Chapter 346: Sir, the era has passed

He slowly rose to his feet, his gaunt palm making a grasping motion in the void.

"Hum—"

A clear jade chime rang out throughout the Wen Yuan Pavilion.

Only to see a ruler about a chi long, made entirely of ten-thousand-year warm jade, its surface engraved with countless sage maxims, appearing out of thin air in Kong Qiuqiu's hand.

"This is the National Sacred Instrument bestowed upon my Wen Yuan Pavilion by the former emperor—the Measure Heaven Ruler."

Kong Qiuqiu's tone carried an unsurpassable intimidation,

"This ruler contains a thread of the true intent of the founding sage of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty; as long as it locks onto someone, even if they have three heads and six arms, their righteous vital energy and official fortune within will be instantly stripped away, casting them down to the mundane world."

Meng Changhe and Yan Daolin also rose to their feet, each manifesting a Spring and Autumn Brush and a Mountains and Rivers Inkstone in their hands.

This, too, is a half-step sacred instrument stained with the sage's aura.

"Cui Hong, go back and tell the aristocratic families in the capital to hold steady."

Kong Qiuqiu said coldly,

"We three will tonight borrow the aristocratic families' Void Displacement Great Array and personally make a trip to Youzhou. I want to see just how much gall that brat named Gu Ziyuan has, daring to defy heaven!"

"Thank you, three Esteemed Elders! Your lofty righteousness, Esteemed Elders, will never be forgotten by the aristocratic families!"

Cui Hong trembled with excitement, then kowtowed heavily several more times.

With three deeply learned second-rank great scholars personally taking action, and even bringing the National Sacred Instrument Measure Heaven Ruler, even if Gu Yuan were truly a born sage, tonight he would surely die without a burial place.

Unless, he is a sage!

But this…… is it possible?

When a sage appears, heaven and earth become clear.

The human race has long been criticized by the demon race.

It is absolutely impossible for another sage to appear!

346,

Youzhou, Patrol Governor's Office.

The night was cool as water, moonlight filtering through sparse clouds.

Gu Yuan did not spend the night at the prefect's residence, but returned to this official residence nominally his.

Zhao Rui's leading Imperial Forest Army had thoroughly purged this place, every corner now manned by absolutely loyal guards.

In the rear hall study, the candlelight flickered.

Gu Yuan had not reviewed any documents, merely sitting quietly behind the desk, closing his eyes to nurture his spirit.

His divine sense was like an immense, formless net, enveloping the entire Youzhou prefectural city and even the more distant frontiers.

Confiscating homes and exterminating clans, opening granaries to distribute grain, dividing fields and exempting taxes……

After this series of thunderous measures, the sky of Youzhou has completely changed its hue.

The old aristocratic clans' power was uprooted, replaced by countless commoners' near-frenzied worship and faith in this upright prefect.

Strand after strand of supremely pure white psychic power rose from every corner of the city, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, ceaselessly flowing into Gu Yuan's sight.

If he wishes.

These powers of faith Gu Yuan can likewise absorb.

The power of faith, too, is likewise an indicator for promotion and ennoblement.

However, Gu Yuan did not take it, for he is not truly here to serve as an official.

This amount of faith power is still not as useful as absorbing a breath of spiritual energy in secluded cultivation.

He merely gave a casual grab, and placed this envy-inducing power of faith into the remodeled fourth-rank patrol governor's silver seal at his waist.

Just then, his heaven-encompassing divine sense keenly caught an extremely faint spatial fluctuation.

"Oh? Those old fogies in the capital can't sit still?"

Gu Yuan slowly opened his eyes; his deep pupils held no surprise, instead flashing a hint of amused interest.

"Your move is actually faster than I imagined—good, saves me from being ambushed on the road; a trip ought to have the look of a trip."

He lifted the clear tea beside him, having no intention to rise, merely waiting quietly for the guests' arrival.

……

Above the Patrol Governor's Office by a hundred zhang, the void violently twisted.

Three venerable figures exuding vast majesty stepped silently out of the void.

The leading elder wore the purple robes of a former dynasty's Grand Tutor, his beard and hair all white, his face withered, yet his eyes shone astonishingly, as if the sun and moon's governance turned within them.

In his hand he held a ruler about a chi long, made entirely of ten-thousand-year warm jade.

This was none other than the Elder of the Wen Yuan Pavilion, a second-rank great scholar, Kong Qiuqiu.

The National Sacred Instrument he held—the Measure Heaven Ruler!

The two at his sides likewise had deep, ocean-like breath, their bodies surrounded by a visible white halo of righteous vital energy, each holding a Spring and Autumn Brush and a Mountains and Rivers Inkstone respectively.

These three, once standing at the pinnacle of power in the Great Yin Divine Dynasty and now long detached from worldly affairs, living fossils, have come together tonight to uphold the aristocratic families' rule.

"What a fine Gu Ziyuan, and what heavy killing karma!"

Meng Changhe's gaze swept over the dozen or so confiscated mansions below and the rows of heads hanging on the city walls; his aged face flushed with anger, his righteous vital energy surging violently, causing the clouds above to change color.

"Slaughtering scholar-officials is tantamount to cutting off the nation's beam! If this child is not eliminated, where lies our Confucian orthodoxy? Where stands the divine dynasty's law?"

Yan Daolin held the Spring and Autumn Brush, his voice icy as iron:

"No need to waste words with him; directly use the Measure Heaven Ruler to strip his official aura, cast him down to the mundane world, then use the Spring and Autumn Brush to cut his literary essence, abolish his cultivation, and bring him back to the capital for public trial by the aristocratic families!"

The three great scholars simply did not regard Gu Yuan at all.

In their view, even if Gu Yuan were a monstrous prodigy, he was nothing more than a junior who had stumbled upon sheer luck.

As for a sage?

Nonsense!

Even if a true sage were to descend, these three great scholars today dare to engage in a debate!

Kong Qianqiu lifted the Heaven-Measuring Ruler high, and a majestic power far surpassing that of a third-rank official's aura erupted from his emaciated body.

"In the name of the Confucian sages, we follow the law of the divine dynasty's ancestors."

Kong Qianqiu's voice rang like a divine edict from the nine heavens, reverberating over the entire Youzhou Prefecture City.

"Youzhou Regional Inspector Gu Ziyuan, disregarding the law, slaughtering innocents, massacring the scholar-official class, shaking the foundations of the state—his crimes deserve death."

"Now, with the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, we measure his virtue and weigh his sins."

"Strip him of his official position! Suppress his fortune! Depose his literary gall!"

As his words fell, the Heaven-Measuring Ruler in his hand burst forth with ten thousand zhang of golden light.

The golden light condensed in midair into a massive divine edict formed from countless sages' precepts; upon it, a golden 'prison' character appeared out of thin air, bearing the terrifying Law Power that admits no doubt and whose word becomes law, crashing down upon the rear hall of the Youzhou Regional Inspector's office.

This is the terror of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler!

It does not directly attack the flesh, but from the level of law, it directly severs the target's connection to the fortune network of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, forcibly stripping away his official position and cultivation.

Once suppressed by this 'prison' character edict, even if you are a second-rank great scholar with the ability to reach the heavens, you will instantly be reverted to your original form, becoming a powerless mortal who cannot even truss a chicken, at the mercy of others.

Sages act in place of imperial authority!

The three grand councilors revealed cold smiles on their faces, as if they had already seen Gu Yuan kneeling, begging for mercy, weeping bitterly, a miserable sight.

However, at the instant that golden edict was about to fall.

From within the study of the Regional Inspector's office came a soft, leisurely laugh.

"You take the sword of the former dynasty to slay the officials of the present?"

"Three grand councilors, your era is over."