Chapter 1744: Literary Lord

"Everything will be fine as long as we take the first step of becoming the Literary Lord," Emperor Kong calmly stated. "At worst, I will use my newfound strength to commit mass killing." Although this path was the worst approach and the one with the lowest chance of success, Kong was not pedantic. He would choose that method if push comes to shove.

"That is true, but..." the avatar said. This world, which the native called the Nine Realms, can be said to be the perfect place for them; the fact that they were selected to come to this place is an ideal manifestation of Kong’s luck.

The Nine Realm World is called as such because the entire rule is controlled by Nine Paths, each with its own realm. The upper path, which are called as such because they are the most powerful, are Taoism, Buddhism, and the Literary Way. The Middle Paths are Martial Arts, Dao Artisans, and the Evil Path. The Lower Paths are the Dynasty, Demon, Yin, and Yang. Each path is ruled by a [Lord], and that is Kong’s goal.

"What’s the best way to meet Great Sage Qi?"

"The Nine Council is rushing the competitions, so he should be giving a public lecture in five years. According to normal circumstances, there will be a test afterward, and the three most prominent individuals will receive a private meeting with him."

"Good. Have you prepared an identity for me?"

"Yes," the avatar nodded. Emperor Kong received the information before dismissing the latter. For his plan to succeed, Kong has created five steps; the first involves meeting Great Sage Qi and successfully assuming his identity. He’s confident about these steps; he’s even confident about the more challenging fourth and fifth steps. The only one that is troubling him is the third.

’The good news is that even if I fail, I might be able to compete for the other Lord Position, but only if I can learn from the failure and finally pass the third step.’

The Nine Lords who ruled this world are all S-Class Paragons, meaning they have mastered all 6 Grand Constructs and established at least one Transcendent Foundation. As fate would have it, most of the Lords died defending the expedition’s attack, leaving a few positions empty. After analysing the world’s history, Emperor Kong realized that each Lord — after being chosen from regular cultivators — will become Primals and even S-Class in record time. Emperor Kong exhaled to calm down. Five years were enough to try and prepare as much as possible.

Roaring Flame City, Plum Phoenix Academy, Lecture Hall:

30,000 Great Emperors, 3000 Empyreans, and 300 Paragons sat cross-legged on a cushion, silently waiting. Although everybody restrained their breath and spoke in a low voice, the room was filled with righteous qi by the mere presence of so many scholars and sages. Suddenly, the room became quiet as everybody sensed something.

An elderly man, dressed in yellow scholarly robes, with long white hair and beard, eyes as pure as glass, and a small scar under his right eyelid, appeared on a cushion floating exactly 30 meters above the air. His presence released a wide screen outside this enormous lecture hall, showing this sermon to millions of people in the city.

"Welcome, Great Sage Qi." A harmonious mixture of voices echoed between Heaven and Earth as these more than 30,000 scholars paid their respect. The bright energy in the room intensified even more. Such an environment would be pretty uncomfortable for anyone from the Evil Path or the Demon Path since they mostly contained non-humans, many of whom have a penchant for human flesh.

"It’s a blessing for our Literary Path to have so many talents," Great Sage Qi smiled. Not everybody can participate in his sermon. No matter how his peers felt about him, Great Sage Qi was chosen as a Lord Candidate, making him the cream of the crop in the Literary Path.

"Before we commence, let’s deal with some matters," Great Sage Qi calmly stated before looking in the void. "Pathseekers from the Dynasty Path, why have you rudely invaded my sermon?"

The void tore apart, revealing a handsome man in a black dragon robe, red phoenix belt, Emperor Crown, and a domineering aura. Three people followed him, and they all had a scholarly aura, which, oddly enough, was different from the others present. While most scholars in the aura exude a holy and confident aura that borders on pride or arrogance, these scholars seemed more shrewd, more earthly, without this inherent air of superiority.

Emperor Kong, who was among the 3000 Empyreans, calmly observed the situation. Anyone with a little bit of knowledge about this world’s situation would not be surprised by today’s events. One of the fundamental aspects of the Literary Way is not just knowledge or teaching: it’s the Way of Governance, the way of the ruler and its subject, the way of the superior and inferior. However, what happens when the roles are reversed? What happens when scholars or officials have too much power?

The answer is the Literary Path of the Righteous Domain. In this place, there are both mortal and fortune dynasties, but their existence is only to test, prove, and spread their ideologies. The rulers in the Righteous Domain are nothing but puppets who do as the scholars say. However, how can the Dynasty Path of the Sovereign Realm accept such a thing?

Their path focused on the ruler being above their subjects, not the other way around. The result of this difference in ideology drastically affected the views, bearings, ideologies, and even demeanors of the Literary Scholars from the Sovereign and Righteous Domain. One side disdained the other for being so submissive and lacking grand ambitions. In contrast, the other believed they were nothing but hypocrites who preached about benevolence and righteousness but had none.

"So, the rumors are true," Sovereign Yu said, coldly staring at Great Sage Qi. "You’ve successfully optimized your soul even without using the Trial’s Tower."

"What brings you to my humble lecture?" Great Sage Qi asked, not addressing the latter’s comment.

"Isn’t this a lecture? Of course, I’ve come to participate."

"It’s an honor that you chose my lecture over all the others, but please go through the proper channel. My time and attention for the next few years will be on these individuals who have been selected through a rigorous process; it would be unfair to them for others to participate without an invitation."

"Oh? So, you’re saying I’m not welcome?"

The Great Sage Qi smiled.

"And what if I refused to leave?" Sovereign Yu snorted coldly. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I will report you to the Nine Council for interfering in another realm’s Lord Section," Great Sage Qi calmly replied.

’Damn this old cudger. This is such a perfect opportunity to raise his prestige and compete for luck, but he’s so rigid,’ Sovereign Yu cursed internally. As long as his people could win a Dao Debate, his chances of winning the Dynasty Lord Position would increase. Unfortunately, this old man did not bite the bullet, and Sovereign Yu was not confident he could argue with the other competitors.

As much as he despised these Literary Path scholars, he had to admit they were competent. With a flourishing atmosphere, great luck, and plenty of available knowledge and Sages to debate, compare, and improve, they are a top-notch above Dynasty scholars, who their rulers always suppress in fear of them switching sides.

’Should I try a more extreme approach?’ Sovereign Yu contemplated. However, he squashed that idea as soon as it appeared in his head. Although the current Nine Council is crippled with only a few Lords alive, most of whom are still healing from their injuries or too busy hunting the Primordial Demons, he would never dare gain their ire.

The current council is still powerful enough to annihilate him and his dynasty, not to mention they are the chosen ruler of this world by the Infinite Divine Court. Even if Sovereign Yu had the strength to annihilate the council, he wouldn’t dare do it.

"I’ll remember you," Sovereign Yu snorted coldly. He needed to find other ways to gather luck and destiny as soon as possible to increase his odds.

"I apologize about this small interlude," Great Sage Qi smiled, acting as if nothing had happened. "Now, shall we start?"

"As you wish, Sage."

"Those who are knowledgeable — not wise — and just can be called virtuous. It is a matter of good and evil — innate goodness or innate evil is a debate since the dawn of time. However, knowledge is a controllable variable. We have the capabilities to choose, to determine who gets access to knowledge. We can control half of the equation for virtue. We..."

Emperor Kong closed his eyes, like everybody else, immersing himself in this sermon. No matter the final result of this mission, as long as this sermon remained as consistent as its opponent, Kong felt he would benefit immensely on his future path.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.