Chapter Twenty-Eight: Righteous Energy!
Behind him, the Daoist Grandmaster Tao Wanqian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Behind him, a phantom of the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Disk had formed, endlessly turning. The intermingling of black and white radiated infinite Daoist charm.
The old man’s entire being seemed shrouded in mist, exuding an indescribable immortal air and profound presence. Even Lin Fan could not help but glance a few more times, surprise flickering in his heart.
Tao Wanqian had only just begun cultivating the God-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Art, yet his aura had already become ethereal and elusive, so much so that even Lin Fan found it difficult to fully perceive!
It was worth noting that, relying on cultivation experience from his previous life, Lin Fan had reached the ninth-grade perfection of the God-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Art within two days, only half a step away from the ultimate semi-divine realm!
Half a step from demigod!
Just a thread more, and Lin Fan would break through to become a true human demigod!
And yet, the old man had only just started cultivating the God-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Art, drawing in the divine power scattered between heaven and earth—what the Daoists called the essence of sun and moon—into his body.
One could only say: the ancient martial arts of Grand Xia truly possessed remarkable qualities. And the Daoist tradition, as the essence left by the ancestors of Grand Xia, was indeed extraordinary. Even the gods should not underestimate it.
The old man, with the Eight Trigrams Disk of revolving yin and yang behind him, let his aura flow freely. His Daoist robe fluttered without wind, his white beard swayed, as if he himself had merged with heaven and earth.
A peach-wood sword behind his back rose into the air, revolving ceaselessly around him. Yellow talismans at his waist fluttered in the breeze, hundreds of them scattering and forming a protective barrier about him!
They subtly formed a talisman array, using Daoist formations to further gather the scattered essence of sun and moon in the air, accelerating his cultivation!
“This old man is truly shrewd...” Lin Fan’s gaze showed admiration.
Meanwhile—
Mr. Mo Buzhi of the Confucian Sect also sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. The Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—emitted an eerie glow, floating before him as characters unfurled across the paper.
A dense, inky-black aura surrounded him.
The aura of literature transformed into ink!
Mo Buzhi muttered softly, reciting the classics of the sages:
“The Master said, ‘To know what you know and know what you do not know, that is true knowledge.’”
“The Master said, ‘Is it not a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned? Is it not delightful to have friends come from afar? Is it not the mark of a gentleman not to take offense when others fail to understand you?’”
“The Master said...”
As he recited in a low voice, behind him, the dark ink aura twisted and transformed into characters, each one like a heavenly prison holding the cosmos in its jaws!
“He has already begun to grasp how to stir heaven and earth with the power of righteousness.”
“This fellow is a true talent.”
Lin Fan frowned. He knew well that, at the peak of Confucian cultivation, those scholars who appeared frail could, with a single phrase, stir the world and borrow its power to strike down enemies!
In the past, Mo Buzhi had recited, “Within ten steps, one kill; a thousand miles, and I leave no trace.” He moved like a god of slaughter, traversing a thousand miles in an instant!
With every ten steps, the world itself would annihilate a divine believer.
A thousand miles on, he’d single-handedly destroy an army of a million divine followers, leaving not a single survivor!
However...
Back then, Mo Buzhi had started his cultivation too late.
But now, seeing Mo Buzhi already beginning to harness the world’s power through righteousness, Lin Fan couldn’t help but smile.
“In my previous life, Mo Buzhi only made his mark in the year 005 of the New Era. Most other inheritors of the ancient martial arts only realized between 002 and 003 that the divine power in the air could be used to stimulate their arts.”
“But now—”
“The gods have yet to descend!”
“These inheritors of ancient martial arts have already started using god-slaying power to drive their arts!”
“This time, Grand Xia has moved ahead of the gods!”
“History—history is finally changing from this very moment!”
Lin Fan’s heart surged with excitement.
For this was the very reason he had returned—to change history!
He had once feared that he would not be able to alter the course of history.
But now—
This time, though it was only a tentative success, it at least proved he could indeed change the past!
“So next, let history be utterly transformed!”
Just then—
Knock, knock, knock!
Someone was at the door.
“Xingye is back?” Lin Fan frowned, striding quickly to the entrance.
But when he opened it, it wasn’t Xingye, who had just gone to change his trousers.
“Elder Chen? Shang Weitian?” Lin Fan looked at the two men, faces flushed with excitement, puzzled. “What’s the matter? Shouldn’t you be preparing for the next phase of the plan, gathering steel resources?”