Seizing the Opportunity

As night fell, at the Zhou Manor, Zhou Zhuling was tidying her clothes in her room.

A knocking sound rang out on the door.

"Sister, may I come in?" Zhou Guanyu's voice rang out from outside.

"Come in," Zhou Zhuling replied while tidying up her things.

The door creaked open, and Zhou Guanyu walked in from outside.

"It's so late, why aren't you resting yet?" Zhou Zhuling had just finished tidying up. She walked to the small round table, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of water, and handed it to Zhou Guanyu, asking with concern.

Zhou Guanyu looked worried and sighed, "The thought of having to complete the travel mission posted by the shopkeeper tomorrow makes me anxious and I can't sleep."

Zhou Zhuling smiled slightly and said softly, "You tend to overthink things; you're so good at the Analects, you'll definitely be able to complete this journey, don't worry."

Zhou Guanyu gave a wry smile and said, "Sister, don't try to comfort me. Out of three thousand colleagues, I might be a little better off than Zhang Yunji, but none of the others are as good as me."

Zhou Guanyu was telling the truth. In the past month, the average cultivation level of the three thousand students had increased by one realm, and even reached the Spirit King realm; however, Zhou Guanyu was definitely lagging behind. After half a year of hard training, his cultivation level had barely reached the seventh level of Spirit Master; after the exam, he had only improved by two levels, becoming the Spirit Master ninth stage.

Keep in mind, he's only at the Spirit Master realm! Even some Spirit King can advance three levels at once, while he, a mere Spirit Master realm, has only advanced two.

This is sufficient proof that his understanding of the Analects is far inferior to that of everyone else. Among the three thousand people, apart from Liu Ying, Zhang Yunji, and President Gongsun did not gain any cultivation, his cultivation level increased the least.

Due to his physical condition, President Gongsun was unable to cultivate, and therefore did not receive any increase in his cultivation level.

Miss Liu Ying lost this opportunity to increase her cultivation level because she was implicated by Zhang Yunji.

However, these two individuals certainly had a far greater understanding of the Analects than he did.

Only Zhang Yunji, who still can't even recite the Analects of Confucius by heart, is better than him.

If we absolutely had to rank them, Zhang Yunji would be last, and Zhou Guanyu would be second to last.

With such a ranking, Zhou Guanyu naturally had little confidence in the challenges ahead.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhuling sat down, patted Zhou Guanyu's hand, and comforted him, "The reason you don't have a deep understanding of the Analects is because you're still young and don't understand many of the philosophical principles it conveys, not because you lack talent. Actually, I think this training mission will be the most beneficial for you. You can broaden your experience by traveling across the Azure Dragon Continent and experience a world you've never seen before. Perhaps by then, your understanding of the Analects will surpass that of all of us!"

Zhou Guanyu asked with some skepticism, "Really?"

Zhou Zhuling nodded seriously and said, "Of course it's true! Do you know how old the red-clad woman Transcendent to Saint yesterday was?"

Zhou Guanyu shook his head.

Zhou Zhuling said, "She's only thirty-two years old this year."

"What!" Zhou Guanyu was shocked. "A thirty-two-year-old Half Saint?"

Zhou Zhuling nodded and continued, "Now everyone in Dubian Town says that she was able to Transcendent to Saint because of her exceptional talent and complete understanding of 'The Art of War'; but what they don't know is that the woman in red's talent is not high at all, and could even be described as mediocre."

"Does your sister know her?" Zhou Guanyu asked, puzzled.

Zhou Zhuling has been recuperating in Dubian Town for years and has had virtually no social interactions; Zhou Guanyu the few people he does know, but he is certain that he has never seen the woman in red at the Zhou Manor.

Upon hearing Zhou Guanyu's question, Zhou Zhuling's eyes flashed with reminiscence as she softly replied, "My sister met her twelve years ago."

"Twelve years ago?"

Zhou Zhuling nodded and said, "Yes, twelve years ago was the two-thousandth birthday of Sage Yan Sima Wuji; at that time, King Chu Heng sent Saint Chu and Father to Yan State to celebrate Sage Yan's birthday, and my sister went with them."

"In the Yan State, my sister met that woman in red. I remember hearing people call her Luan Feng (a mythical phoenix) back then."

"Luan Feng! The God of War of Yan State?" Zhou Guanyu exclaimed in surprise.

The God of War of Yan State is renowned throughout the entire Azure Dragon Continent. Although she is never seen, her legend has spread throughout the entire Azure Dragon Continent in the past ten years.

He joined the army in his prime and commanded over a hundred battles in more than ten years, never suffering a defeat!

"That's right, it's Luan Feng, the God of War of Yan State." At this point, Zhou Zhuling sighed and said, "You might not believe it, but when I saw her that time, her cultivation level was only at the Spirit User Stage Nine."

Luan Feng, at twenty years old, Spirit User Stage Nine.

At this age and with this level of achievement, it's already considered quite ordinary.

"However, she only took twelve years to cultivate to the Ninth Stage Spirit Venerable realm; so how many more years do you think she will need to reach the Spirit Saint realm?" Zhou Zhuling asked in return.

Reaching the Ninth Stage Spirit Venerable realm in twelve years is beyond what can be described as genius; for such people, reaching the Spirit Saint realm is simply a matter of time.

Zhou Guanyu remained silent.

Seeing that Zhou Guanyu remained silent, Zhou Zhuling smiled and said, "Do you think she became like this because she received an incredible stroke of luck?"

Zhou Guanyu remained silent, but did not deny it either.

Indeed, in a situation like this, without an extraordinary stroke of luck, it would be impossible to cultivate to the Spirit Venerable realm in twelve years with such ordinary talent.

"You're not wrong to think that way; she really did encounter a great opportunity." Perhaps she had talked too much, Zhou Zhuling poured herself a glass of water and took a sip.

Seeing Zhou Guanyu's "I knew it" expression, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "That year, on the birthday of the Sage Yan, the then-King of King Yan presented a newly captured Sacred Beast as a birthday gift."

"I vaguely remember that the Sacred Beast was exceptionally beautiful, but also extremely ferocious. When it was brought to the birthday banquet, it suddenly went berserk, and in an instant, the banquet was littered with blood and flesh. More than fifty cultivators died under its claws. At that time, the King Yan was very Rage and wanted to kill it, but he was stopped by the Sage Yan."

"Sage Yan ordered an array to be set up to trap the Sacred Beast, and announced that whoever could subdue Sacred Beast would own it. Sacred Beast cultivators present were all eager to participate; however, the powerful cultivators with high cultivation levels were too proud to step forward, while those with lower cultivation levels knew they lacked the ability to subdue the Sacred Beast, so for a time no one dared to step forward to subdue it."

"So Luan Feng went?" Zhou Guanyu asked curiously.

"That's right, Luan Feng went. A cultivator at only the Spirit User Stage Nine Realm wanted to subdue a Sacred Beast. At the time, everyone laughed at Luan Feng's overestimation of her abilities and waited to see her die under the Sacred Beast's claws."

At this point, Zhou Zhuling's eyes revealed a hint of admiration as she said, "But no one expected that Luan Feng would successfully subdue that Sacred Beast."

"The Sacred Beast Hong Luan!"

People say that Luan Feng has two trump cards: one is her Luanfeng Army, and the other is the Sacred Beast Hong Luan!

"But how did she do that?" Zhou Guanyu asked, puzzled.

A cultivator at the Spirit User Stage Nine Realm cannot achieve this, let alone in theory or practice.

Zhou Zhuling was silent for a moment, then said, "A blood sacrifice!"

"A blood sacrifice?" Zhou Guanyu was somewhat bewildered.

Zhou Zhuling nodded and said, "That's right, it's a blood sacrifice; the Sacred Beast Hong Luan lives by sucking fresh blood. Luan Feng directly draws its own blood to feed Hong Luan until the blood runs dry, and then gains Hong Luan's recognition, voluntarily acknowledging Luan Feng as its master and becoming Luan Feng's battle pet."

Zhou Guanyu was utterly shocked. To subdue Sacred Beast in such a way! This was practically gambling with their lives. What if Hong Luan didn't acknowledge Luan Feng? Wouldn't Luan Feng be doomed?

"It was precisely after subduing the Hong Luan that the Luan Feng's cultivation progressed by Norman, reaching the Spirit Venerable realm in just twelve years." At this point, Zhou Zhuling looked at Zhou Guanyu and asked, "Do you think she should have obtained this opportunity?"

Zhou Guanyu nodded in sincere admiration. Based solely on Luan Feng's courage and ruthlessness, this opportunity should belong to her.

Zhou Zhuling finished her cup of water and said, "Opportunities are everywhere, but whether you can seize them depends on yourself. Twelve years ago, Luan Feng was able to subdue Sacred Beast with the cultivation of Spirit User Stage Nine. Why can't you, Zhou Guanyu, complete this training mission with the cultivation of Spirit Master ninth stage?"

Zhou Guanyu stared blankly at Zhou Zhuling, and asked in a puzzled tone, "Sister, do you mean...?"

Zhou Zhuling smiled slightly and encouraged her, "Keep going, perhaps this is your opportunity."

The next day, on the Green Grassland.

Ma Feifei, dressed in a long purple robe, stood on the high platform, with three thousand students below.

"Is everyone ready?" Ma Feifei asked solemnly.

"Teacher, we are ready," the three thousand students replied in unison.

Ma Feifei nodded and said, "Now that you're ready, let me explain the rules of this training mission."

"First of all, the Analects you all hold is the basis for judging whether you have grasped the eight principles of the Analects, and it is also the key to opening the teleportation array; if you lose it, not only will you be unable to complete the training mission, but you will also be forgotten in some corner of the Azure Dragon Continent, unable to teleport directly back to the Bookstore; I hope everyone will remember this."

"Secondly, everyone's training mission this time will be projected into the Bookstore and will be seen by all cultivators in Dubian Town. I hope everyone will be careful with their words and actions."

At this point in Ma Feifei's speech, the three thousand students below all looked troubled; being watched throughout the entire event was not a good thing; most importantly, the place they were teleported to was the Azure Dragon Continent, not the Book World, so they would have to be more cautious and it wouldn't be as convenient.

However, Ma Feifei's next words left the three thousand students somewhat bewildered.

"Finally, during this training mission, you may encounter some interference from readers of the Divine Bookstore. I hope you will remember the knowledge you have learned from the Analects and apply it in practice."

"Alright, I wish you all a triumphant return. Now, please close your eyes!" Ma Feifei clapped his hands and said.

Three thousand students closed their eyes with puzzled expressions.

With a wave of his hand, Ma Feifei sent three thousand students vanishing into the Green Grassland.

At the same time, the Epic-grade- quality book "The Analects" on Ma Feifei's table transformed into a golden light, directly piercing through VIP room number one and arriving at the Bookstore's rooftop.

'Ding ding ding'

The black book began to turn its pages, and a projection appeared in the air.

"Look!" The moment the projection appeared, the cultivators of Dubian Town saw it and rushed towards it as fast as they could. They didn't care what had happened; they were on the right track. They only knew of one such situation before, when a Spirit Saint appeared. This time, who knew what would happen?