Chapter 1754 - Yuan Tao Lifts the Altar

style="font-weight: bold">Translator: StarveCleric  style="font-weight: bold">Editor: Millman97

Zhang Xuan turned his head over and saw a silhouette on the towering altar conducting a lecture. His words were few, and they were extremely difficult to hear and comprehend at the start. However, as those words struck his consciousness, the doubts that he had harbored regarding cultivation seemed to suddenly clear up.

It was as if he had just spent years immersed within a sea of knowledge, bringing his comprehension of cultivation to a far profounder level.

“This…” Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up, and his eyes widened in surprise.

He could vaguely sense the intentions behind those indistinct words. They were the interpretation of Heaven’s Path techniques verbalized in a concise and very understandable manner, such that any cultivator could easily assimilate it into their field of knowledge.

In imparting the wisdom contained within Heaven’s Path techniques to others, it was clear that Kong shi had achieved a far higher level than him!

It was his belief that even though his cultivation was beneath Kong shi, his ability to impart knowledge did not pale too much in comparison to the latter. However, upon hearing the words of the silhouette, he realized that they were not even standing on the same level at the very start!

“This is Kong shi’s Simple Words of Profound Wisdom!” Luo Ruoxin’s voice suddenly appeared beside Zhang Xuan’s ears.

Turning around, Zhang Xuan realized that Luo Ruoxin had come right beside him at some point in time.

“Simple Words of Profound Wisdom?” Zhang Xuan repeated Luo Ruoxin’s words with a hint of confusion in his voice.

“It’s using the simplest words to depict the most profound logic. His ability to impart knowledge reached a level comparable to the teachings of heavens,” Luo Ruoxin said. “There’s no denying that Kong shi is a person of great talent, perhaps even surpassing you!”

Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

The words spoken by the silhouette were simple, but they contained the deepest understanding of the world. They brought epiphanies to their listeners, making them aware of things that they had never even considered.

The blue sky, the four seasons, so on, and so forth; there are many phenomena that are very natural to us, and we take them for granted. It’s inevitable that we think that we know them very well, but when we try to explain why it is so, we find ourselves unable to verbalize them in a manner that’s convincing and credible.

This was similar to the case of Heaven’s Path techniques. Beneath their deceptively simplistic exterior, they contained innumerable transformations and profound logic in order to overwhelm any opponent with apparent ease.

Simplifying the profound had never been an easy task, and it would continue to trouble future generations of master teachers.

Yet, Kong shi actually managed to do it!

Finally making sense of what was going on, Zhang Xuan suddenly recalled a certain matter, and he turned to the young lady beside him and asked, “How were you able to come here?”

Even while he was imparting knowledge to the apricot trees, the latter would still attack whoever dared get close. How did Luo Ruoxin manage to come to his side?

“The phantasm left behind by Kong shi has started its lecture, and those apricot trees and leaves have gone to listen,” Luo Ruoxin explained with a smile.

Only at that moment did Zhang Xuan realize that the apricot trees, which had gathered respectfully around him a moment earlier, were already standing beneath the towering altar. They swayed ceaselessly along with the slight breeze, and it was hard to tell whether they were shaking out of agitation or twitching.

“…” Zhang Xuan felt a suffocating sensation in his chest.

In the past, it had always been those who listened to his lecture that became uninterested in the lectures of others. But this time around, the tables had turned. Even after the long lecture that he had conducted, the apricot trees and leaves still left him for a couple of words from Kong shi.

Hualala!

Just as Zhang Xuan was feeling a little uncomfortable on the inside, the Otherworldly Demons and Hundred Schools of Philosophers in the area suddenly rushed forward and sat down on the round cushions in front of the towering altar.

“Is this the opportunity that they have been waiting for?” Zhang Xuan was stunned for a moment before realization struck him.

Ever since they entered the Apricot Pavilion, the Hundred Schools of Philosophers had opted to remain in the outer perimeters of the courtyard, refusing to step in as if they were waiting for something. From the looks of it, they had been waiting for Kong shi to begin his lecture.

“While the altar where Kong shi imparts his teachings from is made out of ordinary materials, years of Kong shi’s lectures blessed the altar with his spirit and power, forming some kind of phantasm,” Luo Ruoxin explained. “Rather than saying that the silhouette on the altar is Kong shi, it would be more accurate to say that it is traces left behind of him over time.

“At specific times, the phantasm activates, and it begins conducting a lecture. Even though these apricot trees and leaves have listened to this lecture many times over, they are still able to gain new insights from it each time around, thus filling them with anticipation each time it happens. This is also the greatest strength of Simple Words of Profound Wisdom!”

Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.

This was also the greatest difference between Kong shi and Zhang Xuan’s lectures. The crux of Simple Words of Profound Wisdom was not to tear down a concept into bite-sized pieces so that even a child could comprehend it. Rather, it served to deliver a profound concept in an easier to understand manner while still evoking deeper thoughts within one, allowing one to form one’s own perspective and viewpoint.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan’s lectures were too explicit and direct, and as a result, they lost some of their meaning.

It was true that simplifying a concept would make it much more comprehensible, but if done to extremities, it would only encourage rote learning and stifle creativity.

“Your lessons are too detailed, and they’re filled with your own interpretation of the topic,” Luo Ruoxin said. “Other cultivators will adopt your line of thought strictly and emulate your cultivation style, effectively creating models made out of the same mold.

“On the other hand, Kong shi’s Simple Words of Profound Wisdom encourage cultivators to formulate their own interpretation of a topic through the knowledge that he has imparted, and through doing so, he’s able to nurture many different types of experts!”

Cultivation should not and must not be a process of emulation.

If a teacher imposed their system of cultivation and ideologies upon their student, they would be robbing their student of the chance to unleash their imagination and form their own interpretation of matters.

In truth, simple words were more than enough. What a student truly required was a spark to set them upon a path. Only when they were walking paths that they had selected themselves would they be more likely to reach heights that no other had ever reached.

“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded deeply in agreement. He could not help but turn to the young lady before him with a slightly complicated look in his eyes.

Despite the time that they had spent together, the young lady still remained a complete mystery to him. The more he came to know her, the more there seemed to be to her.

It was as if he was swimming across a vast ocean. No matter how far he swam, the shore was nowhere in sight.

Her words seemed to be casual, but often, they would point him in a direction, as if a mentor guiding a mentee quietly by the side.

He knew that she would not reveal her identity even if he probed her, so he sighed deeply inwardly before asking, “Aren’t you going to listen to Kong shi’s lecture?”

As Zhang Xuan cultivated the same Heaven’s Path techniques as Kong shi, the lecture by the phantasm was not valuable to him. However, the same could not be said for Luo Ruoxin.

“This lecture is just the start. In a moment, we should be able to see some movements from Yuan Tao. If things go well, he might just be able to get something good out of this,” Luo Ruoxin said.

“Alright!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Previously, Luo Ruoxin had said that there was a chance that this would be a fortuitous encounter for Yuan Tao, but nothing had happened so far even after Kong shi’s phantasm had started on a lecture. Most likely, the main show had not started.

Intrigued, Zhang Xuan scanned the area to look for Yuan Tao, only to see the latter walking silently toward the towering alter with a dazed look in his eyes.

“He has sealed his senses, so he’s unable to hear Kong shi’s lecture…” Zhang Xuan was first slightly stumped by Yuan Tao’s bizarre actions before widening his eyes in realization.

There were so many experts there, and as soon as they heard Kong shi’s voice, they immediately took their seats on the round cushions to listen obediently to the lecture. Despite that, Yuan Tao was still able to move. Most likely, this had something to do with his sealing of senses.

Since he was unable to hear Kong shi’s voice, it was no wonder that he had remained unaffected.

Geji! Geji!

Walking up to the towering altar, Yuan Tao suddenly lowered his arms and exerted immense pressure upward. It seemed like he was trying to forcefully pry something out of the ground.

“This…” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He had been wondering what Yuan Tao was up to, but to think that he was intending to take the entire altar!

“This is the altar where Kong shi imparts his teachings. It has long surpassed mortality, so ordinary zhenqi won’t be able to faze it,” Luo Ruoxin said. “As one who possesses the Emperor Bloodline, Yuan Tao boasts astonishing strength even without the augmentation of zhenqi. There’s no better candidate than him to move the altar!

“As long as one is able to take this altar away, through Kong shi’s phantasm, one will be able to produce generations of experts with ease…”

Hualala!

Yuan Tao’s strength poured forth, and under the tremendous might propping it up, the towering altar shook nonstop. Eventually, it began to budge and rise from the ground.

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