Chapter 233: The Confucian Sage Returns to the Mortal World

Speaking of this, the gloom on Kong Zhao's face was instantly swept away, and an unmistakable look of smug satisfaction surfaced.

"During this period, I secretly visited more than a hundred disciples who had once entered Zhou Shengzhe's tutelage and were supposedly his personal disciples. More than half of them privately cursed him to his face, believing that the so-called experience of borrowing lifespan he taught was nothing but utter nonsense, a scam designed to fleece them of enormous sums of wealth."

"Not only that, I also discovered that even now, with Zhou Shengzhe standing at the very center of this storm, he still refuses to mend his ways. He continues secretly accepting disciples on a massive scale while amassing wealth without restraint."

"Hmph. I have already gathered all this evidence. Now I am merely waiting for the right opportunity. Once it comes, I will impeach him before the imperial court and drag him down!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shun merely frowned slightly and hit the nail on the head.

"Zhou Shengzhe is, after all, the current Chief of Reception and a Third-Rank official. With only these ordinary charges of embezzlement and illicit profiteering, I'm afraid it still won't be enough to nail him to the wall and seal his fate."

Kong Zhao merely smiled confidently.

He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice.

"Naturally, there is more than that. I also have a highly classified recording in my hands. It captures Zhou Shengzhe's disgraceful behavior in private, when he had been drinking heavily and became carried away with himself. In that recording, he personally mocks and ridicules those fools who went to extraordinary lengths and even bankrupted their families just to become his disciples. He then proudly boasts that the wealth of this world is truly far too easy to swindle and far too easy to earn..."

"Heh heh. That ugly face of his is completely different from the dignified manner he usually displays while sitting high in the imperial court, dressed impeccably in official robes. Once this recording is made public, it will certainly cause an uproar throughout the world!"

"Senior Brother's planning is truly thorough. Then I'll simply wait for good news and enjoy watching this fine spectacle unfold."

Li Shun smiled and cupped his hands.

The two continued chatting leisurely in the Wen-Dao Pavilion for some time.

Kong Zhao looked around, his voice carrying a trace of envy tinged with sourness.

"I really don't know what kind of bewitching potion you gave our Ancestor. Normally, the Ancestor keeps this Wen-Dao Pavilion hidden away extremely well. Forget ordinary people, who have no chance of setting foot here in the first place. Even hoping to linger here for a moment would be a luxury, let alone being directly granted the place as a residence. I never would have imagined..."

As he spoke, he sighed repeatedly.

Li Shun's interest was immediately piqued.

"Oh? Judging from what you're saying, it seems this pavilion has some other profound mystery. It isn't merely a secluded and tranquil courtyard?"

"Naturally. If we're talking about its origins, this Wen-Dao Pavilion existed first. Only afterward was our enormous Kong Family ancestral residence constructed around it. According to the ancient texts preserved by our clan, the old Confucian Sage himself once ascended Mount Dai. This Wen-Dao Pavilion was where the Sage and his disciples stayed during that time."

"Having once sheltered the Sage himself, this place naturally became imbued with a trace of elusive sacred aura. There is even a rumor among the people that if we Confucian cultivators can calm our minds and cultivate or comprehend the Dao here, our progress will be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than in ordinary Grotto Heaven blessed land!"

Kong Zhao lowered his voice, speaking with great seriousness.

Li Shun slowly nodded.

"So there is actually such a profound history behind this place."

Kong Zhao's gaze naturally fell once more upon the short staff in Li Shun's hand. Unable to resist teasing him, he said, "Living in the Sage's former residence while holding the Sage's staff. If I didn't know that the one in your hand isn't the true, intact original, I might really think that you're the Sage reincarnated!"

The speaker had no particular intention.

The listener, however, took it to heart.

Recalling the sudden change in Kong Changqing's attitude, Li Shun immediately fell into contemplation.

"Interesting. Do they really think I'm the Sage reincarnated?"

The Sage had vanished without a trace several hundred years ago, disappearing from the world entirely.

Yet merely because he had caused a section of withered wood from the broken staff to regain its vitality, would that old fox truly be so certain as to acknowledge such an identity?

Li Shun absolutely did not believe that Kong Changqing, the Kong Family's Ancestor who had lived for several centuries and had long since become an old fox among men, could be so simple-minded.

"Could there be some other reason that I haven't noticed?"

In his mind, Li Shun carefully retraced everything he had done since taking up residence in the Kong Family, the memories flashing past like scenes from a revolving lantern.

"Perhaps it was because I activated Threefold Self-Reflection several times to resolve crises for the Kong Family, revealing certain clues."

Li Shun did not believe that his actions had been completely flawless, without the slightest trace of a loophole.

"At most, however, those flaws would merely arouse suspicion, leading them to wonder whether some great power left behind by the Confucian Sage was secretly protecting the Kong Family."

"They could never have imagined that such heaven-changing and earth-shifting feats were actually performed personally by me."

"Such a misunderstanding is a good thing. Having a Confucian Sage inexplicably appear behind me as a natural backer can at least shield me from a great deal of unnecessary trouble."

"Even the treatment I receive, both openly and behind the scenes, has been elevated considerably without anyone realizing it."

As for the possibility that Threefold Self-Reflection might have exposed something, Li Shun actually did not care much.

After all, back in Dongshan Town, the fact that he possessed the Threefold Self-Reflection divine ability had already been discovered by Elder Wei.

Moreover, after undergoing the baptism of the Primordial Wilderness illusionary realm, his perspective and horizons had long since broken free of the limitations that once bound him.

"As long as the trump card of [Fangcun] remains undiscovered, everything remains within my control."

After all, no matter how heaven-defying Threefold Self-Reflection might be, at most, it was merely a Sage's divine ability at the Heaven-Earth realm.

But [Fangcun]...

According to the Ancient Net's deductions, the source of Fangcun's power was an existence capable of standing as an equal against those indescribable Outer Gods.

...

After a while, Kong Zhao reluctantly rose and took his leave.

After all, he still held the important position of Great Qian's Investigating Censorate. Bound by his official duties, he had little free time and could hardly do as he pleased.

Before leaving, seeing how leisurely Li Shun was, he actually found himself rather envious of Li Shun's status as an uncrowned commoner.

After Kong Zhao departed, Li Shun attempted to calm his mind and comprehend the so-called "Sage's residence" here.

However, after sitting in meditation for a long time, he failed to sense the slightest benefit to his cultivation or comprehension from the surrounding aura.

"Could it be that my aptitude for comprehension is simply too poor?"

Li Shun's expression became somewhat strange.

Unwilling to give up, he tried several more times, but still achieved nothing.

He finally sought the Ancient Net's opinion.

"Having no effect at all is precisely what conforms most closely to the laws of nature."

"Even a so-called Sage who has attained the Heaven-Earth realm through proving the Dao could never transform an ordinary mortal residence into a cultivation Grotto Heaven blessed land passed down through the ages merely by staying there for a few days. Unless he deliberately bestowed great power upon it for protection at the time."

"And this place clearly contains no remnant of any Sage's power. It is merely later generations of ordinary disciples attempting to elevate the place through association with the past, with rumors becoming distorted as they were passed down."

"However..."

"The staff in your hand truly does contain a certain profound law."

"Oh?"

Li Shun's attention once again focused on the bamboo staff in his hand.

Ever since he had first come into contact with it and countless images of memories had flooded his mind, he had never sensed anything unusual about it again.

"Based on my principles of deduction, it is necessary to issue you a warning. This staff can indeed help give birth to a Confucian Sage, but it may not necessarily benefit you."

"Of course, if your ultimate goal is merely to be assimilated and become the next Confucian Sage, then consider my warning nothing more than alarmism."

"However..."

"Based on my analysis of your behavioral principles, I believe your ambitions will never be satisfied with something as simple as that."

The Ancient Net analyzed the matter in its cold, mechanical, and rational voice.