45: Chapter 45: The Epic Debate Between Confucian Righteousness and "Postpartum Care of Sows"

On the main peak plaza of the Cloud Break Mountain Range, the atmosphere had reached an awkwardly tense, icy standstill.

On one side was the rescue team from Jixia Academy.

They were all impeccably dressed, their sleeves without a single wrinkle. An Aura of awe-inspiring Vast Righteous Qi flowed around them. They held sacred texts in their hands, their faces wearing the standard solemn expressions of 'grieving for the world and pitying its people' and 'we have come to save the world'.

On the other side was the Heavenly River Sword Sect's 'Patients' Support Group Meeting'.

They were dressed in rags, their hair as messy as bird's nests. One person even had a fresh head of broccoli perched on their head. Even more unnerving was the undisguised golden or green light flickering in each of their eyes. They were staring intently at the rescue team opposite them with a gaze that seemed to be sizing up a feast of rare delicacies.

"Ahem."

Kong Mengchang, the Libationer of Jixia Academy and a great Confucian Scholar of the current era, adjusted his sleeves with extreme discomfort.

He felt as if he were standing naked in the middle of a bustling marketplace. The gazes of those Sword Cultivators opposite him were far too penetrating, almost capable of illuminating the few forbidden books he had privately hidden in his storage ring.

"Sect Master Gu."

Kong Mengchang decided to seize the initiative, using the majesty of a Saint to suppress this unorthodox atmosphere. "This old man heard your esteemed sect had encountered a great calamity and specially led the elite of the academy to offer support. However... what is the reason for these demonic creature remains littering the ground, and for your Disciples'... unique mental state?"

Gu Canghai, his eyes shining like searchlights, enthusiastically stepped forward.

"Libationer Kong! You've finally arrived! Truly a timely rain!"

His large, fan-like hand firmly grasped Kong Mengchang's palm. Without giving the old Confucian Scholar any time to react, Gu Canghai had already activated his 【Spiritual Sight】 at full power.

【Target: Kong Mengchang (Great Confucian Scholar at the Soul Transformation Stage).】

【Status: Protected by Vast Righteous Qi (Outer shell is hard, suggest attacking from within).】

【Items on person: Thirty thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones, five hundred bottles of holy healing medicine, and... a privately hidden tome titled 'The Overbearing Female Emperor Falls for Me'.】

The muscles at the corner of Gu Canghai's mouth twitched violently. He almost couldn't suppress a laugh.

"You're too kind! Libationer Kong is far too courteous!"

"What demonic creatures and monsters? A misunderstanding! Those are all gifts from nature, walking ingredients!"

Gu Canghai pointed behind him. The Disciples there were enthusiastically researching how to make an octopus monster grow grapes. His face was filled with irrepressible pride.

"Under the enlightenment of a 'mysterious master', our sect has mastered the supreme Dao of 'Persuading Monsters with Reason'! Now, every Disciple of our sect is like a Dragon, each one a master of logic!"

"Persuading Monsters with Reason?"

Kong Mengchang's brow furrowed into a deep knot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at a young Disciple not far away who was only at the Qi Refinement Stage. The Disciple was waving a copy of 'Basic Geometry' and shouting at a Nascent Soul-level Abyssal Corrosion Beast:

"Triangle! Do you understand what it means for a triangle to have stability?! Your form, like a puddle of mud, severely violates the geometric principles of the Universe! Ugly! Too ugly! Transform into the most stable shape!"

The next moment.

Under the horrified, near-shattering gazes of Kong Mengchang and the academy Elders behind him, that terrifying monster capable of melting Magic Treasures twitched and contorted painfully. Then, with a 'thud', it truly transformed into a... sharply defined, isosceles triangular stone sculpture.

"Words Become Law?!"

"No! There's not the slightest fluctuation of Vast Righteous Qi in this! This is a Demonic Technique! The Demonic Path!"

Kong Mengchang's beard trembled violently. He shouted sternly, "Gu Canghai! You have been led astray by the abyss! All this before our eyes is an illusion, a great terror!"

"Disciples of the Academy, heed my command!"

"Form the 【Righteous Qi Vast Array】!"

"Recite 'The Sayings of the Saint'! To dispel the Heart Demons of our Tianhe Fellow Daoists and set things right!"

"Yes!"

Hundreds of Confucian Scholars responded in unison.

In an instant, streams of milky-white Vast Righteous Qi shot into the sky, converging in the air to form magnificent articles swirling with golden light. They descended like a heavenly net upon the Disciples of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

"The Master said: Do not look at what is contrary to propriety, do not listen to what is contrary to propriety..."

The grand recitation echoed through the clouds. The voice was filled with the determination to uphold the Righteous Path, attempting to overlay this 'insane' land with 'normal' logic.

However.

The most awkward scene unfolded.

Those golden words of the sages, upon touching the Heavenly River Sword Sect Disciples, not only failed to dim the light in their eyes in the slightest, but were instead captured and dissected on the spot by those pairs of 'Spiritual Sight Eyes' gleaming with inquisitive light.

"Huh? The rule structure of this phrase 'Do not look at what is contrary to propriety' seems a bit loose. If we introduce the observer effect for improvement, could we achieve 'observation is interference', making the enemy go blind with a single glance?"

A Disciple who was performing the eighth set of eye exercises casually grabbed a golden 'look' character floating before his eyes. He kneaded it like dough, then curiously popped it into his mouth.

He smacked his lips.

"Hmm... slightly sour taste. So Vast Righteous Qi is lemon-flavored?"

"Audacious!"

An academy Elder trembled with rage. The disciplinary ruler in his hand shot through the air. "How dare you profane the words of the sages! Stubborn and unyielding! This old man will beat some sense into you today!"

The ruler, carrying the immense pressure of the Soul Transformation Stage, whistled as it flew.

And it was at that moment.

*Creak—*

The wooden window on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, which had remained tightly shut, was pushed open from the inside.

Li Mo, holding a half-eaten apple, leaned lazily against the windowsill.

"Too noisy."

He took a big bite of the apple and mumbled indistinctly.

"Jixia Academy, right? Here as guests? Welcome. Here to cause trouble... that requires additional payment."

"Your Excellency, who are you?!" Kong Mengchang suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as a sword, piercing straight toward the second floor.

But what he saw was only an indescribable mass of Chaos.

A chaotic mist that even his Soul Transformation Stage Vast Righteous Dao Heart could not penetrate. Looking at it for even a second longer made him feel as if the sage texts he had studied for decades were starting to rebel in his mind.

"Me?"

"The Administrator here."

Li Mo smiled, casually tossing the finished apple core gently downstairs.

That small core traced a negligible arc through the air, landed, took root, and sprouted.

In the blink of an eye, it grew wildly into a towering giant tree that soared into the clouds. However, what hung from its branches were not fruits, but books of varying thicknesses.

"Since your Jixia Academy loves to debate reason so much, why don't we have an 'academic debate'?"

"As long as you can win a debate against any book on this tree of mine, I'll make these 'lunatics' return to normal."

"But if... you lose?"

Li Mo's gaze became intrigued, like a child who had found a new toy.

"Then I'll trouble all of you to join our warm, big family. Let's contribute your share of strength together to resist the abyss and build a harmonious Cultivation World."

As soon as the words fell, that strange tree laden with books trembled violently.

*Rustle—*

Hundreds, thousands of books fell like ripe fruit. The instant each one hit the ground, it transformed into a strange little figure, half a person tall, with book-page wings and hastily drawn facial features.

These book sprites held a variety of 'debating tools' in their hands—compasses, triangles, stethoscopes, and even gleaming butcher knives.

"Debate begins!"

Li Mo snapped his fingers crisply.

"First Topic: Discuss the necessary connection between 'Postpartum Care for Sows' and 'Governing the Country and Bringing Peace to the World'."

"Affirmative side: Jixia Academy. Negative side: That copy of 'Complete Guide to Pig Farming' from shelf C, row 13."

"Go, Pika... ahem, go, little piggy."

Li Mo casually pointed at the book sprite closest to Kong Mengchang.

That sprite, whose cover clearly bore the four large characters 'Complete Guide to Pig Farming', immediately brandished its little whip, strode forward with an utterly shameless gait, and charged fiercely toward the great Confucian Scholar of the era, Kong Mengchang.

"Absurd! The greatest joke under Heaven! An insult to decency!"

Kong Mengchang trembled all over with anger. "This old man, a dignified Confucian Libationer, how could I debate with a... a book about pig farming?!"

However, the next second.

That book sprite suddenly opened its mouth, formed from pages, and unleashed a series of Soul-piercing questions:

"May I ask, Libationer! The people regard food as Heaven. Without pigs, the people are not full. If the people are not full, the country is unstable. If the country is unstable, rites and music collapse! If you can't even raise pigs well, how can you talk about governing the country and bringing peace to the world?"

"Another question! Do you know that a sow suffering from postpartum depression can cause a thirty percent decrease in pork taste, thereby affecting a country's total meat export volume and causing how much potential loss to GDP? Have you calculated it?!"

"This..." Kong Mengchang was stumped.

The angle of this question... how utterlytricky!

"Third question! The Saint said, 'The gentleman stays away from the kitchen,' which is a heart of benevolence. But if all the pigs in the world died out, what would the gentleman eat? Can swallowing sage texts raw fill one's stomach? Come, answer me! If your Vast Righteous Qi can make a sow give birth to two more piglets per litter, I will admit your Confucian Dao surpasses my pig-farming art! Otherwise, everything you say is empty talk that misleads the country!"

The book sprite pressed forward step by step, its little whip cracking sharply in the air.

"I... this..."

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Kong Mengchang's forehead.

He was horrified to discover that the Confucian logic he was so proud of was completely locked down in this bizarre context! The other side wasn't discussing benevolence, righteousness, morality, or virtue. They were discussing postpartum care and gross domestic product!

"Thwack—"

Before he could organize a rebuttal, that little whip had already landed with pinpoint accuracy on his backside.

【Judgment: Debate lost.】

【Penalty: Mandatory intensive reading of 'Postpartum Care for Sows' three times, and within one shichen, compose a three-thousand-word reading reflection.】

A physical book as thick as a brick slapped onto Kong Mengchang's face with a 'thud'. It transformed into a pink light and forcibly drilled into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Mmh... no... this... this knowledge... how... how exquisite... truly fragrant?"

Kong Mengchang's gaze instantly grew unfocused.

He seemed to see an endless grassland where countless happy sows ran freely. And he was the great herdsman, holding forceps, guarding the prosperous reproduction of the sow race. An unprecedented feeling of 'enlightenment' washed over his Soul.

"So... this is the Dao simplified to its utmost? Raising pigs... is governing the country?"

Kong Mengchang muttered to himself. The vast Vast Righteous Qi surrounding him began to twist and mutate bizarrely, finally tinged with a layer of... gentle pinkish glow.

"Libationer!"

The academy Elders around looked at their leader in terror.

It's over!

The leader of their Jixia Academy had been turned on the spot by a book about pig farming!

"Don't just stand there, everyone gets a turn."

Li Mo swung his legs leisurely on the second floor, his voice drifting down.

"That Elder with the disciplinary ruler, your opponent is 'The Self-Cultivation of a Mental Patient'. That one in the white robe over there, your opponent is 'On How to Influence a Rock with Love'."

"Study well. These are all required courses for the abyssal battlefield, top-tier survival guides."

In an instant, the entire plaza descended into Chaos.

The Jixia Academy, which had arrived with fierce momentum to 'set things right', was completely overrun in less than a quarter of an hour.

"No! I don't believe it! How can a rock have feelings?! ... Sniffle, so this rock has endured so much suffering. It's my fault, I'm so moved..."

"What? The world seen by the insane is the real one? We are the patients bound by rules? ... Great Master! I understand! I want to be admitted for treatment!"

Half a shichen later.

When the last academy Disciple, clutching a copy of 'One Hundred Postures for Using the Toilet and the Corresponding Changes in State of Mind', broke down in tears, this one-sided 'academic massacre' finally came to an end.

Su Qianqian stood at the edge of the crowd, watching her teachers who had completely 'integrated' into the new environment, even starting to chat and exchange 'symptoms' arm-in-arm with Tianhe Sect Disciples. She could only sigh helplessly.

She looked up toward that familiar yet unfamiliar figure on the second floor.

Li Mo's gaze happened to fall upon her as well.

Their eyes met in the air.

A voice only she could hear sounded in her heart: "Junior Sister Su, the explanation I owed you last time... today's scene should be sufficient, right? The only way to resist the abyss is not to eliminate it, but to join it, understand it, and then... lead it astray."

A complex, bitter smile appeared on Su Qianqian's face. She bowed deeply toward the second floor.

"Senior Brother's talent is immense."

"From this day forward, Jixia Academy... is willing to follow Senior Brother's lead."

Li Mo retracted his gaze, satisfied.

【Ding!】

【Congratulations, Host! Successfully assimilated the Jixia Academy rescue team.】

【Acquired new term: 【Cultural Invasion (Passive)】.】

【Scripture Pavilion influence has broken through the Southern Wastelands and is radiating toward the Central Plains...】

【Warning: Due to the absorption and distortion of large amounts of pure Confucian Vast Righteous Qi, the Scripture Pavilion's rule database is undergoing an unknown chemical reaction...】

【New bizarre tale is generating: 【Examination Hell】.】

Before Li Mo could examine the effects of the new bizarre tale in detail, an extremely shrill scream suddenly erupted downstairs.

Kong Mengchang, who had just awoken from his 'enlightenment', pulled out a blank examination paper from his robe as large as a door plank. His eyes glowed with a bloody red light. He revealed a devilish smile to everyone in the plaza.

"Enough playing around!"

"Since all of you have attained enlightenment, let's have a pop quiz!"

"Anyone who fails..."

He licked his lips, his voice filled with fanaticism.

"Will be hung from that tree and have their... little birdies flicked one hundred times!"

The entire plaza fell deathly silent.

Even Li Mo's hand, holding a teacup, couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"Good grief."

"Now, the real horror story begins."