Chapter 231: The Confucian Staff Breaks and Regrows

In the next instant, the vast scene before everyone's eyes shattered with a resounding crash like glass.

Their vision shifted, and before they knew it, everyone was once again standing firmly on solid ground, back in the manor in the real world.

Yet everyone remained immersed in the astonishing scene they had just witnessed, unable to recover from it for a long time.

The entire place was deathly silent. One could hear a pin drop.

"Everything that just happened..."

"Could it have been nothing more than an illusion?"

Li Shun pondered silently for a moment before shaking his head.

He could clearly sense the residual aura left within his own body and the surrounding space after the emissaries of the Outer Gods had been torn apart by absolute power.

"It definitely wasn't merely an illusion."

"The Great Siming used supreme divine abilities to forcibly pull all of us into a mysterious domain. Then, right before all of us, she personally annihilated those emissaries of the Outer Gods, along with the probing will projected by the Outer Gods themselves."

"This Great Siming... her strength has actually reached such a terrifying level?"

"Just what realm has she reached? The Heaven-Earth realm? Or..."

Li Shun's heart was filled with shock and confusion.

At the same time, he instantly understood the fundamental reason why the Great Siming had done this.

She had used overwhelming, unstoppable force to forcibly establish an unshakable anchor within the Dao hearts of every disciple of the Hundred Schools present today.

The Outer Gods were not invincible.

After all, everyone gathered here today was an elite among the new generation of disciples from the Hundred Schools. They were also destined to become the backbone of Great Qian's future resistance against the invasion of the Outer Gods.

Although these people had already passed the Great Siming's personal inspection and had not been corrupted by the will of the Outer Gods, adding another defensive anchor atop the individual Dao doctrines of the Hundred Schools was naturally a prudent measure.

Li Shun firmly believed that the shocking scene from today would be etched into the hearts of the disciples of the Hundred Schools and remain vivid for countless years.

And the profound awe these people felt toward that mysterious and domineering Great Siming might, to some extent, even surpass their fear of those indescribable Outer Gods.

Sure enough, after enduring the initial suffocating silence, the disciples of the Hundred Schools finally could not contain themselves any longer.

They lowered their voices and began discussing among themselves.

Every word and gesture was filled with undisguised fanaticism and supreme admiration for the Great Siming.

However, Li Shun keenly noticed that Sun Lang, the successor of the Jun School, had for some inexplicable reason suddenly revealed a deep trace of doubt in the depths of his eyes.

It vanished in an instant.

Had Li Shun not been observing him with extraordinary care, he might almost have thought it was merely an illusion.

Sun Lang also noticed Li Shun's gaze.

Their eyes met briefly in the air.

Sun Lang merely gave him a slight nod, his expression remaining perfectly normal, and said nothing more.

With the Great Siming's intervention, the turmoil caused by the descent of the Outer Gods finally came to a complete end.

The grand gathering of the Hundred Schools ended hastily. The disciples of the various schools were escorted home by their elders one after another.

Following Zhao Cheng's instructions before his departure, Li Shun temporarily returned to the Kong family's ancestral residence and quietly awaited further arrangements.

He never expected that the moment he stepped through the entrance of the old residence, he would immediately receive a personal summons from the Kong family's ancestor.

"Good, good. Indeed, you are an extraordinary young man."

"Zhao'er truly has an excellent eye for recognizing people and making friends!"

The Kong family's ancestor, Kong Changqing, had clearly already learned of Li Shun's astonishing performance within the illusion.

At that moment, he sat upright in the main hall, looking Li Shun up and down while repeatedly nodding.

His aged eyes were filled with undisguised approval and satisfaction.

"Although the Confucian school suffered heavy losses in this gathering and its prestige was dealt a severe blow, of the three elites who entered the trial, you alone emerged unscathed."

"But after seeing you today, this old man's worried heart can finally be put at ease."

"The rise and fall of the Dao traditions of the Hundred Schools has never depended upon the number of disciples they possess. What truly matters is whether, amid this great age, a Sage capable of stabilizing Heaven and Earth can emerge."

For some reason, the more Kong Changqing looked at Li Shun, the more he felt that there was an indescribable aura about this young man.

He spared no effort in praising him.

"Senior is too kind. This junior hardly deserves such praise."

Li Shun composed his expression and lowered his head, maintaining a humble posture.

Kong Changqing stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before suddenly speaking again.

"You have been staying at my Kong residence for quite some time now. Yet this old man has still never given you a proper gift worthy of presenting as a token of welcome..."

As though he had already considered this beforehand, Kong Changqing turned his head and ordered an attendant to bring over a long wooden box of ancient design, its surface engraved with intricate formations.

The moment the wooden box was opened, a half-length broken walking staff came into view.

Its entire surface was dim and lifeless, resembling a piece of withered wood whose vitality had long since been drained away by the passage of time.

"This object was once personally carried by the Confucian Sage himself."

"Although an ancient upheaval long ago caused the cane to break, leaving it far from the divine might it once possessed, it was nevertheless an extraordinary object that once accompanied a Sage and became imbued with the aura of the Sacred Dao."

"If you can carry it with you regularly and nourish it through constant contact, it will surely be of immense benefit to your cultivation of the Confucian Dao."

"This broken staff has lain in the dark and lightless treasury of my Kong family for several hundred years."

"A pearl buried beneath dust."

"Today, this old man shall give it to you."

Hearing Kong Changqing's words, Li Shun could not help but be greatly astonished.

"Such a supreme treasure..."

"Hm?"

Kong Changqing raised an eyebrow.

His tone was gentle, yet carried an authority that brooked no refusal.

"A gift bestowed by an elder must not be refused."

Seeing this, Li Shun knew there was no room for refusal.

He could only take a deep breath and solemnly accept the half-length Sage's cane with both hands.

It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary, even somewhat decayed, upper half of a broken staff.

Yet the instant his fingertips touched its surface, Li Shun sensed an inexplicably familiar aura.

"The Confucian Sage."

And just then, an unexpected change occurred.

This withered wooden staff, which had remained utterly lifeless within the Kong family's treasury for several hundred years, suddenly erupted with a terrifying surge of Dao resonance the moment it fell into Li Shun's hands.

A withered tree encountering spring.

Life surged forth!

An indescribable force of Creation began to emerge from deep within the staff's ancient grain.

A moment later, the half-length broken wooden staff unexpectedly began to sprout branches on its own.

Before their very eyes, it forcibly reconstructed the missing lower half of the staff, completing the broken object from nothing.

Kong Changqing and Li Shun both stared at the unbelievable scene before them, utterly dumbfounded.

"This is..."

"Has the Sage manifested his spirit?"

After remaining stunned for a long while, an uncontrollable fanaticism and excitement suddenly flashed through Kong Changqing's cloudy eyes.

"Is the Sage using this method to tell me that giving the staff to him was the right decision?"

"The Confucian Sage has not appeared for six hundred years. Could it be..."

When Kong Changqing looked at Li Shun again, his gaze was completely different.

He had already vaguely sensed that the power of the Confucian Sage had descended over the Kong residence several times in the past.

And today's miraculous resurrection of the Confucian Sage's broken staff only strengthened his conviction.