Carrying a bookcase on his back, Sima Qingshan looked like a student. In the bookcase, there were a few scroll paintings, the tips of their wooden frames sticking out of the bookcase.

He was traveling through the heavy snow on a horse with difficulty.

He saw the magnificent city of Beiluo very quickly.

Beiluo City was one of the six cities guarding the capital city. Since Lu Ping'an from White Jade City had become famous, the city seemed to have been endowed with a peace and a significance beyond itself.

White Jade City was located in Beiluo. Lu Ping'an was in Beiluo as well.

This ancient city became a sacred place for cultivators all over the world.

Everyone in the world knew White Jade City, and because of White Jade City, they knew Beiluo City.

Otherwise, it would not have gained everyone's admiration or become everyone's dream destination simply by being one of the six cities guarding the capital city.

It was snowing. Sima Qingshan, in a thick cloak, saw his breath in the cold air.

He was a little excited and a little expectant.

He met many travelers going to the same destination on the state highway, so he did not feel lonely.

He kept going straight and finally arrived at the city gate.

Sima Qingshan's face was flushed in the cold. The Dragon Blood Army guarding the city looked at him and questioned him. Then, they let him enter the city.

While the soldiers guarding the city were questioning him, Sima Qingshan was also observing them.

If people had held Beiluo in awe only because of White Jade City, then the Dragon Blood Army gave these people another reason to feel that way.

This was an extremely powerful city.

A powerful city that could be compared to a county.

In terms of a fighting force, the other five of the six cities guarding the capital city all together might still not be a match for Beiluo.

Sima Qingshan led his horse into Beiluo City. With rich Spirit Qi was lingering everywhere, it looked like an immortal land. Vendors were hawking around in the snow.

The air was filled with the delicious aroma of food.

This was a prosperous and peaceful city. Everything was in order. People could not help but think about settling down here.

“What a great place!” Sima Qingshan exclaimed.

However, he did not linger in the city. Instead, he asked people the way to Beiluo Lake and then led his horse there.

By then, three days had pa.s.sed.

It was time for Lu Ping'an to lecture on cultivation. He really did not want to miss out on such a rare opportunity.

In fact, it was not difficult to find Beiluo Lake. After all, cultivators were all going to the lakeside in groups. Sima Qingshan found the way very easily.

At the lakeside, he gazed at the mysterious Spirit Qi hovering over the lake. It was snowing, but the lake's surface was not frozen. Instead, the water was strangely warm.

Snowflakes melted as soon as they fell on the lake.

Looking at the misty lake, Sima Qingshang involuntarily recalled something that had happened in Nanjin City.

He remembered how Nie Changqing, in a white robe, showed up before him to protect him.

He waved his hand and knife energy burst forth. They turned into knife shadows which killed the intruding barbarian soldiers without much effort.

Sima Qingshan had never been so shocked in his life. Not until then did he realize that cultivators could be so strong and that if he became a cultivator, he could achieve many things he had wanted to do but had never been able to.

He had an immortal encounter. He entered that mysterious Immortal Ascension Site and received the immortal's gift. There, he comprehended the Dao of painting.

He felt like he was the chosen one, who was given lots of responsibilities.

When Sima Qingshan had reached the lakeside, a lot of people were already crowded there. He could not even find a spot to stand.

There was not even one boat at the dock. Many cultivators who wanted to go to the island by boat were at a loss.

There had been boats there; however, Lu Changkong had commanded that they be taken away.

Lu Fan did not bother to manage those things.

It was Lu Changkong who had to manage them.

It was impossible to go onto the island.

As a result, many cultivators were anxious. They chose to find a place to rest close to the edge of the lake. They cleared away the snow and sat down cross-legged.

Some people jumped onto the stone blocks by the dock and sat there.

One after another, cultivators sat cross-legged and peered at Lake Island in the distance with their necks strained in antic.i.p.ation.

Sima Qingshan arrived a little late. He could barely find a place to stand. If he wanted to sit down cross-legged, he would have to move one or two miles away.

But if he really stayed so far away, his turn would never come.

“Excuse me, could you make way, please?” a girl's voice said.

Sima Qingshan leaned sideways automatically.

He saw a girl in white with a black pot on her back and a basket with both arms walking through the crowd. Beside her, a man carrying a sword was also carrying a full basket of herbs.

“Ah? Where are the boats?”

Looking at the empty dock, Ni Yu was dumbstruck.

“I suppose it's because Young Master is going to hold his lecture. That's why all of the boats are gone,” Jing Yue said.

“It's all right. I'll take you back to the island.”

Jing Yue smiled.

Then he put the herbs down and pressed two fingers against the sword handle.

The Jing Heaven Sword was unsheathed!

Clank! A vague sharp energy spread. Even the snow seemed to slow down slightly.

The energy of the sword cut the air open like a dragon and disturbed the snowflakes.

“Go,” Jing Yue urged with a smile.

Carrying the basket with one hand and carrying Ni Yu with the other, he walked ahead.

Jing Heaven Sword went into the water. Floating on the water surface, it moved forward. Jing Yue activated the Spirit Qi in his cinnabar field. After taking a few steps on the water, he landed on the Jing Heaven Sword and slid into the thick fog. Then, they disappeared.

The cultivators at the lakeside were all amazed.

The young masters from aristocratic families were so excited that they flushed. Cultivators from poorer families were also extremely shocked.

Sima Qingshan's eyes lit up.

“White Jade City's disciples?”

He thought about it.

Then, an idea flashed through his mind.

He pushed his way through the crowd and finally came to the lakeside. The place was packed with people, so some cultivators were pretty annoyed by him.

“Don't push. You came late, so please stay behind!” a young master from some aristocratic family snapped because Sima Qingshan pushed him lightly.

Sima Qingshan apologized right away. In the distance, some poor cultivators waved at Sima Qingshan, inviting him to stand with them.

Sima Qingshan was dumbstruck. Then, he broke out into a smile and went to stand with the poor cultivators.

He put his bookcase down after greeting them. He took a scroll painting out.

He took out his brush pen too.

Many cultivators nearby looked at Sima Qingshan, confused.

Sima Qingshan was wearing some old clothes which had been patched up. He looked poor. That was why those poor cultivators wanted to lend him a hand.

“Brother, are you going to paint in the snow to record this cultivators' great event?” a poor cultivator asked out of curiosity.

Sima Qingshan was dumbstruck. Then, he raised the brush pen and lifted the bookcase onto his back again. Shaking his head, he smiled.

He pointed at Lake Island which looked vague in the mist with his brush pen.

“I want to go onto the island to listen to Young Master Lu's lecture at a closer distance.”

When that had been said, everyone around him was dumbstruck.

The young master who had scolded Sima Qingshan severely even burst out laughing.

He thought Sima Qingshan was daydreaming.

There were no boats. How would he go onto the island?

Sima Qingshan did not try to explain. Gazing at Lake Island, around which water was rippling, he showed an expectant smile.

Spirit Qi surged. A tremendous pressure instantly burst forth from him.

All of a sudden, it swept along the entire lakeside of Beiluo Lake.

The soldiers from Dragon Blood Army in charge of guarding the place were shocked. They threw Sima Qingshan an incredible look.

They saw a funnel-shaped Spirit Qi spiral emerge over Sima Qingshan's head.

The scroll painting unfolded. It was suspended in the air.

Grasping his brush pen, Sima Qingshan smiled. He used Spirit Qi as ink. The tip of the brush pen turned black.

He started to paint on the white paper. The brush pen was moving like a swimming dragon.

He flung his brush pen hard, and thick ink splashed from the brush.

“Boat.”

Sima Qingshan smiled.

As Spirit Qi shook, the ink was thrown out of the scroll and fell on Beiluo Lake.

People gave a gasp of astonishment because a boat appeared on the lake's surface.

The boat was the color of ink instead of the usual color of wood.

The ink turned into a boat?

Sima Qingshan took his scroll painting and brush pen and jumped in an arc. He landed on the boat.

The boat started to drift away. He and the boat gradually disappeared in the thick fog.

On the sh.o.r.e, it was super quiet.

Then a great disturbance started!

“My gosh… That poor painter turns out to be a great cultivator!”

“That's gorgeous. Amazing. He paints so well!”

“A cultivator's world is so mysterious!”

All the cultivators kept talking about it.

If they were surprised by Jing Yue, who crossed the lake on his sword, they were totally shocked by the poor painter Sima Qingshan, who turned ink into a boat.

The young master who had scolded Sima Qingshan turned extremely pale.

No one expected a poor painter to be a secret great cultivator.

The poor cultivators were so surprised that they could not even close their open mouths. Soon, they looked at each other with excited faces.

They exchanged a glance with each other and closed their fists.

It turned out poor people could become great cultivators too!

It was absolutely possible that they could make it too!

Standing on the ink boat, Sima Qingshan drifted into the thick fog. Instantly, like pa.s.sing through dark willows and flowers in bloom to another village, a giant island shrouded in the thick fog emerged before him.

It looked like an immortal island in the mortal world. In terms of landscape, it was unparalleled.

On Lake Island, before White Jade City's pavilion, everyone was sitting cross-legged.

Lv Dongxuan and Lv Mudui found a bluestone before sitting down cross-legged.

Ning Zhao and Yi Yue found a place to sit too.

Lu Changkong, Luo Yue, Gongshu Yu were also waiting quietly.

Xie Yunling came from the Dao Pavilion as well. How could he miss Young Master's lecture? Xie Yunling also brought Li Sansui. She followed Xie Yunling quietly in a Daoist robe.

The rich Spirit Qi pervading the air made Li Sansui feel like she was on an immortal land.

She lifted her head. With her fair and smooth-skinned chin s.h.i.+ning in the sunlight, she gazed at the elegant figure on the pavilion.

That man was watching the snow by the rail and appreciating the lake view, relaxed and unrestrained.

Noises came from the Dragon Gate.

The silhouette of a figure walked out from it.

All cultivators in the world had a.s.sembled in Beiluo.

Compared to the graceful and relaxing atmosphere at Beiluo Lake, Dongyang County had a totally different h.e.l.l-like landscape.

The air was filled with the pungent scent of blood. The morning light cut the sky open like a sharp sword.

On the city tower of Dongyang County's frontier city, a man stood there, looking really close to the sky. Yet his thin body caused a shocking terror to spread over the enemy.

The Master was defending the border!

This man was the Imperial Adviser, Kong Xiu.

He was standing on the city tower. Over his head, rich Righteousness Qi was gathering. It vaguely gathered in a giant swirl.

He was making promises and everything he said sounded magical.

While he was speaking, the Righteousness Qi motivated the guards on the city tower greatly. Their fatigue was gone. They were eager to fight.

They would be the ones to protect their own home!

Unsheathing his sword, Yang Mu kept snarling.

One of Dongyi's soldiers who would never die charged onto the city tower. Regardless of his personal danger, a guard jumped on him. Then, the two rolled down the city tower together.

Both of their bones fractured, so the Dongyi soldier could not climb the city wall again.

It was an extremely brutal war.

Dongyang County's soldiers might not be as strong as cultivator armies, but they were as brave and as upright as the latter. It was such a desperate battle that blood flowed in rivers on which abandoned s.h.i.+elds were floating.

Blood splashed on the Master as well. His Confucius robe was stained red.

However, the Master was not intimidated at all.

He was a small man, but at that moment, his body seemed to be bigger and straighter.

The Master gazed out at Dongyi's army.

His mouth was open. His eyes started. He knocked on a bluestone on the city tower. Righteousness Qi instantly started to surge and press down.

Many of Dongyi's soldiers wanted to retreat. They lost every bit of their will to fight.

Except for those who could not die. They were still charging up the city tower fearlessly.

They fought at close quarters against Dongyang County's army.

Mo Tianyu's eyes turned red. Even the Master was defending the border of the country. How could he run away?

Therefore, he put his copper coins aside and borrowed a sword. He started to brandish the sword on top of the city tower.

Aided by the Master's Righteousness Qi, the situation seemed to have reversed. The frontier city that had almost been taken was successfully defended.

Yang Mu was very excited. He looked at the Master with admiration.

However…

The Master looked extremely solemn.

Yang Mu looked where the Master was looking. There, on a distant boat, a large man in a black robe was walking gracefully towards them with his hands clasped.

Despite the retreating Dongyi people at the city tower, the large man did not seem to be affected at all.

He only looked astonished when he fixed his eyes on the Master.

“The power of will…

“A non-cultivator who has attained such a strong power of will…”

The large man had no idea what Righteousness Qi was, but in fact, Righteousness Qi was a kind of willpower. The Master was the one who invented Righteousness Qi, so he certainly excelled at activating and using it.

“Mayor Yang, defend the city tower well,” the Master suddenly said.

Then, the Master, with his Confucius robe fluttering, turned to go down the city tower.

The sword in Mo Tianyu's hand was stained with blood. He was dumbstruck. He hurried after the Master.

Yang Mu was still guarding the city tower. He had no idea what the Master was going to do, but he knew the Master was fighting with them together at the moment.

“Kill!

“We won't go back home unless we repulse the army of Dongyi!”

On the city tower, influenced by the Righteousness Qi, Dongyang County's soldiers all waved their weapons and snarled in anger.

The city tower's gate was slowly opened.

The Master walked slowly. He already had one foot in the grave. His body was so old and thin that it seemed he would fall anytime.

The army followed the Master out of the city.

They were waving their weapons. The war cries were deafening.

But the large man could only see the Master.

“Interesting. A mortal who has the nerve to challenge cultivators too?”

The large man burst out laughing. His gesture was graceful and he never lost his elegance.

He lifted his hand and waved it lightly.

The Dongyi people behind him charged instantly.

The Master and the large man exchanged a look as if they were the only two people remaining in the world.

“Cultivators…” the Master murmured. Then, he burst out laughing.

The era of the Hundred Schools of Philosophy had been terminated by cultivators.

He never had a chance to fight Lu Ping'an.

However, now, he, Kong Xiu, was finally confronted with a cultivator.

With Kong Xiu's age, he was not very enthusiastic. However, the sight of the soldiers on the city tower defending the border of the country at the cost of their lives evoked his pa.s.sion and enthusiasm which had been gone for too long.

Kong Xiu used to travel the world and go on adventures with that kind of pa.s.sion too. In a Confucius robe, he visited the one hundred schools of philosophy and left them in great pressure.

Looking at the cultivator before him, Kong Xiu burst out laughing.

Reciting poems, he walked slowly through the battlefield.

Right before him, the charging Dongyi army gradually paused.

Because the old man in the Confucius robe walking at the front of the Dongyang County army carried Righteousness Qi while walking.

Every word he recited was powerful. Their sounds over the battlefield made the people lose their pa.s.sion and the will to fight.

An invisible pressure fell on the Dongyi people and made them feel as though their hearts were being squashed. They could not even breathe.

The Master took a step forward.

Surprisingly, the Dongyi forces took a step back.

The large man squinted.

“His will is really strong.”

He raised his hand.

He lightly waved it.

The ground started to crack. Countless earth thorns pierced through the ground.

The Master's hair was blowing. His Confucius robes were fluttering.

However, he was still fearless as if the many dead bodies before him were regular sand on the seash.o.r.e.

He kept reciting poems.

The ground cracked and thorns pierced through the ground but the Master was still walking forward. The earth thorns always missed him. The cracking ground could not shake his body.

The large man could not help but narrow his eyes.

This was not an acceptable result for him. He waved his hand. The energy in his body surged.

More earth thorns pierced through the ground.

However, the thin and old man walked slowly through the earth thorns. The earth thorns bled him.

But the Master did not stop reciting.

For the large man, the gap between mortal people and cultivators was too huge to cross.

However, at the moment, this old man gave him the feeling that this mortal man could fight a cultivator with his own strength alone!

The large man was a little annoyed.

He had investigated. He knew there were no cultivators in Dongyang County.

However, this man suddenly showed up here.

“Since you are so eager to die, I'll satisfy you,” the large man said coldly.

He raised his hand.

Bang!

The ground cracked. It turned into two giant half-spheres of earth.

The large man clasped his hands hard.

The two half-spheres immediately pressed together!

Dong!

It felt like a big earthquake.

The Master's body was instantly devoured.

“Kill!”

The large man waved his hand.

The Dongyi army behind him charged towards Dongyang County's army, shouting war cries.

Mo Tianyu's eyes were extremely red. He was staring at the earth ball. That was the power of cultivators. They could even control giant rocks!

The Master was just a mortal man. How would he parry this?!

However, the earth ball suddenly split open. Then, the Master walked out of the opening.

His Confucius robe was a little ragged. Half of his body was covered in blood. However, the Master was still smiling.

Then, the smile changed.

The Master gazed at the Dongyi army charging over.

The Righteousness Qi over his head instantly pressed down.

He snarled!

His Confucius robe fluttered.

Facing the Righteousness Qi, the Dongyi army lost all of their will to fight. They all stopped moving. They took a breath. Then, they turned around to flee, leaving their weapons behind.

The Righteousness Qi gathered like clouds. It turned into a giant palm.

The Master opened his mouth. His eyes flickered. He recited poems and essays, staring at that giant man.

“A righteous spirit is pervading Heaven and Earth!” the Master yelled.

All of a sudden, the Righteousness Qi morphed into a hand which instantly hovered over the large man's head.

The large man felt a vague pressure.

On the battlefield, the Master repulsed ten thousand troops with his Qi and pressured the cultivator with a yell!