Chapter 808: The Qianqiu Banquet (6000-word bonus)

The fifteenth day.

The Qianqiu Banquet.

The Son of Heaven ordered the people to share in the festivities; the entire Jingshi was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the curfew was lifted.

Amidst the atmosphere of joy, Aaron, served by Zhenzhu, changed into a brand-new Daoist robe, held his invitation, and arrived at Genyue.

This imperial garden was supervised by Jia Yan and built by collecting rare stones from all under heaven; it was touted as capturing the scenery of the entire world and was indeed the Great Success of garden design.

By today, it was even more heavily guarded, with a post every three steps and a sentry every five.

Aaron presented his invitation according to the rules, and after being inspected, he was ushered to a small seat.

Then, high-ranking officials, Buddhists, and Daoists presented their congratulatory gifts one by one.

Along the way, he did not know how many gazes pierced him like arrows.

Once these words were spoken, the Son of Heaven looked at Aaron with great interest.

At this moment, another Daoist official walked out; he wore a Daoist robe and a lotus crown, and said with a stern expression, "Xulingzi... you keep claiming to be a Daoist, but I know not where your Daoist Lineage lies? How many Daoist classics have you read? How many Ritual Arrays do you understand? Have you read the 'Scripture of the Divine Incantations of the Profound Abyss', the 'Scripture of Salvation', and the 'Chapter on Golden Core and Jade Liquid'?"

Especially now!

With the Son of Heaven present, even a formally enfeoffed Perfected Person could not display any of their Daoist Technique!

After all, he held no official position and his status was too lowly, so he was seated in a corner and could not see the scene inside the palace halls at all.

A purple-robed Daoist spoke up.

This Perfected Person was so angry his fingers trembled, then he sneered, "The Son of Heaven is the Ziwei Star descended to earth, a sage of the present age; his ghosts are not divine. You, this demonic Daoist, what else can you do in the face of the Son of Heaven?"

Aaron, however, laughed and said, "Even if you have memorized ten thousand volumes of Daoist classics... this poor Daoist has only three questions: can you perform Daoist Technique before the throne?!"

"To congratulate the Son of Heaven, wishing the Son of Heaven ten thousand years of life!"

Insisting on defeating someone on their home turf was just asking for trouble.

Once these three questions were thrown out, the expression of this Perfected Person changed instantly.

This Daoist official immediately knelt to report.

Furthermore, the Daoists were one circle, the scholars were another circle, and the military generals were yet another; they appeared clearly demarcated.

'Impressive... did they investigate Fang La's background and know for certain I hadn't received a systematic Daoist education, so they came specifically to expose me?'

Forcing the Daoist Gate to swallow their bitterness, unable to speak of their grievances.

It made Aaron grumble inwardly.

Aaron bowed slightly and performed a Daoist salute.

This was the overbearing nature of Dragon Qi!

Aaron smiled indifferently and said in a clear voice, "This poor Daoist is a person from beyond the world..."

Preparing meals for so many people, there was no helping it.

After the Son of Heaven took his seat, the civil and military officials, monks, and Daoists first congratulated the Son of Heaven on his birthday.

"Slow down!"

The people around immediately cast sidelong glances.

Aaron blinked.

But after thinking about it later, he decided against it.

"Can it be efficacious?"

But with the Son of Heaven present, it was different from a brothel in Jingcheng.

To be honest, during this time, Aaron had also considered whether to memorize some Daoist classics to better fit his persona.

Finally, a Eunuch trotted over: "Daoist Xulingzi, the Son of Heaven summons you!"

Therefore, Aaron just smiled slightly and said to the Daoist official, "I have not read them..."

After all, if everyone acted as recklessly as Aaron, what would things become?

"This poor Daoist Xulingzi, greets the Son of Heaven!"

"You! You!"

Aaron's expression did not change in the slightest, having quite the air of 'facing a thousand pointing fingers with a cold glare': "Although this poor Daoist does not read Daoist classics, the Taoism exists within my heart!"

"Son of Heaven, this person is unlearned and unskilled; even his Daoist Certificate was bought. He is undoubtedly a fraud, I beg you to deal with him quickly!"

Aaron specifically tasted the imperial palace dishes and found the flavor was indeed good, just a bit cold.

Looking at the decorations on his person, he likely held a title of Perfected Person.

"Audacious!"

These bigwigs of the Daoist Gate would all be so depressed they would collectively vomit blood!

However, he was not in a hurry, slowly sipping his wine.

About an hour later, the Son of Heaven, the Empress, the Empress Dowager, and other important figures entered, and the Qianqiu Banquet began.

After all, no matter how well he could recite them, the right to interpret those Daoist classics lay in the hands of other Daoist lineages.

"I beg the Son of Heaven to deal with this person quickly!"

It must be said, even if these Perfected Persons spoke with flowery eloquence, he had never seen true Daoist Technique, which he had indeed always regarded as a regret.

Perhaps this Xulingzi's Daoist Technique was profound enough to perform magic in Jingshi.

Under the laws of Dragon Qi, even a Grandmaster would find it difficult to move!

This was an ironclad rule!

It could not be helped; he was likely a Perfected Person of the Chongming Dao.

After entering the hall, he saw it was resplendent with gold and jade, filled with civil and military officials, and all kinds of rare treasures were displayed, dazzling and overwhelming to the eyes.

Aaron smiled slightly, drank another cup, and followed the young Eunuch to the center of the hall.

He looked around and discovered quite a few Taoists sitting there; some Taoists wore golden belts and jade crowns, appearing as if they had even received official investiture.

Even though there were already rumors, these Daoist Perfected Ones still did not believe it in their hearts.

But Aaron did not care about these things; since he had grasped the Dead Point, he had to strike it to death!

You local Daoist Gate members talk until the flowers fall from the sky, yet when you get before the Emperor, you cannot even cast a single spell; then what is there to say? It must all be fake!

And although I do not understand the classics, I have spells, so I am the real one!

Aaron could not see any of these things.

His adventurous path was actually extremely dangerous, and he had offended too many people.

Of course...

Daoist Gate spells are naturally efficacious, but there are too many restrictions.

"Can one attain Changsheng?"

"Hmph, what a big mouth!"

'I have long heard that this eunuch who knows how to fight admires Confucianism; it is truly as the reputation suggests... so impatient to push me out?'

The Daoist classics of this world are naturally different from those of the previous world, and he is truly completely ignorant of them.

Not to mention Daoism, even the local interpretations of Confucianism have undergone many changes.

Besides this, there were also some monks and Taoists present, all harboring faint hostility.

Even if one were to grab a top scholar from a cultivation world to take the imperial examination, I fear they would be completely stumped!

The textbooks are not even the same, so what else can be done?

'If I hadn't cast a hexagram that turned out to be Great Auspicious before coming here, I would have run away already, damn it!'

This is the hardest truth!

Aaron activated his Spirituality vision and looked in the direction he was looking, discovering that this person seemed to be acting under the instructions of an official whose face was as dark as iron.

A censor immediately jumped out: "How dare you see the Son of Heaven without kneeling!"

A group of various Civil Officials wearing red robes stared at Aaron calmly, with the gaze one would use for a dead man.

Looking at his official uniform, he should be a Privy Commissioner, yet he was a eunuch, so he immediately understood it was Tong Jing.

In an instant, the Wu and Civil Officials, and even the Buddha and Taoism, all seemed to be calling for Aaron's death, making him the target of everyone, destined to be condemned by all and die without a disease!

At this moment, it was exactly the right opportunity!

And more of the Buddha and Taoism still held to their previous mindset, feeling that this Xulingzi might just be an ordinary mortal, which was why he dared to be so ignorant and fearless, and did not fear the Qi Luck Backlash.

And the so-called 'Daoism' should just be some deceptive tricks of sleight of hand!

It is just right that today before the Son of Heaven, with all the officials present, it is necessary to make him reveal his true form and show his true colors!

(End of this chapter)