Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 172 - 163: Thunderbolt Strikes the Top_1

Chapter 172: Chapter 163: Thunderbolt Strikes the Top_1

"Hmm!"

Tingtian Ao looked blankly at Li Xuan for a good while before wagging his tail and clearing his throat: "How should I put it? This man has done nothing immoral. Sure, he’s had a few private affairs, but even if I did reveal them, he wouldn’t care."

The beautiful young girl, who had been laughing coldly as if ready to see Li Xuan’s shocked and dismayed expression, was instantly dazed like she’d been struck by a thunderclap after hearing this. Then she looked at Tingtian Ao incredulously, her expression as if saying, are you trying to deceive me?

"Impossible! Even Master Yu was accused of adulatory by his political enemies, and what about that great scholar Zhuang Shou of three hundred years ago who had an affair with his sister-in-law. Which one of those challengers has not done something wrong? Are you really saying he has conducted himself flawlessly throughout his whole life?"

At this point, a petulant purple mist appeared around the hand that the young girl had placed on Tingtian Ao’s forehead: "Open your dog eyes and look carefully! Tell me how much mana of yours it will take!"

Cold sweat was seeping on Tingtian Ao’s canine head: "There really is nothing, I’m not lying to you! Suxin, giving me more mana wouldn’t help. If I can’t see it, I can’t see it. He’s truly a flawless gentleman, just like a saint. I was surprised myself. I’ve never seen anyone like him before. The virtuous man positioned beneath a willow Liu Xiahui isn’t as great as him."

When Li Xuan heard this, he couldn’t help glaring at this stupid dog.

Comparing him to Liu Xiahui, is that something a person would say? In modern times that is used as an insult.

"Really?"

The young girl looked suspicious, throwing glances at Tingtian Ao and Li Xuan: "Could it be that your divine skills aren’t sufficient? Where’s your mother? According to the spirit contract established between your Diting lineage and Master Yu, the one with the most formidable divine skills among you should preside over the matter."

"In this region of Jiangnan, I’m the one with the most powerful Diting skills, despite my modest abilities."

Tingtian Ao wagged his tail nervously once more: "My mother isn’t here, she was infatuated with a stupid dog centuries ago and shamelessly disappeared somewhere."

The young girl was frustrated enough to lean back. She suddenly had a thought: "You aren’t scared of that Guardian Spirit behind him, are you? Just an imperial demeanor right? You wimp of a dog, what are you scared of? I’ve got your back!"

"I don’t even know what you’re talking about!" Tingtian Ao grunted, and with a vigorous shake of his head, he slipped out from under the girl’s palm: "Am I that kind of dog? You’re insulting me. I’m going home. This guy is filled with honor and is pure and unblemished. I really can’t see anything wrong."

"But that’s not right! Something’s very wrong." The beautiful girl was completely bamboozled. She shook her head at Li Xuan: "Wait, weren’t you two acting weird earlier? Did you know each other before, and have quite a deep friendship? Were you intentionally helping him? It must have been."

She was trembling with anger: "Tingtian, you’re really shameless".

Cold sweat broke out on Tingtian Ao’s forehead again: "What are you talking about? You must have made a mistake. Um, my master is calling me, I must excuse myself".

Upon finishing his sentence, his body suddenly turned into smoke, disappearing before their eyes.

Once Tingtian Ao left, Li Xuan began to talk to the beautiful girl. He asked hesitantly: "Miss, may I ask where this place is?"

"Playing dumb? Since you’ve entered the Wenxin House for the selection of the protector of Neo-confucianism, naturally you’re inside the small universe of the Heart Asking Bell!"

The beautiful girl sneered; then her face turned pale and green alternately. Eventually, she hmphed and sidestepped to the side: "Go ahead, this is the final round. Leave your Dao (path), and then you can leave".

Li Xuan was still confused, but when he heard the words "you can leave", his spirits lifted and he stepped forward.

In an instant, silence fell upon the scene in front of Wenxin House. Everyone stared blankly at the illuminated sixth floor of Wenxin House.

Every time someone climbed a floor in this building before, they exclaimed and exclaimed.

But when the lights of this floor were lit, everyone fell silent.

It wasn’t until a good twenty breaths later that someone finally exclaimed, "Who the hell is he? His character is so flawless?"

"Legend has it that the Heart Asking Bell has been out of control, yet he managed to pass. Could this person be a saint?"

"He seems very young, does the Liudao Division have such a demon slayer?"

On top of Wenxin House, Jiang Yunqi was so stunned that he seemed to have turned to stone. His mouth was agape, standing there rigid.

"I did not expect this young man’s virtue to be so impeccable."

Quan Dingtian glanced out of the window then looked sympathetically at Yunqi: "Seeing the Madam’s expression, she seems to be ready to tear you apart."

At this moment, Lady Jiang was indeed grinding her teeth.

Xue Yunrou next to her was also regretful. She really wanted Li Xuan’s virtue and kindness to be known only to herself. How good would that be?

Jiang Hanyun, on the other hand, was staring fixedly at the sixth floor of the tower, her eyes brimming with brilliance.

※※※※

"Next is the Wendao!"

On the other side of the crowd, Wang Jing took a deep breath, then suddenly flicked her sleeves, tightly clenched her fist: "The one who completes the test just needs to leave their Way in the small universe within the bell, and they can successfully reach the summit."

"Just need to? This is anything but easy." Long Rui shook his head: "The Way he leaves behind, first, must align with our Confucian essence, then it has to be refreshing and new, and finally, it needs to be approved by Master Yu and the past twenty-seven Hufas of Neo-Confucianism, that is, twenty-seven great ruminants.

The stakes of this test were too high in past dynasties. Without profound knowledge, without the level of a great scholar, you can’t pass this test. But the Heart Asking Bell only accepts those under the age of twenty-five for the assessment. To achieve the level of a great scholar before the age of twenty-five, how easy can that be? So, thirty years ago, our Neo-Confucianism thinkers had a public discussion about whether the rules should be changed so that you only need to pass the fifth test to be granted the position of Hufa for Neo-Confucianism."

"Indeed!" Wang Jing nodded: "But it is said that the power of protecting Dao left by Master Yu and the previous Hufas, is in the final test of the Heart Asking Bell. Hence this proposal, ended up amounting to nothing."

In the small universe within the Heart Asking Bell, Li Xuan stepped into the modest stone hall. Then he found it was completely empty, with no set-up inside, only over twenty scrolls hung on the four walls.

At this point, the charming girl gave a slight flick of her sleeve and a desk and an opened scroll materialized in front of Li Xuan, "The scroll is made from true dragon skin and can carry any kind of Dao principle."

The charming girl looked at him coldly, "Start writing, don’t waste time."

Li Xuan picked up the brush, curiously asked, "Can I write anything?"

"If you can write anything, why would you need the dragon skin scroll? It must comply with the teachings of the Confucians, reflect your personal ambition, and be adhered to for life. Don’t you feel ashamed putting ordinary words here? Moreover, you must be innovative; it must be something none of the previous generations have."

The charming girl’s lips curved upwards, she crossed her arms, her eyes mocking as she looked at Li Xuan, "Write! Let me see what shocking work you can produce! The pit that Master Yu, that damned old man, dug for his successors is not shallow. His legitimate disciples can’t pass, let alone a martial cultivator like you from Liudao Division."

She licked her lips, her eyes showing a purple gleam: "Write well! If it is not good, your Primordial Spirit is mine. To have an emperor-class being as your Guardian Spirit, your soul must taste delicious."

Li Xuan was secretly in shock, he felt that this flirtatious looking loli of unknown age was deadly serious when she said that.

He steadied his mind and began looking around, carefully inspecting the scrolls. Then, with just one look, he was drawn in.

Naturally, the first one was Master Yu’s ’Preserving the natural principle; Extinguishing human desires’. The ink treasure of Duke Wen Zhonglie is also included - ’Confucius is about benevolence, Mencius is about righteousness, only its righteousness is exhausted, so its benevolence arrives’.

Then came - ’The rise and fall of the world, every individual has a responsibility’.

’The Way is close, no need to seek in the distant past, take its essence and complete it’.

’Learning from the heart is not as good as learning from the ancients, learning from the ancients is not as good as learning from the heavens, learning from the heavens is not as good as learning from objects’.

’Poverty is not a shame, but it’s a shame to be poor and have no ambition. Being humble is not something to be despised, but despicable is being humble and incompetent. Old age does not need to be sighed about, but what’s pitiful is spending one’s old age in vain. Death is not to be lamented, what is lamentable is death without reparation’.

The words on these scrolls are long or short, some have only a sentence or two, and some are lengthy, amounting to a thousand words. But without exception, every letter contained the rhyme of Way, whether it was iron-like strokes or simple and encompassing everything, or freely and unrestrained like a dragon or a snake running, they all made people gasp with admiration, almost unable to look away.

After Li Xuan finished looking through, he seemed lost for a good while before he regained his bearings, then sweat broke out on his forehead, thinking it’s really challenging!

He racked his brains and thought for a long time, but still couldn’t come up with any sentences.

The key is that his understanding of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism is half-baked.

As Li Xuan thought carefully, he realized that only the wisdom of some ancient people from his previous world could solve the crisis he was facing.

"Write it quickly!" That charming girl continued to urge, "I don’t have the patience to play cat and mouse with you, if you don’t start writing in three minutes, I will start directly. You can’t write anything anyway, head up or down it’s all the same, why not make it quicker? Afterwards, I can make you suffer less."

Li Xuan glared coldly at the girl, then turned his gaze back to the dragon skin scroll in front of him.

The first phrase he thought of was naturally that sentence, ’To establish a mind for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, to continue the lost teachings for past sages, and to establish peace for future generations’.

But Li Xuan then thought, can he really do that? To establish a mind for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, he could barely do that, because it is more related to his heart and own cultivation. But to follow the lost teachings for past sages, he didn’t have that capability; to establish peace for all generations, he didn’t have such vast ambition.

After some careful consideration, Li Xuan finally wrote four characters on the scroll — ’Unity of Knowledge and Action’!

Next, he looked at the large empty space behind the scroll. After some hesitation, he wrote four more sentences — ’The heart is neither good nor evil, the workings of good and evil are in the intent; recognizing good and evil is the innate knowledge, acting on good and removing evil is Recognizing Things’.

At this moment, the charming girl’s expression changed abruptly!

And at this time, in the seventh floor of the Wenxin House, all the wall lamps around ignited naturally without fire. And everyone inside and outside the house saw the lamps in the seventh floor ignited and the misty colorful light flowing out of the house, covering the entire Yuhuatai.