At the peak of Mount Sui.

The Old Scholar and the Golden-Armored Divine General sat side-by-side at the top of the stairs.

The Sui Mountain True God, who remained taller than the Old Scholar even when seated, inquired, “Not even a glance at the southern part of Treasure Bottle洲? That’s not like you.”

The Old Scholar sat to the right of the great Sui Mountain deity, as if trying to distance himself further from Eastern Treasure Bottle洲, and shook his head. “No, no, even the hardest heart can only break so many times.”

The Golden-Armored Divine General suddenly gazed into the distance, surprised. “A rare guest is visiting Mount Sui. Do you want to see him, Old Scholar? If you find him annoying, I won’t open the gates.”

The Old Scholar said, “If it’s any of the three from the Confucian Temple – Dong, Han, or Zhu – just tell them the old man personally decreed that they shouldn’t bother the Most Sage Teacher with their squabbles.”

Those three venerable Confucian scholars were none other than the three leaders and deputy leaders of the vast world, Hao Ran, all true paragons of Confucianism, their contributions to the continuation of its doctrines immeasurable and everlasting.

Dong, the Old Master, was the one who compiled and perfected Confucian learning, the leader of the Confucian Temple.

He proposed the “harmony between Heaven and Man,” integrating complex strands of learning. Besides establishing the framework for the Three Academies and Seventy-two Institutes for later generations, he also set up imperial academies in dynasties below the mountains and promoted official schools. He also devised a complete and pure method of cultivation for Confucian scholars in these academies and institutes. He even ensured that later emperors and monarchs, upon encountering natural disasters or realizing faults in their governance, would issue edicts of self-reproach to the people. Every draft and original of these edicts, issued by emperors of all dynasties, were collected by the virtuous scholars of the academies and ultimately stored in the Central Earth Confucian Temple.

Old Master Dong’s greatest feat was almost abolishing all other schools of thought. However, after this was rejected by the Sage of Rites, the Confucian Temple leader retreated, using his own power to assess the gains and losses, the roots and depths of the learning of the various schools of thought. Secular founding monarchs would often establish clan genealogies and rankings for the myriad surnames within their realms. Similarly, Old Master Dong ranked the “Hundred Schools of Hao Ran,” with the strategists and merchants at the bottom, who could only grit their teeth and accept it.

Moreover, Old Master Dong advocated for the unity of rites and laws, embracing all. Therefore, the learning of this Confucian Temple leader had the greatest impact on the legalists and yin-yang philosophers, who held high positions among the Hundred Schools.

Hence, Old Master Dong was hailed as the “Patriarch of Scholars under Heaven.”

Deputy leaders Old Master Han and Old Master Zhu, one streamlined and reshaped the entire Confucian doctrine, further delineating the boundaries between the gentleman and the sage. Old Master Han was naturally closest to the lineage of the Second Sage, and it could even be said that the Second Sage’s rise in the Confucian Temple was half due to Old Master Han’s efforts. The other, Old Master Zhu, broke new ground, raising another peak in learning, evolving “rites” into “reason.”

And the Old Scholar’s branch of learning happened to have major and minor disputes with the three leaders and deputy leaders of the Confucian Temple.

Old Master Dong had long proposed “rectifying the Way without seeking profit, cultivating reason without rushing for results.” Yet, the lineage of the Literary Sage ultimately promoted utilitarian learning, eventually leading to the dispute that moved from behind the scenes to the forefront. Although utilitarian learning was proposed by Cui Wei, the first disciple of the Literary Sage, all branches of Confucianism naturally regarded it as the Old Scholar’s second great orthodox theory after “human nature is inherently evil.” Therefore, the Central Earth Confucian Temple regarded utilitarianism as the fundamental tenet of the Old Scholar’s learning. Furthermore, Cui Wei’s constant suggestion to change “滅” (destroy) to “正” (correct) was seen as more appropriate, which also displeased the lineage of Old Master Zhu. Cui Wei was then questioned by the other side, using the word “evil” to ask him in return, which lineage was trying to create sensational statements…

A student may no longer recognize their teacher as a teacher, but how can a teacher not care about their student?

The Golden-Armored Divine General truly admired the Old Scholar’s audacity. Usually, it was just the two of them at Mount Sui, making wild pronouncements, which was fine. But now, with the Most Sage Teacher sitting right beside them, the Old Scholar still dared to be so irreverent?

Unexpectedly, the old scholar smiled slightly, “I didn’t hear anything.”

Anyway, that scholar had the ability to spout nonsense and not fear being held accountable later, as he had the ability to withstand the censure in the Confucian Temple. Besides, when they argued, it was hard to say who would scold whom.

The Golden-Armored Divine General said helplessly, “It’s not the three Confucian Temple leaders, it’s Mr. Zheng from White Emperor City.”

The Old Scholar laughed heartily, first winking at his friend, probably distrusting that the other party would immediately open the gates, which would make him waste his breath, so the Old Scholar first stretched his neck and found that the gate was indeed open. Only then did he deliberately turn to the Golden-Armored Divine General and say loudly, “Mr. Zheng? How unfamiliar! If the old man is unhappy, I’ll take responsibility and won’t make Brother Huai Xian feel bad. Look, this old Zheng, as a giant of the Demonic Path, dares to meet the Most Sage Teacher. Just based on this courage, how can he not be the number one of the Demonic Path? He’s the number one, and if anyone else sits in that chair, I’ll be the first to object. If it weren’t for the Second Sage stopping me back then, I would have sent a plaque to White Emperor City long ago. Do you know the couplet inscription at the door of Brother Tian Lai’s Dragon Tiger Mountain? How’s it written? So-so, but Brother Tian Lai still hung it up. When I get to Brother Zheng’s White Emperor City, as long as I drink some wine and feel poetic, as long as I unleash eighty percent of my power, I’ll definitely overwhelm the Celestial Master’s Mansion…”

After the Sui Mountain Divine General opened the gate, Zheng Juyun, dressed in a snow-white robe, stepped out from the edge of the boundary, walking directly to the foot of the mountain gate and stopping there. He first bowed to the Most Sage Teacher in greeting, then looked up at the garrulous Old Scholar, who smiled and stood up. Only then did Zheng Juyun snap his fingers, shattering the two miniature landscape restrictions beside his ears.

The City Lord of White Emperor City obviously didn’t want to accept the Old Scholar’s favor.

The Old Scholar, who wasted his effort, was stunned. Damn it, how could Zheng Juyun be so shameless? Next time, he must send White Emperor City the four big characters “Basket of Bad Chess.”

The Golden-Armored Divine General asked, “Are you still seeing him or not?”

The Old Scholar sighed and nodded, reaching out to hold the Sui Mountain Divine General’s shoulder, and together they came to the mountain gate.

Zheng Juyun said, “I’ve always wanted to play a game of chess with each of you. Now, one can wait slowly, and the other? If he can also wait, I can take people to Southern婆娑洲 or 流霞洲. White Emperor City doesn’t have many people, only seventeen, but helping with small tasks is still possible. For example, six of them can use White Emperor City’s unique secret techniques to infiltrate the demon clans in the desolate world, occupying middle-level positions in various military camps. It’s not difficult at all.”

The Old Scholar sat down on the steps. “Forget it, forget it, don’t rub salt into the wound. Whether you go to those two continents or not is up to you.”
It’s certain he’ll go, perhaps White Emperor City has already acted.

Zheng Juzhong’s style is always quite unconventional.

“It seems that both of your disciples, Scholar Wen Sheng, have no turning back.”

Zheng Juzhong sat beside the old scholar, and after a moment of silence, said, “Back then, after the Embroidered Tiger and I settled the chess game in the Rainbow Cloud Realm, the Embroidered Tiger actually left behind a sentence, unknown to the world. He said that his junior brother, Qi Jingchun, was a stronger chess player, so winning against him, Cui Chan, was only winning against one person, not winning against the entire Wen Sheng lineage. That’s why I was so curious back then, and went out of the city to welcome Qi Jingchun, inviting him to a game. Because I wanted to know, who in the world could make someone as proud as the Embroidered Tiger willingly admit inferiority to another.”

The old scholar remained silent.

But Zheng Juzhong said something no one expected, “But I always felt that Cui Chan’s chess skills outside the board were even greater. In the chess game we played that wasn’t widely spread, the final one, with twenty-three vertical and horizontal lines, Cui Chan still lost because the board was too small for both players. Even today, I still believe this. Qi Jingchun’s moves were ultimately sporadic and scattered, while Cui Chan had to make his own moves while also connecting to the existing pieces on the board, ensuring everything linked together. This was incredibly difficult, beyond the imagination of ordinary people.”

The old scholar still didn’t speak.

Zheng Juzhong suddenly asked, “Before Master Dong entered the Wen Temple, he taught and lectured in the countryside. Was that uninvited guest who didn’t think much of the Confucian teachings, just an ordinary mountain fox spirit, or was it one of the manifestations of the Lu Chen Great Dao Heart, a…” (鼷鼠, likely a mouse).

The old scholar said softly, “I’ll help you ask about it later.”

Zheng Juzhong asked, “Old Scholar, can you really not persuade Cui Chan to change his mind?”

The old scholar shook his head, “The disciples are all too excellent, the teacher can’t bear to say anything, and even if he did, it would be useless.”

Zheng Juzhong stood up. This city lord of White Emperor City will soon return to the Soaring Cloud Continent, a secret agreement between him and Cui Chan.

To give White Emperor City a closed-door disciple worthy of inheriting his mantle and the Great Dao, Zheng Juzhong needed to exchange it for the recovery of a lost territory in the Soaring Cloud Continent.

And that direct disciple whom Zheng Juzhong truly wanted to nurture was Gu Can, whom Cui Chan used to test Chen Ping’an’s Dao heart in Book Brief Lake.

That test of the heart, the sharpening of the Dao heart, was both in the disheartened Chen Ping’an and in Gu Can, who refused to admit his mistakes but learned to respect the “rules”.

If Gu Can admitted his mistakes, the Great Li Dynasty or the Treasure Bottle Continent would merely gain another mediocre scholar. But if he stubbornly refused to admit his mistakes yet was willing to correct his actions, then the Vast Expanse would gain a White Emperor City Gu Can, who would make many self-proclaimed clever heretics and demons truly understand what the “devilish paths” in the hearts of the Embroidered Tiger, Cui Chan, and Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City truly were.

Beside the gazebo on Picking Zhizhi Mountain, there was a leaning pine tree with a hundred arm spans, its roots in the ancient cliff crevices, its branches and leaves slanting across the gazebo’s signboard, as if a celestial master had painted eyebrows for the small gazebo. The wind rustled through the pines, making the mountain even more secluded. Sunlight filtered through the ancient pine branches and leaves, scattering on the ground, the fine and fragmented gold moving with the wind, creating a silent harmony. There was also a white-robed youth and a green-robed maiden sitting at either end of the cliffside railing, like a pair of immortal lovers descended from the heavens.

Cui Dongshan curled up his body, leaning his head against a gazebo pillar. He asked Chun Qing for another pot of the world-renowned Green God Mountain wine, an indispensable part of the Green God Banquet in Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven. Chun Qing had brought a lot of wine with her on this trip, hundreds of jars of various sizes stored within her spatial treasure. Her mountain lord master had said that when traveling, if she met someone congenial, whether they were martial artists from the mountain or merchants from the city, she shouldn’t be stingy with her wine. Chun Qing gently tossed a pot to the eccentric young master Cui, who twisted his neck, used his head to support the wine pot, then tilted his head, causing the wine pot to fall forward, catching it with his hand.

Chun Qing was not old, but she had seen much. However, she had never seen anyone like Cui Dongshan.

Cui Dongshan removed the mud seal, sniffed, and stretched his neck to look outside the cliff, clicking his tongue. “Few people in the human world stand on level ground to see me, Dongshan, among the azure clouds.”

Chun Qing said, “Young Master Cui is already an immortal, don’t gild the lily.”

Cui Dongshan turned his head and smiled, “Miss Chun Qing, do you know how to play chess? Go or xiangqi, either one.” Chun Qing shook her head, “I know how to play, but I’m not very interested. I’m not very good at it. Jiang Taigong often pulls Xu Bai to play chess, and Mr. Wei doesn’t interrupt the games, but he stands on Xu Bai’s side, hoping Xu Bai wins, and likes to ask Xu Xian if this move is clever, if that one is amazing. How would I know? So it’s a bit annoying. Later on, as soon as Mr. Wei turned his head, I would immediately nod and say, ‘Yes, yes, yes, amazing, amazing, amazing.’ I thought Mr. Wei would stop when he saw how perfunctory I was, but in the end, it didn’t work.”

Cui Dongshan sighed, “Miss Chun Qing, you still suffered from not treating people with enough sincerity. As long as you come to Fallen Phoenix Mountain as a guest, you should first go to the Riding Dragon Lane shop for a few days and learn the art of speech from an old immortal named Jia. In less than ten days, you will definitely benefit greatly and improve your skills, becoming invincible from then on.”

Chun Qing said, “Forget it, I don’t have any interest in Fallen Phoenix Mountain or Piyi Mountain. Young Master Cui, if you can teach me a method that produces immediate results, I’ll consider whether or not to go.”

Cui Dongshan immediately smiled and said, “What’s so difficult about that? I’ll teach you a method that’s guaranteed to work. For example, next time Old Man Wei bothers you again, first make your expression serious, deliberately look at the chess game as if in deep thought, and after a moment, raise your head and tell Old Man Wei in a serious tone, that it’s not right to say that Xu Bai is the ‘Young Jiang Taigong’, it should be changed to ‘Old Ancestor Jiang is praised as the Old Xu Xian’ by the mountain.”

Chun Qing asked doubtfully, “Will it really work?”

Cui Dongshan said, “Then let’s make a bet. If it works, you’ll give me a hundred jars of Green God Mountain immortal wine. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll owe you a hundred jars of Fallen Phoenix Mountain’s most famous wine? You can go to Riding Dragon Lane to get it then.”
Chun Qing pondered. He had a total of over seven hundred jars of liquor. Winning or losing a hundred jars wouldn’t make much of a difference, whether the quantity increased or decreased. The problem was, Chun Qing couldn’t understand why Cui Dongshan kept urging him to go to Luopo Mountain and become an honored guest or retainer. Did Luopo Mountain even need him? Chun Qing didn’t think so. And having witnessed Cui Dongshan’s eccentric behavior firsthand, and hearing about the Night Parade held at Piyun Mountain, Chun Qing felt that even if he did go to Luopo Mountain, he probably wouldn’t adapt well.

Cui Dongshan sat on the railing, swinging his legs, humming an anonymous “Dragon and Serpent Song”: “A dragon desires to soar, five serpents assist. The dragon has ascended the clouds, finding its abode. Four serpents follow, receiving rain and dew, each entering its own dwelling. One serpent alone grieves, withering and dying in the wild.”

Chun Qing asked, “Is that referring to the true dragon of the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven?”

Cui Dongshan didn’t explain, but instead began muttering: “With Bai’s poems and Su’s lyrics, the radiance shines eternally. Casting a myriad of images, it is but a single literary heart.”

Chun Qing suddenly said, “When Mr. Qi was younger, was his temper… not very good?”

Cui Dongshan thought for a moment, “Don’t even mention when he was young, his temper has never been good since he was a kid. He argued with Cui Chan a lot, and when he couldn’t win, he would complain to the Old Scholar. He loved to fight with Zuo You the most, but he never won a single fight. Sometimes Zuo You couldn’t bear to beat him anymore, but the bruised and swollen teenager would still provoke Zuo You. Cui Chan would hold Zuo You back, while he was being dragged away by the big oaf, he would still try to kick Zuo You a few times. If I were Zuo You, I wouldn’t be able to stand it either.”

Chun Qing was filled with emotion.

Cui Dongshan continued to ramble nonsensically.

In the depths of winter, the lotus pond dried up, the withered leaves were exhausted, and the broken branches lay scattered. The covering of rain was no longer held. So, the fish scattered.

Thunder rumbled in the middle of the night, the sky spun like a wheel. The poor old man had trouble sleeping, and his young child started to cry in fright. Sighs and cries arose together.

The path of the world is winding, the bird path is already flat, the dragon palace has no water. Snow falls, making clothing even thinner, the plum blossoms outside the door are ignored, a white-haired old man leans on his staff, seeing a place beyond words, vaguely wondering if he is the flower, he is the snow, and the snow and flower are both him.

Better to just fall asleep together…

In the central part of Tongye Continent, the Daquan Dynasty, Peach Leaf Ferry.

On the ferry, She Yue still brewed tea for guests, but the person drinking tea was now joined by Fei Ran, the head of the Hundred Swords Immortals of Tuoyue Mountain.

She Yue had never been interested in fighting and killing. The two battles she had fought were senseless and unreasonable, and both times the other party had been stubbornly entangled. Two bastards, one surnamed Jiang and one surnamed Chen, both liked to say strange things that stabbed people in the heart. No wonder they could become good brothers. Jiang Shangzhen was a smiling tiger full of bad intentions, and Chen Pingan was someone She Yue never wanted to see again in her life. He was young but cunning. If his realm was comparable to Jiang Shangzhen, the young Hidden Official would probably be even more ruthless.

But Fei Ran was the only one among the many military officers who acted similarly to She Yue. He gained Luhua Island and a Fortune Grotto on the sea, and when he arrived in Tongye Continent, Fei Ran had only taken the Mirage City into his possession. After passing the Sword Qi Great Wall, Fei Ran seemed to have not fought, killed, or died from the beginning to the end. So, she thought Fei Ran was a kindred spirit. Another “so,” the round-faced girl grabbed a large handful of tea leaves from the long-necked tin tea caddy.

After a while, seeing that the tea leaves were probably ripe, She Yue handed Fei Ran a cup of tea. Fei Ran took it and took a sip. He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the round-faced cotton-padded girl. She blinked her eyes, looking expectant, and asked, “Does the taste of the tea seem better?”

Fei Ran helplessly said, “I guess so. It’s indeed absurd for tea not to be bitter.”

She Yue was a little happy and eager to try, “My tea brewing skills are actually quite average, but my cooking is really good. This Peach Leaf Ferry has local ingredients. I can catch a few fat mandarin fish, steamed, braised, or stewed in a pot. The kitchen on the boat has all the seasonings. How about you and Mr. Zhou try some? Do you want rice? I have a few hundred pounds of immortal rice in my spatial artifact, and I’m worried I won’t be able to finish it.”

Zhou Mi smiled and nodded, “Okay, it must be better than drinking plain water and eating tea leaves.”

She Yue was a little annoyed, “It was fine when Mr. Zhou grabbed me into his sleeve, borrowing some moonlight essence to disguise himself and go to the moon palace, but that was because my skills were inferior. There’s nothing to say. But brewing and drinking tea, is that such a big deal that Mr. Zhou has to be so calculating?”

Zhou Mi smiled, “Alright, alright, I apologize to Miss She Yue for the tea matter. Steamed mandarin fish tastes better, and please cook a pot of rice for Fei Ran and me. Actually, stinky mandarin fish has a special flavor, but not today. I’ll teach you later.”

She Yue nodded and busied herself, going to the bow of the boat to find a few mandarin fish that pecked at peach blossoms near the water. Brewing tea was too tiring and unpopular.

Fei Ran admired this girl’s heart, which was bigger than the sky. Was she really uninterested in everything except eating, drinking, and playing?

Previously, when She Yue was outside the Demon Suppressing Tower in Tongye Continent, she was detained in Zhou Mi’s sleeve, and her fate was unknown. In the end, it turned out that only Fei Ran, an outsider, was worried, while She Yue herself didn’t take it seriously at all? Such a wonderful woman, who knows who will be lucky enough to marry her in the future.

As She Yue busied herself, Fei Ran hesitated to speak. He had too many questions to ask, but he didn’t know where to start. Why was his senior brother, Qie Yun, willing to die? In the Wildlands, how much did great demons cherish their lives!

Before Qie Yun rushed to the Fuyu Continent battlefield, that conversation with Fei Ran turned out to be his last words.

Zhou Mi took out a seal from his sleeve and threw it to Fei Ran, smiling, “I’ll give it to you.”

Fei Ran took it, and there was nothing mysterious about it.

The bookworm Zhou Mi, who called himself an “old bookworm” in the Wildlands, had a favorite personal collection seal with many seal characters on the edge: “Hand-accumulated books of three million volumes, I amuse myself in the cold winter. In the future, if I gorge on divine immortal words, I will not have lived this life in vain as a bookworm.” The inscription read “Old Bookworm, hungry and unfed.”

But Zhou Mi never easily took out this seal to stamp books.

Fei Ran had studied with Zhou Mi for many years and had seen the seal twice. The material of the seal was not a natural treasure. Leaving aside the owner’s identity and the carvings, if you only consider the price of the seal material, it was probably not even as good as the collection seal of an ordinary wealthy family.

And the seal in Fei Ran’s hand right now was this very thing.

Zhou Mi joked, “The material of the seal is a stone I casually picked up at the foot of a mountain on my way away from home. Compared to Bai Ye giving a sword, this thing is indeed a bit of a small gift.”

Fei Ran’s heart tensed, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Fei Ran asked, “Did Mr. Zhou ever think about winning this war?!”
Zhou Mi smiled and asked, “I truly didn’t expect Fei Ran to ask this question first.”

Even now, Fei Ran still couldn’t understand why the Immortal Sword Tai Bai had been divided into four, and why Bai Ye was willing to give one of those opportunities to him, a foreign demon from the desolate wilderness. Fei Ran believed he had no connection to Bai Ye, having never met him before. Even including his master’s lineage from his homeland, there was still no connection to that most esteemed individual in the human world. His master and his master’s disciple, Cutting Rhyme, had never been to the Great Balance World, and Bai Ye had never set foot on the Sword Qi Great Wall. In fact, Bai Ye had never even stepped foot on Upside-down Mountain in his life.

Zhou Mi enlightened Fei Ran, saying, “Bai Ye unleashed that final sword as a cultivator of the fourteenth realm, causing great chaos. He may have slightly grasped some heavenly secrets, perhaps glimpsing a scene from the river of time, a future landing point. Thus, he knew that you held an extremely important position in my heart.”

Fei Ran gently placed the seal on the desk beside him and said, “Among your direct disciples, Master Zhou, there are many sword cultivators.”

Zhou Mi was discerning in accepting disciples and willing to nurture them carefully. Therefore, among his direct disciples, the eldest, Shou Chen, Cai Ying, Tong Xuan, Tong Yin, Yu Zao, and Jia Shen Account’s Liu Bai, were all sword cultivators, and all were included in the Hundred Sword Immortals of Supporting Moon Mountain.

Only his newly accepted close disciple, who had his wooden clogs renamed Zhou Qinggao, was not a sword cultivator.

Zhou Mi laughed and said, “Since ancient times, Confucian scholars of the Great Balance World have always been wary of lending their books to others. Some scholarly families often included admonishments at the beginning and end of their family’s collection, warning their descendants that they should rather give away wealth than lend books. Some even wrote frightening words in their family rules, stating, ‘Selling or lending books is unfilial.'”

Fei Ran said, “Please, Master Zhou, just speak plainly.”

Zhou Mi shook his head, brought his two fingers together, and gently stroked, creating a landscape painting that resembled a letter.

Outer Battlefield.

Within a vortex formed by countless stars, a snow-white pillar of light appeared, like the most refined sword light in the universe, heading straight for the middle-aged scholar protecting the entire Great Balance World.

The painting suspended between Zhou Mi and Fei Ran was only touched by ripples of some true meaning of the Dao before shattering with a bang.

Fei Ran’s face turned ashen.

Because in the depths of his heart, Fei Ran most admired the Sage of Rites of the Great Balance World! Fei Ran had never mentioned a single word about this to his elder brother, Cutting Rhyme.

Zhou Mi’s smile remained unchanged, helping Fei Ran express his innermost thoughts: “The heavens have order, the human world has laws, and living beings have their fate. Everything follows its own path, coexisting peacefully. Everything in harmony! The actions of the Sage of Rites are certainly worthy of admiration. In fact, in this matter, I was almost exactly like you, admiring the Sage of Rites the most. Almost.”

Since Zhou Mi had seen through him, Fei Ran no longer concealed his feelings and said in a deep voice, “In my eyes, the Sage of Rites is the most admirable of all the Sages of the Three Teachings. Because he hopes that all things in the world, all sentient beings, can survive in the Great Balance World with the least cost possible, multiply and thrive, pursue freedom, cultivate and ascend, gain more freedom, and within the rules, satisfy a moderate degree of bestiality, human nature gradually becomes pure, and ultimately approaches divinity, yet is not divinity. Sentient beings are still emotional beings. The lights of the human world slowly move upward, gradually ascend, the strong protect the weak, lead the weak, the Sage of Rites hopes that one day, he can step out of the existing ‘one’ that neither increases nor decreases.”

Finally, Fei Ran looked directly at Zhou Mi and said, “I never thought that you, Zhou Mi, could do better than the Sage of Rites.”

Zhou Mi smiled and asked, “Since it’s destined to be no better, why not change paths and go higher? Or simply break it all down and rebuild from scratch, wouldn’t that be more complete? A dull knife hacking away for ten thousand years, people dying for no reason, inexplicable resentment, wronged souls unable to find release, and countless unknowable cultivators, still giving rise to endless and unslayable extra-territorial demons. These are just things the world doesn’t know about. Actually, compared to a clean and swift execution, more people die, and there’s more trouble.”

Zhou Mi raised a hand and made a chopping motion, “A swift cut to untangle the mess, the mess is all broken, and the world returns to clarity.”

Fei Ran gritted his teeth and said, “Legend has it that the Most Holy Teacher believed that if everyone in the world was the same, it would be the greatest selfishness.”

Zhou Mi retracted his hand. “Then use your abilities to convince me. I can agree to one thing here now. Fei Ran can be both the new Sage of Rites and the new Bai Ze, treating the humans of the Great Balance World and the demons of the desolate wilderness equally. Because in the future, what the rules of heaven and earth will become, you, Fei Ran, will have great power. Apart from a general framework that I have decided on, all other veins and details will be decided by you, Fei Ran, and I will never interfere.”

Don’t you, Fei Ran, sincerely admire the Sage of Rites? Then why not seize this readily available opportunity and become one yourself?

Fei Ran, even at the cost of his life, had to speak a long-accumulated sentence from his heart, “I simply cannot trust a Zhou Mi who ‘asks the woodcutter for directions on the road’!”

Zhou Mi smiled knowingly, “Just wait and see.”

In ancient times, the Sage of Rites personally determined celestial phenomena, measured the earth, established five standards, observed the sky and gave instructions on the seasons, cast tripods to establish writing, and created the calendar, which is said to be the beginning of human civilization.

The Sage of Rites, whom Bai Ze respectfully called “Little Master,” first established traceable and precedented units of measurement, measuring length, calculating size, measuring weight. In addition, it was also necessary to determine the scale of time, survey the four directions of heaven and earth, and use the “handful” method to measure the mountains, seas, and the river of time, calculate the amount of spiritual energy in the world, and establish the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the hours, the twelve months, and the twenty-four solar terms.

Measuring length, without losing a hair’s breadth. Naming the Five Powers, distributing the five instruments to five people, three of whom were the founding ancestors of the Yin-Yang School, the Diviner School, and the Geographer School among the Hundred Schools of Thought. Personally casting the first copper coin and snowflake coin of the human world. Heaven forms images, earth forms shapes, humans form destiny, heaven, earth, and humans each abide by their fate, each follow their path, and the three talents gather together, and the Dao and the law harmonize. Size, length, weight, height, time, spiritual energy, these originally ethereal words, in the hands of the Sage of Rites, were all transformed into tangible objects by the manifestation of the Great Dao.

Therefore, within the Confucian Temple, the Sage of Rites is also jokingly called the Great Accountant, and one of the sages who accompanies the sacrifice is known as the Little Accountant, who earns real money, is proficient in this way, and does not let merchants monopolize this area.
Zhou Mi traveled extensively through the desolate wilderness, engaging in Daoist discussions with the Great Ancestor of the wilderness at Mount Tuoyue for a millennium. Both sides extrapolated countless possibilities, among which one of Zhou Mi’s pursuits was nothing less than a cataclysmic upheaval, a world plunged into chaos, where Yin and Yang lost their bearings, knowledge and awareness vanished, and the Dao had no foundation. Only then would true propriety and music collapse, and the base pottery resound like thunder. Ultimately, Zhou Mi would re-establish the celestial phenomena and rituals, re-create the calendrical cycle to determine the movement of sun and moon. Under such crushing force of the Great Dao, encompassing all things, the so-called fluctuations of human hearts, the so-called transformations of the sea into mulberry fields, were all insignificant.

After the three of them finished the rice served with braised mandarin fish, Zhou Mi put down his chopsticks and suddenly smiled inexplicably, “He who has been dormant for long will surely soar high. He who pioneers will surely perish early.”

When the azure-robed Confucian scholar on Treasure Bottle Continent, possessing only a sliver of spiritual light, laughingly asked, “Where is Jia Sheng?”

Zhou Mi stood up and replied with a smile, “Zhou Mi is here.”

Zhou Mi said to himself, “Indeed, something must be done to teach the scholars of the Vast Land what is truly…”

Halfway through his sentence, Zhou Mi stood up, smiling as he looked towards Feiran and Sheyue.

Sheyue said, “To know how earth-shattering and world-overturning a battle between immortals of the fourteenth realm truly is?”

Feiran glanced at the seal beside him and whispered, “It is that opening a book brings benefit.”

The myriad schools of thought of the Three Teachings, a collection of three million volumes.

The great demon Bai Ying, enthroned on Mount Fuyao, and the “Lu Fayan,” the rhyming instructor of the desolate wilderness, simultaneously shrunk the mountains and rivers, arriving at a Taoye Ferry in Tongye Continent, standing upon the water.

Zhou Mi stepped out, first merging with the skeletal great demon Bai Ying, then walking towards the azure-robed old man with a bamboo flute hanging from his waist. The fusion of these three was the true “Jia Sheng,” the true Literary Sea Zhou Mi.

Long ago in the Vast Land, there was a Confucian scholar of extraordinary talent, who, as a child, read books several lines at a time, never forgetting what he had read. He neglected sleep and meals, reading and copying books day and night, to the point of becoming emaciated. After recovering from a severe illness, he began to pursue the path of cultivation, solely to have a longer lifespan to read more books. Insisting on using the finite to pursue the infinite, the Confucian scholar began to build a mountain of books in his heart. When cultivating and ascending, he had no mentor, and no true immortal manual at hand. Relying solely on the teachings of the Three Teachings and the Hundred Schools stored in his heart, he extracted the essence from the Vast Land’s sea of books, piecing together fragments and phrases to create a cultivation manual. From the Qi Refining Realm, he ascended to the Jade Purity Realm in a single leap. Subsequently, he manifested an boundless sea of learning in his heart, and in the form of his Yin Spirit’s distant travels, he continuously immersed his mind within, exhausting the eight poles, his mind traveling ten thousand ren. In his subsequent long years of traveling, seeking knowledge, and cultivating, he continued to amass books, pursuing the fundamental principles of the Hundred Schools, constantly expanding the world within his sea of learning. He attained the Jade Purity Realm through Confucian scholarship, yet reached the Immortal Realm using the Daoist secret method of “the void as a furnace, the sun and moon as candles,” returning to simplicity. He then turned to studying the sixteen contemplations of Buddhism, ultimately choosing the White Bone Contemplation to ascend to the Ascension Realm, and finally merged his diverse knowledge to reach the fourteenth realm, secretly devouring the rhyming instructor.

Now, the desolate wilderness has added several new throne holders. After the battle in Mount Fuyao, few of the old throne holders remain.

The gray-robed old man, the Great Ancestor of Mount Tuoyue, is constantly engaged in a standoff with Mount Jiaolong, endlessly battling.

The sword cultivator Xiao Xun, who arbitrarily elevated the throne to the second-highest position, and the Literary Sea Zhou Mi, who did not mind this matter at all, and the swordsman Liu Cha.

Yang Zhi has gone to the sea area of Southern Poso Continent, aiming at the Sea Suppression Tower that stands in the center of the continent. As for the pure Confucian scholar Chen Chun’an, who shoulders the sun and moon, he will be dealt with by Liu Cha.

Fei Fei remains on the battlefield between Treasure Bottle Continent and Tongye Continent.

The Bull Saber, freed from its golden armor, is seated in Golden Armor Continent.

The great demon Wuyue, and the one holding a long spear, using the corpse of a high-ranking deity as his throne, are both on the Southern Poso Continent battlefield.

And the one responsible for targeting Jade Decree Sect and Jiang Shangzhen, the great demon Yuan Shou, is the “little brother of the Moving Mountain Old Ancestor of Mount Zhengyang” that Cui Dongshan and Chun Qing mentioned on Mount Caizhi.

In addition, Lotus Hermit, Huang Luan, Yao Jia, Qieyun, Bai Ying, and the fourteenth realm “Lu Fayan” of the desolate wilderness, have all been “merged” by Zhou Mi.

Among them, there is also a human of the Ascension Realm in Golden Armor Continent, Wan Yan Lao Jing.

It should be known that Bai Ying, Zhou Mi’s Yang Spirit’s external manifestation, has refined countless demon cultivator puppets in the desolate wilderness for thousands of years.

An old bookworm who is always hungry? Whether it is the Literary Sea Zhou Mi or the Vast Land’s Jia Sheng, eating again and again, he is indeed terrifyingly hungry.

Zhou Mi left.

Sheyue put down her chopsticks on the small table, sat cross-legged, and exhaled a long breath.

Feiran smiled, “Are you also afraid?”

Sheyue rolled her eyes, “I’m not stupid. Pretending not to be afraid is fine, but truly not being afraid is impossible.”

Jiang Shangzhen, Chen Pingan, and that Teacher Zhou, scholars are all the same, all terrifying.

Feiran really couldn’t refute that.

Sheyue suddenly asked, “Immortal rice, braised mandarin fish, fish soup mixed with rice, how was the taste?”

Feiran said helplessly, “Not bad.”

He simply had no mood to eat or drink soup just now.

Just seeing his mentor with his own eyes, what should Feiran think? How could he still hate Zhou Mi? His teacher is already Zhou Mi. Moreover, even his senior brother Qieyun is Zhou Mi. In fact, if the overall situation is settled in the future, Zhou Mi can completely return a teacher and a senior brother to Feiran. But Feiran is not even sure who the future Feiran will be. Only at this moment did Feiran somewhat understand the tragedy of that Li Zhen.

Sheyue was a little regretful, “At least you’ve read some books, but you don’t even have a flowery literary compliment.”

Feiran lay on the bow of the boat, as if his life had never been so devoid of spirit, so listless and powerless.

Sheyue said, “Don’t think too much, eat your fill and walk far.”

Feiran said, “I envy you.”

Feiran sat up and put on the mask that he was somewhat used to wearing. Sheyue only glanced at it and roared, “Spit out the tea, rice, and fish soup!”

Feiran planned to rise into the air on the wind to see that great battle.

A battle that is very likely to be a one-on-one fight between fourteenth realm… powerhouses.

In an instant, Feiran and Sheyue tensed up almost simultaneously, not only because Zhou Mi had returned and was standing beside Feiran, but also because on the other side of the bow, there was also an extremely unfamiliar azure-robed scholar.

Then the two scholars each took Feiran and Sheyue into their sleeves.

Zhou Mi smiled, “Stealing in front of me without asking, you will be revived even if you die.”
The scholar in azure robes sighed, “He devoured countless texts, yet gleaned only falsehoods. He fancied himself the epitome of refinement, a sage within and a king without. Alas, excessive cleverness proves a bane!”

Zhou Mi proposed, “You cannot bear to relinquish half of Treasure Bottle Continent, and I am loath to part with even half of Tung Leaf Continent. Why not exchange these burdens for a different realm altogether?”

In a blink, heaven and earth transformed, and the two found themselves adrift within an immeasurable ocean of books.

Yet, unexpectedly, in the next instant, they were once more at the bow and stern of their vessel.