Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 436 The Path of True God

"It's been three days already, she's really resilient to the heat. Does she have Xuanwu bloodline?"

Qingwan sat next to the little sun, blinking her eyes as she looked at the sealed moon goddess, unable to help but marvel.

Seeing something so durable for the first time, Qingwan sighed inwardly, marveling at how powerful the older generation of gods were, even their clones were so resilient.

During this time, the two also tried other methods to break the seal of the moon goddess, but to no avail.

This made Lu Zheng realize that he had a lot to learn. This person broadened his horizons, and he didn't expect the other party to be so difficult to kill.

Lu Zheng looked at the Moon Goddess and said leisurely, "It's been three days already. Even your true form should be able to get here from a place like Chu Duli, right? It seems she hasn't discovered this place."

"Since that's the case, you shouldn't wait any longer. Why don't you just end it all yourself to avoid being tortured here?"

Lu Zheng has the time, but he really doesn't want to waste his time and energy on this person.

With that kind of energy, he could accomplish quite a lot.

Since the other party can't escape anyway, and their death is just the death of a clone, why torture each other?

Seeing that the Moon Goddess had no reaction, Lu Zheng couldn't help but shake his head.

Beside her, Qingwan whispered, "Let's take her to sell to the Shu Kingdom. Recently, there's been some conflict between the Shu Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom. I think the Shu court would be very happy to see this one... We're sure we can get a good price for her."

Lu Zheng blinked and said, "Buying and selling people is wrong."

Qingwan blinked and said seriously, "She's not a god, so she can't be considered human! Then we'll give her to the Shu Kingdom, and the Shu Kingdom will reciprocate by giving us some gifts. Wouldn't that mean we're not selling her?"

Lu Zheng was unable to refute the well-intentioned and reasonable argument.

One cannot treat a being like the Moon Goddess with mere courtesy.

Repaying resentment with virtue, why repay virtue?

Lu Zheng stroked his chin, agreeing wholeheartedly, and said, "This matter is not impossible..."

Anyway, Lu Zheng didn't treat this person as an ordinary person, so he felt at ease.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but take out a map and start planning with Qing Wan how to leave the State of Chu.

Of course, whether or not they sell the Moon Goddess is secondary; their main concern is to evade investigation and find a way to leave the Chu Kingdom smoothly.

They might have already dealt with the problem of the Moon Goddess's clone before they even arrived in Shu, so there was no need to contact the Shu government.

They are quite a distance from the Shu Kingdom, so getting there smoothly will probably not be easy.

Lu Zheng was unaware of the situation outside, but he figured someone was already searching for him.

They didn't have a powerful enough magic weapon to reach the Shu Kingdom in one go.

Flying along this route would be too conspicuous, traveling by water would be hampered by the Water God, and the land route would be even more winding and difficult to traverse.

In fact, according to Lu Zheng's original plan, they had a route to travel to the Shu Kingdom, but it would pass through major cities, which was obviously impossible now.

Wait, something's not right... Brother Lu thought for a moment, and if that's the case, then he should probably do it even more.

If someone is looking for him everywhere, those big cities are actually safer.

After all, no one would have guessed that he hadn't left Chu in a hurry at all, but was still in Chu...

Lu Zheng put away the map and instructed Qing Wan, "Keep an eye on her for me. I'm going outside to check the situation."

Lu Zheng vanished from the small world in a flash.

Qingwan stayed by the scorching sun, roasting beans there to sell her own produce.

"You're a demon, aren't you? You're clearly capable of cultivating the Great Dao, so why don't you follow the Confucian path? There's no future in that."

In Qingwan's heart, the voice of the Moon Goddess echoed softly.

Upon hearing this, Qingwan paused in her work of roasting beans.

She immediately wanted to tell Lu Zheng, but another thought came to mind, and then she looked up at the Moon Goddess with a hint of doubt on her face.

The moon goddess remains sealed there, unchanged.

Qingwan was a little puzzled as to how the Moon Goddess had communicated with her telepathically without her noticing at all.

Qingwan shook her head and said, "You gods are the ones who are outdated and have no future. You should be swept away by the tide of the times so that you can stop harming people."

The Moon Goddess's voice rang out again, "Release me, and I will teach you the Great Path of Godhood, the true path to godhood."

Qingwan became somewhat interested upon hearing this.

Upon seeing this, the Moon Goddess leisurely explained, "You cannot do anything to me because the divine power I possess is different from that of other gods. I walk the path of the ancient true gods, and you too can cultivate to become a god and surpass the immortals and gods of this world."

"As for Confucianism and Taoism, how many great sages have you ever seen? A demon like you could never become a great Confucian scholar."

Confucianism and Taoism are a path of cultivation opened up by human sages. However, this path is somewhat special, and from ancient times to the present, not many true sages have emerged from it. Most are stuck at the semi-saint level.

As for intelligent beings other than humans who practice Confucianism and Taoism, not only will the effects be greatly reduced, but their achievements will also be limited.

For a foreign tribe to practice Confucianism and Taoism, producing even one great Confucian scholar is already quite remarkable.

Therefore, foreigners who truly possess the talent for cultivation will never practice Confucianism.

Only those who lack the talent for cultivation but are capable of reading and scholarship will choose to study Confucianism.

"Little sister, you're still young, you still have choices..."

The whispers from the moon goddess seemed to possess a special magic, compelling one to agree. Qingwan narrowed her eyes slightly; she wasn't some naive little fairy, but rather quite knowledgeable.

Having learned so much from Lu Zheng, how could I be so easily tempted?
To become a true god? That's an empty and false statement. How many people in the world can actually reach that level?

Qingwan felt that she was down-to-earth and that she should just take things one step at a time.

She's fine as she is now, why would she want to start down a different path?
Qingwan pondered for a moment, then said softly, "Tell me the method first."

The Moon Goddess said, "I will find a way to leave this place. If you lend a hand, I will take you with me and teach you the Daoist arts."

Qingwan picked up a piece of roasted bean and put it in her mouth, saying leisurely, "Nobody would believe you! Why don't you tell me part of it first?"

The voice within me fell silent.

After a moment, the Moon Goddess's voice appeared again, "Gods are the spirits of heaven and earth..."

The Moon Goddess revealed part of an ancient method of divine cultivation.

This was a cultivation method she obtained by chance. Using this method, one could cultivate without relying on incense and deities, and without being bound by the nation's fortune.

The Moon Goddess herself cultivated this method through an avatar, also to leave herself a way out, to ensure that she would not be affected by the fortune and incense offerings of the Chu Kingdom, and could become an ancient true god and transcend.

Qingwan listened to the Moon Goddess recount a short passage of divine cultivation techniques and felt that it was quite profound, seemingly containing some kind of great Dao.

Qingwan smacked her lips and asked, "That's it? What's next?"

The Moon Goddess said softly, "As long as you agree to my conditions, I will personally guide you..."

Seeing that the Moon Goddess was unwilling to say anything more, Qingwan looked up at the sky and called out, "Lu Zheng, Lu Zheng!"

……

Outside, Lu Zheng cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

He even used a bone-changing technique to alter his face.

He walked along the mountain road and soon came to see a city.

Outside the city walls, people come and go, and there are people checking people entering and leaving the city.

Lu Zheng glanced over and used his Qi Observation Technique to investigate, discovering that there were several distinct divine auras in the city.

Having traveled through many cities, Lu Zheng was able to distinguish the differences in these auras.

Among these auras, he discerned the one belonging to the Moon Goddess.

Clearly, a portion of the moon goddess is present here, and it appears to be active.

Lu Zheng approached the city and looked at the various notices posted on the city wall.

A quick glance revealed no bounty on my head, not even a similar notice.

However, Lu Zheng did not think that the gods of Chu would not react at all. After all, he had suppressed one of the Moon Goddess's avatars, so it was impossible for them to have no reaction.

At least the Moon Goddess herself must have been aware of it; after all, the other party was a great god of the Chu Kingdom, not so insignificant.

As Lu Zheng pondered his next move, he faintly heard Qing Wan calling out to him.

Hearing this, he left without making a sound, and went to a place where there were no people, and not even many insects and beasts, before entering the small world.

There was no other way. Having experienced what happened to Lord Tengshan before, Lu Zheng was now wary not only of people, but also of insects and beasts that might be the eyes and ears of the officials.

Lu Zheng returned to the small world and saw Qing Wan looking at him excitedly.

Qing Wan smiled and said, "Lu Zheng, she was just trying to seduce me. She told me..."

Qingwan recounted everything that had just happened in detail, without missing a single word, as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

After saying that, Qingwan was still shaking her head and saying, "She actually thought she could fool me? Hmph, does she really think I'm that stupid! She's just an avatar, not the real person, and she really thinks she's something..."

"They're already sealed away, yet they're still saying things like that. You can't fool even a child!"

Perhaps the Moon Goddess's inner whispers do have a special bewitching power, but Qing Wan has always been pure and simple-minded, cultivated righteousness, and had treasures on her body for self-defense.

Given her sealed state, it's clearly unrealistic to expect her to be swayed by words.

Upon hearing Qing Wan's words, Lu Zheng looked at the Moon Goddess within the crystal.

The other party is someone who has lived for hundreds of years; they probably wouldn't be so foolish as to try to bewitch Qingwan, who is righteous and upright.

This avatar of the Moon Goddess probably wanted to use Qing Wan's mouth to tell him some things, and the person she really wanted to seduce was him.

"The Path of True Gods?"

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly. He had previously heard the elders of the Yunmeng Sect mention the Divine Path.

The deities and gods worshipped today are nowhere near as powerful as the ancient gods of the past.

The ancient gods embodied the great principles of heaven and earth and possessed the power to change the world.

Even the great gods of today, who have reached the realm of enlightenment, are still far inferior to the true gods of ancient times.

It is said that the gods of today cannot reach that level because of the existence of the fortunes of the major dynasties and the suppression of other cultivation paths, making it difficult for the strong who cultivate the path of gods to become true gods.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but look at the Moon Goddess, thinking to himself that this avatar was unusual, actually taking a different divine path, not relying on the incense offerings of sentient beings for cultivation. It was probably a secret plan of the Moon Goddess herself.

(End of this chapter)