History's Number 1 Founder

Zhuge Zhan said seriously to Lin Feng, "Master Lin, I hope to obtain a place to rest on your mountain. Would you permit it?"

With his personality, it was unlikely that he sought to take advantage of the Celestial Sect of Wonder’s current power. To him, freedom was always better than submitting to a particular sect. Today, he suddenly changed his mind because not only did he admire the way the Celestial Sect of Wonder did things, he also could not bear saying goodbye to his daughter again.

Hearing that, Lin Feng smiled and said, "There’s no need to be so formal, Daoist Zhuge. If you wish to stay on my mountain, then you shall be treated as a guest."

"You can do what you want and there will be very few rules constraining your actions."

Zhuge Zhan replied, "Thank you, Master Lin, for your magnanimity. I know my own personality the best. However, since I am going to be living with your sect, I will abide by the rules. If you have any request, feel free to tell me."

"My daughter is a member of your sect and hence, you will continue to require guidance and instruction from her masters and fellow disciples. I apologize for the inconvenience"

Lin Feng said, "There’s no need for apologies. Ever since Wanqiu joined our sect, I and her master shall ensure that she is safe and well."

Zhuge Wanqiu looked at her father as they journeyed back to Mount Yujing. While she was elated, she was also slightly embarrassed.

Fortunately, while Han Yang, Huang Zhenting and Tan Yunqing were shocked that her father was a Immortal Soul Third Level cultivator, they did not show any other emotions to her other than surprise and shock. They treated her as per normal.

When Huang Zhenting realized that Zhuge Zhan would be returning to the mountain with them, he appeared delighted. Everyone else stared at him strangely.

Han Yang extended his palm and waved it in front of Huang Zhenting and asked, "Senior Huang, what’s wrong with you?"

Huang Zhenting chuckled, "Ying Luozha has been bugging Senior Wanqiu all this while. His personality is too strong and Senior Wanqiu is too gentle. Earlier, I was worried that she may agree to be his girlfriend. If she had agreed, then she may be bullied by him."

"Right now, however, it looks like I have nothing to worry about. Ying Luozha may not even be able to convince Mr Zhuge right now, hahahaha!"

As he looked at Huang Zhenting laughing, Han Yang stared at him in scorn and said nothing.

When Tan Yunqing heard that, his lips twitched too. He did not know what to say.

The two of them shook their heads as they ignored Huang Zhenting, who appeared to be in his own, happy world. They continued to sit cross-legged, cultivate and uncover the secrets of their sect’s teaching while summarizing what they had learnt through their experience in the Barren Expanses.

Not only did they all benefit a great deal, by experiencing the battle against the Choucheng Tribe and Lu Yuan Grand Sage’s Heaven-Carrying Ant avatars, they all appeared to have obtained new realizations as the bottleneck around their cultivation level loosened.

Furthermore, when they witnessed their own master, and their grandmaster, Lin Feng, battle against the demons, their horizons were further widened.

Even though they were unable to understand many things with their current mastery, what they had learnt thus far would give them food for thought for a long while.

As they left the Parasol Tree Forest, Lin Feng brought the group of them through the Barren Expanses and back into the Divine Lands.

The objective of their journey had been met. Lin Feng too needed to sort through his many rewards and information. There were some that he could obtain immediately and there were others that he needed more time to think through. For example, the gate into the Starry Sea required him to sit down and think through it carefully.

That battle had established a name for Lin Feng in the Barren Expanses. On the way back, no one dared to stop them.

The only powerful demon that Lin Feng could faintly feel was the Heavenly Master Grand Sage of the Ancient Ape Demons.

However, the Heavenly Master Grand Sage kept his silence as Lin Feng traversed from the Barren Expanses to the Divine Lands through the inter-world passage.

Lin Feng knew what he was thinking.

As he played with the broken shard from the Golden Cicada’s plate, Lin Feng smiled slightly. The plate was an item from the Emperor of Extremity, Shenyuan, and after it split into five, the Heavenly Master Grand Sage obtained two pieces. Lin Feng, the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the Golden Roc Grand Sage each obtained one piece. Of course, the Heavenly Master Grand Sage hoped that he could gather all the pieces together.

However, the Heavenly Master Grand Sage was very clear about Lin Feng’s current power. Right now, if he were to leave the Lingyuan Mountains, he would be unable to deal with Lin Feng alone. All he could do was to watch as Lin Feng returned to the Divine Lands.

On the way back to the Divine Lands, Lin Feng plucked at his eyebrows and thought, "The Origins Celestial Dragon did not come in the end..."

Lin Feng shook his head, "Then, Great Void Sect, it’s up to you. However, I don’t think you will achieve much success unless you bring the Supreme Heavenly Mirror into the Black Sea."

"Everyone is fighting for time," laughed Lin Feng softly. Soon, the Southern Wilderness of the Divine Lands appeared before him as he cut through the void and re-entered the Divine Lands.

However, he quickly stopped as he stared in the east. After he did a sweep with his supernatural awareness, his stared intently and thought, "Space does not appear as stable as before."

Lin Feng’s expression was calm as he said, "When the Heaven-Destroying Sword was formed, the Netherworld Sea appeared to have been disturbed..."

The Netherworld Sea, amongst the Grand Celestial Seven Seas, was completely sealed off. It was not connected to the Great World but dimensional splits would open at times.

Normally, the openings into the Netherworld Sea were never fixed. However, they normally appeared in the Southern Wilderness of the Divine Lands, where Lin Fang was located.

Lin Feng stared at his surroundings for a while longer before retracting his gaze and heading back to the Kunlun Mountains.

When he reached the Kunlun Mountains, Mount Yujing responded to his psychic commands and appeared. It floated above the clouds and looked down at the Yun Peak Mirror Lake and the Cloud Mirror City.

When they heard news of his return, Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, Yue Hongyan and the rest rushed out to welcome Lin Feng back.

Lin Feng swept through his gaze and realized that Zhu Yi did not come down from the mountain but instead, he came from the Yun Peak Mirror Lake near the Cloud Mirror City.

After not seeing them for a while, Lin Feng discovered to his surprise that there was a patch of land next to the Mirror Lake and about 30 li away from the Cloud Mirror City. There, one could see a huge, palatial compound.

The compound occupied a vast amount of land. While it was not as big as the Cloud Mirror City, it was still very majestic as it resembled a small castle.

Lin Feng looked at Zhu Yi and said with a smile, "Zhu Yi, is this the Mirror Lake Knowledge Palace?"

Zhu Yi nodded his head and said seriously, "Yes, master."

Wang Lin and Shi Tianhao looked interestedly at the giant palatial compound.

In the Barren Expanses, Zhu Yi told Lin Feng that he wanted to open a school next to the Mirror Lake. Lin Feng permitted him to do so and said that he had free reign. Wang Lin and the rest knew about it, but not as much as Lin Feng.

Today, as they looked at the Mirror Lake Knowledge Palace, everyone was interested.

Shi Tianhao asked curiously, "Second Senior, what do they teach in the Knowledge Palace? What kind of disciples does it take in? If they are disciples, why don’t we just let them go through the Heart-Revealing Steps straightaway?"

Zhu Yi said with a slight smile, "This isn’t a place to teach them mantras and spells. Instead, this is a place where all knowledge could be taught and disseminated."

"Oh?" Shi Tianhao was stunned. Wang Lin and the rest looked over at Zhu Yi as they waited for an explanation.

Zhu Yi said passionately, "While I cultivate the Dao all these years, I also tried to simplify it down to its essence as I hope that the people of the world could cultivate themselves and understand the truth instead of wandering through their lives aimlessly. Right now, I am able to make some progress and I too learnt much through the experience."

"Master often taught us that there are both big and small paths in life. Everything in the universe exists for a reason. Hence, with this as my guide, I hope to one day combine both the many Daoist mantras and manuals that I have studied and derived their principles from within."

"While it is only a thought right now, but I believe that as more and more people obtain knowledge that they can use in their lives, they would become increasingly independent and self-reliant. For everyone in the world, this is something beneficial."

"The true Dao is the blossoming of human civilization."

Luo Qingwu looked at the huge knowledge palace as she listened to Zhu Yi’s words. She paused and after a while, she asked, "Senior Zhu Yi, according to what you said, this knowledge palace is no ordinary mortal school where they recite from the books and occasionally indulge the students in horse-riding and archery, right?" (Translator’s Note: Horse-riding and archery ancient Chinese scholars were expected to indulge in to become a ‘junzi’ (gentleman)).

Zhu Yi smiled slightly and said, "The knowledge a scholar should possess will naturally be present. But that’s not all."

He pointed to the majestic Mirror Lake Knowledge Palace and said, "Not only must one investigate the truth behind knowledge, one also could not blindly depend on book knowledge. One learn to use, that’s the truth in it."

"According to my plan, strategy, economics, military science, law, history, literature, music, astronomy, geography, arithmetic, medicine, agriculture, mechanics, craftsmanship and business shall all be taught here."

"Literati who only know how to talk big and look down on other professions do not deserve to be called literati. All they can be called is clumsy bookworms with no life skill."

"The sage says everyone can be taught. While people are different from one another, some are good in one aspect while others are good in another aspect and we should maximize everyone’s potential. That’s the main difference between my knowledge palace and mortal schools."

Wang Lin looked at the knowledge palace and said with a smile, "Had I not become a cultivator, I may have ended up as a carpenter."

When the others heard that, they laughed. Zhu Yi chuckled, "It’s better to teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish."

"For example, while people like us can easily call upon a rain to help alleviate droughts, this may breed dependence on us by the mortals. Hence, what’s the point in that?"

"A person must always depend on himself and better himself."

"My knowledge palace seeks to recruit talents everywhere. Through non-stop research in areas such as waterworks and agriculture, we shall then recruit interested people everywhere and teach them these skills. Once they bring their skills back to their home, they would be able to improve their living environment. While the benefits are long-term, we have to start work now."

Zhu Yi said, "Actually, I really have not done much. The Mirror Lake Knowledge Palace is just a shell right now. There isn’t enough students and teachers. However, I believe that as time passes, it will get better and better."

"I have already started spreading word of it and many have joined my cause. I too intend to study a bit of everything. When everything is ready, I assure you that it will be much better." Here, Zhu Yi started to laugh once more as he said, "Other than that, I intend to bring my disciples to the Mirror Lake Knowledge Palace for training too."