Void II

In the northern part of Wu Mountain, in a vast mountain range stretching for thousands of miles, lies a special temple that has been abandoned for a long time.

The temple was square, surrounded by many white pillars, with thin snakes coiled around them.

The outer walls are also covered with pictures of priests with snake heads and human bodies, using staffs to bless believers.

Inside the dilapidated main hall of the temple.

A tall man dressed in a black robe, with his black hair casually draped over his shoulders, was carefully examining the contents of the murals inside the temple.

The man's face was plain, not handsome, but not ugly either; his skin, however, had an indescribable paleness and delicacy.

It was a unique pallor that even women who remained unmarried and rarely saw the sun could not attain.

Just as the man was carefully examining the murals, several people suddenly approached him quickly from the Woodland outside the temple.

"Quick! It's going to rain. There's a dilapidated temple over here. I used to take shelter here when I came here!"

A man spoke loudly in a thick Shan Province accent.

"This place is truly awful! We've come all this way and there's not a village or shop in sight, not even a place to rest," another man said, annoyed.

"Alright, alright, none of us sisters have said anything, what are you complaining about?" another female voice rang out, tinged with helplessness.

"Isn't it because we're in a hurry and afraid of making mistakes? The Academy is about to start accepting students this year. If we go late, we'll probably be scolded and punished by the teachers again," the male voice said.

Soon, a group of six people, three men and three women, jogged into the temple. As soon as they entered, the burly man at the head of the group spotted the man in black robes standing inside.

He immediately clasped his hands in a fist and bowed.

"Brother, I'm taking shelter from the rain halfway through my journey. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Please do as you wish. This wilderness Non-Self exclusive domain," the man in black robes replied, his voice calm and An Ning.

He turned around and glanced at the group of people who had just entered.

As he turned around, his face was seen by the six people who came in.

"Huh?" One of the women among the six suddenly let out a soft exclamation, her eyes fixed intently on the man in black robes, as if trying to discern something.

"You are Brother Zhang!?" the woman exclaimed in surprise, recalling the past.

Upon hearing the sound, the man in the black robe also looked closely at the woman.

The woman was dressed in a white, close-fitting outfit, with a brown mink collar around her neck. Her black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, a style often used by women Jianghu. On her back was a thick-backed broadsword with a matte Black Blade.

His clothing, scabbard, money pouch at his waist, and the fine gold thread adorning his snakeskin belt all indicated that he was very wealthy.

What the man recognized most was the other person's face. "You are... Liu Bai." The man's words stopped abruptly, his eyes widening slightly as he recognized the other person's identity.

"It really is you!!? Brother Zhang!?" The woman was none other than the super fat girl from Tanyang City! Wan Yanlu! And the man in black robes was Zhang Rongfang had been searching for information about Gods and Buddhas for the past few months.

After not seeing each other for many years, the two looked each other over and sighed inwardly.

Wan Yanlu has completely lost weight. The young girl who used to weigh 600 pounds and needed several strong women to support her when she walked has finally realized her original wish.

Now, her skin is a light wheat color, her eyes are full of spirit, her body is strong and well-proportioned, with long legs, a slender waist, and a chest as firm and perky as Heavenly Maiden's. She has perfectly transformed into a sunny and healthy beautiful young woman.

Zhang Rongfang also inwardly praised it upon seeing it.

Looking at Wan Yanlu alone, her looks are only slightly inferior to those of Heavenly Maiden, not to mention the contrast with her previous image as a huge, 600-pound fat woman.

Wan Yanlu had not seen Zhang Rongfang for many years. At that time, he was still Zhang Ying and was working in Tanyang City under a false identity.

Now that she Xiangjian an old friend, True One strange feeling arises in her heart.

Immediately, she took a few steps forward and quickly walked up to Zhang Rongfang. The two were about the same height. She opened her mouth, but suddenly found that she didn't know what to say.

The other companions also showed expressions of curiosity.

Among them, Wan Yanlu can be considered one of the aloof beauties pursued by many in the Academy.

She never expected to encounter someone in this desolate mountain wilderness and dilapidated temple who would make her lose her composure so easily.

"Junior Sister Wanyan, aren't you going to introduce her?" The leader of the six men, dressed as a scholar, with a short sword at his waist, walked over with an elegant demeanor.

He was Zhang Shuoyang, and like Wan Yanlu, he was from the Chongyang Academy. They were also from the same hometown, and he had always harbored a secret crush on Wan Yanlu. However, due to pride and the fact that they hadn't known each other long, he hadn't yet made a move on pursuing her.

"Hmm," Wan Yanlu recalled Zhang Ying's identity, and her pretty face changed slightly. "This is my close friend from when I was in Tanyang, Brother Zhang Ying."

She simply changed the pronunciation of one word. Then she gave Zhang Rongfang an apologetic look.

The latter smiled dismissively.

"Brother Zhang must be busy with something here all by himself, so we won't disturb him." Wan Yanlu said quickly, then pulled a few curious companions aside and whispered among themselves.

Although she never saw Zhang Rongfang again after that, she gradually heard about the huge changes in Zhang Ying's identity.

She was afraid that her friends, companions, and classmates might anger Zhang Rongfang and cause trouble for her.

Although she herself had always harbored unusual feelings for Zhang Ying, people change over the years, especially after hearing about Zhang Ying's increasingly brutal and vicious reputation. The five of them were pulled away by Wan Yanlu, and Zhang Rongfang didn't care.

Seeing a familiar face eased the loneliness I'd been feeling all this time.

Searching for the White Scale Temple alone in the mountains is quite a tedious task.

'Is this your ex-lover?' White Scale couldn't help but ask in his mind.

"She was just a young girl, how could you talk like that?" Zhang Rongfang was speechless. "Back then, I was just a low- Official Messenger. She was just a beautiful young woman weighing six hundred pounds."

'Six hundred pounds??' White Scale instantly compared the figure to Wan Yanlu's that he had just seen. He fell silent.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. We've searched several of your temples, and this time we've finally found all the fragments of your Core Statue. What's next?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"To enter my Void, you need a core Spirit Thread combined with Core Statue as my host. I have the core Spirit Thread, but my own Core Statue can only be collected from various temples," White Scale explained. "Now find a place and assemble my Core Statue. I'll try my best to see if I can pull you into my Void."

"Great!" Zhang Rongfang's spirits lifted.

His goal for the past three months has been to investigate what kind of existence the Void of Gods and Buddhas really is.

Gods and Buddhas always Divine Descent to fight in the bodies of Worship God and Spirit General, but he had never truly seen a Gods and Buddhas descend from his own body.

According to White Scale, Gods and Buddhas cannot descend into the world on their own; if they want to influence reality, they must rely on real objects.

Like Statue, like a human being.

Originally, Zhang Rongfang had no intention of understanding the origin and essence of Gods and Buddhas. He figured that as long as he killed all their followers and destroyed all the statues, he could eventually make them fall into the Forgotten Abyss.

But White Scale's words made him change his mind.

"Gods and Buddhas like Spirit Flight Heaven is high above, and all the Great Ling Army of the Spirit Realm bear his mental imprint. If you were to confront Spirit Flight Heaven, and if you followed your methods, wouldn't you slaughter all the soldiers in the world, perhaps even more?"

Therefore, based on this, Zhang Rongfang decided to change to the second method proposed by White Scale. This second method could completely kill the Gods and Buddhas.

—Enter the Void and kill the true form of the Gods and Buddhas.

But probably no one can do that.

If Zhang Rongfang hadn't displayed such terrifying talent, White Scale would never have proposed such a method.

For a moment, Zhang Rongfang sat alone in one corner of the dilapidated temple, Wan Yanlu six sat in another corner.

Both sides lit a fire and rested.

Unbeknownst to me, the rain outside gradually increased in intensity and density.

Raindrops wet the grass and pattered on the leaves and branches.

The five people from the Academy were clearly very curious about Zhang Rongfang and kept asking him about Wan Yanlu's situation.

Wan Yanlu, however, remained tight-lipped and refused to utter a word.

After questioning her for a while, seeing that she was completely uncooperative, the group gradually lost interest and began discussing other matters.

"Have you heard? The new policy has been distributed from all provinces and regions all the way down to the Prefectural City level, and pilot programs must be established there," a young scholar said in a low voice.

"His Majesty is wise and decisive, shouldering the heavy burden of the world alone. It is said that after this decree was issued, the Great Sect Alliance went to the Imperial Palace to negotiate several times. In the court, many high-ranking officials also tried to resist it. But although there are many who resist, there are even more supporters!"

In his words, Zhang Shuoyang, who was leading the group, subtly revealed his arrogant sense of superiority, which suggested that he even knew about news in the imperial court, in a casual and natural manner.

"His Majesty is changing the fate of all scholars in the land!"

Although the people were speaking in low voices, Zhang Rongfang was extremely perceptive; at that distance, it was as if someone was speaking very clearly in his ear.

He had originally been learning from White Scale how to inscribe the Divine Descent array to activate the Void. But upon hearing this casual conversation, he was suddenly reminded of the major event his sister Zhang Rongyu had mentioned earlier.

He immediately stood up and walked over to the group. He clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute.

"Excuse me for disturbing you all."

The group all stood up to return the greeting.

"You're too kind, sir. May I ask what brings you here?" Zhang Shuoyang asked first.

"Brother Zhang, you can come to me if you need anything, don't be so polite," Wan Yanlu said cheerfully, patting his chest.

"I just wanted to ask, what is the new decree of His Majesty that you just mentioned?"

Zhang Rongfang had been traveling in the mountains and hadn't been in contact with his subordinates for a long time. Because of the constant changes in location, Xiao Hong was also unable to deliver intelligence to him.

Nowadays, some information is blocked.

"Is this what happened?" Wan Yanlu forward and pulled Zhang Shuoyang, who was about to speak, back.

"It's a recent decree. His Majesty announced to the world that Confucian Sect has been removed from the ten Great Ling classes and placed on the same level as Buddhism and Daoism! Furthermore, he ordered all provinces and regions to re-establish examination halls and reopen the Imperial Examination!"

"Reopen the Imperial Examination!?" Zhang Rongfang's expression changed drastically.

"Why so suddenly!? What happened before?" he immediately asked.

"Yes, a month ago, the Seven Lineages of the Confucian Sect, along with the Academy and many great Confucian scholars, went to Great Capital to debate with Buddhism and Daoism in a venue personally selected by His Majesty." Zhang Shuoyang quickly explained.

"In the end, my great Confucian Sect scholars won seven battles in the debate on the Dao. The Yue Sect Leader of the Great Sect Alliance was refuted and left speechless, and finally retreated to the Heavenly Sincerity Palace."

"Thus, Confucian Sect is re-established, and the Imperial Examination system is reopened! The path for scholars in our Great Ling Kingdom has been restored!!" Zhang Shuoyang's words were filled with pride and arrogance.

Recommended seedling: Xia Shuo Zhao Yao

"You two are incompatible, have different personalities, and your birth charts clash, so what exactly do you like about him?"

"In short, he's the kind of person who's very special..."

"Be specific."

"Uh... particularly perverted?"