Chapter 36 Scholars on the Mountain

After the cultivators were killed, it meant that most of Dazhou’s difficult problems had been solved, which put Li Fuyao in a good mood. In fact, at first, he just took actions in order to make the noblemen in Luoyang City of Yanling unhappy. However, he had changed his mind and felt proud, although most of the more than ten cultivators had been killed by Qing Huai and he merely fought once to kill a weird scholar.

After they left the Luosang River, Li Fuyao knew that the story by the river would soon spread to Shaoliang City, Luoyang City and the capital of the Chen Country. The noblemen and high officials in Shaoliang City might speak highly of the North Army’s persistence and courage, and the aristocrats in Luoyang City would only be mad and sad and even humiliated. As for the people in the capital of the Chen Country, they wouldn’t have other emotions than feeling terrified. It might be described as a story that ten thousands of soldiers from the North Army risked their lives to stop the main force of the Chen Country from moving forward and gave Shaoliang City more time. At the same time, they made up for their responsibility as they couldn’t guard Beiyan County. But perhaps there wouldn’t be many people telling the story about the two teenagers and more than ten cultivators. So when Li Fuyao and Qing Huai walked out of Dazhou and came to Yanling, the people there didn’t know the real reason why the cultivators sent by Yanling and the main force of the Chen Country stopped by the Luosang River.

But one thing was certain. The aristocrats in Luoyang City and the people in the Yanling Confucian Temple knew what had happened here.

The top Confucian academy was located in Yanling. Although the Yanling Confucian Temple sent people to Luoyang City to choose students every year, in fact, the temple was far from the city, one thousand miles away.

The temple was on the Jingkou Mountain.

As an ordinary high mountain in Yanling, it was not special in the beginning. After the Yanling Confucian Temple was built here, this mountain became unreachable. When the outsiders looked at the mountain, they could only see the mountainside and below it. There were cloud and mist above the mountainside all day long and nobody could see it clearly.

Even those cultivators at high stages would highly praise while looking at it.

There was a path at the foot of the Jingkou Mountain and few people would come here. Besides the people on the mountain who went down, there were only the scholars who wanted to climb the mountain to study in the temple. Although many scholars climbed the mountain, few of them could walk to the mountaintop. This mountain path was made of bluestone plate, with a sentence from the ancient books of Confucianism on each stone stair. The sentence on the first stair was “You can’t quit once you start studying.” While most of people in the human world didn’t know what words were on the last stair in front of the temple on the mountaintop.

It was early in the morning, but somebody started to climb the mountain.

The comer was a scholar dressed in grey clothes who had a book box on his back and an umbrella on his waist. He had a young face, but he didn’t look like a student in the temple on the mountain.

After stepping on the mountain path, the young scholar didn’t lower his head to have a look at the sentences under his feet but just walked up step by step. When he was in a good mood sometimes, he would look at the scenery around. There were many trees on both sides of the path, and even many of them were towering trees more than one hundred years old with luxuriant foliage.

After walking a few steps, the scholar came to a big bluestone and stopped because of nothing but one word on it, “stop”.

He stood in front of the big bluestone for a short break and then saluted clumsily before continuing to walk forward.

After he passed over the bluestone, it was difficult to walk on the mountain path. It was not cliffy but still flat. However, somehow, the young scholar walked with difficulty as soon as he started, as if there were a weight on him.

Then after he moved more than ten steps forward, he felt severe pain when he began walking. As he put his foot on the bluestone, a stab of pain attacked him. The young scholar smiled bitterly and then walked on for several steps. Soon he heard a voice from the mountaintop.

“The temple is a quiet place to cultivate. Any outsider should leave at once.”

The voice was like a large bell and shocked the young scholar to shake.

The scholar lowered his head and asked calmly, “Can I see Mr. Yan Yu from the temple?”

The voice came from the mountaintop again, “What do you want?”

The scholar still stated calmly, “I want to study in the temple.”

There was no answer from the mountaintop, as if the person went to ask for confirmation. After eight minutes, the voice asked, “Are you Huang Jin?”

Huang Jin responded softly, “Yes, I am.”

“The one who is brought by a teacher in the temple won’t have to suffer the pain while climbing the mountain, but if outsiders want to study in the temple, they need to walk to the mountaintop step by step. If you can’t come to the mountaintop, it means that you are alien to the temple. No more words. If you can come to the temple’s gate and a teacher likes you, you can study in this temple,” After the words, no more voice came from the mountaintop.

Huang Jin nodded and started to climb the mountain again. But this time, when he took one step, he felt the pain under his feet ten times more serious than before. Soon he had sweat all over his head.

He put one foot on one stair, but he couldn’t make the other foot tread on it. His legs were trembling, but he couldn’t move one step forward anyway.

This scholar who dared to bring a machete to snatch a bride furrowed his brows. Soon he pressed the oil paper umbrella on his waist with one hand and forced a smile. Then he gritted his teeth while putting his other foot on the stair.

When both his feet were on the same stair, he felt the pain disappear at once. Huang Jin drenched in sweat heaved a sigh of relief and then let one foot tread on another stair, but this time, it was not as simple as before. He felt severe pain and was dizzy. When he was about to lean backward, fortunately, a middle-aged man who looked peaceful appeared behind him and supported him.

Huang Jin came to his senses and withdrew his foot. Then he turned his head before saluting the middle-aged man, “Mr. Yan.”

The comer was Yan Yu.

Looking at the young scholar who had declined his invitation, Yan Yu waved his hand and asked, “I asked you to study in the temple, but you were determined to travel around the world. Why have you changed your mind now?”

Huang Jin smiled, “The world is worth seeing and the scenery is beautiful, but the huge mountain in front of my home is more beautiful. I have heard that the mountain’s name would be changed, and I am worried. I thought it over and found that it’s better to help myself than to ask for help, so I remembered your invitation, Mr. Yan. Although I look like a philistine now, I can’t afford to care about so much, so I climbed the mountain hastily as I want to have a chance to study in the temple. Then I can do something for that huge mountain.”

The Yanling Confucian Temple knew that the Chen Country dispatched soldiers to attack Dazhou and that Yanling sent more than ten cultivators to Dazhou, but such a trifle was not important to the temple, and they didn’t need to know the cause and effect. Now Huang Jin wanted to study in the temple because of this thing, and Yan Yu didn’t mind at all but reminded out of kindness, “After starting cultivating, some people promote themselves quickly, like the gifted Dao cultivator in Liangxi, who is only fifteen years old but is close to the Sanctification Stage. Some people promote themselves slowly and would be in the first three stages after wasting decades. Nobody knows if you will make progress quickly or slowly, but you have to know one point. It will take Yanling only a short time to destroy Dazhou, and then you haven’t even got the qualification to leave the temple. Even if you have, you need to understand that the temple is always behind Yanling, and you are of no use alone.”

Thinking of that teenager he had met before, Huang Jin suddenly laughed, “Maybe I am not alone.”

Hearing Huang Jin’s words, Yan Yu also remembered that teenager and thought of the news from the Luosang River the other day. He shook his head and just looked at Huang Jin several times, “The temple always makes no social distinctions in teaching. If you really want to study here, just climb the mountain.”

Huang Jin nodded and asked before Yan Yu turned around, “Mr. Yan, how many people have reached the top of the Jingkou Mountain in recent years?”

Yan Yu answered with a smile, “Many, and I am the last one.”

Huang Jin broke into laughter.

Yan Yu disappeared.

Huang Jin laughed and continued to endure the pain while climbing the mountain.

On the top of the Jingkou Mountain, in front of the worship hall of the temple, the gifted scholar Gu Yuan stood next to Yan Yu who had returned. As Yan Yu turned his head and glanced at Gu Yuan who stared at the mountainside in a daze, he had complicated feelings. Yan Yu was not at a high stage compared with the others in the temple, but he brought the gifted scholar Gu Yuan by chance when he was down the mountain, so he was in a higher position as a result. Even so, he couldn’t decide everything.

Gu Yuan had a talent almost at the same level as the gifted Dao cultivator in Liangxi. If she were not too young and started cultivating for a short time, she wouldn’t be still at the Awakening Stage.

Looking at the magic tool, treasured mirror before the hall and Huang Jin climbing the mountain with effort on the path, Gu Yuan laughed all of a sudden, “Master, do you think he can reach the mountaintop?”

Yan Yu replied peacefully, “It seems that he can. It depends on the mentality to climb the mountain. In the past, I found that this young man’s mentality is not bad. Now I believe that he has a 90 percent chance of success.”

Gu Yuan smiled, as if lost in thought, “The last 10 percent is that umbrella?”

Yan Yu kept silent with a smile and was quite satisfied with his student’s power of understanding.

Gu Yuan whispered, “Recently, I always think of that guy somehow. I don’t know if he went to the Sword Mountain and became a swordsman.”

Yan Yu made a gesture to stop her and reminded in a low voice, “Don’t mention the word ‘swordsman’ in the temple.”

Gu Yuan nodded obediently, but Yan Yu didn’t know what she was thinking about.

Gu Yuan responded “Oh” and then said with a big smile, “I know that umbrella belonged to the woman that guy loved, but I haven’t expected that it has so much influence on him.”

Yan Yu stated calmly, “You can’t think through everything.”

Gu Yuan stuck out her tongue and looked at Huang Jin who had finished most of the trip in the treasured mirror. She suddenly sat with her legs crossed and closed her eyes. Soon there was mist appearing from the top of her head.

Yan Yu was stunned and tried to do something. Nobody knew when an old Confucian scholar showed up in front of the hall. The old scholar spread his arm and a picture scroll fell on the midair one meter higher than Gu Yuan’s head.

Yan Yu asked in shock, “Master Zhou, is this the Meditation Picture?”

The old Confucian scholar who appeared just now was Zhou Xuance, guarding the library of the temple. This old scholar was extremely superior in seniority, but nobody in the temple could make it clear how superior he was. It was rumored that he might be the study fellow of the former principal’s master, and the rumor spread everywhere then, but that principal didn’t clarify the fact, so it made the old scholar’s identity more confusing. As a result, everybody in the temple would call Zhou Xuance “Master” respectfully. As for this master’s stage, nobody knew it because nobody had seen him fight, but he had the qualification to guard the library for more than one hundred years, so nobody dared underestimate him.

After all, besides a lot of ancient books written by sages in the library, there were many magic tools for cultivators, which were treasures, and ordinary people couldn’t guard them.

After Zhou Xuance with white hair and beard conveniently threw the Meditation Picture away, he didn’t answer Yan Yu’s question but said, “This student of yours is a rare gifted scholar in our temple and will have great achievements in the future. When she breaks through, she would be disturbed a lot. It is something that she should take responsibility for, but Gu Yuan is really too young. I will give this Meditation Picture to her for now, and she can return it to the library after she comes of age.”

Yan Yu asked in doubt, “Master, since such an important treasure leaves the library, won’t you report to the principal?”

Zhou Xuance waved his hand impatiently, “I just take out a picture. Who should I report to?”

Yan Yu smiled bitterly and nodded. This master was horribly superior indeed as they said. He could even take out the Meditation Picture randomly which was one of the top thirty treasures in the library.

Yan Yu bowed, “I am expressing Gu Yuan’s thanks to you, Master.”

Zhou Xuance then looked at Gu Yuan several times, “I want to see this little girl surpass the girl in Liangxi. Naturally I can’t hide something valuable.”

After looking at Gu Yuan, Zhou Xuance glanced at Huang Jin who was climbing the mountain in the mirror and asked with a frown, “Does this guy want to study on the mountain?”

Yan Yu gave a nod, “I have seen him when I travelled in Dazhou and found that he is in good physical condition and has a nice moral quality, so I wanted to bring him to the temple, but this young man refused me then. Now he wants to study in the temple in order to start cultivating so that he can protect Dazhou someday. But I don’t know how long he can cultivate with his intention, so I had to tell him to climb the mountain.”

Zhou Xuance had a faint smile on his old face, “I see. If this guy reaches the mountaintop, you tell him that I need a person to sort out sundries in the library. He can come if he is willing to. Don’t need to reveal my identity. That’s all.”

Yan Yu paused for a while and soon responded, “I think he won’t refuse as you pay attention to him, Master.”

The old scholar smiled and then disappeared in no time.

Yan Yu stood next to his student alone to protect her. During the period, many students and masters passed by and saw the picture scroll above Gu Yuan’s head. All of them stopped. On the same day, the news that Gu Yuan got the Mediation Picture spread all over the temple. Some students who thought their talents were not inferior to Gu Yuan’s reported to their masters, but they were rebuked as a result. These young students didn’t know about the importance of this issue, but the masters were old men who had stayed in the temple for decades and certainly knew about the position of Master Zhou who was in charge of the library. Even the principal would call him “Master” respectfully, so how could others afford to offend him?

At sunset, Gu Yuan officially entered the Fundamental Stage. When she opened her eyes, the principal’s voice could be heard everywhere in the temple. He wanted to see Gu Yuan.

It was like a huge stone that was thrown into a lake and caused many waves.

While at the gate of the temple, Yan Yu was waiting for the scholar all the time who climbed the mountain.

When the sun almost set, Yan Yu finally saw him.

Huang Jin came to the gate of the temple, his whole body dripping with sweat, and he looked calm.

In fact, if the test on the mountain path were not fake, Huang Jin should have fresh blood all over his body.

Yan Yu sighed with emotion, “If you don’t have the obsessiveness, it would be much easier to climb the mountain.”

Huang Jin forced a smile, “I don’t want to give it up.”

After finishing his words, Huang Jin looked down at the last sentence on the bluestone stair in front of the temple.

It was “The gentleman controls things, and the base person is driven by things.”

Huang Jin had complex feelings and smiled at last.

Yan Yu shook his head, unwilling to say more, and just mentioned what Zhou Xuance had said earlier. Huang Jin thought for a while and then responded seriously, “Okay.”