Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 199 Yuan-level Spiritual Object! Farewell to the Prodigies of the National Ranking!

"Everyone for me, and I for everyone—this is not empty talk, but the foundation of one's character and the basis of one's governance."

"The strength of one person is limited, but the strength of ten thousand people is boundless. A good warrior borrows the power of the masses; a good ruler unites the hearts of the masses."

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"Confucian scholars are what people need."

"The hungry need food, the cold need clothing, the dangerous need help, and the distressed need assistance. To relieve people's distress and help them in danger is the duty of a Confucian scholar."

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"However, Confucian scholars are not only those who do good, but also those who eliminate evil. If you repay evil with good, how will you repay good? Repay evil with justice, and repay good with good."

"When monsters slaughter a village, they should be killed; when other creatures bully people, they should be exterminated. This is not about being fond of killing, but about the principles of Heaven. A feud spanning ten generations can be avenged, even a hundred generations. If revenge is not taken, what crime have the dead committed? If they are not killed, how can the living find peace?"

"This is my Confucian way, which takes 'humanity' as its foundation and 'righteousness' as its standard."

Stroke after stroke, the more he wrote the blessing song, the clearer his thoughts became.

He put down his pen and let out a long breath as he finished the last stroke.

The internal energy has changed from weak to strong, and from strong to two streams.

Two streams of literary talent!

The first stage of Confucianism and Taoism, the middle stage of self-cultivation.

He looked down at the paper in his hand, which was covered with dense writing, about a thousand words.

"Finished writing?" Scholar Yu rode up to him.

"I'm done writing." Zhu Ge handed him the paper with a smile. "Take a look."

Yu Xiucai took the paper and read it from beginning to end.

When he read the phrase "not blindly following superiors, not blindly following books, but only following the facts," he nodded, his eyes showing approval.

When he read the phrase "Repay injustice with justice, and repay kindness with kindness," the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

When he read the line "Confucianism and Taoism take people as their foundation," he paused for a moment, then sighed.

"This is much better than the 'Jianshan Terraced Fields Notes' you gave me." Yu Xiucai handed the paper back to him: "This piece of writing, though not long, is full of gems. You can give it a title."

Zhu Ge thought for a moment, then shook his head: "This is the preface I wrote for 'The Codex of Humanity,' consider it a draft."

At this moment, Li Qingquan also came over from the side, his gaze burning.

"Palace Master, may I also take a look at this piece of writing of yours?"

Zhu Ge smiled and handed him the paper.

Li Qingquan took it with both hands and read it aloud, word by word.

When he read the line "The strong monopolize the techniques, the wise hide the knowledge," his brow furrowed.

His eyes lit up when he read "Education should be provided to all without discrimination, and talent should be promoted only."

When he read the phrase "not blindly following superiors, not blindly following books, but only following the facts," he was shocked, as if struck by lightning.

"Not blindly following superiors, not blindly following books, only following the facts—" he murmured, repeating the words over and over, his eyes filled with shock: "Palace Master Zhu, these words—were really said by you?"

It wasn't that he didn't believe it, but reading the sentence in context made him feel even more shocked.

"It was me who said it." Zhu Ge nodded, then shook her head and smiled, "But it wasn't entirely me. Throughout history, there must have been people who said similar things, they just weren't recorded."

"Not blindly following superiors, not blindly following books, but only following the truth." Li Qingquan read it again, then took a deep breath: "Palace Master, I, Li Qingquan, have studied Confucianism and Taoism for more than 30 years, and I have never heard such a resounding statement."

"If I had heard those words twenty years earlier, I might have already broken through to the second realm."

"It's not too late now." Zhu Ge smiled. "Headmaster Li, study this preface carefully, and feel free to come to me with any thoughts you may have."

"Thank you, Palace Master Zhu!" Li Qingquan bowed deeply.

The group continued eastward.

Zhu Ge sat on Ma Zhu's back, holding the text she had just written, and read it over and over again.

The literary energy flowed slowly within his body, becoming much more solid than before.

He tried to concentrate his literary energy at his fingertips and wrote the character "kill" in the air.

The word hovered in the air, emitting a faint golden light, and remained there for three seconds before dissipating.

Although it's far inferior to Yu Xiucai's ink marks, at least it has taken shape.

"Not bad." Yu Xiucai, watching from the side, nodded: "With your current literary talent, combined with your martial arts body-refining skills, you should be unmatched among the first-level Confucian scholars."

"Just one realm." Zhu Ge put away his paper and pen. "My goal is the third realm—the greater, the higher."

"Don't bite off more than you can chew." Yu Xiucai said irritably, "I know you're a genius, I know you're better than me, alright? But you cultivate both martial arts and Confucianism, which is said to give you an advantage after reaching the third realm."

"Advantages? Advantages of those who break through?" Zhu Ge pondered.

"Yes, I heard it from Ding Ding." Yu Xiucai nodded slightly.

Zhu Ge knew that the True Monarch of Annihilation and the others had also cultivated more than one path.

However, he didn't know the specific reason.

Anyway, there are benefits.

Of course, breaking through to the Great Realm is too far away for him. What he needs to do now is to increase his chances of breaking through to the Third Realm and expand his Shangyuan Palace as much as possible.

The thickness, cohesion, explosiveness, and endurance of one's blood and qi must all be strengthened.

This way, when attacking Shangyuan Palace, the opening of Shangyuan Palace can be made larger.

If he could manifest more of the true essence of martial arts, it would be of greater help when breaking through to the third realm.

Perhaps if he can condense the Confucian and Taoist spirit, he will be able to break through the barrier of the three realms even faster?

Just as Zhu Ge was pondering, he suddenly sensed a series of fluctuations coming from afar.

"Jianjian, let Daxiao give me a ride," Zhu Ge called out seriously.

Liu Jianjian reacted quickly and immediately summoned the Great Owl.

Zhu Ge immediately stepped onto its back and flew into the sky, gazing into the distance.

A fierce battle could be seen taking place in the distance.

"Are they that slow?"

Upon seeing those people, Zhu Ge's expression turned strange.

These were the three prodigies from the top 100 of the "List of the State" that he had encountered before.

"Scholar, Jianjian, you lead the group forward. I'm going out for a bit."

The great owl spread its wings and soared high, with Zhu Ge standing on its back, its robes fluttering in the wind at high altitude.

From the air, the terrain ahead is fully visible.

It was a low valley surrounded by hills, with a dense forest in the middle.

In the center of the forest, a large, entirely silvery-white tree stands out.

The tree was about three zhang tall, with a straight trunk and branches that forked like deer antlers.

At the tip of each branch hangs an octagonal fruit, entirely crimson, emitting a faint fluorescent glow. From a distance...

The trees looked like they were covered with little lanterns.

Zhu Ge counted them; there were four fruits in total.

"Yuan level—" he murmured.

A creature that can attract the attention of the top talents on the Social Ranking must at least be a Yuan-level spiritual object.

Judging from the appearance of the fruit, it should be some kind of precious medicine that can enhance literary talent or spiritual awareness.

However, only one of the eight-star fruit is at the Yuan level; the others should all be at the Ling level.

Beside this octagonal tree, there was a dead lizard, which appeared to be a Three Realms Tree Lizard.

Around that large, silvery-white tree, eight people were either sitting or standing.

Zhu Ge recognized three of them: Yan Liyuan, Su Feibai, and Guan Julang.

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