Becoming a Sage Starts From Condensing the Essence of Time

Chapter 67: Prejudice Is Like Evil Demons, Young Man

Stepping Into the Third Realm of Body Tempering

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The woman had never thought that a person could change so much.

She vaguely remembered the handsome young man who had appeared in the small courtyard under the lead of the constable of the Black Office, Huang Xian. At that time, the young man had just stepped into cultivation and his aura was as weak as a firefly.

Now that she looked at it again, the Qi Blood on the young man’s body was so majestic that it was like boiling mountain flames. His mental power was like a divine sword that had just been unsheathed, faintly revealing a cold sword qi.

Although she was unable to determine the exact cultivation level, this oppressive pressure meant that the young man’s cultivation level was no longer the same as before.

What made the woman tremble the most was the ancient demon phenomenon on the young man’s body. His Qi Blood was hazy and steaming, making the woman feel as if she was looking at an ancient ferocious demon tiger standing on the mountain peak and roaring at the immortals in the sky.

The pressure from the depths of her bloodline almost made the woman unable to stabilize her body.

Facing the ancient demon tiger, how could the squirrel demon woman, who had only cultivated for hundreds of years, withstand its pressure? It was already not bad that she did not kneel down.

Although demons had transformed, they still retained some of their beast nature. The pressure released by powerful demons naturally suppressed weak demons. That was why there was a situation where tigers roared in the forest and hundreds of beasts fled.

An Le looked at the woman’s trembling legs and was a little stunned. He didn’t do anything.

The spring rain fell and gathered at the edge of the umbrella, forming a bead curtain that carried the hazy and poetic aura unique to the alley.

It was a beautiful thing for an acquaintance to meet, but this acquaintance’s attitude was really strange.

However, after some thought, An Le understood that the woman was a squirrel demon. Perhaps she was afraid of the remnant ancient demon pressure of his Ancient Demon Five Animals.

“Why did Madam return to Lin’an?” An Le held the oil-paper umbrella and changed the topic with a smile to divert the woman’s pressure.

The woman held the umbrella and looked at An Le in fear. She even became a little careful. “Young Master An, I’ve been back in Lin’an for a few days. I want to come to the small courtyard where I used to live with my husband for one last look.”

“I haven’t gone out yet. In that case, I’ll go back and accompany Madam to take a look.”

An Le had a warm smile on his face. As he spoke, he quietly absorbed four wisps of Age Qi from the woman.

The two of them walked towards Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley. Perhaps it was because An Le’s ancient demon pressure was too strong, the woman was not willing to approach him.

An Le also knew that he had to walk in front and distance himself from the woman.

The Demon Tempering Treasure Jade that An Le had emptied at his waist trembled slightly and continuously absorbed demon qi from the woman, gradually recovering the demon patterns on it.

The woman entered the courtyard and stood there with an umbrella for a long time. Her eyes were filled with reluctance and memories.

She did not enter the house. She only walked slowly in the courtyard and touched the potted plants that An Le had taken good care of. When she passed by the old locust tree, she was stunned for a moment when she saw the sword hole with the sharp sword qi left on it. However, she did not pay much attention to it. It might not be a bad thing for the sword qi to stay in the old locust tree.

“Young Master An, thank you for taking care of the small courtyard so well.” The woman looked at An Le with gratitude in her eyes.

An Le smiled. “This is my first property in Lin’an. I feel at ease staying in the small courtyard. Wherever I feel at ease, it’s my home, so I naturally won’t destroy it casually.”

“Your heart is at ease. It’s your home… You said it so well,” the woman muttered. Then, her eyes lit up.

“Young Master An, I have a question. May I ask Young Master for guidance?”

An Le smiled. “Madam, please ask. I’m willing to do my best to clear your doubts.”

The woman reached out and caught a drop of spring rain. The raindrops bloomed in her palm. “Young Master, someone once told me that I should be kind, but there are prejudices everywhere in this world. They come from status, personality, and even race. Many prejudices are even more terrifying than evil demons. What should I do in the face of this?”

When An Le heard this, he pondered for a moment and said slowly, “People only look at things from their own perspective. They tend to favor themselves. With the thoughts of others, prejudice naturally arises.”

“Submissiveness will only fuel prejudice and become nourishment for its growth. ”

“I think that if prejudice is like an evil demon, you should kill this demon and the world will naturally be clear.”

An Le said, “Madam, this is my own opinion. If you feel that it’s inappropriate, you can just treat it as a joke.”

The woman fell into deep thought. After a long time, she bowed to An Le. “Thank you for clearing my doubts, Young Master.”

An Le waved his hand and smiled warmly.

The two of them did not stay in the small courtyard for long. After the woman stared in nostalgia, she left with determination.

He watched the woman’s back disappear into the limestone rain alley with an umbrella.

Although An Le knew that the woman might have a story in her mind, he did not ask.

The prejudice in the world was like a mountain. It was even more terrifying than evil demons. How could it be easily killed?

An Le, who had read many books, had once read the “Demon Theory” written by the Great Confucian of the Literary Department. There was a mention in it that “Demons are divided into good and evil. Evil demons eat humans. One can smell their stench from a thousand feet away. Good demons help people, and one can’t distinguish their aura when they get close.”

It meant that demons were divided into good and evil. Evil demons ate humans, and the demon qi on their bodies was ferocious and smelly. One could tell that they were evil demons from a thousand feet away. Good demons helped people, and demon qi mixed with human qi. It was difficult to distinguish between demons and humans in front of them.

However, in the human world, everyone was afraid of demons. Most of them did not differentiate between good and bad. If you were a demon, there would be strange gazes everywhere.

There were Demon Subduing Masters who specialized in killing demons. Even good demons who had not done evil were born to be sinful as long as they were demons.

Perhaps this was the problem with the prejudice that the woman encountered.

After locking the door again, An Le walked out of the alley with an umbrella. The woman was no longer there.

He came to the beancurd stall that was set up in the rain and sat under the narrow stall. He watched as people came and went on Qingbo Street. He ate a bowl of hot beancurd and savored the atmosphere of the mortal world.

After eating, An Le walked with an umbrella and arrived at the West Lake. The

Spring Quarter Examination was approaching, and scholars from all over the Great Zhao Dynasty surged into Lin’an, causing more people to visit the West Lake.

Even though it was spring rain, the scholars and calligraphers became poetic and recited poems by the lake.

An Le arrived with an umbrella.

Liu Yue’s eyes lit up when he saw An Le. He walked over quickly and greeted him.

An Le originally wanted to meet Fairy Yun Rou, but he had been in seclusion for the past few days and did not come to West Lake.

While chatting with Liu Yue, An Le waited for Fairy Yun Rou’s arrival. After waiting for a while, he felt a little regretful that she did not come.

Without waiting any longer, he turned around and walked towards Gong Hall.

Scholar Liu Yue saw this and followed.

“Master An, are you going to Gong Hall to register and collect your examination pass? Let’s go together.”

Liu Yue smiled.

An Le did not refuse.

The Gong Hall was originally under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites and merged into the Literary Department. It was under the jurisdiction of the

Literary Department, and the address of the Gong Hall was also set within the Literary Department.

The smoke condensed into a mist and sprinkled across the east wind.

This was the first time An Le had stepped into the Literary Department. Black and white buildings dotted the hazy foothills.

Following the stream of scholars, they arrived at Gong Hall in the Literary Institute. There was already a long queue outside the courtyard, waiting to register and receive the examination pass.

Liu Yue chatted with An Le along the way, but he was not afraid of An Le’s identity.

The line of people moved slowly.

A moment later, it was finally An Le’s turn.

The person in charge of registration was an old Confucian scholar from the Literary Department. He did not even raise his head as he said indifferently, “Name, origin.”

“An Le, from Chongzhou’s Anfu County.” An Le said warmly.

The old scholar who was holding a pen and registering suddenly thought of something and raised his head.

“You’re Mr… An Le?”

The old Confucian scholar’s eyes were filled with admiration for An Le’s youth.

“I have the chance to observe your ink bamboo and ink horse. Ink painting for bamboo and horse is really unique!”

The old scholar stood up and cupped his hands.

An Le smiled, but he did not know how to respond to other people’s flattery. He could only cup his fists and bow.

The old scholar’s attitude naturally caused a commotion among the scholars queuing behind him.

This young man was the famous Master An in Lin’an?!

After An Le received the examination token, he did not stay for long. After bidding farewell to Liu Yue, he held an umbrella and disappeared into the spring rain under the burning gazes of many scholars.

Liu Yue also attracted a lot of attention.

After An Le left, the old scholar’s face returned to its cold and business-like appearance.

Prime Minister Qin’s residence.

In the small pond of the Water Pavilion, ripples appeared on the blue waves.

Between the rockery, a quiet stream flowed slowly.

Qin Qianqiu sat upright in a pavilion. Opposite him was an old man in luxurious clothes. The old man’s face was thin, and his eyes were sharp.

“Have you recovered from your injuries?”

The old man took a sip of tea and placed a piece on the chessboard.

Qin Qianqiu also placed his piece down and said respectfully, “My injuries are fine, but I’ve lost face. It’s not good for me to go out again.”

The old man stroked his beard and smiled. “Luo Qingchen can’t be killed. With Li You’an protecting him, after this person buried the coachman’s corpse, he fled all the way to the battlefield of the Blue Wave River and entered the military camp.”

“I can’t reach into the military camp for the time being. That’s the territory of those martial artists from the Martial Temple.”

Resentment and anger flashed across Qin Qianqiu’s face, but he quickly suppressed it.

“It’s normal to be upset. This matter should be a lesson to you. Don’t underestimate any of your opponents,” the old man said again. “Since you’ve made a move, if you can kill them, kill them with lightning speed. If you don’t want to cause blood all over your body, don’t give them a chance to counterattack. At the end of the road, the other party will bite off a few pieces of your flesh even if they die.”

Qin Qianqiu nodded solemnly.

“The Spring Quarter Examination is coming soon. I have to discuss the details with many Great Confucians of the Literary Department. There have been many things going on recently, so I can’t come back often to see you and teach you. Take care and think more.”

The old man stood up and brushed the spring rain off his body. After saying this, he turned around and left along the long corridor.

Qin Qianqiu stood up and bowed respectfully.

After the old man disappeared, he faced the Jade Wave Pavilion Pool and let out a shaky breath.

“After this incident, I’m afraid I’ve disappointed Father very much… However, there’s still a chance to make up for it. The Spring Quarter Examination is imminent. The Lin Residence places its hopes on that young man, An Le, and wants him to try to break out of the situation in the Hall Examination. In that case, I’ll think of a way to take the Lin Residence’s chess piece and make them have no hope at all.”

“Hua Jiebing used her absolute strength to protect him. In addition, there’s Li You’an. It’s really not easy to touch him. However, even if we can’t kill that young man, we can destroy him…”

Qin Qianqiu stood in the Water Pavilion with his hands behind his back. He looked at the koi in the pool and couldn’t help but smile.

As his father had said, there were many other ways to destroy a person than to kill him.

In particular, there were many ways to destroy a famous scholar’s reputation.

An Le took the examination token and did not return to Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley immediately. Instead, he went to Lin Residence.

The person who opened the door was Liu Xiang. After not seeing An Le for a long time, Liu Xiang’s eyes sparkled and a little surprise appeared on her pretty face.

Liu Xiang told An Le that Madam Hua and the young masters were not in the residence. The young masters had gone to the Martial Temple, so she, a

maidservant, naturally did not know where Madam Hua went.

Therefore, An Le did not stay in the Lin Residence for long. He turned around and left.

He went to Yanchun to get two pots of old yellow wine and went to Ding Ya Alley to cut two catties of beef.

An Le stepped on the limestone and walked to the Imperial Ancestral Temple with the peach blossoms cut off by the spring rain. He raised the old yellow wine and shouted. Then, he returned to his small courtyard and waited for his old friend to come.

He sat under the door and admired the spring rain in the courtyard.

An Le augmented the Age Qi he had obtained today on the [Thousand-year Genius] Dao Fruit.

Perhaps what he lacked was this bit of encouragement.

In an instant, the dantian rumbled like a furnace.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly approached.

His Qi Blood, mental power, spiritual energy, and physical essence were guided by an invisible force in his dantian and slowly condensed into an Inner Core!