Why do I have so many masters?

Chapter 764 -57: Renowned Scholars (Combined)

The tea master at the tea shop could no longer afford to chat idly with the refined guest, his shoulder still draped with a towel soaked in hot water. He hurried out of the tea shop and leaned against the wooden post supporting the building, gazing into the distance.

Today, the weather was not particularly good, especially gloomy earlier, with layered clouds dark as ink. At that moment, however, a magnificent sword qi swept across the heavens, splitting the gloomy clouds to let through faint golden rays of sunlight, a sight stunningly beautiful.

The old man unconsciously held his breath.

Inside the tea shop, the elder who had once led the Six Kingdoms in alliances against the Qin State drank the last of his cold tea, slowly stood up, glanced outside at the scenery, and muttered to himself,

“Such is the spirit of a scholar.”

“It’s a pity… there are millions who read, but very few who can be said to have the spirit of a scholar. Otherwise, why would there be so many righteous yet ruthless folks, and heartbreakers mostly among the readers…”

Before he could finish, Su Gu touched his own white temples, the once great politician who navigated freely through the Imperial Palace mocked himself:

“Truly, a scholar is of no practical use…”

He gently set the teacup back on the table, took some Silver Coins from his bosom and placed them by the side of the table, then turned and walked out from the back of the tea shop, his back to the One-Leaf Pavilion surrounded by a vast Pure Qi, slowly pacing and muttering:

“A nest, another nest, and yet another nest.”

“Three nests, five nests, seven or eight nests.”

“Consuming the livelihood of tens of thousands of people.”

“Among all philosophers and scholars, there are many phoenixes but few sparrows…”

After these words, he shook his head, looked up at the faint thunder in the sky, calmed his expression, casually threw a black piece on the chessboard, and said to himself:

“Li Qidao, I’m not in the mood to meet and do battle with you this time.”

“Let’s leave it for next time…”

“The spirit of a scholar, the clash of arms, it would be a good thing to die in such times.”

He walked several steps forward, then vanished from sight. The tea master stood staring blankly at the celestial changes he had once read about in the classics, a long time passed before he remembered his neglect of the guest, and hurriedly turned back, only to find that the white-haired scholar was no longer there. The tea in the cup on the table was drunk, with some Silver Coins beside it.

He walked over, picked up the Silver from the table, only then noticing that the tea had smeared an intricate chessboard pattern, white circles for one set of pieces, black dots for the other.

Though he now ran only a tea shop, he had been well-off in his early years, having studied poetry and played music, he naturally understood the subtleties of chess.

The chessboard was exquisitely played, the situation perilous, fraught with danger at every turn. He watched intently for a long time, breaking out in a cold sweat, unable to see any chance of survival for the black pieces, yet it pained him that such a cleverly devised game had been casually wiped away by the guest.

Thinking of what the guest had said, after seeing countless patrons, the tea master truly believed that he was indeed a very learned man.

………

An indescribable Qi Mechanism enveloped the skies, pressing down menacingly.

Dressed in lavish purple robes, Yuan Ziyi turned pale, as if unable to take another step forward, her feet sinking three inches into the solid rock, her right hand holding a sword, though it was of no use at that moment.

She was among the younger generation who dominated with her swordsmanship.

But at that moment, even though One-Leaf Pavilion was still miles away, not even the thought of drawing her sword arose in her mind, only sheer terror remained.

Like ants shaking a tree.

Like Kunlun about to collapse.

A woman in white floated forward beside her, shouting softly as she thrust out a palm, clashing Qi Mechanisms with a boom, creating visibly rolling waves of Qi. At the same time, a seemingly amiable old man appeared behind the young man in purple, placing his hand on the youth’s shoulder.

This old man seemed easy to talk to, but his hands were broad and tinged with an unsettlingly dark hue. Using slight force, he moved the young man behind him, then joined hands with the woman in white, just barely managing to shatter the self-emergent Qi Mechanism before them.

Despite this, they still turned ashen and retreated step by step, only stabilizing after seven steps, digging seven holes in the ground.

The woman, slightly less seasoned, boiled over with Qi, coughing up blood.

At this moment, the young man in purple’s expression finally turned grim.

As the woman in white barely steadied her disrupted Qi Mechanism, she suppressed the shock in her heart and asked, “You two, what on earth just happened?!”

On the mountaintop, Yang Yongding looked at the tragic scene at Zixiao Mountain Villa not too far distant, his heart skipped a beat with fear, yet filled with more confusion, not understanding why they were suffering so, as his own martial arts were far below those three, yet he wasn’t as miserable.

Could it be…

With a flicker of thought, his gaze shifted to the one-armed scholar beside him.

Ni Tianxing appeared to know what his disciple was thinking, his eyes still fixed on One-Leaf Pavilion, he began to explain: freёnovelkiss.com

“Ascending the mountain ranks one in the Middle Third Rank, and reaching the Third Rank places one among the Confucian Sect’s disciples, harnessing vast Qi to achieve deeds, virtue, and discourse. Now, Jiang Yang’s discourse resonates with Heaven and Earth. Although it cannot last long, at this moment, even a Great Grandmaster might not compare to his brilliance.”

“Those three harbored murderous intent towards One-Leaf Pavilion, hence provoking a backlash from the celestial phenomena.”

Yang Yongding nodded, only vaguely understanding. He had seriously practiced martial arts for only about three years and was not familiar with anything too profound. Even though Ni Tianxing had explained, he only just knew that those people had brought trouble upon themselves.