Lu Yuan realized he hadn't engaged in enough chivalrous deeds.

If he had busied himself constantly with acts of valor, perhaps releasing the 'Wu' (Enlightenment) character as a burst of white light wouldn't have been so difficult now.

But, conversely.

He was inherently lazy; he had always intervened when witnessing injustice, but forcing himself to deliberately pursue chivalry was truly asking too much.

Now, what to do about 'Zheng'? Given his current strength, he ranked around tenth among the Fifty Firmament List. King Kunpeng, with his strength likely ranking second, could probably defeat the tenth-ranked him with ease. And here in the Kunpeng World, evading him was near impossible—truly frustrating.

Just then, a vast and unparalleled consciousness surged into his mind.

Within this immense consciousness were all forms of righteousness.

It seemed as though countless waves of righteous energy were radiating between heaven and earth.

"As I suspected, your path of civilization must contain the character 'Zheng.' With this character, you have not disappointed my expectations." Within his divine sense, a faint silhouette of the Vice-Master of the Confucian Civilization appeared. Lu Yuan understood this was merely a fragment of the Vice-Master's divine sense.

"It is excellent that you possess chivalry in your heart and rectitude in your mind," the Vice-Master of the Confucian Civilization stated. "To enter civilization through 'Zheng'—through these fifty epochs between heaven and earth, I stood supreme. Now, I shall use my way to help you achieve 'Zheng.'" This boundless portion of divine sense dispersed into Lu Yuan's own consciousness, while another part encircled the initial character 'Zheng,' causing it to emit an even stronger radiance.

And Lu Yuan, enveloped in this immense, intensely firm and righteous feeling saturating heaven and earth, noticed the 'Zheng' within his own divine sense beginning to glow white.

Zheng was achieved!

With his current strength, he should now rank around fifth on the Firmament List.

However, they hadn't truly clashed. If the opportunity arose, he should test it out in person.

Now, only the last character, 'Lan' (Lazy/Slothful), remained.

Lu Yuan was not in a hurry. With his hands clasped behind his back, he wandered aimlessly through the void. While roaming, he visited several Bird Cities but failed to find a way to cultivate 'Lan.' The Bird Cities were filled with all manner of bird demons. Feeling utterly bored, Lu Yuan also paid a visit to the Fish Kingdoms.

Beneath the waters of the Kunpeng World lay numerous Fish Kingdoms.

These Fish Kingdoms were composed of various fish demons.

The Fish Kingdoms held many fascinating things. For instance, they had numerous water-flow channels. These channels utilized the strong currents beneath the water, augmented by spells, creating pathways that allowed even fish demons with ordinary magical power to ride them and reach distant places in moments.

Furthermore, the residences in the Fish Kingdoms were usually constructed from coral trees, making them quite beautiful.

Lu Yuan observed for a while, hands behind his back.

It was while he was in the Fish Kingdom that Lu Yuan happened upon some news: it seemed the highest echelons of the Fish Kingdoms had received word that the possessor of the Civilizational Body had been captured. The possessor of the Civilizational Body—there were only two: himself and the Son of Desolation. He was currently disguised as Li Taishi here, so... had the Son of Desolation been captured?

Hahaha!

Hahahaha!

The capture of the Son of Desolation was cause for universal celebration.

But news here couldn't be trusted; he should scout outside to check the actual situation.

Lu Yuan flew out, soaring in all directions, hoping by luck he might stumble upon a Firmament List Titan—only the intelligence held by the Titans would be accurate.

Lu Yuan flew straight ahead and soon sensed several powerful auras nearby, suggesting a gathering of figures ahead.

This location was actually a place called the Myriad Feather Terrace, woven entirely from feathers and situated thousands of zhang above the void. Originally, only bird demons could reach this place in the Kunpeng World. However, it was now clearly occupied by several Firmament List Titans. Lu Yuan flew straight toward them and landed abruptly.

After landing, Lu Yuan saw an unexpected multitude of Firmament List Titans. For instance, Fei Wei, ranked nineteenth whom he had met before, and the Wine Immortal, ranked seventeenth, were both present. Alongside them was a beautiful, pure young woman with sharp features, a zither strapped to her back; judging by her aura, she likely surpassed both the Wine Immortal and Fei Wei. Several others were also there.

Why were five or six Firmament List Titans gathered together? Lu Yuan felt a slight confusion, but then quickly realized: they truly were idle. How could they not be? If the Son of Desolation was truly captured, and Lu Yuan himself failed to appear, they couldn't find the other one. So, they were exceedingly idle.

The crucial question now was: had the Son of Desolation actually been apprehended? Or killed?

Just as Lu Yuan was about to descend, the young woman clad in snow-white robes, with the zither on her shoulder and her hair styled in twin ringlets—the Celestial Observer Buns—suddenly glared, her delicate eyes flashing: "Li Taishi!" Her sharp cry carried immense power.

This girl exerted far deeper magical power when speaking than Fei Wei or the Wine Immortal.

Lu Yuan grew wary. Who was this woman? His identity as Li Taishi had surfaced so rarely. Had he offended her? Probably not. Wait—the girl carried a zither on her back; could she be from the Zither Civilization? Lu Yuan's memories scattered, recalling the time shortly after he had first entered the Confucian Civilization.

Back then, his peers were Eldest Senior Brother Kong Ni, Second Senior Brother Meng Wei, Third Senior Sister Su Yue Mian, and Sixth Junior Brother, who was himself.

Second Senior Brother Meng Wei, bored one day, had remarked, "Sixth Junior Brother, you have quite handsome features; you probably charm many female cultivators." When first disguising himself as Li Taishi, he used the visage of a refined young man—absolutely fair-skinned and handsome. Lu Yuan had remained indifferent, but Meng Wei seemed to have nothing better to do.

At that time, Third Senior Sister Su Yue Mian smiled slightly and teased Lu Yuan, "Perhaps he'll attract a female cultivator from the Zither Civilization. The women of the Zither Civilization, after all, play the zither masterfully, responding to the zither with writings."

Then, Eldest Senior Brother Kong Ni rebuked, "A gentleman does not speak falsehoods. Moreover, this concerns Master's past affairs." As for what those past affairs were, Kong Ni, being so rigid, absolutely refused to say. However, Lu Yuan was curious, and later asked Su Yue Mian, learning the truth.

It turned out that the Vice-Master of the Confucian Civilization and the Vice-Master of the Zither Civilization were once lovers, although neither had reached the level of Vice-Master back then. The Vice-Master of the Zither Civilization had one deeply cherished and only younger brother. This brother committed numerous crimes and harmed other cultivators, leading him to be apprehended by the Vice-Master of the Confucian Civilization. With his inherent righteousness, the Confucian Vice-Master naturally had to question his brother-in-law. The Zither Vice-Master's brother, believing himself to be favored kin, begged for mercy, assuming his sister's husband would never harm him. After thoroughly examining the younger brother's transgressions, the Confucian Vice-Master acted decisively and executed him outright.

Since the Vice-Master of the Zither Civilization had only this one brother, an irreconcilable feud immediately ignited between her and the Confucian Vice-Master. Later, due to further circumstances, their enmity grew deeper.

Thus, one founded the Confucian Civilization, and the other founded the Zither Civilization. Although both civilizations existed within the sphere of influence of the Ancient Law and Ancient Martial domains, the relationship between the two civilizations was generally extremely poor. When the Zither Civilization encountered the Confucian Civilization, they had a tradition: they would launch three initial strikes. If the opponent couldn't withstand these three moves, they would be injured. Of course, the Zither Civilization never intended to kill; it was merely three opening attacks.

The Confucian Civilization, aware of the ancient grievance, usually yielded slightly to members of the Zither Civilization.

Lu Yuan flashed through the memories Su Yue Mian had shared, and seeing the zither on the back of the white-robed girl with the Celestial Observer Buns, he suddenly recalled the entire affair. This white-robed girl was likely here to fulfill that three-move pact.

Since the opponent was from the Zither Civilization, Lu Yuan easily deduced her identity: she was Murong Honglei, the Zither Fairy, ranked eighth among the Firmament List Titans.

Murong Honglei—a truly beautiful name.

But this attack was no small matter. Murong Honglei moved her hand, and a single zither string shot forth from the instrument on her back. Lu Yuan countered by releasing the Tale of Transcendent Righteousness Immortal Scripture. The string and the scripture collided in the void. Upon this impact, Murong Honglei instantly realized her magical power was slightly inferior to her opponent's, causing her to freeze momentarily.

Murong Honglei was a woman of the Zither Civilization, and women of the Zither Civilization were notoriously proud.

Seeing she could not defeat Lu Yuan with one move, she unleashed her second.

This second move involved all the zither strings striking out simultaneously, their vibrations creating music in the void. Simultaneously, she unleashed her third move: countless 'Red Tears' streamed from the corners of her eyes, rushing toward Lu Yuan. Her name was Honglei (Red Tears), and her ultimate move was also the Red Tears. These tears contained endless emotions of the seven passions, manifesting in ways that baffled gods and ghosts.

One could withstand the Zither Fairy's Seven Killings Cosmos-Destroying Zither, but not her barrage of Red Tears.

Legend held that Xiao Guancai, ranked eleventh on the Firmament List, fought the Zither Fairy Murong Honglei. Initially, he was only slightly disadvantaged, but when the Red Tears appeared, the eleventh-ranked Xiao Guancai lost almost instantly and fled in panic. Since then, he feared Murong Honglei and dared not appear before her, even hiding from her presence in the Kunpeng World now.

Murong Honglei did not intend to kill Lu Yuan; this was simply the custom between the Zither and Confucian Civilizations—three opening moves first. It was because the Confucian Vice-Master had slighted the Zither Vice-Master in that old feud that members of the Confucian Civilization had to suffer minor disadvantages.

While Murong Honglei made her move, Fei Wei and the Wine Immortal remained silent, observing the fight. The two of them had previously claimed that Li Taishi had defeated the Wine Immortal, but no one believed it. The Wine Immortal conceded his loss, but others felt it was impossible for a mere new Firmament List Titan to contend with someone ranked above tenth like himself. Naturally, they disbelieved it.

Now, both the Wine Immortal and Fei Wei secretly thought that Li Taishi certainly stood no chance against Murong Honglei, but his performance here would at least allow others to gauge Li Taishi's true strength, thus alleviating further doubt about Fei Wei and the Wine Immortal's own credibility.

(Murong Honglei—what a beautiful name. A compliment to the creator. [To be continued])