To the people of Tao County, the past few days had been more dreamlike than all the decades of their lives before.
First, rain had fallen from a clear sky.
Then came a Heaven and Earth Phenomenon.
Then, in the blink of an eye, His Majesty the Emperor, so distant he had seemed almost unreal, had actually come to South Mountain.
And even more unbelievable was that... Tao County had truly produced a Sage.
No one knew what exactly had happened on South Mountain.
The imposing Imperial Guards had cut off all attempts at prying.
All people knew was that, after a conversation whose details remained unknown, countless swift horses had raced down from South Mountain carrying command flags, galloping in all directions.
Then news spread throughout the little city that Mr. Lin intended to open a lecture hall on South Mountain.
And that was only the beginning.
The news was like a stone cast into Still Lake on this far-from-ordinary day, sending endless ripples spreading outward.
Very soon, even more news began pouring ceaselessly into the tiny county town.
"The Imperial Guards have set up camp at the foot of South Mountain."
"His Majesty the Emperor didn't return to the city. He actually stayed at the foot of the mountain."
"Not only that. I heard several court ministers who accompanied him are waiting there as well, saying they want to be the first batch of students."
"Students? Could it be that Mr. Lin... actually dared to take His Majesty as a disciple?" Someone was plainly doubtful, though he had never seen the ruler himself.
"What's impossible about that? He's a Sage..." someone said admiringly.
"But... can a Sage really be so young?"
Within tiny Tao County, such talk after tea and meals was as plentiful as drifting snow.
Even now, there were still people who dared not believe everything before their eyes.
Until the Imperial Guards had led troops into the city and openly hauled away vast quantities of tables, chairs, and benches.
Until, at the foot of South Mountain, military camps truly began rising one after another.
"Good thing I was prepared. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to hold those people down."
Lishan Martial Arts School.
Having switched his consciousness back to his true body, Lin Tuo rubbed his face, rose to his feet, and glanced at the Sandbox continent, unable to stop himself from muttering.
Thinking back to what had just happened, he had truly been a little nervous.
Though he had laid several layers of groundwork beforehand, proving himself before the ruler and his ministers was not something he could settle merely by showing his face.
After all, those people were not fools.
After he had the Imperial Guards deliver the message, the young emperor had brought several important accompanying ministers up the mountain to pay him a visit. Lin Tuo could only put on airs and hold a discussion with them.
Along the way, he used the materials he had prepared to give them a lesson, displaying some genuine learning and ability.
Lin Tuo had even made up his mind that if they still remained unconvinced, or could not understand, he would stage another Heaven and Earth Phenomenon.
Fortunately, none of those backup measures ended up being necessary.
Emperor Chi and those ministers were far cleverer than he had imagined. Even though Lin Tuo had shown only the tip of the iceberg, most of them had not fully understood it.
But that did not prevent them from recognizing the value of that knowledge.
"To learn a new field of knowledge, one must have a sufficiently clever mind. I hope they can quickly find enough smart people. Well, or at the very least, enough people to record it all."
Lin Tuo's plan was simple: use the lingering might of a Celestial to establish a lecture hall and have the Chi Kingdom Ruler send enough talented people with the capacity to learn.
Then he would pass that knowledge on to them.
In this way, he would advance the development of human society within the Sandbox.
It might not succeed, but it was worth trying.
"I only hope this generation's ruler proves capable. Given the Chi Kingdom's current state, the safest approach is still reform from the top down."
The facts proved that this generation's ruler was even more capable than Lin Tuo had expected.
And even more earnest.
Over the next two days, Tao County did not have a single moment of peace.
Perhaps determined to drain this Sage dry of everything he knew, with Lin Tuo's tacit approval, the Chi Kingdom Ruler swept his hand and immediately ordered the academy expanded.
The whole of Tao County, and even the entire prefectural city, was shaken.
In only two days, a stretch of flat ground had been cleared downhill from the dilapidated academy on South Mountain. Several thousand tables and chairs were transported there and arranged in neat rows, a magnificent sight.
At a glance, the seats alone could accommodate at least a thousand people listening at once.
At the same time, carriages and horses streamed in from all corners of the country.
They carried countless scholars who had rushed in from across the land.
Among them were Capital students and Students, summoned from the Capital without pause for carriages or rest, traveling day and night, as well as renowned scholars from every school of thought.
There were also students who, upon hearing that a Sage would expound the Way, paid their own travel expenses and hurried over from every prefectural city.
Some came alone on swift horses, while others arrived in groups.
No one was willing to miss the opportunity to hear a Sage expound the Way. Whether or not they could learn anything, merely taking part in this event was already a glory worthy of remembering for a lifetime.
For the people of Tao County, sitting beside tea house windows and watching students arrive from all across the land became an especially fascinating pastime:
"Could that be the Seven Sages of Mingzhou?"
"The Great Scholar of Dongliang!"
"The Top Scholar of Nanjiang!"
"Even the Little Poetry Immortal of Kyoto has come?"
"Th-that person... could he be the former Prime Minister who already retired from office and withdrew into seclusion?"
Tao County was small, but it was not without knowledgeable people. As one great figure after another, whose names had shaken the realm, arrived, even the most composed people could no longer remain calm.
The scholars of Tao County and the surrounding regions had long seized their spots by taking advantage of their location.
One had to know that the Sage did not forbid auditors, and the reigning emperor seemed happy to see it. Though most of the prime "front-row" spots had long since been assigned—
South Mountain was so vast that even if they could not get tables and chairs, they could still bring stools, Cushions, or simply sit directly on the ground.
Amid this strange and restless atmosphere, time came to the third day.
The day Nanshan Academy began its lectures.
When the rising sun once more illuminated the mountain range.
South Mountain, from top to bottom, was already packed with people, dense beyond all gaps.
The thousands of tables and chairs had long been filled with "students," young and old alike, some holding official posts and others renowned beyond the court.
Beyond them sat dense crowds of people on Cushions, those who had failed to secure seats.
At the foot of the mountain, the banners of the Imperial Guards fluttered, fierce and imposing.
A gust of mountain wind swept through, making the blank sheets laid upon those tables and chairs rustle and roll like waves of snow.
The spots closest to the academy gates were occupied by the young emperor and the court's important ministers. Compared to the others, the atmosphere in that area was more solemn and dignified.
Everyone sat upright and proper.
Only when the academy gates were pushed open from within did Lin Tuo slowly emerge from the courtyard, his gaze sweeping across the hills and plains full of tens of thousands of students.
The mountain wind abruptly ceased.
In the distance, those who had been murmuring among themselves instantly fell silent. This crude gathering place, where ten thousand people had assembled, became so quiet one could hear a needle drop.
"Cough, cough." Looking at the dense sea of heads, Lin Tuo inconspicuously pinched his thigh with the right hand hidden behind his back, using pain to steady himself as much as possible.
At the same time, he attempted to use a vocal technique from his family's martial arts, drawing Aether together around his Adam's apple and amplifying his voice as much as possible.
So that even those at the foot of the mountain, unable to see the writing, could hear what he said.
Then.
Beneath countless gazes, dressed in a plain robe, Lin Tuo slowly walked before the wall that had been coated black with ink and left to dry.
This was the "blackboard" he had ordered prepared in advance.
"So many people have come today. I hope everyone will remain quiet. Questions will not be accepted during the first lesson; there will be time for questions afterward. Also, this lesson will be very long. Those who cannot endure it may leave early."
Before the eyes of ten thousand people, Lin Tuo calmly spoke these words, which sounded somewhat strange to the people of Great Chi.
After a brief pause, Emperor Chi, seated in the front row in a bright yellow dragon robe, cautiously raised his hand and asked:
"May I ask what Master Lin intends to teach today?"
Lin Tuo glanced at the well-behaved emperor and smiled faintly.
Then he turned around, picked up a prepared piece of "chalk" made of lime, and painstakingly wrote out a single "word" in Chi Kingdom script on the blackboard.
After writing it, he turned back to face tens of thousands of bewildered eyes. Pointing at the two snow-white characters on the blackboard, he smiled and used the vocal technique to say:
"The first lesson I will teach is... science."
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