Wisdom Feather

What on earth is all this?

"Yeah, they started this without even understanding the rules. Are they kidding me?"

"Shopkeeper, what's going on? Could you explain?"

"..."

The customers panicked when they heard the countdown, and a chaotic scene ensued.

Ma Feifei was completely baffled. He kept trying to communicate with the system, but the system ignored him completely and had no idea what the event was all about. However, Ma Feifei was, after all, the owner of the Mysterious Bookstore. Although he didn't understand what this was all about, he could roughly guess that it was related to the Fenghuang on the high platform. So he immediately prepared to fly up to the high platform.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Ma Feifei realized that his cultivation had been sealed again. It seemed that this event prohibited cultivation again. He immediately gave up the idea of flying over and ran towards the high platform.

A group of Bookstore customers suddenly saw Ma Feifei start running, and without caring what it meant, they rushed to run after him.

"Whoosh~"

At this moment, five beams of shimmering white light slowly rose from the ground and hovered about one meter above the ground. Within each beam of light was a feather, and the feathers in each beam were different colors.

They are: blue, white, red, black, and yellow, five colors.

"Buzz~!" Suddenly, the halo trembled, and then a large character appeared on each halo: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, corresponding to the five colors mentioned above.

Upon seeing this, Ma Feifei instantly understood what it meant, because there was a Yellow Quality book on the bookshelf, its name being "Baopuzi".

The * Baopuzi * records a description that reads as follows, "The element of wood is benevolence, and its color is green. The phoenix's head is green, hence it is said to wear benevolence. The element of metal is righteousness, and its color is white. The phoenix's neck is white, hence it is said to wear righteousness. The element of fire is propriety, and its color is red. The phoenix's beak is red, hence it is said to carry propriety. The element of water is wisdom, and its color is black. The phoenix's chest is black, hence it is said to value knowledge. The element of earth is trustworthiness, and its color is yellow. The phoenix's feet are yellow, hence it is said to tread on trustworthiness."

Why describe this passage? Because the * Classic of Mountains and Seas * (specifically, the Illustrated Treatise) records that the Fenghuang bears five patterns resembling characters. "The pattern on its head is 'Virtue,' the pattern on its wings is 'Obedience,' the pattern on its back is 'Righteousness,' the pattern on its belly is 'Trustworthiness,' and the pattern on its breast is 'Benevolence.'"

The book "Baopuzi" provides a detailed explanation of this sentence from "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Illustrated Commentary". Simply put, the Fenghuang embodies the five constant virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.

"But what does this welfare activity have to do with the Five Constants?" Ma Feifei wondered, but he didn't slow down. Just then, there was a circle of light not far in front of him, so Ma Feifei sped up and ran towards it, intending to grab it first.

The customers in the other Bookstore weren't stupid either. As soon as they saw the suddenly appearing halo, they knew something was wrong. They all rushed towards it, and in an instant, the more than 400 people split into four streams, flowing towards the five cardinal virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.

"Whoosh~" Ma Feifei was the first to arrive at a circle of light. The feathers inside the circle were black with many small patterns on them, and they looked quite beautiful with the faint light.

However, Ma Feifei was in no mood to admire the feathers and reached out to grab them.

"Buzz~"

The moment Ma Feifei's hand touched the black feather, the feather emitted specks of light, instantly repelling Ma Feifei.

"What does this mean? Can't I take it?" Ma Feifei looked at her hand that had been pushed away, her mind filled with confusion.

Ma Feifei looked up and saw that, apart from his spot, the other four places were crowded with people, constantly pushing and shoving. He even saw some important figures disregarding their manners and fighting with some hooligans, for reasons unknown.

As for Ma Feifei's side, no one came over, which was obviously due to Ma Feifei's status, causing them to give up on this place on their own.

"Whoosh~" Suddenly, five halos burst forth with scorching light, enveloping all the cultivators surrounding them, and then everyone entered a magical place.

"Boom~"

Ma Feifei was in the same situation. At this moment, he stood in the boundless countryside, with fields in the distance and lush trees nearby, their leaves swaying and a cool breeze blowing.

Wild geese are flying south in the sky.

"I don't understand!" Ma Feifei was completely bewildered. She walked around and, apart from realizing that this was an illusion, she didn't find anything unusual.

"Phew~"

A gentle breeze blew, causing a leaf to fall slowly.

Ma Feifei stared at the leaf curiously, staring at it for a long time, but in the end, he couldn't figure it out.

"Whoosh~"

Then Ma Feifei was sent out.

"What does this mean? Did we fail?" Ma Feifei looked around and found that most people were still motionless, while only a small number of people were standing in place shaking their heads, either in regret or bewilderment.

"Whoosh~"

At this time, a white light suddenly shot up. Ma Feifei looked around and saw the white feather with the word 'righteousness' written on it floating into the air. Then another white light shot up from around him, and a figure jumped up and grabbed the white feather in the air.

"Luan Feng?"

This figure was Luan Feng. She grabbed a white feather, landed on the ground, and ran directly towards the stone Fenghuang sculpture in the center.

"Quick, grab her!"

The cultivators in the white area swarmed forward instantly, attempting to intercept the Luan Feng.

Everyone's cultivation was sealed, so their physical constitutions were all about the same. Luan Feng, being a woman, was at a disadvantage. In addition, there were many people surrounding her, nearly a hundred, so Luan Feng was forced to stop before she even reached halfway because there were people in front of her.

"Holy crap! They actually dared to Beat Up people from my Mysterious Bookstore? They're asking for trouble."

Ma Feifei rolled up his sleeves, ready to help, when suddenly a young cultivator ran over, smiled at Ma Feifei, touched the black feather, and then remained motionless, entering the illusion.

Ma Feifei glanced discreetly in Luan Feng's direction and found that she was completely surrounded. The group of cultivators were talking to her, but judging from their tone, they seemed to be asking Luan Feng to hand over the white feather.

"Whoosh~"

At this moment, another beam of yellow light shot into the sky, and then Ma Feifei saw the yellow feather fall into Zhang Yunji's hand. After that, Zhang Yunji was also chased by a group of people.

"No, I need to figure out what's going on." Still not understanding the situation, Ma Feifei decided not to help them anymore. He silently walked behind the young cultivator and waited for him to emerge from the illusion.

"Buzz~"

Suddenly, the black feathers began to tremble, and a black light shot into the sky. Then, Ma Feifei felt a black light also appear on the young man in front of him.

"Ding~ The Wisdom Feather has been successfully unlocked. Please insert the Wisdom Feather into the Fenghuang's chest to receive a generous reward. (Note: The feather is unclaimed; the capable shall possess it.)"

"So that's how it is!" Ma Feifei finally understood why those people were chasing after the person with the feather; it turned out that grabbing the feather was like grabbing a perk!

"But why can he unlock the Wisdom Feather, while I can't?" Ma Feifei was full of doubts.

"Whoosh~"

The young cultivator was lifted into the air by the black light, grabbed the Wisdom Feather, and then fell back to the original spot.

"Haha! I, Lin Fan, am indeed a prodigy, a prodigy indeed!" The young cultivator looked at the Wisdom Feather in his hand and laughed happily.

"Clang~"

With a loud crash, the young cultivator felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, then felt dizzy and fell to the ground.

"Hmph, I don't care, Laozi in the world!" Ma Feifei threw away the brick, picked up the Wisdom Feather, and ran towards the stone Fenghuang sculpture...