On the altar.
Lu Changsheng finally realized that something was wrong.
His mouth became dry from speaking so much, however, the disciples weren't giving him any kind of response.
All of them, instead, were staring at him like he was an idiot.
What?
Was I an idiot?
This wasn't right.
According to Lu Changsheng's expectations, these dictums should bring enlightenment to these disciples. They should've been bursting out while crying and calling his name right now.
But why was it so quiet?
As he thought of this, Lu Changsheng finally noticed the unusual phenomenon around him. However, it wasn't that big of a deal in his eyes.
When he reached the Qi Refining stage, an unusual phenomenon was triggered. With so many great dictums being said, it would be weird if nothing unusual occurred.
However, this wasn't a special effect this time.
This was a really unusual phenomenon.
'Bang!'
The golden clouds of merits and virtues gathered above in the sky.
These clouds cast ninety-nine beams of gold light on Lu Changsheng. The nine halos of merits and virtues behind him were even more eye-catching.
A halo like this represented the ultimate good fortune. Such halo of merits and virtues could only be gained when one makes a great achievement in getting rid of an evil or educates a great number of people.
One halo represented one level.
There were up to twelve halos. However, in the cultivation world, even the most powerful cultivator hadn't achieved it.
Monk Jie Kong, the previous abbot of the small Leiyin Temple, sealed the black dragon on his own three thousand years ago, and prevented the catastrophic flood in the East Sea. He formed six halos of merits and virtues in the end.
Having nine halos was considered extremely rare in history.
Every single leader who owned nine halos was forever remembered by annals of the past.
Today, Lu Changsheng shared these ultimate dictums with the world and gained nine halos of merits and virtues.
This meant that Lu Changsheng gained the ultimate good fortune.
Anyone who dared to hurt Lu Changsheng would be severely cursed by heaven, this would include his entire family for thousands of years.
This was why all of the people attending this grand ceremony were so shocked.
Perfected Qing Yun's mind even went blank for a second. He never expected that Lu Changsheng had so many great dictums prepared!
"Student Li Zheng. I'm here to pay my respect to the Half-Saint!" At this time, a loud penetrating voice arrived.
The entire sect buzzed back to life.
Even Perfected Qing Yun was very surprised.
"Li Zheng? He's the Sect Master of the Saint Institution in Middle-Earth! He's the most outstanding Confucian scholar in the world, the most promising man to become the next Half-Saint!"
"Li Zheng just called himself 'student'?!"
The disciples couldn't believe this.
However, in the next moment, another voice arrived.
"Student Zhao Chun. My respect to the Half-Saint!" This voice was as deep and loud as a huge bell ringing. The disciples looked in the direction where the voice came from.
In the air stood a man in a white robe, looking rather upright and righteous.
The man was the Sect Master of the Immense Sect. Although they weren't a sacred land, it was still one of the top sects in Middle-Earth.
Disciples in the Immense Sect would cultivate the most righteous Qi between heaven and earth. They regarded getting rid of evil and demons in the world as their top responsibility. Therefore, the sect had a very high reputation.
The Immense Sect didn't rely on any precious stones or herbs to cultivate. They only used the most righteous Qi.
The stronger their faith was, the more powerful their Qi was.
Any despicable thought would erase their cultivation.
This was why all the other sects revered the Immense Sect so much.
Every disciple in the Immense Sect was an upright and noble person.
Now, the Sect Master of the Immense Sect was also here.
One of them was the top Confucian scholar and the Sect Master of the Saint Institution, his power wasn't inferior to that of Perfected Qing Yun's.
The other was the Sect Master of the Immense Sect who had a very respectable reputation, his power could also compete with that of Li Zheng's and Perfected Qing Yun's.
Both of them enjoyed a very high status in this world.
However, at this moment, they called themselves students after they came all the way here, bowing deeply to Lu Changsheng.
But this wasn't the end of it.
"Student Li Zhou. My respect to the Half-Saint!"
"Student Wu Ya. My respect to the Half-Saint!"
"Student Can Qi. My respect to the Half-Saint!"
"Student Hua Zhong. My respect to the Half-Saint!"
More figures showed up in front of Zenith Heaven.
All of them were top Confucian scholars. During regular occasions, they would never easily show up in public as they were busy with either handling the most significant matters of a state or the entire world.
But today, out of great sincerity, they bowed to Lu Changsheng like students bowing to their teacher.
"Sir Wu Ya is here? Wow! Sir Wu Ya's also a top Confucian scholar! The prince of the Dynasty of Sun-moon tried to make Sir Wu Ya join him. But even though the prince tried ten times, Sir Wu Ya never agreed."
"Sir Can Qi is the top master of Go in Middle-Earth. With his Star Board, he's extremely formidable. He's here too!"
"Senior Hua Zhong is a legend! The paintbrush in his hand has immeasurable power. Thousands of years ago, he drew the immortal troops and killed all his enemies!"
The disciples were all busy discussing all sorts of topics regarding the people who just arrived.
More senior cultivators came as they gathered in front of Zenith Heaven. There were now more than a hundred of them.
They were all top scholars and cultivators, having Go boards, picture scrolls, ink-stones, and paintbrushes as their weapons.
Together, they knelt and lowered their heads to the ground.
This was a very respectful gesture.
This action was done by the students to their teachers.
Lu Changsheng was really confused.
What happened? Why were they calling him a Half-Saint?
This was a world of cultivation, wasn't it?
Why did it seem to be a world of Confucianism instead?
Lu Changsheng was very very confused.
But suddenly, he understood what was happening.
He remembered one of the books he read.
In the past three years, Lu Changsheng had read many books—a few introduced the Dao of Scholars.
In the broad world of cultivation, during its long history, there were different types of Dao which all had their glorious moments.
There was the Dao of Painting, the Dao of Incantation, the Dao of Pill, the Dao of Beasts, and so on and so forth.
In the end, the Dao of Cultivation was the major one used in the world.
However, there still many major types of Dao that were kept, this included the Dao of Scholars.
Scholars cultivated the Literary Qi and collected the most upright Qi. They had outstanding eloquence and their words could kill their enemies.
A top scholar, as a human being, could seal and kill a demon which reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
The Dao of Scholars represented the most arduous and most positive power!
Whenever the demonic Qi became stronger, so would the Dao of Scholars.
However, sticking to this Dao was beyond difficult.
People always had their own desires and could easily get lost in them. Once a cultivator of the Dao of Scholars feeds his or her desires, their cultivation would be gone forever.
This was the moment when Lu Changsheng finally understood what was happening.
Suddenly.
In the air, a star gave off an incredibly bright light as it dashed straight for Lu Changsheng.
"This is the Literary Arts Star!" Li Zheng exclaimed.
While still in front of Zenith Heaven, Li Zheng was completely astonished.