Chapter 585: The Preparation

“School of Mo?” Meng Qi looked at Jiang Zhiwei and their eyes met. They both recalled the Darkness Palace behind the Plenitude Gate; the palace that was created by Qi Saint in medieval times along with the mysterious stratagem techniques.

Unfortunately, they could not open the gate in Samsara.

Ruan Yushu gently frowned and whispered to herself, “Non-aggression Love with Impartiality, Honor the Virtuous in Moral Harmony, Frugality, and Disapproval of Extravagant Burial Rituals?”

Hearing this, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei realized that their preaching would have nothing to do with the mechanisms—no matter if they were techniques, practices, or cultivation methods. They would be solely preaching the principles of the school.

If it was to solely promote stratagem techniques, things would be easier. Which monarch would not want their citizens to comprehend more mechanism tricks to enhance their capacity?

Therefore, combined with the context and past tasks, Meng Qi believed that this time they would be preaching Qi Saint’s principles, which were the principles of the School of Mo. The principles that were based on Love with Impartiality would save the world from darkness and fighting.

At the thought of this, Meng Qi could not help gasping. Why was it not Legalism, Militarism, or Confucianism? At least those could be practiced to govern the country, and therefore, the feudal princes would not completely object but would instead weigh their pros and cons. After all, the School of Mo’s principles were not suitable for that. It was quite difficult to persuade a monarch to practice it from top to bottom.

“Fortunately, it isn’t the School of Names or School of Agrarianism, otherwise we would have to go directly to collect materials and items and leave by paying 2,500 Karma points in three months,” Meng Qi blurted out.

In the medieval times of the world, other than the orthodox schools created by the Saints, many strange ideas once existed. People who held those ideas were not capable and their ideas were only partly recorded, for example, the School of Agrarianism. Thus, hearing Meng Qi’s self-comforting words, Jiang Zhiwei just chuckled because she was also feeling the same.

Looking holy in her long white dress, Ruan Yushu tilted her head. Peering into the mist, she said, “Yes, if only it were Buddhism or Taoism, such a shame…”

“Exactly.” Meng Qi nodded in agreement. If it had been Taoism, the Rule of Naturalism could greatly help them recuperate and build up strength after a period of war.

“Wait.” He suddenly frowned and asked, “Indeed Taoism I can understand, but what about Buddhism?”

Buddhism did not belong to the various schools!

Ruan Yushu set her big eyes on Meng Qi. “Under the Bodhi Tree, Siddhartha Gautama preached, explained the great way, and saved people from misery. Isn’t that the perfect way to run the world? You have deep roots in Buddhism; if we can choose Buddhism, maybe we can turn the Apotheosized World into a Buddha land.”

She was very sincere, but Meng Qi felt something wrong.

“Who has deep roots in Buddhism?”

Jiang Zhiwei could not help chuckling. Zhao Heng’s lips were pressed together like he was holding in a laugh.

But Qi Zhengyan nodded seriously. “That’s right, we have the Primary Instruction of the Buddha’s Palm and deep roots in Buddhism, so maybe we can turn the Apotheosized World into a Buddha land.”

“Senior Brother Qi, you’ve changed…” Meng Qi was speechless at the moment. He could only force a smile and say, “The various schools don’t cover Buddhism. Well, what are your realms right now?”

“I’ve broken through to the perfect Half-step three months ago, but I haven’t redeemed the Heaven Crystal to cultivate the Dark Chaos yet. However, I’ve gained something and realized part of it over the past year.” Qi Zhengyan became more profound than before, and the lights around him seemed to turn darker to make him look more reserved.

The Dark Chaos was in the sixth level in the Book of the Chaos , one could consummate it when he had passed the first Celestial Ladder.

Ruan Yushu spoke next. “I completed the perfect Half-step half a year ago; maybe I’ll step into the Exterior in a few months.”

Her tone was calm and the sound of a zither floated around her. The Phoenix-perching Zither in her hand was old but sleek, apparently already a Precious Weapon.

At her words, Meng Qi felt bad for her. Unlike Senior Brother Qi, she had talent and potential in the zither. She had also made a great effort to learn many zither pieces. Given more time, maybe she could rise up through the ranks. But to catch up with the team, she had chosen the perfect Half-step.

Meng Qi took a deep breath to get rid of the emotion. “I’m in the Third Heaven of the Exterior.”

Qi Zhengyan and others did not know about the Eight Nine obstacles he experienced, thus they did not take it too seriously as they thought they were easy to resolve. The teammates all thought that one with four heavenly ordeals could only be stalled by the Celestial Ladder.

“I’m also in the Third Heaven,” Jiang Zhiwei said but was not showing off.

The Swordplay Sutra of Supremacy was not as difficult as the Eight Nine Mysteries in the First and Second Heavens. Moreover, Jiang Zhiwei had plenty of time and materials, thus she broke through two months earlier than Meng Qi.

Zhao Heng said, “I’m almost in the Second Heaven.”

“It seems that everyone has not been idle.” Meng Qi smiled and tried to ease the depression in the air. “After the mission, our Exterior team will be the real deal.”

Other than Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi, the disparity in realms and the long-time separation left the others feeling out of place. Ruan Yushu’s teasing of Meng Qi was an effort to ease the awkward feeling, but things just did not feel quite right.

Jiang Zhiwei also smiled at Ruan Yushu, trying to do the same. “Everyone has been adventuring in Jianghu, so I guess we all have wonderful stories to tell. But the mission is about to begin, we’d better discuss it and redeem.”

It was always a good way to get rid of their estrangement by fixing everyone’s focus on the mission.

Getting the hint, Meng Qi immediately said, “The Saints are nowhere to be seen and the schools of thought withdraw. Thus, the School of Mo hasn’t even developed. It’s hard to preach it because it doesn’t agree with what the Apotheosized World states. Apart from exchanging for secret treasures, we need to save the backup Karma points.”

It was dangerous in the Apotheosized World. One who had enlightened their Apertures could kill an Exterior master with a wicked secret treasure. Meng Qi’s group was not afraid of any usual ones; they worried that they might run into wicked ones like that, so they had to take precautions.

“I have 5,400 Karma points,” Qi Zhengyan answered briefly.

“So many?” Meng Qi was shocked. But on second thought, he found it plausible. Qi Zhengyan was listed among the top 10 on the Ranking List of Young Masters and had reached the perfect Half-step. Therefore, he had been appreciated in the Huanhua Swords Sect and received many materials, including even exotic minerals and produce.

Most importantly, he must have been imparted with one Exterior sword art from the Huanhua Swords Sect. He even might have been enlightened on the Gist of Trueness impartation of the Sword Art of Immortal-given Longevity. In the wake of the Shaolin Temple scandal, one might need to take the Soul-pledging Oath to practice the core skill, but at least the Exterior sword arts were not that important.

With Qi Zhengyan’s practice of casually exchanging the skills of his sect, even if there was inflation, he should have a large amount of Karma points from all his time in Jianghu.

Ruan Yushu looked at Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, and the others and said, “I can gather about 7,000 Karma points.”

“7,000 Karma points?” Meng Qi widened his eyes. “Where did the little freeloader get so many?

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“Senior Brother Qi has the Exterior sword art of the Huanhua Swords Sect to exchange; the little freeloader might have sold her own family!”

Sensing Meng Qi’s surprise, Ruan Yushu tilted her head slightly. “After I broke through to the perfect Half-step, my grandparents, parents, and a few uncles gave me some things, like exotic minerals, among others.”

“She is truly the daughter of the Master’s legal wife, the favorite in a large aristocratic family…” Meng Qi felt a bit of envy, just as he had been the envy of everybody in the past.

“How nice…” Meng Qi could not help exclaiming.

“What if I return to the Su family, can I get exotic minerals and produce as well?

“But I still owe them a lot…”

Zhao Heng coughed. “If I sell the unused exotic minerals and secret treasures, I can gather more than 4,000 Karma points.”

After he became the emperor’s younger brother, he had led a tough life. He had saved all that from his daily routine cultivation, thus his realm progress had been slow.

Meng Qi took it seriously and nodded lightly. “You were able to save over 4,000 Karma points under the strict supervision of the Political Affairs Hall, which was rather difficult. People will cry hearing your story.”

He waved his hand firmly. “Rest assured that we won’t discriminate against you.”

Zhao Heng’s mouth twitched and did not know how to act, while Jiang Zhiwei was having a hard time holding back laughter.

With his joking, the atmosphere was no longer that depressing and strange.

“I have more than 7,000 Karma points.” Jiang Zhiwei finally restrained her laugh.

Meng Qi did not feel surprised at this because some of the Plenitude Sect’s and the Darkness Palace’s items were traded through her hands. She could get a few thousand Karma points as commission. Moreover, she had been collecting and receiving rewards of some sort. It was reasonable for her to have over 7,000 Karma points.

Following everyone, Meng Qi cleared his throat and announced, “I have 10,700 Karma points.”

“Okay,” Ruan Yushu answered coolly with an unchanged expression.

“Aren’t you surprised?” Meng Qi felt like he had just made eyes at the blind.

Ruan Yushu pursed her lips. “The Immortality Elixir of the East Pole.”

“Haha, you knew it was me…” Meng Qi forced a smile and changed the topic at once. “Your uncle recovered from paralysis, how nice!”

Ruan Yushu dropped her big and bright eyes in the shadows. “My uncle was not suffering from Qi-deviancy Derangement. My grandpa sent him to the restricted areas because he did something wrong.”

“Something wrong? Like what?” Meng Qi subconsciously asked.

Ruan Yushu’s complexion stayed the same. “I was just born then, so I don’t know much about it.”

Meng Qi did not ask anymore. “Since we have all these Karma points, should we save 2,500 and pool the rest to exchange for some items?”

He had the most Karma points, therefore it was natural for him to come up with the idea.

“I agree. I’m not in the Exterior anyway, so I won’t have to redeem the Dark Chaos now.” Qi Zhengyan was the first to respond.

The healing elixirs had been prepared long before.

Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, and Zhao Heng also agreed.

After pooling them, the five-person team had 23,200 Karma points.

Since discussing in detail was really time-consuming, Meng Qi and the others first picked apotheosis secret treasures in case somebody else got them.

In the end, they exchanged for four secret treasures and had 300 Karma points remaining.

“Soul-stirring Bell (Replicate), a Precious Weapon level secret treasure. Its ringing can drive the souls out of those who are below the grandmaster level; even grandmasters will feel dizziness. It can be used once by those who open up their Nine Apertures with full effort. It is worth 6,900 Karma points.

“God-tying Rope (Replicate), a Precious Weapon level secret treasure. It ties up experts of the Exterior below the grandmaster level for several seconds, thus they can only defend by using their special skills and body strength. Those who open up their Nine Apertures can use it twice with full effort. It is worth 5,600 Karma points.

“Yuxu Apricot Flag (Replicate), a Precious Weapon level secret treasure. It can spring an iridescent Golden Lotus, which triggers the force of the earth to ward off attacks from the Exterior Sixth Heaven masters, Heavenly Knowing, and secret treasures as well. Attacks stronger than that can be partly warded off. It can be used twice and is worth 5,000 Karma points.

“The Baroque Pagoda of Nature’s Hues (Replicate), a Precious Weapon level secret treasure. It contains condensed Merit Qi, thus it can’t be imperiled or deteriorated. Since it’s a replicate, it can only be used on those who are under the Sixth Heaven. It can be set off twice in the face of danger and is worth 5,400 Karma points.”

Qi Zhengyan and Ruan Yushu respectively had the two defensive treasures because they were the weakest.

Zhao Heng had the God-tying Rope, since Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei would confront their enemies directly and chances were that they would not use this secret treasure.

Meng Qi had the Soul-stirring Bell because he was resourceful and the most adaptive one. Maybe he could totally turn the tables with this secret treasure.

After the setup, Meng Qi put the Space Ring at the shop of their subsidiary team. Additionally, he received Jiang Zhiwei’s words telepathically, which said, “Come and find me when you return; we need to give to Immortal Yunhe what the Plenitude Sect and the Darkness Palace need. There’s still no trace of the spiritual wood.”

A light flashed and Meng Qi’s group disappeared from the center of the Samsara Square.

…

It was dark outside and the solemn palace in the distance was shrouded by a ringing sound.

Two antiquated-dressed men sat opposite each other in silence for a long time.

After a little while, the man with the short beard looked into the night outside and said with a sigh, “States are at war and the ritual system is breaking down. The feudal princes want only comfort and conquests but fail to see the hardship in the world; the white bones of the dead fill the grass. They don’t see that the common people are drifting along, lost. When will this long night end?”