides, what about his Xuanwu True Qi? Would it still be usable?
“Damn it, I’m just a brawny, hot-tempered brute. How do I look like a Confucian scholar?”
Xue Yuan frowned, furious.
Meanwhile, Chu Yanxiu observed this so-called “fool” who had derived the sage’s words and instantly gained a seventh-grade Confucian realm, something many took decades to achieve, yet remained utterly calm and unperturbed.
He could not help but think—what a young man utterly free of ego and worldly attachments!