Chapter 612: Two Millennia of the Sage
The Woodcutter Sage accepted his bow with composure, saying, "I have taken few disciples. In the past, I taught princes and crown princes, but they did not need to formally acknowledge me as their master. Thus, my official disciples currently number only you and your senior brother. Compared to your senior brother, you appear somewhat green—you truly need to learn well. I am not teaching you to be bad, only to avoid being taken advantage of."
Qin Mu blinked, feeling that this didn't quite match the image of a sage teacher but rather reminded him of the elders of the Cripples' Village.
"Sage Teacher, what is a sage?" Qin Mu asked.
"A sage is a state of mind."
They arrived at this God-Slaying Platform. The Woodcutter Sage surveyed the divine mountain and said unhurriedly, "I once told your senior brother that becoming a sage requires three accomplishments: establishing words, establishing teachings, and establishing merit. With these three, one achieves sagehood. Once these three are done, one's state of mind reaches a lofty realm. Purely in terms of mental state, no one can rival it. A sage has words; only with words can one establish teachings, educate all beings, transmit the Way, impart knowledge, resolve doubts, break through thorns, and open a smooth path."
Qin Mu was startled and blurted out, "Establish teachings? Doesn't that mean founding the Heaven Sage Sect to spread the Way?"
The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "It's not about establishing a sect, but establishing teachings. Founding a sect means creating a school—too shallow. With a sect comes sectarian strife; with sectarian strife comes disputes over words; thus, the establishment of words ceases to exist. Wouldn't that undermine one's own foundation? So, when you said you were the leader of the Heaven Sage Sect, I knew your senior brother's path was likely wrong."
Qin Mu's mind roared. He suddenly recalled the successive leaders of the Heaven Sage Sect who lingered in Fengdu, and he couldn't help but imagine their tear-streaked faces.
They had taken pride and arrogance in their identity as Heaven Sage Sect leaders, never realizing that in the Woodcutter Sage's eyes, it was all wrong.
The Woodcutter Sage walked along this divine mountain, occasionally grabbing massive boulders. The boulders were directly melted by his divine power, transforming into stone pillars covered with raised patterns, arranged in a marvelous formation at the mountain's base.
"Establishing teachings means establishing education. How? By opening schools, promoting academies, broadening talents, doing practical work, researching the Way and divine techniques, and applying them to the daily lives of the people."
He spoke softly, refining the teleportation pillars while saying to Qin Mu, "If the nation is weak, reform and strengthen it to make it strong."
His refining technique was not superior to Mute's, but it was still extremely swift, turning the symbols of teleportation divine abilities into imprints branded onto each pillar.
"If the people are weak, spread the Way to benefit them, to strengthen the people."
"If the military is weak, reform weapons to strengthen the army."
"If the ruler is benighted, remonstrate once, state the consequences, and urge him to change. If he does not change, remonstrate a second time. If he still does not change, depose him and establish a new ruler."
"If Heaven is without the Way, reform the laws, change the heavenly laws to suit the world. If Heaven does not change, seek to change the Way through reform. If it still does not change, overthrow Heaven and establish the Way."
...
He spoke in detail, and before he knew it, he had walked most of the way around the mountain's base.
Qin Mu listened attentively and memorized everything. When the Woodcutter Sage finished explaining his philosophy, Qin Mu suddenly asked, "Sage Teacher, the requirements for a sage are too high. When I carefully recall everyone I have met or heard of, no one can meet the standards of a sage. Can you yourself achieve these?"
The Woodcutter Sage stopped. The mountain rocks in mid-air were melting, forming a stone pillar.
The Woodcutter Sage stood motionless, and the patterns on the pillar also ceased to evolve.
Qin Mu felt uneasy, somewhat regretting his outspokenness. He quietly looked up and saw that this middle-aged man dressed as a woodcutter was unknowingly in tears.
"I once thought I could achieve it."
The Woodcutter Sage's voice was a bit hoarse, his expression somber. "I thought I could become a sage, and others called me one. I thought I could establish teachings, reform to strengthen the nation, strengthen the Kaihuang Kingdom, change the weakness of the people, grant them vast divine abilities, change the weakness of the military, and give the army the power to stand firm on all four borders and intimidate the barbarians. I also thought I could keep the ruler from being benighted, keep Heaven from being without the Way, and thought I could achieve merit and defeat decay... In the last three points, I failed..."
Dong.
The unfinished stone pillar fell to the ground, embedding itself in the soil. The Woodcutter Sage rested his right arm on the pillar, buried his head in the crook of his elbow, tears streaming freely, not letting Qin Mu see his loss of composure.
"I failed. I couldn't stop Kaihuang from going to Carefree Village; I let the ruler become benighted. I failed. I thought I could reform and change the Way, to alter the Heavenly Way, but Heaven destroyed the Kaihuang Kingdom, burying the Kaihuang Era. I failed. In that final battle, I couldn't achieve merit either..."
"I failed... Qin Mu, I am not the sage you are looking for. I cannot teach you either. I am just a failure..."
...
Qin Mu stared at him, a feeling of empathy brewing in his chest.
At the height of the Woodcutter Sage's reforms, when they were most intense and vigorous, Kaihuang suddenly retreated, establishing Carefree Village without a last-ditch stand. This caused the Woodcutter Sage to become despondent.
He watched Kaihuang's retreat, watched the hard-won Kaihuang Era crumble to ashes, watched his comrades fight and die for the same ideal, watched their heads being chopped off, their hot blood spilling on the familiar land, watched those comrades who had eagerly awaited Kaihuang's return to lead them in battle grow old and die, watched the common people of that era pass away generation after generation, replaced by unfamiliar faces.
The frustration and pain in his heart were unimaginable to others.
Qin Mu suddenly shouted, "Sage Teacher, can you pass on your sage's Way to me?"
The Woodcutter Sage wiped his old tears with the sleeve of his elbow and turned to look at him. Qin Mu said excitedly, "I want to inherit your mantle, to continue walking this path, to continue changing things. If the ruler is benighted, overthrow the ruler! If Heaven is without the Way, overthrow Heaven!"
The Woodcutter Sage's expression was indifferent. He shook his head and said, "You cannot."
Qin Mu's fervor was drenched with cold water. He clenched his fists and said angrily, "Why can't I? My senior brother's comprehension and understanding are a bit poor—he mistook establishing teachings for founding the Heaven Sage Sect. I am not that stupid!"
The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "Your senior brother is a bit slow and foolish, but you are not much better. You easily get hot-headed and charge in blindly. Although you can be cunning at times, you lack focus. Your nature is restless; you find everything novel and want to study it. Though you have some depth, it is not deep enough. Though you have conviction, it is not steady enough. Your Dao heart has not yet been tempered to the point where mountains and rivers change but your heart does not. You are not the material for a sage. At the very least, the current you is insufficient."
Qin Mu shouted, "I can change! I can learn!"
"I cannot wait."
The Woodcutter Sage revealed a warm smile, his voice softening. "Good disciple, I truly cannot wait that long."
Qin Mu was stunned.
The Woodcutter Sage continued refining this stone pillar and walked forward.
Qin Mu silently followed him, watching him refine each teleportation pillar.
After a long time, the Woodcutter Sage finally finished the arrangement. He glanced at the somewhat dejected Qin Mu and said with a smile, "No need to look so glum. If I didn't know you inside and out, I might, like that Black Tiger fellow, think your Dao heart was this fragile. Come, let's go up the mountain."
Qin Mu's dejection vanished. He followed him back to the summit of this God-Slaying Platform.
The Woodcutter Sage activated the teleportation formation. Each stone pillar blazed with light, and the runes imprinted in the pillars shone, casting runic imprints into the air, transforming into strange and magnificent text symbols and patterns.
These symbols connected in mid-air, whirling and spinning, their speed increasing faster and faster!
Even for an existence like the Woodcutter Sage, moving this God-Slaying Platform required first turning his teleportation divine ability into a formation, leveraging the formation's power to teleport the platform!
Amid the roaring burst of light, the God-Slaying Platform soared up, flying along with the spinning light!
Standing on this divine mountain, Qin Mu looked back and saw that strange star growing farther and farther away, soon vanishing from his sight.
Around them was the boundless, dark starry sky, desolate and barren, occasionally dotted with tiny stars.
Qin Mu suddenly said, "Sage Teacher, I think there is someone whose talent and comprehension are better than mine and who meets your conditions. I want to introduce him to you."
The Woodcutter Sage was slightly startled, then broke into a smile. "Good. But you no longer need to call me Sage Teacher. Just call me Teacher."
"Teacher."
A torrent of light shone down from the sky of Luofu Heaven, illuminating the ground in front of an altar in Luofu Heaven.
The ground, bathed in the light, revealed countless complex runic imprints that constantly shifted. Then the light vanished, and the massive, magnificent God-Slaying Platform suddenly appeared!
The Woodcutter Sage walked down the platform. The great axe on his back flew up, cleaving open a portal leading directly to Taihuang Heaven: "Bring him to see me."
Qin Mu bowed. "Yes, Teacher."
Taihuang Heaven, Li City.
The Yan Kang National Teacher and a group of scholars from various Yan Kang academies and schools were designing spiritual weapons for sieges and large-scale battles. Qin Mu approached and said to the Yan Kang National Teacher, "National Teacher, the Woodcutter Sage wishes to see you."
The Yan Kang National Teacher's body trembled violently. He looked up at him, both shocked and delighted.
The two arrived at Luofu Heaven. The Yan Kang National Teacher looked up at the tall and majestic altar. Atop it stood a middle-aged man dressed as a woodcutter.
The Yan Kang National Teacher's heart stirred with emotion. He straightened his robes and was about to ascend the altar to seek an audience when suddenly the Woodcutter Sage's voice, as clear and resonant as a bell, came down from the altar: "National Teacher of Yan Kang, I have three questions. Answer these three, and you may ascend the altar to see me! Begin your ascent!"
The Yan Kang National Teacher stepped onto the stone steps. When he reached the one-third mark, the Woodcutter Sage's voice came down: "First question: Your original intention! Answer!"
The Yan Kang National Teacher stopped and declared in a clear voice: "To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to establish a destiny for the living, to continue the lost teachings of past sages, and to create peace for all generations—this is my original intention!"
At the top of the altar, the Woodcutter Sage was silent for a moment, then said, "Ascend."
The Yan Kang National Teacher continued climbing. When he reached the two-thirds mark, the Woodcutter Sage's voice came down again: "Second question: Your Dao heart! Answer!"
The Yan Kang National Teacher stopped, his demeanor elegant and spirited, his expression radiant: "Original intention unchanged, Dao heart eternally firm!"
"Ascend!"
The Yan Kang National Teacher continued climbing. As he was about to reach the top of the altar, the Woodcutter Sage asked, "Third question: Do you know that you may die for this, that you may be disgraced and ruined, that future generations may forget you or even hate you? This undertaking, this path, may not only destroy your life but also ruin your reputation, leaving you nameless in the future."
"I know."
The Yan Kang National Teacher bowed. "I am willing to do it. I have a clear conscience, no regrets, no resentment."
The Woodcutter Sage revealed a smile. "I have taught countless people, but I have only accepted two disciples. Yet neither of my two disciples has truly inherited my mantle or received my true transmission. Instead, the flower blooms outside the door. Come up."
The Yan Kang National Teacher ascended the final step, arriving at the top of this altar, facing the Woodcutter Sage directly.
Dang—
The great axe behind the Woodcutter Sage fell to the ground, embedding itself in the earth. This woodcutter sat down on the axe's back, legs wide apart, hands resting on his knees: "You may now perform the disciple's bow."
The Yan Kang National Teacher lifted his blue robe, knelt down, and said in a deep voice: "A scholar from Jiangling pays respects to Teacher!"
Qin Mu looked up at the top of the altar, his cheeks wet with tears. He had witnessed this transmission of the sage's legacy spanning two eras—the Kaihuang Era and the Yan Kang Era.
The burden of the sage was passed from one era to the shoulders of the next generation.
There were no thrilling scenes, no stirring speeches, yet it moved him to tears.