Chapter 27

Ye Fu could more or less conclude that this was a world devoted purely to immortal cultivation. Its civilization had developed entirely around cultivation, without advancing at all in science or physics.

The primers were not all that different from those of ancient Earth. The core ideas they taught and expressed could even be considered Confucianism.

Naturally, this posed no difficulty for Ye Fu. He could not claim to have mastered the essence of every one of the Three Books and Five Classics, their commentaries and explanations of characters, but his knowledge was enough to qualify him to teach. After buying five copies of each primer he needed, Ye Fu returned home.

He thought that, since he was just beginning to teach, he would test the waters with a few students first. Thus, he had not prepared many desks, chairs, or books.

Before long, Qin Sanyue returned with news as well. The carpenter said he could finish the five requested sets of desks and chairs that afternoon.

It seemed everything was ready; all that remained was to recruit students.

In this world without the internet, there were basically only two ways to advertise: calling out to passersby or posting written notices.

Naturally, Ye Fu would not lower his dignity by calling out for students, so he chose to write notices. He had asked earlier and learned that, as long as he had a "permit to operate" in hand, he could post the relevant notices openly without being punished.

Using the local script, he wrote out several copies of the notice neatly, stroke by stroke, then gave them to Qin Sanyue to post.

He himself returned to a careful study of this world's "Confucianism." From his reading, he had learned that even in this world of immortal cultivation, scholars were mostly called "Confucians." It was not merely a name, either; there was a major school of thought here called by that same name-the Confucian school.

Only when he began studying this world's Confucian school in earnest did Ye Fu remember that, in The Long Immortal Road, he had even raised "reading" to the maximum level. In the game's terms, he had once become an immortal through reading and cultivated Vast Righteous Qi throughout his body.

Because his usual state was one of cultivating Spiritual Qi to become an immortal, he had not really experienced what it felt like to have a body full of Vast Righteous Qi. It was like when he had made clothes earlier. Before making them, he likewise could not feel what it was like to have max-level craftsmanship. Only when he actually started making clothes did that max-level skill naturally come to him, allowing him to experience it.

Ye Fu hummed thoughtfully. He planned to see what it was like to enter his reading state first, so he would know what to expect when he taught.

With a thought, Ye Fu activated his state of becoming an immortal through reading.

The instant the state settled over him, Ye Fu could not help sitting upright and proper. He felt a great change in his entire experience, and the angle from which he viewed things became somewhat different.

A presence so faint as to be imperceptible surrounded him. It spread outward, and the moment it touched the pear tree in the courtyard, the tree began to tremble. All its blossoms raced to give off light, and a faint, ethereal, far-reaching sound of recitation could just be heard among its branches.

Ye Fu knew this was a sign that the pear tree had entered the Realm of Emptiness and Clarity. It had entered because of the Vast Righteous Qi around him, which was why the sound of recitation could be heard.

"Can the presence I unconsciously let out cause such a reaction?" Ye Fu had not expected his so-called becoming an immortal through reading to have such a remarkable effect.

The pear tree had absorbed only an extremely faint wisp of Ye Fu's Vast Righteous Qi, yet it had entered the Realm of Emptiness and Clarity at once and had a chance to attain enlightenment a second time. Its first enlightenment had been only yesterday. Entering the Realm of Emptiness and Clarity twice in two consecutive days was something immortal cultivators would not even dare imagine.

"It seems I really must rein in my presence."

If a wondrous tree like the pear tree, attuned to the spirit of heaven and earth, could so easily enter the Realm of Emptiness and Clarity because of Ye Fu's Vast Righteous Qi, what would happen to a proper scholar?

Ye Fu could not imagine it, so he chose to rein in all the Vast Righteous Qi around him.

Then Ye Fu prepared to read aloud, to see what would happen when he did so in his current state.

He opened a copy of the Classic of Knowledge.

At a glance, Ye Fu frowned before he had even begun to read. Under the influence of the Vast Righteous Qi around him, this ordinary copy of the Classic of Knowledge, which cost three copper coins, looked very much as though it was about to gain sentience. It was trembling nonstop.

He raised a hand, patted the book, and said softly, "Quiet."

The book immediately stopped moving and returned to its ordinary appearance. Ye Fu had directly cut off any possibility of the book gaining sentience.

He opened his mouth and read:

"The Master said..."

But he had read only those two words when he ran out of time to continue.

High in the ninth heaven, a vast expanse of rosy light spread and descended. Every sound fell silent, and when the light had illuminated ten thousand miles, a thunderclap suddenly rang out. The clear sound of recitation descended from the heavens, filling the surroundings for tens of thousands of miles, no one knew how many, with its empty, limpid tones.

The rosy light constantly gathered and changed at the edge of the sky, winding together like dragons and phoenixes. In the blink of an eye, it formed a gigantic figure that blotted out the heavens. The figure had short hair and downcast eyes, and held a book in its hands. It read with painstaking attention, as though it were in a place beyond time.

Across the ten thousand miles below, countless pairs of eyes were drawn to the enormous "figure reading with downcast eyes" in the sky.

Accompanied by the clear sound of recitation breaking through the sunny sky, the figure formed from rosy light sent down a tide of Vast Righteous Qi that covered the heavens, like floodwaters pouring from the ninth heaven.

Black Stone City was the source of this extraordinary spectacle.

Inside the city, the youth with snow-white hair and beard opened his eyes. His face flushed, and irrepressible excitement flashed across it as he exclaimed in a trembling voice:

"Clearing light has descended upon the heavens; a sage has appeared in the world!"

He quickly stood upright, clasped his hands before him, and bowed all the way to the ground toward the figure of rosy light, shouting in a clear voice:

"We respectfully welcome the sage!"

That cry contained all his cultivation and carried throughout Black Stone City. Everyone, whether they knew what was happening or not, was moved by it. Those who knew the rites bowed, while those who did not straightened themselves and opened their eyes wide.

Together, they shouted:

"We respectfully welcome the sage!"

Cry after cry rang out. Soon, the words "We respectfully welcome the sage" spread like wildfire, passing beyond Black Stone City and sweeping across the entire Layered Cloud Kingdom.