Chapter 514: Chapter 504: Eliminate Demons and Defend the Dao, Don’t Show Off

Yi Zheng had truly had it with this Old Sixth, he had talked forever and still didn’t even know his name, yet he was already naming him!

Before Yi Zheng could refuse, he saw seventy-two strong men and fierce women stand up simultaneously, shouting in unison with voices that rolled in like thunder, dizzying Yi Zheng and making him spin in place, vaguely hearing something about welcoming the Little Junior Brother…

Then, his eyes rolled back as he fainted from the shock. His last thought was only one: “I want to go home!”

…

When Yi Zheng opened his eyes again, he heard the clear sound of a bell. He looked around groggily at his surroundings–an ancient house with rather ordinary decoration, but it had all the necessary furniture like tables and chairs, and there was an oil lamp on the table…

His mind wasn’t fully awake yet when the door banged open with a loud kick, and a burly figure rushed up to him, grabbed his rabbit ears, and started running outside.

Yi Zheng shuddered involuntarily, about to scream for help, when he heard the man say, “Little Junior Brother, you’re too lazy! The breakfast bell has rung, you’re not still in bed, are you? You wouldn’t want to starve, right?”

Yi Zheng’s mind was filled with question marks. Little Junior Brother? Bell? Hungry?

Then, memories flowed through his mind like water. He remembered, he had joined the Ganding Mountain! Now, he was the seventy-second chairholder’s disciple!

He had just been initiated yesterday and was yelled at until he fainted…

As Yi Zheng was slightly coming to his senses, he found himself already seated, and then saw a large hand thrust a chicken leg towards him. Before Yi Zheng could react, the hand pinched open his mouth and shoved the chicken leg straight in, thrusting it into his throat, and Yi Zheng began to roll his eyes.

“Damn, that’s too deep,” the other muttered, pulling it out slightly.

Seeming to think he had withdrawn too much, he thrust it in again.

Yi Zheng quickly slapped him, thinking, “Mom’s spaghetti, are you going in and out here?”

“Eat! Hurry up and eat! After you’ve eaten, you still have class! There’s not much time…”

The man urged nonchalantly.

Yi Zheng was still groggy and was about to look at the speaker, then saw a large hand reach out, pinch his mouth, move it up and down a few times, and then slap the end of the chicken leg. A giant force came through, and the chicken leg was smacked right down his esophagus. Yi Zheng’s eyes rolled back, just about to ask for water, when he saw a large basin brought over. Then the large hand tipped his head back, pried open his mouth, and poured the soup straight down…

“Drink it while it’s hot; this soup is delicious,” the rough voice sounded: “Oh dear? Little Junior Brother, why are you crying? No need to be moved, we’re going to be brothers from now on, looking after each other is only right. By the way, I’m called Zi Zhuang, I’ll be responsible for teaching you etiquette and helping you settle into life in the sect.

Alright, stop crying, don’t get excited, this is what I should be doing.”

Yi Zheng cried inwardly: “Moved my ass! The soup is still boiling for goodness’ sake! My throat!”

Before Yi Zheng could speak, the bell sounded again. A giant hand grabbed him by the rabbit ears, and Yi Zheng only saw the scenery rapidly receding around him, with the view shifting as rapidly as lightning, until he was dumped onto a cushion and made to kneel. His surroundings had already changed to a classroom.

There was now a small desk in front of him, with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on it.

He finally saw something related to culture, and was instantly moved…

Just then, a grey cloud flew over and circled around Yi Zheng. A grey scholar’s robe and a small grey hat appeared on him.

At the same time, a cat with large scissors and big glasses appeared on the desk.

This cat looked up and down at Rabbit, then said very satisfied, “Not bad, not bad! Fits perfectly, my craftsmanship is reliable!”

After speaking, the cat pulled out a huge mirror from its bosom and set it in front of Yi Zheng. It peeked from behind the mirror, grinned at Yi Zheng, and said, “Mr. Seventy-two, take a look, are you satisfied?”

Yi Zheng looked at his reflection in the mirror–indeed, the clothes were tailor-made, fitting him perfectly!

However, more than the clothes, Yi Zheng was interested in the tailoring cat: “Are you a tailor?”

The tailoring cat lifted its head proudly, circled around Rabbit once, then dropped a remark: “It seems you’re satisfied!”

After speaking, it saucily vanished into a wisp of smoke.

At the same moment, someone grabbed Yi Zheng’s ears again, pulling him forcibly to stand, as a thunderous noise erupted all around: “We welcome the Big House Master’s lecture!”

With that shout, Yi Zheng was sure he had returned to the den of bandits.

Once again placed on the cushion, he finally had a chance to look at Zi Zhuang who had brought him there.

It was a burly man about 2.3 meters tall, Bald, his head shiny as though oiled.

With thick eyebrows and big eyes, even while sitting, his mouth unwittingly split into a grin, smiling like a giant, two-meter-tall fool.

Seeing Yi Zheng looking at him, Zi Zhuang lifted a big hand, twisted Rabbit’s head to face forward.

In front, Kong Ni held a book in one hand and a large chopping knife in the other, half-wearing and half-drapping his clothes, wandering in front as he said, “Today we’ll start with cultural lessons, hmm… we’ll teach everyone a phrase.

Listen well, this phrase is ‘A promise made by a gentleman is worth more than a horse that can’t be caught once it runs.’

What does ‘A promise made by a gentleman is worth more than a horse that can’t be caught once it runs’ mean…”

Yi Zheng’s face below was black as coal, thinking, “Damn it, he’s plagiarizing my homework! You just heard it from me and now you’re teaching it as your own?”

However, Yi Zheng didn’t dare say it out loud, only making faces at Kong Ni from below.

Kong Ni didn’t care, letting him make faces as he finished teaching ‘A promise made by a gentleman is worth more than a horse that can’t be caught once it runs,’ then tossed the book aside: “Alright, cultural class is over, next we’ll talk about cultivation class.”

Yi Zheng inwardly cried out again: “Brother, so your cultural lessons are just about stealing a phrase and then it’s all about cultivation? How poor can your cultural depth be?”

Kong Ni slung the chopping knife over his shoulder and said, “We have a newcomer today, so today I’ll review the doctrines of the sect with everyone. What is the doctrine of the Chopping Wood Sect?”

The disciples around shouted in unison: “Fight demons, uphold the path, and no pretensions allowed!”

Yi Zheng was prepared early and had covered his ears in advance, so he wasn’t injured by the shock. However, he was surprised to find that while his unreliable brothers shouted those words, each of them looked solemn and exuded righteousness, and even a faint white mist emanated from their bodies. It was a mist he recognized–Vast Righteous Qi!

Yi Zheng was dumbfounded and thought, “Damn, they really are scholars…”

Yi Zheng knew that in the world there existed Vast Righteous Qi, which gathered in the sky and converged into a river.

This Vast Righteous Qi was a unique power of scholars, and no one else could harness it.

Yi Zheng had always felt that the place he belonged to was like a den of thieves, from top to bottom, a bunch of crafty brutes. But these guys actually possessed Vast Righteous Qi, which proved they were genuine scholars!

Kong Ni continued, “Very good, so what is the purpose of reading?

Money, women, longevity, status…

Those are the pursuits of foolish people; we of the Chopping Wood Sect are different.

Our goal is to understand people, the earth, and the heavenly principles!

By doing so, we can avoid deception and not be dominated by desires, centering our hearts and understanding the world!

With a calm heart and the spirit, all evils cannot invade!”

Listening to this, Yi Zheng’s jaw dropped. He had thought that after the culture lesson they would discuss where to find easy targets or how to rob without being noticed and how to make a lightning-fast escape.

But this, he suddenly realized, was the real culture lesson!

For the first time, Yi Zheng began to take this Sect seriously. He gathered his spirit and started to listen to the class earnestly.

Kong Ni said, “Centering your heart does not make you a hero; it’s about guiding the hearts of people worldwide, benefiting all beings–that’s what makes a hero!

So, we should not only read but also write!

But just writing, how is that different from those pedantic people?

Therefore, we must also cultivate!

In cultivation, we don’t need to be the strongest, just strong enough to defeat our opponents.

After all, experience has shown that beating them up first makes them listen to reason more sincerely.

If they still refuse to listen, by the time you’re about to finish them off, they’ll start listening.

So, ‘reason,’ split it into ‘path’ beside ‘leader,’ which is ‘king’ with an addition of ‘in.’ Putting the ‘path’ first means if you don’t kick their brains first they won’t listen to your reasoning.

If you don’t beat them, deep down they won’t regard you as their king and won’t follow your reasoning.

So, with reasoning, beat first, then speak after they are convinced!

Did you understand?”

“Understood!” the surroundings echoed in unison.

Yi Zheng, covering his ears, was spellbound. He swore, never in his life had he heard such a clear explanation of reasoning!

Yi Zheng highly approved of this approach.

This was just like back on Earth, where some had said, “The truth is within the range of a cannon.

And an old saying went, “Fists are the ultimate truth.

Basically, lacking strength and trying to reason with others?

That’s most likely asking for trouble.

The reasoning of the weak, even dogs won’t listen to it.

The strong’s robber-theory, the other side also has to accept it as the truth.

This damn well is the essence of reasoning!

Suddenly, Yi Zheng felt that this Sect might not be too bad, at least it suited his taste!

“Alright, the core lesson is over, Zi Zhuang, you should take good care of your Little Junior Brother Zitu from now on.

Take him out more often to understand the principles of the world.

Alright, let’s break up!” Kong Ni finished, waved his hand dramatically, and walked away, carrying an ax. From afar, Yi Zheng heard him muttering, “Move along, the backyard wood isn’t chopped yet…”

Yi Zheng was confused, “The leader of a grand Sect still has to chop wood himself?”

Hearing Yi Zheng’s mutter, Zi Zhuang laughed and said, “In our Sect, no one serves anyone else; everything, even cooking, we have to do ourselves, it’s a points system. Then the Sect allocates resources based on the points…

Even the Big House Master is no exception.

So, the Big House Master also has to do some chores from time to time.

Moreover, it’s a rule in the Sect that you can’t use mana, so many tasks are time-consuming.

But you don’t need to worry; you are a new disciple, and you won’t have much work.”