Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 734 Unfathomable

too fast!

Ao Jing never expected that he would lose so quickly and so completely.

Before he could even unleash some of his tricks, he was completely crushed by a blow to the head, extinguishing his will to continue fighting Lu Zheng.

After a while, Ao Jing's eyes regained focus. He felt his body slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake and couldn't help but stand up and stop.

Seeing Lu Zheng standing not far away, Ao Jing's expression was very complicated.

"how did you do that?"

Ao Jing was filled with doubt. He couldn't understand how Lu Zheng could use the power of the saint so quickly, giving him no time to react.

Moreover, after using such powerful force, he still seemed to have the strength to fight, and there seemed to be no side effects.

Lu Zheng replied, "There are no special techniques, it all depends on personal ability. If I had to say something, those who help others will be helped by others, and Heaven will also help them. If you can learn from this principle, you might be able to become like me in the future."

After hearing Lu Zheng's words, Ao Jing remained noncommittal. He always felt that Lu Zheng wanted to talk to him about some grand principles rather than cultivation methods.

Lu Zheng raised his hand and tossed the silver spear to Ao Jing.

Ao Jing reached out and casually put it away, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes.

He could sense that his weapon had suffered some damage and needed to be properly cared for and nurtured.

Lu Zheng smiled at Ao Jing and said, "So, are you interested in joining the Taiping Domain?"

Upon hearing this, Ao Jing shook his head and said, "Let's forget it. I'm used to being carefree and easygoing, and I don't have the patience to go around helping others and doing good deeds like you..."

Ao Jing knew he wasn't as selfless as Lu Zheng, and he didn't want to suffer in a place like Taiping Domain. It would be more appropriate for him to go there as a guest for a while.

Ao Jing reached into his hand and took out a transparent jade tablet, which he then lightly tossed to Lu Zheng.

"Since I've lost to you, this place is all yours. I have some men here; I'll leave them all to you!"

Having received the invitation earlier, Ao Jing made some preparations and tidied up.

He doesn't feel bad about giving up the territory now. It's good that he's been staying in this place for too long. He can go to another place to change his environment.

As a member of the East Sea Dragon Clan, he was not one of those wild demon mountain kings with no background who would be treated with respect wherever he went.

Ao Jing looked at Lu Zheng again, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and said, "I really can't believe that you, a young man, have such abilities. Perhaps you have the opportunity to become the youngest human saint in recorded history."

Ao Jing only said there was a chance, without being entirely certain.

After all, there have been countless young geniuses throughout history, but most of them only dazzled for a time before either falling apart or fading into obscurity.

In the end, only a handful of people manage to reach the very top.

Ao Jing was once a prodigy of the dragon clan, and his cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, but in the past hundred years, his cultivation has made no progress at all.

No matter what he did, he couldn't reach the next level; it seemed his life had come to an end.

Ao Jing couldn't help but feel a pang of regret, thinking that Lu Zheng could go further than he could.

But Lu Zheng's way of doing things also made him feel that this young man's life would not be stable.

"gone."

Ao Jing didn't want to linger, so he waved to Lu Zheng and then transformed into a beam of light, quickly leaving Mirror Lake.

Lu Zheng looked at the jade token, and then used it to find Ao Jing's subordinates.

They were all local demons. Knowing of Lu Zheng's arrival, these demons were already prepared and obediently awaited his orders.

As for Ao Jing abandoning them and leaving alone, no one cared much.

Some monsters were even somewhat relieved, as the pressure of following that Dragon King was considerable, and staying behind wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Lu Zheng convened the local middle and senior management, then learned about the situation in detail and made some arrangements.

……

On the other side, Ao Jing quickly left the Jinghu area by heading east.

Once he sensed no one following him, Ao Jing turned and headed north.

After flying over numerous mountains and rivers, Ao Jing changed his appearance and arrived at a city, and then went to a mansion.

Led by the people in the mansion, Ao Jing met the owner of the mansion and was then teleported to a small grotto through a secret room.

Amidst a vibrant cluster of flowers in the grotto, several refined individuals sat on the ground, brewing tea and discussing philosophy in a lively and engaging manner.

When the group saw Ao Jing arrive, they all stood up to greet him.

Ao Jing responded casually, then sat down among the group.

“I’ve fought Lu Zheng before, and this young man is unfathomable…”

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Ao Jing didn't bother with any more words. He raised his hand and cast a spell called "Mirror Flower Water Moon" to display part of his battle scene with Lu Zheng.

As for why not all the battle scenes were shown, it's because Ao Jing doesn't yet have the ability to do so.

Especially the final blow of holy power that Ao Jing endured, that was something he couldn't completely conjure up; he could only show a rough outline of the scene.

Everyone watched closely and discovered that Ao Jing and Lu Zheng had barely exchanged a few moves before Ao Jing was defeated.

This made them feel as if Ao Jing was going easy on them.

Ao Jing said coldly, "He used the power of a saint in the end. Even though I sacrificed my dragon blood essence to temporarily reach the Dao Inquiry stage, I was still no match for him..."

"what!"

Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this.

Someone couldn't help but ask, "Did he invite a saint? Which saint? The power of an ancient saint in the world, or did he borrow someone else's power...?"

Ao Jing said unhurriedly, "I don't know. The power comes from within him... That holy power is very strong; I've never felt it before..."

Ao Jing described his experience, but because he didn't understand the situation, his description was very vague.

The group was puzzled and pondered the situation.

Some speculated: "Perhaps he possessed some artifact that carried the power of a sage, such as Confucian classics? Or writing implements?"

Someone said, "The fact that this child can use such power once means he can use it many more times..."

To use such power in a mere sparring match is a considerable waste.

From another perspective, Lu Zheng's willingness to use the power of a saint proves that he still has many trump cards up his sleeve. Considering all these factors, the expressions on the faces of the group were not very pleasant.

Seeing the changing expressions on everyone's faces, Ao Jing couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. He leisurely said, "If you want to deal with him, it won't be easy. I reckon even a mid-stage Dao Seeking expert might not be entirely confident in suppressing him..."

Saint-level experts do not easily reveal themselves to the world, and those who seek the Dao are already among the world's top combat forces.

Everyone can count on one hand the number of Dao Seeking Realm experts in the Northern Region, so it's practically impossible to get such a powerful figure to deal with Lu Zheng.

Rumor has it that Lu Zheng also has a considerable background, and those big shots probably wouldn't bother to cause trouble for themselves for a little benefit.

As people get older, they are not necessarily more shrewd, but they are more afraid of death.

Lu Zheng has occupied some land in the Northern Region and is doing good deeds there. If any powerful demon race member finds him an eyesore and takes action to suppress him, if the matter gets out, he will probably be condemned by the major human dynasties and have a bounty placed on his head.

Sometimes, those dynasties were able to unite against external threats.

For various reasons, many of the older generation of powerful humans or demons did not pay much attention to Lu Zheng's actions.

Let a young man cause trouble in a certain area of ​​the Northern Region; it doesn't affect them at all.

Killing some evil spirits and demons that cause trouble in certain places isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The bigwigs weren't in a hurry, but the forces that lived very close to the Taiping Domain were restless, fearing that one day the hammer of justice would fall on their heads.

Therefore, some forces joined together to devise a plan to find a solution.

Having learned from the mistakes of many powerful demons, they decided to first ascertain Lu Zheng's background before taking any action, and dared not openly or secretly target Lu Zheng and Taiping Domain.

Ao Jing wasn't involved in this; he was just helping out.

Ao Jing said leisurely, "Considering our past relationship, I risked it to help you investigate. The price I paid and the information I obtained far exceeded my expectations, so you should give me more of the remaining reward..."

The thought of his own life essence and weapons being damaged made Ao Jing feel that he would be letting down Lu Zheng's influence if he didn't make a killing off these people.

Upon hearing this, someone quickly said, "That's how it should be, that's how it should be..."

They dared not offend this Dragon King.

The group pooled together rare and precious materials and gave Ao Jing a lot of extra benefits, which finally satisfied him.

Ao Jing smiled and accepted the gifts. "Judging from Lu Zheng's attitude, it probably won't be long before he comes looking for you. You guys might as well behave yourselves. I've been to Taiping Domain before, and it's not bad."

Everyone thought to themselves, "You've already given up your territory and run away, yet you're trying to persuade them to join in?"

Someone couldn't help but ask, "Brother Ao, is there any senior from your East Sea side who is available to come and temporarily oversee the area?"

Everyone was thinking that if they could get a powerful backer, Lu Zheng might be more wary of them.

As for why they thought of inviting experts from the East Sea Dragon Clan instead of the powerful figures from the great demon kingdoms of the Northern Region, the reason is quite simple.

Please ask a high-ranking figure from the East Sea Dragon Clan; the other party may not be suited to this place and cannot stay for long.

But if we invite some powerful figures from the Northern Region, they might just stay and never leave...

The saying "It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away" applies to many situations.

Ao Jing waved his hand and said, "Our East Sea Dragon Clan's banner is not something you can lend to us at will, nor can we. Our elders have repeatedly warned us not to get involved in the conflicts of the mortal world..."

This can be considered their clan's ancestral precept. Ao Jing came to the Northern Region to become a Dragon King, but he did not promote his East Sea Dragon Clan.

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It was rumored that the East Sea Dragon Clan originally lived on land and were dependent on the great dynasties. Later, it seemed that they fled to the East Sea to avoid disaster, and from then on, they stayed away from the power center of the world's dynasties.

Upon hearing Ao Jing's words, everyone suddenly felt that the rumors might be true...

Ao Jing said, "I think you should find someone else! Either move, or bear with it a little longer. Maybe one day some important person will take it too far and kick him out of the Northern Region?"

The expressions on everyone's faces changed. They thought that even if that day really came, they would probably have already distributed all their wealth to Lu Zheng beforehand. Who would they ask for compensation for their losses then?

Ao Jing looked quite relaxed. He drank a few cups of tea with the group and then said, "Alright, I'm tired too. I'm going into seclusion to rest. You can discuss this further."

Having been utterly crushed in his previous sparring match with Lu Zheng, Ao Jing was already mentally exhausted.

He had rushed over to report the situation, which had left him with very little energy.

Upon seeing this, the group quickly arranged for Ao Jing to rest.

After Ao Jing left, everyone's expressions turned serious again; they weren't as carefree and unrestrained as Ao Jing.

Someone sighed and said, "What should we do? I never imagined he was really that powerful. Even without using any treasures, Ao Jing is no match for him..."

There have been so many rumors about Lu Zheng lately, it's hard to tell the truth from the falsehood.

This time, even Ao Jing went out to spar with Lu Zheng, which made them have to believe that the human youth Lu Zheng was truly powerful.

Someone couldn't help but whisper, "I think we should sell the information to other people. I believe some people from the Great Demon Kingdom or the Human Dynasty would be willing to buy such information... It would be a way to recoup some losses and also see their attitude."

Asking Ao Jing to help cost them a lot of money, so they have to find a way to make up for it.

Someone stroked his beard and said, "You have to find the right person, and you also need proof, otherwise the other party may not believe you."

"We can't expose ourselves yet, otherwise, if these things get leaked, it won't do us any good..."

Everyone agreed, and this was indeed a problem.

……

Ao Jing secluded himself for several days, consuming a great deal of rare and precious herbs, before he was able to barely recover some of his strength.

He still vividly remembered the scene of his battle with Lu Zheng, as if it had just happened.

Ao Jing raised his hand and touched his brow, feeling that his state of mind was a little unstable, probably because he had been stimulated by the attack of the holy power.

Even Lu Zheng can use such terrifying power at will, while I have to suffer obvious side effects when using power that exceeds my own level. It's really incomparable.

Ao Jing took a deep breath and decided to go out for a walk to clear his head and adjust his mindset.

"Hey, have you heard? Many areas in the south have joined the Taiping Domain... I heard even Mirror Lake has been occupied. That's the Dragon King's territory. I wonder when it will be our turn..."

"What! This is...this is incredible!"

"This is terrible! I wonder how many more people will suffer and how many will die..."

"Hey, it's not like it's our turn to suffer anyway, we might even benefit from this misfortune..."

On the street, passersby came and went, whispering about the recent events.

When they learned that Taiping Domain was expanding outwards, most people did not feel fear and treated it as just another casual conversation.

Ao Jing even noticed a hint of anticipation in the eyes of some of the demons as they discussed this. (End of Chapter)