Unsheathed

On the banks of the Iron Talisman River, there were several elderly scholars wearing tall crowns and dressed in robes with large sleeves as they walked ahead of everyone else. There were young men and young women in Confucian robes walking behind them, and it was clear that they were all disciples of the Confucian Sect.

The group of Confucian scholars was like a long azure snake, and everyone loudly recited the Exhortation to Learning as they walked.

The river water gurgled, and the sound of recitation echoed.

There was a young girl dressed in red among the group of scholars, and a small silver gourd filled with water tied to her hip. She was carrying a small green bamboo bookcase on her back, and after passing Red Candle Town and Go Table Mountain, she had once privately told Mountain Master Mao that she wanted to return to Dragon Spring Prefecture by herself.

That way, she could decide by herself where she advanced quicker and where she advanced slower. The old Confucian scholar hadn't agreed, saying that traversing the mountains and rivers wasn't a form of scholarly pursuit. This was an activity in which she needed to conform to the group.

When they passed the water god temple of the Iron Talisman River, Yang Hua, the highest-ranking river god of the Great Li Empire, surprisingly appeared in front of the Confucian disciples. This was a river goddess who almost never appeared in front of other people, and she held a long sword with a golden tassel in her arms as she looked at the group of disappearing disciples who hailed from both the Great Li Empire and the Great Sui Nation.

Mountain Cliff Academy had already been stripped of its status as one of the seventy-two Confucian academies, so there was technically no need for a high-ranking river god like Yang Hua to show such respect toward them.

However, Mountain Cliff Academy, which had now relocated to Eastern Splendor Mountain in the Great Sui Nation's capital, was once a holy land in the hearts of all scholars in the Great Li Empire. Moreover, many of Mao Xiaodong's students still held posts in the imperial court of the Great Li Empire, especially in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War. He was still highly respected throughout the empire.

Meanwhile, Yang Hua had admired and looked up to Mountain Cliff Academy for a long time when she was still a sword-bearing maidservant for that imperial concubine. She had once visited the academy with her mistress, and she had already seen the tall and sturdy Scholar Mao at that time. It was because of this that she appeared in front of the group of Confucian disciples today.

There were already people waiting for them at the waterfall on the boundary of the Iron Talisman River and the Dragon Whisker River.

The mountain masters of Cloud Drape Mountain's Forest Deer Academy, Prefectural Overseer Wu Yuan of Dragon Spring Prefecture, County Magistrate Yuan, and Kiln Supervision Official Cao were among the group of people waiting for them.