The next day, the three members of the Demon-Slaying Team followed Li Wangyi's advice and stayed inside the inn to cultivate in seclusion, going nowhere in order to avoid unnecessary disputes.
Whether it was because the [Demon-Slaying Blade Intent], the [Divine Finishing Touch Technique], and the *Shangqing Six-Jia Secret Arts* bestowed upon them by the young Peach Blossom Goddess were an exceptional fit for them, or because they had initially studied them within the divine temple, possessing some ineffable karmic affinity and enlightenment boost, all three of them managed to get a foot in the door and gain a grasp of these three newly acquired blade intents and arts.
Guo Hengbei, in particular, due to his comprehension of the [Demon-Slaying Blade Intent], had crossed over from the Fourth Realm Late Stage late last night into the Fifth Realm, becoming a Qi Condensation Realm martial artist.
From then on, his externalized martial energy could be projected outward, meaning he would no longer be at a disadvantage even when facing cultivators of the same realm.
Yet, in the current town, the strength of the Fifth Realm was still not enough to secure one's safety.
After breakfast, Li Wangyi led Little Qianjun out.
He had once read a travelogue introducing the local scenery of Linggui Town in the *Chronicles of Strange Northern Prefecture Towns*. The text stated that to the northwest of the small town, there stood a dilapidated pagoda.
No one knew who had built that pagoda or when, but everything inside had long since rotted away, and the tower body had long been mottled and peeling without anyone to repair it, yet it had stood for a thousand years without collapsing.
In front of the pagoda lay a forest of stelae, most of which had been eroded by the passage of time and were reduced to mere ruins, but the text on the few remaining broken stelae still retained a profound and lingering charm.
It was suspected to be the legacy of a master of calligraphy.
Li Wangyi intended to seek it out and pay his respects to the predecessors.
Emerging from Ping'an Lane and heading north along Xiangfu Street, as they passed through Tianyu Alley, a chorus of loud, clear reading suddenly reached their ears.
"At the very beginning of chaos, heaven and earth first took form."
"The light and clear Qi that floated upward became heaven, while the heavy and turbid Qi that settled downward became earth."
"The sun, moon, and five planets are called the Seven Regulators; heaven, earth, and man are called the Three Talents. The sun is the root of all yang, and the moon is the emblem of the greater yin..."
Li Wangyi and Little Qianjun exchanged glances and could not help walking toward the direction of the reading voice.
Soon, they spotted a somewhat dilapidated schoolhouse. A courtyard was enclosed by a half-height earthen wall, featuring a crude gate tower.
Affixed to the gate tower was a pair of ink-stained, half-ruined couplets:
Good learners find their hearts not far;
In the realm of classic teachings, the joyful land is boundless.
Li Wangyi and Little Qianjun gently pushed open the door and entered the courtyard. They saw that inside the schoolroom, more than a dozen young children were following a scholar in a long robe around forty years of age, studying the *Youthful Enlightenment (Youxue Qionglin)*.
Li Wangyi watched from afar without stepping forward to interrupt, but the scholar still noticed them.
Seeing that Li Wangyi was dressed as a Confucian scholar, he instructed the pupils to continue reciting on their own, put down his textbook, and walked out.
Li Wangyi cupped his fists in apology: "Pardon me. Passing through Tianyu Alley and accidentally hearing the children reading, I couldn't resist coming over to take a look. I've disturbed you, sir!"
The schoolteacher returned the salute with folded hands: "Not at all. The Master says: 'Is it not a joy to have friends coming from afar?' Please come this way, brother!"
"Thank you, sir!"
Li Wangyi and Little Qianjun followed the schoolteacher into the back hall.
The back hall was also very crude, furnished with only wooden tables and benches. On the wall hung another self-penned couplet:
In literature, one may remold the bones and leave a model;
When scholarship reaches the ultimate source, doubts vanish of themselves.
From this chamber and its couplets, one could perceive the moral integrity of this schoolteacher—and, of course, that his current circumstances were not particularly favorable.
"The quarters are crude, making this brother smile in amusement," the schoolteacher said after serving tea, introducing himself, "I am Liu Yuchen, style name Chaoyu. May I ask your esteemed name, brother?"
"I wouldn't dare. Li Wangyi of Hanshan, style name Gengxin. Pleased to meet you, Brother Liu!"
"Hanshan?" The schoolteacher was quite startled. "Could it be Hanshan Academy?"
"Precisely."
"So it is a distinguished talent of the academy who has graced us! Liu failed to go out to welcome you, so please forgive me, sir!" Upon hearing that it was truly Hanshan Academy, the schoolteacher hurriedly performed a formal bow of greeting once more.
Hanshan Academy was one of the most famous Confucian academies on the Northern Zhige Continent. To an ordinary Confucian scholar, meeting an experiential-learning disciple of Hanshan Academy was practically like seeing an emissary from the heavens.
As a down-and-out schoolteacher in a small town, Liu Yuchen was all the more filled with treed anxiety.
Li Wangyi hurriedly supported his arm to keep him from kneeling all the way down.
"Brother Liu is too polite. You are a scholar, and I am also a scholar. Both of us are disciples of the Confucian Sect; how can there be such distinctions of high and low? Meeting by chance, we should address each other as brothers and reckon seniority by age."
Though pulled back up, Liu Yuchen still appeared somewhat constrained.
Li Wangyi joked, "Brother Liu, your age exceeds mine, and your cultivation realm is higher than mine. If we truly had to bow, it should be me bowing to you instead. Surely you aren't deliberately waiting here for me, are you?"
Higher realm?
Liu Yuchen steadied his gaze to look at Li Wangyi, and was shocked to discover that it was indeed the case.
He was in the Third Realm, the Vessel Storing Realm, while Li Wangyi, who hailed from Hanshan Academy, was actually only in the First Realm.
"This... Brother Li, do you hail from the Hanshan Lower Academy?"
"The Upper Academy."
"Since it is the Upper Academy, then why is your cultivation realm so..."
Li Wangyi said with unconstrained ease: "Who says that a low cultivation realm means one cannot walk the mortal world? As someone who constantly dwells in the marketplace, is Brother Liu also so pedantic?"
Liu Yuchen was speechless and could not help looking the other person over carefully.
Soon, he realized that the Hanshan Upper Academy disciple before him possessed a clear, refined, and otherworldly temperament. Though only in the First Realm, his demeanor revealed ease, leisure, and confidence amidst his composure.
His transcendent and refined bearing was far beyond what he, a town-dwelling Third Realm schoolteacher, could compare to.
Filled with shame, he said, "It was my eyes that failed to recognize talent. May I ask, Brother Li, are you representing Hanshan Academy to seek out opportunities in Linggui Town?"
"You could say that. Does Brother Chaoyu also know that the town's opportunities are about to manifest?"
Liu Yuchen sighed and gave a bitter smile: "How could the humble common folk of a small town compare to the proud talents of various major sects? I merely dwell long within this town, just as the singing cicadas know of summer and grass and trees know of autumn—I merely perceived it by chance."
"To tell the truth, ever since my Enlightenment and my pursuit of learning for over thirty years, I cannot say I haven't been diligent or hardworking, yet I have remained trapped in the Third Realm Vessel Storing, forever unable to break through. Long since abandoning any thought of climbing higher, I merely sit guard over this schoolroom, teaching a few young children to casually pass the remainder of my days."
The schoolteacher, just turning forty, was at the very age when a scholar should be most spirited and radiant, yet his face revealed the weathering of frost and age, and his temples were already slightly speckled with gray.
It was sigh-inducing.
Li Wangyi consoled him, saying: "The *Book of Changes* states: 'The gentleman hides his implement within his body, waiting for the opportune moment to move.' Our Confucian Sect's Third Realm, the Vessel Storing Realm, requires us Confucian disciples to calmly nurture our vessels. Once the wind rises together one day, we will naturally soar like the roc into the empty sky, rising ninety thousand miles up. I ask Brother Chaoyu not to give up on himself."
Liu Yuchen collected his thoughts and bowed in gratitude: "Many thanks for your auspicious words, Brother Gengxin! Brother Gengxin, if you intend to seek the town's opportunities, I have a piece of advice to offer you: Heaven's favor lies within the people; you would do well to treat them kindly."
"Many thanks, Brother Chaoyu!"
The two scholars, with a vast disparity in age, sat down again and chatted freely for a while.
When some pupils came over to ask the teacher questions, Li Wangyi took his leave.
"Eldest Senior Brother, this Teacher Liu has quite a fine bearing and demeanor. I think he'll soon be able to advance to the Fourth Realm of Thing Investigation." As soon as they stepped out of the schoolhouse, Little Qianjun pressed close to Li Wangyi's ear and whispered.
Just now, she had quietly stayed by the side, listening to Eldest Senior Brother and that schoolteacher discourse on the mysteries of the Dao, while also responsible for pouring tea.
She truly felt that Teacher Liu possessed an extraordinary bearing—after all, even his name was chosen so well.
"Right, Eldest Senior Brother?"
Li Wangyi smiled and patted her little head.
Just as he was about to speak, a clamor suddenly rang out from the main street: "Han Xuankong, the descendant of the Mingshan Sword Sect, is confronting Yin Yang, the descendant of the Broken Blade Sect! Right over on Luotong Street, everyone go quickly!"
Immediately afterward, countless figures rose into the air from all directions, rushing at top speed toward Luotong Street.
"Eldest Senior Brother, why don't we go take a look too?"
Little Qianjun's eyes shone brightly, eager to follow along.