Yefutidaolu

Chapter 439 The Same?
The movements were concise, swift, and violent.

He couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on this cowardly fellow! Since he was certain that he was an enemy, not a friend, he would fight first and deal with the consequences later!
This punch wasn't a test; it was a killing blow!
Faced with this sudden and earth-shattering punch, Yuan Lu's smile finally faded slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, as if he had not expected Gao Jian to be so decisive and ruthless.

But his reaction was extremely fast. He did not take the hit head-on, but instead his figure floated backward like a ghost, while his wide sleeves swept forward!
"Om-"

On his sleeves, layers of clear light, rippling like water, suddenly appeared! The light seemed gentle, but it contained an incomparably tough and perfectly round defensive Daoist aura, as if a miniature bright moon was protecting him.

Gao Jian's fist, imbued with the aura of life and death, slammed fiercely into the Qinghui Barrier!

"Boo--!"

A muffled but not loud sound rang out. There was no earth-shattering explosion; the luminous barrier rippled violently, spreading countless waves, as if it might shatter at any moment, yet it was ultimately not completely breached!
The fierce tribulation aura on Gao Jian's fist was actually mostly dissolved and eliminated by the soft and dense clear radiance of the Dao aura!
A powerful counterforce struck, causing Gao Jian to pause slightly.

Gao Jian's gaze sharpened. The other party appeared in the form of a full moon, which had the meaning of using the bright moon to cleanse the world of its filth, and seemed to be suppressing the martial arts qi and blood.

No matter how masculine or vigorous qi and blood may be, it is ultimately bloody and can be suppressed by the other party.

"Yuan Lu" used the momentum to float backward several feet, landing lightly on the trunk of an ancient, horizontally growing tree. His sleeves fell down, and the clear light slowly faded. He looked at Gao Jian, his eyes no longer showing any playfulness, but instead a deep scrutiny and a hint of imperceptible solemnity.

"Such domineering fist intent, such a strange aura... No wonder, no wonder..." he muttered to himself, then looked up at Gao Jian, whose eyes were sharp as knives and whose aura had been gathered again, and slowly said:
“Insightful. I am indeed not the ‘Yuan Lu’ you know. But I have not lied to you either; my name can also be ‘Yuan Lu’.”

He paused, then, meeting Gao Jian's undiminished killing intent, his tone became somewhat meaningful:

"As for who I really am... well, let's find a place to talk about it."

"How about coming with me?"

"Interesting." Upon hearing this, Gao Jian's imposing aura suddenly dissipated, and his clenched fist loosened, as if the thunderous strike had never happened. His tone was as relaxed as if he were merely accepting a casual invitation. "Then let's go."

"Hmm?" Now it was Yuanlu's turn to show a clear look of surprise. He obviously did not expect Gao Jian to agree so easily, even readily.

In a situation where friend or foe is unclear, and the other party is clearly powerful and has ulterior motives, it would be extremely risky to rashly follow them to an unknown place.

Agreeing to something like this is risky. Isn't he afraid it's a trap?

“Hehe…” Yuan Lu quickly suppressed his surprise, chuckled twice, and re-examined Gao Jian. “I underestimated your courage. However, considering your previous actions in Cangzhou and even in front of His Majesty, such decisiveness is quite reasonable.”

He changed the subject, giving Gao Jian a choice: "So, will you come with me now? Or... do you need some time, for example, to find that Lord Li Zoufang and verify my identity?"

He directly named Li Zoufang, his tone confident and unconcerned, as if he didn't care whether Gao Jian sought verification.

Gao Jian frowned slightly.

The other party's fearless attitude... either they are not afraid of Li Zoufang exposing them at all, or Li Zoufang himself is involved, or even it might be at the emperor's behest. Going with them rashly would be too risky; but not going might mean missing crucial information, and could even provoke the other party to take more aggressive measures.

In a flash, Gao Jian quickly weighed his options. He needed information, but he also needed time to assess the situation.

So he raised his eyes, his tone regaining its usual calm, and said to "Yuan Lu," "In that case, I'd like to trouble 'Mr. Yuan' to reserve a definite meeting place for me first. Allow me to go and verify this with someone, and then I'll come back to discuss it in detail with you, sir, how about that?"

Yuan Lu seemed unsurprised by Gao Jian's reaction. He smiled slightly and readily replied, "The location is simple. I will be teaching at the Imperial Academy for the time being and will be temporarily residing in the No. 3, Class A, Mingli Garden. If Mr. Gao makes a decision, you may come to the academy to find me at any time. I will certainly be waiting for you with my bed and chair ready."

With that, he casually waved to Gao Jian, said no more, turned around, and drifted away as if into a gentle breeze, disappearing into the quiet garden deep within the Imperial Academy in a few leaps.

Gao Jian stood still, not moving immediately, but staring intently in the direction where "Yuan Lu" had disappeared, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

Who exactly is this "Yuan Lü"? What is his purpose in infiltrating the Imperial Academy under the guise of Yuan Lü? What role did the Emperor play in this? Did Li Zoufang know about it? Is it a real event, or a bait to lure me in?

Countless questions swirled in his mind.

The peaceful life at the Imperial Academy seems to have come to a complete end.

A new wave of storms has quietly arrived. He needs to find Li Zoufang as soon as possible and find out the truth behind it all. At the same time, he must also make thorough preparations to deal with any unforeseen changes that may occur.

He took a deep breath, stopped lingering, turned around and strode quickly toward the residence of the Minister of Revenue outside the Imperial Academy.

Before long, Gao Jian arrived at the residence of Li Zoufang, the Minister of Revenue.

The mansion is located on the outer edge of the Purple Palace Enclosure, and compared with the surrounding official residences, which are either luxurious or imposing, it appears as simple as ever. There are no towering walls, no shimmering array lights, and no stone lions or magical artifacts guarding the gate to signify status or power.

There was only a low, blue-brick courtyard wall and an ordinary wooden door that looked quite old. There wasn't even a decent plaque on the door. If you didn't know beforehand, you would almost mistake it for the residence of a poor scholar.

Pushing open the door, I found it unlocked, and the courtyard was even simpler. Several vegetable plots were neatly tended, some ordinary firewood was piled in the corner, there was a small well, and a main house that looked like it could only provide shelter from the wind and rain.

There were no magical artifacts or other spiritual energy emanating from here; the air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and plants, quite different from the strong spiritual energy and power atmosphere found elsewhere in the capital.

Li Zoufang seemed to have anticipated Gao Jian's arrival, and was rolling up his sleeves as he built a trellis for a thriving cucumber plant in the vegetable garden.

Hearing footsteps, he didn't turn around, but simply asked a question in a calm tone, as if he were having a casual chat:

"You saw 'Mr. Yuan'?" "So you really do know something." Gao Jian frowned, stepped into the courtyard, and stared sharply at Li Zoufang, who was still tending to the melon vines. The other man's calm reaction said it all. "I've only been in seclusion for less than half a year. What exactly did you do? What's the deal with that 'Yuan Lu' at the Imperial Academy?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zoufang finally stopped what he was doing, slowly straightened up, and patted the dirt off his hands. He turned around to face Gao Jian, his face still bearing that inscrutable calm expression.

"What did I do?" He repeated Gao Jian's question, his tone tinged with helplessness. "If I told you that the real Yuan Lu has always been with me, and that I've even sent him out on many secret missions, and that he has absolutely nothing to do with the thing that appeared in the Imperial Academy—would you believe me?"

His gaze was calm, as if he were stating a simple fact, but the content was enough to arouse suspicion.

“What’s the point of believing or not believing?” Gao Jian remained unmoved. “Words are meaningless. Show me, let me confirm the state of the Yuan Law with my own eyes, and everything will become clear.”

“I can’t give it to you.” Li Zoufang shook his head, giving an unexpected and extremely strange answer. “I can’t produce it now. Or rather…” He paused, as if carefully choosing his words, “I can only ‘produce’ Yuan Law after that ‘thing’ in the Imperial Academy has completely disappeared.”

He looked at Gao Jian with a complicated expression: "I know this sounds strange and defies common sense. But it's the truth. Believe it or not, there's no other way to verify it right now."

Gao Jian stared intently into Li Zoufang's eyes, trying to find any trace of lying or concealment.

Although Li Zoufang's eyes were complex, they did not flicker. It was as if he was stating a bizarre situation that he himself could not fully understand but had to accept.

A silence lingered between them for a while, broken only by the soft rustling of the wind through the vegetable leaves.

Gao Jian spoke again, his voice lower and more questioning: "If that's the case, why didn't you tell me sooner? As soon as I came out of seclusion?"

Li Zoufang sighed and pointed to the surging divine intent around Gao Jian, which, despite his best efforts to restrain it, still faintly formed an invisible vortex: "Your cultivation is at the most crucial moment. Your aura is not yet calm, and your divine intent is overflowing. It's like carrying a fragile treasure. If I disturb you rashly, it might cause your mind to be disturbed and your energy to backfire. The consequences would be unimaginable."

His gaze measured Gao Jian's condition like a ruler, and he said with certainty, "How could I let external affairs interfere and damage your foundation? Right now... your cultivation doesn't seem to be completely stable yet, does it?"

He could clearly "see" the powerful divine intent that naturally overflowed from Gao Jian's body due to his rapid breakthrough and the fact that his control could not yet fully match it. It was like an unstable spirit, constantly radiating a heart-palpitating fluctuation.

This is indeed a manifestation of one's cultivation not yet being fully integrated and perfected.

The vast yet not fully tamed divine intent surrounding Gao Jian, like a deep sea poised to erupt yet harboring hidden turmoil, was indeed clear evidence that his control had not yet reached perfection.

Under such circumstances, knowing too much about the strange and unpredictable events of the outside world, especially the bizarre and difficult-to-understand things mentioned by Li Zoufang, can easily disturb one's mind and do more harm than good to stabilizing one's cultivation.

What Li Zoufang said was indeed a mature and prudent view.

Gao Jian remained silent. During this period, he had indeed been single-mindedly refining himself, striving to quickly and completely transform the life-and-death tribulation and the surge of power into his own, so as to reach a state of inner divine light and perfect harmony.

However, the sudden appearance of this "Primordial Law" was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, inevitably disrupting his pace.

"Should I go over there to meet them?" Takami asked.

This was both an inquiry and a test of Li Zoufang.

Li Zoufang pondered for a moment, a hint of seriousness creeping into his usual calm expression, before finally nodding slowly: "I understand your concerns. The cause and effect involved in this matter are likely extremely deep, and the waters behind it are unfathomable. You... should proceed with caution." He paused, then gave clear advice, "You can go to the Imperial Academy to see them. But you must be extremely careful in everything you do, proceeding step by step with caution."

He looked at Gao Jian with a look of entrustment in his eyes: "I will also use all available channels to investigate and see if I can find a way to bring the 'true form' into the world, or at least clarify the key to this situation."

He looked up at the slightly gloomy sky, as if making a pointed remark, and added in a low but clear voice: "Remember, no matter what that 'Mr. Yuan' says to you or shows you, you must stay true to yourself and not be misled by his words. Some beings... their words themselves are an invisible and formless weapon that can distort cognition."

Gao Jian gave Li Zoufang a deep look, taking his words to heart. He didn't say anything more, just cupped his hands in greeting, then turned and left the seemingly simple mansion, which might be hiding more secrets, without any hesitation.

Words themselves are weapons...

Gao Jian was well aware of this, as he had killed quite a few people with just a few words.

He had witnessed honeyed words concealing daggers, and he had also personally used words that pierced the heart.

Nowadays, trying to contact someone with an unknown identity, ulterior motives, and exceptional skills in disguise through "conversation" is perhaps no less dangerous than a real fight.

But as Li Zoufang said, this matter was unavoidable. He needed information, he needed to find out the other party's background and purpose, and he also needed to take this opportunity to see what was hidden beneath the surface.

Upon returning to the Imperial Academy, he did not immediately head to the Mingli Garden, but instead went back to his own small building. He needed some time to calm his mind and adjust his state so that he could face the mysterious "Master Yuan" with the calmest and clearest mind.

A moment later, Takami pushed open the door and calmly looked in the direction of Meiri-en.

It's time to meet that "Mr. Yuan".

set off!

Before long, Gao Jian was already standing in front of the gate of Mingliyuan No. 3 School Building.

Located in a relatively quiet corner of the Imperial Academy, this place is shaded by green bamboo and covered with moss on the steps, creating a tranquil environment. The school building looks no different from other lecture halls of the Imperial Academy, with green tiles, white walls, and wooden lattice windows, exuding a scholarly atmosphere.

The door was ajar, as if it had anticipated the visitor's arrival.

(End of this chapter)