Chapter 11: Confucian and Martial Cultivation Both Mastered, A Bountiful Harvest!
After forcefully slaying the village school teacher, Gu Lin was filled with anticipation.
Just as he’d hoped, golden light drifted before his eyes. The moment the three words “Book of Merit” appeared, it was the most wonderful sight in the world.
【Slew “Grade Three, Bing Rank” Evildoer, gained 359 Merit Points, reward: Maxed-Level Confine Art】
【Martial Dao Merit: 930/4000】
【Confucian Dao Merit: 359/1000】
【Arcane Dao Merit: 0/1000】
【Witchcraft Dao Merit: 0/1000】
The instant the words “Confucian Dao Merit” flashed through his mind, Gu Lin’s heart surged with excitement.
Every time he’d killed an evildoer before, the rewards had only ever come from the Martial Dao side.
That was because all the evildoers had been martial cultivators.
So he’d guessed that to step onto the Confucian Dao, he’d need to slay a Confucian Dao cultivator instead.
Sure enough!
In an instant, Gu Lin’s whole body trembled violently, and a pain like ten thousand ants gnawing spread through the space between his brows. Only a moment later, a few drops of fresh blood dripped from that spot.
A wave of dizziness, and deep between his brows, three inches of new heaven and earth opened up.
This was the Literary Palace that every Confucian scholar dreamed of!
He had opened his Literary Palace!
The next moment, purple mist swirled within the Literary Palace, forming a small pagoda of three tiers, each tier corresponding to a stage of a cultivator’s Confucian Dao cultivation.
Energy Cultivation, Third Tier!
Confucian Dao cultivators had no equivalent of Meridian Opening or Body Tempering—once they opened their Literary Palace, they stepped straight into the Energy Cultivation realm. That was why they considered themselves nobler than martial cultivators, though the Confucian path was brutally difficult to walk.
And he himself was now at Energy Cultivation, Third Tier!
The corner of Gu Lin’s mouth curled up. With a thought, purple Righteous Energy surged from the Literary Palace between his brows.
A few days ago, he’d crammed on cultivation knowledge in the academy’s martial pavilion.
The Confucian Dao of the Feathering Divine Dynasty was divided into Energy Cultivation, Spirit Nurturing, Palace of Gods, Return to Simplicity…
But the common folk usually called practitioners at these stages Confucian Disciple, Confucian Scholar, Confucian Master, Confucian Sage…
He himself was now a Confucian Disciple, Third Rank.
Why could Confucian Dao cultivators fight martial cultivators two full realms above them and win?
First, their Righteous Energy was unrivaled in domineering power!
Second, a Confucian Dao strike could affect an opponent’s very spirit—in a life-and-death struggle, that was utterly lethal.
Third, Confucian Dao cultivators held the advantage of first strike. If the two sides stood ten zhang apart, a martial cultivator at the Energy Condensation realm would have to close the distance and throw a punch, while a Confucian Disciple at Energy Cultivation could simply stand still and strike—the difference in reach was enormous.
Legend had it that when a Confucian Dao Sage’s Righteous Energy filled his body to the brim, he could summon the heavenly omen of the Literary Constellation itself—truly a case of words becoming law the instant they left his mouth.
Gu Lin’s spirits soared. He laughed softly to himself:
“A man who cultivates both Confucian and Martial Dao—now that’s a true prodigy of this world.”
Of course, across the twenty-eight provinces of the Feathering Divine Dynasty, among the top clans and hidden sects, there was no shortage of dazzlingly gifted prodigies. Just within Chu Province alone, legendary tales of geniuses were as common as weeds.
But could any of them compare to him, Gu Lin?
A single person only had so much time and energy—who else could advance on two paths at once, stride for stride?
But he could!
As long as he kept killing enough!
‘If one day I break through into the Arcane Dao, or the Witchcraft Dao, what a spectacle that would be.’
Of course, Gu Lin wasn’t going to dwell on those two paths for now. Only after joining one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, and stepping into a wider world, would he have any chance of encountering evildoers who walked those two paths.
Gu Lin calmed his excitement and began running through the Confucian Art of Confine Art in his mind.
At max level, Confine Art would bind an opponent in Righteous Energy for two breaths’ time.
Bind them completely!
This Confucian Art was terrifyingly strong!
Having sorted through his gains, Gu Lin looked at the corpse lying wretchedly on the ground. The Three Yang Bloodline-Severing Mark truly lived up to its horror—the corpse’s chest and abdomen were charred black with blood and flesh, even the ruptured organs partially burned away.
He dragged the body into the bamboo hut.
On the stone table out front were eight large characters:
“Repent and Atone, Break the Karmic Chains.”
Gu Lin sneered coldly. He figured he understood this school teacher’s journey well enough.
In his earlier years he must have done terrible things—perhaps out of genuine guilt, but more likely because it was obstructing his cultivation. Though Confucian cultivators liked to sit high on their moral pedestals, no shortage of them were riddled with evil deeds underneath. But this teacher had only reached Confucian Disciple; whatever ugly deeds haunted his past had clearly given rise to inner demons that disrupted his cultivation, and so he’d chosen to “civilize” the poor instead.
A prodigal returning is worth more than gold?
Bullshit.
Did that make the wrongfully dead souls in the underworld any less dead?
After dealing with the body, Gu Lin searched the place thoroughly and found five hundred taels in silver notes tucked inside a wall shrine.
So the wanted criminal hadn’t lied—there really was a fortune stashed here.
A full five hundred taels.
Gu Lin happily pocketed it.
In this world, having strong fists was everything. He’d squandered the entire Gu Family fortune over three years—a little over a thousand taels total. And in just a few short days, he’d earned over eight hundred taels back!
As for the three hundred thirty taels he’d borrowed from the Shen Family, that could certainly count as profit too—he had no intention of ever repaying it.
***
Slipping quietly out of Wutong Village, Gu Lin avoided returning to Xiajiang County to keep from exposing his trail, instead planning to loop back to Shiyang by way of Youxi County.
This trip had truly been a bountiful harvest.
He now cultivated both Confucian and Martial Dao—Energy Condensation, Third Tier on the martial side, Confucian Disciple, Energy Cultivation Third Tier on the Confucian side—and he’d mastered five martial arts.
Wave-Treading Steps!
Mysterious Netherworld Palm!
Nine Heavens Thunder-Runner Leg!
Three Yang Bloodline-Severing Mark!
Confine Art!!
What was the true limit of his combat strength? Even Gu Lin himself wasn’t sure.
But he was brimming with confidence.
On the third day, he arrived at Youxi County. Gu Lin had long since torn off his human-skin mask and every other disguise, restored to his original appearance. He swung by the county office’s notice board on the way, hoping to spot a bounty listing.
He wanted so badly to grow stronger.
If he could take care of a wanted criminal along the way, all the better.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single bounty notice to be found.
Gu Lin was about to leave. Just then, the constables began beating gongs and drums, firecrackers went off inside and outside the county office, and the county registrar personally posted a new notice.
Nearby residents came rushing over at the noise, crowding around to read it, faces lighting up with excitement.
【Congratulations to Youxi County’s Number One Prodigy Daughter, Song Shiwei, for Breaking Through to the Cavern Mystery Realm at the Age of 19】
Gu Lin’s brow furrowed deeply.
Nineteen years old, Cavern Mystery realm!
Unmatched talent!
Outside the county office, quite a few prominent families and dignitaries had rushed over at the news, clapping their hands in celebration:
“Only three days left until the Youxi Academy selection trials, and Prodigy Song isn’t just aiming for first place—she’ll leave her peers in the dust!”
“Prodigy Song, the pride of Youxi—she’s sure to make it into one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds!”
“Breaking through to Cavern Mystery, that pretty much locks it in, doesn’t it?”
“If she were still at Energy Condensation’s peak, maybe only seventy percent certain—but reaching Cavern Mystery is like being reborn. Ninety-nine percent, easy!”
Amid the clamor, Gu Lin felt the pressure weighing on him too.
This Prodigy Song Shiwei was one of his rivals—and he’d have to face someone at the Cavern Mystery realm!
For the Sacred Ground selection trials, across the whole vast Chuwei Prefecture, there were only a scant six spots available!
Gu Lin pushed the excess thoughts from his mind and left the Youxi County office.
He couldn’t help grumbling inwardly—if not for his Book of Merit, what did he have to compare himself with the world’s prodigies?
Their talent really was absurd—absurd enough to make peers despair. Shiyang’s so-called “Young Master Qilin,” Zhao Yao, had been hyped up as some godlike genius, but what was he next to Song Shiwei?
And this was just a small county. If you went up to the prefecture, to Chu Province, or even the Feathering Sacred Continent itself, a nineteen-year-old Cavern Mystery prodigy might just be the bare minimum to even get noticed.
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