Upon hearing Chengyu’s words, Zhang Chen laughed, "Then we’re going to make a fortune!"
While Zhang Chen was steaming rice, he saw those noble youths gathering around the fire pit, shaking off the snow on their bodies. Then the young man who previously handed out a pearl started cursing, "Damn it! Damn that Chen Sanliang! He’s really gone too far! Once we return to Jiangnan, I won’t let him off easily! Xu Lie and he are sworn enemies! He destroyed Baiya Academy, causing countless masters in Baiya Academy to destroy ancient classics, turning Baiya Academy’s heritage built over centuries into ashes. Damn him! This beast, how did he manage to succeed? My master was forced to death by him. He’s truly a beast."
The young man named Xu Lie’s voice was filled with grief, "Baiya Academy is the layout of the Xu Family in the Northern Land for a thousand years, all destroyed by that old beast. My path too was destroyed by that old beast, particularly because half of the scholars were actually fooled by his heretical ideologies, willingly following him to the demon race to establish what he called a Great Unity Realm. Such a human traitor, he deserves to be cut into pieces!"
Not far away, Zhang Chen was cooking and hurriedly pricked up his ears to eavesdrop upon hearing the mention of Chen Sanliang’s name, which he hadn’t heard for months.
"Chen Sanliang went through three vassal states, challenged ten academies, over a thousand scholars have been enchanted by him, becoming his loyal followers. Does he wish to sever all literary roots of the Northern Land?" Someone spoke up in agreement, his voice filled with fury.
"Chen Sanliang intends to exterminate the Northern Land’s literati! Mr. Liu Chen, unable to wield a brush anymore, committed suicide right in front of Chen Sanliang. Mr. Wu Palace, even cut off his own arm, and then Mr. Wang Hua burned his lifelong efforts along with his works to ashes. One piece after another, this fiend is simply insane, only by surrendering to him and following him can we find a glimmer of survival. This time I must go to the academy and request the teachers to debate with him." Xu Lie’s voice was full of sorrow.
Zhang Chen continued cooking, eavesdropping on Xu Lie and his companions, his eyes showing a trace of unknown color, "What a Chen Sanliang! He truly dares to flip tables against Confucianism all over the world. He challenges various academies one by one, constantly honing his doctrines, perfecting his theories. His momentum is only getting stronger, ultimately aiming at the academy, the academy is his true goal."
Accompanying Chen Sanliang’s continuous provocations against various doctrines, closing down academy after academy, he will gradually develop invincible momentum, eventually aiming at the academy and engaging it.
The academy is Chen Sanliang’s target, the current various academies are merely his whetstone, just his nourishment.
"During this process, Chen Sanliang continuously convinces disciples of various academies, turning them into his followers, guiding them into the Northern Land to establish a human realm, assisting his quicker completion of the Enlightenment Dao, this is indeed Chen Sanliang’s method." Zhang Chen couldn’t help but feel alarmed by Chen Sanliang’s arrangements; if someone indeed has something to say, it is to declare war against the Confucianists to the end.
Though talk is easy, joking about Sanliang should be avoided. Chen Sanliang’s Enlightenment Dao is destined to be unacceptable to the Human Race.
The various noble families monopolizing knowledge and doctrines, while Chen Sanliang announces universal education, providing knowledge to all regardless of wealth and status, seems to dig the foundations of the noble families, undermining their rule, can the noble families tolerate him?
Only the yet-to-be-enlightened demon race, where class concepts aren’t yet so severe, can serve as fertile ground for Chen Sanliang’s doctrines.
"Chen Sanliang’s merits are infinite! At least he opened up a glimmer of hope for ordinary people." Zhang Chen held rice and dishes, his eyes showing a hint of sentiment.
The reason he hadn’t obstructed Chen Sanliang, this reason occupied a significant factor. Though Chen Sanliang has brought turmoil and slaughter to the Human Race, he has also brought new hope to the people.
Zhang Chen carried the rice and meat over, then the family gathered by another bonfire, listening to Xu Lie and others eating while angrily cursing Chen Sanliang, his mind spinning endlessly, sitting quietly by the bonfire.
"Change is upon us! This is a revolution that will take the heads of countless people!" Zhang Chen silently uttered in his heart.
The group ate and drank to satisfaction, then went to sleep under the tent under the carriage. By the next day at dawn, Zhang Chen looked at the white snow, already knee-deep, Zhang Chen and his family finished breakfast, packed up their belongings ready to journey. At this time, that group of scholars finished breakfast, and laid eyes on Zhang Fei’s harnessed carriage, fixed on that Fifth Tier Demon Horse.
The Demon Horse hadn’t exposed its Bloodline Power, coupled with Zhang Chen’s Sealing Rune suppression, its mysterious power was suppressed, but its robust physique still caught the attention of Xu Lie and others.
"Boy, your horse is good, we need a carriage to travel. The pearl given to you yesterday is enough to buy your horse! Leave the horse and carriage here." Xu Lie shouted at Zhang Chen condescendingly.
"Yesterday you said that the pearl was just for firewood and meal money, not including the horse and vehicle." Zhang Chen turned to look at Xu Lie.
"Boy, are you dreaming? Just a bowl of rice and a few pieces of meat, and you want to exchange for a Luminous Pearl, you must be crazy with poverty! Do you know the value of a Luminous Pearl? Stop babbling, quickly leave the horse, vehicle, food, and the pearl, you can leave." Nearby a scholar scolded Zhang Chen.
Beside him, Chengyu blinked his eyes, instantly getting into character, his voice carrying a sob, "Gentlemen, in this icy land, our family of women and children rely on this carriage to travel, without a carriage and food, won’t we freeze and starve in wilderness?"
"Humph, do you want to freeze or to die now? You mere lowly people dare covet my Luminous Pearl." Xu Lie coldly laughed hearing this, his eyes swirling with killing intent.
In this wilderness, with the opponent being orphans and widows, if they die here, who would know?
Besides, even if this place isn’t desolate wilderness, they’re just a bunch of lowly people, so just kill them!
"I knew it, not a single one of these nobles is any good." Zhang Chen shook his head. "Let’s not keep playing, let’s take care of their bodies."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chengyu’s body was already crackling with electricity as he rushed out, while Zhang Tuowei beside him also activated soul manipulation. Although that group of scholars practiced Martial Dao, they only had Dark Force. Witnessing the appearance of Extraordinary Power, their faces instantly changed.
Xu Lie hurriedly shouted, "You are Bloodline Practitioners! Wait a minute, there must be some misunderstanding! We are all nobles, why resort to life and death?"
The majority of Bloodline Practitioners were nobles. Those who lost their Bloodline Power had long been stripped of their noble status.
Alas, no one responded to his words. These dozen people were Martial Artists, perfect for Zhang Tuowei and Zhang Fei to practice on.
It only took a moment, and the cries in the snowstorm ceased. Zhang Chen embraced a small brazier, looking at the crimson over the white snow, and shook his head, "I knew it, these nobles are no good. What Chen Sanliang did was absolutely right; we should overthrow this pack of dogs and make them fall to the dust, to rebuild the order of this world."
Speaking of which, Zhang Chen shouted to Zhang Tuowei, "Scavenge their corpses! These people are all from affluent families, their belongings are quite valuable. When we go to Jiangnan, we’ll have money for settling down."
Zhang Tuowei, undaunted by the dead, and Zhang Fei enthusiastically searched the corpses, finding purses everywhere. They searched thoroughly from head to toe, leaving no valuable item behind.
"Big brother, Xu Lie has some good stuff on him. Look at this bag, it’s full of purple Luminous Pearls." Zhang Tuowei pulled out a small bag from Xu Lie, opened it, and found it full of pigeon-egg-sized purple Luminous Pearls, each looking crystal clear and pleasing.
"Not bad, not bad! We’re rich this time. There are more than thirty of these Luminous Pearls; when we get to Jinling, we won’t lack money to spend." Zhang Chen took the woven bag, examined it, and directly stuffed it into his arms as his own.
Kids shouldn’t hold onto money! What does a kid need money for!
However, aside from this bag of Luminous Pearls, there was nothing else of value. It makes sense, if these people had more gold and silver, they wouldn’t be using Luminous Pearls for payment.
Just as Zhang Chen put away the Luminous Pearls and was about to call everyone to hit the road, a hazy figure suddenly emerged from the distant, white snowfield: Chen Sanliang!
"What are you doing here?" As Chen Sanliang gradually approached, he looked at the corpses all over the ground, revealing a look of surprise.
"These guys wanted to sneak some snacks without asking around. Does anyone take advantage of Zhang Chen so easily?" Zhang Chen looked at Chen Sanliang. "Sir, why are you here?"
Chen Sanliang looked at Zhang Chen and, after a brief moment of pondering, said, "They are the disciples of Baiya Academy. I came this time to flatten Baiya Academy, originally to search for a treasure, but I turned the entire academy upside down and didn’t find it. So, I suspected these disciples carried the treasure and escaped, hence I pursued them."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen’s face was stunned. "What treasure? Worth making such a fuss for, sir?"
"A ruler!" said Chen Sanliang.
"A ruler?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen knew it was no ordinary ruler and asked, "What kind of ruler is worth such a fuss, sir?"
"A ruler possibly of the Twelfth Tier Mystery!" said Chen Sanliang.
"How does Baiya Academy have such Creation? That’s Twelfth Tier Mystery." Zhang Chen asked in shock.
"Baiya Academy is built atop a great tomb, and that ruler was excavated from the tomb. However, the ruler is already broken. Otherwise, a Twelfth Tier Mystery’s emergence would certainly cause an earth-shaking commotion! It’s precisely because the ruler is incomplete that it was hidden away by Baiya Academy. It’s said the ruler can connect to the void, allowing its possessor to break the bridge between the real world and the Spiritual World, thereby entering the legendary Thirty-Three Heavens to seize the Creation of Thirty-Three Heavens, and find the legendary Immortal Divine Medicine." Chen Sanliang’s voice was full of seriousness. "The Academy has been plotting this for thousands of years; Baiya Academy is merely a pawn of theirs. The reason I know this is from what Hu Li the Immortal told me."
"Since Baiya Academy excavated such a mystical ruler, why didn’t the Academy take it back? Why leave it at Baiya Academy?" Zhang Chen voiced his skepticism, thinking Chen Sanliang had been fooled by Baiya Academy.
"That ruler is already damaged, and it can only be repaired at Baiya Academy because there’s a spot within Baiya Academy where the spatial barrier is weak, connecting to the Spiritual World. And that ruler can automatically absorb the energy from the Spiritual World here to recover itself! The Academy has been plotting for a thousand years and still couldn’t fully restore the ruler, so I figured I might as well take it. Perhaps I can find other ways to restore it. This ruler is crucial; I hope to enter the legendary Thirty-Three Heavens, excavate the legendary Immortal Divine Medicine, and revive your master. All hopes are pinned on this item, relying on this ruler!" Chen Sanliang said.