Chapter 121

The Heavenly Venerable smiled and said, letting Yuzhen go on stage to receive the award.

Progress award!

As a reward for the most outstanding student.

Two people, a whole set of operations—that's called smooth and flowing.

From Yuzhen opening his mouth to praise and highly evaluate, to the Moral Heavenly Venerable responding, commending progress, from start to finish flawless, leaving no chance for anyone to interject.

Like Fengxi, at this moment he stared blankly at the neighboring Yuzhen, who calmly adjusted his attire, then strode to the podium, standing respectfully with hands lowered, awaiting the Heavenly Venerable's bestowal.

And the Heavenly Venerable, meanwhile, produced a delicate long sword out of thin air, holding it in his hand.

That sword is extraordinary; its inner principle seems to correspond to the true meaning represented by the Big Dipper in the celestial star field, and in a moment this place turned into a vast starry sky, with faintly visible stellar tracks and light shimmering, corresponding to the principle that all beings' lifespans run from birth to death and end in burial.

The Big Dipper oversees life and death, nurturing all things and aiding humanity; for all sentient beings who receive the qi of heaven and earth and the yin-yang command, whether male or female, long-lived or short-lived, all come from its decrees.

This sword is named Seven Stars!

As soon as the Seven Stars Sword appeared, the students in the dojo were almost all stunned.

They remotely sensed the Dao resonance emanating from the Seven Stars Sword, reflected in their hearts; even though they were immortals with lifespans equal to heaven and earth, they now trembled from their very source, in shock!

No one doubts that anyone who is not a Great Luo, if struck by this sword, will have their lifespan wiped clean, reduced to zero!

An innate spiritual treasure!

This move is too grand!

Fengxi's eyes were blood-red; his gaze at Yuzhen was full of envy, jealousy, and hatred… If that gaze could be materialized, poking millions of holes in Yuzhen would be absolutely no problem.

On what grounds!

He, Feng someone, possesses an innate spiritual treasure, but it's merely on loan from the ancestral Wu, possibly to be taken back later.

That Yuzhen fellow merely performed 'satisfactorily' in listening to the Dao, yet he was directly granted an innate spiritual treasure?

Is there still any heavenly principle?

Is there still any justice?

Fengxi's mood at this moment was as if he had eaten more than ten thousand lemons.

Acid welled up in his heart; he quickly contacted the Xuan Du Grand Master seated to the front right, sending a somewhat excited mental message.

"Xuan Du senior brother, the Moral Teacher is squandering the family wealth…… As the sole direct disciple, won't you say a word or two?" Fengxi interjected, "Yuzhen is after all a member of my Wu Clan, merely an exchange student coming to the Daoist school to listen to the Dao, yet he directly took away your lineage's heavy treasure…… That doesn't seem right, does it?"

"If the master can transmit the Great Dao to me and carefully guide my cultivation, I am already deeply grateful." Xuan Du smiled, "What merit or ability do I have to meddle in the master's personal property arrangements?"

"No matter who receives the innate spiritual treasure, as long as the master is happy, that's fine." This direct disciple of the Heavenly Venerable is very open-minded, not caring about this at all, and even turned around to ask, "However, granting the heavy treasure to Yuzhen, I suspect…… isn't the master indicating an intention to deeply cooperate with the noble clan?"

"Just finding any excuse…… Hmm, looking at Fengxi junior's expression, could it not be so? Did I guess wrong?" Xuan Du showed a doubtful expression.

Fengxi's face showed a pained expression.

Having said all this, what else can he do?

He can only slap his swollen face to pretend to be fat!

"Hmm…… Xuan Du senior brother, you didn't guess wrong; it should be like this." Fengxi restrained his emotions, brushed off Xuan Du, then in his mind added two words: 'Not!'

"If I didn't know Yuzhen's identity, I might have believed it!" Fengxi's eyes twitched, "There's an administrator standing behind him, pretending to be an innocent simpleton?"

"Indicating an intention to deeply cooperate with the Wu Clan? Then that should also reward me!"

"Giving that Yuzhen fellow…… after all, isn't it just a roundabout way of giving him cheats?"

"That Yuzhen guy seems to have planned this in advance!"

"If you say you're using cheats, fine…… but there are so many cheaters in the Wu Clan—'Honghuang is my home,' 'Nine Axes of Opening Heaven'…… Adding one more or subtracting one makes no difference to me; I've long been accustomed to such things."

"But now you've gone too far!"

"After using cheats, you still put on an act of swearing to heaven—I, Yuzhen, have not used cheats!"

Fengxi said his hands were itchy, he really wanted to report.

However, having reached this point, he suddenly looked back and realized it was already impossible to expose.

After all, even Xuan Du, a direct disciple of the Heavenly Venerable, believes that the Moral Heavenly Venerable is indicating a strengthening of interaction and cooperation with the Wu Clan…… Considering the bigger picture, how could Fengxi possibly expose it?

He is not that stupid.

Not only must he not expose it, he must also help cover it up, using the pretense of cultivation to promote the formation of a 'Daoist School—Wu Clan United Front'…… This is the duty of his position as the Wu Clan's diplomatic chief stationed at Kunlun!

"But that Yuzhen fellow, on one hand using cheats to skyrocket his cultivation, on the other hand holding an innate spiritual treasure…… what does he want? Is he trying to seize power and usurp the throne?"

Having experienced the brutal incident of being changed from the sole chairman of the Business Alliance to an honorary chairman, Fengxi eyes everyone with suspicion.

——There are always troublemakers who want to harm the emperor!

"However, you have your Yuzhen plan, and I have my wall-climbing ladder!"

"We'll see!"

Fengxi slowly lowered his head, not wanting to look at that stimulating scene.

Although, the Heavenly Venerable's words continuously streamed into his ears.

"……Your own spiritual light, evolving into a sword form, therefore is most suited to an innate spiritual treasure of sword shape." The Moral Heavenly Venerable said, "Coincidentally, a few days ago, this Seven Stars Treasure Sword came of its own accord and fell into my hands."

"Now thinking about it, it should be to borrow my hand to find a worthy master."

"Heavenly and earthly spiritual treasures reside with the virtuous…… I see you, Yuzhen, possess considerable virtue, embody righteousness, and thus fit the role of this sword's master, therefore……"

"This sword I bestow upon you; the future heavy responsibility of safeguarding Honghuang's peace is entrusted to you!"

"Thank you, Moral Teacher!" Yuzhen's voice rang out with vigor, "In the future, I will surely not disappoint the teacher's expectations, striving to guard world peace and stability!"

……

"Put on an act, keep acting!" Fengxi, listening to the dialogue on the podium, silently interpreted every heard 'sword' character as the word 'base'—what's wrong with studying something else? He insists on studying the sword!

On the other hand, he also condensed the year's worth of Dao-listening content into a mental commentary titled 'Complete Exegesis of the Dao De Jing,' waiting to be printed and published as soon as he leaves.

Moreover, the stimulation from the Yuzhen plan made Fengxi's wall-climbing ladder construction extremely fast; that outstanding talent for scheming came online, quickly finding a way to turn harm into benefit in the shortest time.

Did the Moral Heavenly Venerable praise Yuzhen for his tremendous progress and excellent learning results, and also let him go on stage to receive the award?

Oh la!

Feng·little editor·Xi, I already have ten thousand kinds of "shocking physique" brewing in my heart!

Just as Yuchen received the Seven-Star Treasure Sword from the Virtuous Heavenly Venerable's hand, Fengxi lifted his head.

He smiled, freezing that harmonious scene between teacher and student, and Yuchen respectfully accepted the reward.

At the same time, wonderful music seemed to play in Fengxi's heart.

"The new pot king has already appeared……"

"How could one just ignore it……"

"Shoulder the black pot……"

"Become the hot topic……"

"You will become the most handsome guy……"

Fengxi completely calmed his mind.

At this moment, he was no longer sad, and even felt like laughing a little.

"Yuchen, you are so awesome."

"But so what?"

"I, Fengxi, have a thousand and one ways to sell you."

"No matter how cunning and bottomless you are, you'll obediently fall into my trap."

"Isn't it because you were encouraged, praised, and recognized by the Heavenly Venerable, with excellent learning ability, and deeply understood the true meaning of the Great Dao as expounded by the Heavenly Venerable?"

"Since that's the case, go out and become a top student to help me establish the brand image of my deception!"

At this moment, the overjoyed Yuchen suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart, and cold sweat poured out his back.

……

The Heavenly Venerable gave his discourse, announcing a perfect conclusion.

The next similar event will be a thousand years later.

And as soon as class ended, Yuchen, eager to try out the Seven-Star Treasure Sword, went to find him, but Fengxi slipped away first.

He took a shortcut, racing to Hougang's location, and with one hand hovering over a sheet of paper, he slapped it down on the desk with a bang.

The commotion was so great that the artist, immersed in his work nearby, was startled.

Hougang, sipping tea, looked up, feeling somewhat puzzled and confused.

When Fengxi lifted his hand to reveal its content, Hougang seemed to understand.

"Understand?" Fengxi said in a single word.

"Understand!" Hougang smiled and nodded.

Between them, there was a terrifying tacit understanding.

Hougang looked at that paper…… This is a drawing, the image Fengxi imprinted from his mind unchanged, equivalent to a photograph.

The Heavenly Venerable bestowed the sword upon Yuchen!

Hougang glanced at it and asked, "Is the source okay?"

"It's a true story." Fengxi said concisely.

"Good."

Hougang picked up the photo, went to the artist's side, and said, "All right, the cover you originally designed is no longer needed."

The artist, brush in hand, paused and lifted his head expressionlessly, saying, "My ears aren't working well; I can't hear you clearly."

"Say it again."

"Your designed cover is no longer needed." Hougang generously satisfied the artist's request.

"Oh." The artist nodded, "That cover, which I painstakingly designed under your request, perfectly integrating suggestion, hypnosis, bewitchment, etc., and striving to be as concealed as possible, undetectable—are you really saying we just drop it now?"

The artist took a deep breath, pulled out a twelve-zhang long blade, and said, "Hougang, for the sake of our friendship, I'll let you run eleven zhang first."

"Don't get excited." Hougang said calmly, "I'll still pay you the money, not a single coin less, and I won't make you redraw."

Hearing this, the artist's mindset calmed from the brink of a breakdown.

No need to redraw, the money will still be paid…… then there's no problem.

"I want you to use this drawing as the cover." Hougang waved the photo in his hand, "There's no better promotion than this."

"We, members of the Wu Clan, have received the Heavenly Venerable's approval and have a profound understanding of the Great Dao, so……"

"Our explanation is the authentic version, the authority!"

Hougang said firmly.

"Tsk!" The artist blinked, then clicked his tongue in amazement, "You guys actually…… managed to bribe the Virtuous Heavenly Venerable so quickly, and even went along with the act?"

"This sword…… I feel it's an innate spiritual treasure."

"Be more confident, drop the two words 'feeling'." Fengxi said with a light smile, "As for bribing…… Yuchen is a good comrade, he has made a huge contribution in this."

As for what exactly that contribution is, Fengxi doesn't want to reveal his own scar.

"Originally I had planned that if sales of the 'Complete Explanation of the Dao De Jing' ran into trouble, and I found myself in a predicament where it was hard to gain trust, I might have to secretly resort to some other means, doing some false publicity." Hougang sighed, "At that time we could play around with Photoshop and design some publicity headlines."

"Now it seems, we no longer need it."

Hougang let out a sigh of relief, yet also felt some regret.

Clearly, he had already prepared to deceive those beings who had no way to learn the truth.

For example, placing some images unrelated to the teaching situation, but showing Wu Clan members sitting together with the Heavenly Venerable's disciples, to create a good atmosphere for academic discussion; or, slightly "editing" the scene of the Three Pure Ones' Heavenly Venerable conversing with the Wu Clan over diplomatic affairs, placing two textbooks beside it…… all set!

As the saying goes, start with a single picture, and the content is all made up!

Even whether the picture is true or false sometimes doesn't matter!

If it weren't for worrying about being schemed against by heaven and being given small shoes, Hougang could do even more outrageous things.

For example, by photoshopping the image of the Venerable of Morality together with Fengxi's image, making them appear to shake hands... With this picture as a base, Hougang dares to go out and swindle!

"The Wu Clan and the Dao Sect will deeply cooperate in the ×× industry, with an expected investment of ×× funds... At the same time, to give back to society, the industry permits small and medium investors to join and hold shares."

"Buying means profit, investment yields returns!"

"Shocking!"

"A 300,000-year-old Dragon Clan baby, making a crazy ninety billion in a year, until the parents found out and could no longer conceal it, only then was the secret exposed—turns out it's actually related to this industry!"

Regarding the relevant project plans, Hougang, even when he occasionally has free time, doesn't know how many copies he has written.

Including how to set up the scheme, how to maintain it, how to handle the aftermath, and so on.

"First, lure a bunch of people in to swallow their funds... Those who lose money will have fewer ways to retreat."

"Then, coax them to go out and promote, recruiting new blood... With new blood, they give a sum of funds to the old members."

"And so on!"

X's scam... hehe!

Hougang has never been simple.

Unfortunately, however, the Honghuang world has heavenly will suppressing it, administrators arise, patrol the world, wanting to make big news... It's just too hard, too hard.

Thus, they can only swindle the middle and lower levels beneath the Great Luo realm, barely making a profit.

"Great Luo..."

Sighing deeply inside, Hougang's face remained calm as he told the artist-designer, "Make this image the cover... Pay attention to the introduction—this is the genius youth of our Wu Clan!"

"Having received the unprecedented Primordial Spirit Treasure reward, this is the only such case in the Dao Sect so far!"

"We Wu Clan, out of consideration for those who strive hard in cultivation, have specially asked him to recount his study experiences, why he is so outstanding..."

"Passersby, don't miss out!"

"Buy it, and you profit!"

"The next top scholar is you!"

(End of chapter)