Chapter 226 Ghost Path to Godhood
Legalism emphasizes using punishment to deter others from committing offenses. It advocates imposing severe punishments to achieve a deterrent effect, so that others dare not easily violate the law.
News of Luo Fu's execution at the Legalist execution ground quickly spread throughout Taiyi Academy. The academy even issued a special notice warning other disciples not to follow Luo Fu's example and use forbidden items to enhance their cultivation.
Yu Sui was the last to leave the execution ground hall.
She stood at the entrance of the main hall until Luo Fu's body was torn to pieces and finally burned to ashes by the raging fire, thus completely eliminating this filth and forbidding it from remaining in the world.
The jade statues on both sides of the passageway slowly turned around.
Yu Sui raised her hand to rub the back of her neck, stepped forward, and squinted at the sunlight.
She was very satisfied with the saints' performance today.
She became increasingly curious about how the other saints would react and what they would do after Ou Rushuang's relationship with Xuan Kui was exposed.
If the disciples of the academy are to be tried and executed for using Landu or participating in Landu's activities, then who will judge the saints of Taiyi?
It is clearly not the power of the Earth's core.
This system doesn't consider the target's moral character or distinguish between good and evil when selecting people.
At least for now, it is certain that some members of the Legalist school will not turn a blind eye to this matter or cover it up.
The Fajia Dongfei Forest is a stretch of verdant bamboo groves extending for miles. At the end of the stone-paved path stands a tall bamboo house. The inscription on the door plaque, "Feilin Residence," is written with vigorous and powerful strokes, elegant yet solemn, leaving a deep impression.
Although Wei Xizhen often stayed on the water, he also had his own residence in the Legalist school, and he would return for a few months each year to teach at the academy. He also had many students in the Legalist school.
The students dared not come to Fei Lin Ju, but Wu Huaiwei would occasionally tell him if she needed anything, and Wei Xizhen would simply tell her to go to Fei Lin Ju and get it herself.
Over time, Wu Huaiwei became the person who frequented Feilin Residence the most.
At this moment, Wu Huaiwei walked into the tall bamboo building with ease. After passing through the door, there was another bamboo grove courtyard. The courtyard was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. A yellow-browed bird perched on a bamboo branch tilted its head to watch the two people who came in one after the other.
Wei Xizhen stopped under the eaves, not entering the courtyard, her expression calm, her gaze slowly sweeping around.
Wu Huaiwei walked straight to the stone table in the courtyard, where fruit drinks and desserts were still drying. She picked up an exquisite water jug with her index finger and asked the person behind her, "Did you perhaps choose to come during the trial?"
“There are some things that bother me.” Wei Xizhen, still observing everything in the courtyard, finally spoke up, “Do you know something?”
"What do you care about?" Wu Huaiwei poured herself a glass of fruit juice.
Wei Xizhen: "The matter of the orchid poison."
Wu Huaiwei replied, "I don't know."
Wei Xizhen then looked at her. Wu Huaiwei lowered her head and took a sip of bright red fruit juice, saying in a light tone, "Of course there are so many saints in Taiyi who are concerned about the Orchid Poison incident. Since there are, there's no need for me to get involved. I'm very busy too."
"What are you busy with?" Wei Xizhen asked.
Wu Huaiwei sat down at the stone table: "Answer me first, how confident are you in cutting off the Qi of the Breath Soil?"
Wei Xizhen tucked her hands into her sleeves, her eyes flickered, and after careful consideration, she said, "According to what you said, the Breath Soil is already sealed. Whether I am confident or not, the prerequisite for doing this is to break the seal first."
"Breaking the seal is a bit difficult." Wu Huaiwei also fell into deep thought.
Wei Xizhen looked at Wu Huaiwei with a hint of confusion in her light-colored eyes: "Why? If we can cut off the Qi of the Breath Soil and remove the restriction on cultivation, we can just ask Elder Chang to remove the seal."
That's Master Chang's apprentice, how could he possibly refuse?
“Now that the seal has been broken and the Qi of the Breath Soil has been successfully cut off, she can cultivate Yin-Yang techniques smoothly without any hindrance. Will that old man agree?” Wu Huaiwei curled her lips and snorted coldly. Recalling that night at Yue Mountain, she lightly tapped her finger on the table. “This old man seems to hate the Yin-Yang School. People say that you can love someone because of their family, but I think he is the exact opposite.”
"I haven't heard of any conflict between Elder Chang and the Yin-Yang School," Wei Xizhen asked intently. "How did it feel to fight him?"
“Not good.” Wu Huaiwei’s eyes flickered slightly as she answered, and she pondered, “The Ghost Dao Nascent Soul realm is indeed a bit troublesome. With an intangible body and coexisting with Qi, his mastery of Qi is far superior to others.”
The ability to manifest form through qi is the foundation of all nine schools of magic, and a sorcerer's control over qi is fundamental and also the most powerful aspect.
When the levels of skill are evenly matched, the ability to control one's qi becomes the simplest and most straightforward key to victory.
During that encounter, Wu Huaiwei could sense the difference between the two Saints.
Upon reaching the tenth realm, the Five Elements Light Core transforms into the Divine Soul Light Core, elevating the Five Elements Qi within the body to its purest and most refined state. Techniques that previously required mobilizing a large amount of Five Elements Qi to materialize now consume half the energy and are significantly enhanced after ascending to the Divine Soul Light Core.
Because the five elements are refined and purified, the same technique will have different power depending on whether the user has a divine soul core or a sorcerer has a five-element core.
The amount of Five Elements Qi expended by a sorcerer below the tenth realm to use a single Ninth Rank technique can materialize into many more Ninth Rank techniques in the hands of a sorcerer above the tenth realm.
Both the quantity and power of the Nine Streams of Qi Manifestation Techniques are qualitatively different.
Each advancement beyond the tenth realm represents a tremendous change.
“If I used 30% of my strength at the time, then he…” Wu Huaiwei poured a small amount of the fruit juice from the cup back into the pot, “only used that little bit.”
As she spoke of the Sage Changgen, a drop of bright red water fell from her cup into the pot.
Wei Xizhen didn't seem very surprised. He stepped into the courtyard to check the growth of the flowers and plants. His tone was calm: "In the thousands of years of history of the Ghost Dao School, there are only three to five people recorded on the entire continent who have reached the Ghost Dao Transformation Realm."
Elder Chang is the most senior sage of the Taiyi realm. Roughly estimated, he has maintained his Nascent Soul stage for over two hundred years, and the amount of Qi he has refined far surpasses that of you and me. It's not unjust that he lost to him in terms of Qi control.
Wu Huaiwei frowned: "How can you say I lost? I wasn't even taking it seriously."
Wei Xizhen did not refute, and continued, "I saw a record in the Cuijing Pavilion of Shuizhou Library before, that the ghost path transforms into a spirit, coexisting with qi, and when the qi dissipates, the form perishes. The second half of the sentence is easy to understand, when the coexisting qi disappears, it means that he has completely disappeared from the world."
"But the energy that sustains his soul will also disappear over time, though it is unknown how long that time will last."
Wu Huaiwei looked disgusted: "Who knows if it's a hundred years or a thousand years? We have no chance of winning against an old man whose physical body has already dissipated."
Wei Xizhen nodded, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye: "If you have no chance of winning, then why are you still trying to snatch a disciple from Elder Chang?"
"So what if I took it?" Wu Huaiwei said disdainfully. "This child came to me on her own initiative. Since she wants to learn Yin-Yang techniques, why can't I teach her? Old Chang is petty, but I am more magnanimous than him."
Wei Xizhen said, "If Elder Chang can break the seal on the Breath Soil, I might give it a try."
Wu Huaiwei frowned: "Can't you try it while it's sealed?"
Wei Xizhen: "How do we do it?"
Wu Huaiwei: "This is the problem you need to solve. Why are you asking me?"
Wei Xizhen asked calmly, "You disliked Nangong Ming because of Mu Yong'an, so why are you now trying to help Nangong Ming's daughter cultivate?"
Wu Huaiwei glanced back, her slightly upturned eyes hinting at a smile that wasn't quite a smile, delicate yet not seductive. The words uttered from her red lips were full of meaning: "Nangong Ming is Nangong Ming, and Nangong Sui is Nangong Sui. The two are not the same. Although I taught her the Reverse Star and Reverse Polarity technique, she will not call me Master."
Wei Xizhen: "Why?"
Wu Huaiwei laughed and said, "She said that if she really becomes my disciple, then after she returns to Qingyang, I won't have any peace and quiet here."
Wei Xizhen was a smart person and immediately understood the meaning behind it.
Given Nangong Sui's status, he would inevitably be drawn into the conflict between the six kingdoms, and he also knew that Wu Huaiwei disliked getting involved in those matters.
After a moment's thought, Wei Xizhen said, "Let me look into the matter of the Breath of Earth."
The woman at the table, who was teasing the yellow-browed bird, replied without turning her head, "I can help you with something as simple as turning the pages of a book."
Wei Xizhen watched her quietly, wondering who was helping whom.
After a moment of silence, Wei Xizhen said calmly, "I need to investigate the orchid poison first."
Wu Huaiwei: "..."
Few people die at the Legalist execution ground, only a handful a year. Luo Fu's fate today has truly shocked many. Most students believe that the academy will hand him over to Qingyang Yulansi for disposal, so that he can at least leave Taiyi alive.
However, Zhang Xiangyun was the most shocked.
He struggled to climb to the top floor of the dormitory to retrieve the sacred wooden talisman, which restored some of his strength, enabling him to call upon Song Yubai for help.
When Song Yubai arrived, Zhang Xiangyun had already fainted from the pain.
Zhang Xiangyun was taken back to his dormitory by Song Yubai, who then summoned Yuan Xi, a fellow disciple of a physician he knew, to treat his injuries.
When Yuan Xi heard about Zhang Xiangyun's condition, he came over carrying a large medicine box. He was still shocked when he saw the bloodied person lying on the bed. He stepped forward, checked Zhang Xiangyun's breathing, and asked, "How did this happen?"
“I don’t know.” Song Yubai stood by the bed, frowning. “He was already like this when I arrived, and there were no signs of a fight nearby.”
As Yuan Xi opened the medicine box, he muttered to himself, "This morning I saw some people from the Mechanism Clan coming to repair the Dragon Ladder. They said that disciples were fighting inside the Dragon Ladder and damaged a lot of things. Could it be related to them?"
"We can only ask him when he wakes up." After saying that, Song Yubai asked again, "He won't die, will he?"
"He won't die." Yuan Xi shook his head and began to treat him.
While examining the injuries, Yuan Xi had a strange look on his face. He stared at Zhang Xiangyun's broken hands, clicked his tongue after a moment, and then set them back on their original positions.
Song Yubai asked, "What?"
"Like military tactics," Yuan Xi said. "He was also defeated by Zhongli Shan?"
Song Yubai reached out and pressed his temples: "It shouldn't be. Zhong Lishan and the others put on this show because they were certain that Luo Fu was using Lan Poison. They even specially had Jiang Shulan stay in the clinic to expose it herself. They were absolutely certain."
"How did they know Luo Fu had used Lan Poison?" Yuan Xi wondered. "Could it be that Shi Yuezhen is so skilled that she can tell just by looking at her?"
Her eyesight is so terrible, it can't be that incredible.
“Impossible.” Song Yubai shook his head, not believing that Shi Yuezhen had figured out Luo Fu’s situation.
“This matter doesn’t seem to be over yet. Since they dared to touch Luo Fu, I think it’s not far from that guy’s downfall.” Yuan Xi sighed. “Luckily, we haven’t shown any interaction with each other, otherwise Mei Liangyu would have dared to scheme against me as well.”
Song Yubai also felt a headache: "These people are really troublesome."
“Sigh, I told you long ago, we should keep a low profile and do things secretly. We should avoid those troublemakers if possible, but those two just had to act tough with them.” Yuan Xi bandaged Zhang Xiangyun’s hands and sighed, “He’d better leave Taiyi to avoid trouble. Anyway, the strongholds in the outer city have all been destroyed and haven’t been restored yet. Our bandits want us to get rid of Mei Liangyu in Taiyi. It’s not that easy. She doesn’t know how many lives Mei Liangyu has in Taiyi.”
"Perfect timing, let Zhang Xiangyun go back and persuade her."
Song Yubai asked, "Has no one made a move against Mei Liangyu yet?"
Yuan Xi said, "It will be soon."
"Tell them not to make a move yet." Just as Song Yubai finished speaking, Yuan Xi said, "Some people won't listen to us. They'll just do whatever Bai Kou says. To put it simply, they don't use their brains."
Song Yubai remained silent.
Yuan Xi treated Zhang Xiangyun for about an hour before packing up and leaving: "He used the Xuanjing Pill. After the effects wear off, the pain will double. He might wake up in pain tonight, and I will come back then."
Song Yubai nodded.
When Zhang Xiangyun woke up, it was already evening. He was awakened by pain, his head was covered in sweat, and his throat was parched. He subconsciously tried to get up, but moving his body aggravated his internal organs, intensifying the pain, so he lay back down.
The room was dimly lit, and Zhang Xiangyun's vision was blurry. He could vaguely see two people standing outside the half-open door. As if they had heard the noise inside, they walked into the room.
"Awake?" Yuan Xi stepped forward and asked, pointing a finger at his forehead to guide the chaotic energy within his body. "Your light core may be damaged, and the five elements of energy are flowing in reverse. Don't try to control your energy for the time being, or I'm afraid your energy leakage will make it worse."
Zhang Xiangyun felt dizzy: "How long will it take?"
Yuan Xi deliberately exaggerated, saying, "If the nucleus is damaged, it will take at least three to five months to recover."
Zhang Xiangyun took a deep breath; he didn't have time to recover for that long.
"Where is Lov?" he asked again.
Yuan Xi and Song Yubai exchanged a glance and fell silent.
The silence filled Zhang Xiangyun with an ominous premonition. He turned his head with difficulty to look at the two of them, his brows furrowed. Was there something he couldn't say?
Could it be that a saint has betrayed us and voted against us?
Or is it that Nangong Sui...
Song Yubai said, "The verdict was to execute him on the spot, so Luo Fu did not leave the Legalist execution ground alive."
After hearing this, Zhang Xiangyun was stunned for a long time. At first, he even doubted that he had misheard. But seeing that the two people's expressions did not seem to be joking, his heart beat faster and an indescribable emotion spread through him.
It was like anger, and it was like panic.
Images from last night on the Dragon Staircase and the rooftop of the dormitory kept flashing through my mind: the Dragon Staircase, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, and the figure of someone leaving with an umbrella in the rainy night.
Could it be because Luo Fu had offended her before, so she deliberately messed up this Legalist ruling?
Seeing Zhang Xiangyun's suddenly pale face, Song Yubai hesitated for a moment and explained, "The plan is fine. The verdict was a tie. As long as the presiding officer intervened, the result could be changed. But the Legalist Dean Wei suddenly returned."
“Dean Wei?” Zhang Xiangyun remembered. Wei Xizhen, the sage of Legalism. If he were to return to participate in the trial, he would definitely cast the execution vote.
Zhang Xiangyun: "Why did he suddenly come back?"
"I heard that he was called back by Dean Wu of the Yin-Yang School, but it just so happened that he was caught up in today's ruling, and Dean Wei is a very serious person, so..." Song Yubai paused here.
So you can only blame Luo Fu for being unlucky.
Upon learning that Nangong Sui's actions had not been intentional, Zhang Xiangyun's tense heart relaxed, but Luo Fu's death still troubled him somewhat, even though everything should have been fine.
"But what happened to you?" Yuan Xi withdrew his hand and stared at Zhang Xiangyun curiously. "I heard from Song Yubai that he found you on the top floor of the dormitory. Could you be the one who was beaten up in the Dragon Ladder last night?"
Song Yubai stared at him, waiting for an answer.
Zhang Xiangyun stared blankly at the ceiling, recalling the events of last night. His forehead twitched uncontrollably, clearly indicating that he could not bear it.
Just then, a knock came at the door, startling Zhang Xiangyun. He asked, "Who is it?"
This isn't his room; it's Song Yubai's dormitory, where he lives alone.
“Nian Qiuyan.” Song Yubai said and went to open the door.
Upon hearing Nian Qiuyan's name, Zhang Xiangyun gritted his teeth in anger. Yuan Xi, completely bewildered, scratched his head and asked, "You wouldn't be blaming Nian Qiuyan for Luo Fu's affair, would you?"
"His death is no loss," Zhang Xiangyun said bitterly.
Yuan Xi asked, "Did Nian Qiuyan hit you?!"
He was shocked, his gaze shifting back and forth between Nian Qiuyan and Zhang Xiangyun as they entered the room.
Nian Qiuyan laughed and said, "In terms of physical skills, how could I possibly beat him? Of course, it's not me."
Yuan Xi nodded: "I knew it! How could that be? Who is that?"
All three people in the room were looking at Zhang Xiangyun, waiting for his answer. Nian Qiuyan's slightly narrowed eyes held a half-smile, but to Zhang Xiangyun it was a threat, as if silently saying, "If you dare to expose Nangong Sui, you're dead."
Zhang Xiangyun finally gritted his teeth and said, "It has nothing to do with Xuan Kui's matter. It's my private matter, so you don't need to ask about it."
"Private matters?" Yuan Xi clearly didn't believe him, sizing him up and saying, "You stole someone else's woman and got confronted and taught a lesson?"
Zhang Xiangyun: "..."
"Can't you think of anything other than men and women?" he said angrily.
Yuan Xi scratched his head and said, "What else could have caused such a beating? I can't think of anything else."
Nian Qiuyan casually added, "Maybe it's because I have a sharp tongue."
Yuan Xi suddenly realized and nodded.
Song Yubai frowned at Nian Qiuyan: "You know?"
Nian Qiuyan laughed and said, "How would I know? This is just a guess. He won't tell me, and don't you think so?"
Song Yubai glanced at Zhang Xiangyun again, but didn't say anything.
He actually agrees with the term "sharp-tongued".
Zhang Xiangyun was so angry at the three of them that his heart ached, and he lay on the bed taking deep breaths.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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