On the ruins of the Confucian Scholar Dojo.
Confucius knelt on one knee in the rubble, his huge ax with the word "De" smashed on the ground.
He looked up, his rugged face filled with disbelief.
"You... you are really the Dragon God?"
Jiangnan glanced down at him but did not answer.
Silence is the best answer.
The Divine Edict has altered Confucius's will, ensuring he will forever stand on the side of Jiangnan.
Confucius's Adam's apple bobbed.
When I saw this face...
The evil within him compels him to kill the person before him!
But soon...
The murderous intent gradually faded, transforming into longing...
He recalled that the [Imperial Might] move he had just used was the Dragon God's signature move, and no one else in the world could imitate it.
And that Human Emperor Lamp at his waist, that belonged to the Ancestor Dragon Emperor.
In all the world, only one person can possess both of these things.
Thump!
The giant axe fell to the ground, and Confucius knelt down on both knees, kowtowing heavily.
"Dragon God! I... I was blind to your Mount Tai!"
His voice trembled, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and an indescribable excitement.
[Stand up and speak.]
A sticky note fluttered down...
Jiangnan walked to a collapsed stone pillar and sat down, casually Godslayer Spear into his side.
"I dare not..."
"Stand up."
Until Jiangnan spoke.
Confucius then got up, dusted off his knees, but dared not stand up straight.
He was slightly hunched over, like an old servant who had done something wrong.
"Sit."
Jiangnan pointed to a broken stele across the street.
Confucius sat down as instructed, only daring to touch half of his bottom.
Tell me about it.
Everything about me.
[The Painting Saint of Soul Return Town, and those two Spirit Artifacts.]
Jiangnan tossed out a note and looked at him.
Confucius was taken aback for a moment, then realized that the reincarnation of the Dragon God probably didn't have all his memories.
He cleared his throat, his expression becoming serious.
"Since Your Majesty the Dragon God has asked, then this old man will begin from the beginning."
His gaze passed over the ruins, looking into the distance, as if looking at an era that had long since vanished.
"Dragon Xia Imperial City, do you still remember it?"
Jiangnan shook his head.
"That is the most magnificent city in the Kindling Flame Realm, a place of worship for all races."
Confucius's voice became distant and resonant.
"The imperial city has three rulers, whom the world calls one emperor, one deity, and one god."
He held up three fingers.
"It is you, One God."
"The Dragon God of the Kindling Flame Realm is also a deity Adjudication all things in the world."
"The first emperor is the Ancestor Dragon Emperor."
"Lord of the Imperial City, Sovereign of the Dragon Clan."
"It was he who burned books and buried scholars alive back then."
When Confucius said this, his tone was complex, but the resentment he had shown before was gone.
"The first emperor is the Phoenix Emperor."
"The Ancestor Dragon Emperor's elder sister, the Princess of the Imperial City."
"She possesses two treasures that would make even the gods covet them."
Jiangnan's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Mortal Fireworks Painting, Mountains and Rivers Brush."
Confucius pronounced the two names, word by word.
"The Mortal Fireworks Painting is a painting."
He gestured to indicate the size.
"When unfolded, it is no more than three feet square."
"But it is a world unto itself, containing a small universe within."
"Landscapes, figures, birds, beasts, pavilions, and towers—everything is included."
"Legend has it that the world depicted in the painting is exactly the same as the real world, with the sun and moon revolving and the seasons changing within it."
Jiangnan raised an eyebrow.
He thought of his Human Emperor Lamp.
There was a small world inside the lamp, but it was all gray and gloomy, without even a blade of grass.
Where is the Mountains and Rivers Brush?
Confucius took a deep breath.
"The Mountains and Rivers Brush... that is a true instrument of creation."
He lowered his voice even further.
"Wherever the brushstrokes and ink reach, whatever the thought is, that is what is achieved."
"A mountain in a painting is a mountain; water in a painting is water; birds in a painting can fly; fish in a painting can swim."
"If you can draw it, you can build it."
Jiangnan tapped her fingers lightly on her knee.
Creation.
This is not imitation, not copying, it's creating something from nothing.
When paired with Mortal Fireworks Painting, it could even be described as an object of the Creator God level!
We absolutely have to get it!
He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and remained expressionless.
Then he threw out a sticky note.
What level are these two Spirit Artifacts?
Confucius scratched his head.
"I don't know either."
He carefully considered his words.
"Above S-class is Special-rank."
"But these two items are probably even more... extraordinary than bit-level items."
He pointed to the [Human Emperor Lamp] at Jiangnan's waist.
"The Emperor's Human Emperor Lamp of the Ancestor Dragon Emperor can reach the highest level of a special-grade Weird Artifact."
"It was created by him after he inherited the late emperor's weapon-forging skills."
"But the Phoenix Emperor's Mountains and Rivers Brush and the Mortal Fireworks Painting..."
"That was the late emperor, the father of the Ancestor Dragon Emperor."
"It was completed with all my might before my death, and it is a gift left to the Painting Saint Sage as a keepsake."
"No one has ever been able to determine the grade of those two items."
"All they know is power, extreme power."
Jiangnan's gaze fell into the distance, and he asked no further questions.
Confucius, however, seemed to have opened a floodgate of words and couldn't help but start talking again.
"Dragon God, you... really don't remember anything at all?"
"Remember what?"
"You and Phoenix Emperor."
Confucius's tone suddenly became subtle.
"Back in the Imperial City, who didn't know about Phoenix Emperor's feelings for you..."
"Have no idea."
Jiangnan interrupted him.
He genuinely doesn't remember.
No matter how hard I try, I can't recall the past.
Confucius, however, was relentless.
"Then let me tell you."
He moved closer to Jiangnan and lowered his voice.
"Back when you were just a lowly soldier in the Imperial City, Phoenix Emperor took a liking to you."
"At that time, your bloodline had only awakened less than 10%, and no one had high hopes for you. Only Phoenix Emperor said that you would surely achieve great things in the future."
"Later, you fought your way up step by step, from Dragon Guard to Dragon General, from Dragon General to Dragon King, and Phoenix Emperor watched over you the whole time."
So many men begged to marry her, but she wouldn't even glance at them.
"But every time you returned from battle, she would personally go to the city gate to greet you."
Confucius's voice carried a hint of melancholy.
"But you said that women would slow down your sword-drawing speed, so she didn't force you."
"You said you'd never marry, and she's waiting for you."
"She was happier than anyone else the day you became a god."
"The day the news of your passing reached us..."
He paused.
"The bells of the imperial city have rung ninety-nine times."
Jiangnan remained silent for a long time, his face expressionless.
According to the story, the Phoenix Emperor was a good woman.
Be good to yourself.
But he doesn't have that memory, so how can you appeal to his emotions?
She is currently in Soul Return Town.
Confucius's voice became cautious.
"Three hundred years ago, I agreed to join the ranks of the Evil God..."
"But the Painting Saint Master couldn't..."
"She just wanted everyone to live longer..."
"Give everyone who has come to this Weird Island a way to survive..."
"Although I am unaware of the details..."
"But most importantly..."
"I think she's probably waiting."
"Wait for what?"
Confucius looked at the Jiangnan, hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.
"Waiting for you."
The wind swept through the ruins, stirring up the ashes on the ground.
Jiangnan stood up, drew the Godslayer Spear, and slung it over his shoulder.
"I'll take those two items."
Confucius was taken aback.
Upon seeing Jiangnan draw his gun, they assumed he was about to seize it.
"Dragon God, given your relationship with the Sage of Painting Saint..."
"Isn't this... isn't this a little inappropriate?"
He rubbed his hands together, carefully choosing his words.
"After all, the Sage of Painting Saint has never truly forgotten you all these years."
"If you just ask her for it, she'll definitely give it to you without hesitation."
"But..."
"Things will work themselves out when they reach the bridge."
Jiangnan suddenly spoke.
Confucius didn't hear clearly. "What?"
"I don't really understand matters of the heart."
"I can't recall the past..."
Jiangnan turned her head and looked at him.
He doesn't want to use sticky notes to say important things.
"That's why I want to see it for myself."
"If it's true..."
Even if I marry her, what then?
"And..."
"Didn't I also take the groom's invitation?"
Confucius was stunned.
He stared at Jiangnan with his mouth agape.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
"Dragon... Dragon God?!"
Confucius's voice even changed tone.
"What... what did you just say?!"
No two places in Jiangnan are the same.
But Confucius had already heard it clearly.
I heard every single word clearly.
His eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"You finally... you finally figured it out!"
This old ghost has lived for who knows how many years, and this fierce man who was just now wielding a giant axe and fighting desperately.
At that moment, she acted like a child, and tears streamed down her face.
"Those subjects, those Confucian scholars, those historians of later generations..."
So many people regret that you didn't leave behind any children!
He wiped away his tears, laughing and crying at the same time.
"You said back then you'd never date a woman, and so many people worried about you! Now you've finally..."
He was so excited that he was incoherent and gesticulated wildly.
"The Sage of Painting Saint would be so happy to know that you've come to your senses!"
"She will surely escape the Evil God and return to your side!"
"Dragon God, you don't know, for the past thousand years, the Sage of Painting Saint..."
Confucius's words came to an abrupt end.
Because he saw it.
Several figures were running towards them from the ruins in the distance.
Two women were running at the front.
She had long, wine-red hair and a voluptuous figure; her chest Surging Waves as she ran.
With long, silver-white hair and a brisk gait, Xiong Da and Xiong Er were in no way inferior to the former.
Chen Tong.
Yekaterina.
The two of them, one on each side, almost simultaneously rushed into Jiangnan's arms.
"Jiangnan!"
Chen Tong buried her face in his chest, her voice trembling with tears.
What was that giant axe attack just now? Are you injured?
Yekaterina didn't speak, but instead looked him up and down with her vertical pupils.
Only after confirming that he was unharmed did I quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiangnan embraced them both, one in each arm.
The movements were so natural, as if they had been done hundreds or thousands of times.
Confucius stood to one side, his mouth agape.
He looked at Chen Tong, then at Yekaterina, and then at Jiangnan.
"This... this..."
He blinked hard, wondering if his eyesight was failing him.
Dragon God, you're actually embracing two women?
Wait, the Dragon God actually hugs a woman?
And he hugged two at once?
He subconsciously tried to justify himself in his mind.
Dragon God is a dragon, and Dragon Nature is...
Hey, isn't it normal to have a few close female friends?
Yes, that's normal.
The Sage of Painting Saint will understand.
Confucius took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
But just then...
"Owner!!!"
A sharp female voice came from the side.
Piano rushed straight over, grabbed Jiangnan's leg, and hung up on him.
"Master, are you alright?! You scared Piano to death!"
She rubbed against Jiangnan's leg, her expression a mixture of surprise and delight, just like a dog seeing its owner.
Confucius's lips twitched.
Three...
Three.
He swallowed hard, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Three it is fine.
Isn't it normal for someone like the Dragon God to have several women?
Lord Painting Saint...
Should...
You can understand that, right?
That's what he was thinking...
Several more figures emerged from behind the ruins.
Yu Shishi, Liu Yuqing, and Hoshino Hikaru surrounded them one after another.
"Boss!"
"Boss, are you alright?!"
"Boss! Boss is amazing!"
They chattered amongst themselves, their faces filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.
Confucius's sweat began to trickle down his back.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five...
He counted on his fingers, feeling increasingly guilty with each count.
Just then, a middle-aged woman with half of her hair turned white walked out from the crowd.
Han Fei.
She didn't approach like the others; she just stood at a distance.
After confirming that Jiangnan was alright, he nodded slightly.
But Confucius was unaware of these things.
He only saw another woman walk over, looking at Jiangnan with that concerned gaze.
Then, his psychological defenses completely collapsed.
"Dragon God..."
Confucius looked despairing.
"I asked you to have many branches and leaves, not this many!"
He pointed at the group of women surrounding Jiangnan, his hand trembling.
"And... and this was before the Painting Saint Sage!"
"What... what should we do?!"
Jiangnan ignored him.
He simply raised his head and looked in the direction of Soul Return Town.
The sky there was faintly tinged with a dark red.
It resembled the flame of wedding candles, or blood about to boil.
The wind blew from afar, carrying ashes and gunpowder smoke, brushing against the hem of his clothes.
Confucius was still rambling on behind him, but he didn't hear a word he said.
"Is it a day of great joy, or a day of slaughter...?"