Chapter 838: Meeting Master Kong Again

Whoosh!

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Xuan exhaled a breath, his dark eyes gleaming with sharp light.

"My mental state has increased by 2.0!"

This time, the Teacher Character Heart-Tempering had doubled the effect compared to last time, increasing by a full 2.0. It had already reached 19.1, and now, in one go, it broke through to 21.1.

The requirement for the Seven-Star Master Teacher examination is a mental state of 21. Now, in terms of mental state alone, he could rival a Seven-Star Master Teacher!

A Four-Star Master Teacher possessing the mental state of a Seven-Star Master Teacher—if word got out, it would surely scare countless people to death.

The hardest thing for a master teacher to increase is not cultivation level, nor auxiliary professions, but mental state.

Coming out here and increasing so much—it was indeed the right choice. These few days were not wasted.

Excited, he was about to put away the scroll when a flash of light appeared on it, and a young man in white robes with a refined countenance landed on the ground.

It was a shadow formed by light, very clear, as if real.

"You are quite good, able to break free from convention and find the flaws in my insights!"

The young man, appearing to be twenty-three or twenty-four, smiled slightly, looking at Zhang Xuan with eyes full of admiration.

"Are you... Master Kong?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned, his eyes wide.

This shadow before him, though young, was seventy or eighty percent similar to the old man he had seen in his dream during his first Heaven's Recognition as a master teacher.

In other words... if his guess was correct, this should be Master Kong in his youth!

Master Kong reached Nine-Star Master Teacher before the age of thirty. This was the Sealing Sage Platform, the time when he had just been sealed as a sage, corresponding to a Six-Star master teacher level... Twenty-three or twenty-four was not far off.

"My surname is indeed Kong..."

Young Master Kong smiled and did not say much: "I am now just a sliver of consciousness, and I won't stay long. Since you saw the problem I left in my insights and understood my meaning, we are fated. This scroll contains my insights on breaking through to the Sage Domain, along with a cultivation technique. I give it to you. Study it carefully, and it may greatly benefit your future cultivation."

"Contains a technique?" Zhang Xuan looked down at the book.

The content inside was the same as what was carved on the rock wall outside. The only difference was that it was in Master Kong's own handwriting, imbued with his vast浩然 aura.

Earlier, outside, he had used the library to record the text, but he hadn't seen any cultivation formula.

Had he not studied it carefully enough?

It seemed he would have to take a closer look later.

"Also, these characters contain my essence, energy, and spirit after becoming a sage. If used well, they will greatly help you."

Young Master Kong continued with a smile: "That's all I have to say. Cultivation ultimately depends on yourself. Work hard, and I hope we meet again!"

With that, his already somewhat flickering figure seemed ready to dissipate at any moment.

"Wait... I have something to ask you. I've read ancient texts, and it seems you also suffered from congenital fetal poison. Do you know how to resolve it?"

Seeing him about to disappear, Zhang Xuan dared not hesitate. Forgetting the book, he quickly looked over and asked urgently.

He himself was afflicted with congenital fetal poison. Having read in ancient texts that Master Kong also suffered from it, he now had the chance to ask directly and would not let it slip.

"You also have congenital fetal poison?" Hearing his words, young Master Kong was startled.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan hurriedly said. "How do I resolve it?"

"Haha, my path is not lonely!"

Instead of answering, young Master Kong's eyes lit up, and he let out a loud laugh: "Finally, someone else is like me. Excellent..."

Whoosh!

Before he finished speaking, young Master Kong's voice faded away.

This sliver of consciousness left tens of thousands of years ago could not last long. It was already impressive that he had said so much.

"You..."

Zhang Xuan rolled his eyes in exasperation.

I'm asking you a question, and you haven't answered me...

Was this guy really Master Kong?

Wasn't it said that Master Kong, with the world in his heart and the people as his responsibility, was an utterly good person?

Why did he seem as unscrupulous as himself?

Upon hearing that he had congenital fetal poison, instead of offering a solution, he looked excited... What 'my path is not lonely'? What 'like me'? As unlucky as you?

Most importantly, he even said 'excellent'... Excellent your sister!

Zhang Xuan was covered in black lines.

He had thought that meeting Master Kong's consciousness would surely allow him to learn the solution to congenital fetal poison, but in the end... he got no useful information and was instead laughed at by the other party.

"Forget it. Probably at this time, he hadn't found a solution either..."

Though frustrated, he soon understood.

This consciousness was left by Master Kong right after he became a sage. At that time, he was only twenty-three or twenty-four, at most a Six-Star Master Teacher, and hadn't resolved the congenital fetal poison. It was normal that he couldn't provide a method!

If he really wanted to ask, he should ask Master Kong when he reached Nine Stars.

Shaking his head, he put aside these thoughts and picked up the bamboo scroll from the table again.

Made of bamboo strips, it had not been damaged despite tens of thousands of years. The characters were not written with ink but carved using a special method. Each one was round and full, exuding an astonishing aura.

"If I could copy these characters, my achievements in calligraphy and painting would surely increase significantly!"

Feeling the surging power revealed in the characters, Zhang Xuan's mind became active.

Master Kong, who pioneered the master teacher profession, was naturally skilled in calligraphy and painting. Although he was only around Six Stars when he left these characters, his understanding of calligraphy and painting was already comparable to some Seven-Star or even Eight-Star calligraphers and painters.

If he could copy them carefully and study earnestly, reaching Six or Seven Stars in calligraphy and painting should not be difficult.

As for the technique the other party mentioned, he hadn't seen it yet and could only study it carefully when he returned.

Just as he was about to put away the scroll, his heart stirred, and he took out a book from his bosom.

It was the Heavenly Dao tome that suppressed the ruthless one.

Earlier, when he damaged the rock wall of the Sealing Sage Platform, fearing a siege, he had taken it out from his ring to guard against unforeseen events.

"What's wrong?"

Opening the book, he looked at the heart before him.

This thing had been beating continuously, as if it wanted to say something.

"This is Master Kong's handwriting, imbued with his consciousness. Why not... let me swallow it? If I eat it, my strength will recover a lot... and then I can help you greatly!"

The ruthless one was full of greed.

"Dream on!"

Zhang Xuan slapped it.

He thought it was something important, but this guy wanted to eat the book he had just obtained. What a fantasy.

"You've already memorized the characters. Whether you keep the book or not doesn't matter... If you give it to me, I can use the aura contained in the characters to purify my killing intent, and even... imitate Master Kong's aura to teach others a lesson for you!"

After being slapped and tumbling several times, the ruthless one stopped and continued: "Anyway, with this book pressing down on me, I can't escape. The more strength I recover, the safer you'll be..."

"Don't even think about this book! But I will find a way to help you recover your strength."

Waving his hand, Zhang Xuan didn't waste more words and placed both the scroll and the book in his bosom.

Having finally obtained a copy of Master Kong's handwriting, he naturally wouldn't let this guy swallow it. Besides, without Luo Ruoxi, he wouldn't have gotten this thing. This book wasn't his alone but belonged to both of them.

How to handle it would have to be discussed with her first.

However, what the other party said was true: the more strength this guy recovered, the safer he himself would be.

With the Heavenly Dao tome pressing down on him, he wasn't afraid of rebellion. Could he be stronger than the Heavenly Dao? He could only obediently listen to him.

"Let's not think about it for now..."

Knowing that thinking so much was useless, he pushed open the door and walked out of the thatched hut.

He then saw the girl's back standing on the grass not far away, looking very lonely.

"How did it go?"

Seeing him appear, the girl turned around and smiled faintly.

"I benefited greatly... What about you? Any gains?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking.

She had come here to verify some guess. The exact location of Master Kong's sage-sealing had been found, but whether she had succeeded was unknown.

"I gained something, but... forget it, not worth mentioning!"

Not wanting to say more, Luo Ruoxi looked up: "You obtained the Teacher Character Heart-Tempering, so this trip wasn't in vain. Let's go back."

"Go back?" Zhang Xuan was startled and quickly took out the bamboo scroll from his bosom: "We discovered this together. Half of it is yours. How should we handle it?"

"This book was obtained by you for finding the error in Master Kong's insights, so it naturally belongs to you..." Luo Ruoxi shook her head.

She now understood that earlier at the Sealing Sage Platform, Zhang Xuan wasn't wantonly destroying but had solved the problem left by Master Kong, thus triggering some kind of restriction.

It was a test deliberately left by Master Kong.

"No, we got it together..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

If she hadn't brought him here, he wouldn't have known about the Sealing Sage Platform, let alone this place.

Now that he had gained the benefits of the Teacher Character Heart-Tempering while she got nothing, he felt somewhat guilty.

"Others would be afraid of someone snatching Master Kong's handwriting, but you actually want to give it away..."

Seeing his attitude, Luo Ruoxi shook her head with a wry smile.

This wasn't a common cabbage but Master Kong's own handwriting!

If this were released, even the saint clans would fight over it, yet this guy didn't take it seriously... She didn't know if he was truly foolish or pretending to be.

"Alright, let me tell you, this is useless to me. If I wanted it, I could definitely find more. Keep it for now."

With a faint smile, Luo Ruoxi waved her hand.

"Useless?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

Though he didn't know why she was so confident, her expression didn't seem fake, so he knew she was telling the truth.

"I'm not very clear about the saint clans, but perhaps... they are not lacking in Master Kong's works."

He soon understood.

She was very likely from the Luo family of the saint clans. Such a large family, with an unknown history, could certainly produce quite a few of Master Kong's writings, even if they were precious.

Moreover, this handwriting was left when Master Kong became a sage, still far from his peak. It was normal for someone from such a large family to look down on it.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony..."

Seeing that she truly didn't want it, Zhang Xuan said no more and put away the scroll. He looked around and asked with a puzzled expression: "Since this is a folded space, how do we get out?"