Chapter 45

Wenxin Country covers an area of about five million square kilometers. Its territory is long from north to south but narrow from east to west, encompassing the eastern part of the Qixia continent. From its shape, it resembles a wronged young wife squeezed into a corner.

Canglong Manor is located at the foot of this young wife, while the capital of Wenxin Country, Wanquan City, is situated at her chest. To travel from the foot to the chest, one must pass through seven provinces and over thirty cities, covering more than two thousand kilometers, which takes about three months.

During this long journey, the beautiful landscapes of the country serve as the only way to alleviate the boredom.

Wei Tianchong and Shimu were both on their first long trip, so they were very excited. They would thoroughly explore each place they visited, and Lady Wei knew their nature well, so she arranged for them to leave early, giving them ample time to play.

Tang Jie, however, spent most of his time reading books in the carriage. He read a wide variety of books, including "The Way of Human Relations," which discusses the principles of human relationships, "The Collection of Heart Words," a collection of essays and notes, "Zhang Zimo's Travel Notes in Wenxin," a travel guide, and "The Biographies of Sword Immortals," a story about immortal swordsmen. In his luggage, besides some spare clothes and two pots of flowers, the most numerous items were these books.

Today, Tang Jie was reading a book in the carriage when the vehicle suddenly jolted and stopped.

Lifting the curtain, Tang Jie saw a middle-aged man in his forties approaching.

"Mr. Zhang, is there something wrong?" Tang Jie called out.

Mr. Zhang, whose name was Zhang Yuan, was one of the external managers of the Wei family, mainly responsible for the family's trade caravans. He had extensive experience traveling to various places and was assigned by Lady Zheng Shufeng to ensure the safety of the young master's journey to school, so he was in charge of most of the caravan's affairs.

"What could be wrong!" Mr. Zhang sighed as he approached. "Tang Jie, you need to help me persuade the young master. We've only traveled a short distance, but he wants to stop three times a day. Sometimes he says he's feeling stuffy and needs to get out and walk, other times he sees a beautiful place and wants to visit, or he hears about a famous restaurant and wants to eat there. Just now, we arrived at Xiaoming Lake, and the young master heard that the scenery is nice and that many talented people have left their calligraphy here, so he wants to pay respects to the works of the past and take a boat ride on the lake. Lady gave me ten days, but at this rate, even twenty days won't be enough. I'm afraid we won't reach Wanquan City until autumn!"

Hearing this, Tang Jie laughed. "Why didn't you just not tell him about Xiaoming Lake? You know his nature; once he hears about food and fun, he can't resist."

Mr. Zhang replied with a bitter face, "How could I tell him? He has his own eyes and ears. I can't stop him from asking around. You should go and persuade the young master; he might listen to you!"

Since the incident with Shimu, Wei Tianchong knew that Tang Jie had saved him and treated him with more respect. Later, when he learned that his mother had given the family rules to Tang Jie, he was even more reluctant to provoke him. Therefore, most of the time on this journey, he called on Shimu to accompany him.

Hearing Mr. Zhang's complaint, Tang Jie thought for a moment and asked, "Where is he now?"

"He's over there in the pavilion, admiring the Heavenly Way Stele inscribed by Zhang Shuhan. He probably doesn't even know who Zhang Shuhan is, but he's pretending to appreciate it!" Mr. Zhang sighed, shaking his head.

Tang Jie smiled. "Alright, I'll go find him... It's time for a talk."

In the octagonal pavilion by Xiaoming Lake, Wei Tianchong was looking at a large stone stele over ten feet tall.

Wei Tianchong's body had already developed significantly, his height approaching that of an adult. He wore a silk scholar's robe, with a jade tassel tied at the back of his head and a folding fan made by Baoqing Hall in his hand. Although he was slightly overweight, he still looked quite handsome.

The stele he was looking at had three large characters carved on it:

Heavenly Way Rules!

Below the three characters, there were eight more: "Evil spirits retreat, all wickedness bows."

Wei Tianchong carefully examined the characters and nodded. "Good calligraphy, good phrase. Shimu, look at this. The writing is grand and majestic, the brush strokes flow like dragons and phoenixes. Truly excellent calligraphy and words!"

Compared to the past, at least now Wei Tianchong could string together a few idioms.

"That's right. Zhang Shuhan was a great calligrapher. Xiaoming Lake's fame today is largely due to this Heavenly Way Stele. Every year, countless scholars and literati come here to pay respects. It would be a shame if we didn't take the time to appreciate it," Shimu added.

Just then, Tang Jie walked over and, hearing this, shook his head with a smile. As he entered the pavilion, he said, "Although Zhang Shuhan was a great calligrapher, the phrase 'brush strokes flow like dragons and phoenixes' is not appropriate for him."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wei Tianchong was puzzled.

Tang Jie walked over and stood beside Wei Tianchong, looking at the Heavenly Way Stele and the eight characters "Evil spirits retreat, all wickedness bows." He sighed lightly. "Young Master, do you know who Zhang Shuhan really was?"

Wei Tianchong replied, "Isn't he just a former right secretary and scholar of the Hanlin Academy?"

"So you do know a bit," Tang Jie smiled.

"Tch, do you really think I'm ignorant?" Wei Tianchong sniffed.

Compared to the naive youth he once was, the now sixteen-year-old Wei Tianchong had indeed matured a lot and no longer made the same mistakes.

"Then do you know what Zhang Shuhan did later? Why did he write this Heavenly Way Stele? And why is it called the Heavenly Way Stele?" Tang Jie asked again.

Wei Tianchong opened his mouth and, after a long pause, managed to say, "The book doesn't say."

Hearing this, Tang Jie burst into laughter.

Wei Tianchong blushed and said, "If you know, then tell me."

Tang Jie replied, "Zhang Shuhan became a cultivator."

"Ah?" Wei Tianchong and Shimu were both surprised.

"That's right, Zhang Shuhan became a cultivator!" Tang Jie repeated. "In his youth, Zhang Shuhan believed that literature could govern the country and martial arts could secure it. He thought that to ensure the well-being of the people, one needed to be a civil official. However, after twenty years in the bureaucracy, experiencing the ups and downs of political life and seeing the coldness of the world, he realized that the idea of literature governing the country was nothing but an illusion. In the end, he resigned from his post and joined a cultivation sect... He was already over fifty at that time."

"But can an old man cultivate? Isn't it said that the best time to cultivate is in youth, and it's hard to achieve success in old age?" Shimu asked in surprise.

"That's true, but he did it anyway, and he achieved great success. Do you know what level he reached?"

"What level?" they both asked.

"Divine Lord!" Tang Jie said.

This shocked Wei Tianchong and Shimu, who both exclaimed, "Divine Lord of the Way?"

A Divine Lord is a more terrifying existence than a Purple Mansion True Lord, ranking between the Purple Mansion and the Immortal Platform. In some ways, a Divine Lord is even rarer than an Immortal Platform.

Because a Divine Lord is not defined by cultivation level but by entering the Great Way.

As a Divine Lord, one is not far from the Immortal Platform in some respects.

"Not the Divine Lord of the Way, but the Enterer of the Way! Cultivators have different levels of understanding of the Way, such as enlightenment, entry, and mastery, each with a different meaning," Tang Jie corrected seriously. "Calling a Divine Lord the 'Divine Lord of the Way' is just a term used by ignorant mortals. As long as one has a certain level of enlightenment, they can be called a Divine Lord. We are future students of the Moon Washing Academy, so we shouldn't make such professional mistakes."

"Then what is the 'Divine Lord of the Way'?" Wei Tianchong asked curiously.

"I don't know either. To be honest, I can't even distinguish between enlightenment, entry, and mastery. I've heard there are even more levels beyond these three, but I don't know what they are or how many there are," Tang Jie replied.

When Xumu Yang explained the cultivation levels to him, he mentioned that the Way is the highest pursuit of a cultivator, but what the Way is, even Xumu Yang himself might not fully understand. He only knew that the highest level of the Way is mastery, but how to achieve mastery and whether anyone has achieved it, he had never seen or even heard of.

"Although Zhang Shuhan didn't achieve mastery of the Way, he definitely entered the Way. He became famous for his calligraphy in his youth and later used calligraphy to enter the Way. The Eight Methods of Exorcism, which he wielded with great power, made all evil spirits bow and retreat. Do you know what the Eight Methods of Exorcism are?"

Wei Tianchong's eyes twinkled, and he pointed to the eight characters on the Heavenly Way Stele. "Could it be these eight characters?"

"That's right, the Eight Methods of Exorcism are 'Evil spirits retreat, all wickedness bows,'" Tang Jie confirmed. "Whenever Zhang Shuhan faced an enemy, he would write these eight true words, and no matter how many evil spirits there were, they would all be eliminated. However, he unfortunately died before reaching the Immortal Platform. If he hadn't died, do you think we would still be calling him Zhang Shuhan? We would call him the Exorcism Divine Lord or the Divine Lord Zhang!"

"But who could kill him? Even a powerful Immortal Platform might not be able to do it."

Tang Jie smiled and pointed at the stele with his chin. "Who else?"

Wei Tianchong and Shimu looked at each other and exclaimed, "The Heavenly Way?"

"That's right, the Heavenly Way! The Heavenly Way is impartial, and the world is a crucible. In Zhang Shuhan's time, it was an era of conflict among various cultivation sects, with constant wars and suffering for the people. Zhang Shuhan, with a heart to save the world but powerless to change it, wrote with great urgency, directly challenging the Heavenly Way, attempting to