Thinking Back to the Day He Proved Confucianism, Zhen Was Startled While An Ran About and Xi Bathed in Blood

"It's Junior Brother Xi's voice!"

An Jin's expression changed, and she turned and hurriedly walked back!

"What happened?" Zhen Zhizuo also looked surprised, his eyes showing anxiety.

This time, the Eastern Capital School gathered together and sent its disciples westward to Prosperity Capital, all because of a letter from Senior Chen.

A year ago, Senior Chen arrived in Prosperity Capital to verify his learning with this Buddhist sect from the west. While Qiu Yan and others arrived in Eastern Capital and discussed the Heavenly Principle Pavilion with He Shuchang, Senior Chen was still in Prosperity Capital debating with the people of that sect, so he did not show up.

Both sides used their own arguments to verify and refute each other's views. Later, Senior Chen found many things worth learning from the other side's theories, so he simply stayed in the temple and talked with the three monks from time to time.

However, half a month ago, around the time of the Metropolitan Examination, the Fortune and Literary Thought in Xingjing Imperial City suddenly changed rapidly, ripples spreading throughout the Void and affecting various Order, which resulted in those seeking the Dao inside and outside the city gaining something to varying degrees.

The "seeking the Way" here does not refer to the narrow sense of cultivating the Way, but rather to the pursuit of the ultimate principles of Heaven and Earth.

Afterwards, Senior Chen sent a message to Eastern Capital, asking his disciples to come over so that he could give him some guidance while he was still feeling emotional.

At that time, the Eastern Capital just experienced the great calamity of the Scholar Forest. Many scholars whose Soul Entry into the Scholar Forest returned with severely damaged souls. It would take them several years to recover, and during this period they would be absent-minded and inevitably delay their studies.

When Great Chen learned of this, he knew that the Great Brahma Temple had a method for restoring mental clarity and calming the mind, which was mentioned by the three monks. So he brought it up in his letter.

This finally led to a situation where several schools of thought came together.

Those whose Soul Entry into the Scholar Forest were all outstanding figures from various schools of thought, the seeds of learning. For both public and private reasons, their minds and spirits could not be allowed to be damaged. However, there were also many interests involved behind the scenes, which made the academies hesitant. The most important point was that they could not be misled by the Great Chen.

The Confucian Way and Daoist Sect.

For cultivators, secret manuals and Cultivation Method are the foundation of their sect and cannot be revealed casually. They are often regarded as sect secrets and are not easily shown to others. Only the most core successors can learn them.

However, different academic schools of thought have different founding principles. Their purpose is to promote what they have learned, and naturally, the more people who know about it, the better. Even those who are not members of their own school may develop a yearning or resonance after one or two lectures, and eventually be educated by them.

Such examples are numerous throughout history. Many schools of thought, due to unstable lineage, scattered like birds and beasts immediately after the death of one or two Grand Confucian or Grandmaster, with their disciples being absorbed by other schools.

This time, many schools of thought in the Eastern Capital sent people with similar concerns, so they each kept their own contingency plans in place. Otherwise, wouldn't it be tantamount to training talents for other schools of thought?

Like the Nine Abyss Academy, their trump card was hidden on the leaders An Jin and Xi Muyuan.

However, things didn't go as planned. Xi Muyuan had already damaged his physical strength, and on his way west, he encountered an unexpected accident, which worsened his condition, and now he was unable to get off the carriage.

When talking about Xi Muyuan, one cannot help but mention the Apricot Altar Dao Discourse.

With the start of the Metropolitan Examination, the Apricot Altar Dao Discourse officially came to a close. During this forum, many students and Confucian scholars entered the forest from the Sage Worthies Hall in various places, wandering with their souls and encountering mystical phenomena. The gains they made in the Lin Zhong were far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

However, the risks involved were also enormous. Furthermore, other Continent entered the area and secretly took ruthless actions, forcing several academies to send more elites in in order to minimize their losses. Xi Muyuan was one of them.

After experiencing many twists and turns, Xi Muyuan actually made great contributions to the Scholar Forest. At least on the surface, he saved many students from the academies and became a meritorious official, leaving behind some goodwill.

Therefore, even though Zhen Zhizuo was a disciple of the Heavenly Principle Academy, he had no choice but to treat him with courtesy and dare not let his condition worsen. So he quickly sent letters to Eastern Capital and Prosperity Capital and learned that there was a treatment method in Great Brahma Temple before he was relieved.

Unexpectedly, after finally arriving at their destination, an accident occurred.

Xi Muyuan screamed in pain, but his senior brother An Jin was taking care of him Zhen Zhizuo couldn't go over, so he quickly thought of what had happened and asked the young monk, "May I ask, young brother, who was taking care of the patient in the carriage?"

The young novice monk, clearly unaccustomed to such a scene, was sweating profusely. He hurriedly replied, "These are my senior brothers, all of whom are somewhat versed in Buddhist teachings and martial arts, and are also well-versed in etiquette. They were originally on their way to congratulate the new top scholar, but upon learning of your arrival, they changed their plans and came to greet you." He tried his best to clarify the situation to prevent Zhen Zhizuo from misunderstanding.

"Congratulating the new top scholar?" Zhen Zhizuo's heart skipped a beat, sensing something was amiss, but he still continued to ask, "Then the new top scholar is only produced once every three years, do you celebrate for him every year?"

"I'm not quite sure about that, since I only started practicing in the last two years," the young novice said, scratching his bald head with an apologetic expression. "However, I suppose it's to spread the light of Buddhism. I heard from my fellow disciples that our masters have been doing good deeds in every way to spread the light of Buddhism, but with little effect. So, this celebration for the top scholar might be a way to curry favor."

The young novice monk was quite young; in Qiu Yan's previous life, he would have been a student. But in this world, he had to learn to support his family at a very young age, so he was aware of the rules of interpersonal relationships and was not completely ignorant of them.

"Is it advocated by the school of thought of propagation?" Zhen Zhizuo did not have a deep understanding of the Buddhist Sect, so he thought about it from the perspective of Confucianism.

However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the young novice's next words—

"By the way, your old gentleman, the one who discussed Buddhism with the three masters, also sent a congratulatory gift. Why don't you just ask him directly?"

"What?" Zhen Zhizuo was stunned upon hearing this, his expression suddenly changing as if he had encountered something unbelievable. "You mean, Teacher Great Chen scholar?"

"Yes, what's so strange about it?" The young monk was taken aback by Zhen Zhizuo's strong reaction, thinking he had said something wrong.

Of course it's strange!

What is Senior Chen's identity?

What is the identity of this year's top scholar?

The Great Chen, hailed as a living Sage, is far superior to the top scholar who is only awarded the title every three years.

"The teacher gave Qiu Yan a congratulatory gift? How is Qiu Yan qualified to accept it?" This question lingered in his mind. It wasn't that Zhen Zhizuo intended to belittle Qiu Yan, but the matter was too shocking for him to understand.

Suddenly, Zhen Zhizuo remembered the group of Zhang Cheng he had encountered on his way here.

"Zhang Cheng also said that they went to offer their congratulations on the orders of Void Master. The monks of Great Brahma Temple were able to discuss the Dao with Master Great Chen for a long time, so they were obviously not ordinary people. It is too strange that they also sent people to congratulate Qiu Yan!"

As he pondered, an idea popped into his head, startling Zhen Zhizuo. He suddenly remembered that when Xu Shi, the headmaster of the Ritual Reverence Academy, Great Cheng in his studies a few years ago, several leading scholars from various schools of Eastern Capital sent people to congratulate him. It was only after that that Xu Shi was officially recognized as Grand Confucian and Grandmaster.

"Could it be... impossible! This is absolutely impossible! Although Qiu Yan is extremely talented, it's impossible for him to reach that level so easily; it will take at least another ten years!"

Zhen Zhizuo personally Shu Region to meet Qiu Yan and presided over a ceremony, hoping to welcome him into the Heavenly Principle Academy. Although he was unsuccessful, his understanding of Qiu Yan was unmatched by ordinary people. It can be said that he had watched Qiu Yan's journey and his amazing skills in Eastern Capital.

However, as he thought about it, he became somewhat uncertain again, and he remembered Qiu Yan's painting and the Nine Paintings Speak of Antiquity times.

Each of the nine paintings is an astonishing work of art, and together they vividly depict the Ancient Scene, leaving many Grand Confucian and Grandmaster in awe. It would be almost unimaginable for others to have achieved such a feat.

"Given this level of progress, it's not entirely impossible."

Just then, An Jin's anxious voice came from the side. Looking in the direction of the voice, one could see a young man in his twenties struggling to walk while holding onto a carriage. His face was pale, and the veins and blood vessels under his skin were visible. He was panting heavily and staggering as he walked, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

This man was Xi Muyuan, a renowned figure in Eastern Capital, but he looked extremely haggard, his eyes bloodshot, and he tried to break free from An Jin's support.

Given his current physical condition, and seemingly from some unknown source of strength, he managed to take a few steps forward, though he couldn't shake off the latter. Staring at the young novice, he asked in a hoarse, low voice, "Speak! Who is the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

His appearance terrified the young novice, but under the gaze of those bloodshot eyes, the novice still answered tremblingly, "I... I heard it's Qiu Yan from Jiannan Circuit."

"Qiu Yan... Qiu Yan..."

As he pondered the name, an unusual blush rose on Xi Muyuan's pale face, making An Jin realize something was wrong. She wanted to comfort him, but didn't know where to begin.

"I thought that by fighting to the death in Scholar Forest this time, I could catch up to something, at least wash away the shame twice, but I never expected this..."

Before he could finish speaking, a bald, burly man walked out of the courtyard, bowed to everyone, looked in the direction of the convoy, noticed a few figures, and immediately frowned, saying, "Leave this matter to me. You all go and congratulate the new top scholar. The three masters and Mr. Chen are still waiting for our reply!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a "poof" was heard, Xi Muyuan's face drained of all color. He spat out a spurt of blood and fell backward.

His collapse and subsequent death threw the convoy into chaos.

In the chaos, no one noticed that a glimmer of light flashed in Xi Muyuan's unclosed eyes, his soul detaching from its body, quickly turning pitch black, and sinking into the soil.

On the other side, inside the carriage where Xi Muyuan was riding, a crystal-clear bead rolled out from the corner, and a graceful figure slowly materialized. It turned out to be a woman, with a slender tail curving and swaying behind her.

"What a useless person, dying so quickly! Is this what you call a paragon of Human Path?"

With a thought, the woman's pupils suddenly became vertical slits!

ps:

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