Emergence

The Xu Residence.

In the study, Xu Qi'an sat at his desk, his fingers lightly tapping the surface as he watched the Carving Knife swirling and moving around the room.

One premise, two conditions

He repeated the sentence, and suddenly felt enlightened. Long ago, Xu Qi'an had been puzzled by the fact that the decline of the Great Feng Kingdom's National Fate had led to the decline of its national strength, which in turn caused a series of disasters.

As First Rank sorcerer, the Superintendent was the same age as the nation. He should have retrieved the Fate and restored a bright and prosperous Great Feng Dynasty, but he did not do so.

Only now do I realize that from the very beginning, the Superintendent's plans were not merely for the sake of building a dynasty.

What he wanted was a Martial God; what he wanted to support was a Gatekeeper.

After knowing the answer, many of the plans that Superintendent previously seemed incomprehensible to others became reasonable and clear.

This game of chess truly has a holistic impact. Xu Qi'an pulled his wandering thoughts back to "one premise and two conditions."

"Senior, I possess half of the Great Feng Dynasty's National Fate, the Fate left by the Buddha's previous incarnation, and the Fate of Mahayana Buddhism. Do I already meet this prerequisite?"

He humbly sought advice.

"I'm just a Carving Knife!"

The ancient Carving Knife, gleaming with a clear light, replied perfunctorily:

"That damned Confucian Sage wouldn't tell me these things."

You're clearly indifferent. The Confucian Sage didn't say anything, but you're Carving Knife that's been around for over 1200 years; you must have your own insights, right? Xu Qi'an frowned.

He hesitated for a moment and said:

"Our predecessors followed the Confucian Sage in writing books and biographies; their knowledge must have been extremely profound."

Upon hearing this, the Carving Knife immediately became interested and hovered in front of Xu Qi'an:

"Of course, my knowledge is in no way inferior to that of the Confucian Sage. It's a pity he changed; he became jealous of my talent and even sealed me away."

Why are you asking this?

Xu Qi'an then said:

"To be honest, I plan to write a book and a collection of poems to pass on after the great calamity."

"But writing a book is a great undertaking, and I, a junior, am of limited talent and learning."

The ancient Carving Knife gleamed with a dazzling light, and it couldn't wait to say:

"I'll teach you! I'll teach you!"

It was clear that the spirit's emotions had become excited.

Xu Qi'an quickly stood up and bowed with delight:

"Then I'll have to trouble you, senior."

"Well, but with a great calamity looming, I have no heart for writing books. I'll wait until after we've dealt with the calamity. So, senior, you must help me out."

The Carving Knife pondered for a moment, "Since you are so understanding and have given me a satisfactory reward, I will offer a few pointers."

Before Xu Qi'an could express his gratitude, it went straight to the point:

"First of all, there is the premise of gathering Fate. As the Confucian Sage once said, after experiencing the era of Human Race Gods and Devils and the era of human-demon war, the Fate heaven and earth has returned to the human race, and the prosperity of the Human Race is an inevitable trend."

"As the birthplace of Human Race Central Plains, the Central Plains ' dynasties have accumulated the greatest amount of Human Race's Fate. Therefore, the Transcendent Rank seek to gradually encroach upon the Central Plains and plunder its Fate."

I already know all of this, you don't need to elaborate. (Xu Qi'an's inner monologue)

"Although you possess the National Fate of Central Plains dynasty, how do you compare to Buddha and the Shaman God?" the Carving Knife asked.

Xu Qi'an pondered seriously for a moment, "Compared to them, my accumulated Fate is probably still insufficient."

The Buddha embodies the Fate of the entire Western Regions. The Shaman God should be slightly weaker, but he should not be underestimated, because the Fate of the Northern Territory has been entirely given to Him.

In addition, Fate is something that may be stored through special means.

It's hard to say that they don't have extra Fate in their hands.

The Carving Knife asked again:

"Then how much Fate do you think is needed to kill a Transcendent Rank Martial God?"

Xu Qi'an did not answer, but he made a judgment in his heart: the Fate he had gathered might not be enough.

The ancient Carving Knife gleamed steadily, conveying its intent:

"I don't know exactly how much Fate Martial God needs; I can only give a rough estimate. You'd better continue to extract Fate from the Great Feng. More is always better than less."

That makes sense, but now that the Superintendent not here, how can I absorb the Great Feng's Fate? By the way, Zhao Shou is already Second Rank official. Xu Qi'an asked:

Can Confucian School help me gain Fate?

Confucian School is one of the few systems among the major systems that can control the Fate.

"Dream on! Don't even think about it!" the Carving Knife immediately rejected.

"Confucian School requires cultivation through Fate, but its core magic is to modify the rules, not to Manipulation Fate."

"Simple influences might be possible, but to obtain the Great Feng Fate and infuse it into your body is something only Second Rank sorcerer can do."

In that case, we can only wait for Senior Brother Sun to advance to the Second Rank, but advancing from the third rank to the second is no easy feat. For the sake of the common people, I can only sleep with Huaiqing. Xu Qi'an sighed helplessly as he spoke:

"What does it mean to gain the world's approval?"

The Carving Knife gleamed with a clear light, conveying a thought tinged with a smile:

You have already gained the recognition of the world.

"Since you rose to fame, everything you've done has been observed by the Superintendent, which is why he chose you instead of diverting his Fate to cultivate someone else."

Everyone knows Xu Qi'an's great achievements, and everyone knows that Silver Gong Xu are as good as gold.

Knowing that he was the master of the people, he dared to kill the king for the sake of the people.

All the things he had done along the way had unknowingly earned him one of the qualifications to advance to the Martial God.

Xu Qi'an nodded, seemingly unsurprised, and asked the second question:

"Then how can one gain the approval of Heaven and Earth?"

The Carving Knife remained silent for a long time before saying:

"I don't know, the description of gaining the approval of Heaven and Earth is too vague, and I'm afraid even the Confucian Sage himself might not be clear about it."

"But I have a guess: the Transcendent Rank want to replace the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps, after you decide to oppose the Transcendent Rank and confront them head-on, you will gain the approval of Heaven and Earth."

Xu Qi'an hummed in agreement, then said:

I have an idea too.

He told the story about the Peace Saber.

"The Superintendent said that those are the Gatekeeper's weapons, and they are what qualified me to be Gatekeeper."

The Carving Knife thought for a moment and replied:

"Then we can only wait for it to wake up."

After finishing their business, the Carving Knife didn't linger and flew out of the open window.

Xu Qi'an took out the Earth Book Fragment, pondered for a moment, and then told the members of the Heaven and Earth Society the two conditions for advancing to the Martial God.

However, it concealed "one premise".

[One: Gaining the world's approval, hmm, the Carving Knife makes sense, and your guess is also reasonable. We'll see the outcome when the Peace Saber awakens.]

[Four: It's simpler than I imagined, but that makes sense. The Gatekeeper guards the Heavenly Gate, so naturally he must first gain the approval of heaven and earth.]

[Seven: The Carving Knife is wrong. Heavenly Dao is ruthless and does not approve of anyone. If opposing the Transcendent Rank could gain Heavenly Dao's approval, the Confucian Sage would have been the Gatekeeper long ago. I think the key lies with the Peace Saber.]

The Holy Son spoke actively, possessing sufficient authority in discussions of the Way of Heavenly Dao.

[Nine: In any case, we've finally solved the problem that has been troubling us. The next calamity is approaching; the Gu God should break the seal before the Shaman God. Our focus should be on the Western Regions and the Southern Frontier.]

Once the Gu God heads north and attacks the Central Plains, the Buddha will definitely cooperate with the Gu God.

If Buddha can divide the Central Plains before the Shaman God breaks free of the seal, then his chances of winning will be the greatest among the Transcendent Rank.

[Three: I understand.]

After ending the group chat, Xu Qi'an sent a private message to Huaiqing.

[Three: Your Majesty, there is actually another prerequisite for advancing to the Martial God.]

[1: What are the prerequisites?]

Huaiqing replied immediately.

[Part Three: Gathering Fate!]

After the message was sent, there was complete silence on the other end.

Without Xu Qi'an needing to explain in detail, Huaiqing seemed to understand the meaning of the words instantly.

"Huh, the aura of the Gu God."

As the Carving Knife swept across the courtyard, it suddenly stopped, sensing the aura of the Gu God.

He immediately turned the blade towards the inner hall and with a "whoosh," it flew away.

It transformed into a stream of light and entered the inner hall, locking onto the little girl who was crouching by the hall door, intently staring at a potted orange tree.

She had a round face and a naive expression, and didn't seem very bright.

Xu Lingyin was engrossed in her own world and didn't notice the Carving Knife that suddenly appeared, but her aunt Mu Nanzhi and the other women were startled by the "uninvited guest".

"This is the Carving Knife of the Confucian Sage!"

Lina said.

She had seen this Carving Knife many times.

Upon hearing that it was the Carving Knife of the Confucian Sage, the aunt felt relieved, and her beautiful eyes lit up.

"Why does she possess the aura of the Gu God?" The Carving Knife's thoughts reached everyone's ears.

"The Gu God wanted to take her as his disciple, but Xu Ning refused. The foundation of the Seven Absolutes Gu is in her body," Lina explained.

"This is a hidden danger. Once the Gu God gets close to the Central Plains, she will inevitably be transformed into a Gu, and no one can save her," the Carving Knife said in a deep voice.

"Even the Gu God can use her body to bestow his will."

Upon hearing this, the aunt was greatly alarmed:

Is there any way to resolve this?

"It's difficult!" The Carving Knife shook its tip. "But with a Half-Step Martial God in the family, there's not too much to worry about."

The aunt thought for a moment, clinging to a sliver of hope:

"Are you the Carving Knife of the Confucian Sage?"

Because of the Peace Saber, the aunt not only accepted that the weapon could talk, but could also communicate with the weapon without any obstacles.

Although my aunt was just an ordinary woman, she usually associated with high-ranking people.

Gradually, this broadened my horizons.

"There's no need to add the name ' Confucian Sage '," the Carving Knife said discontentedly.

"Mmm!" Auntie readily complied, raising her beautiful face and gazing intently at the Carving Knife:

"Could you tutor my daughter in her studies?"

"How could this be of any use!" The Carving Knife conveyed disdain, feeling that its aunt's suggestion was a waste of its talents. How could Confucian Sage's Carving Knife be used to teach a child to read?

"With just a gentle touch, I can help her begin her education."

Amidst her aunt's overjoyed thanks, the tip of the Carving Knife gently touched Xu Lingyin's brow.

The Little Bean blinked, looking completely bewildered, not understanding what was happening.

A few seconds later, the Carving Knife left her brow and hovered motionless in the air.

Auntie asked happily:

"My daughter has started her first education?"

The Carving Knife remained silent for a long while before slowly saying:

"Let's talk about how to deal with the Seven Absolutes Gu."

Aunt: "???"

Southern Frontier!

In the Extreme Abyss, the Confucian Sage statue, its body covered in cracks, emitted a series of fine "crackling" sounds. The next moment, the statue collapsed with a crash.

The power of the Gu God transformed into a dense fog that blotted out the sky, swirling across tens of thousands of miles of plains, valleys, and rivers in the Southern Frontier, bringing about terrifying changes.

Trees grew eyes, flowers grew fangs, animals transformed into Gu beasts, and fish and shrimp in the river grew lungs and limbs, climbing ashore to fight against land creatures.

Depending on the type of pollution they are exposed to, they exhibit different variations.

Among the same race, some became Shadow Gu, and some became Strength Gu; what they had in common was that they all lacked reason.

Different types of Gu (a type of poisonous insect) enjoy devouring and killing each other.

The Southern Frontier has been completely transformed into a world of Gu (a type of poison/drug).

On the border between Southern Frontier and Yuzhou, Long Tu and his leaders are clearing out the Gu beasts along the border.

Although Gu beasts lack reason, do not actively attack cities or seize strongholds, and prefer to stay in places where the power of the Gu God is abundant, some Gu beasts will still wander aimlessly and end up at the border.

These Gu beasts are an extremely terrifying catastrophe for ordinary people.

Several small villages on the border of Yuzhou have been attacked by Gu beasts, so the Gu Race leaders come to the border every few days to kill the Gu beasts.

Suddenly, Long Tu and the others felt a jolt in their hearts, a tremor that seemed to run through their very souls, and an immense fear exploded within them.

They turned their heads or looked back, gazing south.

At this moment, all the Gu beasts in the entire Southern Frontier prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling in submission.

Long Tu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he murmured:

"The Gu God has been born."

His expression then changed drastically:

"Quickly, notify Silver Gong Xu."