Chapter 226: Examining the Stele by Night (Part 2)
Earlier, Tianhai Shengxue had said that the people in his household were nearly going mad. He wasn't referring to those young noble sons spouting arrogant nonsense at the banquet, but rather their fathers and his own father—those people had enlisted a Southerner in an attempt to influence Chen Changsheng's stele contemplation and enlightenment. The Mausoleum of Heavenly Books was far too important for cultivators; everyone understood the principle that one step slow meant every step slow.
But he hadn't paid much attention to this. Because during the Grand Examination, he had already secretly placed a bet on Chen Changsheng through Her Highness Luoluo. Also, although no one knew why Chen Changsheng was valued so highly by His Holiness the Pope, such regard must have its reasons. A fellow who could reach the Ethereal Opening realm during a battle, unless you physically destroyed him, it was nearly impossible to defeat him on a spiritual level—this was Tianhai Shengxue's view. However, upon hearing Prince Chenliu's words and the name Zhou Tong, he realized he had still underestimated the initiative of the older generation.
Everyone said Zhou Tong was a dog kept by Her Holiness the Saint Empress, but he wasn't an ordinary dog—he was the most ferocious dog in history. After the former Judgment Office of the National Religion was merged into the Qingli Department, his power was overwhelming. He had caused the deaths of countless ministers and generals. If you asked who the ministers still loyal to the old imperial clan and the elders of the National Religion hated most, it wasn't Her Holiness the Saint Empress—it was him. For decades.
Countless experts had risked their lives to assassinate this man, yet not one succeeded. Because Zhou Tong was always surrounded by dozens of sinister and terrifying Iron Guards, and more importantly, because Zhou Tong himself was a Star Gathering realm cultivation expert. In theory, experts of this level often had calm and clear minds, their sights set beyond the mundane world, and would never engage in bloody, filthy tasks like torture, interrogation, murder, and confiscation of property. But Zhou Tong was an oddity; his interests, even his life's ambition, had never been in cultivation, but in these very matters.
Such a man could not be manipulated by the Tianhai family. If he truly was waiting outside the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books to make a move on Chen Changsheng, it must be on Her Holiness the Saint Empress's orders. Tianhai Shengxue pondered silently, then suddenly felt something was off. He thought that given Her Holiness's free and easy, broad-minded demeanor, even if she wanted to strike at Chen Changsheng and the countercurrent he represented, she should wait until after he returned from the Zhou Garden.
With this thought, he raised his head, looked at Prince Chenliu with a slight frown, and wondered: by deliberately advancing the timing of Zhou Tong's move, what exactly are you trying to do?
The aftermath of the Grand Examination had yet to settle. Countless forces in the capital were watching the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books. In the streets, inns, and taverns, countless commoners were discussing the matter, curious about how this year's examinees would perform in the mausoleum, especially Chen Changsheng. Yet no one imagined that inside the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books, the disciples of the National Teaching Academy and the Lishan Sword Sect had, for some reason, ended up living under the same roof, and that Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi had come together to examine the stele. Just as the examinees around the Stele Hut hadn't expected that after Senior Ji Jin finished speaking, Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi showed no sign of humble acceptance or admission of fault.
The Stele Hut seemed somewhat eerie in the night. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive. The young cultivators didn't know what to say. Zhong Hui and the two other scholars from Huaiyuan Academy grew increasingly angry. Ji Jin's expression remained cold as ice. Then, Chen Changsheng broke the silence with words no one had anticipated.
Looking at Ji Jin, he said, "Senior, you are wrong."
A commotion erupted around the Stele Hut. A fifteen-year-old youth dared to directly claim that a stele attendant who had been examining steles in the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books for over fifteen years was wrong in his understanding of stele interpretation! Even if he was this year's top scholar in the Grand Examination, as mentioned earlier, the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books welcomed a top scholar every year. Here, how could he compare to Ji Jin?
What happened next shocked the stele observers even more. After a moment of silence, Gou Hanshi also said to Ji Jin, "Senior, you are indeed wrong."
The night was deep. Though starlight fell, it was still somewhat difficult to make out the intricate lines on the stele. At some point, someone had quietly lit an oil lamp hanging from a tree branch outside the hut. The dim lamplight mingled with the starlight, falling on the young, calm, and resolute faces of Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi.
They knew that Ji Jin's earlier argument was actually quite reasonable. The principle that "a myriad changes never stray from their core" held true. The common schools of stele interpretation in the world, when traced to their roots, always revolved around the three most mainstream and orthodox methods: capturing form, capturing meaning, and capturing momentum. But they had thoroughly read the Daoist Canon and had just seen Xun Mei's notes, which further strengthened their confidence in forging a new path.
"Before the Heavenly Book Stele, there is no fixed method or fixed rule."
Gou Hanshi looked at the young examinees gathered around and said, "True, the stele interpretation patterns we can recall instantly are all variations of the three mainstream methods. But we must never think that all ten thousand methods of stele interpretation have already been figured out by our predecessors. If we think that way, how can we surpass them?"
In the Lishan Sword Sect, he often played the role of a teacher to his junior fellow disciples, so these words came naturally.
Hearing this, Ji Jin's expression grew darker. He felt this was a strong provocation from his juniors and said coldly, "The younger generation nowadays is indeed getting more arrogant, always talking about surpassing the sages, just like that madman who only painted armor. But don't forget, as arrogant as he was, he still ended up possessed by the devil."
"Cultivation only cares about wisdom and ignorance, not seniority."
Gou Hanshi looked at him calmly and said, "If later generations don't even have the courage to surpass their predecessors, how can each generation be stronger than the last?"
Ji Jin had received a message from his sect, and combined with his own deep contempt and disgust for Chen Changsheng, he had twice tried to suppress and humiliate Chen Changsheng from morning to night. But he hadn't expected Gou Hanshi to argue with him. Although Huaiyuan Academy had deep roots in the south, it ultimately couldn't compare to the Lishan Sword Sect, the foremost mountain gate of the Changsheng Sect. He didn't want to confront Gou Hanshi, but now, burning with anger and under the watchful eyes of so many juniors, he couldn't care less. He shouted sternly, "The Way of Heavenly Books lies within the stele inscriptions. You've only been in the mausoleum for two days. What Way do you understand? What principles can you cultivate? Do you insist on taking the wrong path?"
Chen Changsheng said, "Ten thousand streams have different scenery, but they all eventually flow into the sea."
Ji Jin stared into his eyes, his expression cold, and said, "I heard that during the Grand Examination, you reached the Ethereal Opening realm in one go, shaking the entire capital. You must think of yourself as a babbling clear stream. But don't forget, many streams look abundant, yet dry up in the wilderness just days after leaving the mountains. What makes you think you can escape such a fate?"
At this point, the verbal conflict had turned into undisguised hostility, even a curse. Those around the Stele Hut turned pale. The oil lamp hanging from the tree branch seemed to dim a few shades as well.
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng couldn't help but shake his head and said, "I heard that Senior was once a famous scholar from the south, willing to enter the Mausoleum of Heavenly Books and dedicate your life to the Way, which is truly admirable. I never expected Senior to be this kind of person—resorting to threats and intimidation when you can't win an argument. Where is the grace of your younger days?"
He wasn't mocking Ji Jin; he genuinely thought this way. The natural regret and disappointment in his tone, however, appeared to the onlookers as a deeper insult to Ji Jin.
Enraged, Ji Jin pointed at him and shouted, "You want to discuss principles? Then I'll discuss principles with you! From ancient times to the present, among the countless interpretations of the Zhaoging Stele, which one has deviated from the orthodox path of the vast sea? Who has ever interpreted this stele without capturing form, meaning, or momentum? Was it Zhou Dufu? Was it His Majesty the Taizong Emperor? Was it the previous Holy Maiden? Was it His Holiness the Pope? Or was it that certain Su from Lishan, or that dean of your National Teaching Academy?"
His speech grew faster and faster, and when he mentioned those illustrious figures, it was like a storm crashing down. The last two names were the sect elders of Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng. Mentioning the dean of the National Teaching Academy at the end carried a particularly pointed implication.
The area around the Stele Hut fell silent. Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng said nothing. The details of how those legendary figures had interpreted the Heavenly Book Stele were unknown. According to the Daoist Canon and official court records, they had all used the most traditional, orthodox methods. Zhou Dufu, who had interpreted the stele at a single glance, once mentioned in casual conversation with the Taizong Emperor that he had used a superb technique combining form and meaning, but it still fell within this scope.
Just when everyone thought Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng, faced with these undeniable facts, could only remain silent, Chen Changsheng spoke again.
The oil lamp hanging from the tree branch swayed gently in the night breeze, its light flickering. Reflected in his eyes, it seemed as if stars were shining.
"One thousand one hundred and sixty-one years ago, His Majesty the Taizong Emperor came from Tianliang Commandery to the capital to examine the steles. The then commandery clerk, Duke Weiguo, entered the mausoleum with him. The Taizong Emperor examined three steles in one day, but Duke Weiguo didn't understand this Zhaoging Stele until two months later. Of course, everyone knew Duke Weiguo couldn't cultivate; in theory, he shouldn't have been able to understand the Heavenly Book Stele at all. So the Taizong Emperor didn't mock him. Instead, he was curious about how he had interpreted the stele and asked Duke Weiguo what exactly he had seen on this Zhaoging Stele. Duke Weiguo said he didn't see the flow of true essence, traces of spiritual sense, or any sword techniques or sword momentum..."
Chen Changsheng pointed at the silent stele in the hut and recounted a long-forgotten story from the distant past. Everyone's gaze, including Ji Jin's, followed his finger and landed on the stele's inscriptions, wondering what Duke Weiguo had seen back then. Could there really be a possibility beyond the three methods?
"What he saw were lines forcibly twisted out of shape. He saw the pain and helplessness of those once-straight lines, forcibly bent by external force. He saw the power of straightness hidden within those bends. In his eyes, the lines on the Zhaoging Stele had nothing to do with cultivation; they were above cultivation. These lines were law, were rules."
Silence reigned before the Stele Hut, broken only by Chen Changsheng's voice.
"Duke Weiguo interpreted the Heavenly Book Stele this way."
(Next chapter, I'll try to get it out by 11:30. At least three chapters are guaranteed.)