In the mountains, time passed unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, Chu Feng had already locked himself in his room for seven days and nights.
During these seven days, he hadn't shown his face, not even at mealtimes. Even Elder Bing could only catch a glimpse of Chu Feng writing furiously in his room during her patrols.
Everyone knew Chu Feng was writing something new for the junior disciple, but none of them had ever seen their master treat himself this way.
Even the always-calm Xiao Chen was feeling puzzled. Early this morning, after they finished cultivating, they went to find Elder Bing.
"Master's wife, what kind of earth-shattering technique is Master writing that he would lock himself up for so long?"
When Elder Bing heard the words "master's wife," a faint blush appeared on her face. "Don't talk nonsense, I'm not your master's wife yet."
"Please forgive me, Elder. I was just worried about Master," Xiao Chen replied politely, leaving Elder Bing with no reason to rebuke him.
She said calmly, "Your master is painting. As for the details, I'm afraid I can't reveal anything."
Elder Bing still remembered how strange that painting Mr. Chu had made was. Clearly, he was painting a Confucian sage, yet it gave her the feeling of someone becoming a saint in the flesh.
While everyone was discussing this, in the room, Chu Feng finally put down his brush and bowed deeply to the image of Saint Kong Fanma in the painting.
"Great Sage Kong, I merely painted the scene of you lifting the city gate with your bare hands. If there's anything improper, I hope you'll forgive me."
As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of literary Dao holy light shot up from the painting, piercing the sky.
That literary Dao light reached a height of ninety-nine zhang, instantly drawing the attention of countless people in the Wendao Academy.
"Such a tall literary Dao light! Could it be that Chief Chu has made another breakthrough in the literary Dao?"
"Quick, go report this to the Chief!"
"…"
Just as many disciples and elders wanted to go pay their respects to the Chief, the various institute heads all announced their closed-door cultivation immediately.
In the Pill Dao Institute, the Xuanhuo Pill King turned to Marquis Youyan beside him and said, "Grand Elder, I'll leave the matters of the Pill Dao Institute to you for now. I need to enter seclusion for three to five years to break through to the Half-Saint realm."
The Grand Elder asked in confusion, "Chief, isn't this a bit hasty? Didn't you plan to go into seclusion ten years from now?"
The Xuanhuo Pill King replied irritably, "I'm already late. Didn't you notice that old Jianwu has gone into seclusion too?
If he hadn't held back when fighting Xiao Chen for Xiao Feng, I'm afraid with Xiao Feng's personality, he would've already gone to give that old guy a beating."
Marquis Youyan said, "Chief, from what I know, Chief Chu is modest and gentle. Logically, he wouldn't bully the weak or take advantage of others."
"Hmph!"
The Xuanhuo Pill King snorted, "You're getting more muddleheaded the older you get. Have you ever seen a young man who values chivalry?"
Marquis Youyan: "…"
He really couldn't find a single argument against this. In his heart, he muttered, 'No wonder all those guys keep running off to give gifts to Chief Chu—they must be afraid of getting beaten up.'
The news that all nine institute heads had gone into seclusion reached the Dean right away.
Seeing this news, the Dean's lips curled up. "I didn't expect Xiao Feng to actually do a good thing this time. Within ten years, our Wendao Academy will have a batch of Half-Saints."
An elder beside him asked, "But Dean, if that's the case, there'll be no one to fill the nine institute head positions. The ancestral land will definitely send people to take over, and then you'll probably be sidelined. After all, those geniuses from the Holy Land are all unruly."
The Dean smiled. "Isn't Xiao Feng here? If they want to make things difficult for me, let them go cause trouble for Xiao Feng first."
The elder couldn't help but mutter, "Dean, you're really sly."
"Hmm?"
The Dean immediately shot a look at the elder, who shut his mouth and dared not say another word.
…
Chu Feng, the cause of all this, had no idea what kind of upheaval his painting had brought to the Wendao Academy.
Looking at the painting before him, he nodded in satisfaction. "With this, no one can question my persona anymore. I bet Cai Chen, that undead knight, has been waiting impatiently."
With that, Chu Feng put the scroll away, and the phenomenon in the sky disappeared as well.
With a booklet and a scroll in hand, he pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard.
As soon as he stepped outside, Chu Feng saw the dumbfounded Elder Bing, as well as a group of disciples.
When everyone heard the sound of the door opening, they instinctively turned their gaze to Chu Feng.
"We pay our respects to Master/Sir."
"No need for formalities."
Chu Feng spoke as he set his eyes on Xu Caichen. "Caichen, have you been working on strengthening your body these past few days?"
Xu Caichen cupped his hands and replied, "Reporting to Master, I have been learning Tai Chi from my senior brothers and sisters."
"Good."
Chu Feng said this, then lightly pushed the booklet in his hand.
The booklet floated toward Xu Caichen and stopped right in front of him.
Xu Caichen carefully received the booklet, respectfully saying, "Thank you, Master, for granting me this method."
"Take a look first. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."
With that, Chu Feng sat at the stone table. Although he hadn't slept for seven days and nights, he felt invigorated—maybe this was the joy of pulling all-nighters to cultivate.
But he realized this was hard on the body and decided not to do it again next time.
Xiao Chen and the others looked at the booklet in Xu Caichen's hands with curiosity.
When they saw the first sentence on the first page, they froze in place.
The Master said: "At thirty, one stands firm; at forty, one is free of doubts; at fifty, one understands fate; at sixty, one is at ease with what one hears; at seventy, one follows one's heart's desires."
Note: The Sage said that the cultivation of a scholar is as follows. Realm of Standing Firm: Even after fighting thirty people, one can still remain standing.
Realm of No Doubt: Facing forty people, there is no hesitation, still striking decisively.
Realm of Knowing Destiny: When facing fifty people, it is destiny to win without fail.
Realm of Being at Ease: Even when facing sixty people, the others will still be willing to listen to your reasoning.
Realm of Following the Heart: Even if there are more than seventy people on the other side, you can still fight however you want.
Just this annotation alone made everyone begin to question reality.
Cao Youqian looked confused. "Master, we are all educated people—are you sure this is the correct explanation of the Confucian Analects?"
The others didn't speak, but they all nodded in agreement.
Xu Caichen felt his scalp go numb—this was completely different from what he had learned at the private school.
Chu Feng smiled. "Would I lie to you? To truly understand the Analects, you must observe the portrait of the Sage every day. Caichen, catch!"
As he spoke, he pointed at the painting scroll, and the scroll flew toward Xu Caichen.
Xu Caichen, still bewildered, caught the painting, but he was dazed, mainly because the Master's way of passing down the Analects was just too shocking.
Cao Youqian couldn't hold back. "Junior brother, open it up so we can see and broaden our horizons."
"Oh."
Xu Caichen replied, finally snapping back to his senses, and carefully unrolled the painting.
Before his eyes appeared a burly old man radiating scholarly energy from head to toe.
If not for the powerful literary Dao intent emanating from the painting, Xu Caichen would have suspected that his master was just messing with him.
The people behind him, looking at the old man in the painting, nearly stumbled to their knees.
Elder Bing was shocked in her heart: There was actually the true essence of the Great Dao within this painting.
Xu Caichen slowly put away the scroll and asked, "Master, I've heard that the Confucian Sage advocated benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, and well-rounded virtue. Why do I not see any sign of this in the painting?"
Chu Feng smiled. "Who told you there isn't benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, and well-rounded virtue in this painting? As long as you can comprehend the Analects, you'll naturally realize what Confucius advocated. When you reach that level, you'll be able to go anywhere in the world."
Upon hearing this, Xu Caichen immediately knelt. "Thank you, Master, for passing down this method."
====================================================================================
Get access to 20 chapters in advance and enjoy 2 daily updates by supporting the series. Available on Patreon: https://patreon.com/Alex_Cruise or Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/anish_44