sjar Chapter 442 Family Conflict
Chapter 442 Family Conflict
Chapter 442 A Hundred Schools of Thought Contend
The Confucian sage had three thousand disciples, seventy-two of whom reached the Dharma Aspect realm, and were later known as the "Seventy-Two Sages." Each of them was a historically renowned figure, recorded in classical texts.
The man before him called himself "Zilu," one of the seventy-two sages under the Confucian sage. Lin Fei had also seen his existence in the records of the Southern Tang Kingdom.
Zilu was among the top-ranking disciples of the Confucian sage, one of the seventy-two most accomplished. Even compared to some of the lesser-known sages of the medieval period, he was in no way inferior.
Lin Fei was initially disappointed that there were no saints in this place, but now that he heard Zilu's name, his disappointment disappeared.
"So you are the seventy-two disciples of the renowned Confucian sage." Lin Fei cupped his hands in greeting to Zilu, saying, "I have long admired your name!"
"My humble name is nothing to worry about," Zilu said with a smile. "My master has instructed the seventy-two of us to teach children in various villages. Since you are willing to contribute to the human race, I can introduce you to him."
As he spoke, Zilu put his hand to his mouth and whistled, and immediately a bird's song rang out in the sky.
Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared in the sky above. When the cloud descended, Lin Fei realized that it was a huge bird.
When the bird landed on the ground, Lin Fei was truly shocked—it wasn't a real bird, but a bird made of wood.
Although its craftsmanship is exquisite and it looks lifelike, it is still easy to see that the bird has no life at all and is a bird made entirely of wood.
Since ancient times, there has never been a shortage of humans who could tame monsters as mounts. Whether it was the ancient gods or the saints of the Middle Ages, even in the vast world where Lin Fei lived, there were people who used strange beasts as mounts.
But to make a lifeless piece of wood fly in the sky is simply a masterpiece of craftsmanship; even the ancient gods probably didn't have such an ability.
Seeing Lin Fei's utterly shocked expression, Zilu smiled and said, "This is the 'Wooden Bird,' a treasure created by the Ink Saint to allow cultivators to fly. It can travel ten thousand miles a day, and its speed is no less than that of any kind of demonic beast."
"A masterpiece of craftsmanship, simply a masterpiece of craftsmanship!" Lin Fei stroked the wooden bird's body and couldn't help but exclaim repeatedly.
Even those renowned and powerful figures of ancient times probably didn't have the means to create such a lifelike wooden bird.
This is no longer a matter of cultivation level; such creativity and ingenious ideas could probably only have emerged in the medieval era, a time of great intellectual ferment.
Lin Fei was already eager to meet the legendary ancient saints.
……
Zilu led Lin Fei onto the lifelike wooden bird. The wooden bird took off and flew towards the distant horizon.
Their destination was the Academy of Sages, the academy of ancient sages of the human race, which Lin Fei had also seen in the records of the Southern Tang Kingdom.
……
The Academy of All Saints was considered a sacred place in the medieval era.
Lin Fei had seen in the official records of the Southern Tang Dynasty that in the medieval period, everyone was proud to be able to enter the Academy of Sages and become a disciple of a sage.
The legendary Academy of Sages, a sacred place for medieval humans, has long since disappeared into the annals of history.
The profound knowledge of the ancient sages and the flourishing ideas of the Hundred Schools of Thought have not been passed down together.
With the end of the Middle Ages, the sages of that era vanished. The once-thriving academies of these sages have also long since disappeared. Only a few of these ancient sages left behind their legacy on the land of China, becoming renowned families throughout the world.
For example, the Du family of Jiangxia and the Yuan family of Jiangling in the Southern Tang Dynasty were both aristocratic families left behind by the sages of the Middle Ages.
As for the other medieval sages, they disappeared along with this Sages' Academy into the long river of history, and no one knows where they went.
……
Just as Zilu had said, the wooden bird's flying speed was as fast as it could travel ten thousand miles a day, no less than any kind of demonic beast mount. In just half a day, it had already flown to the location of the Academy of Sages.
Along the way, they encountered no trouble from the demon race. The powerful demons had already been summoned back to the Demon Palace by the Ten Great Demon Saints, preparing for the decisive battle against the human race. As for the weaker demons, upon seeing the wooden bird in the sky, they had already fled; how could they dare to come and cause trouble?
Lin Fei and his companion rode the wooden bird and arrived at the location of the Academy of Sages without any problems.
……
"Brother Li, the Academy of Sages is just ahead." Along the way, Lin Fei and Zilu had become quite familiar with each other, and their conversation had become more intimate. Zilu said to Lin Fei, "I will first introduce you to our master, Brother Li, and ask him to arrange for you to enter the Demon Palace."
Zilu's mentor was the renowned Confucian sage of the Middle Ages, who was definitely among the top-ranked sages even among the medieval sages.
The ancient sages stormed the Demon Palace, and those who went there were not only human sages. In addition to human sages, there were also many cultivators at the Dharma Aspect Realm, including the seventy-two sages under the Confucian sage Zilu, who had also participated.
The so-called "Sages storming the Demon Palace" is merely a general term used in later records to summarize this great battle between the human and demon races that determined their future fates.
With Lin Fei's cultivation level, not to mention his true combat strength being comparable to a Celestial Being, or even approaching that of an Earth Immortal, his displayed realm alone already indicates he has reached the third level of the Dharma Aspect realm. Such strength is definitely among the top-tier existences below the Saint level of the human race. Since Lin Fei wants to participate in the expedition to the Demon Palace, Zilu is naturally happy to introduce him.
"Then thank you very much, Brother Zilu!" Lin Fei also bowed to Zilu in thanks.
……
The wooden bird landed in a designated area within the Academy of Saints, a place specifically for storing wooden birds. Besides the wooden bird Lin Fei and his companions were riding, many other wooden birds were also perched there. There were even people specifically assigned to look after these wooden birds.
Zilu, as one of the seventy-two disciples of the Confucian sage, was second only to the human sages in the Academy of Sages. The people here were clearly very familiar with Zilu.
As soon as the wooden bird landed, a person immediately came up to greet Zilu with a very warm smile, saying, "Isn't this Brother Zilu? I heard that Confucius sent all seventy-two of you out on business. What brings you back to the academy today?"