Chapter 55: The Confucian's Secret

  Chen Jiuyi nodded upon hearing this, but seemed to understand yet not understand. It was truly difficult to comprehend when one's realm had not reached that level. Even if the other party told you the truth, although you would know it, you still wouldn't be able to understand.

  Knowing and understanding are two different things, two different concepts.

  "What is the second step of Confucianism after self-cultivation?"

  "The second step is to govern one's family," said Zhai Xiaoyu slowly.

  "What is 'ruling one's household'? Why 'rule' one's household?" Chen Jiu did not understand.

  The young fisherman gently stroked a willow branch, then put his hands behind his back: "Ruling the family is a state of mind. To govern the country, one must first rule the family. If the family cannot be governed well, how can we talk about governing the country? We should know that the two words 'country' and 'family' are connected."

  "What is called 'governing the family' has as its foundation self-cultivation. If a person can cultivate himself, continually perfecting himself, then in governing the family he will continually seek out his own shortcomings and continually perfect and improve himself."

  He paused for a moment, then continued to Xiao Yu: "If one can make his family members work together in harmony, he is qualified to govern a country; otherwise, if he cannot even manage his own family well, how can he govern the country?"

  "Sir, do all Confucian disciples have to enter the imperial court as officials?"

  Morning fishing nodded: "Not bad, the great Confucian is to rely on the power of the imperial court to cultivate himself, governing the country is actually the process of verifying the Tao of Confucianism. If governing the country is successful, then this great Confucian can smoothly verify the Tao, if failed, it will naturally be a tragic end."

  "Isn't that equivalent to tying one's fate to the imperial court, with every move being controlled by the emperor, even life and death?"

  "Who says it's not? However, the Confucian way of governing a country is the fastest shortcut to achieving enlightenment. As long as one can successfully govern a country with their own ideas, their spirit will be elevated and they will easily achieve enlightenment with the help of the great trend of humanity."

  Chen Jiu's eyes flashed with a hint of brilliance: "Does Confucianism have no shortcomings?"

  "Yes, with a short lifespan, no different from ordinary people, and insufficient attack power. Of course, there are Confucians who possess great martial arts skills, but what the Confucian school seeks is single-mindedness, a heart without distractions. Practicing martial arts has already strayed into a side path. Unless the practitioner has great willpower, but so far, I haven't found such a person."

  "What's the next boundary?" Chen Jiudao asked.

  "You actually already know."

  "I got it?"

  "Not bad."

  Chen Jiubian sank into thought for a moment, then said: "Could it be that governing the country is not going well?"

  Ignoring the young fisherman's response, Chen Ji murmured to himself: "Confucianism, Confucianism, what a wonderful Confucianism! To make virtues clear in the world, one must first govern his country, and before governing his country, he must cultivate himself. To cultivate oneself, one must first rectify his heart, and to rectify his heart, one must first be sincere in his intentions. And to be sincere in his intentions, one must first extend his knowledge, and extending knowledge lies in investigating things."

  Chen Jiu's words were muttered to himself, but they made Zhao Xiao Yu stunned, and the scene fell silent for a moment.

  A gentle breeze blew by, rustling the willow trees, and a branch struck Chao Xiao Yu's face. He came to his senses, clapping his hands: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! This saying is truly wonderful, it has fully expressed the true essence of Confucianism. Xiao Jiu has great talent, and his future achievements will surely be extraordinary. It's just a pity that he was born in this world."

  The last sentence was spoken in a weakened tone.

  "Excuse me, sir, what was your last sentence? I didn't quite catch it."

  "Never mind, never mind, if you can't hear clearly, I have a piece of beautiful jade here that I'll give to you. Be sure not to lose it, and someday there will be an opportunity."

  Chen Jiu's face was as smooth as jade, and he only felt a warmth in his hand, then revealed a hint of a smile: "Sir is a cultivator, isn't it that all cultivators like to be mysterious and obscure?"

  It was no secret throughout the school that Chao Xiao Yu was a cultivator of the Daoist way. Upon hearing this, she smiled faintly and slightly opened her crimson lips: "Whether or not I'm being deliberately mysterious, you'll find out later."

  Chen Jiu put away the beautiful jade, and his fingertips still lingered with a faint fragrance: "Sir, what is the next realm?"

  Chao Xiao Yu shook his head: "I don't know".

  "What's wrong?" Chen asked in surprise.

  "If you haven't reached that realm, then you naturally won't know; what's strange about that?"

  "Sir, does this extraordinary and upright energy have any other wonderful uses?"

  Morning Little Fish nodded, looking at Chen Jiu's face: "Naturally there is, Haoran's righteous energy is one of the energies in the world, naturally no different from other energies, attacking and defending are also possible, it's just that your current realm is too low, you can't do it".

  Looking at Chen Jiu's regretful gaze, Chao Xiao Yu smiled lightly: "It is just that the heroic spirit is only an accessory to help us understand the realm of the great Confucians more easily. You should know that even without the heroic spirit, a great Confucian can still shock and kill evil demons with one roar. This is a matter of realm and spirit. In the same realm or even in a higher realm, no one can surpass a great Confucian in terms of state of mind."

  Chen Jiuban walked slowly to the railing and looked at the fish swimming below: "But how many great Confucians are there in this world?"

  "It's not the same, those who cultivate Confucianism and those who naturally comprehend the realm of great Confucianism are as different as heaven and earth. Cultivators of Confucianism can only wield the majestic righteous energy, but as for how much they can comprehend the realm of Confucianism, that's hard to say. When facing off against cultivators of the same level, although the majestic righteous energy has an amplifying effect, victory or defeat is decided in an instant, and life or death is still uncertain."

  "Is it meant that only great Confucians can suppress a dynasty, but not those who cultivate themselves?" Chen Jiu asked.

  "Not bad, the prestige of a great Confucian scholar. Even if it's a cultivator with great abilities, they would still try to avoid him if possible. As for you guys, who are just ordinary Confucian scholars, you don't have that kind of cultivation level, and can be crushed to death at will."

  Faced with Zhao Xiao Yu's blow, Chen Ji remained calm and unruffled.

  On the other side, Chao Xiao Yu found it somewhat strange that this guy had heard that Hao Ran Zheng Qi didn't have as much deterrent force as he imagined, yet his state of mind hadn't wavered in the slightest, truly a rare individual.

  There are only two possibilities for someone to be so indifferent: either he has an ace up his sleeve and doesn't care about the Confucian orthodoxy, or this kid is confident that he can attain a higher level of understanding.

  But looking at his young age, having confidence in understanding the realm of great scholars, is this possible?

  No matter what Zhao Xiao Yu thought, Chen Jiu couldn't help but know that his trump card wasn't his current heroic and righteous demeanor, but rather his own cultivation method.

  "Master, why teach me?" Chen Jiu said slowly.

  "I suggest you also practice martial arts, not only can it increase your power, but it can also change your blood and increase your lifespan, as long as you have some achievements in martial arts, your lifespan will naturally be worry-free."

  He said, "You know, martial artists are the greatest enemies of Confucianism. Because martial arts cultivate the self and fear no external force, they naturally cannot be suppressed by the majestic orthodox energy. Therefore, as soon as the great Confucians grasp power, they will mercilessly suppress martial artists. The suppression of military generals in the court has reached an extreme point. Unless it is a time of war, martial generals have no room to rise."

  At this point, Chao Xiao Yu's face was filled with a smile: "The literary and martial arts of the imperial court have reached a boiling point, the military generals are being suppressed and cannot lift their heads. Now is the perfect opportunity for scholars to display their talents, you must seize it well."

  Chen nodded, in the previous life's world, it was not uncommon for Wen and Wu to fight each other. No matter which dynasty, as long as the war subsided and the troops stopped, it would be the world of scholars. The military generals would be restrained by the emperor and suppressed by the great Confucians, and could only idle at home.

  "Hmm, there's a fluctuation of the aura of righteousness over there. It seems another student has gained enlightenment. What great perception! To comprehend the aura of righteousness in just one day, their future prospects are boundless." Chao Xiao Yu gazed into the distance.

  Chen Jiuyi's mouth corners revealed a hint of a smile: "Isn't it difficult to comprehend the magnanimous and righteous spirit?"

  "According to my estimate, it would take at least ten days for someone to enter the door, who would have thought that on the first day, you two freaks would appear."

  "Want to go take a look?" said Chen Jiu.

  "That's natural, let's go together" Chao Xiao Yu's voice fell, and the person had already gone out into the corridor.

  Chen Jiu muttered behind him: "What's so great about being able to cast spells? In the future, I can also shrink the earth into an inch."

  Although he said so, Chen Jiu actually envied this kind of divine escape technique. This was the ultimate lifesaving method, but unfortunately, Chen Jiu's creation heaven way didn't have a divine technique, and could only be obtained randomly, which was truly frustrating to the extreme.