Chapter 795

White Lotus Palace, Star Dipper Hall.

Ancient and simple, grand and vast, a single stream of righteous qi like great rivers, shooting straight to the heavens.

Across hundreds of millions of billions of li, whether day or night, the subjects of the Blaze Dynasty need only look up to see this pillar of righteous qi that stands between heaven and earth.

This qi, the Blaze Dynasty's Divine Emperor once said: "As long as the star-dipper righteous qi endures, the Blaze Dynasty's fortune will never cease."

Countless disciples of the White Lotus Palace, in the court and in the localities, suppress a region, shepherd a people; the White Lotus Palace can be called the skeleton of the Blaze Dynasty, and this pillar of righteous qi soaring atop the Star Dipper Hall is the sturdiest spine of that skeleton.

Only those who have cultivated righteous qi can approach and enter this Star Dipper Hall.

In recent years, the White Lotus Palace has grown ever more prosperous and powerful; each generation sees countless disciples cultivate righteous qi, yet those who can truly rely on their own strength to approach and enter the Star Dipper Hall are becoming ever rarer.

Within the Star Dipper Hall, starlight flickers across the sky, resembling an ancient star chart suspended above the hall.

The Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Southern and Northern Dipper, Wen Qu and Wu Qu, the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, even the three malevolent stars of Killing, Breaking, and Wolf—these famous official stars shine like buckets, hanging high overhead, radiating brilliant light.

Countless specks of starlight—egg‑sized, soybean‑sized, mung‑bean‑sized, sesame‑sized—swirl around these famous officials, forming huge vortices that fly and spin; wave after wave of strange stellar power stirs the void, shakes the ages, and fills the hall with an ancient, awe‑inspiring divine force.

Deep as an abyss, deep as a prison, unfathomable.

The current headmaster of the White Lotus Palace, Bai Su Xin, stood at the center of the Star Dipper Hall, squinting as he watched the stars dancing wildly across the sky.

Above his head, a jet‑black inkstone slab bore two scarlet large characters reading "The Master said," hovering about a zhang above his head, exhaling wisps of black and red qi that shielded Bai Su Xin's body, fending off the pure, clean, noble, solemn righteous qi that permeated the Star Dipper Hall.

Yes, just as countless disciples of the White Lotus Palace rely on the "righteous‑qi seed" to cultivate righteous qi, the current headmaster Bai Su Xin cannot rely on his own cultivated righteous qi to enter this Star Dipper Hall.

The Star Dipper Hall does not acknowledge Bai Su Xin… this fellow, his spirit does not match the true spirit stored within the Star Dipper Hall.

Only by relying on this ancient sage‑carved inkstone inscribed with "The Master said" can Bai Su Xin stand here composed and self‑possessed.

He has a rectangular face, a tall and burly physique, an extremely wide and long frame, and his arms and legs are proportionally much longer than an ordinary person's. Some have said that Bai Su Xin's body is like a widened and thickened ruler, hence they call him the "Ruler Gentleman."

The ruler is a literary Dao implement.

Upright, hard, correct, stern.

Bai Su Xin enjoys this nickname, even though he knows deep down he is not really that sort of person, but he very much likes being called that.

Therefore, wherever he is, as long as he can stand, he absolutely will not sit down.

He must keep his waist ramrod straight, displaying his ruler‑like fine physique before others, and put on a stern, cold expression so that everyone knows he is an exceptionally strict, severe, solemn scholar‑gentleman.

Bai Su Xin stood quietly beneath the endless starlight, earnestly watching the stars swirling overhead.

After a long wait, a dozen or so points of starlight burst apart.

The starlight shattered, then countless specks of extremely fine starlight drifted down like rain from the hall's upper air.

A disciple of the White Lotus Palace has fallen.

Moreover, to possess even a speck of starlight as a symbol within the Star Dipper Hall, the fallen must be a named elite disciple of the palace, not the ordinary grass‑like disciples scattered across the world.

Bai Su Xin exhaled heavily and said softly, "It's done."

He swept his wide sleeve, and Bai Su Xin strode out of the Star Dipper Hall without looking back. To be frank, if not forced, he would never normally approach this ancient‑inherited hall.

Indeed, even with the protection of a literary treasure, each time he stands in the Star Dipper Hall Bai Su Xin feels his heart as if struck by lightning, a hint of innate primordial spirit as if burning, his five viscera and six bowels constantly scoured by that upright righteous qi, as if suffering the torment of lingchi at every moment, truly unbearable.

Thus Bai Su Xin charged out of the Star Dipper Hall with long strides, then exhaled a long breath.

A tremendous force surged from behind; the Star Dipper Hall's righteous qi was repelling Bai Su Xin, forcing him to accelerate forward.

The inkstone of "The Master said" had already been withdrawn into his sleeve; it now emitted a faint glow, blocking that tremendous force. Bai Su Xin stepped forward, steady and level, each stride identical in length and width, taking proper square steps, calmly and composedly walking out of the Star Dipper Hall's gate one step at a time.

So composed, so solemn, dozens of White Lotus Palace true‑transmission disciples on duty nearby could not help but click their tongues in admiration, bowing from afar to Bai Su Xin.

Bai Su Xin gave those disciples a look without expression, a tremendous pressure bearing down on him, and he said coldly, "Even while on duty here, you must not neglect your studies. Do you really think you can just stand around foolishly? If you have time to stand there like idiots, you'd be better off flipping through a book—even the most elementary *Three Character Classic*—reading more will never steer you wrong."

He lifted his gaze to the sky and said in a deep voice, "An inch of time is an inch of gold; for us scholars, time is the most precious thing of all. Life has its limits, but learning is boundless. To pursue limitless learning with a limited life, if we do not seize the moment, how can we possibly succeed?"

The dozens of on‑duty disciples nodded repeatedly, saying "yes" over and over.

Bai Su Xin walked up to them, halted his steps, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Pass the order: today the disciples at the mountain gate are to write an essay entitled 'Discourse on Time' on the theme 'An inch of time is an inch of gold.' At least thirty thousand characters, no less, more is fine—issue the order."

The assembled duty disciples stared blankly, then all agreed in unison.

Bai Su Xin nodded in satisfaction, flicked his wide sleeve, his body swayed, and a surging torrent of righteous qi transformed into a river a thousand zhang wide and a hundred li long, wrapping his upright, square, ruler‑like form as it headed toward his residence in the rear mountains.

In the rear mountains, amid a ridge planted with orchids and cypresses, a mountainside cavern was carved halfway up a waterside peak.

On the platform outside the cave, several small buildings were erected.

Inside the buildings lived over a hundred youthful, beautiful maidservants who attend to Bai Su Xin's daily needs.

Inside the cave, however, lies Bai Su Xin's everyday dwelling; the space is spacious, the furnishings simple and elegant, appearing ordinary yet in fact every inch is priceless—even an ordinary teacup is a historic antique worth a fortune.

Within the cave, besides Bai Su Xin, several of his female disciples also reside there on a regular basis.

These female disciples are the core true‑transmission of the White Lotus Palace—each exceptionally gifted and talented, moreover blessed with heavenly fragrance and national beauty, lovely as flowers, selected from the vast expanses of the Blaze Dynasty as top‑tier beauties.

Living here naturally makes it convenient for them to consult Bai Su Xin on studies at any time each day.

Today in this nameless cave, besides a few of Bai Su Xin's personal female disciples, there has appeared a tall, handsome man whose every gesture bears boundless dignity. His visage is square and stern, with a three‑inch short beard on his chin; amid his ferocity there is also a hint of scholarly elegance.

At this moment he stands before a bookshelf, flipping through a volume titled *Bedchamber Secrets*.

This is Bai Su Xin's private treasure, a marvelous Daoist tome dealing with the cauldron, dragon and tiger, the art of drawing and filling the great elixir, containing endless delight and ingenuity. Though it normally sits on the bookshelf, only a handful—such as Bai Su Xin's few personal female disciples—dare to peruse it; absolutely no one else would dare.

Including those maidservants outside the cave who lack sense, they have long since volunteered for service, rushing off to fight in the armies of the four great monster‑spirit dynasties bordering the southeast, northwest, and beyond.

The sound of wind and thunder rolled from the heavens, and outside the cave came the maidens' soft, melodious cries.

Not long after, Bai Su Xin entered the inner study where he usually reads, practices calligraphy, cultivates mind and nature, and additionally disciplines disciples, escorted by several tall maidservants in white long robes.

"Feng Rong, you've come." Bai Su Xin nodded at the man standing before the bookshelf.

"Uncle, I'm here." The Blaze Dynasty's Great Prince Feng Rong smiled, returned the marvelous book to the shelf, and bowed to Bai Su Xin with clasped hands: "That Pei Feng has already been confined in the Ink Bamboo Pond; rest assured, uncle, outsiders cannot find that place."

"Hn." Bai Su Xin nodded, then said coolly, "A disciple has already fallen, heh."

Shaking his head, Bai Su Xin sat upon the study kang where he usually reads, reached into his sleeve and produced a piece of anciently mottled black‑and‑white striped tortoise shell, then placed three gleaming golden copper coins inside it.

He shook the tortoise shell with both hands, producing a "clatter‑clatter, clatter‑clatter" sound; then a flick of his wrist sent the three copper coins flying out, landing on the small desk before him with three sharp "crack‑crack‑crack" noises, settling firmly onto the surface.

"Hmph, old bald donkey…" Bai Su Xin coldly regarded the three copper coins before him, shook his head, then drew out a set of jade counting rods and began to calculate at a leisurely pace.

After the jade counting rods, Bai Su Xin then took out a bundle of milfoil and went through another round of fuss.

Thus, after trying more than twenty divination tools in succession, Bai Su Xin finally waved her hand and put all these things into her sleeve.

"Uncle, has your divination made any progress?" Feng Rong sat opposite the desk, smiling as he asked Bai Su Xin.

"Hah..." Bai Su Xin shook her head, lazily saying: "The art of divination is a minor craft, an unorthodox path, not fit for the table... Hah, if it weren't for me wasting too much energy on these minor paths back then... tsk."

"Besides, no need for divination." Bai Su Xin lightly tapped her fingers on the desk, chuckling: "Those dead baldheads of the Red Lotus Temple—I don't need divination to know what they're thinking."

"Do you believe it or not, Xiao Mian Fo has definitely gone to find your second brother?" Bai Su Xin smiled at Feng Rong.

"Just received the news, Xiao Mian Fo followed Lao Er to his manor." Feng Rong looked at Bai Su Xin with a hint of helplessness: "Uncle, this isn't hard to find out; they didn't even think to cover their tracks."

Bai Su Xin's face stiffened slightly, and she gave Feng Rong an embarrassed glare.

"Alright, no more joking." Bai Su Xin coughed: "This opportunity, you must seize it... such a small piece of land, so many people, especially the 'aberrant branch of the Pangu lineage' already extinct in the Sui dynasty—if you seize this opportunity, the God Emperor's throne will be secure."

Feng Rong furrowed his brows: "The Red Lotus Temple is not easy to deal with. Especially Lao Er, he also got the news."

Feng Rong wore a worried expression.

Originally, he was the legitimate eldest son of the Divine Palace's Empress, the innate heir to the God Emperor; without mishap, the God Emperor's throne would not slip from his grasp.

But that monster Feng Shang... his rise is too fast, too astonishing—entering the Dao through the 360 Great Dao, it's unbelievable. Especially with a Red Lotus Temple backing him, that makes him even harder to deal with.

The Three Present Buddhas of the Red Lotus Temple—their will is the will of the Red Lotus Temple; Feng Shang can be said to have received the full support of the entire Red Lotus Temple.

And the White Lotus Palace?

Scholars, full of schemes; within the White Lotus Palace, mountain strongholds stand in profusion.

One White Lotus Palace alone has seventeen or eighteen major factions, and adding those small factions that stand on their own, the White Lotus Palace splits into three or five hundred big and small mountain strongholds.

Even though Feng Rong's maternal uncle, the present-day Bai Su Xin, is the Mountain Chief of the White Lotus Palace, the power he can control amounts to at most less than one-tenth of the White Lotus Palace...

Using just one-tenth of its strength to oppose the entire Red Lotus Temple?

Thinking of this, Feng Rong let out a helpless sigh. He looked up and down at Bai Su Xin: "Uncle, why didn't you become a monk back then? With your abilities, joining the Three Present Buddhas would be a breeze."

"Rest assured, for your sake I've also gone all out this time." Bai Su Xin let out a light sigh: "Bai Wen, Bai Wu—these are my prized disciples; they've taken along over a hundred disciples from families with considerable background, and have already gone over there..."

"They will die there." Bai Su Xin said coldly: "They will die there... including Bai Wen and Bai Wu, they will die."

"Once they're dead, we'll seize the moral high ground, and with their family forces mobilizing in unison, those old fogeys inside the White Lotus Palace will have to give them some face." Bai Su Xin gave a hollow chuckle a few times, then said softly: "When the time comes, the White Lotus Palace will mobilize as a whole, its strength not inferior to the Red Lotus Temple."

Feng Rong stared blankly at Bai Su Xin, then let out a light sigh: "The sacrifice is too great... Bai Wen, Bai Wu—these are the confidants you painstakingly cultivated, and you're just going to sacrifice them like that?"

Bai Su Xin sighed slowly: "What is a trusted disciple? A trusted disciple is someone you sacrifice when necessary."

"What does 'sacrifice' mean? What is the true meaning of sacrifice?"

"Sacrifice means an offering... an offering on the path to the God Emperor's throne... As for me, I am upright and unyielding, and I dislike using such petty tricks, such conspiracies and schemes."

"But there's no helping it—the baldheads of the Red Lotus Temple are pressing hard... For the sake of the White Lotus Palace's eternal legacy, I, Uncle, can only... resort to any means."