"Hmm?"
As Yue Ling repelled Han Buyu's flying sword with a punch, he also noticed Lin Zhao's actions. Above the young sword cultivator's head, a Dharma image of a Confucian sage had appeared. Although it seemed ethereal, it was a tangible existence. This kid... did he really have some connection to the Confucian literary world?
No time to worry about that. Kill Han Buyu first!
His punches became even fiercer, and although Han Buyu exhausted his strength, he was still beaten to the point of being unable to retaliate.
Lin Zhao, holding the Thousand Cavalry Roll Snow, found the military brush for appointing generals to be incredibly heavy. As he wrote the characters "Tian Xian" (Heavenly Immortal), cold sweat poured down his body. The strength within him seemed to be drawn out in large quantities, infused into these few characters. Trembling all over, he gritted his teeth and, in one go, wrote the characters "Kuang Zui" (Wildly Drunk).
Then, he moved to a new line.
The Thousand Cavalry Roll Snow trembled, and Lin Zhao desperately stabilized his right hand. Trembling, he wrote the character "Luan" (Chaos) on the talisman paper on a new line. Instantly, the golden radiance between heaven and earth intensified. Despite the heavy snowfall and gloomy weather, streams of Confucian auspicious clouds converged in the sky. Then, as if golden bamboo slips were hanging in the sky, countless golden characters appeared, validating the Great Dao.
Lin Zhao took a deep breath and wrote the character "Ba" (To grasp). Immediately, a heavy pressure descended upon him, making him tremble and almost unable to continue. When he finished writing the following two characters, "Bai Yun" (White Clouds), he spat out a mouthful of blood, moistening the edge of the talisman paper. He was nearing his limit.
Looking up, he saw Han Buyu in the air being beaten and spitting blood.
"Again!"
Lin Zhao gritted his teeth, propping up his body, and wrote another character, "Rou" (To knead). Following this, blood seeped from his nose and mouth. His physical body was almost crushed by the immense pressure of the Great Dao. The poetry written by invoking Confucian phenomena possessed the ability to "mouth the heavenly decree," as if a true Confucian sage's words were law. He, however, was merely an eighth-realm sword cultivator. How could he possibly bear this pressure of the Great Dao, which at least required the thirteenth realm?
"Crack..."
A bone-cracking sound came from his shoulder. Subsequently, he began to lose a vast amount of experience points. In just a few seconds, he lost 35% of his current level's experience. Yet, he endured his physical body, his hand trembling, gripping the equally trembling Thousand Cavalry Roll Snow, and wrote the last character, "Sui" (To break), on the talisman paper. Instantly, as the entire poem was completed, strands of heaven-and-earth-sealed characters circled the golden talisman paper.
"Go!"
Lin Zhao finally shed the heavy pressure from his body and lightly tapped the talisman before him. The essence of both the military and Confucian schools surged into it. The talisman was ignited, and a talisman lit by a mortal being was burned for Han Buyu, who was an ethereal spirit. Instantly, the two lines of poetry written by Lin Zhao hung in the air, shining with golden light—
It must be a heavenly immortal in a drunken revelry,
Who chaotically kneads and breaks apart the white clouds!
The person who composed this was of a bold and unrestrained spirit, revered as a sage among scholars. Not only were his lyrics excellent, but his poems and essays were truly unparalleled in the world.
...
"Ah?"
In the wind, Han Buyu, whose golden body was already swaying precariously, looked up at the two lines of sealed sage poetry hanging between heaven and earth. He burst into loud laughter. As a Cloud Master, he had always restrained his state of mind. How could he achieve such a bold spirit? Now, seeing these two lines of poetry, Han Buyu laughed and shed tears. All the knots in his heart were untangled. With Lin Zhao's help, he had slain his inner demons!
In the sky, the two lines of poetry transformed into sealed characters, one by one, circling Han Buyu. Golden radiance bestowed upon him a new golden Dharma body. Simultaneously, Han Buyu's cultivation surged, reaching the peak of the Star River realm in an instant, and then breaking through. His state of mind was completely opened, and he finally entered the Upper Five Realms, becoming an eleventh-realm Cloud Master, instantly in charge of the frost, wind, rain, and snow of ten thousand miles of territory!
Meanwhile, as Han Buyu rose to power, the sealed inscription of the Rain Master Yue Ling was severely suppressed. One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers!
"Come!"
Han Buyu drew his sword again. This time, it was the sword of an eleventh-realm sword cultivator and a wind and rain deity. Blazing flying sword radiance filled the sky. With a single strike, the head of the Rain Master Yue Ling rolled into the clouds, and he was immediately slain. Losing his eleventh-realm cultivation, a wisp of his soul flew towards the ancestral mountain of the demon race.
Thus, even if Yue Ling could be resurrected, he would never again be the Rain Master of ten thousand miles of territory. The tenth-realm Yue Ling could perhaps only control the frost, wind, rain, and snow of a few hundred miles, and he would be subservient to the eleventh-realm Cloud Master Han Buyu. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west; now, the wind and rain deity of the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool area was entirely under Han Buyu's control!
Lin Zhao stumbled and fell onto the flying sword Red Leaf. Looking at Han Buyu not far away, he smiled and said, "It's done. Finally, this matter is accomplished. It wasn't easy..."
Han Buyu, with gratitude in his heart, bowed deeply to Lin Zhao and said, "Cloud Master Han Buyu thanks Marshal Lin!"
"No need for formalities."
Lin Zhao waved his hand. "Alright, let's disperse the dense clouds and give the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool back its clear, vast sky?"
"Yes!"
Han Buyu held his sword and swept across the sky, tearing open the sky and dispersing all the dense dark clouds. In the blink of an eye, sunlight bathed the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool, and the ice and snow began to melt.
Han Buyu turned and looked towards the demon race territory on Mount Pan Yun. Standing above the clouds, he was not at all flustered. At this moment, he was an eleventh-realm wind and rain deity. The Upper Five Realms of the demon race could no longer harbor murderous intent towards him. After all, killing an Upper Five Realm deity would incur too much karma, which even those great demons could not bear.
As for Fu Sheng, Lu Hai, and others who wanted to kill Lin Xingchu, they had already considered the consequences before harboring any murderous intent. In this life, they would forever be at the thirteenth realm and would not aspire to the fourteenth. The karma incurred by killing a thirteenth-realm deity was unimaginable; not falling in realm would be a good outcome.
...
"Amazing!"
As Lin Zhao flew back to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool, accompanied by a swirl of mountain and water aura, the elegant Su Shanjun appeared. He smiled and said, "With just one poem, Han Buyu has entered the ranks of the Upper Five Realm deities. Such a state of mind is truly enviable. When will you write one for me? I've wanted to enter the Upper Five Realms for a long time. I even dreamt yesterday of returning to the Upper Five Realms and beating up thirteenth-realm great demons until they soiled themselves!"
"Don't even think about it, Su Shanjun."
Lin Zhao smiled. "Your inner demon isn't here with me."
"Who says it isn't?"
Su Shanjun chuckled. "What if it is?"
"Then I'll write one for you too. 'Flowing water and fallen flowers, spring has gone; in heaven and earth...'?"
"Bah!"
Su Shanjun pinched his nose and laughed. "It was one thing to fool the old Sword Immortal Han, who hasn't read the Three Hundred Tang Poems, by copying Li Bai. Are you trying to fool me with a lyric by Li Yu, the last ruler of Southern Tang? I'm not that easy to fool."
Lin Zhao laughed heartily. He knew who Su Shanjun was. He was a friend of his third senior brother in reality, someone who had lived a hundred years ago. Some things indeed couldn't fool him.
"Su Shanjun."
Lin Zhao frowned. "Let's talk about something serious. Now that the old Sword Immortal Han is an eleventh-realm Cloud Master, shouldn't we build a Dragon King Temple for him or something?"
"Sure."
Su Shanjun smiled. "But... your Snow Domain Heavenly Pool only has the White Fish Creek. There are no large rivers or lakes to build a Dragon King Temple. Madam Xu's River God Shrine was just completed not long ago. How about building another Dragon King Temple across the river? Although the saying goes that one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, what about one male and one female?"
"Damn it, Su Shanjun!"
Lin Zhao glared.
"Hahahaha~~~"
Su Shanjun burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, I take it back. I suppose the old Sword Immortal Han wouldn't want to spend his days with that short-sighted old woman, Madam Xu. After all, Han Buyu is a dashing Sword Immortal; he probably can't stand that kind of temperament. How about to the south, in the area of Jizilin, there's a lake. We can build a Dragon King Temple by the lake. It should be enough for the old Sword Immortal Han to eat, drink, and relieve himself."
"Hmm, feasible!"
Lin Zhao smiled. "I'll handle this matter. What do you think, old Sword Immortal Han?"
In the sky, a cloud transformed into a human figure, which was Han Buyu. He cupped his fist and respectfully said, "Han Buyu will obey Marshal Lin's arrangements."
"Good, let's start construction on an auspicious day!"
...
Bai Di City, the Imperial Academy.
The young Grand Master, in a gray-white Confucian robe, stood by the window, listening to the students' chanting within the room. Unfortunately, too much noise from playing intermingled, causing the Grand Master, who had been dispatched from the Confucian Academy to the Imperial Academy, to frown involuntarily. In recent days, Gu Lingyu had questioned more than once whether his decision was correct.
The students of the Imperial Academy could be politely called seeds of scholarship collected from all over the human world. However, after months of lecturing here, Gu Lingyu had gradually seen through it. In reality, these students were selected scholars from various regions, but there were very few true seeds of scholarship among them. Either they were placed here by influential officials, or they were the sons of wealthy families from the prefectures and counties. These children were arrogant and had no inclination to study, nor could they truly absorb the teachings of the sages.
They were merely gilding themselves with the title of "former disciple of Gu Lingyu, a twelfth-realm Confucian sage" to pave their way to higher positions in the officialdom.
Gu Lingyu frowned. Although his teacher had said that education should be universal, he could not feel affection for these students. The disciples he, Gu Lingyu, desired were definitely not these people, but rather those who loved to study and were willing to invest their minds in thoroughly understanding the principles within books. Therefore, Gu Lingyu felt that he was wasting his time at the Imperial Academy in Bai Di City.
"Teacher."
Gu Lingyu closed his eyes and said mentally, "I want to hand over the position of Grand Master to Junior Brother Dong, and then travel alone to seek the answers in my heart. Is that permissible?"
Mr. Zihai, far away in the Confucian Academy, smiled and said, "Follow your heart. Teacher trusts your choices, Lingyu."
"Good!"
Gu Lingyu turned to pack his belongings. It was indeed time for him to go out and see what the world was like. He had learned so much under his teacher, and now it was time to travel ten thousand miles.