Chapter 347: Cui Hong: My Cui Clan Is About to Produce a Sage!

Along with these plain words, the fourth-rank Circuit Inspector's silver seal at Gu Yuan's waist suddenly burst forth with a dark-gold light far deeper and more overbearing than that of the Measuring Heaven Ruler!

This light was not blinding, but the moment it appeared, the heavenly laws of the entire Dark Prefecture froze!

The golden seal-character edict condensed from the Measuring Heaven Ruler was instantly devoured the moment it touched this dark-gold light.

"What?!"

In midair, the smiles on Kong Qianqiu, Yan Daolin, and Meng Changhe's faces froze instantly.

The Measuring Heaven Ruler's lawful suppression actually failed?!?

How is this possible?!

This is a state-protector sage artifact that contains the true intent of a founding sage!

Unless the current emperor uses the Heirloom Jade Seal, it is absolutely impossible to dispel!

"You're not human! You're a demon!"

"No! This isn't the official aura of the Great Yin Dynasty! This is……the power of another world!"

Kong Qianqiu stared fixedly at the silver seal below, radiating dark-gold light, and for the first time fear appeared in his cloudy eyes.

From that dark-gold light, he sensed a law that completely transcended the heavenly way of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty!

"Now, it's my turn."

Gu Yuan's voice sounded again from within the study.

This time, his voice carried a hint of judgment.

"Former Inspector of Dark Prefecture, Cui Yuandao, colluded with demons, plotted rebellion, the evidence is solid. You three, as senior elders of the Great Yin Dynasty, instead of assisting the emperor and clearing the heavens, you have become tigers' aides, sheltering criminals, even plotting to assassinate court officials."

"This is the crime of conspiracy."

Gu Yuan didn't even show himself; he simply issued his edict over the Dark Prefecture's heaven and earth, which he had already taken control of, through that thoroughly remodeled Circuit Inspector's seal.

"As the Inspector of Dark Prefecture, I carry out heavenly punishment."

"I sentence you——"

"Strip your official aura, shatter your literary courage, abolish your cultivation!"

The moment his words fell, the silver seal hovering in the study shuddered violently!

"Hum——"

A dark-gold proclamation, larger and more imposing than the previous Measuring Heaven Ruler's edict, unfurled with a boom above the city of Dark Prefecture.

Upon this proclamation there were no sage's maxims, only a sheet of chaos.

But it is precisely this chaos.

Yet it exudes a majesty surpassing that of a sage!

The instant the proclamation unfolded, three irresistible forces of consumption reached out from it, precisely locking onto Kong Qianqiu, Yan Daolin, and Meng Changhe in midair.

"No! My righteous aura!"

Meng Changhe was the first to let out a terrified, despairing scream.

He saw his righteous aura, which he had painstakingly cultivated for thousands of years and had already fused with his soul as a Second-Rank Great Scholar.

Now it burst forth like a breached flood, uncontrollably pouring from his seven apertures, greedily devoured by that dark-gold proclamation!

Kong Qianqiu and Yan Daolin's situations were the same.

"This is……this is sage power! Who……who exactly are you?!"

Kong Qianqiu expended his last strength, letting out a desperate howl.

But the answer to him was Gu Yuan's cold pronouncement.

"Who I am, you are not qualified to know."

In just a dozen breaths.

The three Second-Rank Great Scholars who once commanded the winds and clouds and held sway over the court had their cultivation, which could pierce heaven and earth, completely drained.

Their bodies, originally bearing the immortal wind and Daoist bones,

withered and aged at visible speed, their white hair quickly fell out, and their skin became covered in disgusting corpse spots.

Clang!

The Measuring Heaven Ruler, Spring and Autumn Brush, and Mountains and Rivers Inkstone—three half-step sage artifacts—lost their master's energy support, their light faded, they fell from midair, drawn by an invisible force into the Circuit Inspector's office below, and vanished.

While Kong Qianqiu, Yan Daolin, and Meng Changhe, like three flies whose wings had been torn off, powerlessly plummeted from midair and heavily struck the bluestone pavement before the Circuit Inspector's office.

From lofty Second-Rank Great Scholars to dying old men worse than ordinary folk, all in the span of Gu Yuan's single thought.

The study's door creaked open.

Gu Yuan, wearing that scarlet official robe, stepped out slowly.

He glanced at the three inhuman corpses on the ground, and a satisfied curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Top-tier nodes delivered to the door—don't let them go to waste."

He did not kill these three.

Killing them would merely add three more corpses.

But keeping them could be of great use.

These three are the last foundation of the aristocratic clans; controlling them equals controlling the clans.

Gu Yuan walked up to the three and crouched down.

He ignored the endless fear and hatred in their eyes, merely extending his right hand; in his palm, the lamp burning with gray-purple chaotic Dao fire, the Myriad Dao Time Light Lamp, quietly appeared.

"Since you've come, don't leave."

Gu Yuan's tone was plain, yet it carried an undeniable charm.

The wick of the Myriad Dao Time Light Lamp swayed lightly; three gray-purple causality lines, finer than a strand of hair, like living things, silently drilled into the glabella of Kong Qianqiu, Yan Daolin, and Meng Changhe.

Conversion, begins.

……

Meanwhile, the distant capital of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty.

The Cui Manor, the underground Wen Yuan Pavilion.

Cui Hong knelt before an empty futon, anxiously awaiting news from Youzhou.

He firmly believed that the three Grand Scholars had personally gone out, also bringing the state's holy artifact, the Measure-Heaven Ruler, and that Gu Ziyuan, that little beast, would surely not survive tonight.

Suddenly!

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

The three life soul lamps enshrined at the highest point of the Wen Yuan Pavilion suddenly flickered violently without warning!

Those three soul lamps are connected to the divine souls' origins of the three Grand Scholars Kong Qianqiu, Meng Changhe, and Yan Daolin.

At this moment, the light of the three soul lamps is rapidly dimming in an extremely bizarre way.

But they did not extinguish; after dimming briefly, they again shone with a bizarre luster!

This luster…

Even stronger than the peak period of the three Grand Scholars!

"What... what is happening?!"

Cui Hong suddenly thought of a possibility!

"Could it be that the three Grand Scholars have already slain that Gu Ziyuan, obtained the supreme treasure capable of killing three hundred thousand demons in a single night, and have deciphered its mysteries, thereby making further progress from the hundred-foot pole?"

What is the next step for a second-rank great scholar!

It is a half-sage!

Although it bears the "half" character!

Yet it also bears the "sage" character!

Cui Hong trembled with excitement, as if he had already seen that, under the leadership of the three Grand Scholars, the aristocratic clans would give birth to a true sage, completely overwhelming imperial power, changing the Great Yin Divine Dynasty's gate, and establishing an eternal Confucian-Daoist holy dynasty!

"Heaven blesses my clan! Heaven blesses my Confucian-Dao!"

Cui Hong knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times heavily towards the direction of the soul lamps.

That originally gloomy old face now flushed red from extreme excitement.

He immediately stood up, tidied his disheveled official robe, the gloom on his face swept away, replaced by a composed air of strategic planning and assured victory.

"Attendant!"

He pushed open the study's large door and gave a solemn order to the steward anxiously waiting outside.

"Immediately send word to all the clans in the capital, telling them to stay calm; the situation in Youzhou has already seen a great turning point, so they should prepare to welcome the triumphal return of the three Grand Scholars."

"Also, tell Minister Wang and the others that tomorrow's court audience need not weep anymore; that Gu Ziyuan is already a dry bone in the grave, not worth worrying! What we must do is prepare to welcome a new era belonging to our clan!"

The steward was left bewildered by his master's 180-degree turn.

But seeing Cui Hong's frighteningly bright eyes, he dared not ask further, only repeatedly assenting and rushing off to deliver the message.

Cui Hong stood with his hands behind his back, gazing toward Youzhou, the corner of his mouth curling into a cruel, triumphant smile.

"Gu Ziyuan, Gu Ziyuan, you never imagined you would become a stepping stone for the three Grand Scholars to enter the sage realm, though you can be proud, for with your lowly body you have forged a sage for our clan, which is also your greatest achievement in life."

He turned and walked back to the desk, freshly brewing himself a pot of top-grade Da Hong Pao tea, and leisurely enjoyed it.

In his view, the situation is settled.