Chapter 2186: The Bookworm and the Hundred Fool
Bamboo Serene Valley was an extremely tranquil place within the Imperial City, nestled against mountains and waters, with clusters of green bamboo growing thickly. From afar, it looked like a breathtaking painting.
The Azure Rainbow Pavilion was located within Bamboo Serene Valley, far from the clamor of the world, and rarely visited by anyone.
Counting the time, the Azure Rainbow Pavilion had existed for a hundred thousand years, standing unshaken through all the changes of the world.
In the past, the great disciple of Xumi Saint Monk, Master Fangcun, had left various means within the Azure Rainbow Pavilion. The Space Teleportation Array he had arranged, leading to the location of the Peach Tree, was entrusted to the Nalan Clan for generation-after-generation protection.
Only the sacred blood of a Saint from the direct lineage of the Nalan Clan could activate the Space Teleportation Array.
Before the Kunlun Realm became a Merit Battlefield, it had always been Emperor Wen who handled this matter.
Because Emperor Wen was a Great Saint and had to leave the Kunlun Realm, the guardianship of the Peach Tree should have been inherited by Shengshu Cainü.
However, with the myriad affairs of the imperial court, Shengshu Cainü could not extricate herself. Therefore, she invited two awakened ones of the Confucian Path to take on this heavy responsibility.
Those two were called "Bookworm" and "Hundred Fool."
As for their true names, no one knew them any longer.
Bookworm and Hundred Fool possessed astonishing identities. They were the last two disciples of the final Confucian Ancestor of the Confucian Path, having received the true transmission of the Confucian Ancestor.
All later disciples of the Confucian Path had to respectfully address them as Ancestral Masters.
The Confucian Path had a long and profound heritage, giving birth to many deities throughout history, and even four Confucian Ancestors who stood at the pinnacle.
Legend had it that even Wen Tianjun, the Ten Calamities, had once been a student of the third Confucian Ancestor, studying Confucian literary methods, cultivating both martial arts and spiritual power to their ultimate extremes.
The Azure Rainbow Pavilion was not merely an ordinary pavilion. It contained a vast inner world, a massive small world isolated from the outside, with extremely rich sacred qi of heaven and earth and highly active heavenly and earthly rules, making it a rare cultivation treasure land.
In an open space, countless books were piled into two tall mountains of texts. Two figures sat cross-legged atop these book mountains, both deeply engrossed in flipping through volumes.
They were the awakened ones of the Confucian Path, Bookworm and Hundred Fool.
Bookworm wore a scholar's robe, appearing very young, with his hair tied in a bun, looking every bit the scholar. He held a book in his hand, shaking his head and swaying as he read with great delight.
"Exploring the boundary between heaven and man, understanding the changes of past and present. Not bad, not bad. This passage is excellently written, with smooth reasoning—a timeless masterpiece!"
...
Hundred Fool, on the other hand, had the appearance of a middle-aged man, slightly plump, with disheveled, messy hair and a face full of stubble, very unkempt.
He buried his head, reading word by word, seemingly even more focused and absorbed than Bookworm.
The two were competing to see who could first finish reading the historical records of the Kunlun Realm from the last hundred thousand years.
Originally, as Confucian Path Saint Kings, they could have released their spiritual power to quickly absorb all the content of the books. But the two were patient, preferring to read slowly like ordinary people.
Suddenly, Bookworm raised his head, sensing a rather intense spatial fluctuation within the Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
Vaguely, space shattered, revealing a deep hole connected to the Void World.
An ancient bridge faintly appeared, spanning across the Void World, extending from somewhere to the Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
On the bridge stood numerous figures of various forms—some only five feet tall, others towering a hundred zhang.
"Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" Bookworm said with a smile.
No sooner had he spoken than an extremely powerful yin-sha aura emanated from the hole.
Bookworm's expression stiffened as he pointed toward that spot. "Not good. They are not friends; it's the aura of the Hell Realm. How can beings from the Hell Realm appear in the Azure Rainbow Pavilion? Let me take a closer look."
"It's the Void Chaos Bridge! Beings from the Hell Realm are trying to forcibly descend here. Hundred Fool, disaster is upon us, disaster is upon us!"
Hundred Fool ignored him, still stroking his beard, immersed in his scroll.
"Ten Thousand Words, Thousand Soldiers."
Helpless, Bookworm had to act himself.
He flicked his hand, and all the words on the book in his hand detached, flying out to manifest the phantom of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, charging toward the spatial hole.
That "Ten Thousand Words, Thousand Soldiers" was clearly an extraordinary Confucian technique.
"Boom!"
All the yin-sha aura was instantly shattered.
Then, the phantom of the thousand troops and ten thousand horses surged into the spatial hole, forcibly suppressing a figure that had just stepped off the ancient bridge and driving it back.
"Haha! A scholar from the Kunlun Realm can send you tumbling back. Jade Heaven Bone Emperor, it seems your strength is far from enough to challenge Zhang Ruochen." Accompanied by a loud laugh, another imposing figure crossed the Void Chaos Bridge.
From the void, a deep snort sounded: "Yan Wushen, you'd better not underestimate that scholar. His power is no small matter."
"You're useless, but don't think everyone else is. Watch me break his Ten Thousand Words, Thousand Soldiers."
Yan Wushen strode forward, meeting the army phantom manifested by the words. His right hand formed a golden, radiant great palm print, his nine-zhang-six golden body activated, casually wiping out the thousand troops and ten thousand horses.
Then, with a single step, ignoring all obstacles, he forcibly descended into the Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
"Boom!"
His foot landed, shaking the entire Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
After refining the Yin-Yang Two Life Flowers, Yan Wushen had completely merged good and evil, reaching a true peak state, exuding an aura of supremacy over heaven and earth.
Bookworm was momentarily stunned, not expecting that a being below the Great Saint realm could break his Ten Thousand Words, Thousand Soldiers.
Following Yan Wushen, dozens of beings from the Hell Realm stepped down from the Void Chaos Bridge, crossing the spatial hole to descend into the Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
They radiated powerful auras, overwhelming heaven and earth. Any one of them could shake the myriad realms of the heavens—elites among elites, drawn from all ten clans of Hell.
However, the moment they descended, they triggered the spatial array left by Master Fangcun within the Azure Rainbow Pavilion.
"Rustle."
Yan Wushen let out a soft exclamation as the surrounding space rapidly contracted, forming a spatial cage.
That spatial cage resembled a bubble a hundred zhang in diameter. But at the edges of the bubble, chains woven from spatial power interlocked.
Not only Yan Wushen but also the other Hell Realm cultivators were trapped by spatial cages.
Dozens of spatial cages appeared simultaneously, dispersing and imprisoning the Hell Realm cultivators.
"How interesting, truly interesting. It seems the sages of the Kunlun Realm made preparations long ago, guarding against us."
Yan Wushen showed no panic at all. He extended a finger and gently tapped the chains at the edge of the spatial cage.
The chains trembled, emitting a "clattering" sound.
The spatial cage rapidly contracted, halving the internal space.
"Everyone, it's best not to touch those chains carelessly, or you might be crushed into a speck of dust by the spatial cage's power," Yan Wushen said.
"The Confucian Ancestor once said: Harmony is most precious in all matters; rashly resorting to arms and killing damages refinement," Bookworm said.
A Six Calamities Ghost King, standing within a spatial cage, said coldly, "Scholar, are you mocking us?"
"Not at all! Not at all! I mean, if we can avoid fighting, let's avoid it. You came from where you came, so return to where you came from. This is not the place for you," Bookworm said patiently.
The Hell Realm experts found Bookworm even more insulting.
They were trapped in spatial cages, and he was making sarcastic remarks—what else could it be but an insult?
Besides, was there any room for reconciliation between the Hell Realm and the Kunlun Realm?
"Once I break this damned cage, I'll devour your sacred soul first."
That Six Calamities Ghost King's body grew larger and larger, eventually towering a hundred zhang. He pressed his hands outward, causing the spatial cage to tremble violently.
"You'd better stay inside."
Bookworm moved, flying above the spatial cage.
"Heaven and earth have righteous qi, bestowed in myriad forms. Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, it becomes sun and stars."
Bookworm spoke, reciting the "Song of Righteous Qi Amidst the Clouds."
Instantly, bright white light radiated from his body, transforming into vast, majestic righteous qi.
The righteous qi surged into the spatial bubble ahead, evolving into mountains and rivers below, and a sky full of sun, moon, and stars above.
It attacked the Six Calamities Ghost King within the spatial bubble.
As a disciple of the Confucian Ancestor, Bookworm's understanding of the Confucian Path had reached a realm beyond ordinary imagination.
His application of righteous qi was something even many Confucian Path Great Saints might not match.
The Six Calamities Ghost King trapped in the spatial bubble was named Lan Xuezi. He had cultivated an extremely powerful "Mysterious Sha Ghost Body," no weaker than the supreme perfect physiques of flesh-and-blood beings.
But now, he was in big trouble.
The righteous qi was scorching hot, as if it would incinerate all his ghostly qi.
Lan Xuezi's ghost body was forced back to its original size. He took out a powerful ghost artifact—a ghost-headed war blade. On the blade's surface, hundreds of thousands of strange king-level inscriptions emerged.
Ghost artifacts were war weapons crafted using special ghost clan techniques, most compatible with the ghost clan, greatly enhancing their combat power.
Each ghost artifact had to be sent to the Ghost God Temple for special baptism before it could be completed, making them extremely precious.
The Ghost God Temple was the supreme temple of the ghost clan, existing since ancient times. All ghosts took pride in being able to enter the Ghost God Temple for cultivation.
Lan Xuezi was a genius carefully nurtured by the Ghost God Temple, cultivating the unique heavenly path of the ghost clan.
Each of the ten clans of Hell had its own temple, inheriting heavenly paths different from the sacred paths of the Heavenly Court realm, comparable to supreme sacred paths or even eternal paths.
However, these heavenly paths were extremely difficult to cultivate. Not everyone could practice them; only a very few could pass the selection to enter the ten temples for cultivation.
Lan Xuezi cultivated one of the three great heavenly paths of the ghost clan—the Mysterious Sha Heavenly Path—thereby forming his Mysterious Sha Ghost Body, which was extremely hard to destroy.
Lan Xuezi swung his ghost artifact war blade, continuously pouring in Mysterious Sha ghost qi, slashing out a supreme blade light.
"Shua——"
This slash severed the rivers and shattered the mountains evolved from the righteous qi.
Bookworm, unhurried, formed a hand seal and said, "When it pierces the sun and moon, what matters life or death?"
A blazing sun and a bright moon appeared simultaneously, illuminating the entire world, igniting all the Mysterious Sha ghost qi.
"Bang."
Lan Xuezi was struck by the sun and moon, sent flying backward.
Cracks appeared on his extremely solid ghost body, nearly shattering it.
With this blow, he was severely injured, his Mysterious Sha ghost qi dispersing, unable to reform for a time.
It wasn't that he was too weak, but that he was perfectly countered by the power of the Confucian Path.
"Boom."
Just as Bookworm prepared to launch another attack, one of the spatial cages suddenly shattered. Yan Wushen, tall and imposing, broke free.
"Good scholar, you have real talent. Take my palm."
Yan Wushen transformed into a golden light, arriving in an instant.
A golden palm, carrying unmatched power, struck directly at Bookworm.
Bookworm's expression changed. He hadn't expected Yan Wushen to break free so quickly.
After all, the spatial techniques here were arranged by Master Fangcun, exquisitely crafted. Even after a hundred thousand years, they should not be easily broken by Saint King realm cultivators.
Without time to think, Bookworm quickly turned and threw a massive fist seal, shattering the void.
From Yan Wushen's earlier ability to break his Ten Thousand Words, Thousand Soldiers and forcibly descend into the Azure Rainbow Pavilion, Bookworm had already realized Yan Wushen's terror, so he naturally dared not be careless.
Although a Confucian Path cultivator, Bookworm practiced both martial arts and spiritual power, both reaching the extreme of the Saint King realm, on the verge of forging an indestructible sacred body.
"Bang."
The fist seal Bookworm threw was directly shattered by Yan Wushen's golden light palm.
Then, a powerful force struck Bookworm's body, sending him flying.
"Pfft."
Bookworm spat out a large mouthful of sacred blood, his aura becoming extremely chaotic.
"How can he be so strong? Is he still a Saint King?" Bookworm was shocked.
After sleeping for a hundred thousand years, he felt he no longer understood this world.
Even in the Middle Ages, there had been no monstrous genius like Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen smiled and said, "To withstand my palm without dying, your strength is impressive. I didn't expect that besides Zhang Ruochen, the Kunlun Realm has an expert like you."
With his current strength, a full-force palm strike could kill even an ordinary Great Saint. Below the Great Saint realm, he was nearly invincible.
"The Confucian Ancestor once said: Beyond heaven, there is heaven; beyond people, there are people. He did not deceive me. I thought I had no rivals below the Great Saint realm, but I never imagined someone could surpass me by so much," Bookworm said with a wooden expression.
Yan Wushen said, "I'll give you a chance. Join the Hell Realm, and I'll spare your life."
Unexpectedly, Bookworm shook his head vigorously, his face serious. "The Confucian Ancestor once said: A gentleman has things he does and does not do. The Kunlun Realm is important; personal life and death are trivial. Born to defend the path, dying without regret."
"I'm not here to listen to your reasoning. Since you won't cherish the opportunity, don't blame me for being ruthless." Yan Wushen's brows lifted, and an immensely powerful aura radiated from him.
Bookworm said, "A gentleman focuses on the fundamentals. Once the foundation is established, the path is born. Filial piety and brotherly love—are these not the root of benevolence?"
"What a bookworm, babbling endlessly, completely incomprehensible." A hint of impatience flashed in Yan Wushen's eyes.
He struck again, pouring power into his fist gloves. The gloves blazed with dazzling golden light, countless supreme inscription patterns emerging, and powerful supreme power surged forth.
In an instant, Yan Wushen unleashed over a hundred punches. The sky was filled with vast, majestic fist seals, like ancient divine mountains, completely enveloping Bookworm.
Bookworm quickly released powerful spiritual power, activating the dense array patterns within the Azure Rainbow Pavilion, hoping to rely on the array's power to block Yan Wushen's attack.
With his strong spiritual power, a large number of array patterns were activated in an instant, clearly emerging, interwoven into a net, trying to seal this space.
"Boom."
Yan Wushen's fist seals were too domineering. The array patterns couldn't hold them and shattered directly.
Bookworm tried his utmost to resist, but was still hit by a fist seal, flying out like a cannonball.
Though his sacred body was extremely tough, cracks now appeared, nearly torn apart by Yan Wushen's fist seals.
"Hundred Fool, won't you act?"
Bookworm, anxious, shouted at Hundred Fool.
Hundred Fool didn't lift his head, extending a hand impatiently. "Don't disturb me. Don't bother me while I'm reading."
From start to finish, his attention never left the books, as if he hadn't noticed anyone intruding.
It seemed that even if Bookworm were beaten to death right now, he wouldn't care.
"There's another scholar? Take my palm too."
Yan Wushen frowned, his gaze shifting to glance at Hundred Fool. Then he raised his hand and struck out a palm.
"Boom!"
Hundred Fool's body emitted over a hundred million characters, converging into a giant cauldron that protected his entire body. However, the book mountain beneath him exploded, turning to ashes.
Only then did Hundred Fool withdraw from the world of books, a deep anger appearing in his eyes.
"I said, don't disturb me."
Hundred Fool roared.
With the roar, the righteous qi around him surged violently, quickly condensing into a thousand-zhang-tall giant cauldron, spinning and crashing toward Yan Wushen.
Yan Wushen let out a soft exclamation and struck out another golden light palm print.
"Bang."
The golden light palm print and the giant cauldron shattered simultaneously, creating a terrifying shockwave.
Yan Wushen remained motionless, while Hundred Fool staggered back a few steps, but was uninjured.
Only then did Hundred Fool seem to wake up, carefully examining Yan Wushen. "Impressive, already at Great Perfection. Such a heavenly proud one truly exists in this world."
At this moment, Bookworm flashed over, standing side by side with Hundred Fool.
"Matters have their priorities and urgency. Hundred Fool, let's set the competition aside for now. We must defend the Azure Rainbow Pavilion and not let them reach the Peach Tree's location," Bookworm said seriously.
Hundred Fool's gaze swept over the dozens of spatial cages. "Why have so many Hell Realm cultivators suddenly broken into the Azure Rainbow Pavilion? How do they know the specific spatial coordinates of the Azure Rainbow Pavilion?"
He had already seen the Void Chaos Bridge and knew how Yan Wushen and the others had arrived, but he was still puzzled.
After all, since the Kunlun Realm became a Merit Battlefield, the Azure Rainbow Pavilion had been hidden, with its spatial coordinates concealed.
"Shua!"
"Shua!"
Space twisted slightly, and wind-breaking sounds arose.
Two figures broke into the Azure Rainbow Pavilion from the direction of the Central Imperial City.
Both were clad in wide black robes, completely concealing themselves. Their faces, figures, and even genders were indistinguishable, and not a trace of aura was emitted.
Moreover, though they stood there, they seemed to be in another space, unreachable and extremely mysterious.
One of the black-robed figures spoke in a slightly hoarse voice: "The Void Chaos Bridge is indeed formidable. With just the spatial coordinates, it can directly descend upon the Azure Rainbow Pavilion."
"Who are you? How can you lock onto the Azure Rainbow Pavilion's spatial coordinates?" Hundred Fool asked.
The black-robed figure who had just spoken chuckled darkly: "If one wants to know, there will always be a way. The Grand Chancellor Wang Shiqi and the seven Realm Sons all have clues."
Bookworm and Hundred Fool immediately realized that these two must be Hell Realm's moles within the Heavenly Court realm.
Who could it be?
Cultivators from the Paradise Realm faction?
"Did you bring the item?" Yan Wushen asked.
One of the black-robed figures said in a low voice, "What we promised, we naturally deliver."
As he spoke, the black-robed figure took out a piece of sacred jade and tossed it to Yan Wushen.
Inside the sacred jade was sealed a mass of bright red sacred blood, emitting a nine-colored sacred light, extremely peculiar.
Yan Wushen extended a hand and caught the sacred jade, a satisfied expression appearing in his eyes.
The sacred blood sealed in the jade was the key to activating the Space Teleportation Array. Only by obtaining it could they finally lock onto the exact coordinates of the Peach Tree.
"Our task is complete. The rest is up to you. Best not to make any mistakes," the other black-robed figure said in a low voice.
Yan Wushen glanced at him. "Your worry is entirely unnecessary."
The two black-robed figures said no more. They immediately used spatial techniques to leave the Azure Rainbow Pavilion and return to the Central Imperial City, without a moment's delay.
"They left quickly. Afraid I might kill them?" Yan Wushen murmured.
"Bang."
One by one, the spatial cages shattered, and the dozens of Hell Realm experts broke free one after another.
They were elites carefully selected from the ten clans of Hell.
An ancient spatial cage naturally couldn't hold them.
The Blood Luo Ghost King, who had suffered considerable injuries, was the last to break free. His expression was extremely dark. Having suffered a great loss upon arriving at the Azure Rainbow Pavilion, and nearly being killed by Bookworm if not for Yan Wushen's timely intervention, it was a tremendous humiliation.
Feeling the terrifying auras emitted by the group of Hell Realm experts, Bookworm and Hundred Fool's expressions grew serious. This was truly a disaster.
One Yan Wushen was already hard to deal with, and with dozens of other top-tier Hell Realm Saint Kings, how could the two of them possibly stop them?