Unsheathed

The grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism was about to draw to a close, and it was during this time that the emperor of the Azure Phoenix Nation secretly visited a summer palace located near the outskirts of the capital. An esteemed guest was going to visit him here, and even though Tang Li was an emperor in the mortal world, he still didn’t dare to slight his guest.

This was because the guest was Jiang Mao, a highly respected old man from the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan. Not only was he an old immortal at the Upper Five Tiers much like a pillar for the Jiang Clan, but he was also a lofty teacher responsible for educating all of the descendants in the Jiang Clan.

Apart from Jiang Mao, there was also the direct disciple of the Jiang Clan who had married into Old Dragon City’s Fu Clan and was returning to visit for the first time. Accompanying her was the old maidservant who had followed her to the Fu Clan, and it was rumored that she was a Nascent Tier sword cultivator with devastating destructive power.

There were two people walking alongside Tang Li, with one being Tang Chong, an old man from the royal family to whom he could temporarily hand power without needing to worry. In terms of seniority, Tang Chong could actually be regarded as Emperor Tang Li’s uncle. In the past, he had exchanged many private letters with Assistant Minister Liu Jingting, and they had also engaged in many arguments with each other. In reality, Tang Li had read all of these letters.

The other person walking beside Tang Li was an old man with an aquiline nose. He was Zhou Lingzhi, the number one cultivator among all of the official immortals in the Azure Phoenix Nation. Many people had already forgotten about the elderly immortal’s history as a vagrant cultivator in the past, and they only remembered the fact that he had already served three different emperors of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

Even though Zhou Lingzhi’s reputation wasn’t exactly good, Tang Li was an emperor who had grown up in the royal family and had his sights set on conquering the surrounding lands and having the Azure Phoenix Nation survive for tens of thousands of years. That being the case, it was only natural that he didn’t care about the inconsequential complaints of other people.

Regardless of how coldly Emperor Tang Li treated the immortals from the mountains in the Azure Phoenix Nation, he had no option but to respectfully welcome the old immortal from the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan as a junior.

The two parties sat opposite each other.

It appeared as if they were purposely sitting like this so there wouldn’t be any notion of host and guest. There definitely wouldn’t be any notion of ruler and subjects either.

Jiang Mao didn’t appear overbearing and egotistical as Tang Li had expected, and he instead spoke in a warm and genial manner.

Tang Li instructed an official from the Ministry of Rites to bring Jiang Mao a large stack of documents as well as some picture scrolls that were prints of stone tablets that had been created using immortal techniques. The external official was a proper-looking young man who was very articulate, and he recounted the process of the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism to Old Immortal Jiang Mao as the latter casually flicked through the documents and picture scrolls.

The external official from the Ministry of Rites was extremely good at choosing what details to emphasize and what details to skim over, and he would only go into detail when he was recounting a delightful or soul-stirring part of the debate. Even so, he was still crisp and concise, and appeared neither overbearing nor servile in front of a legendary old immortal at the Upper Five Tiers. He also responded appropriately when asked questions, and it was without a doubt that he won a lot of face for Emperor Tang Li.

This made Emperor Tang Li feel very satisfied, and he turned to his side to look at his uncle, Tang Chong.

“He’s Secretary Song Shanxi of the Ministry of Rites’ Bureau of Ceremonies and a descendant of the Green Pine Prefecture’s Song Clan. He achieved second place in the imperial examination in the Second Year of Qiukui,” Tang Chong explained in a quiet voice.

“You can boost his results during the next evaluation,” Tang Li instructed.

Tang Chong smiled and nodded in understanding.

“Why isn’t Chief Military Governor Wei present today?” Tang Li suddenly asked.

“Chief Military Governor Wei has a good relationship with someone named Jiang Yun from the Jiang Clan, and Jiang Yun is reuniting with his older sister here, so he decided to drag Chief Military Governor Wei along with him,” Tang Chong explained.

The number one official immortal in the Azure Phoenix Nation, Zhou Lingzhi, was sitting nearby, and his eyelids inevitably quivered when he heard the emperor refer to Wei Liang as Chief Military Governor Wei.

In the southeastern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, people only knew that there was a Chief Military Governor Wei who inherited the position for generation after generation. There was only a single direct descendant in each generation, yet the Wei Clan somehow managed to keep their legacy intact regardless of how dangerous things appeared.

Ever since the ancestors of the Tang Clan founded the Azure Phoenix Nation, the nation had already gone through many different emperors. Surprisingly, however, the chief military governor from the Wei Clan had been the same person the entire time.

Wei Liang was someone who had an extremely close relationship with the Imperial Tang Clan and kept his influence and power concealed, and he was also the person from the Azure Phoenix Nation of whom Zhou Lingzhi felt most apprehensive. Not one of the people, but the person.

After reading through the documents and listening to the official from the Ministry of Rites, the Unpolished Jade Tier Jiang Mao smiled and asked, “I heard that the Lion Garden’s Liu Qingshan performed exceptionally well after being included in the examination at the last minute. Apart from the written documents, are there any picture scrolls that I can observe?”

Tang Chong shook his head and replied, “Senior Jiang, someone warned us that it was best not to enter the Lion Garden without permission. Even Guest Elder Zhou could only observe the situation from a mountain peak outside the Lion Garden. However, according to the reports from the spies inside the Lion Garden, and by viewing the situation through Guest Elder Zhou’s palm in a conservative manner, we were able to confirm that Liu Jingting’s second son, Liu Qingshan, did indeed rely on his own abilities to pass the examination. He didn’t receive any external help.”

Jiang Mao smiled faintly and said, “Wasn’t it just the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan who gave you the warning? There’s no need to treat this as a taboo.”

Tang Chong smiled and confirmed, “Yes, it was none other than Imperial Preceptor Cui.”

However, Emperor Tang Li felt slightly displeased about this.

Because of the great trend of the continent, the Azure Phoenix Nation had no option but to join forces with the Great Li Empire and Cui Chan and participate in their schemes. At the same time, Emperor Tang Li was well aware that he had already fallen to a huge disadvantage against the Embroidered Tiger.

Now, however, Jiang Mao was directly uttering Cui Chan’s name in such a calm and composed manner, clearly signifying that the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan didn’t hold the Great Li Empire and Cui Chan in very high regard. That being the case, what should Emperor Tang Li make of their surface-level politeness toward the Azure Phoenix Nation right now? The Jiang Clan looked down on even the Great Li Empire, so how could they possibly respect the Azure Phoenix Nation?

Even though Tang Li was displeased, he didn’t let his emotions show on his face.

To put things bluntly, he would have to smile and accept his fate even if Jiang Mao decided to spit a ball of thick phlegm on his face. In fact, he might even have to act politely and ask the old immortal whether he was thirsty and wanted a drink.

Jiang Mao didn’t continue to make the situation awkward for Emperor Tang Li, and he retrieved a few picture scrolls that showed two people in two different locations. One location was in the south of the capital, and it was the White Water Temple which was renowned for its refreshing spring water. The other location was in the center of the capital, and it was the relatively unknown White Cloud Daoist Temple. As for the two people, one was a young monk in white kasaya and the other was a middle-aged Daoist temple master.

Jiang Mao nodded and said, “Judging by the current situation, the Buddhist Sect has won on the surface, while the Daoist Sect has won in the concealed battle. The Lion Garden’s Liu Qingshan put forward by the Confucian scholars of your Azure Phoenix Nation also performed quite remarkably, and it’s entirely possible that he still stands a chance. However, the Confucian Sect can only fight for the second spot at most if it isn’t able to do anything else impressive. Is this enough? Regardless of whether it’s the Buddhist Sect or the Daoist Sect, will it be a good outcome for either of them to become the new religion of the Azure Phoenix Nation?”

His tone was slightly overbearing.

As the oldest member of the powerful clans in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan had once been a large and first-rate clan even in the Middle Earth Divine Continent.

The Jiang Clan had overseen etiquette before the Confucian Sect had even been founded, so it was extremely obvious who the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan was supporting in this debate between the three teachings that was being hosted by the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent for the first time.

However, if the Azure Phoenix Nation forcibly elevated Confucianism—which wasn’t involved in the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism—to the top rank and the position of national religion simply because of the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan’s influence, then those with a discerning eye would immediately understand that the Jiang Clan had a part to play in all of this. However, would the Jiang Clan allow other people to tarnish its flawless reputation?

Indeed, this was what made the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan so difficult to serve and please. Not only did they want results, but they also wanted the processes used to achieve these results to appear flawless to all of the spectating outsiders. The spectators shouldn’t have a single complaint targeted at the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan.

Now that all of the scholars in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent were traveling south and gathering at the Azure Phoenix Nation, many of them were incredibly dissatisfied at the fact that Confucian scholars weren’t involved in the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism.

These influential clans and individuals from foreign lands made a lot of noise, and there were even a few haughty local clans with very foul tempers threatening to leave the Azure Phoenix Nation if either Buddhism or Daoism replaced Confucianism as the chosen religion of the nation.

In reality, those who belonged to the core of the imperial court of the Azure Phoenix Nation were all aware that the Buddhist Sect and the Daoist Sect were merely fighting for second place. They were fighting to avoid coming last. The Daoist immortals and the eminent Buddhist monks were well aware of this as well.

Meanwhile, the emperor of the Fortune Mountain Nation was only willing to visit the Azure Phoenix Nation with his beloved concubines because he wanted to see just how shameless the emperor of the Azure Phoenix Nation was going to become. How was Emperor Tang Li going to please both the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan and the huge army of scholars who had marched south? And was he going to end up as a laughing stock for half of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent? Was he going to ultimately offend all three teachings in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism?

There was a faint smile on Emperor Tang Li’s face as he extended a finger to stroke the tea table in front of him.

“In reality, the true candidate put forward by the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan was Liu Qingfeng, Liu Jingting’s eldest son,” Tang Chong revealed. “He’s a Confucian disciple with impressive knowledge that leans toward Legalism.”

“Oh? What makes him so special compared to other people? I’m very interested in finding out,” Jiang Mao narrowed his eyes and said,

Tang Chong stood up and retrieved two yellowing books that he had already prepared beforehand. One was a Confucian classic, and one was a Legalist scripture.

Tang Chong was just about to walk over to deliver the books to the old immortal.

Jiang Mao didn’t move, yet the two books suddenly flew out from Tang Chong’s hands and materialized on the table in front of the old immortal. He casually pushed the Confucian classic to the corner, and it was clear that he didn’t want to waste even a second of his time on it. After all, how many people in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent had the right to discuss the concept of propriety in front of the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan? Jiang Mao wasn’t being conceited, and it was indeed the case that both he and the Jiang Clan possessed immense and indomitable knowledge on this topic.

Jiang Mao flipped open the Legalist scripture which Liu Qingfeng had studied and annotated. He flicked through the scripture extremely quickly, and there were times when he showed indifference, and there were also times when he nodded softly.

In the end, his gaze settled on a certain sentence on one of the pages. The annotations beside this sentence had most likely been made on three separate occasions, and the original sentence in the scripture read: To not fawn over those whom you like, to avoid harming those whom you dislike, to adhere to the law in both like and dislike, such is the paramount way to rule a nation[1].

In the space closest to this sentence, Liu Qingfeng’s first annotation read, “The character ‘paramount’ is inappropriate—this character is too lofty, and it should be modified to ‘fundamental’ instead.”

After reading the two following annotations, Jiang Mao smiled faintly and said, “Not bad. We can use this to test that Daoist priest from the White Cloud Daoist Temple.”

On the surface, Old Immortal Jiang Mao was the person who possessed the highest cultivation base in the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan. At this moment, he casually tore a page from the scripture before returning the two books to the table in front of Tang Chong, smiling and saying, “Find an opportunity to let the temple master from the White Cloud Daoist Temple coincidentally obtain this book in the near-term, and observe how he reacts and what he says.”

Tang Chong agreed to Jiang Mao’s request.

1. This is a sentence from the Book of Lord Shang, an ancient Chinese text from the 3rd century BC that’s regarded as a foundational work of Legalism. ☜