Nie Changqing stood on the dry branches floating on the water's surface, his lightness skill so astonishing that it astounded the world.
Only martial artists with extremely strong control over their own strength could achieve this, even ordinary grandmasters would find it impossible.
On the luxurious wooden boat.
The Grandmaster's face was kindly, his white hair and beard swaying gently in the breeze.
Lu Changkong furrowed his brows, and Luo Yue was also puzzled.
"White Jade Pavilion? Is it an influence created by Fan'er?" murmured Lu Changkong.
Lu Fan had mentioned to him about creating an influence, but he didn't expect it to be established so quickly.
Lu Changkong glanced at the Grandmaster and shouted to Nie Changqing standing on the lake surface, "This is the Grandmaster of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Fan'er will allow us to enter the island."
He was Lu Fan's biological father. It wouldn't make sense if even he couldn't set foot on the heart of the lake, right?
Nie Changqing looked at Lu Changkong, his eyes flickering slightly.
His dangling hair swayed, and he took a deep breath, shaking his head.
"Without the young master's orders, no one can enter the island."
Lu Changkong was taken aback. This guy was truly stubborn and unyielding.
On the luxurious wooden boat, however, the Grandmaster smiled. He stroked his white beard, squinting his eyes with admiration as he watched Nie Changqing standing on the lake surface.
"Ping'an has a good eye. He has taken in a good disciple," the Grandmaster chuckled.
Nie Changqing remained non-committal. There was no problem with calling him Lu Fan's disciple.
"The former disciple of the Dao Sect, the Tenth Unrivaled Blade of the Dao Sect... Nie Changqing."
"I never expected that you would rise from the ashes after being cast down..."
The Grandmaster adjusted his lazy posture, stood up from the luxurious wooden boat, and looked kindly at Nie Changqing, speaking softly.
"The old man from the Dao Sect is heartless, forcing you into a corner. Changqing, do you resent him?"
The Grandmaster asked.
On the lake surface, the dry branches under Nie Changqing's feet began to sway, and the water parted on both sides, propelling Nie Changqing's body forward continuously.
He shook his head. "No resentment."
"I was orphaned at a young age, both parents deceased. I've begged and suffered beatings as a beggar on the streets. It was the young master who rescued me from misery, granted me knife skills, taught me martial arts, and set foot in the Jianghu. How could I resent him?"
The Grandmaster stood at the bow of the boat, the wind blowing, causing his large robe to reveal his slender figure.
"But he drove away your wife and children, even sent people to kill you..."
Nie Changqing shook his head. "What the young master promised me, I should repay him. So there's no need for resentment. However... since the day Han Lianshao killed me with laughter, I've repaid the young master's life."
"Now what I owe... is to the young master."
"When my cultivation is complete, I will challenge the Dao Sect alone, rescue my wife, and reunite my family."
Nie Changqing's temples fluttered, his eyes somewhat distant yet resolute.
As the words fell.
Nie Changqing suddenly stomped on the floating branch on the water's surface.
One end of the branch sank into the water, creating a depression.
And Nie Changqing's body soared into the air, the butcher's knife suspended in front of him.
A strand of spiritual energy was drawn from the Qi Pill, surging around his body.
"Grandmaster, please step back," Nie Changqing's hair fluttered as he spoke.
On the boat.
Lu Changkong furrowed his brows, but he wasn't angry. He just looked at the Grandmaster.
Luo Yue's hand had already rested on his long knife at his waist, and the terrifying pressure emanating from Nie Changqing made even him, a top martial artist, feel overwhelmed, with cold sweat dripping down.
The Grandmaster stood at the bow of the boat, his robe fluttering, his gaze somewhat profound and turbid.
"You understand righteousness deeply, distinguish between right and wrong, and hold a humble heart. You are a good child, a good seedling... It's a pity that you were taken in by Ping'an. If not, the old man would have liked to teach you well..."
"You have more humility than that child Mo Tianyu."
The Grandmaster sighed.
Nie Changqing remained calm.
"The young master granted me a second life, and I treat the young master as I did at first."
"Grandmaster, I apologize."
With the rebounding force from the dry branch, Nie Changqing soared into the air.
With a flick of his arms.
The butcher's knife, enveloped in spiritual energy, came down suddenly.
Invisible blade qi shadows formed on the surface of the lake, dispersing the mist swirling over the lake as if it were being sliced away.
The lake water parted on both sides, with white waves rolling like white snakes in the lake, spreading towards the wooden boat.
The Grandmaster, with a kind face, stood with hands behind his back at the bow of the boat.
Even in the face of such a terrifying strike, his expression remained unchanged, as if he were just feeling a gentle breeze.
However, on the luxurious wooden boat, Lu Changkong and Luo Yue felt tremendous pressure. The lake water around the boat seemed to boil, constantly churning.
Above their heads, dense aura gathered, and the mist over the lake formed a huge vortex above the wooden boat.
"There are truly unworthy gentlemen, who sharpen each other like blades, polish each other like gems."
"There are truly unworthy gentlemen, who can never be slandered..."
By the lakeshore, there echoed the sound of recitation.
The Grandmaster, in his wide robe with hands behind his back, white hair and beard floating, gazed calmly at Nie Changqing.
As the knife came down, the fish in the lake scattered in panic, and the lake water parted, while the overwhelming blade qi made people's skin crawl with goosebumps.
Nie Changqing remembered the last time he slaughtered scholars on the Northern Lu Lake.
And this time, he wielded his knife against the Grandmaster, the scholars of Confucianism.
When the knife was three feet away from the wooden boat, it stagnated.
Between heaven and earth, it seemed as if all there was, was the Grandmaster's chanting, refreshing the soul like a spring breeze.
The Grandmaster did not possess the formidable blood and energy of a grandmaster, nor did he have the unpredictable spiritual cultivation...
He stood on the wooden boat, his body thin, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind at any moment.
He was just an ordinary person.
But Nie Changqing's remotely controlled knife couldn't move forward at all.
The righteous qi between heaven and earth was too dense, like a fierce and violent wind.
Nie Changqing's face flushed red, and the Grandmaster's low chanting in his ears felt like thunder.
His control over the butcher's knife suddenly faltered.
The knife fell into the lake.
On the wooden boat.
The Grandmaster, with a kind face and hands behind his back, spoke eloquently.
The terrifying mist spread over, and the originally invisible aura became tangible due to this righteous qi.
At this moment, all of it pressed down on Nie Changqing, forcing him into the lake.
In that instant, Nie Changqing felt a feeling similar to facing the pressure of the Young Master.
Nie Changqing wandered in the lake, soaked all over, looking at the old man standing at the bow of the boat, a sense of awe inexplicably rising in his heart.
Lu Changkong and Luo Yue were shocked beyond measure.
"So this is the power of the Confucian Master, at the level of the scholars."
Casually, effortlessly, suppressing six Grandmaster-level figures.
In the distance.
Dressed in white, with her skirt swaying.
Ning Zhao came on a solitary boat, hands folded at her waist, graceful as if in her prime.
"The Young Master has summoned esteemed guests, so this maid has come to invite."
"Grandmaster, please enter the island."
Ning Zhao said.
On the wooden boat.
The righteous qi suddenly dissipated as if the clouds had cleared to reveal the blue sky.
The Grandmaster laughed heartily, stroking his beard.
"Changqing, learn well from Ping'an. That old man from the Dao Sect is much more unreasonable than this old man."
The Grandmaster said.
Then, the wooden boat set off on its own, heading forward.
Ning Zhao's solitary boat sailed to the side of Nie Changqing. After pulling him onto the boat, it slowly headed towards the heart of the lake.
The mist gradually dissipated.
The wooden boat docked.
With Lu Changkong's support, the Grandmaster stepped onto the island, treading on the smooth green stones.
Lu Changkong and Luo Yue looked around the entire island.
The peach blossoms on the peninsula were gone, replaced by ten giant chrysanthemums. The pavilions of the Drunken Dust Pavilion were still there, but they seemed renewed, becoming restrained, low-key, and subtly luxurious.
The Grandmaster trembled slightly, his deep gaze fixed on the ten towering chrysanthemums, a rich smile spreading across his face.
In front of the pavilion.
Lu Fan sat in a wheelchair, dressed in white, a thin blanket covering his legs, smiling.
And on the second floor of the pavilion, there was a wooden terrace.
Yue Mo knelt down, her jade neck extended, her green hair cascading down, her enchanting face full of concentration as she brewed wine, adding green plums to it.
Ni Yu and Nie Shuang leaned on the railing of the terrace, looking down below with curiosity and caution.
Lu Fan saw the Grandmaster, and the Grandmaster saw Lu Fan, their gazes met.
Lu Fan sat in the wheelchair, his white clothes fluttering lightly, his brows and eyes picturesque.
He smirked.
"Student Lu Ping'an, on behalf of Changqing's rudeness, apologizes to the Master."
Lu Fan bowed, saying from afar.
The Grandmaster stroked his beard and laughed, a glint of brilliance flashing in his eyes.
Boom!
However, as the Grandmaster's laughter resounded.
The mist that had gathered on the lake suddenly converged, as if turning into towering mountains, or as if the heavens and earth were pressing down.
The Confucian righteousness.
The Grandmaster looked at Lu Fan, kind and gentle, and slowly spoke:
"There are truly unworthy gentlemen, shining like stars, eloquent and bright."
"There are truly unworthy gentlemen, who can never be slandered..."
As the words fell.
The overwhelming righteousness surged towards Lu Fan.
The terrifying pressure made Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao, who were at the forefront, feel their breath stagnate.
Below the White Jade Capital Pavilion.
Lu Fan smiled lightly, facing the overwhelming righteousness as if basking in a spring breeze.
He reached into the chess box, pinching a black piece between his middle and index fingers.
Confronting the vast righteousness in the sky, he suddenly made his move into the empty space before him.
As the move was completed, the black piece floated in the air.
A faint blue aura enveloped Lu Fan's body.
An invisible spiritual pressure was released.
Beside the Grandmaster, Lu Changkong and Luo Yue's faces suddenly turned crimson, the immense spiritual pressure causing them to continuously step back.
They were shocked, horrified.
They didn't even dare to approach the circle formed by Lu Fan and the Grandmaster at this moment.
Lu Changkong, Nie Changqing, and the others were left with nothing but awe and amazement.
It was as if...
A clash at the level of scholars.