Chapter 12652
It's highly unlikely that Confucius, a sage of great stature, would risk the subversion of his own teachings by personally becoming a tool in the emperor's conspiracy.
No matter the context, such a low-probability event can be ignored.
Who would have thought that such a low-probability event could actually happen?
Even now, Lin Yi still finds it unbelievable.
He still couldn't understand why Confucius did that.
The five sages of the aristocratic family were of the same blood and lineage, sharing both prosperity and adversity. Therefore, Confucius's position naturally aligned with the imperial edict.
It seems plausible at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it still doesn't make sense.
Ultimately, the claim that the five sage families were of the same lineage is debatable.
For thousands of years, they have shared both honor and disgrace because they are a community of shared interests.
Now that a great change has arrived, Zhang Baiyu, representing the Sage of Strategy, has changed course, and even the Sage of Food has begun to recognize the times and become a wise man. Only the Sage of Confucius must hold fast to the lineage of the Sage of Emperor.
The key point is that, judging from previous interactions, the relationship between the lineage of Confucius and the lineage of the Emperor was not particularly close.
Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat: "Could it be that Confucius was also influenced by someone?"
Looking across the entire Tianjun County, there is probably only one person capable of doing this.
The Ultimate Emperor.
Logically speaking, it makes sense that the Emperor of Ultimate Intent was behind all of this.
However, this is just speculation at the moment, and there is no direct evidence.
Although Lin Yi was unwilling to see Confucius become a treacherous villain, he was not so sure that the other party was definitely not a bad person.
Regardless of whether all of this was Confucius's own will, it made no real difference to Lin Yi.
There's only one thing to do next.
Will count.
Since the other side has gone to such lengths and laid such a big foundation, it means one thing: they have indeed gone all out for this showdown of divine equipment three days from now, and they cannot afford to lose!
Lin Yi was naturally more than happy to have it.
When the three-day period arrived, the edicts of the ten emperors were issued on time.
Lin Yi was immediately sucked into a chaotic space, where a proud and arrogant figure was already quietly waiting on the other side.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Di Zhao, and I am the contemporary Emperor Saint."
The emperor gestured for him to enter, a smile playing on his lips: "To be honest, it's quite remarkable that someone as commoner as you would dare to accept a duel with divine equipment."
Lin Yi smiled and said, "Getting divine equipment for free doesn't actually require courage."
"Get god-tier gear for free?"
Emperor Zhao chuckled: "Your rise to power was by chance, but you are still a figure of some importance. How could you be so naive as to think I would give you divine equipment for free?"
Lin Yi looked at him in confusion: "Winning the duel will grant you all of the opponent's divine equipment. I haven't misunderstood, have I?"
The emperor raised his chin: "Not bad."
Lin Yi immediately replied matter-of-factly, "Isn't that just getting divine gear for free?"
The Emperor's edict: "..."
To be honest, no matter how much the emperor looked down on Lin Yi, this commoner, deep down he was still quite wary of him.
In any case, this was a formidable character who even his father couldn't handle.
If he were truly arrogant and believed that Lin Yi was not up to par, this wouldn't be a battle of divine weapons, but a battle of real people.
"Stop talking nonsense and waste time, let's get started!"
The emperor immediately issued an edict urging the implementation of the ten imperial edicts.
The next second, an unparalleled will descended, so majestic and vast that even Lin Yi, who was surrounded by the will of the world, felt it was unattainable.
Even the mighty will of the world is but a firefly's light compared to the brilliance of the moon; they are simply not on the same level.
The will of Heaven.
Lin Yi was thrilled. The will of Heaven was usually inaccessible, especially at such close range.
This feeling alone was already incredibly beneficial for an expert like him.
The first match of the divine gear showdown begins.
Following the instructions of the will of Heaven, Lin Yi immediately placed the first piece of divine equipment in front of him.
The emperor smiled dismissively and also took out his divine armor.
Under the shield of the will of Heaven, neither side could see the true appearance of the other's divine armor.
Conversely, if one can see the opponent's top-tier gear, it's like rock-paper-scissors; the second player is simply cheating, and the so-called "top-tier gear duel" loses its most basic fairness.
Ultimately, although this battle of divine gear was initiated by the Emperor's decree and the opposing side did indeed have the advantage of being the house, at the most basic level of the mechanism, it was at least relatively fair.
After all, this is the will of Heaven.
Even if the edicts of the Ten Emperors were invoked, it would not be enough to turn them into a one-sided henchman.
"Now we will announce the evaluation of both sides' divine equipment."
The will of Heaven simultaneously withdrew the shield from both sides, and they could immediately see each other's divine equipment.
"Intermediate Divine Gear".
Lin Yi only glanced at it briefly before he was able to determine the grade of the other party's divine equipment.
The will of Heaven then gave its evaluation: "Dragon Scale Boots, intermediate-level divine equipment, overall effect score of 3,650."
Lin Yi was slightly taken aback.
What kind of algorithmic logic is used to evaluate this overall performance?
If anyone else were to give the score, Lin Yi's first reaction would definitely be that there was something fishy going on.
Regardless of the algorithm used, there will inevitably be subjective elements involved.
The same standard, applied with slightly stricter enforcement versus slightly looser enforcement, makes a world of difference.
However, since this is the will of Heaven, there is naturally no concern about this aspect.
The emperor on the other side was not surprised at all, but his expression changed when he saw Lin Yi's divine equipment.
"High-level divine equipment?"
As the successor carefully cultivated by Emperor Sheng, he is at least quite good in terms of vision.
For a moment, the way the emperor looked at Lin Yi changed.
"You, a grassroots cultivator, actually managed to obtain a high-level divine equipment. That's quite impressive."
The emperor merely curled his lip, showing no sign of worry whatsoever, but instead becoming increasingly sarcastic.
"Unfortunately, it's useless. Even if a grassroots cultivator like you has a chance, you are destined to be no match for my ten generations of foundation."
"I also have some bad news for you. All your divine equipment has already been corrupted, and its overall effectiveness will plummet."
Even with high-level divine equipment, you'll only get the points for mid-level divine equipment at most.
"Oh right, one more thing. As the holder of the Ten Emperors' Edict and the initiator of this Divine Gear Showdown, I enjoy the same level of priority."
"As long as your score is not more than 20% higher than mine, I win."
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Twenty percent? That means my score can't be lower than four thousand three hundred and eighty?"
"You calculated it pretty quickly."
The emperor's tone was full of provocation: "Do you know what 4,380 means? Normally, as long as the score is over 1,000, it falls into the category of intermediate divine equipment. If the score is over 4,000, then it is already the best among intermediate divine equipment!"
"Do you think a defective product that has been downgraded could possibly surpass a top-grade product?"
Lin Yi smiled upon hearing this: "So, you're guaranteed to win this match?" (End of Chapter)












