Lu Yuan sensed that overwhelming aura—another figure at the Civilization Realm. Every single figure at the Civilization Realm was earth-shattering.

In truth, Lu Yuan had only truly witnessed three: the First Imperial Son of the Dharma, the current Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization, and the Deputy Lord of the Demonic Sword Civilization. Now, with another Civilization Realm figure appearing, Lu Yuan felt a distinct curiosity.

This Civilization Realm figure’s aura shot directly toward the Confucian Scripture Hall. It was like a spear capable of piercing the heavens and the earth.

This was the second time Lu Yuan had felt such a terrifying presence. The First Imperial Son of the Dharma felt like the sole entity between heaven and earth; the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization was mild and upright.

But this aura was completely different—so powerful and sharp. Even from afar, Lu Yuan felt as if he was being brushed by this spiritual energy.

That annihilating presence suppressed him significantly, leading him to vaguely sense that this aura might even be more fearsome than that of the Deputy Lord of the Demonic Sword Civilization. This Civilization Realm expert was likely even stronger than the Deputy Lord of the Demonic Sword Civilization.

Lu Yuan silently made this judgment in his mind. Moreover, no matter how many times he faced a Civilization Realm master—whether he was at the sixth or seventh heaven of the World Realm—the feeling remained the same: his own strength was utterly insignificant, and he would be easily crushed by a Civilization Realm expert.

Something must have happened over at the Grand Hall of Confucianism. Lu Yuan had just finished cultivating the Book of Civilization, so he flew straight toward the Grand Hall of Confucianism.

Upon arrival, peering through the sea of countless scrolls, he saw a middle-aged man suffused with the aura of ancient texts. Although this man also carried the scent of scrolls, for some reason, despite clearly being a man of the Dao of Confucianism, he gave off an entirely different impression.

He exuded a heavy atmosphere of extinction, a feeling of "if you are not me, you must be destroyed." Several figures followed behind this middle-aged scholar emanating the air of extinction. As Lu Yuan was sizing up this imposing figure, the scholar suddenly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Lu Yuan.

His look felt tangible; merely being fixed by his eyes sent a terrifyingly powerful pressure toward Lu Yuan, a pressure that seemed intent on annihilating him. Lu Yuan could clearly perceive that a figure of this Civilization Realm could kill him with nothing more than a look.

This was the Civilization Realm! Just as Lu Yuan felt the pressure becoming impossibly vast and nearing his limit, the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization raised his hand, transforming it into a claw.

An incomparably mighty suction pulled Lu Yuan to his side: “Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization, this is my newly accepted final disciple. You are a Deputy Lord yourself; is it necessary to pressure a World Realm cultivator with just your gaze?” “Oh, your newly accepted final disciple?

You still have the leisure to accept one on the eve of death. You certainly have the patience,” the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization smiled faintly.

Having said that, he casually glanced at Lu Yuan once more before dismissing him, clearly showing no interest in this Lu Yuan masquerading as Li Taishi. Li Taishi’s reputation truly was minimal.

Lu Yuan stood beside Su Yuemia, with his Second Senior Brother Meng Wei and First Senior Brother Kong Ni just beyond her. Lu Yuan could distinctly feel that although the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization and the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization had not yet exchanged blows, a heaven-shaking torrent of aura instantly exploded between them.

If anyone had been caught between them when this energy erupted, even a Heavenly Venerable would have been pulverized. Lu Yuan sent a telepathic message: “Sister Su Hua, who is this person?” “The Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization.” Su Yuemia knew they were currently within the protective sphere of the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization, making it safe for them to communicate mentally: “This Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization was originally a friend of our Master, the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization—a very close one at that.

Back then, the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization and the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization jointly founded the Confucian Civilization.” “But after establishing the Confucian Civilization, the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization and our Master discovered a fundamental gap in their philosophies. Our Master always maintained that as long as someone cultivated the Righteous Qi and fully adhered to the Way of Confucianism, that was enough; a person needed only to maintain their own integrity, and one should not demand too much.” “The Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization advocated differently.

He promoted the idea of ‘Preserving the Heavenly Principle and Extinguishing Human Desire.’ He demanded that people eliminate their selfish desires, retaining only the principles of heaven and earth. Having selfish desires was wrong.

His demands on an individual were far too strict; he completely disallowed personal advantage or profit because of these differing ideals, our Master and the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization argued many times, though it never escalated too severely. However, there was an incident where a female Confucian scholar in our civilization sought to remarry after her husband died.

When the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization heard of this, he insisted on applying extreme punishment to her, believing a woman should not remarry, even if her cultivation partner died.” “And another time, the mother of a Confucian student engaged in debauchery, and the student reported her. The Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization intervened first, beating the student, asserting that a son could not accuse his mother, regardless of her behavior.” “Incidents like these accumulated.

Finally, our Master could not endure it any longer and engaged in a great battle with the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization. In the end, the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization retreated far away, but the feud remained.

Over the past few months, the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization had challenged the Confucian Civilization several times, but none were a match for our Master. Now that our Master is critically injured, he has returned.” Lu Yuan finally understood the intricate history behind this.

He also realized that such a theory existed: preserving the heavenly principle and extinguishing human desire; people must not have their own selfish appetites. This was truly excessive.

Just then, two more Civilization Realm figures arrived. The first of these new Civilization Realm experts appeared as a venerable old man.

Floating above his head were three books: the Analects Sacred Scripture, the Doctrine of the Mean Sacred Scripture, and the Great Learning Sacred Scripture. These three books radiated infinite light.

This was the second Civilization Realm expert of the Confucian Civilization, the Deputy Lord of the Three Scriptures Civilization Realm. The other Civilization Realm figure was a strikingly middle-aged man who seemed to possess an aura that commanded reverence between heaven and earth.

This was the third Civilization Realm figure of the Confucian Civilization, the Deputy Lord of Integrity, who had only recently ascended to the Civilization Realm. He was clearly somewhat weaker than the others.

However, there was no doubt that the latter two Civilization Realm experts combined could match the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization. The other two Deputy Lords of the Confucian Civilization had naturally learned of the injury to their Deputy Lord and feared he could not withstand the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization, so they emerged from seclusion instantly.

For a moment, the four Deputy Lords of Civilization formed a standoff, with the three from the Confucian Civilization clearly holding the upper hand. The Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization looked toward the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization: “What is your purpose in coming here this time?” “The purpose is quite simple,” the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization stated.

“Of course, I didn’t come here for a fight. I merely heard something.

I heard that the initial character, Zheng (), of your Confucian Civilization is decreed thus: any person belonging to the Confucian Civilization, who is below the Civilization Realm, can obtain the initial character if they achieve first place in both Righteous Qi and literary works. Is that correct or not?” “Correct,” the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization nodded.

“Then this is simple. I still technically belong to the Confucian Civilization.

Although I have long departed, I have never formally severed ties, correct? Then my disciple is also eligible to challenge in this regard.

Zhu Renyu, step forward! Challenge the high-achievers of the Confucian Civilization in Righteous Qi and literary works, and let’s see just how extraordinary the masters mentored by the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization truly are.” So that was the plan!

Now, the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization and the others understood the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization’s scheme. Indeed, they had come to seize the initial character Zheng.

The total number of initial characters between heaven and earth was not large, estimated to be under five hundred, each possessing world-shaking power. The Zheng character held by the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization also possessed immense power capable of shaking the heavens.

The Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization had exploited a loophole in the words spoken by the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization years ago. Hearing this, the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization and the others found themselves unable to refute it.

Confucianism values promises, and a gentleman honors his word. The Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization did not mind using esoteric methods, but now, in front of so many disciples, those methods were inappropriate; he was forced to adhere strictly to his promise, effectively being trapped by his own words.

The reason for specifying Righteous Qi and literary works was also quite simple. The foundation of the Confucian Civilization rested upon two characters for its prestige.

One character was Zheng (, righteousness), and the other was Ru (, Confucian). Zheng naturally represented Righteous Qi, while the character Ru could be represented by books, as Confucianism is conveyed through writing.

Therefore, the criterion set by the Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization years ago was a contest of superiority in Righteous Qi and literary works. “Good.

Su Yuemia, step forward and trade a few moves with Zhu Renyu, the expert sent by the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization.” The Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization commanded. Su Yuemia was one of his weaker disciples, and he intended to have her test the waters first.

After all, those who came uninvited rarely brought good intentions. The Deputy Lord of the Confucian Civilization held significant wariness toward the Deputy Lord of the Heavenly Principle Civilization, with whom he had worked in the past.

“Yes,” Su Yuemia replied, stepping out to fight. Lu Yuan watched from the side.

He had seen various types of combat before, but he had never witnessed a battle judged by Righteous Qi and literary works. He was eager to see what profundities might be revealed.

The challenger sent by the opposition, Zhu Renyu, was a middle-aged man whose sheer power, even in terms of circulating energy, was almost unimaginable. He was likely a powerhouse nearing the peak of the Civilization Realm, but the strength of his magical power was somewhat irrelevant; this contest relied on Righteous Qi and literary works, where a slight difference in magical energy would not affect the overall outcome.

Zhu Renyu violently shook his body, releasing a wave of Righteous Qi—pure and absolute. Su Yuemia also began to release her own Righteous Qi.

The two currents of Righteous Qi clashed in mid-air. However, almost immediately, Su Yuemia’s Righteous Qi was crushed by Zhu Renyu’s.

Su Yuemia was at the eighth layer of Righteous Qi. Unquestionably, Zhu Renyu’s Righteous Qi, capable of so easily defeating hers, must be at the ninth layer.

In this round, Zhu Renyu won easily, having gleaned little useful information beyond confirming his opponent was at the ninth layer of Righteous Qi.