"That boy Du Xueyi simply lacks combat experience. Losing will serve as a good lesson for him." Qiu Jin'an shook his head, looking as if the initial setback had not bothered him in the slightest.
Lu Yang thought to himself, *Sect Master Qiu, stop holding it in. You've already crushed a teacup in your hand, yet you're still pretending you don't care about losing.*
Sending Meng Jingzhou out for the first round had been Lu Yang's idea; he wanted Meng Jingzhou to give the Five Elements Sect a humbling display right at the start.
The Immortal Fairy hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Sect Master Qiu, I think cultivating one's body down to one's hair and then smashing one's bangs into an opponent's head can no longer be described merely as 'lacking combat experience.'"
At the very least, in ancient times, the Immortal Fairy had never seen such a preposterous method of body tempering.
Could this be the new era of Body Tempering cultivators?
Qiu Jin'an was choked into silence by the blunt Immortal Fairy, unable to speak.
*Can I get someone else to sit next to me?*
Qiu Jin'an adopted a nonchalant expression. "I only had Du Xueyi go first to warm up the crowd. The next one to take the stage won't be as easy to deal with as him."
On the Martial Arts Square, an elegant, graceful Confucian cultivator strode out. He wore a scholar's turban, held a paper fan, and was clad in a light-cyan scholar's robe, his demeanor leisurely and unhurried.
"This is the most outstanding Confucian cultivator in our sect's Foundation Establishment stage, Fang Hao."
Qiu Jin'an spoke the polite, impressive words, but everyone from the Five Elements Sect knew that Fang Hao's strength was actually about the same as Du Xueyi's.
"What a coincidence—we have a Confucian cultivator too."
On the other side of the Martial Arts Square, Man Gu belatedly arrived, carrying a massive hammer. Originally, Man Gu had wanted to carry Meng Jingzhou over as his weapon, but the referee had refused, saying Meng Jingzhou was not a weapon. Left with no choice, Man Gu settled for second best and chose to use the dark sand iron hammer he had just recently exchanged for.
A talisman was pasted onto the hammer's handle, capable of reciting the full text of *Sayings of the Sage*.
"The Sage said: To learn and constantly practice it, is it not a pleasure..."
Man Gu walked toward Fang Hao step by step, his expression fierce and ferocious. The chanting of *Sayings of the Sage* echoed across the entire Martial Arts Square. He looked for all the world like a villain who had just butchered a household of twenty-eight without even sparing a small mouse, reciting the Rebirth Mantra after the slaughter—it looked completely mismatched no matter how one looked at it.
As soon as the match began, Man Gu swung the dark sand iron hammer at Fang Hao. Fang Hao shifted his footwork and sidestepped it with graceful poise.
Man Gu exerted force through his wrists, forcefully altering the hammer's trajectory mid-swing to sweep across toward Fang Hao.
Fang Hao had not expected Man Gu to be so brutally overbearing. Seeing that the hammer's strike could not be dodged, he raised his paper fan to parry. The paper fan shattered, and he was sent flying by the impact.
The paper fan was a dharma treasure capable of blocking a fatal strike, so Fang Hao was not injured.
Wiping the smile from his face, he realized this opponent was not easy to deal with.
A miniature whirlwind spun up around Fang Hao. Once it dissipated, an invisible yet undeniably present force encircled him.
"Noble upright qi?" The Immortal Fairy let out a soft exclamation. This was the first time she had seen noble upright qi since her revival.
Fang Hao was an orthodox Confucian cultivator, and that invisible power was noble upright qi.
"Were there Confucian cultivators and noble upright qi in ancient times too?" Lu Yang asked.
"Naturally. The author of *Sayings of the Sage* appeared much earlier than you think."
"Did Sage Kong become an immortal?"
"No idea."
"No idea?"
"A sage isn't a realm of cultivation. Rather, it refers to a state of mind of 'benevolence.' Dedicating one's entire life to embodying the word 'benevolence' is what reaches the realm of a sage.
"'Benevolence' has many meanings. I could talk to you about it for three days and three nights without finishing. Of course, given my level, I couldn't manage to lecture for three days and three nights anyway."
Evidently, the Immortal Fairy had a very clear appraisal of her own knowledge reserves.
Using his noble upright qi as ink, Fang Hao wrote in midair with a wolf-hair brush: *A gentleman halts; passage ahead is forbidden.*
Charging forward, Man Gu saw the words and involuntarily came to a dead stop, his body completely defying his control.
This was the Unity of Knowledge and Action Technique, exceedingly rare even among Confucian cultivators. It compelled the target to act according to the written words, achieving the unity of knowledge and action.
Of course, such a technique had its limits. Even someone with Fang Hao's talent could only use it against opponents in the same cultivation realm; anyone a realm higher would be completely immune.
Using it against Man Gu right now was just right.
Fang Hao wrote again: *What you do not wish for yourself, do not impose upon others.*
What one does not want, one must not inflict on another. Under this sentence, if Man Gu wished to hit Fang Hao, he would have to hit himself first.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the order to halt dissipated, Man Gu swung his giant hammer right at him, giving Fang Hao a tremendous fright.
"How did you break free from my control?!"
"Control?" Man Gu did not quite grasp what Fang Hao meant. "Doesn't that sentence mean 'what I don't want myself, I'll definitely never give to you'? It didn't restrict my freedom at all!"
Fang Hao nearly spat blood in frustration. The prerequisite for the Unity of Knowledge and Action Technique was understanding what the words meant—this opponent was a pure savage!
Fang Hao was accidentally grazed by the hammer's edge, and blood gushed from the wound. Hurriedly retreating to escape the sledgehammer, he raised his brush and wrote again in plain language: *If you wish to attack me, you must first attack yourself.*
Though vernacular phrasing was several notches less effective than classical text, there was no time to care about that now.
Man Gu continued swinging his giant hammer at Fang Hao, still completely unaffected by the control.
Fang Hao was incredulous. *Does this savage not even recognize written words?!*
Only when Man Gu performed a leaping cleave, swinging his hammer down toward Fang Hao's head, did Fang Hao finally notice—Man Gu had his eyes closed!
After learning from Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou for a month, Man Gu's mind had become remarkably flexible. After two exchanges, he had realized that as long as he did not look at the words Fang Hao wrote, he would not fall into the trap.
In that case, just close your eyes!
Just as Man Gu's hammer was about to land, the referee stepped in and blocked the blow.
If this strike had connected, Fang Hao would never have been able to hold a brush again in his life.
"Second round, Man Gu wins."
Qiu Jin'an's face looked rather sour. But having been bullied by the Nine Scions of the Dao Seeking Sect since childhood, a sour face was nothing new to him; he had long since grown accustomed to it.
The Immortal Fairy sighed in admiration. "As expected of the Ancient Barbarian race—a born fighting race. To even be capable of fighting with closed eyes like this."
"Do you know much about the Ancient Barbarian race?" Lu Yang asked.
The Immortal Fairy was brimming with confidence. "Naturally. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call me the teacher of the Ancient Barbarian race.
"You know how those folks in the Barbarian clan are—not the sharpest tools in the shed. It so happened they heard of my brilliant talent and extraordinary wisdom, that I stood head and shoulders above others even among immortals, so they invited me to give lectures to the Barbarian clan.
"The barbarians were so hard to teach! Whatever I taught, they forgot; what they learned that day was gone the next. Fortunately, my willpower was astounding and I had ample patience. In the Barbarian clan, I finally learned what it meant to give up.
"Later on, I changed tactics and performed an initiation by empowerment directly, infusing my wisdom straight into their minds and bloodlines! That way, even if I didn't teach them, their intelligence would be second only to mine!"
Lu Yang drew in a sharp breath of cold air. *Fairy, you've poisoned them for ten thousand years!*
Suddenly, Lu Yang realized something: if the Immortal Fairy had made such a monumental contribution to the Ancient Barbarian race, why had Man Gu, as a member of that race, never heard anything about her?
*Is there a gap in the Ancient Barbarian race's heritage, or did someone deliberately erase the Immortal Fairy's existence?*
To cause the entire world to forget an immortal—just what kind of staggering undertaking would that require?
Chapter 167