“Are you certain this isn’t a joke?!” Xu Qi An wanted to grab Zhao Shou’s collar and shout his question.

Very early on, Xu Qi An had known that the Sage of Confucianism had sealed away the Witch God and the Poison God, but the sealing of Buddha was something he never could have imagined. No one had ever mentioned this before. Even though he had now grown powerful enough to interact with many high-level cultivators, even the First Sect Leader Luo Yu Heng had dual-cultivated with him. Yet before today, still, no one had revealed any related information to him.

“Perhaps it’s not that no one revealed it to me, but that no one knew about this matter.” A flash of insight lit up in Xu Qi An’s mind… Currently, besides the Buddhist sect, those who knew this secret were probably limited to Zhao Shou, the strongest of the Confucian school… This had nothing to do with cultivation rank, but rather because Zhao Shou had inherited the Confucian legacy, and naturally inherited those secrets buried by time… This train of thought led Xu Qi An to understand many previously puzzling matters.

“According to the intelligence Bai Ji relayed from the Beast Kingdom Princess, five hundred years ago, when the Buddhist sect helped the Martial Sect usurp power, a Bodhisattva died at the hands of the first Supervisor. At the time, I never questioned why Buddha didn’t intervene to stop it. A Tier 1 expert is extremely precious to any faction, often serving as their backbone figure. Even with the Buddhist sect’s abundance of powerful cultivators, they couldn’t afford such losses. Furthermore, three hundred years ago, when Da Feng betrayed their word and the Confucian school suppressed Buddhism, Buddha still didn’t act. So that’s why—He had already been sealed.”

Xu Qi An instantly thought of many things and asked: “Was the Confucian school’s suppression of Buddhism back then because of this reason?”

If the Confucian Sage had sealed Buddha, the relationship between the two schools would be imaginable.

“You could think of it that way,” Zhao Shou drank the slightly bitter fragrant tea.

“No, that’s not right!” Xu Qi An suddenly thought of something and shook his head repeatedly: “If Buddha was sealed, then what about the Beast Suppression from five hundred years ago? I heard the Beast Kingdom’s ruler, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, was a half-step Martial God with overwhelming battle prowess, even Bodhisattvas were no match. In the end, it was said that Buddha personally acted to destroy her. If Buddha had already been sealed, then who killed the Beast Kingdom’s ruler, who destroyed the Beast Kingdom?”

Zhao Shou gently shook his head: “I don’t know the details. This should be the Buddhist sect’s greatest secret.”

Xu Qi An was instantly deeply disappointed. After pondering for a long while, he probed: “During my travels through the jianghu this time, I went to Lei Prefecture and had quite a few interactions with the Buddhist sect. I discovered something worth investigating. Lei Prefecture’s San Hua Temple has a treasure called the Pagoda of Buddha. Its owner was Bodhisattva Fa Ji. This Bodhisattva has been missing for over three hundred years. What does the Academy Master think might be behind this?”

Bodhisattva Fa Ji had been missing for over three hundred years, and the Buddhist sect’s Crystal Bodhisattva had searched for him several times without success.

There were several interesting points here:

Where did Bodhisattva Fa Ji go? What reason kept him from returning to Alanda? Or perhaps he was restricted to some degree, unable to return to the Buddhist sect or be found.

Then, what kind of existence could trap a Tier 1 Bodhisattva?

Zhao Shou thought for a moment and said in a serious tone: “Ning Yan, I am a scholar.”

“What?” Xu Qi An didn’t understand.

“I don’t do fortune telling.”

“…”

Xu Qi An immediately moved past this topic and raised another question: “Was the Dao Sovereign also sealed by the Confucian Sage?”

Zhao Shou shook his head: “The Dao Sovereign is the most mysterious among the Supreme-tier experts. He achieved the Dao in ancient times. In the era before the Confucian Sage was born, the Dao Sovereign had already disappeared.”

In that case, the Dao Sovereign’s disappearance had other hidden circumstances, this had something to do with the mysterious disappearance of the Heaven Sect’s Celestial Sovereign… Xu Qi An’s thoughts turned, and he carefully asked: “Could he have perished?”

“We can’t rule out that possibility.” Zhao Shou maintained a scholarly discussion posture: “From what we know, except for our Confucian school, Supreme-tier experts have almost endless lifespans and cannot die naturally. But the Dao Sovereign has been missing for thousands of years, without any trace of his existence. A predecessor once analyzed that the Dao Sovereign encountered some insurmountable tribulation back then, and to survive, he was forced to split into Three Pure Ones.”

Xu Qi An offered his view: “This speculation has considerable reasonability. Splitting into Three Pure Ones, as long as one avatar survives, one cannot truly die. The Northern Border King is an example.”

Zhao Shou said in a deep voice: “But he still couldn’t escape his fate in the end. The Heaven Sect avatar mysteriously disappeared; the Earth Sect avatar suffered karmic backlash; the Human Sect avatar died in the Heavenly Tribulation due to being entangled by karmic flames.”

“Which predecessor made these speculations?”

Xu Qi An was greatly startled. The side effects of the Three Daoist Sects were also considered extremely high-level system secrets.

The Human Sect’s karmic flames were widely known.

But even Wei Yuan didn’t know about the Earth Sect’s karmic backlash back then. It was only after Purple Lotus Daoist died under Yang Yan’s gun that Wei Yuan gradually realized that something had gone wrong with the Earth Sect Leader.

After his infiltration as a double agent, he learned that the Earth Sect Leader had suffered karmic backlash and fallen into the demonic path.

As for the Heaven Sect’s Celestial Sovereign mysteriously disappearing, that was even more classified than the Earth Sect’s hidden troubles.

Zhao Shou smiled and said: “That predecessor’s Daoist title was Golden Lotus.”

“…”

Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched. No, his Daoist title was Orange Cat.

He took a deep breath and asked his final question: “What was the Confucian Sage’s reason for sealing several Supreme-tier experts?”

Regarding this question, Zhao Shou neither answered nor immediately refused. He remained silent for quite a while before saying helplessly: “If it could be spoken of, Wei Yuan’s final letter to you would have already told you. It’s not that we’re being mysterious, but if it’s said out loud, it would affect a certain person’s schemes and would be immediately blocked.”

This statement was practically a direct indication.

The Supervisor!

The Supervisor also had corresponding schemes in this matter.

Xu Qi An’s expression gradually became solemn. He had always believed that the Supervisor’s greatest scheme was dealing with Xu Ping Feng and saving Da Feng.

Now it seemed that the old schemer’s calculations involved matters concerning Supreme-tier experts.

That made sense—the Witch God and Buddha both wanted to invade the Central Plains, and the Supervisor shared a symbiotic relationship with Da Feng’s national fortune. In other words, the Supreme-tier experts were the Supervisor’s enemies… After working through this logic, Xu Qi An agreed with Zhao Shou’s words.

“Alright, I have nothing more to answer for you.”

Zhao Shou ended this meeting, sighed, and rubbed his temples as he said: “Those three fellows outside have fought enough too.”

He waved his hand, dispersing the barrier surrounding the pavilion.

The next moment, Xu Qi An sensed the surging and powerful qi fluctuations from the outside world. He felt the entire Clear Cloud Mountain’s righteous qi boiling like a tsunami.

“Let’s go!”

Zhao Shou waved his arm, gathering a stream of clear light that carried Xu Qi An away.

In a flash, the two arrived at the mountaintop, gazing into the sky where three great Confucian scholars—one holding a brush, one holding a book, and one holding a paperweight—were engaged in fierce combat.

Zhang Shen, who held the book, said in a deep voice: “Ten thousand troops enter the mortal world!”

His military manual burst with dazzling light, condensing countless shadowy figures in the air. Some rode war horses and wielded sabers; others wore armor and held spears; still others operated artillery and crossbows.

What kind of technique is this? Xu Qi An was shocked.

“Zhang Jin Yan uses ‘words become reality’ magic to summon armies from the military manual. In essence, it’s similar to ‘retreat one hundred li,’ both being support-type abilities, just more intricate.” Zhao Shou explained.

“Why can’t I do that when I use magic?” Xu Qi An was extremely envious.

“What you use is just the most basic application. Non-Confucian practitioners cannot manifest such intricate magic.” Zhao Shou said.

Under Zhang Shen’s control, the cavalry and infantry charged toward Li Mu Bai, while the artillery opened fire on Chen Tai.

Meanwhile, Chen Tai held his brush, writing furiously in the void. What he wrote were not characters, but shadowy figures on horseback wielding sabers and wearing armor.

He had copied Zhang Shen’s technique.

This was the ability of Tier 6 Confucian scholars—they could record others’ techniques and skills, making them their own.

Chen Tai’s summoned shadows also split into two groups, one exchanging artillery fire with Zhang Shen, the other charging toward Li Mu Bai.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The artillery thundered, waves of qi exploding in mid-air, the spectacle terrifying, like peals of thunder.

“The power is much weaker than real artillery weapons, making it difficult to breach city walls, but it’s enough to kill enemy troops on the battlefield. Moreover, these are shadows condensed from magic, which honestly has a better cost-performance ratio than the Witch God Religion’s corpse soldiers… Hmm, this probably can’t be sustained for long, nor used without limits…”

Xu Qi An couldn’t help but admire how the Confucian school had almost no weaknesses, except for their short lifespans.

Li Mu Bai wielded his paperweight, making broad sweeping movements that dispersed all the enemy forces charging at him back into pure light.

“Hmph, think you’re something special because you know military texts?”

Li Mu Bai gathered qi at his tongue tip, stirring up righteous qi as he loudly declared: “Books are forbidden in this place; brushes are forbidden in this place.”

The book in Zhang Shen’s hands was instantly sealed by a force, unable to create more troops.

Chen Tai’s brush was similarly affected, unable to write anything more.

Seeing this, the two immediately stirred up their righteous qi and said: “Magical items are forbidden in this place.”

They directly eliminated magical items from the battle domain.

Li Mu Bai coldly snorted: “Fine then, let’s all have a good fight using ‘words become reality’ and see whose righteous qi is more abundant.”

Righteous qi could resist the effects of ‘words become reality.’

Whoever’s righteous qi was depleted first would lose.

“I’m no pushover either.”

“Today I’ll make you both willingly submit.”

The two immediately expressed their attitudes.

“Flying is forbidden in this place.”

“Speaking is forbidden in this place.”

“Li Mu Bai, bark like a dog.”

“Zhang Shen is my son.”

“You bastards, Chen Tai cannot wear clothes…”

“Your mother’s funeral! Your belts are broken.”

Seeing the battle heading in an unfortunate direction, Academy Master Zhao Shou finally acted. He stepped forward and declared in a loud voice:

“Fighting is forbidden on academy grounds.”

A ripple of clear light spread across the Sacred Academy of the Lesser Sage, covering the entire Clear Cloud Mountain.

Within Clear Cloud Mountain’s territory, Zhao Shou could borrow the power of the Sacred Academy. Previously, the Academy’s power had been suppressed by Program Lesser Sage’s stone tablet.

Since the tablet cracked, the Sacred Academy had broken free from its seal.

Controlling the Sacred Academy’s power, Zhao Shou’s battle prowess within Clear Cloud Mountain’s territory was no less than a Tier 2 expert. If further aided by the Confucian Sage’s knife and the Lesser Sage’s crown, Zhao Shou could even face off against a Tier 1 expert.

Zhao Shou continued: “You three, return to your rooms and are confined for three days.”

After thinking for a moment, he added another “rule”:

“No writing poems naming others for three days.”

But I can…

“Shameless old thief!”

Amidst the three great scholars’ angry roars, they were forced to transform into clear light and retreat deep into the academy.

It’s over already… Xu Qi An hadn’t watched enough and regretfully bowed, saying:

“I shall take my leave first.”

“No need to see me out.” Zhao Shou nodded.

…

He found Mu Nan Zhi, who was holding the little white fox and watching the show with the academy students in the square and went down the mountain with her.

The two rode the little mare back to the capital. After entering the city, Xu Qi An asked her:

“Home, or to the Xu Manor?”

Mu Nan Zhi thought for a moment and said: “Home.”

Xu Qi An bought vegetables by the street and took her back to that small courtyard. The flowers and plants planted in the yard had long withered. After being uninhabited for over a month, it seemed somewhat cold and desolate.

But Mu Nan Zhi felt the joy and comfort of returning home.

“There’s still plenty of firewood at home, just no charcoal. I’ll go buy some later. You can heat water for a bath yourself tonight, I still have matters to attend to…”

Mu Nan Zhi’s face darkened, then she coldly smiled and said:

“So Sir Xu is going to meet with the Imperial Teacher again.”

It’s not the Imperial Teacher, it’s other fish… Xu Qi An explained seriously:

“I just took over the Night Watchmen Office from Liu Hong, there are still many matters to handle.”

Mu Nan Zhi didn’t believe him and sneered: “Sir Xu, how does the Imperial Teacher taste?”

Ah, very smooth… Xu Qi An sighed and said: “Fine, I’ll stay and keep you company tonight.”

At this moment, he suddenly felt a strong desire for the Daoist technique of splitting into Three Pure Ones.

The sunset in the west and the sky gradually darkened.

Candlelight lit up inside the house, and black smoke rose from the kitchen chimney.

Mu Nan Zhi casually made a few small dishes. As for her culinary skills, the whole emotional journey from Bai Ji’s initial enthusiasm to complete disappointment could sum it up.

“If you don’t want to eat, you don’t have to.”

Mu Nan Zhi said coldly.

When Bai Ji heard this, she was overjoyed and indeed didn’t eat.

Squeak… Bang… The door opened and closed, and Mu Nan Zhi returned to the table with a black face, lowering her head to eat.

Outside the door, the little white fox raised her tiny body, pressing against the door, her two paws patting the door “Pat pat.”

“Auntie, let me in, let me in.”

She called out pitifully.

Xu Qi’an thought to himself, child, you have low survival instincts.

After dinner, Xu Qi’an heated water for Da Feng’s number one beauty to bathe, while he simply washed with cold well water.

After bathing, it was just dark.

Mu Nan Zhi sat at the table, holding Bai Ji, not making a sound.

After half a candle’s worth of time had passed, she began to feel drowsy, her eyelids fighting to stay open, but she stubbornly refused to sleep.

Xu Qi An pulled her into his embrace and said softly, “I’m here. I’ve always been here.”

With that, she drifted off into deep sleep.