Qu Yong was the seventeenth generation master of Shangxian Academy, which was built in the late Warring States Period and inherited the Dapan and Dazhou dynasties.
Although the masters of all dynasties never served as officials in the court, the academy has always been an important link in influencing the world. No matter who becomes the emperor, he will definitely win over the Shangxian Academy to maintain the rule of the dynasty.
The disciples of the academy do not live as long as those who practice cultivation. Even if they are full of righteous energy, their lifespan is just like that of ordinary people. Even if they take elixirs and magic drugs, their lifespan is no more than two hundred years. Even if they are the highest officials, their lifespan is mostly just one or two generations.
Unlike those practitioners, aristocratic families and warriors, many of them have a lifespan of thousands of years. They may still be alive even if the dynasty collapses. If they seize power, will the world belong to the royal family or to these people
Compared to these people, the royal family, as the ruling body of the world, naturally trusts people in the academy and scholars all over the world more, in order to suppress and balance military generals and aristocratic families.
When Kong Zhang was still a prince, he once attended Shangxian Academy. At that time, Qu Yong personally taught Kong Zhang. It is unknown how many disciples he taught throughout his life. He was truly a great sage respected by the world.
"It turned out to be just a dream!"
Qu Yong just took a short nap in the afternoon, but he didn't expect that after such a deep sleep, it was already evening.
In a dream just now, Qu Yong dreamed that he was standing at the foot of a tall mountain that soared into the clouds. On the peaks were clusters of palaces and pavilions, and scholars dressed in ancient clothes came and went, walking on the clouds.
On the top of the deepest mountain, there is a tree that rises directly into the sky. Its layers of branches hang down from the sea of clouds. It looks like a moon locust tree, but it is surprisingly large.
But Qu Yong understood that this was the legendary sacred tree called the Spring and Autumn Tree that was planted in the academy.
And under the Spring and Autumn Tree, in front of a sage palace that radiated a thousand-foot-high divine light, the sages of all generations in the academy looked at him, smiled at him, and revealed expressions of relief and joy.
"It was just a big dream. I actually dreamed of Xundu Academy and the saints of all ages. Could it be that I, Qu Yong, have grown old and started to miss the saints of all ages and could not help but follow them?"
Qu Yong stroked his pure white beard and said, "Or is there some kind of omen in the universe?"
Qu Yong adjusted his white teacher's robe. Since the founding of the Pan Dynasty, because white is the preferred color in Pan, the teacher's robes of the Shangxian Academy have also turned white. They look lighter and more casual, and are no longer the ancient black and red attire of the retro era.
Qu Yong looked at the scroll that fell to the ground. Outside the half-open doors and windows, the sky was dark and filled with sunset glow.
The moment his eyes fell on the several tall and sturdy thousand-year-old locust trees outside the window, the densely packed white flowers on the branches instantly bloomed, emitting bursts of fragrance.
The moon-tree is a tree that grew in Xundu during the Dahuan era. The academy was founded at that time, and the custom of planting moon-trees was passed down. Now, not only the academy, but the entire county city is planted with this tree.
Whenever the flowers bloom, the whole city is filled with fragrance, which is also a major sight in Junjun City.
"Flowers bloom in March! With the warm spring weather this year, are the flowers blooming earlier?"
Because he had just dreamed of returning to Xundu Academy, and when he woke up he saw the thousand-year-old locust tree in the academy blooming. Master Qu Yong also smiled widely and walked out of the house.
At this time, there were bursts of noise coming from the academy outside. The sound of reading aloud as usual was nowhere to be heard, and it seemed very noisy.
"Look! It's all open!"
“How beautiful!”
A group of young students wearing schoolboy gowns were lying on the wall of the academy, looking out of the windows.
The teacher of the academy also hurried over and just happened to see Master Qu Yong walking out of the backyard of the academy. He immediately scolded the students with a stern look on his face.
"How shameful! Hurry up and get down!"
Young men who were studying in the academy came down one after another, and then they found that the teacher was there too. They were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they stood in front of the two men respectfully.
"Meet Instructor Bi!"
"Hello, Master!"
Qu Yong was not harsh, "I wonder what is out there that is more attractive than the books of sages?"
"Master! For some reason, all the moon locust trees in the city blossomed at the same time!"
“The fragrance of flowers filled the city, so we couldn’t help but watch!”
The teacher was surprised and asked, "Are all the moon locust trees in the city blooming at the same time?"
With a wave of his hand, he saw the three gates of the academy opened. When the wind blew outside the door, the flower petals fell with the wind and scattered into the academy.
The foundation of the academy palace is very high. Standing here, you can overlook half of the county, giving you a feeling of standing high and looking far.
Passing through the gate of the Sanchong Academy, looking around, you can see the locust trees scattered all over the county. The flower buds that were originally curled up on the trees suddenly bloomed.
The sky was full of sunset glow, and the trees on the streets were dyed white by flowers. The whole city was filled with late locust trees of the same color, with branches weighing down. When the wind blew, the ancient street paved with bluestone seemed to have become a sea of flowers.
However, in Master Qu Yong's arms, a jade slip unconsciously emitted a lot of light, rushed out of his hand, and rushed into the sky.
"What's going on?" This time, Qu Yong's face changed. This jade slip for preaching is the foundation of the academy. Even if everything can be lost, there must not be any mistakes in this jade slip for preaching.
The light of righteousness that connected heaven and earth surged out, and endless articles of sages and figures of wise men from past dynasties appeared and disappeared in the light. This movement immediately alarmed the entire county within a radius of hundreds of miles.
"Preaching Jade Slip!"
"Preaching Jade Slip?"
Inside the academy, voices of righteousness rose up into the sky, and voices of surprise and shock emanated from the pavilions in the backyard of the academy.
Even the eyes of people in the county looked over. The preaching jade slip had not appeared in at least a hundred years, but it suddenly appeared today. It was definitely not ordinary.
Many people immediately looked towards the academy, thinking that something big had happened inside the Shangxian Academy, especially the many great sages and scholars hiding in the academy, who were alarmed and came out in an instant.
Rays of light rose up along with the preaching jade slip, and a strong pressure swept across the sky. The monks, demons, and monsters hidden within miles felt as if a disaster was about to happen.
The students from various colleges studying in the academy also came out. There were nearly a thousand people from the front, middle and back colleges. Each of them wore a long academy robe and looked at the jade slip that was emitting infinite light in shock.
"The Jade Slips of the Saint's Teachings?"
"Legend has it that this jade slip was passed down by the sage Feng. Originally, it only had one volume of teachings engraved on it. Later, it was passed to the sage Zhuang, who collected the writings of the 24 sages of the academy and passed it down from generation to generation. All the worldly affairs of the academy are hidden in it."
"Throughout the generations, only the Master could possess the Jade Slips of Teaching. The last Master of Xundu Academy died in the Dahuan Palace in order to prevent this Saint's item from falling into the hands of traitors."
"Isn't this thing in the Master's hand? He never shows it to others easily. Why is he showing it to you today?"
"Is there anyone who is doing harm to the academy?"
Everyone was guessing, but before they could finish, they saw the preaching jade slip turn into the sun and fall into the Palace of Sages in the academy, where the saints and wise men of all generations were enshrined.
The gate of the Palace of the Sage flew open with a bang, and the sound of loud bells and heavy drums was heard, and the buzzing sound echoed in the ears of all the disciples in the academy and the sky of the county.
Master Qu Yong was the first to arrive in front of the Palace of the Sages, and then one by one the old men who had been secluded from the world and the great sages and scholars who were said to have passed away long ago also walked out of the most secret backyard of the academy and followed him out.
Walking into it, the densely packed characters in the entire Palace of the Ancient Sages emitted golden light, and most of the statues of the twenty-four sages in the two rows also glowed.
The preaching jade slip was hovering above the five saint statues in the center, illuminating the entire Palace of the Sage.
"What is this?" An old man with a cane, who had just stepped into the Palace of the Sage, looked at this scene, as if he had thought of something, and his beard began to tremble with excitement.
"The First Saint Palace is open! The Saint has come to the world!"
"This is the saint's oral instruction!"
The great sages of the contemporary academy had never seen such a scene. This Palace of the Ancient Sages was built in imitation of the Palace of the Ancient Sages in Xundu Academy, but over hundreds of years, this kind of situation had only occurred once.
Qu Yong, the teacher of Shangxian Academy, stood in front of the crowd, staring intently at the five statues of saints. The light of the preaching jade slip flowed and finally fell on the fifth statue.
The tablets of all the branches of the academy, the academies, and the twenty-four statues of the sages shone together, as if responding to the appearance of the saint.
From the statue of the Fifth Saint of Humanity came the sound of a saint preaching the great Dao. The saint's statue slowly faded in the light, and finally only a tall outline remained.