Chapter 276: Divine Way

"You are," Hu Rennong began.

The young man's face was unremarkable, blending into the crowd. He seemed like someone out of his mind, completely ignoring Hu Rennong and continuing to gesture.

Hu Rennong didn't mind. He slowly lowered his gaze to the writings on the ground, and his expression gradually changed. It was as if they contained some kind of mathematical or logical principle. "What is this?" he wondered.

The young man didn't seem to hear him.

Hu Rennong grew curious. Through further interaction, he discovered that the young man was exceptionally peculiar.

This young man appeared to live off the land, sleeping under the sky and eating wild grass and tree bark when hungry. He wouldn't respond if you spoke to him normally, but if you discussed academic matters, he would answer and engage in conversation.

"Like a ruthless learning machine," Hu Rennong thought, his mind reeling. He marveled at the young man's purity and flawlessness, realizing that even his own decades of arduous study hadn't been so unadulterated or diligent. This level of perseverance was astonishing. "He seems to have been born solely for learning," Hu Rennong mused. "He's constantly studying, constantly reading. If you want him to pay attention to you, you can only talk about knowledge."

"What are your thoughts on this problem?" he suddenly asked, handing over a question.

"This problem is unprecedented; it seems not to belong to this world."

Hu Rennong, highly skilled in calculations, was secretly astonished. They collaborated on solving it, spending several days, from learning its fundamental rules to finally arriving at a solution.

The young man was immediately appreciative, though still somewhat expressionless. "You are very capable," he said. "You've resolved my learning doubts. In exchange, I will impart corresponding knowledge to you."

After speaking, he turned and walked away, continuing to read his book.

Hu Rennong looked at the book in his hand. It had no visible characters, yet it seemed to contain countless words, captivating him completely. He was truly puzzled. "A wordless heavenly book?"

"Then tell me, how should incense offerings be purified?" he couldn't help but ask.

The young man, like a mechanism, glanced at the book in his hand, seemingly searching for something. "Perhaps it's related to personal willpower."

Hu Rennong's entire body trembled, and his eyes widened. He blurted out, "If willpower is strong enough, perhaps it really is possible! I've had this thought too, but how does one strengthen willpower...?"

"That's another question," the young man said, holding his book and walking forward. "Equivalent exchange: if I encounter something I don't understand, you help me answer it."

Hu Rennong was speechless.

He found himself becoming a passive tutor. Fortunately, his own talent was truly astonishing, allowing him to answer many of the young man's academic queries. The knowledge he gained in return also brought him profound enlightenment.

In less than two weeks, the "foolish" young man, book in hand, wandered about, reading wherever he went, enduring all weather and sleeping under the open sky. But now, an old man, serving as a silent attendant, followed closely behind him, anticipating his every need.

A bizarre sight began to attract considerable attention: a seemingly deranged young man followed by a scholarly, white-haired old man, who constantly trailed behind him.

"Isn't that Hu the Confucian scholar, the one who famously refused seven imperial decrees?"

"Why would he, someone who wouldn't even serve as a Grand Tutor or Prime Minister at court, now follow a young man like a personal attendant?"

"Grand Academician Hu Rennong is nothing but a joke," a scholar, completely disillusioned and heavily drunk, declared. "The nation invested countless resources into building the Dragon Veins, and now he abandons it all!"

"He's lost his mind."

"Do mere scholars and literati truly believe they can govern the world?"

Some swordsmen, sitting in a high-story tavern, jested and drank tea and wine heartily.

The young man paid them no heed, continuing his studies. The old man continued to follow behind, asking questions and receiving answers in a scene reminiscent of fellow practitioners. For a full three months, they traveled through several cities, enduring the elements and sleeping outdoors.

One day, the white-haired old man, Hu Rennong, suddenly let out a loud roar, weeping with joy. "So that's it! So that's it! It all corroborates!" he exclaimed. "Thank you, fellow practitioner, for helping me perfect this path!"

The young man, still oblivious, continued to read, ceaselessly tugging at his hair, which startlingly began to fall out strand by strand.

"Wait a moment! Come with me. I'll get you good food and drink; stop wandering." Finally, Hu Rennong accepted his thirteenth imperial decree, agreeing to go to the capital and serve as the nation's Prime Minister. He also announced to all Confucian scholars that he would deliver lectures in the capital.

"Are those impoverished scholars going to spout their pedantic nonsense again?"

"Who knows? It's just their show."

Some sword masters heard about the event but paid it no mind.

The day of the lecture finally arrived. Hu Rennong whispered to the young man, who still resembled a deranged beggar, "Fellow practitioner, please be patient for a moment and don't wander off."

With that, he strode forward and ascended the high platform, where countless Confucian scholars, literati, and students awaited below.

"Confucianism is the Way of the Gods," Hu Rennong declared. "Great Confucian masters, with all beings as their foundation, can cultivate Dragon Veins and official positions."

"How does one resolve the impurity of incense offerings?" someone asked.

"When incense offerings are impure, the human body cannot contain the manifold aspects of sentient beings. This is the Way of the Gods: converging diverse thoughts into a single entity. At the pinnacle of cultivation, one can shed their mortal coil, ascend to divinity, and with a vast and upright spirit, awe heaven and earth, move gods and ghosts. All beings will revere me, offer me spirit tablets; as long as they think of me and remember me, they will achieve immortality!"

The entire world fell silent.

"Legend has it that the Way of Heaven is the convergence of sentient beings' incense offerings. This path..." a Grand Confucian scholar began.

"This path," Hu Rennong continued, "mimics the Way of Heaven, allowing one's consciousness to reside in the ethereal sky, drawing in the incense offerings of all beings to become deities under the Grand Overseer of the Heavenly Way! One cultivates immortality, while all others cultivate godhood – this is the path to becoming a god!"

Upon these words, the world seemed to plunge into a deadly silence.

"A mere Confucian scholar dares to disrespect immortals? How presumptuous!" Inside a nearby tavern, a swordsman, who had been drinking, suddenly opened his eyes. His body flickered, and a world-shaking sword energy burst through the tavern, soaring over the heads of the Confucian scholars.

"That's Xu Jueqian, the third disciple of the Terrestrial Immortal Duan Qianyu—"