Sword Saint Meng had little care about the greater good of mankind or anything of the sort. What really mattered to her was just those whom she cared about, and if anyone dared to hurt her precious child, she would pit her life against that person.
The reason she had eventually relented was due to those words reassuring her.
As a mother, it was inevitable that she would bear great ambitions for her child’s future. With Yang shi volunteering to assist in the process and her husband reassuring all of her fears, she had eventually caved in.
Otherwise, given her strength, no matter how powerful Hu Yiwei was, there was no way he could possibly have planted the Innate Fetal Poison in her successfully.
Knowing how difficult it would have been for his mother to make such a decision back then, Zhang Xuan sighed deeply within. Shaking his head, he turned his gaze back to Yang shi and said, “I still don’t really get how infusing the Zhang Clan bloodline back into my body would allow me to use its abilities easily.”
“Pardon me, it seems like I have accidentally strayed off topic. As you used to possess the purest Zhang Clan bloodline, you still wield the innate ability to activate the Zhang Clan bloodline. As long as you have sufficient blood essence of the Zhang Clan bloodline, you will be able to use its bloodline ability without burning your own bloodline. Naturally, that means that there won’t be the one-month downtime for you after activating the bloodline ability!” Yang shi explained.
While activating the unique bloodline would grant one a temporary surge of power, it would also severely deplete one’s vitality and zhenqi afterward, resulting in a month’s downtime afterward.
However, those who had once had their bloodline torn out would not face such a limitation as they would be using the bloodline of others. As long as they had sufficient blood essence on hand, they could raise their cultivation freely!
“This…” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in agitation.
If that was really true, this could become another major trump card of his!
“It’s too early for you to get happy. Your bloodline previously was simply too pure, such that there’s hardly anyone in the clan who has bloodline that can match yours. After gathering all the blood essence that we could within the clan and refining it again and again in order to raise its purity, we only managed to squeeze out three droplets. Even if there isn’t any downtime afterward, you must make sure to use them sparingly!” Sword Saint Xing said as he flicked his hand, and a jade bottle flew over.
“I understand!” Holding the jade bottle tightly in his hand, Zhang Xuan could feel the rich power harnessed within the three blood droplets inside.
Without a doubt, Zhang Clan must have paid a heavy price in order to refine these three droplets. He was about to thank Sword Saint Xing when a thought suddenly struck him.
The Pavilion Master Seal had also been created through three droplets of Kong shi’s blood, and by assimilating them into his body, he would be able to temporarily wield power invincible against those beneath Ancient Sage. Was this not identical to the situation with the blood droplets from the Zhang Clan?
Could it be that Kong shi had some kind of unique bloodline, and the prerequisite to activating the bloodline was… being a Celestial Master Teacher?
Zhang Xuan nodded. That does seem likely to be the case…
It was no wonder no one had been able to truly tame the Pavilion Master Seal in the tens of thousands of years since Kong shi had left the Master Teacher Continent. Limited by their constitution, it was already formidable that they could wield a tenth of its power.
“It’s said that one must collate all six Celestial Amulets of Legacy in order to enter the Temple of Confucius. May I know how many of them we have at the moment?” Zhang Xuan suddenly asked.
Back then, the Qingtian Emperor had paid a heavy price to sneak onto the Master Teacher Continent in order to find one of the Celestial Amulets of Legacy, but even after searching for countless years, his efforts had still been rendered futile.
Zhang Xuan could not help wondering how many of them the Master Teacher Pavilion had found to date.
“Of the six Celestial Amulets of Legacy, the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters has one, the Zhang Clan has one, and the Luo Clan has one. As for the remaining three, some say that Kong shi sealed them beneath some mountain in the world, and others say that they were taken away by the Hundred Schools of Philosophers. In any case, even with the influence of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, I’m afraid that their whereabouts still remain a mystery to date!” Yang shi shook his head.
“Hundred Schools of Philosophers?” Zhang Xuan frowned doubtfully.
He had heard of the Three Premier Clans and the Five Elements Sage Clans… but what was the Hundred Schools of Philosophers?”
“Kong shi took in three thousand students and seventy-two direct disciples, and these seventy-two direct disciples were all Ancient Sage experts!” Yang shi said.
“They were all Ancient Sages?” Zhang Xuan’s breathing hastened in agitation.
For all seventy-two direct disciples of his to be Ancient Sages… Just how powerful was mankind back then?
It was no wonder that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was so frightened of Kong shi, apprehensive of the rise of another Celestial Master Teacher among mankind even after so many years! If another seventy-two Ancient Sages emerged among mankind, the tables could very well be turned!
The reputation of the World’s Teacher was indeed not baseless!
“They have been conferred with the title of ‘Philosophers’, and their descendants are collectively known as the Hundred Schools of Philosophers! They disappeared soon after Kong shi disappeared from the world, which led to the rise of the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan shortly after. Otherwise, if the Hundred Schools of Philosophers were still around, even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters would have to defer to them!” Yang shi swiftly explained one of the ancient secrets of the history of mankind.
Zhang Xuan jolted in astonishment. “Are the Hundred Schools of Philosophers actually that powerful?”
While the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters did suffer a setback due to him this time around, he knew full well that the waters ran far deeper in the Master Teacher Pavilion than what he was seeing. If their conflict had worsened, even with Zheng Yang, Wei Ruyan, and even the Zhang Clan on his side, he still would not have stood a chance against the Master Teacher Pavilion!
Without such strength, how could the Master Teacher Pavilion go unchallenged for the past tens of thousands of years? It was precisely out of deference for their strength that even the top experts of the continent were apprehensive of provoking them!
For one, no one knew exactly how many hibernating Ancient Sages there were in the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters…
And despite the Master Teacher Pavilion’s prowess, it was still afraid of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers?
“They are the descendants of Kong shi’s direct disciples. Other than their powerful bloodline, they also have the complete heritage of their predecessors. Given so, it might be difficult for the Master Teacher Pavilion to match them!” Yang shi shook his head. “However, they disappeared from the Master Teacher Continent many years ago, so it’s unlikely for them to appear once more. Thus, there’s no need to worry about them!”
Zhang Xuan nodded in response.
Since they had disappeared just like Kong shi, there should be no need to worry about them. He pondered for a moment before asking once more, “If the three remaining Celestial Amulets of Legacy are missing, how do we enter the Temple of Confucius?”
Given that they had not even gathered all of the Celestial Amulets of Legacy yet, were they not jumping ahead of themselves to push forward a marriage between the Zhang Clan and the Luo Clan at this point in time?
“Typically speaking, it’s indeed true that it would be impossible for one to enter the Temple of Confucius without gathering all six Celestial Amulets of Legacy. However, through years of research, the Master Teacher Pavilion has managed to find a way to circumvent that requirement. Back then, Kong shi acquired the blood essences of six unique bloodlines in order to forge the six Celestial Amulets of Legacy, so even if we fail to find the three remaining amulets, we can substitute them with the three fully awakened unique constitutions!” Yang shi said while stroking his beard.
“Unique constitutions? Could the Pure Yin Body be one of those unique constitutions?” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.
“Indeed, the Pure Yin Body is one of the unique constitutions. Other than that, there’s also the Poison Hall’s Innate Poison Body, the Yuan Clan’s Emperor’s Bloodline, the Shui Clan’s Truewater Constitution… As long as these unique constitutions are fully awakened, they can be used to substitute the amulets!” Yang shi replied with a nod.
“That’s also the reason You Ruoxin was in such a rush to awaken Zhao Ya’s unique constitution. As long as she succeeded, the Glacier Plain Court would have been able to enter the Temple of Confucius. The Temple of Confucius houses Kong shi’s heritage, and the treasures and secret manuals found there will be unmatched by anything currently on the Master Teacher Continent! Without a doubt, the exploration of the Temple of Confucius will change the power dynamics on the Master Teacher Continent, and the powers who fail to enter the Temple of Confucius will find themselves swiftly falling behind those who do. And if, by any chance, the heritage falls into the hands of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, it could very well spell the end of mankind!”
There was a good chance that the solution to achieving a breakthrough to Ancient Sage would be found in the Temple of Confucius as well, and that would be a turning point for many powers in the world.
Who would be willing to give up on this opportunity?
“Do you still have any doubts in mind?” Yang shi asked.
“None at the moment,” Zhang Xuan replied with a shake of his head.
For the time being, that was all he was perplexed about, and after Yang shi’s explanation, he had gained a good grasp of the situation.
It was no wonder the Luo Clan was so adamant about marrying Luo Ruoxin to the young prodigy of the Zhang Clan. Considering that the Temple of Confucius was involved in this matter as well, her will alone would not be enough to change their mind.
“Alright then. I’ll be taking a rest for a moment.”
Seeing that Zhang Xuan did not have any more doubts, Yang shi sat down and closed his eyes, and Zhang Xuan got to reinforcing his cultivation as well.
…
Three days passed in a flash.
When morning came, as soon as the brilliant sun rose from the horizon, a massive city came into sight beneath the group.
Sword Saint Xing walked over to the windows and exclaimed, “That’s the Luo Clan’s Shrouding Ethereal City! We have finally arrived at our destination!”
In order to make more contextual sense, I named it Hundred Schools of Philosophers, but it’s actually in reference to the Hundred Schools of Thoughts. Basically, it refers to the many different philosophies that rose during the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China. Two notable examples of the Hundred Schools of Thoughts would be Confucianism and Legalism.
Just to share a bit more since it’s something that I’m interested in, Confucianism dictates the roles that each individual has to take within a society in order to society to function well. For example, a parent has to take the role of educating his children; a subject should remain loyal and obedient to the emperor; the emperor should rule wisely over his people, so on and so forth.
On the other hand, Legalism believes that human nature is selfish and the only way to maintain order was through strict enforcement of law. As such, maintaining societal welfare came well above the welfare of individuals.
