Chapter 272: Chapter 210: Chaos in Zhongzhou! The Missing Li Qingchen! _2
"Whoever disagrees, just strike them down with a sword."
Ling Si glared at Er Niu speechlessly, "You don’t understand, so don’t talk."
"The internal conflict of the Confucian way can’t be solved with a sword, it’ll tarnish the reputation of the Holy Academy."
Shu Han sighed helplessly upon hearing this, "That’s the problem."
"The Confucian Immortal once dominated the realm, because he cultivated Confucianism and used the Four Arts."
"Try replacing him with a martial artist?"
"Even if you kill all those great scholars, they won’t bow their heads."
"The internal conflict of the Confucian way can only be resolved using Confucian methods."
"You can write a critique, you can use the Four Arts to defeat them, but if you use external martial force, even if you win, others will look down on you."
Er Niu listened wide-eyed, it was the first time he heard such a thing.
"Brother Shu Han, what should we do now?" Ling Si asked.
"First, find my teacher, the Confucian Immortal."
"Second, stabilize the chaos outside Central Province City."
"Third..."
Shu Han looked at Ling Si, solemnly saying, "At the literary competition in six months, you must get first place!"
"Otherwise... the Confucian way is in danger!"
Now, the only thing that can awaken scholars across the land is the supreme honor of first place in literature, to win back people’s hearts.
The imperial faction already has a natural advantage, if scholars see that even the first place in literature belongs to the imperial faction...
The Confucian Immortal’s faction is doomed to lose.
"Huh? First place?"
"I..."
Ling Si’s eager little face stiffened, stammering without confidence:
"I can still strive for top three, first place... I’m afraid it’s impossible."
"Mu Yun of the Mu family has already mastered two of the Arts, and his poetry and prose are formidable, I’m afraid..."
Before Ling Si could finish, Er Niu got anxious.
"What are you afraid of?"
"We have Chang Qing here, what’s first place in literature, isn’t it a piece of cake?"
"Two Arts mastered? Strong in poetry and prose? Chang Qing, who hadn’t left Cyan Mountain Village over a year ago, could still beat him easily."
"Now that pathetic Mu Yun isn’t even fit to carry Chang Qing’s shoes, do you believe it?"
When it comes to their young master, Er Niu is absolutely confident.
What ’genius of the Confucian way’, tied together they’re no match for Chang Qing.
"You think I don’t want to find Chang Qing?"
"With Chang Qing here, just let him walk around the city, not only scholars but even members of the imperial faction would switch sides."
Saying this, Shu Han helplessly said again, "But can you dare call Chang Qing here now?"
"Chang Qing, stored the spirit of the grand aura within the sculpture of the Literary Emperor, it could almost make him become a saint in a day."
"Are you sure Su Domain Master won’t break your legs?"
Back then, the Confucian Immortal and Su Nan both concealed Chang Qing’s talent repeatedly, fearing exposure.
Su Nan even spent eighteen years building Cyan Mountain Village to cultivate Chang Qing’s demeanor.
If this disrupts Su Domain Master’s plans, it might be more terrifying than an internal struggle of Confucianism.
"Uh... sorry, I forgot."
Er Niu said with an embarrassed chuckle.
If Chang Qing walked around Central Province and suddenly became a saint, the Patriarch would surely kill him.
The emperor’s path has yet to appear, once becoming a saint, there’s barely any hope to ascend as the Great Emperor and resetting cultivation is impossible.
Of course, actually, none of them knew yet.
In these days of absence, Su Changqing had fully understood his innate talent.
Also discovered the true strength of the Four Arts he learned.
Even if Shu Han doesn’t seek Su Changqing, it’s likely he would come on his own in due time.
"Brother Shu Han, then what do we do next?"
Ling Si was at a loss too, looking at Shu Han expectantly.
"You first go into the city and drive away those scholars’ disciples."
Shu Han looked at Ling Si, blinked, and said, "If you can’t beat them, borrow a couple of poems from Chang Qing, it’s not the first time anyway."
"Remember to ask Chang Qing for some fierce ones, to suppress the arrogance of those scholars’ disciples."
Ling Si blushed slightly upon hearing this, glaring fiercely at Er Niu.
Her dark history was thoroughly exposed by this foolish ox.
Er Niu awkwardly scratched his head with a smile, quickly looking elsewhere.
"As for the rest, I still need to arrange some manpower to find the teacher."
Shu Han frowned tightly, "Without the teacher overseeing, if a fight breaks out, we’re afraid..."
Buzz!
Before Shu Han could finish, the communication talisman at his waist suddenly vibrated.
He picked it up and his spirit was instantly rejuvenated, a joyful expression appearing on his face.
[Senior Brother Bo Gu: I’m in the Eastern Domain, I’ve found a lead on the teacher, hold down the fort, wait for the teacher and me to return...]
...
The Eastern Domain, endless barren mountains.
This place is devoid of grass and trees, no living beings land here, a shroud of malevolent aura drifts around, eerily quiet.
And at this moment, a man wearing a wise crown and a long robe, with hair slightly gray and meticulously combed, suddenly appeared in mid-air.
"This is..."
Bo Gu looked at the scarlet ground below with a solemn expression, "A Dark Forbidden Area under suppression?"
As the top disciple of the Confucian Immortal, Bo Gu’s cultivation was extremely formidable, he could vaguely feel the peculiarity of the land beneath his feet.
Only the legendary Dark Forbidden Areas emit that discomforting aura that repels from the soul’s depths.
"Why did the sensing with the teacher suddenly break off here?"
Bo Gu stood afloat, his expression shifting between sunny and gloomy.
He practiced one of the Four Arts of the Immortals, the Chess Realm·Immortal Finger, and had long entered the path.
The Four Arts of the Immortals are peculiar, originally a complete set, once one enters the path, it fosters an inexplicable sensing between practitioners.
During this time, as upheaval raged in Central Province, Bo Gu traversed the continent, using that sensing between the Four Arts to search for the vanished Li Qingchen.
The continent was vast, he visited many places but found nothing, almost to the point of giving up.
Yet just as he was about to return to the Sacred Academy, the sensing suddenly grew intense near here.
He thought he had found the teacher’s location, but as he approached, the sensing mysteriously vanished.
"Could it be that the teacher... accidentally entered the Dark Forbidden Area and got trapped inside?"
This thought made Bo Gu’s expression change drastically, his heart filled with urgency.
Without any hesitation, he headed straight into the depths of the endless barren mountains.
Ordinarily, upon learning it’s a Dark Forbidden Area, one would run as far as possible.
But driven by the urgency to save someone, and with his cultivation at the peak of Great Saint, Bo Gu decided to take the risk.
But who would have thought, before he could fly far, a barrier shrouded in a bizarre black mist suddenly emerged.
"Open!"
Bo Gu’s brows knitted fiercely, his two fingers moved like pinchers, a giant chessboard, covering the sky, unfolded thunderously under his feet.
His two fingers struck the barrier, the terrifying aura tearing even the void.
Yet, bizarrely, this incredibly powerful strike couldn’t even make the barrier waver.
The barrier, like a beast opening its huge mouth in the dark, silently swallowed all the energy aura.
But this strike was not without effect, the interrupted sensing reappeared!
This discovery caused Bo Gu’s pupils to contract sharply,
"The teacher... is really inside!"
...
In the small world, the Immortal Spirit Sect.
"Sect Leader, the Dark Forbidden Area in the endless barren mountains has been rumbling incessantly recently, a Great Saint expert is continuously striking the seal array."
A few days passed, and the Immortal Spirit Sect, not far from the Forbidden Area, noticed the anomaly and hastily reported it.
Now that creatures from the Forbidden Area have emerged, such matters cannot be taken lightly.
"Striking the seal array of the Forbidden Area? Who is it?" Immortal Fu furrowed her brows and inquired.
The location of the Immortal Spirit Sect was originally meant to suppress the Forbidden Area in the barren mountains, preventing darkness from descending.
However, usually, it’s creatures from the Forbidden Area wanting to come out, with few from the continent’s Human Race wanting to go in.
Or rather, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t get in, as the terrifying defense of the seal array is difficult to breach even for a Quasi-Emperor.
"It’s from the Central Province Sacred Academy, the top disciple of the Confucian Immortal, Chess Saint Bo Gu." The elder truthfully reported.
"Disciple of the Confucian Immortal..."
Immortal Fu didn’t know what she thought of, her eyes revealing a look of realization.
She pondered for a moment, then waved her hand, lightly sighing, "Forget it, let him be."
"With his strength, he cannot damage that formation an iota, it’s merely a distant hope."
Because the Forbidden Area in the barren mountains was nearby, Immortal Fu knew a bit about Li Qingchen’s past activities.
Moreover, some time ago, the barren mountains shook, ten thousand dragons roared, and killing intent surged to the heavens.
At that time, Immortal Fu knew that Li Qingchen had stepped into the Forbidden Area again, though this time, it would be incredibly difficult for him to come out again.
"Unexpectedly, even the illustrious Confucian Immortal is a love-obsessed fool."
Immortal Fu looked towards the direction of the Forbidden Area, lightly sighing, "For a woman doomed to die, what’s the point?"
"Now the Confucian path is in peril without you anchoring it, the Sacred Academy may no longer exist in the future."
Saying that, she shook her head, "Forget it, what does the Confucian path have to do with my Immortal Spirit Sect."
"Important matters are still at hand, let’s see how Meng’er and Chang Qing are doing..."
With a series of self-talk, Immortal Fu disappeared from the great hall.
At the same time.
Su Changqing, in a pavilion of the Immortal Spirit Sect, was looking out with slightly furrowed brows, somewhat lost in thought.
"Why has my heart been restless these days?"
"That special sensing... what exactly is it?"