Sages Fear a Tune Too Lofty

With a flick of the scroll, it transformed into the likeness of Zhang Qin, a smile on his face, but a hint of regret in his eyes.

As he spoke, he raised his hand with his Divine Soul, gathering the "Things Are Not Alike," and then grabbed the "Rulers and People Farming Together" that he had forcibly suppressed.

The Agricultural School Spirit trembled on its own, refusing to submit easily. Zhang Qin sneered and poured in strands of Divine Sense, which wrapped around it like ribbons and slowly tightened.

It was clear that this man was determined to win the "Market Prices Must Be Uniform," but Qiu Yan's interference left him with regret. However, Zhang Qin did not attack Qiu Yan again, but simply said, "Fighting with the Sage Spirit relies on momentary willpower. It's a pity that the Scholar Forest cannot maintain Order; otherwise, based on my understanding of the Secondary Sage Text, I certainly wouldn't have lost to you."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan shook his head and said, "That is not true. You are using the Second Sage Spirit to suppress the Agricultural School's will, which is to use force to suppress it. Without your own understanding, even in the outside world where the Heavenly Order still exists, it is just a matter of having more power, but the essence remains unchanged."

As he spoke, Qiu Yan also gathered his thoughts of a near-saint and grasped the "Market Prices Must Be Uniform". His action seemed ordinary, but his heart was in turmoil. He felt a drop of blood spreading in his spirit and establishing a blood connection with himself!

In addition, there was Blood Qi that dispersed and moved with the wind, vaguely connecting with the idea of "the Rulers and People Farming Together"!

The connection was so subtle that even Zhang Qin failed to notice it. Qiu Yan, however, remained calm and composed, realizing this.

At this moment, Zhang Qin chuckled and shook his head, "Talking to me about your understanding of Order? That's a bit laughable. I've observed that your actions in the Liang Kingdom are rather superficial. Your deeds lack depth, and your intentions are shallow and straightforward. This shows a lack of understanding of the Way of the Sages. You only know how to make wild guesses. Fortunately, the people you encounter are all scum, which makes you stand out from the crowd. In reality, you're nothing special!"

When this person speaks, there is a sense that he possesses the ultimate truth of heaven and earth, understands all things, and is the only one in the world who is awake.

His words were sarcastic and mocking, elevating himself while belittling Qiu Yan. As soon as they reached Qiu Yan, they immediately aroused his instinctive disgust. Then, his Heart Fire pounded and his anger rose, disturbing his State of Mind and causing Qiu Yan's understanding of "the Market Prices Must Be Uniform" to waver. His Agricultural School Spirit, which was just about to be accepted, was momentarily shaky!

This alerted Qiu Yan. He activated his Heart Demon Body and absorbed the anger through the Soul Aperture, instantly restoring his clarity of State of Mind.

"So that's how it is. The Diplomat School excels at mimicking various personalities, coupled with torrential words, to disturb others' State of Mind and manipulate their emotions. Zhang Qin may not have made a move, but he has already struck! He intends to use words to disrupt my State of Mind, making it difficult for the Agricultural School Spirit to integrate into my soul, and then strike directly when the time is right!"

Having understood this, Qiu Yan did not make a fuss. Instead, he deliberately feigned anger and said, "Your words are rather arbitrary. According to you, what constitutes understanding the Sage's meaning?"

"Arbitrary?" Zhang Qin shook his head, emanating a faint aura that spread and filled the area. "The wisdom of Sage is profound and lofty, and cannot be attained without immersing oneself in it. However, in your actions, you apply the lofty doctrines of Sage to mundane matters, becoming tainted by worldly concerns. This is putting the cart before the horse. Not to mention anything else, you can see the clues just from this Agricultural School Spirit."

At this point, he revealed a smug look, and his aura exuded the air of a petty person who had achieved success. However, Qiu Yan knew that this was merely a tactic employed by the other party, a pretense.

"Zhang entered the river this time precisely to obtain this Agricultural School Spirit. He spent a long time and made arrangements with several countries. He was about to succeed, but you reaped the rewards. Don't think that this is because of your own abilities; you just happened to be there!"

Hearing this, Qiu Yan's anger intensified, and he retorted, "You've arranged for several kingdoms? Is this all about planting the Principle Rice? Since this place isn't an illusion, but filled with living, breathing people, how can you expect to succeed by doing such a thing? It incurs the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, and goes against the Agricultural School Spirit!"

Seeing that Qiu was about to become angry, Zhang Qin smiled faintly, "The Agricultural School has long been cut off from its roots, where is its inheritance? Its spirit relies on the farmland and land. I merely severed its reliance, making it manifest. You, on the other hand, succeeded by taking advantage of favorable timing and location. But your Confucianism practices are the most hypocritical. How can you gain the Agricultural School's approval? You keep talking about the people-oriented approach, speaking grandly, yet many scholars call farmers despised. You belittle farmers but claim to value them. You're quite a freak, only making us laugh."

This is Zhang Qin's observation of Qiu Yan's actions. As a disciple of Confucianism, he intends to attack Confucianism in order to shake Qiu Yan's foundation and further confuse his mind.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan suddenly narrowed his eyes, his anger vanishing instantly. He lowered his voice and said, "You claim to have comprehended the Way of the Sages and to be inspired by the Second Sage Spirit of the Confucianism, yet now you denigrate Confucianism and criticize agriculture. You truly deserve to be called a successor of the School of Diplomacy. The books say that those who practice the School of Diplomacy are adept at drawing inferences from the subtle, taking things out of context, and using their own conclusions to represent the original meaning, thus turning black into white. Seeing this today, I can see that it is indeed so!"

"Hmm?" Zhang Qin's expression changed upon seeing Qiu Yan's anger suddenly vanish, but before he could think further, Qiu Yan suddenly raised his voice, his Divine Soul surging with a powerful aura, his voice like thunder—

"You pick one or two examples and use them as a basis to represent the entire Confucianism with the actions of a few individuals—that's quite a scheme! Leaving aside the fact that this is just generalization, even on a personal level, reading is a process of understanding principles. Who is born knowing the importance of farming? Only through experience can one gain insight. I've seen Confucian scholars who disregarded agriculture in Wuxin City, and I've also seen elderly scholars who valued agriculture there. Young and old alike—the myriad aspects of life—how can one take a single sentence out of context?"

These words suddenly erupted, flowing like a torrent, and utterly dispelled the aura that Zhang Qin had spread around him. In the instant before the other party could react, he infused the "Market Prices Must Be Uniform" Agricultural School Spirit, which instantly became a book and fell into the bookshelf of his soul!

"Oh no! I've been fooled by this person's disguise again!" Zhang Qin finally realized what was happening and looked annoyed. "You Confucian scholar, you're quite good at sophistry. You said you've been to Wuxin City, so you must be from the East Flower Continent. I once met Bai Zhaoyuan, the talented scholar of Donghua! His understanding of the Way of the Sages is a hundred times better than yours!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qin's Divine Soul transformed, turning back into a scroll that quickly unfurled, revealing two sentences:

The mouth is the gateway to the heart. The heart is the master of the spirit.

As soon as those two sentences were uttered, the Heavenly Circuit instantly changed, Yin-Yang alternated, day and night flowed, and ethereal clouds and mist emerged, rushing down with overwhelming momentum to envelop Qiu Yan's soul!

In an instant, Qiu Yan's Divine Soul became dim and indistinct, unable to distinguish east from west. Emotions and desires seeped in from the mist, trying to corrupt his Divine Soul and cause his realm to waver and fall!

Seeing this, Qiu Yan High Antiquity calm and shook his head, saying, "I walk my own path, cultivate my own principles, and understand my own nature. What does it have to do with others? On the contrary, you are the one who brings up other people's names for no reason, stirring up trouble. Your intentions are sinister!"

As soon as the words fell, the Manifest Law Spirit arose from within, soaring into the sky!

The Nothing Is Better Than Explicit Law!

Instantly, Yin-Yang, day and night, transformed into the two characters "Opening and Closing" (bai he).

To open something means to speak, to be open, to be open, to be open.

"Holding" means closing, silence, and seclusion.

"Opening and Closing" means to use one's mouth to explain the changes of Yin-Yang and the principles of the world.

Then, the Legalist Spirit shifted, and the clouds revealed their true form; the seven emotions and six desires dissipated, transforming into a line of text—

"Willpower, desires, thoughts, and wisdom—all these enter and exit through these gates!"

This is about stating one's own ideas and strategies, using words to interfere with the will of others and to incite their desires!

After the Yin-Yang Clouds and Mist took shape, they emitted bursts of spiritual fluctuations, which clearly originated from the Sage Spirit. The surrounding scenery also became clearer, and Zhang Qin was seen flying towards the horizon.

"How much Sage Spirit does this person possess? What is his background? This attack was merely a feint, a retreat, showing he has the intention to withdraw. This demonstrates his self-control; he wasn't swayed by momentary regret or emotion! Such a person is extremely dangerous!"

With a thought, Qiu Yan's Divine Soul opened its mouth and spat out a scarlet thread, which was shimmering with blood-red light. It quickly extended and reached Zhang Qin in the blink of an eye, then directly merged into the spirit of "Rulers and People Farming Together".

Immediately afterwards, this Agricultural School Spirit seemed to leap out of his control!

"What's going on?" Zhang Qin's expression changed. He had encountered quite a few unexpected things today, but this was the most surprising. "Can the duck that's already in your mouth just fly away?"

Then, Zhang Qin scanned the area and discovered the blood-red thread. He sent his Divine Sense over to cut it off, but just as he made contact, he suddenly realized that this red thread was also a component of the Agricultural School Spirit, and it had already been combined with the "Rulers and People Farming Together" technique in his hand. Cutting it off rashly would only force the Agricultural School Spirit to erupt, which would have the opposite effect!

"What kind of magic is this silk thread?" Zhang Qin stopped his soul and detected Qiu Yan's consciousness fluctuations from the red thread. "Ha! He's trying to subdue the Agricultural School Spirit in my hands by transmitting his thoughts from afar? Wishful thinking! This move will only make him lose both his wife and his army, and that bundle of Agricultural School Spirit will also fall into my hands!"

As the thought settled, Zhang Qin opened his mouth and uttered a silent word, which transformed into spirit and merged into "the Rulers and People Farming Together".

The next moment, Zhang Qin's consciousness appeared within the Agricultural School Spirit, transmitting a thought—

"You Confucian scholar, your actions and thoughts are shallow and superficial. You cannot comprehend the profound and unfathomable meaning of the Sage. People like you have only achieved something through temporary luck, but in the end, you are just an ordinary person. The Agricultural School is already declining, and if it falls into the hands of people like you, it will only be buried further!"

He treated the Agricultural School Spirit as if it were a person, with a tone of earnest persuasion.

But then, Qiu Yan's consciousness rushed in. "The words of Sage are meant to guide the people's actions and establish Order. They are not meant to be mysterious or unfathomable. Their meaning lies in practice, not in debate. You say my actions are superficial, but you don't know that people are busy. If they don't set an example and just pretend to point fingers, they may be elegant, but how many people care? Which Sage wants their teachings to be lofty and unattainable for ordinary people? To prevent being too highbrow and unpopular, they should be incorporated into everyday life and subtly influence people!"

These words resonated with the spirit of "Rulers and People Farming Together," and bloodlust surged within them! (To be continued. Please search for the novel for better and faster updates!)