Buzz!
The Crown of Confucius landed on Wang Chong’s head and immediately began to fuse its energy with his.
Boom!
With a massive howl, a torrent of righteous energy erupted from Wang Chong’s head, and that blurry Confucian sage above him slowly became more distinct.
The Sage Master’s face rapidly began to age, and a long beard began to droop down from his chin. As his eyes opened and closed, they shone with golden light that was brimming with pity and compassion for all the people of the world.
And after this Confucian sage took form, the images of the kneeling Sage Masters of the Spring and Autumn manifested around him.
Each of the Sage Masters was a grand scholar and virtuous sage, their influence far surpassing that of any secular authority. In the Spring and Autumn Era, whether it was a noble or a bureaucrat, a Great General or a famous official, all of them lowered their heads and bowed to the Sage Masters. But though they received the obeisance of secular authorities, the Sage Masters did not bow to anyone else.
Since ancient times, there was only one man that the Sage Masters would bow to!
The Supreme Sage, Confucius!
“Impossible!”
A furious roar resounded over the training ground. Li Junxian’s hair was disheveled and his eyes were red as he staggered backward in disbelief.
At this point, not even Wang Chong ascending and becoming a god would shock him as much.
Sage Confucius had manifested above Wang Chong! The paramount sage of the entire Confucian path!
Li Junxian had never imagined that Wang Chong would be able to obtain the recognition of Sage Confucius. How could such a thing even be possible?
Wang Chong was a militarist general, a man who had slain a million people! He didn’t even count as a member of the Confucian path!
Could even a butcher like this obtain the approval of the Sage Masters, and of Sage Confucius himself?!
Li Junxian felt a shock like never before.
“Impossible!
“Impossible!
“This can’t be!”
Li Junxian’s eyes were wide open and his heart in turmoil as he repeatedly roared.
Numerous leaders in the history of the Confucian Sect had given up their lives in order to obtain the Crown of Confucius, and Li Junxian himself had had to endure various difficult trials, pushing through the nigh impossible Punishment of the Seven Admonitions to obtain the approval of the Sage Masters.
Wang Chong had not gone through these trials, but he had still obtained the approval of Sage Confucius. This had never happened in the history of the Confucian Sect. Not even Master Dong of the Western Han had accomplished this feat.
How was such a thing possible?!
Bang!
At the same time, the crowd also exploded in shock upon seeing the Crown of Confucius fly on its own to Wang Chong’s head and the figure of Sage Confucius manifest.
“Wa-Wang Chong actually obtained the approval of the Confucian Sect’s holy relic? That’s absurd!”
Li Heng shot up from his seat, his face agitated and stricken with disbelief.
“Confucius! It’s actually Confucius! Wang Chong obtained the approval of Confucius!”
More and more of the crowd stood up and stared at Wang Chong’s head in shock. In all their lives, they had never seen something like this.
But no one was more shocked than Elder Song, Sword Ghost, the white-robed girl, and the other members of the Confucian Sect. They stared with open mouths at Wang Chong, not even able to speak.
At this moment, deep within the Imperial Palace and far away from the training ground, two figures were standing atop a staircase of white jade, peering into the distance.
“How absurd!” blurted out Eunuch Gao, dressed in his silk robe and holding his horsetail whisk. “The King of Foreign Lands shouldn’t be a member of the Confucian path. On the contrary, he’s a militarist commander in the most intense conflict with the Confucian Sect. I didn’t think that he could obtain the recognition of the Confucian Sect’s supreme treasure, of Sage Confucius! Not even in ancient times has such a thing happened!”
“There’s nothing that is absurd. Even those not of the Confucian Sect can obtain the recognition of the Crown of Confucius!”
The Sage Emperor, wearing a golden dragon robe, smirked as he gazed at the distant training ground.
This was the final match in the militarist-Confucian conflict. Although he was not personally there, he was observing every shift on the training ground down to the smallest detail.
“Ah!” Eunuch Gao called out in alarm. This was a matter that was unheard of, and not even the Confucian Sect knew of such a thing.
“Your Majesty, this slave is a fool and requests instruction.”
Eunuch Gao lowered his head and bowed.
“Heh.”
The Sage Emperor softly chuckled. Eunuch Gao, the Sage Emperor’s servant of several decades, was probably the only person in the world who could speak in such a tone to the Sage Emperor and not earn his displeasure.
Everyone knew that Eunuch Gao was not merely the Eunuch Director of the Inner Court. He was also the Sage Emperor’s shadow.
“In order to obtain the recognition of the Crown of Confucius, one must either be a member of the Confucian Sect or be a person with a heart of absolute sincerity.
“The former must be a leader of the Confucian Sect, and they must be able to pass the trials of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, integrity, filial piety, and fraternal piety set down by the Sage Masters of the Spring and Autumn. As the saying goes, everyone in the world will rush to one place for the sake of profit. Just how many people could be truly selfless and pass those seven trials?
“As for the latter, the difficulty is even greater!” the Sage Emperor said.
“A heart of absolute sincerity?”
Eunuch Gao looked in shock at the Sage Emperor, but this time, there was no explanation.
His sharp eyes turned to that figure on the distant training ground, and his head subtly nodded in approval.
……
At the same time, at the training ground…
Wang Chong acted without hesitation. Upon receiving the approval of the Crown of Confucius, Wang Chong raised a hand and immediately sent a torrent of Stellar Energy out. There was a dazzling flash of light and then a scream as Li Junxian was knocked flying.
Without the Crown of Confucius, Li Junxian’s strength had plunged, and he was no longer any match for Wang Chong.
“Young Master!”
The members of the Confucian Sect paled, their expressions turning nervous. Some of them even wanted to enter the training ground and help Li Junxian against Wang Chong.
“Stop!” Elder Song suddenly called out, thrusting out his arm as he grimly rebuked them.
“All of you, come back! This match was by the Sage Emperor’s decree. Young Master still has a chance, but if you go in, Young Master will be considered to have lost!”
“Elder Song, you’ve already seen it! It’s impossible! That kid isn’t a member of our Confucian Sect, so he can’t have obtained the approval of the Crown of Confucius! He must have used some trick!”
Sword Ghost clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth.
“We’re still not sure what’s going on, but the Crown of Confucius was guarded by Master Zhu and strengthened by generations of sages. Do you think that the Crown of Confucius is something that can be faked?” Elder Song harshly said.
Sword Ghost was rendered speechless. There was no questioning Master Zhu’s status. With these words, he had essentially doubted Master Zhu, but if Master Zhu couldn’t be trusted, no one in the world could.
Meanwhile, the training ground had fallen completely silent after Wang Chong knocked away Li Junxian. The entire capital seemed to have fallen silent.
This battle had reversed much faster than anyone had expected.
“Li Junxian, that strike was for your arrogance! So what if you obtained the Crown of Confucius, thinking that it could restrain me? Just like how you believe that I slaughtered one million people and that my hands are stained in blood, your arrogance and the arrogance of your Confucian Sect have dealt the empire a grievous wound.”
Wang Chong’s silver robes rustled in the wind as he slowly strode over to Li Junxian.
“Impossible! Impossible! No! No! I’ll never lose to you! The Confucian Sect can’t lose!”
Li Junxian got to his feet, half-kneeling on the ground with his head lowered and his entire body shaking in extreme agitation.
“Wang Chong, this battle between us is not over!”
Whoosh!
He thrust out a hand, and several thin silver needles suddenly appeared in them.
“Senior Brother!”
Before anyone else could react, the girl in white cried out in alarm. She recognized those three-inch needles in Li Junxian’s hand. They had been passed down to Li Junxian by their master.
In promoting their ideals in various countries, the Confucian Sect placed itself in extreme danger. These silver needles were a last resort, to be used when one faced a powerful foe to stimulate one’s potential and provide an enormous boost of strength.
But this method had terrible side effects, cutting down one’s lifespan. The girl in white had never expected that her senior brother would be willing to go so far to defeat Wang Chong.
Swooshswooshswoosh!
The needles plunged into his critical acupuncture points, and Li Junxian’s body soon began to swell with power.
Wang Chong coldly watched, showing no intent to stop him.
“You’re just struggling at death’s doorstep. This time, I’ll make sure you totally accept your defeat!” Wang Chong indifferently said.
Bang!
Stellar Energy rumbled, and then Li Junxian unleashed a dazzling beam of Sword Qi more than one hundred feet long.
This was an attack larger than any previous attack Li Junxian had unleashed, and it was covered in the countless words written by previous sages, the characters wriggling on its surface like tadpoles.
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