"Send people to set up obstacles?"
At these words, Zhou Dongyi and the others frowned slightly. Someone then said, "Since we want them to come and study the Way of the Sages, we should naturally offer them preferential treatment. Otherwise, how would they be willing?"
Qiu Yan shook his head. "If we invite them here, we may not win their wholehearted conviction. Besides, how could something gained without a hitch possibly be treated as a treasure? How many people would truly cherish it?"
"Oh? There is some meaning in that. Matters of the Human Path are sometimes just like this." Zhou Dongyi nodded. "However, the prerequisite for doing so is that the Way of the Sages in our Central Lands must allow those western lands to understand its subtleties, stir longing in their hearts, and firm their resolve. Only then will they endure hardship and peril without changing their original intent. Otherwise, at the slightest adversity, those people may well retreat."
"That is sound reasoning." Qiu Yan nodded as well. "But even if the subtleties of the sages' Human Path were explained in full to the people of the west, and even if it resonated with them, they could not possibly abandon their lives and livelihoods, cast everything aside, and come here in search of the Way. Thus, suitable candidates are still needed."
"Candidates?" Hearing this, everyone fell into thought. Zhou Dongyi was still the first to ask, "From your tone, it seems you have already made a decision. Could you reveal a little?"
From everyone's words, it was already clear that their attitude toward Qiu Yan was entirely one of equality, unlike the way they treated other juniors.
Grand Confucians and Grandmasters appeared lofty and profound in the eyes of others, as though every gesture and movement carried deep