Chapter 283 – Contention of the Hundred Schools of Though (2/2)
“Women should be well-versed in the themes of romance, accompanied by poems and books. How can you let her become a nun and tend to statues of buddhas? Or a new recruit in the military, bleeding and sweating in the army? I think there is no school apart from my school of Confucianism that can handle someone with such great talent.” Liu Zhangqing gave up on maintaining his gentle, modest, and courteous demeanour as he specifically targeted them.
With a bang, the slovenly daoist priest kicked over the long table before him. The alcohol jugs and cups scattered over the floor, making quite the ruckus.
“Whoever dares to contend for Xiao An against me better be ready to try what this great daoist is capable of first.”
The One Thought master pulled his robes apart, revealing sturdy pectoral muscles that completely contrasted against his original appearance. He roared, “Hey! You ox nose, I’ve endured you for long enough now! Do you really think my school of Buddhism is actually incapable of dealing with you?”
“Heh, you bald ass2. I’ve grown tired of you a long time ago. Let’s settle this today!”
The two of them pulled away from one another. The leaders of the minor schools could not help but stand up and chime in with their own thoughts at the same time, even though they knew it should have been impossible for them to contend against the major schools.
“With the mechanisms and puppets of the school of Mohism, she can rival millions alone…”
“Practising medicine to save people is the duty of the school of Medicine…”
“If she doesn’t learn music theory, it’s basically a pity that she’s born as a woman in the first place…”
Their original solemnity and respectfulness immediately descended into a noisy mess, no different from a vegetable market. The instructors awaiting orders outside were all stunned. If they began fighting inside, they would all end up as unwitting sacrifices.
“Writing novels is pretty good too!” From a corner, a middle-aged man said timidly. He sat in the corner the entire time, without emitting a peep of sound. Now, he finally could not help himself anymore.
The room suddenly fell silent. All of their gazes gathered on him. They were as stern as knives as murderous aura gathered like dark clouds.
The middle-aged man immediately broke out in a cold sweat. “I- I’m just saying…”
The arguments continued. The middle-aged man exhaled deeply. He was utterly dejected.
The One Thought master had already revealed the shredded upper half of his body, maintaining a fierce glare.
The slovenly daoist provoked loudly, “Bald ass, come at me! This great daoist will give you a handicap of three moves!”
“Hell of Ice!” Wang Pushi erupted.
The leaders all felt a frosty wind sweep over. It was grim and bleak, as mighty as hell itself.
The room immediately went from warm spring to the middle of winter. Even a layer of ice appeared. Everyone could not help but stop arguing and look at Wang Pushi.
“Everyone, please calm down. Do not lose your composure as the leaders of schools. Have you all forgotten what old brother Huang said earlier?”
From the beginning till the end, only the calm, old man remained silent, sitting there peacefully. It made them all slightly embarrassed.
“Old brother Huang, what do you think-” Wang Pushi paused. Unexpectedly, the earth elder Huang that sat there smoking his pipe was just an earthen figure. If he had not used the Hell of Ice, even he would have failed to notice that.
They all suddenly turned their heads and looked into the Watermirror disc.
Earth elder Huang currently stood before Xiao An with an amiable smile. He seemed to be chattering endlessly to her. He even fished out a handful of peanuts for her.
“That fucker! It’s the Earthen Substitute and Ground Contraction!” The slovenly daoist priest cursed aloud.
In the hands of earth elder Huang, these two earth elemented techniques could create wonders. None of the Foundation Establishment cultivators actually managed to sense anything. Sure enough, people grew craftier3 with age!
1. You may be somewhat familiar with the Japanese name of wind, forest, fire, and mountain—fūrinkazan. It’s derived from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, popularised by Takeda Shingen. It basically means “as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain,” which are concepts that should be applied to warfare.
2. Bald ass and ox nose go hand in hand as insults to buddhist monks and daoist priests respectively. I’d say this is something to keep in mind.
Bald ass originates from the fact that buddhist monks often lead a donkey around when travelling for alms and for developing good karma, and there are a lot of these monks that dirty the name of buddhists by stealing, tricking, or just forcefully begging for alms. As a result, when local people spotted these monks, they would call out, “Run! The bald-headed person leading an ass is coming!” Gradually, it turned into bald ass.
The origin of ox nose is a little more complicated. A major deity in Daoism, Laozi, was said to have left China after riding through Hanggu pass on a black ox. After he became a deity, the black ox became an immortal ox too, which later people joked that it was being led around by the nose by “Laozi”. Laozi’s mount in Daoism also happens to be the black ox he rode on. The reason why it’s an insult is because although the ox became an immortal ox, it was still a mere animal, a beast.