Unsheathed

Outside Tassel Mountain...

The mountain master of a Confucian school had secretly arrived and was now patiently waiting for a response.

Even the deity in golden armor was starting to feel slightly sympathetic.

A scholar who had the potential to become the deputy sect master of the Confucian temple was being ignored by that old scholar, someone whose statues had already been removed from the Confucian temples and smashed to pieces. The mountain master had already waited outside for more than two weeks, and if news of this were to spread, just the spittle from the scholars of the Majestic World would perhaps be enough to drown Tassel Mountain.

On the peak of Tassel Mountain...

The Confucian temple was mobilizing many scholars right now, but the old scholar remained completely unfazed and unperturbed. He stayed on the mountain peak day after day, analyzing the situation, grumbling in complaint, appreciating the engraved characters on stone tablets, offering his opinions on the significant changes sweeping through the world, and wandering around all over the mountain peak.

In the words of the deity in golden armor, the mountain god of Tassel Mountain, the old scholar was like an old fly that couldn't find any shit to eat. The old scholar wasn't angered by this description, and he patted the mountain god's golden armor and happily remarked, "This description is quite lively and interesting. When I see that old geezer in the future, I'll tell him that this is your opinion of the accompanying sages in the Confucian temples."

"If you dare to say that, then don't even think about coming to Tassel Mountain in the future," the mountain god said with a cold expression.

The old scholar hurriedly spat on his palm and helped the mountain god polish his golden armor, saying, "I was just joking — couldn't you tell? How dull."

The deity in golden armor was widely acknowledged as having the worst temper in the Middle Earth Divine Continent, yet he remained unmoving at this moment with his hands on the hilt of his sword as he gazed toward the distant lands beyond the jurisdiction of Tassel Mountain. He was surprisingly accustomed to this kind of behavior from the old scholar, and this was a reflection of how much he had suffered at the hands of the old scholar over the many years. It could be said that he had enjoyed more than his fair share of abuse. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so numb toward the old scholar's current behavior.

The old scholar scratched the back of his head with one hand, standing beside the mountain god as he mused, "As a teacher, one will never know which words one uttered, which principles one expounded, and which matters one dealt with will be truly remembered by one's disciples and students. If a scholar genuinely views themself as someone who's teaching the world and solving its questions and doubts, then it's inevitable that they'll feel a great sense of fear and unease in their minds.