Chapter 1766: Sorting

The newcomer was Zhang Xuan. He truly couldn't understand what these master teachers were doing.

Master teachers usually didn't revere gods or spirits, nor did they delve into karma. Yet, here they were, offering sacrifices just like the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. Most critically, judging by their tone, their desire to leave seemed connected to these actions. His doubts could no longer be contained, and he flew out.

With the Demonic Xuan Blade having advanced, he no longer feared even an ancient Otherworldly Demonic Saint. There was no need to hide his identity anymore, so he didn't disguise himself this time.

However, the master teachers before him didn't seem to recognize him; they all looked at him with caution. He realized why: those who could enter the Temple of Confucius's remains were mostly Grand Elders from various powers who had been in secluded cultivation for extended periods. They had been out of touch with worldly affairs for a long time, so despite the great commotion Zhang Xuan had caused, they were unaware of it.

Seeing their wary expressions, Zhang Xuan smiled and put on his master teacher emblem. "I am also a master teacher," he said.

Upon seeing the emblem, everyone relaxed. "So you are one too? How did you end up alone?" the winning master teacher from earlier asked, looking over.

"I got engrossed in my cultivation and lost track of time," Zhang Xuan replied.

"This place records countless powerful secret arts; it's truly dazzling and easy to get lost in," the master teacher said with a smile. "However, it's quite lucky you didn't suffer a cultivation deviation while cultivating alone."

After chatting for a while, Zhang Xuan learned that the victorious master teacher was Mu Xu, from the Mu Clan of the Five Elements Families. He had only just emerged from 300 years of secluded cultivation and knew nothing of current events. Even when Zhang Xuan revealed his true name, Mu Xu showed no significant reaction.

After a while, as they grew more familiar, Zhang Xuan asked the question that had been bothering him. "Earlier, I saw you all practicing techniques and performing a sacrifice, and then figures appeared on the wall. What was that about?"

"The stones in this stone forest are truly miraculous, containing countless martial arts and cultivation techniques; I presume you've noticed that," Mu Xu explained. "However, these techniques are in disarray. To fully learn them, one must find the correct sequence, awaken the ancestral imprints hidden within the stones, and then by integrating the cultivation art and inner breath, you can break through this world and enter the corresponding sub-temple."

"Enter a sub-temple?" Zhang Xuan was stunned. This was the first time he had heard a master teacher trapped in one of these worlds mention such a thing.

"Yes, some people have already succeeded," Mu Xu said with a wry smile. "We are relatively slow; we haven't succeeded yet."

"You mean someone has entered a sub-temple? Do you know what this 'sub-temple' is called?" Zhang Xuan asked, looking at him.

"It's called the Hall of Sacred Vestiges," Mu Xu replied. "It contains the sacred relics of Master Kong and the Seventy-Two Sages. These stone forests are the cultivation arts and secret techniques they left behind. By entering the sub-temple, one should be able to gain their legacy. That's why we've been diligently searching for the pattern. Since you've also arrived, let's work together. If we happen to find the correct sequence of cultivation arts for this stone forest, we can enter the sub-temple like the others."

Zhang Xuan understood. The method to enter the sub-temple from this stone forest was different from other worlds. In other worlds, one found the exit and then broke through the space above to discover it. Here, one needed to find the pattern of cultivation arts left within the stone forest.

"With so many stones, how can anyone possibly study them all?" Now that he knew the method to enter the sub-temple, Zhang Xuan was no longer anxious, but instead, asked with doubt. There were tens of thousands of stones around them. Examining all of them and arranging their sequence would be an endlessly exhausting task.

"The stones are also divided into areas," Mu Xu explained. "Each smooth-surfaced stone contains a phantom image of an ancestor's sacred relic. Within the area covered by such a phantom, there are approximately ten thousand stones. Some show discernible forms that imply cultivation arts, while others are just plain stones. Around a thousand stones contain techniques, and from those, we search for patterns."

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood. On his way there, he had noticed that not all stones contained cultivation arts, but he hadn't calculated the ratio. He hadn't realized it was roughly a nine-to-one ratio.

This greatly reduced the scope and workload.

"Time is precious; we must seize it to research," Mu Xu said. After talking for a while, Mu Xu stopped speaking, took out a treasured sword, and began carving incessantly on the ground, seemingly searching for a pattern.

Seeing the others resume their intense discussions, Zhang Xuan leaped onto a tall rock and looked around. As soon as Mu Xu mentioned it, he indeed found that the surrounding stones were regularly distributed around the smooth stone in front of them as the center. Among them, the stones containing human martial arts movements numbered exactly one thousand.

"Flaws!" With a thought, the numerous stone statues imprinted themselves into his mind, forming a book. He then looked again at the hundreds of permutations and combinations that the master teachers on the ground had carved. As various pieces of information converged and perfectly merged, Zhang Xuan gently opened the book.

"Forty-seven flaws!" He identified these forty-seven flaws, then reorganized the sequence, reducing them to forty-five. After adjusting it more than ten times, there were finally no errors; it was perfect.

"It seems this sequence is correct," he thought, letting out a sigh of relief. Zhang Xuan looked back at the others.

At this moment, Mu Xu and the others seemed to have each deduced another correct sequence, and they were arguing endlessly.

"Stop with the idle talk; let's just continue with the competition," Mu Xu said, waving his hand. "Whoever's technique is stronger, their sequence is the correct one!"

"Alright!" Everyone nodded simultaneously. Just as they were about to begin their spar, Zhang Xuan, who had been observing from the side, flew over. "Everyone, I've also found a sequence that I feel is quite good. May I join?"

"Don't cause trouble. You just arrived; what kind of pattern could you possibly find?" Mu Xu frowned. "We've been trapped here for eight or nine hours and still haven't found the correct one."

"Young man, be more humble, don't aim too high," one said. "When you just arrive, you should observe and learn, not try to show off."

"We are competing to see whose sequence is more accurate. You can rest on the side for now and join once you understand what these stones represent."

"With so many stones, each representing different moves, how many can you recognize and memorize? If you can't even do that, what sequence can you arrange?" The other master teachers also waved their hands dismissively.

They had been studying for so long and were still perplexed; how could someone who had just arrived join in? What a joke!

"I—" Zhang Xuan shook his head with a bitter smile, not expecting to be rejected.

However, he understood their reaction. He had only arrived five or six minutes ago. For an ordinary master teacher, even memorizing the forms of a thousand stones would be difficult, let alone correctly sequencing them or finding a complete cultivation art.

"Ignore him; let's continue our discussion," Mu Xu said, too bothered to pay attention to him. He motioned for the others to resume their competition using the sequences they had just deduced. Before they could finish, they suddenly felt an energy fluctuation nearby. They looked over and saw that the young man who had just arrived had, at some unknown point, activated a smooth stone on one side, and a phantom image had appeared before him.