Chapter 1731: The Hall of Great Accomplishment

“Go in!”

All the sacred beasts had acknowledged him as master. Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction, stored them in the folded space, and charged inward again.

But this time, it was different. The moment he touched it, he was blocked outside.

“What’s going on?”

His mouth twitched.

Could it be that just this brief delay had locked him out?

If so, he could only cry.

“Master, you’re carrying too many sacred beasts…”

Little Talisman’s voice sounded. “A normal world-passing celestial talisman can carry ten people. As the mother talisman, I can carry at most fifteen. The ones you just tamed number over twenty…”

Hearing that it wasn’t that he couldn’t enter, Zhang Xuan sighed in relief and couldn’t help asking, “What about putting them in folded space?”

“No! If that worked, Xing and Meng Swordsage could have taken everyone away just now!”

Little Talisman explained.

“Makes sense!” Zhang Xuan realized.

How could something left personally by Confucius be so simple?

If restrictions were set, they were set; otherwise, if everyone exploited loopholes, wouldn’t chaos ensue?

He released the lower-level sacred beasts, kept the count around fourteen, and charged inward again. This time, he passed through smoothly without hindrance.

“Wait, Qiongmu Azure Dragon and the others are also in folded space. That adds up to more than fifteen?”

After entering the light membrane and walking a short distance, Zhang Xuan said.

The fourteen he kept were all newly tamed, not counting Qiongmu Azure Dragon, Golden Spirit Cloud Tiger, and even the Red-Forehead White Tiger he had subdued earlier. In total, the actual number had long exceeded twenty.

“They are originally lifeforms of the Confucian Temple ruins and can enter freely without taking up slots!” Little Talisman said.

“There’s such a rule?”

He hadn’t expected sacred beasts from the Confucian Temple ruins to enjoy such treatment. Zhang Xuan smiled wryly, said no more, and sped up, flying toward the seal’s interior.

The others had already been inside for over a minute; he needed to hurry.

Behind the wide gate was a massive hall, flanked by two rows of statues. Some were deep in thought, some gazing into the distance, some reading, some cultivating… They were lifelike, as if they might come alive at any moment, varied in form and expression.

“These are… the Seventy-Two Sages?”

Soon, Zhang Xuan recognized them. They were none other than Confucius’s Seventy-Two Sages.

Confucius had three thousand disciples, with seventy-two direct disciples known as the Seventy-Two Sages. As for Ran Qiu Ancient Sage and Bu Shang Ancient Sage, they were among the ten greater worthies.

Each of the seventy-two direct disciples had a biography and an extraordinary past, remembered by countless people in the Master Teacher Hall. Zhang Xuan had read some of them and now recognized the statues at a glance.

Ziyuan Ancient Sage, Ziqian Ancient Sage, Ziliu Ancient Sage, Rangeng Ancient Sage…

Familiar names surfaced in his mind, merging with the statues before him, as if they were once again on the battlefield, fighting bloodily against the alien spirit race.

It could be said that without them, Confucius alone could not have quelled the alien spirit race’s menace.

On humanity’s monument of progress, each of their names was carved, radiant and immortal.

With a solemn expression, Zhang Xuan bowed in the highest ritual.

The Seventy-Two Sages emitted a faint pressure. Walking among them greatly enhanced and enlightened one’s mind and spirit.

After a few more steps, he saw several master teachers sitting cross-legged on the ground, unable to proceed.

Their mental state was insufficient; going further would harm their bodies. It was better to use this pressure to quickly improve.

They were some of the Zhang family’s supreme elders. Zhang Xuan said nothing and continued forward.

He didn’t know exactly who Zhao Ya’s group was, but to pass through the corridor of the Seventy-Two Sages’ statues, their mental state was probably not far behind his.

With such a mental state, their cultivation had likely reached the Immortality Realm Great Completion. They posed a great threat to his parents and the others.

Passing through the corridor of the Seventy-Two Sages’ statues, he arrived at another hall.

His parents and the others were there, not far away. Opposite them were eight youths, each exuding an arrogant aura. As he had guessed, they were all top figures who had reached Immortality Realm Great Completion.

Seeing that his parents were safe, Zhang Xuan sighed in relief and looked at the group opposite.

A girl stood among the crowd, eyes tightly shut. A chilling force emanated from her body, as if trying to activate some seal on the wall.

“Zhao Ya!”

Frowning, he quickly walked over.

“Xuan’er, she seems unable to hear your call!”

Before he reached her, Xing and Meng Swordsage came over and whispered to him.

“Can’t hear?”

Zhang Xuan was startled.

“Yes, we called out just now, but there was no reaction. She didn’t even turn her head, as if she couldn’t hear us…”

Xing Swordsage said.

“She seems completely focused on deciphering that painting on the wall. What her goal is, we don’t know…”

Meng Swordsage also pointed discreetly.

“Painting?” Zhang Xuan looked at the wall ahead and indeed saw a huge ink painting, lifelike, as if a world were sealed within it.

Zhao Ya’s body continuously emitted a chilling aura, as if trying to undo the seal on the painting.

Normally, when he entered the hall and called out, she would have noticed. But now she showed no reaction, likely truly unable to hear, as his parents had said.

“Who are they?”

Since Zhao Ya appeared unharmed, Zhang Xuan stopped worrying and squinted at the eight youths.

“I asked just now. They are… experts from the Hundred Schools of Thought!”

Xing Swordsage said.

“Hundred Schools of Thought?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Aren’t they descendants of the Seventy-Two Sages? Why did they capture Zhao Ya? And what is the seal on this painting?”

Earlier, he had thought the alien spirit race had captured Zhao Ya and the others.

They were vicious and would do such things, which was normal. But the Hundred Schools of Thought, inheritors of Confucius’s teachings, known for propriety—why would they commit such immoral acts, seizing people without notice?

It didn’t make sense!

Moreover, the outer hall contained statues of the Seventy-Two Sages. As descendants, instead of paying homage, they were fixated on a painting. Could this painting hide some secret?

Thinking this, he couldn’t help but look at the ink painting.

The scroll was spread on the wall. From afar, it exuded a vicissitude that pierced through history, time and space perfectly interwoven. Even with his Eye of Insight, he couldn’t see clearly.

He only felt waves of majestic energy from the painting, vast and grand, drawing him in at a glance, unable to extricate himself.

“Could this be… the Spring and Autumn Canon?”

Suddenly, Xing Swordsage’s voice sounded in his ear.