Unsheathed

The old woman, the temple attendant of the Burial River’s water god temple, was a trusted subordinate of the local governor. Apart from receiving a reference from the governor, she had also spent a lot of her own money to build relationships with officials from the Ministry of Rites in Mirage City. It was thanks to these things that she had landed this incredibly lucrative job. Many Qi refiners were extremely jealous of her.

The young noble scholar from Great Subduing Academy could kill her with a single wave of his hand.

Why had the Great Quan Empire flourished for the past few decades? Why was it showing signs of becoming the alliance leader in the central region of Parasol Leaf Continent?

Apart from the wisdom and power of the emperor and the remarkable talents of the scholarly officials and military generals, there was actually another reason that everyone was well aware of— a noble scholar was staying in Mirage City. Meanwhile, neighboring countries like Northern Jin Nation and Southern Qi Nation didn’t even have a virtuous scholar.

Focusing back on the water god temple, the fact that Zhong Kui was such a young noble scholar was already an immense deterrence in and of itself.

There was a huge difference between someone in their thirties or forties working extremely hard to become a champion scholar and a young prodigy becoming a champion scholar in their first attempt.

Right now, the old woman and the old cultivator who had returned to shore were like little children waiting to be punished after they had done something wrong.

They were old immortals in the eyes of mortal people, but their relationship with Green Roving Residence was very ordinary. They were aware that the water goddess sincerely looked down on them from the bottom of her heart, and it was only because of the old woman’s relationship with the governor and the imperial court that she turned a blind eye to them. The water goddess would leave them be as long as they didn’t take things too far when trying to make money.

However, tonight was going to be a little more painful because the water goddess and the water god temple were no longer on their side and protecting them.

“One of you is a temple attendant responsible for the incense and offerings in the water god temple, and one of you is a Qi refiner deployed by the imperial court and stationed in this province, yet neither of you has any compassion to speak of,” Zhong Kui scolded them in a stern voice.

“You were going to take advantage of your positions and power to indiscriminately punish someone without even understanding the situation first. No wonder there are so many water ghosts at the bottom of Burial River. Apart from the great demon causing trouble, the two of you can’t escape blame either!”

The old woman and the old cultivator became pale with fright. Words spoken by a noble scholar from a Confucian academy were like gold and jade, each word weighing hundreds upon thousands of kilograms. These words definitely wouldn’t be trivial.

“The large number of water ghosts in Burial River is mostly my fault,” the water goddess said in a solemn voice.

Zhong Kui flicked his sleeve, not giving the water goddess any face at all as he replied, “These are two different matters! These two people have such important positions, yet they’re trying to slack off wherever they can. They’re unwilling to ask a single question to better understand a given situation, and they’re unwilling to think for a second more before making their reckless decisions. Such malfeasance!

“They’re not wealthy nobles who can lie there and enjoy wealth. Rather, they’re important officials who should be diligently completing their tasks. Each and every one of their actions will affect the fortunes of mountains and rivers of the imperial court!”

The old woman and the old cultivator were both filled with terror and grief.

By the looks of it, the young noble scholar had already linked their actions to the fortune of the imperial court. If he took things even further and linked their actions to the principles of the Confucian academies, then wouldn’t they be completely done for? Wouldn’t they be consigned to eternal damnation?

The old woman fell to her knees and begged for forgiveness, promising that she would never make such a mistake again in the future.

The old cultivator also bowed and cupped his hands in respect, saying that he had betrayed the trust of the imperial court and that he would definitely do his best and serve to his dying day.

Zhong Kui humphed coldly and said, “Since this is the first time, I’ll let Miss Water Goddess decide your punishment.”

The two people hurriedly stood up straight and thanked the noble scholar. They then turned to the water goddess to apologize and beg for forgiveness.

Zhong Kui couldn’t help but find these two people an eyesore, so he scolded, “Are you not going to hurry up and return to the temple to shut yourselves away and reflect on your mistakes? Stop making a fool of yourselves out here!”

The old woman and the old cultivator scurried away in a disheveled manner.

Zhong Kui turned to the short water goddess and said with a serious expression, “As the water goddess of Burial River who’s respected and revered by everyone in this area, you should at least control your subordinates and not just focus on that river demon. Being a deity and enjoying offerings of incense is not solely for the sake of fighting enemies all the time.

“If the worshippers who offer incense are sincere, then even receiving just a single stick of incense a year won’t be considered suffering a break between offerings. If everyone in your jurisdiction is blinded by greed, then what does it matter if they come here to offer incense? They’re merely here to seek riches, and they have little respect and sincerity toward you.

“A sea of incense smoke has wafted through your temple for hundreds of years with no break, and there are even hundreds of people mingling outside and waiting to enter to offer incense in your temple. In fact, your temple is even more bustling than Mirage City’s scholarly temple and city god pavilion.

“Mortal humans might not be aware of how many kilograms of genuine incense offerings you receive each day, and the temple attendant might not be aware of this either. Yet, as the water goddess of Burial River, can you possibly be unaware of this?

“If it weren’t for the female deity in the side hall helping you attract the sincere incense offerings of so many women, your water god temple and Green Roving Residence would have already been destroyed by that supremely talented river demon long ago!”

The water goddess felt a rare sense of guilt and shame.

Zhong Kui didn’t say anything else.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an’s mind had already calmed down. During his two trips through Majestic World, he had only heard outsiders mention Mr. Qi and the Scholarly Sage a total of three times.

There was City God Shen Wen from Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Colorful Garment Nation, the old Daoist priest in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land who had mentioned the theory of sequential order, and then the water goddess of Burial River standing in front of him right now.

The water goddess had surprisingly read a book written by the Scholarly Sage before, and she had even ended up becoming an… admirer of the Scholarly Sage. Moreover, she wasn’t just a normal admirer, but a downright fanatic.

Indeed, even Chen Ping’an didn’t dare to claim that the Paramount Sage was only just knowledgeable enough to be considered an equal to the Second Sage. When Cui Dongshan talked about his past teacher, he only described the Scholarly Sage’s knowledge as exceedingly lofty and grand, like a rising sun in the eyes of many scholars. He didn’t compare the Scholarly Sage to any other sage who was worshiped in the Confucian temples.

In any case, asking Great Subduing Academy for a Confucian classic and worshiping this classic in her temple would directly have an influence on the fundamental qualities of her gold statue. Moreover, this matter also pertained to the promotion of the water goddess’ Green Roving Residence to Green Roving Palace, a type of promotion that many mountain gods and river gods dreamed of.

Chen Ping’an felt shocked and confused by the short water goddess’ decision, yet he felt joy from the bottom of his heart as well.

It was as if he had finally found a like-minded person in a boundless sea of people.

Zhong Kui turned to Chen Ping’an and asked, “Do you know why they listened to me? It’s not just because of the two slaps, and it’s not necessarily because of my status as a noble scholar either.”

Chen Ping’an was indeed curious, so he sincerely asked, “Can you please explain?”

A gallant expression was on Zhong Kui’s face as he replied, “It’s because the Confucian academies have used the various Confucian classics to educate people for thousands upon thousands of years. This has allowed the seventy-two Confucian academies to gain a strong standing in the nine continents. At the same time, everyone respects and fears the Confucian academies, regardless of whether they’re from the mountains or from outside the mountains.

“If Confucian scholars from the academies only rely on martial power to subdue others, then people will naturally yield on the surface but remain dissatisfied on the inside. There are many disadvantages to relying on martial power alone. In other words, my predecessors have planted the trees, and I’m simply enjoying their shade.”

Chen Ping’an found the current situation a little strange.

Zhong Kui’s actions and manner of speech at this moment were starkly different from normal.

Of course, there wasn’t anything wrong with what Zhong Kui had said.

Zhong Kui’s eyes darted around for a few seconds, and he stood as if he were pricking up his ears and listening out for something. He chuckled and said, “Teacher is finally gone, so I’m fairly confident that I’ve already muddled through the troubles tonight. I’m going to enjoy fortune thanks to this misfortune. Haha, perhaps Teacher will even spare me a few words of praise the next time I return to the academy.”

Chen Ping’an was rendered speechless. This was the Zhong Kui who he was familiar with.

This was a huge eye-opener for the water goddess, and she almost started to suspect whether this person was faking his position as a noble scholar.

Zhong Kui patted his belly and remarked, “My stomach is rumbling after hearing you mention that bowl of stir-fried eel noodles just then. How about we go to your Green Roving Residence for a midnight snack?”

Chen Ping’an frowned and said, “There are some snack stalls right over there.”

Chen Ping’an was no longer a naive young boy who knew nothing about the world. Not only had the Scholarly Sage’s statue been removed from the Confucian temple and smashed into pieces, but all of his works had been banned and destroyed in the entire Majestic World as well.

Back then, the seventy-two Confucian academies in the nine continents had all been involved in this, with either their mountain master or at least a noble scholar responsible for supervising the local governments as they destroyed the Scholarly Sage’s works. It had been a comprehensive process where no oversights were allowed.

Once Chen Ping’an became involved in this situation between the water goddess of Burial River, the imperial court of the Great Quan Empire, and Great Subduing Academy, then it was entirely possible that he would end up harming himself and harming others if someone with ulterior motives were to take advantage of his involvement in the matter.

The competition between the two scholarly lineages had already come to an end, and there was no need for future generations to debate over this anymore. Why was this? This was because the sages had already spoken every principle and made every argument possible.

The short and petite water goddess seemed to change her mind as well, and she started to actively invite the two of them to her Green Roving Residence, saying with a smile, “How can the stalls outside the temple compare to the food made in my Green Roving Residence? Come on, let’s go. I can also take this opportunity to open a pot of fine wine that’s been aging for one hundred years to welcome my two esteemed guests.”

In reality, she wanted to borrow the noble scholar’s might to suppress the two guest elders from the Great Quan Empire and deter them from lingering outside her Green Roving Residence and continuing to pester her.

The water goddess was extremely proud of herself, thinking that her tricks were no inferior to that of the river demon.

The more she thought about this, the happier she became. In the end, she started to chuckle giddily to herself.

Chen Ping’an felt a little helpless. The water goddess was far too honest and naive. Judging by her expression, was it not abundantly clear that tonight’s meal in the Green Roving Residence wouldn’t come easy? Couldn’t she have waited until she tricked the two of them to her place before she started to chuckle in glee?

Zhong Kui pretended to be blind and oblivious to all of this as he dragged Chen Ping’an along, saying that he wanted to see whether that pot of one-hundred-year-old wine could compare to the border inn’s five-year-old green plum wine.

The water goddess was already unable to conceal the fact that she had come to the water god temple tonight, especially since Zhong Kui had openly scolded and punished the temple attendant. That being the case, she decided to openly use her powers, making a grabbing motion at Burial River and causing the water to instantly churn.

A large column of water rose above the river, transforming into a lifelike yellow flood dragon that measured three hundred meters in length as it flew onto land. It arrived outside the water god temple and gently lowered its head. The water goddess immediately leaped onto the flood dragon’s head, and Zhong Kui also dragged Chen Ping’an along with him as he jumped onto the flood dragon’s neck.

The flood dragon turned around and re-entered Burial River, rapidly swimming toward Green Roving Residence located further downstream.

Upon personally witnessing the water goddess reveal her impressive might and mystical powers, the people waiting outside the temple all fell to their knees and kowtowed in her direction. Their faces were full of joy when they stood up, and they thought to themselves that this trip to the temple was absolutely worthwhile. To see the water goddess show herself and reveal her incredible powers… just how fortunate and blessed were they?

It wasn’t long before the water goddess, Zhong Kui, and Chen Ping’an arrived at Green Roving Residence. The residence appeared to be located quite far away from Burial River, yet in reality, it was connected to the water veins underground.

Green Roving Residence was located in the center of a formation, allowing it to gather the water essence of Burial River and absorb the fortune provided by the incense offerings that were contained within the river. This was the foundation of the water goddess’ power. The gold statue located in the water god temple was only an external manifestation.

While being refused entry, the master and disciple from the Golden Summit Daoist Temple—Daoist Preserving Innocence Yin Miaofeng and Shao Yuanran—had enjoyed a delicious midnight meal. The old steward had asked the chef to cook some fragrant dishes, and he had further paired this with two pots of beautiful wine, offering this to the two guest elders of the Great Quan Empire who had claimed that they wouldn’t leave unless they were granted an audience with the water goddess.

The old steward felt a little guilty, largely due to how good-tempered the two visitors from afar were. They hadn’t tried to barge into Green Roving Residence, nor had they issued any threats. Instead, Yin Miaofeng had simply smiled and asked him for a meal. The old steward, who had initially been afraid of being killed, was extremely grateful to the two Daoist priests.

The flood dragon transformed into a small stream that quickly vanished into the ground outside Green Roving Residence.

Zhong Kui came to a realization upon seeing the situation outside the residence. He glanced at the short woman standing beside him, and the water goddess simply chuckled awkwardly as she played dumb.

The two Daoist priests immediately stood up upon seeing Zhong Kui, and they walked down the steps before bowing in greeting and introducing themselves.

Even though they hadn’t personally witnessed Zhong Kui’s yin soul and yang soul leaving the border inn to punish the two princes, Yin Miaofeng had already heard of Zhong Kui’s resounding reputation a long time ago. The first time they had noticed him in the border regions was due to the fact a disheveled scholar in azure would appear in the distance every time the mounted troops of the Yao Clan became involved in an intense battle.

This scholar in azure would observe from a distance, but he would never interfere in the battle. Afterward, he would silently leave when the battle drew to a close. However, he would quietly appear again when an intense battle flared up somewhere else.

Using his position as a guest elder of the imperial court, Yin Miaofeng had inquired Mirage City about this situation. Surprisingly, however, not a single person had been able to determine this person’s identity and background. In the end, he had gone through the Golden Summit Daoist Temple to finally learn that the scholar in azure was Zhong Kui, the youngest noble scholar in the history of Great Subduing Academy.

He had become a virtuous scholar at twelve, a noble scholar at eighteen, and he had further received the honorific title of “righteous” at twenty. This honorific title wasn’t something that the mountain masters of the Confucian academies could hand out. Rather, it could only be bestowed by the sage from the Confucian school in which the noble scholar’s lineage belonged.

Not only that, but it was also necessary to receive approval from several of the sages who were worshiped in the Confucian temple. Only then could one receive the honorific title and become a righteous noble scholar.

This was because righteous noble scholars were also referred to as quasi-sages.

Great Subduing Academy was less renowned than the two other Confucian academies in the north and south of Parasol Leaf Continent, but within the Confucian orthodoxy of the continent and in the eyes of the sect-level forces in the area, Zhong Kui was a very likable person since he was a scholar born and raised in the continent.

In order to invite Noble Scholar Zhong Kui to their nation as a guest and guardian, several of the most powerful empires in Parasol Leaf Continent were trying their utmost to forge a good relationship with Great Subduing Academy.

In fact, even the abbot of the Golden Summit Daoist Temple might have to treat Noble Scholar Zhong Kui as an equal if he were to come across him. Hence, Yin Miaofeng and Shao Yuanran didn’t dare to show even the slightest hint of disrespect toward Zhong Kui.

Right now, Shao Yuanran even felt like his master, was purposely acting respectful and even a little obsequious toward Zhong Kui.

This made the cultivation prodigy from Golden Summit Daoist Temple feel a little uncomfortable. However, he didn’t let these emotions show on his face.

However, Yin Miaofeng had no option but to act in an ingratiating manner.

Now was a critical time regarding the promotion of Green Roving Residence to Green Roving Palace, so as the prized disciple of Great Subduing Academy’s mountain master, it was perhaps possible for Zhong Kui to give the final word and bring this matter to a close.

At that time, Yin Miaofeng would have not only completed his secret mission from Mirage City, but he would have also helped the Great Quan Empire build a good relationship with this righteous noble scholar destined to become a Confucian sage in the future. Thanks to this, Yin Miaofeng’s prized disciple, Shao Yuanran, would also gain an additional backer apart from Golden Summit Daoist Temple.

Zhong Kui had naturally come across this pair of Daoist priests cultivating in the world before. Moreover, he had come across them more than once. He didn’t have a bad impression of them, but he didn’t have a very good impression of them either. Otherwise, he would have greeted them long ago.

Yin Miaofeng explained his reason for visiting Green Roving Residence tonight, yet Zhong Kui discovered that the water goddess of Burial River was acting as if this had nothing to do with her at all. This was both exasperating and amusing. However, this was also his reason for visiting Burial River tonight, and the matter regarding the river demon bribing officials in Mirage City wasn’t simple either. This was something that went below his bottom line.

Thus, Zhong Kui was extremely straightforward as he looked at Yin Miaofeng and replied, “I’ll try to persuade Miss Water Goddess regarding the Confucian classic that she wants to enshrine in Green Roving Residence. The two of you can rest assured and report this to Mirage City. Of course, you can be more flexible with your report, and you’ll naturally receive credit if everything goes smoothly. If things don’t work out, however, you won’t be scolded either. As for why I’m helping the two of you, I naturally have my own reasons. The two of you don’t need to blindly speculate.”

Yin Miaofeng was extremely grateful as he thanked Zhong Kui and took his leave with his disciple, Shao Yuanran.