Chapter 448 - 398: Deification

Arrogant!

Utterly arrogant!

That soft, smiling question was like an invisible ripple, spreading layer by layer across the frozen Celestial Vault.

It was not loud, not hurried, not slow, yet it was like a red-hot steel knife plunging straight into the heart of the Vast Sacred Land.

Plunging into the very depths of the Confucian Dao’s orthodoxy, a tradition that had stood for ten thousand years, looking down on the world with pride.

Huangfu Qianqiu’s pupils contracted violently for a moment.

On his lean face, the imperturbable calm and tranquility that had remained unchanged for ten thousand years finally showed a crack.

The Vast Sacred Land, Champion Scholar of the Righteous Dao.

When had they ever suffered such humiliation?

For millennia, countless titans of the Demon Dao, prodigies of Alien Races, and arrogant fools had stood outside this land, roaring defiantly at that vast golden light.

But in the end, they were either reduced to ashes or forced into a meek retreat.

No one had ever broken through that golden light.

No one had ever dared to be so insolent before the assembled sages and saints of old.

But today...

Today...

Huangfu Qianqiu slowly raised his head, gazing at the hundred-some phantoms of the sages and saints of old in the Celestial Vault above.

No, there was nothing there anymore.

There was only a Ming Golden List, hovering before that deep blue figure, its light flowing and brilliant.

Deep in the eyes of the Vast Sacred Land’s Cultivators, fury burned, so hot it turned their rims red.

But they opened their mouths...

...and in the end, not a single word came out.

’What could we say?’

’He took all our sages and saints of old in a single move. What else is there to say?’

The very foundation of the Vast Sacred Land’s pride, the Confucian Dao’s Supreme Treasure that had condensed the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of generations of True Monarchs and endured through the ages...

...was nothing but a joke before that Golden List!

’Say something?’

’Say my ass!’

Countless Cultivators of the Vast Sacred Land had ashen faces, their fists clenched tightly as the Vast Righteous Qi around them churned violently.

But the moment their gazes touched that Golden List, they involuntarily shifted, darted away, and fell.

No one dared to speak.

No one dared to step forward.

Because everyone knew.

To speak now would only be to invite more humiliation.

...

Dead silence.

The silence was so thick it felt as if it could freeze all of Heaven and Earth within it.

Within the Demon Dao’s camp, countless gazes fell upon the silent Righteous Cultivators, their eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was mockery, schadenfreude, and disbelief, but also a sliver of awe they themselves had not yet noticed.

Once upon a time, which of them wouldn’t have taken a detour upon seeing a Cultivator from the Vast Sacred Land?

Which of them wouldn’t have been terrified?

That Vast Righteous Qi was the natural enemy of the Demon Dao, the one thing they most hated to confront.

But now...

The high and mighty Champion Scholar of the Righteous Dao, the Vast Sacred Land that had terrified them for millennia...

...could only stand in silence before that deep blue figure, before that Ming Golden List.

Like lambs to the slaughter.

"Heh..."

A soft chuckle broke the dead silence.

The laugh was soft, so soft it was almost imperceptible.

But that one soft chuckle made every Righteous Cultivator’s body stiffen for an instant.

Qi Yun stood with his hands behind his back, the smile on his lips slowly widening.

And then—

"HAHAHAHA—!!!"

A clear, bright laugh erupted from his throat!

The laughter was clear, joyous, and uninhibited, like the long winds of the nine heavens sweeping across the entire Celestial Vault!

It pierced the frozen astral winds, pierced the dead air, pierced every rigid figure, and pierced the depths of every Cultivator’s Heart and Spirit!

In that laughter, there was joy, release, and the satisfaction of a day finally come.

There was also a kind of arrogance that sent a chill down the spines of all the Righteous Cultivators!

But faced with this arrogant laughter, the Cultivators of the Vast Sacred Land could only flush red, not one of them daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

Because they knew—

he had every right to be arrogant.

Qi Yun’s laughter gradually subsided.

He lowered his gaze to the Ming Golden List in his hand, looking at the hundred-some phantoms of the sages and saints of old standing silently upon it, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes.

Then—

he tossed it with a flick of his hand!

He threw the Gods Sealing List high into the air!

"WHOOSH—!!!"

The Golden List soared into the sky and unfurled in the wind!

The Scroll, which had been only about a foot long, suddenly expanded the moment it took to the air!

Ten yards, a hundred yards, a thousand yards, ten thousand yards!

Finally, it transformed into a magnificent, boundless Golden List that stretched across the entire Celestial Vault!

Upon the Golden List, brilliant yellow light shone for tens of thousands of miles!

Within that light, the hundred-some phantoms of the sages and saints of old that had been absorbed into the list now all appeared!

They still stood with lowered heads and downcast eyes, still solemn and dignified, still exuding a Vast Righteous Qi that had endured through the ages.

But now, their positions had subtly changed.

They were no longer scattered, independent phantoms, but were now slowly revolving around a single point.

Like a host of stars orbiting the North Star, like a court of officials paying homage to their king!

The rotation grew faster and faster, more and more urgent, until they merged into one!

"BZZZZ—!!!"

An indescribable tremor erupted from the center of the Golden List!

Within that tremor, the hundred-some phantoms of the sages and saints of old began to fuse together!

The phantom of an old man transformed into a streak of white light and plunged into the center;

The phantom of a middle-aged scholar became a streak of green light, following close behind;

The phantom of an elderly woman became a streak of purple light, merging within;

The phantom of a Confucian general, sword in hand, became a streak of golden light, joining the torrent...

One after another after another...

A hundred streaks of white, green, purple, and golden light, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, all surged into that single point at the center of the Golden List!

Within that point, the light grew ever brighter, ever hotter, ever more solid!

Until finally—

when the very last phantom had completely merged into it—a figure slowly walked out from within the immense radiance!

It was a figure beyond description.

He wore an ancient Confucian robe, embroidered with the sun, moon, and stars; mountains, rivers, and great lakes; plants, trees, birds, and beasts.

These were the Twelve Ornaments, the most ancient symbols of the Confucian Dao, a supreme honor reserved only for the worthiest sages.

His face was at first a blur, as if shrouded in thick fog, impossible to see clearly.

But with every step he took, his blurry features grew a fraction clearer.

One step, and his eyes and brows appeared—gentle as a spring breeze, yet profound as an ancient well, seeming to contain the wisdom of all sages past and present.

Two steps, and the bridge of his nose materialized—high and straight as a mountain peak, representing duty, backbone, the unyielding spirit of the Confucian Dao standing between Heaven and Earth.

Three steps, and his lips were outlined—pressed lightly together, holding a faint, almost imperceptible smile that contained both compassion and insight.

Four steps, five steps, six steps...

The moment he took the ninth step and walked completely out of the immense radiance!

His face became perfectly clear.

He had the appearance of a middle-aged Confucian scholar.

Sharp brows, starry eyes, a composed and dignified bearing. He naturally exuded a Confucian Dao aura, gentle as jade yet vast as the sea.

Simply by standing there silently in the void, he seemed to be the embodiment of the Confucian Dao itself.

Countless gazes fell upon this figure, their eyes filled with indescribable shock.

’That aura...’

’That aura is too pure, so pure it’s as if it wasn’t Acquired through cultivation, but was Innate, born and grown alongside the Confucian Dao itself!’

’That aura is too vast, so vast that all the Cultivators present who practiced the Confucian Dao felt an impulse to worship welling up from the depths of their Divine Souls!’

Qi Yun raised his eyes slightly, a glimmer of satisfaction flashing as he gazed at the quietly standing, robe-clad Confucian figure.

He raised his hand and made a gentle gesture.

The Gods Sealing List hanging in the Celestial Vault transformed into a stream of Flowing Light and landed in his palm, once again becoming a foot-long Scroll.

He grasped the Gods Sealing List, looked at the figure, and slowly began to speak.

His voice was not loud, but it was like a Celestial Constitution descending, like the edict of the Great Dao itself, entering the ears of every living being with perfect clarity:

"By my Decree—"

He paused briefly. Deep within his vast, Cyan Gold eyes, it seemed as if boundless Daos were surging and the Heaven and Earth Laws were condensing:

"Zhong Youzhi, as—"

"The Holy Essence Wenqu Star Monarch!"

"To command the literary lineage, to set the standard for poetry and classics, and to suppress the destiny of the Confucian Dao!"

"Incorruptible for all ages, eternally guarding the Profound Yellow!"

The voice of the Decree was like Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, exploding with a deafening CRASH!

"RUMBLE—!!!"

Between Heaven and Earth, an indescribably violent tremor suddenly erupted!

The tremor came not from the earth, not from the Celestial Vault, but from—the unseen world!

It came from a Supreme dimension higher than Foundation Establishment Heaven, more distant than the River of Time, more fundamental than all existence—the [All Marvelous Heaven]!

An indescribable aura descended with a roar from the All Marvelous Heaven!

The aura was magnificent, vast, and ancient, as if it condensed the very foundation of all literary lineages, all scholarly pursuits, and all paths of sages since the dawn of Heaven and Earth!

It shot down, straight and unstoppable.

Projecting onto that newly formed, robe-clad Confucian figure!

"VMMMM—!!!"

The figure, now decreed as the "Holy Essence Wenqu Star Monarch," erupted in a brilliant light!

Within that light, countless characters appeared.

They represented everything from the ten-thousand-year heritage of the Confucian Dao, the endless continuation of the literary lineage, and the crystallized life’s blood of countless sages!

And amidst this Infinite Light.

A profound existence, indescribable, seemingly condensed from pure text and Vast Righteous Qi, slowly descended from the All Marvelous Heaven and settled upon the figure’s brow!

This existence had the shape of an Ancient Scroll, yet it was ethereal and illusory; its color was like warm jade, yet it shone with immense brilliance; it contained a kind of...

...a quality that only a True Monarch was worthy of possessing, suspended high above the River of Time—

Status!

...

Below, within the Vast Sacred Land’s camp.

Huangfu Qianqiu was completely frozen in place.

On his lean face, the imperturbable calm and tranquility that had remained unchanged for ten thousand years was now utterly shattered. In its place was an expression he had never worn in his entire life.

Utter, incredulous disbelief.

He stared at the decreed figure in the Celestial Vault, at the profound existence descending from the All Marvelous Heaven, his lips trembling violently as a hoarse, rattling sound escaped his throat.

After a long, long time.

A long, long time.

He finally forced out three words, his voice so hoarse it was nearly unrecognizable:

"This is..."

"The [Wenqu Fruit Position]?!"

The moment the words left his lips—

the Vast Sacred Land fell into a deathly silence.

A silence that was even thicker, even heavier, even more—

despairing.

...