Chen Xu was unaware of everything happening in Jade Capital Celestial City.

If he knew, he might just see through it:

The Emperor, how could he not want a legacy of eternal achievements?

He indeed desired the benefits of revolutionary strategies, yet did not want to bear the risks brought by such monumental changes.

Thus, he neither promised nor obstructed!

The heart's self-serving intentions were as clear as day.

And what Chen Xu could see through, how could Wen Daoyuan not see through it?

Just that though the matter had flaws, he was still willing.

Where the path lies, even if thousands oppose, I shall follow!

Wen Daoyuan was extremely disappointed in the Emperor.

And just after Wen Daoyuan left, the Emperor let out a long sigh.

He said to Wang Zhen, "My dear attendant, Master Wen must be disappointed in me once more. Yet he does not know that I truly have my burdens."

Wang Zhen hurriedly bent his waist and carefully comforted him, saying, "Your Majesty is the revered ruler, the one who governs. Your thoughts and considerations, what you have seen and worried about, have long gone beyond what common folk can comprehend.

Though Mountain Master Wen is a Great Scholar, he is still a mortal. How can he completely understand Your Majesty's heart?

And yet Your Majesty is magnanimous and open-minded, able to accommodate talents from across the world.

With a benevolent ruler like Your Majesty above us, Mountain Master Wen should feel fortunate."

Look at how well Wang Zhen spoke.

The Emperor was immediately delighted, chuckled, and extended his hands, gazing at the faint lines that differed from his youthful days:

"Dear attendant, I cannot be impulsive. I must live well first in order to leave some spirit for people like Master Wen.

Though Master Wen cannot understand me, I cannot help but protect him.

How many Wen Daoyuans are there in the world?

I must be here, shielding him from below."

So the Emperor had such deep intentions.

Wang Zhen was so moved that his eyes were filled with tears. He couldn't bear to wipe them, only spoke with a choking voice, "Your Majesty, why do you suffer so!

This old servant sees it, and it feels like my heart is being torn."

The Emperor sighed again, suddenly changed the topic, and asked, "My dear attendant, this Chen Xu of Celestial South Dao, what is his background? Which family does he belong to?"

Yes, although Chen Xu was known in the Great Li's Splendor Record, many citizens of Celestial South Dao knew he was originally the Thirty-First of the Profound List, later becoming Twenty-Fifth—

However, these reputations were unknown to the Emperor.

How could the Emperor pay attention to mere Twenty-Fifth of the Profound List?

At most, he would only remember the top three of the Celestial List.

Wang Zhen was different, what the Emperor paid attention to he had to pay attention to, and what the Emperor didn't pay attention to he also had to pay attention to.

Anything and anyone with even a slight significance, he kept in mind, in case the Emperor suddenly asked.

So, when the Emperor asked about Chen Xu, Wang Zhen immediately said: "Your Majesty, this Chen Xu, ah, he is not the son of an aristocratic family, nor even a member of a fallen Humble Family.

This prodigy, remarkably, is truly from a farming family, with no ancestral remnants for three generations prior, utterly a family engaged in farming and studying."

Oh!

The Emperor was first surprised, then pleased.

Pingyang City, thirty miles outside the city.

At that time, Chen Xu had just left the Imperial Examination Hall.

The clamor outside the hall continued, some rejoicing, some crying, and some upon seeing family immediately weakened, prompting doctors to rush forward to support them.

This was routine; if a family was more affluent, they would bring a doctor to accompany the examinee, which would be the highest level of treatment.

And Chen Xu also had someone to receive him.

No, it was two Little Demons who came to receive him.

Although outside the hall, there were still many learning of the news that Chen Xu's article emitted purple smoke, attempting to find him.

But as long as Chen Xu wished to evade, no one outside could track his whereabouts.

His transformation of Literary Qi within the Sea of Literature was still ongoing!

Dragon Bone Water Spin stood at the bow of the Ink boat, an old farmer at the stern, the Sea of Literature was calm, yet the Ink boat speeded toward the opposite shore.

In the Ink Pool at the center of the Ink boat, Literary Qi transformed, clear light gleamed.

Because of this, Chen Xu felt a particular spirituality, as if he seemed to hear the breath of heaven and earth.

Thus, he suddenly felt something, his gaze sharply looking towards the southeast.

What was there in that direction?

Yes, there was the main stream of Yuan Cang River!

The mighty Yuan Cang River began from Kunlun Mountain Range.

It bypassed one mountain after another, traversed one gorge after another.

Enduring endless undulations, it ultimately headed east.

Where it flowed, it once brought endless floods, also left countless vitality, nourishing the vast lands.

And thirty miles outside Pingyang City, there was the most dangerous, vast, grand segment of the main stream of Yuan Cang River.

Here the water was perilous, white waves surging to the sky.

Even the most experienced fishermen often were unwilling to fish here, and the most water-skilled wave riders, were unwilling to linger too long.

Therefore, despite such a vast river stretch, only rolling waves were seen on both sides, with almost no travelers.

But at this moment, as Chen Xu gazed afar, a person indeed walked along the distant road!

The coming figure was broad, nearly two meters in height.

He wore a bamboo hat, his steps slightly stiff.

Yet this stiffness if not looked closely, was very hard for ordinary people to detect.

The bamboo hat man's nose was straight and face square, eye sockets were exceedingly deep, carrying a somewhat unusually somber aura.

The most peculiar was that despite his distinctive appearance, walking on the road, even the birds and beasts around often easily ignored him.

Even little birds collided with him—

Bang!

The bamboo hat man did not dodge, the bird struck his chest, yet immediately blossomed into a shower of blood on his chest.

This naturally wasn't the bird striking him, but rather the bird hitting him was like hitting a mountain wall.

Instantly blood splashed, immediately dying.

The bamboo hat man casually brushed off the bird's corpse, but was measuring around the river.

His stiff footsteps, yet strangely each step with identical length, as he walked back and forth a stretch of road, the bamboo hat man's brows furrowed.

"Twenty-one, thirty-four, sixty-eight..."

He earnestly recited mysterious numbers, his language low and indistinct, even if someone truly stood beside him, they surely would not hear what he said clearly.

His stiff footsteps, yet strangely each step with identical length, as he walked back and forth a stretch of road, the bamboo hat man's brows furrowed.

"Twenty-one, thirty-four, sixty-eight..."

He earnestly recited mysterious numbers, his language low and indistinct, even if someone truly stood beside him, they surely would not hear what he said clearly.

His stiff footsteps, yet strangely each step with identical length, as he walked back and forth a stretch of road, the bamboo hat man's brows furrowed.

"Twenty-one, thirty-four, sixty-eight..."

He earnestly recited mysterious numbers, his language low and indistinct, even if someone truly stood beside him, they surely would not hear what he said clearly.

His stiff footsteps, yet strangely each step with identical length, as he walked back and forth a stretch of road, the bamboo hat man's brows furrowed.

"Twenty-one, thirty-four, sixty-eight..."

He earnestly recited mysterious numbers, his language low and indistinct, even if someone truly stood beside him, they surely would not hear what he said clearly.

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