65: clue

“Of course, I’ve heard of it. The four-character inscription on the world, who among the Great Zhou scholars hasn’t heard of it?”

“Sir, is this related to the Literary Heart?”

“Yes, when I heard these four lines, I felt my blood boil, but I didn’t know why.”

Hearing the discussions below, the lecturing elder did not interrupt.

Only when their discussion had mostly subsided did he leisurely say, “You only know the ‘what,’ but not the ‘why.’ Not every principle can be inscribed upon the world.”

After speaking, he glanced at Qin Chuan again.

Qin Chuan was almost speechless from the old man’s gaze.

He thought to himself: He wouldn’t make me answer a question, would he?

Fortunately, the elder wasn’t that unreasonable.

He continued, “The world takes life as its heart; the sages participate in creation, allowing all things to find their proper nature and destiny. This is establishing the heart of the world; clearly defining righteousness…”

It seemed like contemplation, and also like a sigh, before he said, “These four lines are concise yet profound, establishing the heart of the world and the lives of the people with one’s own heart.”

A series of explanations followed, leaving Qin Chuan below wide-eyed.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder why the elder suddenly brought this up.

—Did he recognize me and was he buttering me up?

Completely unnecessary.

Although he wasn’t clear about the elder’s identity, being able to teach at the National Academy, he must be of no low standing.

There was no need to curry favor with a Recommended Man just because he recognized him.

So, was it—to curry favor with Wang Zhongshu?

Possible, but unlikely.

Then…

Elder: “…Profound words with great meaning. The principles within cannot be fully elucidated at once. Since Chen Wenyuan has entered the National Academy, you can ask him.”

As soon as the elder spoke, the hall immediately fell silent.

Following that, faces filled with indignation appeared.

—These second-generation youths, whose ambitions reached the heavens, were all unwilling to admit defeat. They believed their future achievements would not be inferior to Chen Wenyuan’s, and naturally, they were unwilling to bow their heads.

Seeing this, the elder sighed inwardly.

“That’s all for today. Class dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir, for clarifying our doubts!”

Teacher and students bowed in farewell, and when they looked up again, the elder had once again vanished from their sight.

With the teacher gone, the students regained their freedom.

“Is that Chen Wenyuan… truly so talented?”

“Perhaps, but if he wants to subdue us, it’s still not enough. When he arrives, just watch me…”

“First, teach him a lesson, then reconcile. Wouldn’t that be a fine story?”

Regarding these people’s words, Cui Jian several times wanted to speak, but in the end, he remained silent.

Until a familiar figure appeared beside him.

Qin Chuan: “What’s the background of that sir?”

Cui Jian looked up at the people around him, who were discussing how to teach Qin Chuan a lesson, then looked at the person in front of him.

He was silent for a moment.

Seeing his silence, Qin Chuan continued to ask, “Tell me, I’m really curious.”

Cui Jian then took a deep breath: “That’s the Academy’s Libationer, Lord Cai.”

“Oh, so he’s the headmaster.”

Qin Chuan said casually, then strode away.

Only after he had walked far away did someone approach Cui Jian.

“Changfeng, who was that just now? I haven’t seen him before. A relative of your Cui clan? A new student?”

Cui Jian’s words caught in his throat. After holding it in for a long time, he finally decided to tell the truth.

“He is Chen Wenyuan.”

“Huh?”

“What?!”

After leaving the Imperial Academy’s teaching grounds, Qin Chuan was in a very pleasant mood.

It was indeed not a mistake to come to the National Academy.

Just the first lesson brought him considerable gains.

According to the elder’s words,

many scholars spent their entire lives practicing their principles, and that was the reason for their unending vastness.

So, what principle did he follow?

Qin Chuan didn't understand before, but now he had a faint realization in his heart.

The Reincarnation Simulator gave him the opportunity to travel through the myriad worlds.

Wouldn’t it be a pity not to take a good look?

A few days later.

The news of Chen Wenyuan’s appearance at the National Academy was no longer fresh.

Many people secretly prepared to ambush him, but he was too elusive, and none of their attempts succeeded.

The only chance to see him was during the various teachers’ courses.

Moreover, not only did they fail to ambush him, but these past few days, at the entrance of the National Academy, one could occasionally see some richly dressed young ladies.

They looked around, as if searching for someone.

As for Qin Chuan?

He had no mind for playing games with these people.

The matter of the Abyss Entrance was already giving him a headache; being able to spare time for classes was already good enough.

However, with the studies during this period, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with the methods of a Recommended Man.

Or, to put it in a more mystical way—he had solidified his realm.

From then on, his focus shifted to investigating the Abyss Entrance.

Although he had decided to just coast through it, he still had to put on a basic show.

He didn’t go to the Ministry of Justice, not because he was afraid of being scolded, but mainly because… he was still afraid he couldn’t win the scolding match.

He did go to the Dali Temple twice, passing through unhindered with Wang Zhongshu’s memorial.

He also saw the Abyss spies in the Dali Temple prison.

In general, they had lost their rationality.

They were half-mad, in a state similar to having stared directly at Cthulhu.

Besides the one Wang Zhongshu caught during his sting operation last time, Qin Chuan also saw a few piles of ashes.

He guessed it was because the Dali Temple wanted to extract information from their minds, triggering some emergency mechanism.

Other than that, he gained nothing.

“I’m tired, let’s just destroy it all!”

Inside the Prince’s residence, Qin Chuan was completely at a loss.

However, he wasn’t entirely without hope.

Ever since he received this task, he had been wondering why the Empress insisted on throwing a matter that even dukes and ministers couldn’t handle onto him.

Combining that with why he was summoned by the Empress in the first place,

the answer was obvious…

Conventional methods were clearly useless, and he was also waiting for the right time.

Until, ten days passed.

The observatory in the National Academy in the Virtual World could be used for another fifteen minutes!

Qin Chuan stood before the observatory right on time.

Searching the entire world!

That feeling of the universe being within his heart returned.

This time, Qin Chuan didn't dwell on the sensation. He first observed the outside of the world from a macroscopic perspective for a moment.

Great Zhou, Main World, Abyss.

He briefly estimated the distance between the three, judging based on their previous positions.

—They will intersect within half a year!

Qin Chuan shook his head, not thinking about this; he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

His gaze descended, entering the Da Zhou World.

This time, he didn’t dare to look around carelessly.

He directly observed within Chang'an City.

Not here, not… here either.

A moment later, he gave up on this inefficient searching method.

How vast was Chang'an?

Moreover, it wasn’t necessarily in Chang'an, it could even be the entire Great Zhou!

If only this observatory had a search engine function.

“Hmm?”

Thinking of this, Qin Chuan suddenly remembered something else.

No matter how well the Abyss hid, it was still an outsider to Great Zhou.

If an alien object entered your body, wouldn’t there be a rejection reaction?

The world should be the same.

Following this idea, Qin Chuan searched again.

Then—

“Holy cow, is this for real?!”