Zhang Chen felt utterly speechless, overwhelmingly speechless. He had never heard of an immortal who possessed the power to be overwhelming, yet still needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves.
It made Zhang Chen feel as though he had stepped out of a comic book about superpower users.
Take the example of the Magnetic King, who controls the steel in the world. In terms of power that shakes both heaven and earth, he’s already comparable to a ninth-tier expert in this world, yet he still cannot escape the necessities of eating, drinking, sleeping, and defecating.
Even the Incense Divine Spirits, if their physical bodies have not perished, find it challenging to escape the troublesome matters of eating, drinking, and defecating. Unlike Zhang Chen, who mastered the Qi Cultivation Technique, and after cultivating the Primordial Spirit, all food consumed is directly refined into turbid qi and expelled with exhalation.
Chen San, practicing the Confucian Dao, although he has already stepped into the eleventh tier, tempered his muscles and bones, and his body’s meridians, and has tempered jade bones, overcoming the Three Calamities, still finds it difficult to break free from the laws of the acquired world.
At this moment, Zhang Chen realized something was amiss; the opponent harbored malicious intent! Who would debate without leaving time for eating or drinking?
"Do they intend to debate with Chen San for seven days, until the day of the final duel with him?" Zhang Chen’s eyes revealed disbelief.
"It’s very possible, looking at it now! If Chen San really goes without food or drink for seven days, constantly talking, even if he doesn’t die after seven days, he will likely be half dead, with no energy left to face Zhou Qiucheng." Fox Fairy Nannan’s eyes showed a hint of urgency.
Chen San now belongs to the Demon Race camp, and Fox Fairy Nannan is also a member of the Demon Race camp; she certainly hopes Chen San will be invincible.
Upon hearing Fox Fairy Nannan’s words, Zhang Chen stroked his knees with both hands, gazing into the distance, with a look of contemplation in his eyes. After a long while, he turned back into the house, took a bottle of clear water, and then transformed it into Li Spring Water: "That old fellow gets off easy."
He then sealed the bottle and, after brief contemplation, turned to Fox Fairy Nannan: "Take this bottle of water to Chen San and have him drink it."
Fox Fairy Nannan is the saintess of the Fox Race, holding a high status within the Demon Race. Chen San’s guards include a great demon that has taken shape; they will surely recognize Fox Fairy Nannan’s identity. With her status, offering the Li Spring Water would surely not be rejected.
Furthermore, when Fox Fairy Nannan announces her name, Chen San will certainly understand the tacit understanding between them.
"This is just an ordinary bottle of water, what’s so special about it? Why do you want Chen San to drink it?" Fox Fairy Nannan took the bottle, a curious look in her eyes.
Upon hearing Fox Fairy Nannan’s words, Zhang Chen reprimanded her with a slight irritation: "Just deliver it! Remember, don’t sneak a sip on the way; if you end up poisoned, don’t blame me for not warning you."
Zhang Chen knew Fox Fairy Nannan would steal a drink, but he was too lazy to act, and since he only had Fox Fairy Nannan to run errands, he simply warned her.
A bottle of Li Spring Water that Chen San wouldn’t finish, even if Fox Fairy Nannan drank some, wouldn’t be an issue.
Moreover, she’s one of his skills—what would happen if she drank the Li Spring Water? It’d be as if he drank it himself.
Fox Fairy Nannan had already vanished, leaving Zhang Chen standing within the house, holding a book and sighing, "The storm is about to come, the wind fills the tower."
In Chen San’s courtyard, bodies were piled high on the ground. Chen San stood in place, his face slightly pale, lips showing traces of dry skin.
Yet his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were strong; despite sleepless debate throughout the night, he didn’t show mental fatigue.
Though debating requires keeping Essence, Qi, and Spirit in high-speed operation, ensuring their constant high-speed movement, for Chen San’s powerful Essence, Qi, and Spirit, a mere night is nothing; he can endure it.
But his stomach growled with hunger, and his throat felt parched, making him somewhat irritable.
Anyone would feel extremely irritable standing here speaking all night.
Amidst a gap in the debate, suddenly an attendant approached, holding a jade bottle, then whispered into Chen San’s ear:
"Sir, it’s from Zhang Chen."
Upon hearing this, Chen San calmly accepted the jade bottle, signaling to the attendant that he understood, then gently opened the lid to take a sip. In the next moment, Chen San’s pupils contracted, his eyes showing disbelief as he looked down at the jade bottle, momentarily dazed.
"Chen San, I find your scholarship lacking. I want to wager my life to debate with you!" A determined scholar stepped forward, face full of indignation as he looked at Chen San.
Upon hearing this, Chen San nodded calmly: "If you don’t value your life, then of course I won’t stop you."
Another debate commenced, stretching from dawn until dusk, with dozens more lives added to the ground.
When the lamps were lit, Fox Fairy Nannan came in from outside the door again, cursing: "Those guys are shameless, utterly shameless! Today Chen Sanliang only drank a little water, and still hasn’t run out of grain. They want to exhaust Chen Sanliang before the debate. Even if they can’t exhaust him to death, they can deplete his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, hindering him from maintaining a peak state in the debate with Zhou Qiucheng."
"This is an open conspiracy! Since Chen Sanliang debates the world, there is no reason to retreat. These people have united to seek out Chen Sanliang for a debate, and Chen Sanliang will certainly not hide. His great path accommodates all, yet it is doomed to advance without retreat. With Chen Sanliang’s arrogance, he would rather debate to death than retreat even a step." Zhang Chen’s voice was filled with sighs.
As time slowly passed, a day and a night went by, and people were already crowded in Chen Sanliang’s courtyard, with stretcher after stretcher being used to move people out.
Outside Chen Sanliang’s courtyard, there were white mourning clothes everywhere, cries rising and falling, heartrendingly. There were children crying ’Father’, women crying ’Husband’, fathers calling their sons, and mothers with blood-curdling wails in continuous succession.
For a time, the cries rose and fell, echoing throughout Jinling City.
In the deep night, Zhang Chen stood in the patio, listening to the cries from the street, with an inexplicable expression in his eyes: "Jinling has undergone a great change of blood, many of the nobles in Jinling City are dead."
Anyone who knew how to read or write, weren’t they all noble offspring?
Those who could stand with Chen Sanliang in the debate were no ordinary scholars, but renowned Great Scholars, educators, the backbone of Confucianism with countless disciples and followers, their influence was extraordinary. At this moment, to thwart Chen Sanliang, they put in their all, gathering the Confucian elite from Jiangnan Dao, staking everything on one battle to defeat Chen Sanliang.
Unfortunately, Chen Sanliang was too strong, the Universal Education path was too powerful, an invincible path incapable of being defeated. Even if they rallied various theories in turn, they were no match for Chen Sanliang, dismantled by him without a shred of decency, their scholarly spirits shattered.
"It’s all their own doing, if the Academy hadn’t wanted to seize Chen Sanliang’s doctrine, why cause such trouble now? Now Chen Sanliang dominates the world, continually breaking the spines of one Confucian scholar after another, and the Academy is like a turtle hiding its head, infuriatingly silent!" Zhang Chen felt the Academy was not behaving properly in this matter.
If the Academy had intervened, the situation wouldn’t have escalated to today’s extent.
But Zhang Chen knew, the Academy was the last stronghold of Confucianism, the last hope. Without finding Chen Sanliang’s flaw and destroying his doctrine in one fell swoop, they would never intervene easily.
The Academy was waiting, waiting for Chen Sanliang to show a flaw, to find his flaw, and then deliver a fatal blow.
"This world is too cruel." Zhang Chen could analyze the Academy’s attitude and the mindsets of the various elders within the Academy.
They were waiting for a surefire victory, otherwise if the Academy were defeated, Confucianism would be over, completely collapsing and unable to flourish.
The Academy was the Sea Calming Force, without a guaranteed hit, they would never strike easily.
Zhang Chen watched coldly on the sidelines, after all, this was a calamity caused by the Academy, he had no reason to take responsibility on behalf of them.
Moreover, neither the Great Victory Court nor the Academy was taking any action, Zhang Chen couldn’t believe they had no strategy, surely they had begun to plot secretly, just that so far the plan’s reason hasn’t been revealed.
While countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Chen’s mind, a sound came from outside the door. Fox Fairy Nannan, with a fervent expression, entered the room, staring wide-eyed at Zhang Chen: "What is the thing in your bottle? It possesses such incredible power?"
"Continue to monitor Chen Sanliang’s movements, if anything unusual occurs, you must swiftly report back to me." Zhang Chen spoke sternly.
His voice contained a hint of seriousness.
"Give me some of that water, and I’ll help you keep a good watch on Chen Sanliang." Fox Fairy Nannan moved closer, full of flattery.
"Your physical body is gone, soul is gone, only a bit of True Spirit remains, what use is the Li Spring water?" Zhang Chen was puzzled.
"Li Spring? Is that the name of this water?" Fox Fairy Nannan asked curiously and then explained to Zhang Chen:
"Though I have no use for this, my Fox Race ancestor could use it."
Zhang Chen glanced at Fox Fairy Nannan, Bai Cang had already infiltrated the Imperial Palace, yet Fox Fairy Nannan was still able to contact Bai Cang?
"I wonder if Bai Cang has arrived in Kyoto yet, probably not right? After all, Northern Land is quite far from Kyoto." Zhang Chen mused to himself, then instead of refuting Fox Fairy Nannan’s words, he said: "You handle your affairs first, once they’re done, I will give you the Li Spring water."
Just the Li Spring water, precious to the living beings of the Material Realm, but for Zhang Chen, it’s just so-so. If he wants more, he can convert it directly, a profitless venture.
Li Spring water was worthless to Zhang Chen, Fox Fairy Nannan wanted some, and giving her a little to keep her compliant in assisting his tasks was no problem.