Chapter 1865: To Become a Teacher of Heaven and Earth

A thick hand stretched out from the books, shaking the entire underground palace like an earthquake, and the thick fingers slammed fiercely against the barrier.

Boom!

A surge of air rolled over, and Zhang Xuan and the others couldn't help but step back. When they looked again, they saw that the barrier was still intact, without any damage, while the Savage's five fingers were all bleeding.

"Master, let me try again..."

Embarrassed that his palm strike hadn't broken through, the Savage spoke again.

"No need. If you strike again, the underground palace will probably collapse."

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The underground palace was already on the verge of collapse; if they continued, it would surely give way. Although their strength would not harm them, the ordinary people of the Tianxuan Kingdom above would inevitably be affected.

The power of an ancient sage was too great. Moreover, when one shattered the void, even a slight loss of control, just a trace, would be enough to turn an area of tens of thousands of li into hell.

"What do we do now..."

"We can't force it. There must be another way. This barrier, which even you, who have reached the level of shattering the void, cannot break, could only have been set up by Confucius alone from ancient times to the present. Knowing this, the rest becomes easy!"

Zhang Xuan smiled.

He had let the Savage attack just to test how much force the barrier could withstand. After the test, he knew it was related to Confucius.

Stepping forward, he took a deep breath and poured the power of a Heaven's Favorite Teacher within him into the barrier.

As a fellow Heaven's Favorite Teacher, perhaps he could unlock the shackles before him.

Hum!

Power surged into him, and the barrier suddenly trembled. Countless insights into knowledge and education flooded his mind, deepening his understanding of the profession of a renowned teacher in an instant and making him even more enamored with the identity of a teacher.

It was as if, in that moment, Confucius's educational philosophy for students poured into his mind.

"Taking heaven and earth as teachers can rectify the inner self, regulate nature, and uphold all things..."

The voice entered his mind, like a thought or his own realization.

A Heaven-Recognized Teacher is a teacher recognized by heaven and earth, learning from heaven and earth, taking the Way of Heaven as a teacher. The starting point is simple, but the difficulty of surpassing it is as great as one can imagine.

It is like Liu Yang, Zheng Yang, and others—it is almost impossible for them to surpass him in this lifetime.

It is not that they are weak, but that the techniques they cultivate were all taught by him, forming fixed patterns within their bodies. Surpassing him would mean overturning all their previous cultivation achievements.

Confucius had countless disciples under heaven, three thousand of whom were renowned, yet none surpassed him, nor did any achieve the same accomplishments as him. From this, one can see the difficulty.

"I understand. I am a Heaven-Recognized Teacher, which means I take heaven and earth as my teachers. So... it is almost impossible to comprehend laws that surpass the Way of Heaven! If that is the case... why should I recognize heaven and earth as my teachers?"

His mind shook, and Zhang Xuan suddenly realized, as if enlightened: "If I recognize you as my teacher and you do not allow me to break through, then I will become... the teacher of heaven and earth!"

Breaking through to Ancient Sage could be achieved with the help of the True Interpretation of the Spear, the True Interpretation of the Blade, or even the True Interpretation of the Fist. However, once done, his power would be fixed, and it would be almost impossible to find his own path through other means.

For this reason, Zhang Xuan had been searching for something of his own, constantly suppressing his cultivation, and had not attempted a breakthrough for over two months.

Now, with this sudden enlightenment, he finally had a direction.

His identity was a Heaven-Recognized Teacher, recognized by heaven and earth... This meant that heaven and earth had consciousness!

If so, why let it recognize him, instead of making it take him as its teacher?

Taking heaven and earth as a teacher ultimately confines one under heaven and earth, never able to surpass them. But becoming the teacher of heaven and earth places one at the pinnacle from the start, and the Ancient Sage realm can be easily reached.

"However, becoming the teacher of heaven and earth is not that simple. One needs to understand heaven and earth, comprehend them, and know their strengths and weaknesses. Only then can one complete the teaching... And more importantly, one must give up the identity of a Heaven-Recognized Teacher!"

His mind raced rapidly, quickly settling on a direction. His brows lifted, and the power of the Heaven-Acknowledged Master within him was instantly released.

To gain, one must first lose.

To fill a bag with gold, one must first discard the silver inside.

The Heaven-Acknowledged Master—others envied it immensely, but for him, discarding it was nothing.

He relied on hard work, struggle, excellent character, and an unyielding heart. The Heaven-Acknowledged Master... hah, mere floating clouds!

With a calm mind, the power absorbed from the five Heaven-Acknowledged Masters instantly radiated outward. A majestic aura burst forth, surging along the ground straight up to the heavens, exploding in the sky in the blink of an eye, scattering into billions of currents that dissipated in all directions.

The Heaven-Acknowledged Master, recognized by heaven and earth, as the power emanated, Zhang Xuan became like an incarnation of heaven and earth. His consciousness hovered in the sky, enduring the crushing and tearing of the heavenly way, as if it might shatter at any moment.

...

The Master Hall of the White River Empire.

“The way of the master is said to be taught through action and heart. The reason Confucius could teach the world was his virtue of teaching without discrimination and his broad-mindedness of heaven and earth as public. As masters, you should also take it as your bounden duty to pass on the Way and impart knowledge, to carry forward the power of humanity for eternity...”

Before the Seal Master Hall, a batch of newly certified masters stood in front. An old man looked around, his expression solemn.

“Yes!”

The many masters nodded in unison.

The moment they became masters, they understood their own responsibility, which allowed no retreat.

For tens of thousands of years, the Master Hall had been revered by some and reviled by others, yet it had endured atop the continent. This was thanks to countless later generations who held fast to their unwavering hearts.

“Very good. Now begin the ancestral worship...”

Nodding with satisfaction, the old man was about to step aside to let the new masters worship the spirit tablets in the Seal Master Hall when he felt the ground tremble incessantly. The tablets that had stood for unknown years began to shake.

Clatter!

They all fell down in unison, facing the same direction.

“What’s going on?”

The old man’s pupils contracted. He quickly looked in the direction the tablets had fallen, and saw a back view formed of clouds and rainbows, clad in a long robe, standing in a place immeasurably distant, towering between heaven and earth, with no end in sight.

The figure did not turn its face, yet it exuded an aura that made one dare not look directly and feel compelled to kneel at any moment.

“It’s... a Heaven-Acknowledged Master!”

His heart shook, and the old man’s body went rigid.

Throughout the ages, the only Heaven-Acknowledged Master had been Confucius!

After him, countless masters had tried their utmost but failed to achieve it. They thought no one else could accomplish it, yet at this moment, someone had done so.

Thud!

Unable to hold back any longer, he fell to his knees.

“A Heaven-Acknowledged Master has emerged; humanity will flourish. Kneel quickly!”

Looking at the many new masters still in a daze, he barked.

“Yes!”

Only then did the crowd snap out of it and kneel in unison.

The Heaven-Acknowledged Master, previously only spoken of among a very few in the Master Hall, was now witnessed by billions at the same time.

The distant figure’s head pierced into the clouds, supporting the heavens above, with feet planted on the earth. Heaven and earth drew close to him, but he pushed them away with a look of disdain.

He was actually showing disdain... for the heavens!