Chapter 134: Master Yi Chuan

Presumptuously discussing Confucianism?
Fan Li found it rather laughable in his heart.
Aside from holding the mandate of heaven, the body he possessed through transmigration was naturally attuned to Confucian cultivation.
If the original owner had launched a rebellion and founded a new dynasty, he most likely would have become an illustrious literary emperor.
Therefore, although Fan Li's current cultivation realm was low, his mastery of Confucian scholarship was immensely profound.
Even the remarks he had just made were conclusions he and Lu Chunqiu had jointly explored, corroborated through correspondence, and ultimately reached together.
"With no proof or basis, you utter shocking statements. Are you trying to gain fame through this?" Zhu Ziyang sneered.
As soon as these words were spoken, the scholars who had previously been tempted and ready to diligently study Confucian classics to enrich themselves began to retreat in their minds.
"Does what Zhu Ziyang said make some sense?"
"How could the profound essence of our Confucian school be summed up so easily by a junior at the third tier of Foundation Establishment?"
"Could it be that because Master Yichuan is lecturing and scholars have gathered here, this person wants to make a shocking debut by voicing these unfathomable claims?"
Gradually, the scholars began to cast suspicious glances at Fan Li.
"Time will prove everything," Fan Li said with a smile, offering no further explanation.
He was not in a rush to prove himself.
Cultivation was never a matter of a single morning or evening.
He had merely provided the scholars with a new perspective, and without any malicious guidance.
Reading and thinking.
Could these possibly be bad things?
If even Confucian cultivators were unwilling to read, who else in this world should read?
"Master Yichuan has arrived!"
A pageboy suddenly chanted, and the scholars immediately scrambled to find their seats, no longer paying attention to the dispute between Fan Li and Zhu Ziyang.
A middle-aged Confucian scholar slowly walked up to the podium.
He wore wide robes with voluminous sleeves, a tall scholar's hat, and a beautiful long beard draped across his chest, carrying quite the demeanor of a national scholar.
"Greetings, Master Yichuan!"
The scholars bowed deeply in unison.
Yet at this very moment, a deeply discordant scene occurred.
Zhu Ziyang plopped down onto his knees and cried out, "Your disciple pays respects to the Master!"
And then, he actually performed the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows?!
"Oh?" Master Yichuan showed a trace of surprise, but immediately smiled with gratification. "Ziyang understands propriety. Very good, very good indeed."
"Thank you for the praise, Master."
Zhu Ziyang's face was filled with smug satisfaction, while the rest of the scholars felt extremely awkward.
Did only Zhu Ziyang understand propriety?
Were all the other scholars devoid of manners?
Of course not.
In the past, when great scholars lectured at the academy, students were never required to perform the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows.
Such a grand ritual was reserved exclusively for paying homage to heaven and earth, audience with the sovereign, formal initiation under a master, or mourning and wedding rites honoring parents. It was rarely invoked casually in daily life.
"Fellow students, why haven't you knelt to pay respects to the Master?"
The scholars had initially only felt awkward and were prepared to let it pass.
Yet Zhu Ziyang loudly reminded them, effectively forcing everyone to kneel and kowtow.
By doing so, it only made the rest of the scholars appear lacking in etiquette, leaving Zhu Ziyang alone as the sole paragon of breeding.
"Hehe..."
Master Yichuan stroked his beard and smiled, seemingly prepared to accept the grand ritual from everyone.
Though feeling gloomy and resentful in their hearts, the scholars had no choice.
Sparingly and continuously, individuals in the crowd began to kneel, performing the three kneelings and nine kowtows to Master Yichuan.
However, their boundless anticipation and reverence for this great scholar largely evaporated right then and there!
"Hey!"
"You two, why aren't you showing respect?"
Seeing that neither Fan Li nor the Holy Mistress of Hanyue was kneeling, and that they had already taken their seats, Zhu Ziyang felt provoked.
Outwardly, he rebuked them with indignation, while inwardly chuckling to himself.
By showing disrespect to Master Yichuan's face, did they still expect to sit through this lecture?
"Watch me chase this fellow out and leave the beauty to keep me company while I listen to the lecture," Zhu Ziyang calculated inwardly.
"Hmm?"
Master Yichuan noticed it as well.
There were actually two juniors, a man and a woman, who lacked all sense of etiquette and stubbornly refused to perform the bowing ritual to him.
A trace of displeasure flickered across the great scholar's face.
However, mindful of his status, he disdained to pursue such a matter immediately.
He merely noted it down in his mind to settle later.
"Silence."
"The lecture begins."
When great scholars taught, they either expounded upon the classics or articulated their own viewpoints.
The former required deep Confucian scholarship, while the latter demanded the courage and capability to establish a new school of thought.
Master Yichuan was at the first tier of the Integration Realm.
Among the renowned Confucian scholars of the world, he certainly could not be counted among the very top figures.
Yet he possessed immense boldness and never discussed the classics of ancient sages, choosing instead to preach only his own doctrines.
"All things in the universe can be fully investigated, for they share a single principle."
"The principle of a single thing is the principle of all things."
"Preserve the heavenly principle, eliminate human desires, and thereby understand the principle..."
Master Yichuan spoke fluently and eloquently on the stage, while the scholars grew drowsy listening to him, save for Zhu Ziyang, who treated every word like a priceless treasure and listened with ravenous hunger.
Not long after Master Yichuan began his lecture, Fan Li's expression turned ugly.
"What on earth is he talking about?" the Holy Mistress of Hanyue asked softly.
Noticing Fan Li's abnormal expression, she wanted to express her concern.
"Nothing," Fan Li said coldly. "Just a pedantic scholar spouting utter nonsense."
For a brief moment, Fan Li even wanted to chase Master Yichuan off the podium and throw him right out of Luming Academy.
"Ah? How nonsensical is it?" the Holy Mistress of Hanyue asked in surprise.
A cold gleam flashed in Fan Li's eyes.
"There are three thousand Great Avenues."
"Yet he claims that the principle of a single thing is the principle of all things."
"The Heavenly Dao is vast and unknowable."
"Yet he claims that all things in the universe can be fully investigated through a single principle."
"Mortal beings are not made of wood or stone; who can be devoid of emotions and desires?"
"Yet he claims we must preserve the heavenly principle and eliminate human desires?"
"Generalizing from the specific and using a heterodox path to obscure the righteous way. Having set foot on an evil path himself, he refuses to let others walk the righteous path. Truly hateful."
The Holy Mistress of Hanyue had practiced the sword dao for many years and was a supreme powerhouse at the third tier of the Mahayana Realm.
Even she had never held the notion that the sword dao represented everything.
After a brief moment of thought, she understood what Fan Li meant.
"You are right," the Holy Mistress of Hanyue shook her head. "This person is rather narrow-minded and shallow in vision. To utter such wild and reckless statements is truly misleading the youth."
Their voices gradually grew louder.
Especially the Holy Mistress of Hanyue's final remark about "misleading the youth," which even Master Yichuan on the stage could hear.
"Who is it?"
"How dare someone accuse this old man of misleading the youth?"
"Step forward!"
With that, he reached out and grabbed a disciplinary ruler into his hand.
"Who was spouting nonsense just now? Hurry up and come out to receive your punishment!" Zhu Ziyang also shouted. "Showing disrespect to your teacher? Let's see you taste the might of the Master's disciplinary ruler—this is a third-tier Earth-grade magical treasure!"
Hearing that the ruler was an Earth-grade magical treasure, the scholars turned pale with fright.
They knew they were innocent, but what if Master Yichuan suspected or misunderstood them?
A single strike from an Integration Realm Confucian cultivator was something none of them could endure!
Looking at the scene before him, Fan Li was so exasperated he laughed.
The truth is only made clear through debate.
Yet Master Yichuan chose to extract confessions through torture?
What happened to winning people over with virtue?
How did it devolve into bullying others with martial might and crushing them with status?
"It was me." Fan Li stood up, sneering repeatedly.
"You?"
Master Yichuan frowned upon hearing this.
He vaguely remembered that the voice shouting "misleading the youth" had clearly belonged to a woman.
However, he immediately noticed that a woman was indeed seated beside Fan Li, and he understood at once.
"Is this junior trying to play the hero?"
"So be it, I'll treat it as him! My disciplinary ruler is not meant to strike a weak woman!"