Xiao Mochi's robes whipped violently in the wind as he stared at everyone before him.
At this point, none of those sect masters could be bothered to waste words with Xiao Mochi anymore.
Things had already come to this—there was no chance of reconciliation between the two sides, unless they fought until the last person fell!
And yet, in the eyes of those sect masters, Xiao Mochi's defeat was beyond doubt.
Now, the Wu Emperor sat upon that illusory throne, using his very body to stabilize the dynasty's mountains and rivers—the nation's fate and the stability of this minor world. He dared not expend even a fraction more of his power.
But Xiao Mochi was merely an ordinary Ascension-realm cultivator. Did he really think he alone could block them?
Ridiculous!
But then again… how could an Ascension-realm cultivator be a fool?
The Wu Emperor was already at the end of his rope. Aside from resisting for a while, what else could Xiao Mochi possibly do?
Could he turn the tide?
Could it be that Xiao Mochi had some hidden trump card?
Just as doubt began to stir in the hearts of those Ascension-level great powers—
Xiao Mochi raised a hand toward the sky.
In an instant, a vast expanse of illusory clouds formed above the heavens. Upon that sea of clouds floated a single small boat, drifting gently.
Everyone's hearts jolted!
This was the Confucian "Sea of Learning"!
The sea of learning has no shore—only bitter toil is the boat.
In all the world, there were fewer than five Confucian scholars capable of using such a technique!
The very next moment, a fractured cliff appeared within the sea of clouds, waters slowly spilling down from the broken edge.
Fragments of cliff stone hovered in midair, and a faint golden radiance seeped from Xiao Mochi's blue robe.
The Sect Master of Azure Mountain summoned his natal treasure. With both palms, he slammed them onto the Mountain-Suppressing Cauldron.
The taotie patterns upon the cauldron suddenly opened crimson eyes, and the entire mountain range shuddered in agonized tremors.
At the same time, Chen Liang planted his Primordial Yellow Banner into the Wind position—Xun.
Nine tornadoes erupted from the banner's surface, swirling sand and stone into yellow dragons.
Xiao Mochi curled his right hand as if grasping something. The "Collected Heavenly Questions" flew from his sleeve and began turning pages on its own.
The yellowed paper rustled violently as the gale stirred a thousand seal-script characters into the air, forming three enormous swords—
"Benevolence." "Righteousness." "Propriety."
They cleaved down at the yellow dragons.
Sand collided with golden script, and the impact rang out like the thunder of bells and cauldrons.
The Ascension-level pressure of Wei Kingdom's consecrated guardian descended like a mountain. The void condensed into crimson shackles.
"Can be broken."
With a voice like spring thunder bursting forth, Xiao Mochi spat three feet of white radiance from his mouth, his refined voice spreading through the air.
His vast righteous qi condensed into four ancient seal characters—
"Non-propriety: do not move."
The golden words smashed the crimson shackles apart.
Seizing the opening, the Sect Master of Azure Mountain drove the Mountain-Suppressing Cauldron. From its mouth burst three chains of earth-veins, each one dragging behind it the phantom shadow of a mountain.
The "Collected Heavenly Questions" flipped to the "Tribute of Yu" chapter. Xiao Mochi raised two fingers like a brush and wrote in the air.
Spiritual ink traced out the River Chart of the Nine Provinces in the void. Endless waters surged from the scroll like a torrential flood, water dragons coiling around the mountain chains.
Suddenly, Chen Liang hurled the Primordial Yellow Banner itself. The bannerpole became a towering pillar that suppressed the waters, while the banner spread wide enough to cover half the sky.
"Stabilize!"
Xiao Mochi formed the Gentleman's Seal with his left hand. The phantom of the Spring-Autumn Brush tapped toward the banner—
Time and space froze for a single breath.
In that instant, the banner's formation patterns unraveled in his eyes into three hundred and sixty strokes of ink.
From Xiao Mochi's sleeve flew a wolf-hair brush, dipped in the righteous blood between his brows, and rewrote the formation core.
The character "Suppress" on the banner twisted—
and became "Chaos."
The mountain chains shattered with a roar.
At last, Wei Kingdom's consecrated guardian drew the Crimson Sky Sword.
Ascension-level sword intent stirred the Heavenly Dao's lightning tribulation. Before the sword light even arrived, Xiao Mochi's jade crown shattered. His headband snapped loose—
and at that moment, the "Collected Heavenly Questions" automatically protected its master, opening to the chapter—
"The Way of Great Learning."
A golden barrier formed.
"Investigate things to extend knowledge. Unite knowledge and action."
The words upon the barrier suddenly rose into three-dimensional form—each character transforming into a golden-armored warrior holding a halberd.
The Crimson Sky sword light shattered three hundred of those golden warriors, yet its momentum was worn down by seventy percent.
Xiao Mochi seized the chance. He bit his fingertip and drew a taiji diagram in his palm, then slapped it onto the "Commentary on the Changes" chapter within the "Collected Heavenly Questions."
Though he was a Confucian cultivator, Xiao Mochi possessed no small knowledge of Daoism and Legalism as well.
An Eight Trigrams array unfolded beneath his feet.
In the Qian position, a bright moon rose.
In the Kun position, magma surged.
The Sect Master of Azure Mountain bellowed in rage. The Mountain-Suppressing Cauldron overturned and slammed down, and from within it flew nine towering bronze giants.
The giants wielded battleaxes, hacking at the array—each blow shifting the trigrams by three inches.
Xiao Mochi's robes billowed. He tore a page from the "Rites in Motion" chapter of the "Collected Heavenly Questions."
Each time he tore away a page, his face grew a shade paler, and more blood spilled from the corner of his lips.
What he tore away was not merely paper—
but his own lifespan.
The page ignited into cyan flame, and five flaming words branded themselves into the void:
"When the Great Way is practiced…"
The bronze giants suddenly stiffened. Ritual-vessel patterns surfaced across their bodies, and they actually bowed toward the flames in solemn salute.
"Teachability belongs to the young."
Xiao Mochi's dharma voice echoed in the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the bronze giants cracked apart.
At this moment, Wei Kingdom's consecrated guardian's sword intent reached its peak. The Crimson Sky Sword became a ten-thousand-zhang, its tip condensing Ascension-realm tribulation lightning.
Xiao Mochi's jade hairpin burst apart. Amid his scattered long hair, the sound of sages chanting scriptures emerged.
He lifted the "Collected Heavenly Questions" over his head with both hands. The tome flipped without wind, turning to a blank page.
"For Heaven and Earth, establish the heart—"
The first drop of spiritual ink fell, and the phantom of the Supreme Sage Teacher appeared in the void.
"For the people, establish fate—"
The second drop spread, and the Second Sage stepped out of the sea of clouds holding a scroll.
"For the sages of old, inherit the lost teachings—"
The third drop exploded, and the Seventy-Two Worthies assembled in formation.
"For all ages, open Great Peace!"
The final roar shattered the floating clouds for a hundred li.
The "Collected Heavenly Questions" burned to its end. From the golden flames strode forth a towering Dharma-Form of the Sage, supporting the heavens and treading the earth.
The Crimson Sky Sword, the Mountain-Suppressing Cauldron, and the Primordial Yellow Banner erupted with their natal essence at once.
Three Ascension-level killing moves collided head-on with the Sage Dharma-Form—
"BOOM!"
With the thunderous blast, everyone below the Upper Five Realms was thrown to the ground.
A white light flooded the entire minor world, so bright no one could open their eyes.
When the radiance finally faded—
Xiao Mochi's white jade belt had shattered inch by inch.
The three great experts all had blood at the corners of their mouths.
Half a Crimson Sky Sword was embedded in the broken cliff.
The Mountain-Suppressing Cauldron was missing one of its legs.
The Primordial Yellow Banner had turned into a strip of scorched black cloth.
The remaining fragments of the "Collected Heavenly Questions" floated back automatically, while the tortoise-shell cover cracked into a spiderweb of fractures.
Xiao Mochi wiped the blood from his lips and picked up the broken hairpin from the ground, retying his hair.
The Sect Master of Azure Mountain withdrew his ruined cauldron.
Wei Kingdom's consecrated guardian let out a long sigh at the shattered remnants of the Crimson Sky Sword.
Chen Liang silently collected the bannerpole—its flag now riddled with holes.
They no longer had the strength to continue fighting Xiao Mochi.
This scholar's power had far exceeded anyone's expectations.
If they truly insisted on killing him, they believed they would have no way to survive either.
And Ascension-level cultivators were, after all, extremely protective of their lives.
So they all stepped back.
Whatever Xiao Mochi wanted to do—
let him do it.
On the condition that even without their interference, he could actually succeed.
The east began to pale. A sliver of dawn fell upon the shattered tome, and upon Xiao Mochi's body.
The minor world completely disintegrated.
Xiao Mochi stood between Heaven and Earth.
And in the dome of the heavens above—
a great hole was torn open.
