Zhao Shou and Yang Gong exchanged glances, showing no joy but sighing.
“What troubles you, my loyal ministers?” Huai Qing asked with royal dignity.
Zhao Shou shook his head and said, “Xu Yinluo has interacted with the Carving Knife and Scholar’s Cap before, but he’s never communicated with their spirit cores, has he?”
That was true… Xu Qi An was momentarily stunned before carefully responding, “Is that an issue?”
He had interacted with the Nation-Stabilizing Sword even more frequently, yet that sword’s spirit rarely communicated with him. When his cultivation level was low, it never initiated contact. Even after he advanced to become a Transcendent, the Nation-Stabilizing Sword never actively communicated with him.
This divine weapon, inherited from the founding emperor, was like a dignified ruler—silently doing its work, never gossiping, never acting coquettish, never playing around. It had far more gravitas than the Great Peace Blade.
Therefore, it was understandable that the Carving Knife and Scholar’s Cap would maintain their dignity as the sacred objects of the Sage of Literature and Lesser Sage.
Wang Zhenwen, being the old fox that he was, glanced at Zhao Shou and probed, “It seems there’s more to this story.”
Zhao Shou answered frankly, “Indeed there is. The Carving Knife’s spirit has been sealed all along, and it was sealed by the Sage of Literature himself.”
When everyone heard that the Carving Knife’s spirit had been sealed, they were shocked and wondered who could seal a super-grade magical artifact. Then they realized it was the Sage of Literature himself who had done the sealing, which only made them more curious.
Xu Qi An exclaimed in surprise, “The Sage sealed the Carving Knife?!”
Daoist Jinlian asked gravely, “What reason could the Sage have had for sealing his magical artifact?”
Everyone in the hall wore solemn expressions, realizing that behind this matter might lie some earth-shattering secret—one that involved the Sage of Literature himself.
Ah, this… Seeing everyone’s serious expressions, Zhao Shou found himself at a loss for words.
So he looked toward Yang Gong, silently indicating with his eyes: you tell them.
Yang Gong wore a troubled expression and responded with his look: you’re the Academy Chancellor, you tell them.
As the two remained in deadlock, Guardian Yuan slowly said, “Mr. Zhao’s heart tells me: this inglorious matter is truly difficult to speak of. Mr. Yang’s heart tells me: speaking of it would bring shame to the Sage and the Confucian school…”
Yang Gong and Zhao Shou’s expressions suddenly froze.
An inglorious matter that would bring shame to the Sage… Everyone’s gazes toward the two Confucian Transcendents immediately turned gossipy.
Then they quickly reined in their thoughts, not letting their minds wander—guarding against Guardian Yuan’s mental attacks.
“Ahem!” Seeing this situation, Zhao Shou cleared his throat and had no choice but to steel himself and say, “The Lesser Sage’s personal notes record: ‘Whenever my master wrote books, the knife disagreed. He would write again, and the knife would disagree again. I wished to teach my master. This went on repeatedly until my master sealed it.'”
What? The Carving Knife wanted to teach the Sage how to write books. This was like the legendary “I’ve grown into a mature pen, I can write books by myself”… If the pen I used while studying had such awareness, I would laugh myself awake from dreams… Xu Qi An nearly covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.
He glanced around at everyone present.
Wei Yuan raised his teacup and seriously lowered his head to drink, hiding his expression.
Daoist Jinlian pretended to admire the scenery around him.
Wang Zhenwen was dumbstruck as if his faith had been defiled and his worldview had collapsed.
Li Lingsu pointed his flying sword at Guardian Yuan’s throat.
The others had varying expressions, but all struggled to maintain their composure.
Of course, some hadn’t understood, like Li Na and Dragon Painter, father and daughter, who looked completely bewildered.
“There’s nothing funny about this,” Li Lingsu said with complete seriousness.
“It seems we can’t count on the Carving Knife then,” Xu Qi An spoke up opportunely, relieving Zhao Shou and Yang Gong’s embarrassment, and asked, “What about the Scholar’s Cap? Surely it didn’t try to teach the Lesser Sage how to wear hats…”
“Pfft…” Li Miaozhen couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
“Sorry, sorry!” The Flying Swallow Lady repeatedly waved her hands in apology.
Zhao Shou ignored Li Miaozhen and said helplessly, “The Scholar’s Cap doesn’t speak. Well, to be precise, it doesn’t like to speak.”
“Why is that?” Xu Qi An voiced everyone’s confusion.
Yang Gong answered on Zhao Shou’s behalf: “You should know that scholars study the Four Books and Six Arts, and while their learning is broad, they must still have one primary field of study.”
“Mm!” Xu Qi An nodded quickly to show his scholarly knowledge.
This much he did know, just like how Second Brother’s primary focus was military strategy.
That’s why Second Brother appeared to be a scholar who lacked nothing in propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, but behind closed doors, he was quite sneaky, like staying overnight with courtesans at the pleasure houses and not batting an eye when using tangerine perfume to mask the scent when returning home.
He was well-versed in the art of deception from military strategy.
Yang Gong pulled a ruler from his sleeve while saying, “I have taught students for twenty years, with disciples spread across the land. Though I studied the Book of Poetry, in recent years I’ve recited the Three Character Classic far more often. Thus, this ruler has become like this.
“As they say, ‘If children are not taught, it is the father’s fault; if teaching is not strict, it is the teacher’s negligence.'”
As his words fell, the ruler emanated a clear light and stirred restlessly.
See what I mean, it’s just like this… Yang Gong shook his head helplessly.
Asura suddenly realized, “So your Confucian Lesser Sage’s Scholar’s Cap…”
Zhao Shou sighed and said, “The Lesser Sage loved to talk when he was young, often speaking too deeply without proper foundation, which brought him trouble. The Sage of Literature reprimanded him, and the Lesser Sage himself felt it was inappropriate. So the Sage gifted him a calligraphy piece called ‘The Gentleman is Careful with Words.’
“The Lesser Sage kept it with him daily to contemplate its meaning, and it was during this time that the Scholar’s Cap gained consciousness.
“Therefore, from the moment of its awakening, it has never spoken a single word.”
No wonder the Carving Knife and Scholar’s Cap never spoke to me—one couldn’t speak, and one wouldn’t speak… Xu Qi An sighed and asked, “Is there any way to unlock the Carving Knife’s seal or get the Scholar’s Cap to speak?”
Zhao Shou shook his head: “There are only two ways to break the Carving Knife’s seal set by the Sage. First, wait until I advance to Second Grade. Don’t worry, the seal the Sage placed on the Carving Knife couldn’t possibly be as strong as the one sealing a super-grade being.
“Actually, the Lesser Sage could have broken the seal too, but he couldn’t go against his teacher’s will, so he never removed the Carving Knife’s seal back then.
“Once I advance to Second Grade, with the aid of Clear Cloud Mountain’s accumulated righteous qi and the Scholar’s Cap’s power, plus working with the Carving Knife from the ‘inside and outside,’ we should be able to break the seal.
“Second, rescue the Director.
“The Director is a First Grade Artificer and an expert in artifact refinement. I know he has methods to communicate with the Carving Knife while bypassing the seal.
“As for getting the Scholar’s Cap to speak… Confucian artifacts all have the principles they steadfastly maintain. Getting it to speak would be harder than destroying it.”
Neither method could be accomplished quickly.
With the Sage of Literature’s path temporarily unavailable, the meeting reached an impasse.
At this point, Master Kou suddenly said, “So the Director learned the method of advancing to Martial God from the Carving Knife long ago, and that’s why he supported Xu Qi An in becoming a Martial God?”
His words made everyone present’s eyes light up.
This was indeed an excellent angle to consider, and the possibility was extremely high.
Everyone felt this might be the foundation of all the Director’s schemes.
Naturally, they found their second breakthrough point—the Director!
“If you want to know a person’s purpose, look at what they’ve done in the past,” a voice echoed in the hall.
Everyone turned their heads, looking around for the source of the voice, but couldn’t find it.
Then, from the shadows beneath the tea table next to Ba Ji, the leader of the Poison and Insect Division, a shadow emerged and slowly transformed into a cloaked figure. The upper half of their face was hidden by a hood, while the lower half was pale from years without sunlight.
“Sorry, it’s a habit, I couldn’t help myself,” Shadow apologized sincerely for hiding away out of habit, returning to his seat before continuing, “The Director has been supporting Xu Yinluo all along, and his goal of helping him become a Martial God is well-known. During this process, he must have instilled the qualities needed to become a Martial God in Xu Yinluo.
“There must be something different about Xu Yinluo compared to that half-step Martial God from the Southern Borders.”
“It’s the fortune!” Heaven Insect Grandmother slowly said.
“And the Great Peace Blade,” Xu Qi An added.
On the night they returned to the capital after repelling the Buddha, he had already detailed his encounters at sea.
Daoist Jinlian stroked his beard and analyzed, “The Director said this was your proof of being a Gatekeeper, but not of being a Martial God. This poor Daoist feels the key lies not in the Great Peace Blade, but in the fortune.”
So, does becoming a Martial God require fortune?
Chu Yuanzhen objected: “What would a Martial God need a fortune for? It’s not like they can replace the Heavenly Way like super-grade beings. Besides, after Xu Ningyan opened his meridians with the Chaos Command Hammer, he could fully control fortune—no, national fortune, but this only gave him the abilities of a qi practitioner.”
The power to control the strength of the masses.
Seeing no one object, Chu Yuanzhen continued, “I think the Director stored the national fortune in Ningyan’s body just to better protect it from being plundered by super-grade beings, or perhaps, perhaps…”
Huai Qing glanced at him and said coolly, “Perhaps even to use it to coerce him, cutting off his retreat, forcing him to oppose the super-grade beings.”
Regarding such malicious speculation about their teacher, the Sixth Disciple nodded and said, “This is exactly what the Teacher Director would do.”
The Second Disciple gave his approval.
Currently, fortune’s only function was allowing Xu Qi An to control the power of the masses, and this seemed to have no connection to advancing to Martial God.
The meeting reached another impasse.
In the silence, someone raised their hand and said, “This Holy Son has an idea.”
“You?” Seeing it was Li Lingsu, Li Miaozhen’s face showed clear disbelief.
Her expression was like a sister looking down on her good-for-nothing brother.
Li Lingsu ignored her and said, “Super-grade beings need to seize all the fortune of the Nine Provinces to replace the Heavenly Way and become the will of the Nine Provinces.
“Could it be that Xu Ningyan needs to do the same?
“Perhaps he can’t advance to Martial God now because he doesn’t have enough fortune.”
Xu Qi An shook his head: “I’m not an artificer. I don’t know how to seize fortune.”
Li Lingsu waved his hand: “Dual cultivation! You can gather the fortune from within Huai Qing’s body through dual cultivation. Just like how you can transfer fortune to Department Head Luo through dual cultivation to help her suppress the karmic flames.
“Huai Qing is the supreme ruler and has absorbed dragon qi. Besides you, she has the strongest fortune in the Central Plains.
“You should try dual cultivation with Her Majesty first. There might be unexpected gains. It’s better than wasting breath here.”
That seems quite reasonable, this is indeed the thinking of a harem master. Well well, Holy Son, I’ve misjudged you—you’ve always been my good brother… Xu Qi An saw the Holy Son in a new light.
“You must have a death wish,” Li Miaozhen drew her sword fiercely.
Luo Yuheng also drew her sword but was firmly gripped by Xu Qi An: “State Preceptor, please calm down.”
Huai Qing said expressionlessly, “We’ll consider the Holy Son’s words as merely a jest.”
The situation was temporarily stabilized.
…
“The Sage of Literature passed away twelve hundred years ago,” said Liuli Bodhisattva. “Who else knows the method of advancing to Martial God?”
“The Director!”
The Insect God’s ethereal voice replied: “You already know the answer in your heart.”
Liuli Bodhisattva nodded: “Everything he planned was to create a Martial God, to let the Martial God guard the Heavenly Gate.”
“Kill the Director.”
The Insect God said: “Go overseas, let Huang kill the Director. Don’t get entangled with him anymore.”
Liuli Bodhisattva could sense a trace of urgency in the Insect God’s voice as these words were spoken.
What did They see in the future… Liuli Bodhisattva pressed her palms together: “Yes!”
…
Overseas, at the Returning Void.
The Nine-Tailed Fox, wearing a beast-skin wrap and a high-slit beast-skin dress, her figure tall and graceful, stood in the high air, gazing down at the Returning Void from afar.
The vast “continent” floated on the water’s surface, covering the entrance to the Returning Void.
In the central area of this continent was a massive black hole, one that could devour even light itself.
The fierce wind pulled at her dress hem, disheveled her hair, and stirred her seductive, bewitching fox tails.
Just standing at a distance for a quarter hour, she had lost one or two-tenths of her vital energy.
Huang had fallen into slumber, but His innate divine abilities had grown stronger.
This indicated that he was returning to his peak.
In the center of the black hole, there was a barely perceptible clear light.
Though faint, it had never been devoured by the black hole.
That was the Director’s aura.
“The Director once said that in his plan, that dog of a man should have advanced to half-step Martial God by consuming the Garuda Tree. My journey overseas with that dog was unexpected.
“So what was his original plan?
“How did he intend to break through Huang’s seal and obtain that gate of light?”
As these thoughts turned in her mind, her fuzzy pointed ears twitched, and she turned her head to see layers of waves surging in the distance behind her. The charming and gentle Merfolk Queen stood atop the waves, waving to her.
The Nine-Tailed Fox rode the wind toward her.
“My Lord, we have gathered all the transcendent-level divine beast descendants we could find at the Alsur Islands,” the Merfolk Queen said respectfully.
The Nine-Tailed Fox nodded: “Well done. Set sail immediately and leave these waters.”
This overseas journey was not only to gather transcendent-level divine beast descendants but also to try her luck at the Returning Void, hoping to meet the Director and learn the method of advancing to Martial God from him.
In the current situation, approaching the Returning Void would certainly mean death.
Even if Xu Ningyan came, he probably wouldn’t be able to see the Director.
Your queen has tried her best… she muttered inwardly, leading the Merfolk Queen toward the Alsur Islands.
…
“We’ll discuss the fortune matter later.” Wei Yuan, who had been listening to all this time, finally spoke up and raised a question: “If the Director learned the method of advancing to Martial God from the Carving Knife, why didn’t he directly reveal the truth when he reunited with Ningyan overseas?”
Chu Caiwei said in her sweet voice, “The teacher Director must have had reasons he couldn’t speak of!”
Wei Yuan analyzed methodically: “He couldn’t have failed to anticipate the current situation. To prevent catastrophe, a Martial God must emerge, so passing on the method of advancing to Martial God is crucial.
“The Director may have had his reasons for not speaking, but not speaking doesn’t mean he didn’t make arrangements in advance. Given the Director’s usual style, perhaps the method of advancing to Martial God has been right in front of us all along, we just haven’t seen it.”
Wei Yuan’s words plunged the hall into silence.
Following Wei Yuan’s line of thought, everyone actively engaged their minds.
Luo Yuheng suddenly said: “It’s the Carving Knife!
“The answer the Director left behind is the Carving Knife.”
Everyone was stunned, then felt the joy of “turning back to find that person there in the dimming lamplight.”
They felt the truth was just as Luo Yuheng said.
Consider this: given the Director’s style of handling matters and the restrictions placed on Destiny Masters, if he had indeed left behind the method of advancing to Martial God, and it was right in front of everyone…
The Carving Knife completely fits these conditions.
Huai Qing immediately said: “Grand Scholar Zhao has condensed enough fortune lately, and his advancement to Second Grade is imminent. When you advance to Grand Confucian, try to break the Carving Knife’s seal. Ask it how to advance to Martial God.”
Zhao Shou bowed and said: “This official understands.”
Fortune should be the qualification for advancing to Martial God, Shadow Leader wasn’t wrong about this… Currently, the fastest way to gather fortune would be dual cultivation with Huai Qing… Xu Qi An glanced sideways at the Empress.
She maintained an expressionless face, showing no reaction.
But her waist secretly tensed, her back subtly straightening.
Xu Qi An withdrew his gaze and continued thinking:
“If the Sage of Literature knew the method of advancing to Martial God, he would have left information behind.”
“I suspect sealing the Carving Knife wasn’t because it tried to teach the Sage how to write books, but precisely because it knew the method of advancing to Martial God. The Sage hid the secret within the Carving Knife.”
“This meeting wasn’t held in vain, indeed there is strength in numbers.”
“Now we just wait for Zhao Shou to advance to Second Grade.”
At this moment, Heaven Insect Grandmother’s eyes emitted a clear light, like smoke.
She maintained her sitting posture, motionless for a long time.
“Grandmother is peering into the future again,” the enchanting Luan Yu explained softly.
Peering into the future at this moment?
The Great Feng’s transcendent experts were taken aback, then became alert, focusing intently on Heaven Insect Grandmother.
After a while, the clear light in Heaven Insect Grandmother’s eyes dispersed.
She suddenly stood up, looking toward the south.
“Grandmother, what did you see?” Xu Qi An asked.